Disclaimer:  The Mummy and The Mummy Returns do not belong to me.  Emma belongs to me and any character that you don’t recognize is also mine so ask before you use.

 

Author: Shelby

 

Summary: Alex finds Emma’s Diary, and what secrets will it reveal...Take a peak if you dare.

 

Rated PG

 

 

 

Emma’s Diary

 

 

 

It was a few weeks after Emma had come to live with them, that Evelyn and Alex went shopping for new cloths, leaving Rick and Emma home by themselves.  Now in her room Emma sat on the floor trying to work a puzzle that Alex had given to her.

 

“Okay this has to go someplace,”  she mumbled as she held up a piece which had several attaching parts to it.  She had the border of the puzzle built, and was getting fed up.  When she heard a knock at the door, she jumped, then called for whomever was there to enter, and Rick did so. 

 

“I thought you and I could go out by ourselves,”  Rick said.  He knew she was still uncomfortable with him, and wanted to show her that he wasn’t going to hurt her.  It was difficult for Emma to trust any man, because men had hurt her before, but in the few weeks that she had lived in this house, she had seen what a nice man Rick O’Connell was, and now he was her father as well.

 

“Can I sit in the back of the car?”  she asked.

 

“I think that’s fair,”  Rick said.  Once she had her jacket on she followed him out, weary of him, but learning to trust him at the same time.  In the car, she sat quietly as he drove.  When he had started their little trip, Rick hadn’t really put much thought in to where they would go, and remembered Evelyn mentioning that they needed eggs, milk, and cheese from the market, so he drove them into the small village thirty minutes from their home and an hour from London.   There both of them got out, with Emma staying behind him as they walked in to the little store.  While her father picked up what they needed, Emma looked around out the window and found a small shop on the other side of the street, a book store, and without really thinking about telling her father where she was going, she left the small food store, and went across the street.  The small shop was quiet, and she found a bunch of leather bound books, like the one’s in her mum’s library.

 

“May I help you?”  an older woman asked.

 

“I was just looking I’ll leave now,”  Emma said.

 

“Oh you don’t have to leave.  Is there any book you like?”  she asked.  Emma felt out of place.  She was learning to read, but it would be quite some time before she could read any of the books before her.

 

“None in particular,” she said.  

 

“Just let me know if there is anything you want,”  she said.  Emma nodded and was glad when she left.

 

 

Once Rick had gotten what he needed he looked around the store, and started to panic when he realized that Emma was not with him.  She was twelve years old, hardly a child, however not being able to find her was making him a nervous wreck.  When it was obvious that she was not in the store, he ran out to the car, and put the groceries away, then went around to different shops,  Just as he was about to go out of his mind, he saw her in the window of the small book shop.  He thanked god she was safe then went in.

 

“Emma, please don’t ever run off like that,not without telling me where you are,”  Rick said.  He wanted to hug her, but he knew that would likely send her into hysterics.

 

“I just wanted to come see,”  she said, and her lip quivered.

 

“I know honey, but when I didn’t know where you were I thought someone had taken you,”  Rick said.  She wasn’t sure what to say, and she was just as surprised as Rick when she hugged him.

 

“I’ll try to remember dad,”  she said as she pulled away.

 

“Thanks.  Now do you like anything in here?”  he asked.

 

“I’d like to get this,”  she said.  It was a diary with a lock, and a gold chain, and without thinking about the price, Rick purchased it for her.

 

“Now why don’t we head home and see if your mum and Alex are there,”  Rick said.  She nodded and they left.

 

 

 

 

 

 

By the time Emma was fourteen, she could read, and write just as good as anyone else.  There were still a few things she was slow at doing, but she was not one to give up.  Now she sat in her room on a rainy day, writing in her Journal.  She had three Journals now, two complete, and the one she had now which was new. 

 

 

Dear Journal,

 

You would not believe what happened to me today.  Maggie and I were in town walking about, when Philip and Andrew came behind us making fun of us.  They think that just because their fathers are Bankers, and rich, they can say and do what they want.  So Maggie and I took our Ice Cream and smashed it in their faces.  I wish I would have had fathers Camera, that would have been so funny, to take the pictures and show everyone at school.

 

Now to the more serious things.  I’ve been having those dreams again.  Dr. Maurice says their likely residual memories of when I was a child, and when my father would abuse me, but he is dead and buried, so why should I be having these dreams?  Some nights I can’t sleep any at all, so I go downstairs and take a shot of bourbon, and that generally does it for me.  I just hope dad thinks it is Uncle John taking from his stash.  Well thats all for now. 

 

Emma

 

 

 

Once she had finished her entry, Emma put it under her pillow, then left to go see Maggie.  Downstairs she found her dad writing at his desk.

 

“I’m going to see Maggie now,”  Emma called out.  Her voice brought him out of thought.

 

“Make sure to put your jacket on,”  Rick said. 

 

“Dad I am fourteen,”  she reminded, then ran over and gave him a quick kiss before running out of the house.  As she left, Alex and his buddies walked in.  He, Max, and Petey went up to his room and for a little bit they all sat around.

 

“Okay this is boring,”  Max said petting Chief, Alex’s German Shepherd.

 

“Well what would you like to do?”  Alex asked.  He was settled on his bed petting Cleo.

 

“We could go into Emma’s room and sneak around.”  It was then that Alex got his most brilliant idea.

 

“You guys stay put,”  Alex said.  They did, wondering what he was up to.  A few moments later he returned with book in hand.

 

“What’s that?”  Petey asked.

 

“Just Emms Journal,”  Alex said.  They all sat down, and Alex read out loud.

 

“Dear Journal,”  he said using a high pitched voice that made all of them laugh.  He read through most of the entries which were mostly about girls stuff, such as how Emma felt about guys she liked, and things she and Maggie did.  The last entry is what caught his eye, and he didn’t read all of it troubled by what he had found.

 

“Well read up O’Connell,”  Max said.

 

“It’s not important, besides mum will be back soon and I think I’ll just go put this back,”  Alex said.  The other two boys shrugged, and when Alex got back they all headed out to the barn to play in the hayloft.

 

 

 

 

 

That night, like many other’s before it, Emma lay awake waiting for the light in the hall to go off, so that she could go get her sleep juice.  As she waited she held Annabelle close stroking her red curls.

 

“Don’t worry Annabelle, it won’t be too much longer,”  she said.  Finally the lights did go off, and once she was sure they wouldn’t be coming out again, Emma snuck downstairs to the Liquor cabinet.  She found the key where her father always kept it, in his desk, and opened it up getting the shot glass as well as the bourbon.  As she was putting the bottle back she heard someone clear their throat, and looked up finding Alex there.

 

“Alex,”  she said, as she stood up again trying to hide the shot glass behind her.

 

“I know you’ve been sneaking shots so you can sleep.  Emma thats not safe...”  she cut him off.

 

“So you read my Journal?”  she asked hardly believing he had.

 

“No, why would I do that,”  he lied. 

 

“Oh don’t give me that,”  she snapped.

 

“I put my Journal on my bed, under the other pillow, not the one I sleep on, and today when I got home, it was on my side of the bed, and you wouldn’t happen to know all of what you had just said without reading it,”  she finished.  Now Alex felt bed, he hadn’t really thought about how he would approach her, and now she knew.

 

“Emms I’m sorry,”  he said.

 

“Wait till I tell mum,”  she replied heading for the stairs.

 

“Fine then I’ll tell them both what you have been doing to get to sleep,”  Alex said.  That stopped her dead in her tracks and she turned around pushing past him.  She grabbed the shot glass and downed it’s contents.

 

“I’m never speaking to you again,”  she said as she put the glass away, and left him standing alone.  For long moments Alex stood there trying to think about what he could do to make it up to her, and the first thing was to lock the cabinet which he did, and put the key back which he also did, then he went back to his room.

 

 

 

 

The next few days were busy for everyone.  At the Museum, Evelyn had a new exhibit opening on the Aztec Indian’s, and was busy with the preparations of that.  Rick and Sam were contracting with a company in the United states to build sporting yachts, and Emma and Alex were not speaking to one another.  When the weekend finally came, both Rick and Evelyn decided that they needed to do something for the family, and at breakfast brought that up.

 

“Alex, Emma, how would the two of you like to come with mum and I to see a picture show today?”  Rick asked.  It was raining, and the best thing to do, was to attend a picture show.

 

“No thanks,”  Alex said sliding his plate away.  He got up and left, and Emma did the same. 

 

“I think we have a problem,”  Rick said looking over at his wife, and then to Jonathan who had been with the kids more than them.

 

“What?  They have these spats all the time,”  he defended, not wanting Rick’s wrath.

 

“Do you happen to know why they are upset?”  he asked.  Jonathan had tried asking both of them that and neither were willing to talk about it.

 

 

 

 

 

In her room Emma lay on her bed petting Cleo who never came in, unless she knew she was needed.

 

“I hate having a brother,”  she mumbled as she stroked the cats ears.  Cleo purred, and Emma rested her cheek against the soft pillow, not answering when Evie knocked on the door and walked in.

 

“Emma will you tell me what happened with you and Alex?”  Evelyn asked sitting on the bed beside her daughter, gently rubbing her back.

 

“I don’t want too talk,”  Emma said.  All she wanted at this moment was to be left alone, though she knew her mother wouldn’t do that.

 

“I think you might feel better if you talked,”  Evie tried.  Emma closed her eyes, and said nothing, hoping her mum would get the message.  Things lately were getting so mixed up.  Philip and Andrew wouldn’t stop teasing her about being a snob, because she didn’t like talking to them, and now Alex knew all the contents of her Diary, as well as his two little friends. 

 

“Emma if you want to talk, I will be in my room,”  Evelyn said after a long spell of silence.  She leaned forward and kissed her daughters soft blond hair then got up and left.  Once she was gone, Emma let out a shuttering sigh still petting Cleo, and soon sleep fell over her.

 

 

 

 

In his son’s room, Rick was doing his best to get Alex to talk, but like Emma, Alex wasn’t much in the mood to do so.

 

“Why don’t you and I go out today, just us.  We haven’t done that in a long time,”  Rick said trying a change of tact. 

 

“I’d rather stay here,”  Alex said keeping his face barried in his pillow.  Getting the silent treatment from his kids wasn’t something Rick liked, so he decided to leave before he didn’t something he regretted.  In their room, he found Evelyn sitting in their bed reading a book.

 

“Did he say anything to you?”  she asked, setting her book aside on the mattress.  With a frustrated sigh, Rick walked over, and settled beside her.

 

“Not one word.  What ever it is, it’s something that has hurt both of them.  I’m half tempted to interrogate them, you know?  Sit them down on the couch in the Parlor and tell them they don’t leave until they spill the beans,”  Rick said.  Knowing that he was not in the best of moods, made Evie want to fix that, so she snuggled closer to him and smiled as he wrapped his arms around her.

 

“When did raising kids become so difficult?”  Rick asked as he kissed the top of her head.

 

“I think it’s a known fact that when a child turns into a teenager, that their world, as well as their parents becomes more difficult to navigate,”  Evelyn said as she lifted her head for a kiss on the lips.  Giving her a kiss there was something Rick had no problem with doing, and it wasn’t long before their passion and love for one another took them away from the problem at hand, and into a world where only the two of them existed.  Evelyn moved away from him and turned around to face him.  It surprised and pleasured him, when she grasped at his belt and unfastened it.  Her hands made fast work of pulling open his pants and exposing his bulging erection, and while she did that he untucked her shirt from her slacks and pulled it up and over her head, then moved her hands away from his pants, and stood up undressing the rest of the way, as well as closing the door so the kids wouldn’t walk in on them.

 

“I need you,”  he said, as he walked over to the bed and helped her stand up.  Once she was undressed, he pulled her against him, bending down to rub himself against her.  Evelyn gasped out as he did that wrapping her arms around his neck.  They kissed, and Rick lifted her up, then laid her down on the bed and moved over her leaning his head in too kiss her again.  She reached down between them and rubbed her hand along his hard flesh, getting a moan from him.  When she guided him to her entrance he thrust into her and both of them gasped.

 

“I love you,”  Evelyn said.  His response was to kiss her, then he started a slow gentle rhythm of entering and leaving her body.

 

 

 

 

 

It was the same dream, the same forgotten memory of her father yelling at her to open her door before he started to kick it in.  Just as he was about to back hand her, Emma sat up in her bed out of breath.  It took a moment to compose herself, but once she had she got out of bed and went to her desk.  There she opened her Journal and began to write.

 

 

Dear Journal

 

No one knows but me about my father.  He was happy once but then he got mad. My mum would yell at him to go out until he had calmed down but he would hit her, and then one day her screams stopped, and then he came after me.  I don’t want these dreams anymore.  I sleep and they are there. 

 

 

 

Emma put her pen down, and put her Journal away, in her desk locking it so Alex wouldn’t find it anymore, then went downstairs.  No one was there, and she wondered if they left her alone.  In front of the house, she found both of her parents cars parked there.

 

“Emma?”  came a voice from behind.  Not expecting that, Emma let out a very loud scream, and found Jonathan standing there. 

 

“I didn’t mean to scare you,”  he said.

 

“I’m fine,”  she said and pushed past him embarrassed.  Once she had put her coat on, Emma went outside despite the rain heading for the barn.

 

 

 

Both Rick and Evelyn had drifted into a light sleep after making love, when they heard a familiar scream.   Emma’s scream sent Rick out of bed fast, and as soon as he found his pants and pulled them on, he ran down the hall to her room, and then downstairs where he found Jonathan coming in from the front entry. 

 

“Where is Emma?”  Rick asked.  Seeing his hair tousled, and just in his pants, Jonathan grinned.

 

“Oh I walked up on her, and scarred her, she’s fine, just went for a walk outside,”  Jonathan said absently.

 

“Jonathan it’s raining,”  Rick replied not happy.

 

“Well she didn’t seem in the mood to talk,”  Jonathan said trying to defend his actions of not going after her.  Rick grumbled something and went upstairs.  In their room Evelyn had gotten dressed, and was putting on her shoes when he walked in.

 

“Emma is outside, and upset,”  Rick said.

 

“I’ll go after her,”  Evelyn said, though this time Rick stopped her.

 

“Why don’t you let me go?”  he asked, pulling her into his arms for a needed hug.  She wrapped he arms around his waste.

 

“I’ll try to talk to Alex then,”  she said.  Once Rick had left, Evelyn went to do that.

 

 

 

In the Barn Emma shook off her coat and put it on one of the hooks next to the stalls, then climbed up in the hay loft.  Bandit was there with her kittens, and Emma picked up a little orange a white kitten.

 

“What should we call you?”  she asked as she held the kitten against her chest.  It mewed at her, and Emma smiled.

 

“Emma are you in here?”  came her fathers voice.

 

“I’m up here dad,”  Emma said, kind of glad he was the one coming after her.  In a moment Rick appeared, and walked over to where she was sitting.

 

“Why do most of Bandits kittens end up dying?”  Emma asked.  The only one of her kittens who was fully grown was Tigg, and he was wild enough not to like anyone near him.

 

“I think its the law of nature, the strong survive,”  Rick said as he reached out to pet the kitten in Emma’s arms.   Emma sighed, and Rick sat closer to her.

 

“Why don’t you tell me what’s been making you so sad lately?”  Rick asked.

 

“It’s nothing I can handle myself,”  Emma said, though she knew she would likely need both of her parents for this one, but she just wasn’t ready to deal with that right now.

 

“Did Alex do something to upset you?”  Rick asked trying to push a little.

 

“No more than usual,”  she said putting the baby kitten down with it’s mum and other siblings.

 

“I think I want to go call Maggie now,”  Emma said.  Rick watched her go, wishing he had a guide, or a book to tell him how to handle a teenage girl.

 

 

 

It had been a long time since Evie and Alex had made cookies, and now the two of them had made a mess of the kitchen.   At the moment, Alex was decorating his gingerbread men while Evelyn got the first batch out of the oven.  Neither of them saw Emma looking in at them, nor did they see her leave.  Finding them together like that made her feel even more alienated, and Emma ran to her room and got out her large satchel.  In to it, she packed four changes of cloths, her hair brush and tooth brush, as well as her Journal.  Emma got out her Christmas money, which she had been saving to buy a new Saddle for her horse, and the money she had saved from Baby-sitting, and put that in the side pocket of her satchel.  When everyone was in bed tonight, she would leave.  After packing, Emma lay in her bed trying not to think about how hurt she felt, and when that didn’t work she decided to leave now instead of at night.

 

 

 

Finding his wife and son in the kitchen having a food fight lightened Rick’s heart.

 

“What is going on in here?”  he asked.  Alex laughed as his mother took an egg and threw it at his dad.  The egg splatted against Rick’s head, and both Evelyn and Alex laughed.

 

“That does it,”  Rick said.  He walked over to Evelyn and grabbed her taking a few eggs, which he stuffed down her shirt and smashed. 

 

“Hey you can’t do that to her,”  Alex said.  He ran over to his dad with a very cold glass of water, and dumped it over his head.  Alex wasn’t as tall as Rick but he was gaining, and so he was able to reach over his head very easily.  While the rest of the family had a food war, Emma made her get away despite the heavy rain.  She would go to the port and from there get a ticket for any ship and just go.

 

“All right we better get this cleaned up,”  Rick said.  He was laying on the ground with Alex laying over his chest, and Evie settled beside him, all of them, as well as the kitchen a complete mess.  It was around that time that they all became aware of a burning smell.

 

“Our Cookies,”  Alex yelled, and as he got up he managed to knee his father in the groin.  Evelyn took notice as Rick yelped, but Alex was too worried about the cookies to apologize.

 

“Are you all right darling?”  Evelyn asked kissing him on the lips.

 

“I’ll be just fine,”  Rick said in a high pitched tone.  Evelyn stood up and helped him stand, then they set about cleaning the mess they had made.

 

 

 

 

Emma had lucked out getting a ride to the port with a young couple, and now she had her tickets for a morning ship to America.  There were all sorts of Hotel’s around, and she was able to get a room of her own, explaining that she was getting it for her parents.  She used their name’s to get it, guessing that by the time they thought to look for her here, she would be long gone.

 

 

 

 

Once the kitchen was clean, Evelyn decided to go upstairs and check on Emma.  When she arrived she found that her door was opened, and that her daughter was not there, which meant she had likely gone off to see Maggie, though Evelyn wished she would tell someone, and decided when she got back they would have a talk about that.

 

 

 

When it got dark, Evie decided to call over at the Robinsons to remind Emma to come home.  It was Maggie who answered her call.

 

“Maggie this is Mrs. O’Connell.  Will you please tell Emma, that either I or her father will be there to get her in a few minutes?”  Evelyn asked.

 

“She’s not here,”  Maggie said.  Evie frowned, and after getting off the phone with her, she went back to Emma’s room to see if she had taken any of her money, perhaps to go see a picture show, though it was not like her to just leave without a word.  Upon checking her shoebox, where she kept her money, Evelyn found all of it gone, and then checking around her room, Evie found other things missing, like Annabelle, and her hairbrush and toothbrush. 

 

“RICK,”  she shouted as she ran out of her room.  He came running up the stairs and caught her in his arms.

 

“Emma is gone,”  Evelyn said visibly shaken.  At first he didn’t understand what she meant by gone, but then he did, and pulled her with him down the stairs where Alex and Jonathan were getting ready to play game of chess.

 

“Alex we need to know what happened with you and Emma now,”  Rick said.  The tone in his fathers voice, was a good indication that Alex needed to do what he was told.

 

“Well Me and the guys got into her Diary.  We weren’t doing it to be mean, well just to tease a little, but I read in it that she  is having dreams about her father, before you dad, and that she can’t sleep so she takes shots of your bourbon.  So I came down here one night and caught her, and we had a big fight.”  Alex said.

 

“Alex what you did was very wrong, that Journal is for her private thoughts.  Your grounded until I say otherwise,”  Rick said, then he and Evie left to try and find their daughter.  Once they had gone, Alex got on his own Jacket and left for the barn.  If Emma was gone, then she was likely running away, and since Alex thought like her, he figured she would be at the port.

 

 

 

 

In her small hotel room, Emma lay in her bed crying.  She had managed to get some sleep, but she had dreaming about her father coming back and killing her parents now, and Alex, and it was too much for her to take in.  Once she composed herself, she decided to check out, and go wait down the docks.  Outside it had stopped raining, and she found a dry spot under some scaffolding, and watched a mother cat carrying her babies from one crate to another.  Emma didn’t see Alex’s approach not until he grabbed her around the mouth.

 

“Shh it’s just me,”  Alex said.  Anger quickly got the better of her.

 

“Well I don’t need you,”  she said as she spun around.

 

“Yeah you do.  Look I’m sorry about the Diary, and all that, but guess what Emms you have us now, and your just ready to go and run off and throw all that away,”  Alex said. 

 

“Well you certainly didn’t need me today when you were baking cookies,”  she snapped.

 

“That’s because you were off sulking and I went to your room to ask, but you weren’t there,”  Alex snapped back.

 

“I’m better off on my own,” she said turning away from him.  Seti winnied, and Alex looked back finding both his parents approaching.

 

“Well then tell that to mum and dad.”  She spun around ready to tell him she would when she saw them approaching.

 

“Alex?”  Evie said.

 

“How did you know?”  he asked.

 

“Good guessers,”  Rick said not happy with either of the children at the moment.

 

“Well I’ll be heading home now,”  Alex said.  They didn’t even say a word to him, and he was glad for once not to be on their bad side.  It had started to rain again, and all of them were getting wet.

 

“Your coming with us now,”  Rick said.  Emma stood her ground.

 

“No I’m not.  I have tickets, and I have money, and I don’t need you,”  she said.

 

“Rick I think we should...”  Rick took her hand in his and squeezed it.

 

“Emma I don’t care if you have tickets or not.  You are my daughter, and I am your father, and you are coming home, even if I have to sling you over my shoulder and drag you there,”  Rick said.  Emma looked like a scarred Rabbit ready to run at any moment. 

 

“Fine but you can’t make me talk to you,”  she said.  She walked past them and when she felt she had enough distance she made a run for it.  She ran as fast as her legs would take her behind the maze of crates, and heard her father curse.  He couldn’t make her go with him, and if she had to hide there for the rest of her life she would.

 

“Emma come out now,”  Rick said louder than he had meant too.  Evelyn knew her husband was angry, and in part she was too, but there was more behind this than just Emma being stubborn.

 

“Emma Alex told us about the diary, and about your dreams,”  she said hoping that would open a door of communication between them.

 

“He had no right to read it,”  she called out.  She was freezing and sneezed, and Rick followed that to where she was kneeling down.

 

“When you have a family Emma, it means you have people on your side,”  he said.  She turned then went willingly into his arms.  She didn’t cry, but she let the strength she felt there wash over her.  After a moment, Rick stood up and they all went to the car to go home.

 

 

 

 

When they arrived Evelyn, and Emma went up to her room.  While Evie ran the water in the bath, Emma got undressed then went in her small bathroom.  She stepped into the bath and didn’t object when her mother joined her.

 

“Am I going to get punished for leaving?”  she asked, as she leaned her head back, letting her mum pour warm water over her soft, blond hair.

 

“I think your going to be sticking around the house for a while,”  Evelyn said as she poured some lavender shampoo on her daughters head.  At that, Emma sighed.  She hated being grounded, but then again she hadn’t exactly been easy to deal with, so she guessed she deserved that.

 

“Is dad mad about me taking his Liquor?”  she asked.  Mad didn’t even begin to describe Rick’s reaction to that, and she knew he had wanted to do more than ground her, but since she was having dreams about her abusive father, Evelyn had pointed out, that type of punishment would make it worse.

 

“He is quiet angry, and with good reason.  Your young angel, and you don’t need to be drinking to get rid of your dreams.”  Evelyn rinsed her hair out then held her close.

 

“Will you tell me what you dream?”  Evie asked.  Emma took a breath.

 

“My father killed my mum when I was three.  He always yelled, and always drank, and I hid in my room when he would yell.  Mum would yell back and cry, and I think he hit her, but it got really quiet then he yelled at me to open my door.  I hid under my bed....He,”  she stopped shaking her head, and Evelyn wrapped her arms around her.

 

“He had blood on his hands, but I didn’t know what it was, and he smacked me and told me I was just like her,”  Emma sobbed then, and Evelyn rocked her.

 

“I keep seeing it in my dreams mum, and I don’t know how to make it stop, its like its burned into my brain,”  she said taking in a breath.

 

“Maybe because you have held it in.  When Christina died, I held the pain of her loss in, and I had dreams about her calling out for me.”

 

“What did you do?”  Emma asked.

 

“Your father made me face what I didn’t want to face, which was that we were not going to see her again, not at least in this life,”  Evelyn said.

 

“What did he say?”  she asked feeling a bit uncomfortable.  Her own pain was surfacing, and anytime it did, she had learned to run from it.

 

“We had a fight, and I tried to deny what I was feeling, but he told me quite forcefully that Christina was never coming back, and I fell into his arms and cried.  I think it took a few days of crying for my heart to begin to heal, and the dreams eventually subsided.

 

“I want to get out now,”  Emma said.  Evelyn kissed the top of her head and let her go.

 

“When you get dressed your father wants you to see him,”  Evelyn called out as she leaned back to wash her own hair.

 

 

 

In their room Rick sat at his desk, finishing a phone call he had made to the ticketing Agent who had sold Emma her ticket, giving them his mind on selling it to her without an adult.  As he hung up the phone, and turned around, he found her standing at the door.

 

“Shut the door,”  he said.  She did so and walked over to him, and he lifted her up settling her on his lap.

 

“Emma, I’m not happy with your behavior of late.  You are still young enough to need rules, and when you don’t follow them you get punishment.  I know your father abused you when you were a little girl, and thats why I’m not going to spank you this time.  But if you ever get into my liquor cabinet again, I won’t hesitate.  Liquor isn’t good for you, neither is it good for me, which is why I only drink when it’s a special occasion.”

 

“I’m sorry I’ve been difficult to deal with,”  she said.  His kiss on the top of her head reassured her that he still loved her.

 

“Mum said you made her face things when Christina died,”  Emma said trying not to change the subject.

 

“Yes I did,”  Rick replied not sure what she was getting at.

 

“My dad killed my mum, and when I think about it, and get sad I run from it because I don’t like how I feel.  Mum says that I need to face the pain in my heart,”  Emma said turning to face him.

 

“What he did was wrong,”  Rick said not really knowing what to tell her.

 

“He told me I was like my mum, I guess because Mum always fought him to keep me safe, and then he hit me across my face very hard.  I told him to stop because he was hurting me, but he hit me again, then he pulled me in the bathroom and he stuck my head in the toilet,”  Emma said. She held on to Rick as tight as she could and Rick held her close.

 

“I hate him,”  she said  lifted her face again too look at him.

 

“I hope he is burning for what he did to mum and me because he is an awful man, and he won’t keep haunting me because I have you and mum and Alex and Uncle John,”  she said.  Her voice was getting louder, and Rick knew she was mad.

 

“I don’t want to remember him,”  she said and she covered her ears trying to get the thoughts of him, and the images associated with those thoughts to go away.  She shook her head, and Rick held on to her.  When she screamed it wasn’t long before Evie and Alex came through the door, and Rick shook his head, so they left. 

 

“What’s wrong with Emms?  Alex asked, as Evie led him back to his room where they had been sharing a story.

 

“She is facing her past,”  Evie said hugging him.  They heard her screaming for a while longer, then heard her crying, and Evelyn wanted to go in to her, but she also knew that Emma had chosen Rick to open up too, and understood it even if Emma did not.  She needed to have a father she could trust, and she had that now with Rick.

 

 

 

 

It was quite a bit later when Evelyn said goodnight to her son, and once she had, she went in to the room she and Rick shared.  Both Rick and Emma lay in their bed.  Rick was still awake, and Emma was snuggled against him.  Quietly Evie walked over to her husband and leaned in kissing him.

 

“How is she?”  Evie whispered as she rubbed her daughters back.

 

“I think she will heal with time like you did, but she has a great deal to work through, and I think we need to go with her tomorrow when she goes to see Dr. Maurice,”  Rick said softly as he eased away from her.  Emma sighed and snuggled against his pillow, content for the moment.  When he straightened, Evelyn snuggled against him, and he let her strength renew his own.

 

“If her father was still alive I would kill him,”  Rick said softly. 

 

“What did she say?”  Rick kissed the top of her head.

 

“He tried to drowned her in the toilet,”  Rick said.

 

“Oh god,”  Evie gasped looking at their daughter.

 

“Yeah.  How can a parent come to that point.  I look at both of them, and they can make me angry enough to want to scream, but I would never think about taking their life.  Kids are gifts, their not ours Evie not totally ours, and we have a job to protect them,”  Rick said.  In response Evelyn hugged him closer, and it was a long time before either of them parted.

 

 

 

A few days passed, and since it was sunny and dry, Emma was sitting out in the garden, reading one of her favorite books, Jane Eyre.  She was so into that world, she didn’t notice her brothers approach, not until he was standing right in front of her.  When she looked up she saw that he was holding the orange and white kitten, and that the kitten had a bow tied around its neck.

 

“Mum said that I could wash him, and that you can have him as your pet inside if you want too,”  Alex said.  Their fighting, at least for him, had gone on long enough, and he wanted them to be friends again.  Emma stood up and hugged him then held the small kitten.

 

“Alex I’m sorry for getting mad at you.  I guess I’m still not used to having you guys care for me, so well Will you forgive me?”  she asked looking at him.  He grinned at her, one very much like their fathers.

 

“Only if you forgive me for sneaking into your Journal,”  he said.  When she hesitated he looked down afraid that she was still mad, and looked up when he heard her laughing.

 

“You wait,”  he said, and she screaming still holding her kitten, running off.  Life as it was seemed to be back to normal for the O’Connells, and for now life was blissful as it should be.