Echo

The Van Koek House

Luuk and Jessica VanKoek were in the front hall very quickly, and when they saw Emily, they had eyes only for her.

"Come on, Emily." Aurora guided her mother gently by the hand. "They don't bite."

Emily couldn't help it, but the closer she got to Luuk and Jessica, the more teary-eyed she became. These were the people who had chosen her daughter, brought her home and loved her, and raised her. She never thought she'd meet them, let alone find Aurora again, yet... here they were.

They were both dressed casually, but still in a way that made for a good impression. Just as Emily had thought the first time she'd seen their picture, they were very good looking and probably somewhere within ten years of her age.

The thought was dashed from Emily's head altogether when Jessica spoke to her.

"Oh, please don't cry, sweet Emily." she held her hand and reached out, wiping the tears that were falling down her face. "Luuk and I are just as nervous about this as you are."

Emily surprised herself by being able to talk. "I-I never thought that this would ever happen, and I owe you two everything! Plus, after Aurora and I parted ways in Italy, my mother bought your cookbooks and used the recipes to teach me how to cook!"

Jessica's heart immediately swelled with love and she pulled Emily into a warm hug, which to Emily, was warm and seemed to last forever. It was exactly how she'd imagined things going between them.

When they pulled apart, Jessica wiped Emily's tears again and kissed her on the forehead. "Then this means that you and I have already been bonded for twenty-five years, hm?"

"Yeah, I suppose it does." Emily managed a smile. "I already like it."

"So do I." Jessica gave Emily's hands an affectionate squeeze. "Now how about you go say hello to Luuk?"

The man in question also hugged Emily, and when he spoke, his voice was deep and had a Dutch lilt to it.

"Thank you for giving us Aurora. Our lives have been made better because of her."

Emily just about melted at that and had to focus even harder to not lose her composure again. "What an awesome thing to hear—I've always wondered how well she'd fit in with the family who chose her."

"She fits in perfectly, and her siblings have always looked up to her."

Emily's heart jumped at the mention of Aurora's siblings because they were in the house and she hadn't seen them yet. She wanted to say something about, but her words got caught in her throat, so Aurora stepped stepped forward with JJ, wanting to introduce her to her properly.

She touched JJ's elbow in indication as she spoke to her parents. "Mom, dad, this is Spencer's and Emily's colleague from work, Jennifer Jareau. She and Emily are to be engaged and married at some point, and when that happens, she'll be my stepmom, but we're already becoming very good friends, and I couldn't ask for anything more than that."

Now JJ was the one turning to mush and struggling maintain her own composure, but after she'd hugged Luuk and Jessica, Aurora whispered something in her ear and then looked at her, eyebrows raised. JJ immediately took a step back.

"Hey!" Emily protested when she noticed the interaction. "When did you two develop a secret best friends code?"

"While you weren't looking." Aurora said puckishly before turning her attention back to JJ. "I haven't said a word about that because I wanted to leave it to you and Emily."