Rainbow Stripes

seven

"So, what's on your mind?" Richard asked his daughter, who was seated in front of him, fidgeting with the sleeves of her sweater.

"Mom."

Richard froze. The knife he was about to bring down on some green chillis stopped mid-air, and Emma bit her lower lip as she gouged his reaction.

"What about her?" He finally asked, his voice low. Emma let out a breath she didn't realize she was holding before answering his question.

"Did you ever hear from her?"

Richard resumed cutting his vegetables, "No. At least, not by a call or a letter."

Emma furrowed her eyebrows in confusion. "What do you mean?"

He heaved. "She sends money every month. Not always a consistent amount, but she always sends some."

Now it was Emma's turn to freeze. That was not something she expected. "Are you sure its her?"

"Well, I don't think your father cares enough to send me money for you."

Emma glared at him, at which he quickly corrected himself. "Sorry, your sperm donor."

She nodded in approval. "We don't call him that. He doesn't deserve to be called a father; he's never done anything for me me to deserve that title." After a small pause, she added, "And remember, you're my father."

Richard gave her a soft smile, which Emma returned. "So, you know where she is." Emma stated.

He shook his head. "No."

"But you have her bank account number?" Emma was confused. He was the Sheriff, tracking someone via their bank transactions wasn't hard, was it?

"Emma," he started gently, "she's a woman that doesn't want to be found. Why would I destroy myself by going after what I can't have?"

"But..." Emma trailed, unsure of what to say.

"I don't want to force her to come back, Em. She left a long time ago, because she needed space. She still cares for you. I think, taking everything that has happened to the two of you with that man, her leaving isn't unwarranted. If she wanted to come back, darling, she would've come back a long time ago."

Emma swallowed her tears. She knew that, she knew that, but hearing it from Richard just broke all her childish hopes of a family reunion.

And so, since they were discussing subjects that were an unspoken taboo in the Hunt household, she mustered the courage to ask a question she had never wanted to ask him before.

"Why did you keep me?"

Richard looked up in surprise. "Why wouldn't I have kept you?"

"I'm not your child. At least, not technically."

Richard stared at her incredulously, "I never expected such thoughts from you, Emma."

The disappointment in his voice made her heart clench, but she maintained her impartial view and elaborated. "You'd only known me for a year. You were only married to my mom for seven months. That's hardly enough time for you to decide that you were going to adopt your step-daughter despite the fact that your wife had abandoned both of you."

He still stared at her as if she'd grown antlers. "Emma, I only had to know you for two minutes to know that I would keep you no matter what. Sweetheart, you were eight years old when I first met you. The first time your mother ever introduced me to you, and you were this little ball of determination. I knew the minute I saw you that in that little head of yours, you had planned out your life. You'd escaped the clutched of an abusive man, yet never did I ever get the slightest feeling of fear or meekness from you. You were wary of me, but you never feared me. I remember you told me that you wanted to be an F.B.I. Agent like that Reid guy you saw on Criminal Minds because you loved how ingenious he was, and that's what you wanted to be. Spectacular. Untouchable. Fearless.

"And look at you today. You are the woman you wanted to be. But that's digressing from the main point; my point being that I've cared for you since the very beginning. Even if we hadn't married, if she had left you in my care, I would've kept you. I kept you because I loved you, not because it was a mercy on you."

Tears rolled down Emma's cheeks as she listened to him talk. Realizing he had reduced her to tears, he gave her a playful smirk.

"It's the onions," she wheezed out in a nasally voice, pointing toward the uncut onions lying next to her father's cutting board.

Richard laughed. "Of course it's the onions, sweetheart."

When she wiped her cheeks, she said, "I love you too, Dad. You're my only parent."

Richard smiled and nodded, before giving her a knowing smile. "Are you sure that's all you wanted to talk about?"

Emma rolled her eyes, understanding his insinuation. "Dad, the day I come to you to talk about the boys in my life, just shoot me, for it will be the day that I am absolutely friendless and desperate, and it would be better for my ego if I were in my grave."

Richard's booming laughter resounded in the house. Emma got up from the island and excused herself, making a beeline for her room so that she could slam her face into a pillow and scream at her miserable life.

*

Hello lovies. Oh my god, you guys don't know I really terrible I feel. I know this chapter is short. The next chapter was supposed to be a part of this one, but I guess I'll just have to make that longer. Love you all, please, please bare with me. xoxo