Finding Emma

He's Home

The pizza came and Jimi paid for it. "Pizza is here" Jimi said and set it on the coffee table. Karen put Elijah in the swing that Jimi had assembled a few days before Elijah was born. She strapped him in and turned it on. Karen sat back down and grabbed a slice of pizza. They all sat together on the couch and watched Elijah in the swing. "Who knew a baby could be so entertaining" Emma said and Jimi and Karen laughed. After a while, Elijah started to fuss a little, so Karen got him out of his seat. "I think he's hungry" Karen said. "Did you put the breast milk in the freezer that you pumped at the hospital?" Jimi asked. "Yeah, it shouldn't be frozen yet" Karen replied. "I'll warm him up a bottle" Jimi said. "Thanks" Karen said, rocking the infant. "Mama, could I try feeding him?" Emma asked. "Sure sweetie" Karen said. Emma sat up straighter on the couch and Karen carefully laid Elijah in her arms. He started to calm down a bit when Emma started rocking him. "He loves his big sister" Karen said with a smile. Jimi brought over the bottle and handed it to Emma. Karen told Emma what to do. Elijah started drinking the bottle and was making little noises as he drank it. "You're a pro Em" Jimi said and Emma smiled at him. Karen got out her phone and took a picture of her two kids. When she put her phone away she looked at her little family. She thought about how lucky she was. She thought about how all of this started because of a kiss on a couch in a small appartment seven years ago.

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It was about 7:00 that night and Elijah had fallen asleep in Karen's arms. Karen decided to put him in his crib in the nursery. They had decorated the nursery with light blue paint and with stenciled creamy yellow and brown animals. The crib was a dark wood with a matching changing table, dresser and rocking chair. There was a dark blue reclining chair next to the dark wooden book shelf. They had a wooden chest filled with baby toy and a small shelf filled with stuffed animals.

Karen carried him carefully up the stairs and walked all the way down the hall to the nursery. She walked in and turned on the lamp so it wasn't too bright. She walked over to the crib and slowly laid him down. He was in footy pajamas so she figured he wouldn't need to be covered up. She turned on the mobile that had little animals that matched the ones on the walls and played soft music. After Karen laid him down she looked at him and smiled. He was still asleep and he looked so peaceful. She stood there for a little while just watching him sleep.

Jimi was downstairs with Emma. She was curled up next to him and Jimi had his arm around her and they were watching TV. "How long has Mama been upstairs?" Jimi asked her. Emma shrugged her shoulders. "I wonder what's taking her so long." Jimi said. "Maybe Elijah woke up" Emma said and looked up at him. "I'm gonna see what's going on" Jimi said and got up off the couch.

Jimi walked quietly up the stairs and he saw the lamp on in the nursery. He walked down the hall and peeked in the doorway. He smiled at the sight in front of him. Karen was standing over Elijah's crib and was quietly singing to him. He quietly walked in the room and wrapped his arms around Karen's waist. Karen didn't hear him come in the room and she jumped when Jimi did that. "Sorry" Jimi whispered. "I didn't hear you come in" Karen whispered back. Jimi kissed her cheek. "Whatcha doing" Jimi asked. "Watching him sleep" Karen replied. "He's so peaceful and doesn't have a worry in the world" Karen continued. "I just want it to stay like that" Karen added. "I want that for Emma too" Karen said. "I know, and I do too, but you can't protect them from everything" Jimi said. "I know, and then with everything Emma has been through, I just want to take away all that hurt that's inside of her. I just wish we could have found her sooner so she wouldn't have had to go through all of that and then she would be happy all the time without a worry in the world, just like Elijah" Karen said starting to tear up. "I know, but even though she had to deal with all of that, we still found her, and she is with us, and she is our little girl, and she is happy" Jimi said. "I know she is, but I can see that it still bothers her and that she still worries about us giving her up" Karen added. "She knows we love her and the foster system is something that happened to her and she will always remember it, but she will also remember that we got her out of it and gave her two loving parents and a little brother" Jimi said. Karen looked up at him and smiled. "We did, didn't we" Karen said and Jimi leaned down and gave her a kiss. "I just want both of our babies to be happy and safe" Karen said. "Me too" Jimi said.