Weston Hayes

Chapter Eight ~New Begginings~

Chapter Eight ~New Beginnings~

Jackson\Lane

Jackson walked out of the house onto the front porch, where Meg silently watched Emma as she walked with her cane. He slid his arms around Meg's slightly swollen belly; he kissed the side of her neck before he asked, "How are my babies doing today?"

Meg looked back at Jackson with a huge smile and said, "We are doing just fine, my love," she looked back at Emma, just in time to see her stumble, but she caught herself before she fell to the ground. Meg clapped her hands in excitement, "Oh honey, look at Emma. I couldn't be more proud of her; she's come so far from the shell of who she was when you brought her home from the train." Meg turned around and hugged Jackson as her tears soaked his shirt. Through her tears, Meg said, "I was so afraid we would lose her. That first month, I didn't sleep more than a few hours a night without getting up to check on her. I always expected she wouldn't be breathing. We have such an amazing daughter. I only hope these two babies will have half as much of her fierce heart and determination."

Jackson held Meg as she cried until there were no tears left. She mumbled something about babies and how emotional she was as she walked back inside the house. Jackson chuckled to himself as he walked toward the new indoor corral he'd just built for Emma and Marion to practice all of Emma's routines in a safe environment.

Emma stopped close to where Jackson leaned against the door frame; she had a massive smile on her face as she exclaimed, "Hell yeah!" Emma held up her cane high in the air and swung it around before she brought it back to stand in front of her feet. "Dad, did you see that?" Emma asked as she danced from foot to foot.

Jackson walked up to Emma and scooped her into a hug and spun her around. He tried to be careful not to make her dizzy before he released her. Jackson laughed as he answered, "I did, honey, both mom and I are so proud of you. She teared up watching you out there; you have come so far in your recovery, we couldn't be more proud of you, peanut."

Emma groaned at her old nickname, "Dad, I'm not eight years old anymore."

Marion smiled at their display of affection for each other. Marion gently tapped Emma on her shoulder to get her attention, "Come on, don't lose your momentum; you have another hour before you can take a break."

Emma laughed as she playfully glared in Marion's direction and mumbled "Slave driver," as she continued her lesson.

Jackson looked over at Marion when Emma was a distance away and said, "Marion, we can't thank you enough, somehow you were able to figure a way to bring our Emma back to herself and us."

Marion blushed at the kind words. She followed Emma with her eyes and said, "I didn't do anything special; Emma did all the work herself. I just guided her and picked her up whenever Emma fell. She's a powerful woman. She just got lost in her darkness for a little while. Excuse me; I should be with Emma."

Jackson stood back and watched Emma for a while before he returned to the front porch, where Meg had a pitcher of lemonade ready for Jackson.

Meg took a glass and poured some lemonade into it before she handed it to Jackson, "Here honey, sit down and we can watch Emma together," Meg waited for Jackson to take a seat on one of the oversized chairs on the porch before she sat on his lap.

Jackson chuckled as he held his wife in his arms. With a twinkle in his eyes, Jackson whispered next to Meg's ear while he rubbed Meg's swollen belly, "I do believe this is how our little angels were conceived."

Meg blushed profusely and playfully slapped Jackson's arm; she giggled when she said, "We agreed not to talk about that."

Jackson gently kissed Meg on her lips; when he pulled back, he said, "I received a letter from Lane the other day. I haven't said anything to Emma yet. I wanted you to read it first. It's in my shirt pocket, read it, and then we'll talk about it."