Jemily(Unexpected Love)

Early Days

Emily POV

After these past couple of days, things have been going alright. Melissa loved school and Kara and her were attached at the hip. All Melissa talked about was her best friend Kara did this and her best friend Kara did that. Apparently, Kara had the same reaction, Sara would text me about Kara going on and on about how much her and Melissa had in common. 

Melissa seemed to really like her teacher and was given the opportunity to go to an after school program after school if she ever needed help with the homework. She was a bit behind on the rest of the classes schoolwork but she was a smart kid and wanted to catch up as soon as she could. It was Tuesday night and Sara had invited us over for dinner, Melissa was thrilled. 

When we got there the girls quickly ate so they could go upstairs and play. Sara poured me a glass of wine. 

"Dinner was great, thank you. Next time we'll do it at my place. I will warn you though, it won't be a fantastic dinner like this. It'll probably be take out." I joked.

"I'm not picky. So, nervous about the big day tomorrow?" She asked.

"You have no idea. I'm scared of leaving Melissa alone, I mean she seems to like the nanny I hired but ugh, the thought of leaving her for days at a time makes my stomach turn."

"I felt like that when I went back to work after having Kara. All I could think about was her, if she was eating, sleeping, if she was happy. Word of advice, she will be fine. It's all in your head."

"I know, I know. And going back to work to see JJ makes me even more nervous." I started to pick at my finger nails. 

"Cut that out." Sara playfully slapped my hand away. 

"I'm sorry, I can't help it. Bad habit."

"Just snap it away."

"Snap?"

Sara stood up and opened a drawer, she pulled out a rubber band and put it around my wrist, "It's called the affirmation band technique. If you're nervous or have a bad habit like biting your nails, you snap the rubber band against your wrist. It's supposed to teach you not to do it, so instead of immediately going to bite or pick your nails you go to snap the rubber band."

"Does it really work?"

"It's supposed to. Teaching yourself to snap the band instead of picking your nails is a form of conditioning. Before you know it, you won't need to pick your nails and you won't need the rubber band." 

I nodded and snapped the band. It stung a bit but I was willing to give it a try. "If you're right about this, I'm taking you out to dinner."

"I'll make the reservation now." She laughed. 

"Thank you for everything, really. I don't know what I would do without having someone like you to talk to and help me through all of this. And the fact that you had offered to look after Melissa while I was away truly meant a lot to me."

"It's not a problem Emily. We all need help sometimes. Single parents have it harder than most. Plus if the girls are kept apart for too long I'm scared Kara will lose it."

"Still, thank you. And I hope you don't take me turning the offer down as a sign of unappreciation."

She waved off my comment. "Absolutely not. I understand you want her to get comfortable around different people and not solely rely on the same ones. It's understandable. But if you ever need help, any time, you let me know."

"I will, I promise."

"Good."

The next day I drove Melissa to school and reminded her that Sara would pick her and Kara up but Alexis, the nanny, would pick her up at 8 and she'd be watching her while I was gone.