Dear Emmett

Chapter Fourteen - [Meeting The Family.]

Three months, six days.

I was standing in front of a mirror, eyeing it with one of the dresses I had picked out. Each day, it was becoming a bit more obvious that I was pregnant. It was a scary thought, knowing it would soon be unmistakably pregnant.

Turning to one side, I wondered if this was the right dress for today. This one was blue, the other one red.

“Pick the red one.”

Aunt Lauren startled me when she spoke, slipping unannounced into my room. I turned around, and she smiled at me.

“You’re thinking too much, Charlotte. His family is going to love you.”

“I hope so,” I said, mustering a smile of my own.

Between spending an entire day with Emmett and meeting his entire family - who could or could not hate me - there were butterflies fluttering around in my stomach.

“Do you need help with anything before I go run my errands?” She asked. I shook my head.

“Emmett’s going to be here in ten,” I said. She kissed my on the forehead, said goodbye and slipped out. I changed into the red dress, put an American flag headband on my head so my bangs were out of my face and put on a small amount of make up.

Knock, knock, knock.

I rushed down the stairs a little bit, stopping before I reached the door so I could compose myself. Calm down. It’s only Emmett. Although that did nothing to ease the butterflies in my stomach, I reached forward and pulled the door open. Upon seeing me, he took off his ball cap.

“Hello, Emmett. You’re a bit early.”

“If you ain’t early, you’re late,” He replied, winking at me. “Don’t you look lovely?”

My breath caught in my throat.

“Thank you.”

He helped me grab some of the desserts and put them in his truck. He said we’d put them in the kitchen and then he’d show me what he’d been working on all week that had kept him busy. He seemed really excited about it.

“My family is going to like you, you know,” He said as we turned into his driveway.

“You think so?” I asked.

“Why wouldn’t they?”

I swallowed, not wanting to answer. Because I’m some random seventeen year old who’s pregnant with your child.

“They know it takes two to tango, Charlotte,” He said, laughing a little bit. “They know it’s not ideal we’re having a baby right now, but they’ve all had some time to adjust. They know I’m not some flaky loser who’s going to ditch you.”

Once again, I felt bad for assuming that he’d want nothing to do with me or my - our - baby. But his words reassured me, and I felt a little bit better. We got to his house, and we put the desserts on the kitchen table.

“Okay, so my grandparents were going to leave their land to my sister and I, but I wasn’t sure that was a good idea. Don’t get me wrong - I love Brooke, but we’d kill each other if we had to work together. We’re both hard heads, if you haven’t noticed,” He began his surprise as we walked outside. It was a hot, sunny day with a light breeze. Perfect.

“So I’ve recently told them to just leave it to her,” He went on.

I raised my eyebrows.

“You did?” I asked.