After Requiem

Dinner with the Kennedy's

"Hey Emily, sorry I'm back so late my boss needed an extra report," Grace stammered as she walked into her house. 

"It's okay. How was work?" Emily asked as she stood and walked towards Grace.

Grace pauses for a moment, staring at the little girl in front of her. It had only been three weeks since the events at Rhodes Hill, and they were far from fully recovered. "Well, I'm almost finished with my big report about Raccoon City, but that's not what's super important right now," Grace said as she pulled out a piece of paper from her back pack, "I got this delivered to my desk. The paperwork for your adoption went through."

Emily smiled and said, "I'm glad."

They share a small hug before Grace asked, "You ready to start up school in a few days?"

Emily hummed and grabbed herself a book while plopping down onto the couch, "I thought learning to read would be difficult, but with the Braille key you gave me it's been getting a lot easier."

Then, Grace's phone began to ring. She pulled it from her pocket and saw a familiar contact name. She answered it and said, "Hello?"

"Hey Grace, how're you and Emily?"

"We're good, how are you and Sherry?"

"We're good, Elpis has us feeling brand new," Leon paused for a moment before continuing, "Hey uh, my wife was wondering if you and Emily wanted to come over for dinner. She heard about everything that happened and wanted to check in."

Grace quirked a brow, "I didn't know you were married."

"What is it that hard to believe?"

"No, no not at all. I'm just surprised, you seem kinda like a loner," Grace joked.

"Ouch."

They both laughed and Leon continued, "So are you in for dinner tomorrow? Don't worry, she's not a bad cook. And Sherry should be there too."

"Yeah sure, what's your address?"

Leon gave it to her, but Grace noticed it was several towns over, a three hour drive. "I don't know if dinner is a good idea. It's so far that we'd be getting back here at midnight, and I don't want to do that to Emily," Grace reasoned, a little disappointed.

Leon was quiet for a moment, but Grace could hear talking on the other side of the phone. 

"You and Emily could stay the night. We have plenty of space."

"A-Are you sure? I don't want to impose," Grace stuttered.

"Trust me, you wouldn't be imposing. It's been a minute since we've had company."

"Well... okay. See you tomorrow then."

After the call, Emily asked, "Who was that?"

"You remember Leon, right?" Grace asked.

Emily thought for a moment before shaking her head. "Oh well uh, he helped me rescue you and turn you back to normal," Grace answered.

Emily nodded and went back to her book, though Grace could see that there was something on her mind. "Is everything okay, Em?"

A small sigh escaped the young girl before she said, "I... I don't want to remember what happened that day... but it always comes back up..."

"Emily..."

"I remember feeling scared... that monster grabbing me... getting hurt... dying... turning into... whatever I was..." Emily said quietly.

Grace sighed and knelt beside Emily. "I get it. I really do. That day was really scary for both of us..." Grace said as she put a hand on Emily's arm, "But look what's happened since. You've regained your eyesight, you get to live outside that lab, and we get to be together. Now you get to go to school, make friends, and have fun."