The last few months had been eventful, to say the least. She and Henry had moved to Boston for her job and that job required her to take a trip to New York City. Seeing it as a good opportunity for him to see some new sights, she took Henry with him. While there Emma ran into her old partner, Neal. Actually he ran into her, resulting in her shirt drenched in his coffee. After she and him fought (well it was mostly Emma yelling) things smoothed over surprisingly well. They took in the sights, ate pizza and hotdogs. It was nice. And one thing led to another and somehow Neal had melded into the family. A long distance relationship had been born out of that weekend.
She hated the distance, even though it wasn’t as far as it could be. She missed him. She missed his scent and how he felt. She missed how he held her and how they could talk for hours on end (or sit in contented silence). Emma loved Neal, but hadn’t told him yet. She was too scared. But that fear didn’t stop her from calling when her apartment caught fire.
When he showed up and enveloped her in a hug, she buried her face into his shirt. She breathed in the clean scent that was Neal and exhaled with a sob that wracked her body. Henry and her had just lived through a fire. They had two boxes and a suitcase left. Everything else was gone - destroyed. But they lived and they were safe (they were okay) and that is what mattered. That was all that mattered. “Thank you for coming. It means a lot,” she whispered, pulling away and shakily smoothing her hair. Emma wanted to say more, but Neal asked her if she and Henry wanted to move in with him. At any other time she would have joked about jumping the gun having not even had a date. But now was not the time. Besides they were homeless and so she agreed. That night they were headed to their new home in New York.
Living with a Neal was fabulous, even if they were cramped. It didn’t matter though. She would live in a cardboard box with Neal if she had to. Being with him made her happy. They soon fell into old routines. He’d joke about her cinnamon consumption while she joked about the lights. It was nice. What wasn’t nice was Neal sleeping on the couch. She did not like that at all and worried it would hurt his back if he wasn’t careful. But Neal never minded or complained. He was amazing.
Things were going really good. In fact, she was almost ready to confess her feelings. She didn’t want to move out of Neal’s place. She didn’t want to be separated from him. Emma told Neal so when she nixed a place because she didn’t like the toilet. That resulted in her getting a funny eyebrow raise and then an offer to move out of this place. He would seriously leave this nice place behind to start a life with her? That was sexy. So was the kiss. The kiss was very sexy and it lead to more. She’d never been happier to find more. Within that week they found a gorgeous place with plenty of room and a perfect toilet. She had never been happier or more confused. Their relationship was unique and she wasn’t entirely sure where they stood. But she liked it. She liked it a lot and never wanted to lose any of this. She felt like the luckiest woman alive.
Emma’s alarm went off. She rolled over, but let the music play. Glaring at it, Emma went to the bathroom. She stared at the pregnancy test sitting on the toilet’s back before grabbing it and looking. Due to a full bladder, Emma got up an hour earlier (before Neal was even up) and then had gone back to bed. Before sliding between the sheets, she took the test though. Now it was time to see the results. Pregnant. She was pregnant. Swallowing, she came out of the breakfast to find Neal cooking. “Morning, you,” she said, kissing his neck. “Do you remember the night you said you’d move for us? For Henry and me?”
Neal had a small stack of pancakes in the oven to keep warm by the time she came out, bacon still cooking while the eggs waited for the last possible thing. He was a little nervous but that didn't keep him from breaking into a grin as she slipped up behind him. As long as she didn't start fondling around in his pockets it would all go fine.
"Of course I remember. You and your toilet obsession," he laughed. Possibly the oddest excuse out of the lot that she had given him which was also what had finally left him offering to go with them. They had become an odd little family unofficially that night. And Henry had been rather happy since which had been the other important thing to him. He'd gone from bachelor to a full family and didn't think he could be any happier.
"Do I need to go fix the toilet? Because I'd rather not move over a broken toilet if it's all the same to you."
