The Story of Emma Andrews

Knock Out

Emma smiled at her dad as he walked in. Taking off his coat, Fred greeted his daughter with a kiss. 

"Hey Peanut."

"Hey, dad." She got up as he grabbed a beer from the fridge. "Long day?" He nodded as he opened the bottle and  took a swig.

"SoDale project is tomorrow. I wanted make sure everything was in order." 

Moving towards the kitchen island, he watched as his daughter took out a Tupperware with the dinner she had made earlier. "I made penne alla vodka. Figured you wouldn't be home on time." 

Smiling at her, she continued to heat up his meal.

"So uh, Em, is everything okay? I know we haven't had a chance to talk, but Archie told me about yours and Veronica's confrontation at school." Taking the plate out of the microwave, she placed the dish in front of him and proceeded to grab the grated cheese from the fridge.

"I'm over it. Next time, just give me a heads up. Hearing of it through mindless ease dropping wasn't all too great."

"Peanut, I wasn't keeping it from you. Your mom and I-"

"Dad," She began as she placed the cheese down. "Really it's fine. After a long blow out with Archie, I get it. I'm not mad. I just want you to be happy."  She nodded at him.

He could tell the topic made her still feel uneasy, but he knew she would've spoken up if she was against it. 

He nodded at her as he began to eat, noting how good it was. Usually when he arrived home from late, Archie and him ate left overs or sandwiches. It was nice to have someone who enjoyed cooking.

"I added prosciutto this time. I prefer it over the bacon."

"Well Peanut, you have knocked it out of the park once again."

"Thanks." He ate as she checked her phone to see a message from Cheryl pop up. 

'I get it. I just know my dear mother will not enjoy it. Not one bit.' 

They had been discussing the issues over Polly. Seemingly, Cheryl began to turn around to the idea of seeing this baby as the last piece of Jason she had.

"I wanted to also talk to you about another thing." He stated causing her to meet his eyes. "Jughead, he's gonna stay here for a while. Hopefully, until FP gets better."

She had been bothered that Jughead was in her house, avoiding the second floor, she wanted to lessen the potential of running into him. She figured after seeing the boys locked away in their room for the weekend that something was up. "Great."

"I hope your okay with that? Not... that it sounds like you are." Fred knew that the two had been on the outs. He didn't want his daughter to feel like a stranger in her own house, noting that she was either in her room or at Thornhill with Cheryl.

Shaking her head, she waved it off. "Just a random fight. Nothing too serious. I promise I won't drown him in the toilet as we sleep."

Laughing, he shook his head. "Well-- it's temporary but he's always been a major part of this household. It's the least I could do." He said reasoning with his daughter. 

Emma, hadn't needed any reasoning while she was still mad at him, it didn't mean that she would leave him to the wolves. She knew FP had drank himself into suppression, and Jughead hated that. Putting her own feelings aside, she promised herself by making the scenario better by just evading it all together.

"Well, if you're cool with it, so am I. I still have my bedroom all to myself so..."

***

Emma sat in the student lounge again the next morning, avoiding eye contact with Jughead and sharing the ottoman with Cheryl. "What if my mom and I were to host a baby shower?" Veronica propositioned Betty.