ATOP Chapter Forty-Two

There were strange noises happening down the hall. Something like a baby laugh and then the patter of tiny feet. Josh groaned and rolled over in bed, pulling the covers over his head. Beside him, Emma sat up with a gasp.

"He's awake," she whispered and Josh noted a sense of urgency in whatever was happening, but what it was, he had no idea.

"What kinda dream 'm I havin' now?" he mumbled, burying his face in the pillow. The tiny footsteps grew closer and something in the hall clattered to the ground. A moment of silence and then another delighted giggle.

"It's not a dream," Emma was climbing out of bed and Josh rolled over again, straining to see her face in the dark room. 

"What are you..." Realization dawned on him and he suddenly bolted up. "I forgot."

"I think you did," Emma laughed as she rushed to the door. "We're parents now. Temporarily, of course." And she swung the door open. Benjie was just a little ways down the hall, both hands sunk into an artificial flower arrangement that Emma had put on the hall table. The vase that the flowers used to be in had fallen off and rolled almost to the edge of the stairs. Benjie afforded it no more than a cursory glance and had now busied himself with extracting the largest rose from the center of the bouquet.

"Benjie?" Emma's voice was tired and she leaned against the doorway as she blinked down at him. Josh had found the light switch by now, after considerable banging around, and the sudden light was painful. It startled Benjie, who had been doing just fine in the dark, and he looked up with wide eyes. 

"Pwitty flower fo' Mommy," he explained and held out his rose for "Aunt Emmy" to see. 

"Aw, baby," Emma smiled as she sank to her knees and wrapped him in her arms. 

"What's up, kiddo?" Josh collapsed, more than sat, on the floor beside them and Benjie laughed over Emma's shoulder at him. 

"Unca Doss hair is funny," he grinned and Josh wrinkled his nose at the little boy. Emma looked and had to laugh too, Josh's hair was sticking up in every direction.

"Mommy come home now?" Benjie asked eagerly, little face turned up to Emma's with hope radiating in his big black eyes. "Daddy come home? Me wants Daddy."

"Oh... baby..." Emma swallowed hard. "It... It's going to be a little longer till Mommy and Daddy come home. They... they have to go really far away and then come back again and it will take a long time."

"Why Mommy and Daddy go faw away?" Benjie blinked hard and rubbed chubby fists at his eyes. "Mommy and Daddy not wan' me?"

"Oh no," Josh muttered. Emma pulled the little boy into the biggest hug she could possibly manage.

"No, no, Mommy and Daddy want you, Benjie. They love you soooo much. I promise. They love you more than anything else in the whole world."

Benjie's body drooped and he hid his face against Emma's shoulder. 

"Mommy and Daddy get new baby," he whispered. "Dey don' wan' me. Me is bad boy." He sniffed loudly and his little shoulders shook. Emma glanced up at Josh helplessly and he shook his head at her, mouthing "I don't know".

"Think I should call Mom?" Emma hugged Benjie tighter as he started to quietly sob. 

"It's three in the morning..."

"But she said to call if we needed anything..."

"Wa-an' Moooommy..." Benjie wailed and burst into hysterical tears.

"Aw, no, Baby... don't cry..." Emma murmured, rocking back and forth. "It's okay, Baby, Mommy and Daddy will come home as soon as they can, I promise. They... they have to find Aunt Bekah and Aunt Shonie, remember? They're going to bring them back home so you can play with them."

"Wan' Daaaaddy," Benjie sobbed, wiping his nose with the back of his hand. 

"Here, give him to me," Josh tugged at Benjie and Emma surrendered him with a sigh. "Hey, li'l guy, it's okay. Now listen, if you promise to stop crying, Uncle Doss will take you out to do chores in the morning, eh? You can help me milk the cows."

"Daddy's cows?" Benjie sniffed and glanced up hopefully.

"Yeah, Daddy's cows," Josh grinned and glanced at Emma again. "I keep forgetting we got two farms to take care of now... Ronnie'd better get home before it's time to start planting or I'll keel over and die, that's what."

"Wan' my Boo," Benjie whispered through a shuddering sob as he lay his forehead against Josh's cheek. 

"What's Boo?" Josh frowned and Emma giggled.

"His teddy bear. Here... go stick him in our bed and I'll get Boo. See, Benjie? Aunt Emmy's getting Boo. You can sleep with us tonight, okay? And we'll try to call Mommy and Daddy tomorrow, okay?" She grimaced as she said it, hoping desperately she could pull that off. She wasn't quite sure how to get ahold of them... they were still in France, right? Ronnie had cabled the name of the hotel they were at... she could call the hotel. Terrible charges to call, but wouldn't it be worth it?

"On phone?" Benjie perked up a bit.

"Yes, we'll try," Emma bit her lip. "But now we need to sleep, okay? Or you'll be too tired to talk on the phone."

"Otay, Aunt Emmy," Benjie sniffed again and took a long, shuddering breath as he let his head drop back onto Josh's shoulder. He was asleep again within minutes, Boo wrapped in his arms, thumb tucked in his mouth as he curled in a ball, nestled comfortably between his aunt and uncle. 

Emma's heart melted when she looked at the sleeping baby... and then twisted painfully within her. As the hours ticked by, she lay awake, her eyes on the tiny form beside her. And she prayed... hoping desperately that somehow... and soon... her time would come. How she longed for a baby of her own... Katie had called that morning with her news, and had consequently sworn Emma to secrecy so she could surprise the rest when Ronnie and Rachel returned... Marci's baby would be born any day now... and Rachel had just started to show a visible "baby bump" when she left a week ago. It wasn't fair... Emma pressed a hand against her empty womb and cried alone in the darkness.