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emerson
"mommy that's you singing!" noah shouts excitedly.
we were listening to the A-List Pop playlist on apple music while we 'clean' because they added my song to it. i still can't believe it.
"it sure is," i respond in disbelief.
and us being us, we decide to dance and jump around as the song plays. you have to cherish these moments because they sure do grow up fast.
our mini party is interrupted by the ringing of the doorbell. i tell noah to continue cleaning up his toys while i answer the door.
i'm very shocked to say the least at who stands on the other side.
"... mom?"
"hi sweetie. are you going to let me in or make me stand out here all day?" she 'asks' before budging her way past me and inside.
i slowly shut the door, "uhh i'm a little lost. aren't there guidelines about traveling right now?"
she waves her hand, "pshh that's why i am here. i wanted to get here before they put a stop to traveling. don't worry, i have been tested."
"right.."
"now where is my grandson?"
i walk over into the living room and she follows me.
"noah, come here for a second," i say and the little boy hurries over.
he gasps and jumps into my mom's waiting arms, "gramma!"
even though i know how much noah has missed his grandmother, there's still so many unresolved issues between her and i. i can't exactly say i'm pleased with her random unannounced visit.
"oh i missed you so much. you're getting too big!" she grins at him before pulling him in for another hug.
"that's because i'm four now," noah proudly responds, holding four of his fingers up.
"speaking of... i got you a present but it won't be here until tomorrow," she pokes his nose playfully before standing back up, "now where is my son-in-law?"
i sigh loudly, "mom, how many times do i have to tell you to stop calling him that?"
she rolls her eyes, "please don't start emerson. carrie told me that he was staying with you two. i'm assuming you apologized and came to your senses then?"
"mm i had nothing to apologize for," i shrug nonchalantly, "jonah apologized for being irrational and we decided it was best that he stayed here during quarantine for a while."
"nothing to apologize for? interesting. how is that jack boy doing?"
by now noah had run off to play with his hot wheels cars, leaving my mom and i in the living room alone.
"i'm sure he's doing just fine."
she takes a seat, "i'm assuming that means you put a stop to whatever nonsense was going on?"
"nothing was going on! oh my God," i groan in annoyance. please give me strength not to kick her out and send her on her way.
"then what made jonah so upset? i'm not an idiot," she shakes her head in defiance.
"you know.. it's pretty sad that you don't even bother listening to your own daughter. i'm sitting here telling you the truth but you're too busy blocking it out and taking everything jonah and his family say in instead," i snap.
she narrows her eyes at me, "i forgave how you spoke to me with that tone on the phone and hung up on me, but i will not allow you to disrespect me to my face."
"respect goes both ways, mother."
she goes to talk back but jonah finally walks into the room. he freezes when he sees my mom.
"yavonne? i didn't know you were flying out...?"
"neither did i," i say monotonously.
"well i figured i'd come see all this fuss emerson was causing, but she claims you guys worked it out?"
jonah rubs the back of his neck awkwardly, "yeah about that.. it was all my fault. i was assuming things and yeah... i should have never brought the family into it because all i did was make a big deal out of nothing-"
"jonah, dear, she moved here for you and she shouldn't have been doing things that upset you-"
"what is this? the 1900s?" i say sarcastically.
jonah glances at me while my mother only glares again.
jonah sighs, "i uh.. i dropped the custody case. it was wrong of me and it only caused more problems for us. but it was me, not emerson. i'm sorry for the confusion mama bailey."
"... if you say so," she hums while looking at her fresh manicure.
i roll my eyes and casually walk out of the room and into the kitchen. it's time to make noah some lunch (really i still had an hour until his normal lunch time but any excuse to leave the room, i was taking it).
after a few minutes, jonah walks in with an apologetic look on his face, "em i'm so sorry. i know things have always been weird between you and your mom.. i made things worse."
i shrug, "she always tries to find something wrong anyway, so not much harm done there."
"but still.. she's probably told the rest of your family shit and it's not right. i've told my family what really went down, but i don't know what your family knows and-"
"jo it's fine. i've talked to my dad and he knows the truth so that's all that really matters to me. he'll let everyone else know even if it means going against my mom," i tell him.
honestly i could care less what the rest of my family thinks about me. they never seemed to care about me when i had noah anyway - most of them wrote me off and refused to associate with me because i had noah at a young age. so if they think i'm a hoe or whatever the hell else my mother tells them then so be it.
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(a/n: @ksnoop thanks for reminding me about emerson's family cause i totally forgot and it would have been a plot hole lmao. anyway ew her mom 🤢)
