Finding Emma

Skipping Ahead

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This time Emma won the game. Elijah was a little upset that he didn't win. "Aww, I wanted to win" Elijah said angrily and crossed his arms. "Well E, when you play games with other people, sometimes they win and it's ok because next time it might be your turn to win" Karen said. "But I wanted to win this time" Elijah said. "I know you did, maybe next time" Karen said and kissed him on the top of his head.

"Let's get you up to bed" She added. "Ok Mama" Elijah said. "Say goodnight to Daddy and Emma" Karen said. Elijah ran over to Jimi and gave him a hug. "Night night Daddy. I wuv you" he said and kissed him on the cheek. "Goodnight little man. I love you too" Jimi said. Elijah then ran over to Emma. "Night night Emma. I wuv you" Elijah said and gave her a hug. "Goodnight bud. I love you too" She said.

Elijah then walked over to the stairs and followed his Mom to his room. Karen picked out his pajamas while Elijah sat on his potty chair. "Mama, I did it I went potty!" Elijah shouted from the bathroom down the hall. "Good job baby!" Karen shouted back. Elijah washed his hands and brushed his teeth and went back to his room.

"Put your pajamas on" Karen said and handed them to him. He dressed himself and went over to the bookshelf and picked out a book for Karen to read. Karen sat down in the rocking chair while Elijah picked out his book. "Let's read this one, Mama" He said and handed her the book. He then climbed up on her lap and snuggled real close to her.

Karen read the story, as usual, Elijah was out like a light by the end of it. She carefully picked him up and laid him in his bed. She covered him up and kissed his forehead. "Goodnight baby. I love you" She whispered and gave him another kiss before she left the room.

She walked out and shut the door to where it was just barely open, just the way Elijah likes it. She walked down the hall and saw that Emma was getting ready for bed as well. "Goodnight baby. I love you" Karen said and kissed Emma on the cheek. "Goodnight Mama. I love you too" Emma replied.

Karen then walked into her own room to get ready for bed. Jimi just walked out of the bathroom and climbed into bed. "How did he go down?" Jimi asked. "Good. He fell asleep before the story was over" Karen said. "Figures" Jimi said with a smile.

When Karen was done she climbed into bed on her side. Then she scooted closer to Jimi and he put his arm around her. "Goodnight babe, I love you" Jimi said and kissed her. "I love you too" Karen said and then they both went to sleep.

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It was about 2:30 in the morning and it started to storm. The Nashville area was expected to get severe storms throughout the night. Elijah, being three years old, is afraid of storms. He heard the first crash of thunder and got out of bed and ran down the hallway. He opened the door to his parent's room and ran over to the bed. He ran to Karen's side and shook her arm. Karen opened her eyes to see Elijah with tears in his eyes. "What's wrong baby?" she asked him. "Mama, I scared" he said in a tearful voice. Karen sat up and reached down to pick him up. She laid him between her and Jimi. There was another crash of thunder and a lot of lightning. Elijah scooted closer to Karen.

A few seconds later there was another set of light footsteps into their room. Karen turned her head and saw Emma at the side of the bed. "Come on up here sweetie" she said. Emma climbed up between Karen, Elijah and Jimi. As Emma was climbing up, Jimi woke up. "This bed got really full really fast" He said in a groggy voice. There was another crash of thunder and Emma scooted closer to Jimi. "I thought you weren't scared of storms anymore?" Jimi said. "I'm not, but this one is really bad" She said.