His Unexpected Family. Patricia Johns

what it would be like to have a family—to have them.

      “Maybe you should take her back,” Greg said gruffly.

      “Oh, no,” Emily replied, nonplussed. “You seem fine, and she seems happy.”

      With that, Cora finished the bottle and Emily moved around to her seat across the table from him. Greg looked from Emily to Cora and back to Emily again.

      “Burp her, would you?” Emily said. “Here’s a cloth.”

      She said it so matter-of-factly, as if asking someone to burp a baby was the most natural thing in the world, that he found himself wondering if it weren’t in fact the most natural thing in the world. He took the proffered cloth and put it over his shoulder the way he’d seen Emily do it. Granted, she was more graceful, but after a couple of tries he managed it, and he started to gently tap Cora’s back.

      “You know, I used to see myself with a whole houseful of kids.” Emily turned her attention to her fries, swirling them slowly through the ketchup. “I don’t even know why I thought I’d have so many. I suppose it comes with always having a class full of five-year-olds.”

      “And now?”

      “Now I’m grateful for the chance to raise one child. It’s all in perspective.”

      Cora let out a resounding burp, and Greg looked down at her with a grin. He’d never expected burping a baby to be so...satisfying. It was as if he’d just slam-dunked.

      “Nicely done.” Emily grinned at him, popping another fry in her mouth. “What about you? Do you ever think about having kids?”

      Greg felt the moment disintegrating around him, caving in on itself like the old mall when a wrecking ball connected with a load-bearing wall. He shook his head.

      “Not at all?” Her brow furrowed as her eyes met his. “You don’t want kids?”

      “No,” he said. “I don’t.”

      It was the truth, wasn’t it? He couldn’t lie to her, but he could see the disappointment in her eyes as he admitted what was inside of him. No matter how adorable Cora was, no matter how sweet it might feel to imagine having a family of his own, children were simply out of the question.

      Chapter Six

      The next day, Emily stood at the kitchen sink washing a sink load of dishes while her mother rocked Cora. The sink was loaded full of pots and pans, some muffin tins sitting to the side taunting her with the sheer amount of scrubbing they were going to require. It was a bright and sunny day, and as Emily stood there by the sink, wrist-deep in soapy water, she could see some robins poking through her lawn in the shade of an apple tree. It was peaceful.

      Emily’s mother stood behind her, Cora in her arms. She looked down at the baby with the wide-eyed expression people used with babies, and Cora looked entranced. Emily chuckled softly as she rinsed another mug and put it in the dish rack.

      “Uncle Hank came by this morning,” Emily said.

      “Poor man.” Her mother sighed. “Did seeing Cora help him at all?”

      “I don’t know.” Emily put her attention into some egg welded onto a plate. “He didn’t stay long. He cuddled her for a little while, then he said he had to go.”

      “I can’t imagine how he must be feeling right now....” Her mother put Cora up onto her shoulder and leaned against the island. “To lose a daughter.” She shook her head. “It’s unthinkable.”

      Emily nodded.

      “He and Jessica had a complicated relationship,” her mother commented thoughtfully. “That would almost make it worse, I think.”

      “What happened between them?”

      “He thought that being tough on Jessica would straighten her out.” Her mother shrugged her shoulders. “Was he wrong? I guess so, considering that she left and never really came back. He thought she needed more discipline, and by the time he realized he was wrong in that call, it was too late.”

      Emily pulled another plate out of the sudsy water and looked back at her mother. “I think it did him some good. He said Cora looks a lot like Jessica did as a baby.”

      “She does, doesn’t she?” The older woman looked down at Cora’s little face. Her mother had been a natural redhead once upon a time, and now she dyed it back to red, but it never looked very natural anymore. The line of white at her roots didn’t help.

      Emily was avoiding the topic that was on her mind, but she was afraid to bring it up. Had Uncle Hank felt uncomfortable in her home because of Steve contesting custody? Did he think she was taking something away from his family? She washed a pot, rinsing it in hot water and listening to the sound of her mother making mouth noises for Cora.

      “What about the custody thing?” Emily asked finally.

      “What do you mean?” her mother asked.

      “Has anyone said anything?”

      Her mother was silent for a long moment. Then she took a deep breath. “Uncle Hank hasn’t said anything, but he isn’t much of a talker. Your aunts didn’t think too much of Jessica, so they think that she should have left her daughter to Steven. He was her brother, after all. Grandma is just really sad. She says that Jessica did a good thing by leaving Cora to you, and she thinks Steven is being willfully difficult....”

      Emily listened as her mother went on with a description of everyone’s opinions on the matter. She knew that every family member would have one, but it was another thing hearing them all. She probably shouldn’t have asked.

      “...Aunt Helen thinks that Sara wants to raise Cora because she gave Jessica such a hard time when they first got married. She thought Jessica was far beneath her and didn’t make any bones about it. Aunt Helen thinks that Sara feels like she needs to prove something. My cousin, Edith, on the other hand...”