𝐫𝐮𝐧𝐧𝐞𝐫, 𝗲𝗺𝗶𝗹𝘆 𝗽𝗿𝗲𝗻𝘁𝗶𝘀𝘀

𝟎𝟑𝟕

"So, your turn to pick a movie?" Noah asks as she grins.

"Okay," Emily agrees and leans back onto the couch. Noah takes the last sip of her hot chocolate and sees Sergio come down the steps.

"Serg!" Noah sings as he comes to sit on the couch, "I know! Emily ruined our reading time." She talks to the cat as Emily shakes her head.

"He doesn't like to be disturbed," Noah whines as she looks over at Emily.

"I didn't know you were gonna love him this much." Emily giggles.

"How can anyone not love this face?" Noah coos as she pets Sergio's head.

"Hey," Emily says as she sits her mug down on the coffee table, "I need to talk to you about something."

"Okay," Noah replies as she keeps her attention on Sergio.

"Look at me, please." Emily softly says and sees Noah's eyes shift to hers.

"Oh, it's a serious talk," Noah adds with a smile.

"I need you to listen to me," Emily states, making Noah's face fall out of fear, "I went to the court when you were at school yesterday.  And I was granted full custody of you."

"That's great!" Noah chimes as her eyes light up.

"Yeah," Emily beams with a smile, "But I need you to be sure that this is what you want."

"I've never been more sure about anything." Noah sheepishly replies.

"I just want to remind you that I'm very happy that you're in my life." Emily coos as she strokes Noah's hair.

Noah looks deep into the eyes of her mother. She has never felt such affection through a single glance. Noah knows all the words that are unspoken; the three words that her mouth did not dare to speak for years.

"Me too," Noah says and moves closer to Emily.  She sinks beside the woman as she feels an arm wrap around her.

Noah soon falls into a peaceful slumber in Emily's hold. The woman softly laughs as she notices Noah still loosely holding the empty mug in her hand. She takes the mug and sits it on the coffee table, careful not to wake the teen.

"Alright, c'mon, honey," Emily whispers as she lifts the teen into her arms.

"Em?" Noah mutters with a yawn.

"It's okay. Go back to sleep." Emily speaks in a gentle voice.

She carries the teen to her bedroom and lays her down on the bed. Noah gets comfortable as Emily pulls the duvet over her.

"Goodnight, Noah."

—
𝕤𝕦𝕟𝕕𝕒𝕪 𝕒𝕗𝕥𝕖𝕣𝕟𝕠𝕠𝕟
𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘮𝘢𝘭𝘭

"That is way too much color," Noah says as she looks at the sweater Emily is holding up.

"Noah, it's pastel blue." Emily huffs as she places it back on the rack.

"It's bright is what it is." Noah sighs as she goes through a different rack of clothing.

"Honey, you need something other than black shirts and flannels." Emily groans as she watches Noah pull out another black sweater to try on.