A Second Chance at love

Chapter 57: Welcome to the Family

When I was entering my 7th month of pregnancy Emma got mad at me for something really dumb, and punched me in the stomach--when Jon confronted her after making sure I was ok, she exploded and took off in a fit of anger on her bike.... again- Mariah spotted her on the way home from running errands she was soaking wet and she was a mess of mud, leaves and blood.

As soon as we got to the hospital, we headed straight for the pediatric ward and were met by Dr. Ingalls. "Mr. and Mrs. Knight?" he asked. He then went on to explain that in addition to numerous scrapes and bruises and a cut on the forehead that required 9 stitches she had also broken her right leg in two places and that the bone had actually poked through the skin by her ankle.

He assured us the surgery was a success and she was resting comfortably. "the breaks were both clean, I don't think she'll need physical therapy" he said. "she'll be in a cast for at least the next 8 weeks."

Jon went into see her while a nurse checked me out as I was having some stomach pains- after I was given a clean bill of health, I went back downstairs and joined Jon in Emma's room.

"Everything ok?" Jon asked when I sat down. "I'm fine" I told him "and so is the baby." Emma just sorta glared- but I wasn't even sure if it was a glare or if she was just sore and tired.

"What happened?" I asked her. " I was riding and minding my own business" she said. "I even hung out with Lindsay and Dina" (I cringed at the sound of their names as I cannot stand those two girls and am certain they are the ones behind her attitude change--at least the part that's not being caused by her hormones)

"as I headed towards the park-where I planned on hanging out for awhile- I decided it would be fun to take a short cut and go down the hill on my bike instead of using the side walk, and I lost control of my bike, and tumbled down the hill into the pond."

"I hope you learned your lesson" was all Jon said.

"I did" she said softly "it was a dumb thing to do- it hurt me, and it trashed my bike." they released her the next day.

Since the cast was bigger and heavier this time going up and down the stairs was a no-go. So, Brianna and I carried some of her most favorite things downstairs and put them in the den and Mariah helped me convert the couch in there into a bed.

Emma's face absolutely lit up when Jon came back from the hospital with her. "this looks so cool!" she said. 4 weeks later Mariah and Katie surprised me with a baby shower as we had gotten rid of our baby stuff when we got ready to move into this house. The weather started out nice, but quickly turned dreary and damp.

Emma's leg was sore from the dampness so she went into her makeshift room to lay down. After everything was moved inside I went and brought her some food a little while later and said, "Mariah said to tell you that presents and games will be starting in about 25 min or so."

She nodded and actually smiled at me as I headed back to the party. As I opened presents and laughed Emma carefully wrote down who each item was from to make thank-you notes easier. she mentioned at one point that she was chilly, so I went at got my sweater for her and put it around her shoulders.

I saw her make a face as she reached into the right pocket, but, didn't give it another thought. After everyone left she went into her temporary room and took a nap.

A few days later, I took her for a check-up and she was thrilled to be put into a smaller lighter cast. We stopped at the craft store to pick up some yarn for an art project Amber and Kayla had to do for school. Emma found some cool colors for a project she was working on-she told me it was a secret.