Finding Emma

The Aftermath

It was about 6:00 the next morning and Karen heard Elijah squirming around. Jimi still had his arms tightly wrapped around her. She lifted her head off of his chest and he was sound asleep. She didn't want to wake him, but she had to crawl over him to get to Elijah. "Babe, I have to get up" Karen whispered while nudging him. Jimi moaned. "Jimi, I have to get Elijah before he wakes the whole bus" Karen said. "Ok, ok" Jimi said and rolled over and climbed out of her bunk. Karen followed him out. "You can go back to bed" Karen said. "No, it's fine. If you're up, I'm up" Jimi said. "Ok" Karen said.

Jimi and Karen walked over to the pack and play. Karen picked him up and Jimi got out a fresh diaper. Karen laid him down on a changing mat and Jimi handed her the diaper. She finished changing him and picked him out an outfit and dressed him. Jimi went to the front of the bus and warmed Elijah up a bottle. Karen walked out with Elijah and bounced him around a little. The bottle was heated up and Jimi handed it to Karen. She gave the bottle to Elijah and he started drinking it. Karen sat down on the couch to finish feeding Elijah. Jimi sat next to her and put his arm around her. "You know we're gonna have to talk about this at some point right?" Jimi said. "Yeah, I know" Karen said not taking her eyes off her son. "Do you want to press charges?" Jimi asked quietly. "I have to let the police know before we leave Montana" Jimi added. "I know" Karen whispered and there was a long pause. "I do want to press charges" Karen said quietly. "Alright" Jimi said and kissed her temple. "I think we should get a restraining order too" Jimi said. "Yeah, I agree" Karen said, still looking down at Elijah. They sat in silence for a few minutes then Jimi started "Do you want to tell Emma?" Karen looked up at him. "I don't want to... but I think we should because she will probably figure out something is going on. I mean she's 13 years old. She's not a little kid anymore" Karen said. "Ok" Jimi said. "Whatever you want to do" he added. "I just want this to be over with. I just want it to go away and forget it ever happened" Karen said, with tears forming in her eyes. "It will go away soon. I promise" Jimi said. Karen looked up at him and he leaned down and gave her a kiss, then he wiped the tears away with his thumb. Karen returned her eyes to Elijah and she rested her head on Jimi's shoulder.

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It was around 8:00 and everyone was starting to wake up. The girls were sitting at the table eating cereal and Elijah was sitting in his bouncer. Karen and Jimi were sitting next to each other on the couch. Everyone was giving Karen sympathetic looks and she was trying to ignore them. Kimberly sat down next to her after she finished pouring the milk in the girl's cereal. "Hey, how are you doing?" Kimberly whispered. "I'm fine" Karen said. "Are you up for performing tonight because we can cancel if you want?" Kimberly asked quietly. "I'm fine. I can perform" Karen said replied, getting a little annoyed. "Are you sure?" Kimberly asked her again. "Yes, I'm sure" Karen snapped. "I wish everyone would stop treating me like I'm some basket case" Karen yelled slightly and got up and walked to the bunks.

After Karen snapped, Emma's head shot up. "What is she talking about?" Emma asked with a worried tone. "It's nothing sweetie, Mama's just upset about something" Jimi said. Emma still had a worried look on her face, but she went back to eating her cereal. "Can you keep an eye on Elijah for a second?" Jimi asked Kimberly. "Yeah, of course" Kimberly said. Jimi got up and walked over to the bunks.

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Karen laid down in her bunk. She heard Emma ask what she was talking about. She was going to tell her, but not like that. She felt bad for worrying her. She saw the curtain open and Jimi climb in next to her. He wrapped his arms around her and she scooted closer to him. "You know everyone is just worried about you" Jimi started. "I know, I just wish they would stop looking at me like I'm broken or something" Karen said and Jimi started rubbing her back. "They're doing that because they love you" Jimi said and Karen nodded her head. Jimi continued to rub her back while they laid there in silence for a few minutes. "Emma is going to ask a lot of questions" Karen said. "Yeah she will. When we stop at the next venue we can take Emma and Elijah on a walk and we can talk to her about what happened" Jimi suggested. "Ok" Karen said. They laid there for a few minutes to give Karen some time to cool off. "Are you ready to go back out by everyone?" Jimi asked. "Yeah, I guess" Karen said and they crawled out of the bed.