We're Having Our Baby

Forty

"Oh," the realization hits me, "did, did you um, can I see them?"

Em nods and pushes the box towards me. I remove the lid and am met with a few less pictures than the first box, but still a lot, and this time instead of Annie I see Jared.

I can hold half of the pictures in one hand, so I start with that half and flip through the images quietly, visualizing what Em's life was like back then. I've never realized how similar Charlie and Em's baby pictures are until now. In all of these pictures of baby Emma, a ten-year-old Jared is holding her or near her playing with her in some way. It's obvious how much he loves her by the way he looks at his little sister.

The pictures progress as Em and Jared grow older. There are a few particularly cute photos of Em's first day of kindergarten and Jared's first day of high school that make me laugh. In one, Jared is forcing a smile for the camera while Em looks up to her big brother, complete adoration in her eyes. In the second, Jared notices Em isn't looking at the camera, so he points to it while Em laughs at him. The next few photos show the two siblings playfully bickering and sticking their tongues out at each other until the last photo where Em finally lets Jared pick her up to hold her, together posing and smiling for the camera.

Em and I both stay quiet as she watches me look through all the photos that she has of growing up with her brother. It's bittersweet to witness, because on one hand I haven't seen many of Em's childhood photos and seeing her and Jared getting along so well makes my heart swell, but at the same time I know there's pain and heartbreak behind many of the images I'm holding.

"These are sweet," I tell Em as I set the last photo into the box.

"Yeah, they are. They brought back a lot of memories though," she responds and looks oddly content gazing at the boxes.

"Do you want to tell me about any of them? You don't have to, but I am curious. I want to know more about your childhood."

"You know most of the happy parts," she starts, "but the story behind this box and that collection of photos isn't a happy one."

"If you're willing to share, I'm here to listen," I rub her back gently.

She proceeds to tell me the box's backstory, which was her first real fight with Jared and how she found out he was using drugs. From my point of view, I hate the kid who hurt her. She was only ten years old when she was forced to deal with the unfortunate reality of drug and alcohol addiction. I can't imagine what it was like to be so young and go from idolizing your older sibling to being so confused, scared, and angry with him.

But I know that kid, only he's much different now. It's hard to hear about Jared in this light, not just because I don't want to picture him as the bad guy, but because he's improved so much. From what I've taken away and what Em says, he's almost like a completely different person now than he was when he was using. I am so, so thankful that he got the help he needed and is now able to be the wonderful dad he is to Mason and Jamie.

"Enough of all the drama, I want to know what the other photos are and what's in these last two boxes," Em pushes "Bubba's Box" out of the way and begins opening another one.

"This is probably just all junk," she digs through papers and folders.

"Can I see?" I look over her shoulder and begin to pull a few eye-catching pieces from the box.

"Are these school projects?" I ask, opening a folder with some black and white photos and a rubric inside.

"I think so, yeah. They're probably from my freshman and sophomore years of college."

"Keep them, I want to look through them sometime," I tell her, and she reluctantly agrees saying, "they're probably all terrible."

"Okay, you open the last box and I'll look through the shoe boxes," Em says.

While she finds boxes full of high school, college, and more family photos, what I discover has to top them all.

"What's in there?" Em asks me, her gaze still set on a few photos of her and her friends at some college party.

"Uh, just some stuff from when you were in high school, I think," I tell her half of the truth while I try and hold back my laughter. I feel my face getting hotter by the minute as I secretly look through the box.

I'm just about finished when Em gasps and launches herself towards me.

"NO! DON'T LOOK THROUGH THERE!" she screams and lands on my lap. I finally let go of my laughter and cackle over her embarrassed state.

"Baby, I think it's cute," I say through my laughter.

"No, it's embarrassing," she buries her face in her hands. "I don't even know why I kept this shit."

"Excuse you! Don't be disrespectful, I worked hard to get my face on J-14 magazine and create our own perfumes. Although, I don't think I had anything to do with the singing toothbrush."

"I hate you," she mumbles.

"Then why did you have..." I pause to count, "34 posters of One Direction, not including 5 of just myself and 2 of Liam?"

"UGH!" she sighs and closes the box full of One Direction memorabilia to set aside. I make sure to tell her that we will not be getting rid of anything in that box.

"I think that's the last of it," Em looks from the stack of boxes to myself. I stand up and lend my hand to help her off the floor as well.

Once she's stood, I wrap my arms around her waist, pulling her close to me. Em rests her cheek against my chest, allowing me to rest my chin on top of her head. We stand there in our embrace for a moment before I realize she hasn't updated me on her work.

"You said you were procrastinating earlier—what did you end up doing?" I ask quietly as to not disturb the peace we've created.

"I wrote up a few job listings," she whispers, "but I'm too tired to explain. Want to shower and go to bed?"

"That's probably a good idea. I have to be up early to go into the studio again tomorrow. But, I really want to know what you've been working on so don't forget to tell me."

"I won't, I promise."

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A/N: Sooooo, the story will be coming to an end soon BUT I have big plans for a "sequel" Do you guys want to know more about it now or be surprised at the end??? Also do you want a warning before the last couple chapters or no lol.