Just Like Her

Chapter 102

Emma

I fiddled with the hem of my dress until Tom leaned over and covered my hand with his.

"Relax, Ems," he smiled over at me. "It's just the family."

I almost snorted. Almost.

Instead, I frowned out the SUV's tinted window. "They should hate me."

"They don't—"

"I put you through hell, Tom."

I said it with more bite than I'd meant to. I closed my eyes in regret before mumbling an apology.

He gave my hands a squeeze. "They get it. It wasn't exactly smooth sailing when my grandfather passed."

The car rolled to a stop on the gravel and Tom gave my hand another squeeze before letting go.

*          *          *

Cynthia greeted us first. She'd been in the corridor talking on the phone but hung up immediately when she saw us. I unconsciously braced myself as she walked toward me with a determined glint in her eyes.

The moment she was close enough, she wrapped her arms around me and crushed me into her bosom. 

"Glad to have you back," she murmured in my ear before releasing me.

I smiled tightly at her before allowing Tom to lead us into the sitting room.

It was chaos, per usual. Tom placed a comforting hand at my lower back, as if the pandemonium might be my undoing.

It wasn't.

Francis and Lizzie were squealing as they rolled around on the carpet, bumping into every leg—furniture or human—in the room. Matilda practically danced around them jumping this way and that to avoid a collision and save precious knickknacks teetering precariously around her children.

Margaret was talking animatedly with her mother-in-law as Robert sat next to her, wide-eyed. He watched her lively gesturing as if at any moment one of her limbs might suddenly fly off in need of rescuing.

Tom's parents flanked his grandmother on a sofa near the roaring fireplace. Eliza was in the middle of saying something when Gran rattled the ice in her empty tumbler and her son dutifully stood to refill it. As he walked toward the nearby cart, he caught a glimpse of us and sent a conspiratorial wink.

My feet were nearly knocked out from under me—literally. Tom's hand flew to my waist to steady me. Even though I'd started eating normal meals again and even attempted some weight training to regain some muscle mass, I was still quite pathetically weak when it came to stability.

I glanced down to find little Lizzie unfurled at my feet. On instinct, I leaned down and tickled her beneath her arms.

She giggled furiously as her eyes shot open. "Auntie Em!"

Now that nearly did me in. I was grateful for Tom's solid grip still around my waist as I somewhat dizzily rightened myself. 

Francis came barreling toward us, but Matilda caught him in her arms before he had a chance to take us out.

"But Mummy—" he began to whine.

"They can't take you to the zoo again if you break both their legs, darling." She explained as she planted a kiss on his rumpled hair.

Francis's eyes nearly popped out of his head from excitement. "The zoo!"

I carefully stepped out of Tom's hold and nodded encouragingly toward his nephew. Tom grinned at me before offering me a chaste kiss on the cheek and crawling after his nephew making what could only be described as a cross between a lion's roar and a bear's growl.

I shook my head as I watched them scamper off. Peter will be needing to give him lessons.

Suddenly, Margaret was standing beside me. I glanced over at her and caught her heavy sigh.

"Emma, I'm so terribly sorry..."

All the of muscles in my body physically clenched as I braced myself for her condolences. I forced myself to practice the mindful breathing technique my new therapist had taught me during our first session.

Breathe in one, two, three, four...

Out one, two, three, four...

In one, two, three, four...

"But I'm afraid I'm going to need you to drink more champagne for me..." Margaret continued, unable to hold her somber expression a minute longer. "For about seven more months, at least."

The air in my lungs slowly dissipated as I turned to stare at the beaming woman next to me. "Y-you're expecting?"

She nodded eagerly as she suddenly took my hands in her. "It's too early to go public with the news, but I couldn't not tell you."

A lopsided smile found its way to my lips. I nodded, not understanding why my eyes were suddenly brimming with tears.

"That's wonderful," I whispered as I pulled her into a tight hug. "Congratulations."

It was then the butler opened the dining room doors and the family began to filter into their seats. Tom came up behind me and wrapped his arm around my waist.

"Ready?"

I nodded up at him.

He frowned and glanced around the room. "I wonder where Charlie's gone off to..."

"Manchester," I answered automatically.

Youssef and I had been texting every day since I'd been home. Charlie had arrived two days after I'd left, and from Youssef's texts, it seemed like he'd been up every weekend since.

Margaret frowned. "Manchester? Is there a football match or something?"

My heart stuttered in a panic until I heard Tom's calm voice. 

"Something like that. Visiting friends I think."

Margret practically rolled her eyes. "I swear you could throw a rock—anywhere in the world mind you—and hit a friend of Charlie's. I've never met a more social creature in my life."

I snorted.

"Sorry," I apologized as I went to cover my mouth. "It's just imagining you throwing a rock at anyone, Margaret..."

The two of them blinked at me for a moment as if I had suddenly spoken some strange alien language.

Margaret recovered first as a wide smile spread across her lips.

"Well I never said it would be a large rock," she conceded.

I glanced over my shoulder at Tom and caught him beaming down at me.

"What? The idea of throwing rocks at people delights you?"

For some reason, my teasing only caused his smile to grow sevenfold.

"Sure," he nodded gamely. "Let's go with that."