The next hurdle for Emma was Thanksgiving. Prince's family had been cordial, but not exactly open to her. She was hoping getting to spend some time on their turf would warm things up.
She had reached out to Tyka to see what she could bring. Dessert was suggested, so Emma volunteered to bring a pie. She offered to bring more, but wasn't met with very much enthusiasm, so she left it at that.
Thanksgiving day, Emma came out of her dressing area in a camel cashmere sweater and black pants, with flat heeled boots and a colorful scarf that included violet, to coordinate with Prince's gifts of jewelry.
Prince came out of his dressing area in a bulky black and white striped white sweater and black pants, with his typical black suede wedge heeled shoes on. For him, he looked very conservative. Looking over the top of his glasses, he said, 'I don't remember that sweater or scarf? Have you worn them before?'
'No, but the sweater is one of my favorites. I have a collection of cashmere sweaters, so you'll see a lot of them. Am I overdressed for you family?'
'Sugar, we dress for each other, not other people. I love what you have on, especially the jewelry. We look good together, so no worries.'
Prince drove them into town in his purple Dodge Prowler. 'You like making an entrance, don't you?' Emma asked.
'My nephew likes to take a ride around the block with me. It gives me a break from the grown ups. I gotta warn you, someone is going to hit one or both of us up for money. I wish it wasn't like that, but it is. If they come to you, send them to me.'
'I guess it is hard to be at a completely different economic level than your family.'
'The other piece you should know is that we own the home we're going to. All of my family lives in homes I purchased for them, rent free.'
When they arrived at the house, Emma was glad to see Prince was no slumlord. It looked nice, and fit the neighborhood.
On entering, Emma headed for the kitchen with her pie, uncertain as to where to place it. She was greeted by Prince's sister Tyka, who was happy to see Emma again after the wedding. Emma noticed dishes in the sink, so she pulled an apron out of her handbag. Placing the handbag under the table, she asked, 'Would you like me to wash, or dry?' That broke the ice with the rest of the women in the family. Conversations flowed more easily after that.
The women wanted to know about Emma's past, so she filled in a little about her widowhood, meeting Prince, and her girls, who were staying in Atlanta for Thanksgiving. Emma complimented dishes, asked for recipes, listened more than she talked, and made herself agreeable. It worked out fine.
The men approved of Emma's appearance, but questioned Prince on his choice for his third wife. Prince replied, 'Hear me, now. To me, she's Emma. To her I'm not a superstar, I'm Prince. She's a teacher, and a musician, and she's been on me from the beginning to stop spending money on her. She's real, she's gorgeous, and she loves me. What else would I want?''
Emma and Prince went home with an empty pie plate and full tummies. Emma said 'I feel like I passed initiation today. To them I'm still not what they were expecting, but I'm also yours, and that apparently counts for something.'
Prince replied, 'Well, the men in my family appreciate what they like to call 'a good stack of flapjacks', so you won them over on that score. If the wives approve, you're in. We won't really do that for another year, unless there's a wedding or funeral to attend.'
'Okay, that's different from what I'm used to, but I've heard of that before.'
By Christmas, Emma figured out ways to be involved that were rewarding and joyful. She jumped into helping the staff that coordinated Prince's philanthropy, which turned out to be lots of fun. Many of the groups that Prince either supported or created an outreach for were child oriented, and skewed toward either music, the arts, or technology. She enjoyed working in a hands on capacity, rather than being the 'face' of a group.
She also sang with a church music program comparable to the one she had participated in while living in Georgia when she was in town. Between the two areas of interest, and the time she spent with Prince, which was the most precious time to her, her life felt full and complete for the first time in years.
They flew to Atlanta on December 22nd, and Emma immediately left Prince at her Atlanta house to hit the grocery store. She'd been mentally planning this meal ever since the wedding, as she found out Prince's likes and dislikes. It was going to be a feast of side dishes and lots of pie, which would make everyone happy, since none of them liked turkey or ham anyway.
When she walked back in the house with arms full of grocery bags, Prince was sitting on the sofa in the living room, looking exactly like a toddler on the verge of a tantrum.
'I can't do this, Emma. It goes against everything I've believed all these years. The longer I sit here, the more upset I get about it.' Prince crossed his arms over his chest, and looked genuinely distressed. Emma's heart broke to see him upset.
'Oh, darlin', if you need to head back north, I'll be okay. I'll miss you like crazy, but I don't want you down here and miserable because you think that will make me happy. Call Kirk and get yourself home where you are comfortable.' Emma gave Prince a kiss on the cheek, and snuggled in next to him on the sofa. 'I'll need some more lovin' before you leave, though. We'll need to make it good to last us for 3 days. I'll fly back up on the night of the 25th, and bring the girls with me, instead of staying here through the New Year as we had planned. It will be fine.'
Prince took a deep breath, put his arms around Emma, leaned in close to her ear, and whispered, 'Psych. Merry Christmas, baby.'
Emma swatted Prince on the arm. 'You are the worst! I was feeling terrible about making you do something you hated. I'm not sure how I'm going to get back at you for this one.
Prince was laughing so hard he was bent double. 'Oh, mama, you are still so easy to send up! Thanks for my first present. Honestly, I thought I'd be very uncomfortable with all this, but it's kind of nice hiding out here in your sweet little house. It really does remind me of you, but there's not enough purple...'
'Oh, hush, silly.' Emma was laughing by this point. 'I'm trying to make this as simple as possible. I have presents for the girls, but not you, and you better not have anything for me, or you'll be in big trouble. I need to get started on sweet rolls for us for Christmas morning, and probably before that, knowing your sweet tooth.' Prince interjected, while pulling Emma in for a long kiss. 'Definitely more sweet rolls, mama.'
After she came up for air, Emma continued, 'I've already talked to my pastor about attending a Christmas Eve service, and he let me know that the church has off duty police on the grounds for all services, so we shouldn't have a problem with paparazzi. Let's go to the final service of the evening, which is the least attended. When we get home, we can debate theology for hours if you want. Does all of that sound okay?'
'I enjoy debating with you, but I can think of other things I'd rather do.' As Prince's hands began roaming, his smirk was strong. 'I guess I should be honest. You better go shopping for a present for me, because I did get you a little something. I got a little something for the girls, too. It was fun to shop for y'all.' Prince looked a little sheepish.
'Umm Hmm. After all that about not celebrating Christmas, you sure got involved! Guess I'm going to have to jump to make all this happen. Any hints on what you might like?'
'Hmmm, let me see. Garter belts, stockings, lingerie, all of that will work. I could use a new winter scarf; my favorite, I just noticed, has moth holes. Maybe some vinyl? Oh, a cake. Definitely a cake.'
'Got it. Now for that lingerie, your size or mine?' Emma smirked.
'Doesn't matter, wife. It isn't staying on you long anyway.' Prince's heated glance stopped Emma in her tracks once again. He only needed to use one glance to send her hormones raging.
As it turned out, Christmas went well. Prince didn't find the entire Christmas Eve service objectionable as a worship service, since everything was based on scripture. Though his theology didn't match Emma's, he knew that going in. He amused himself by mentally rearranging the anthems to fit a funkier vibe, but appreciated the vocal artistry of the choir. He was very impressed with the organist's abilities, whispering in Emma's ear two different times that he'd like to meet him to thank him for his work.
Christmas morning started late. The girls slept until 10, and Emma and Prince got up at 11. They had scrambled eggs, sweet rolls and coffee, said a prayer, and opened presents, while a fire crackled merrily in the background. Mya and Marti were thrilled with the gift of diamond earrings that Prince had given them, and the little things that Emma had gotten them to fill out their small Christmas gift lists. Both girls got Prince vinyl for his collection of artists, which he gladly accepted. Prince realized there were two presents left under the tree that he knew he hadn't put there, and he shot Emma a look with a raised eyebrow.
'Any ideas as to what those packages are?' Prince asked Emma.
Emma looked extremely innocent. 'Well, Marti, could you check out the tags?'
Marti said, 'This says it's for Prince, and not to move it. Prince, I guess you have to come over here to open it.'
Prince traded places with Marti, and started to pick up the package. Emma immediately said, 'Nope! Don't pick it up until you've opened it.'
Prince carefully tore the paper away, and found a box that opened easily. Inside, there sat a layer cake covered in caramel icing.
'Now you know why I asked you not to pick it up. I didn't want you to end up with a lap full of cake. You can open the other one now.'
Prince picked up the smaller package, which seemed squishy. When he unwrapped it, he found a needlepoint pillow of the view of the Alps and lake at Montreux, very similar to the view they had out the window of the penthouse. He looked up with actual tears in his eyes.
'This is the most meaningful gift I've received in a long time. Emma, how did you hide this from me?'
'Well, it took some doing, I admit! Luckily, you spend a lot of time in the studio. I had the canvas designed based on a photograph I took while we were in Switzerland. Turn it over.'
Prince followed directions, and found an almost identical needlepoint scene, but a night scene. The sky and the lake were full of stars created by needle and thread.
Emma explained, 'This is the scene I remember from that first night, sitting on the love seat with you, explaining why I was in Switzerland. My entire life changed that night, because the way I thought about myself changed. The way you saw me changed the way I thought about myself. I'm so grateful for God's gift of you in my life, Prince. This is a small gift to let you know you you mean the world to me.'
Prince walked over to Emma, sat down next to her on the sofa, and pulled her into his arms for a deep kiss. When the kiss ended, they both lifted hands to wipe the tears from the other's cheek, and chuckled simultaneously.
Prince said, 'Well, I did say I'd gotten you a gift, so I suppose I should give it to you.' He got up and left the room, returning with a very large hat box tied with a red satin ribbon. Emma opened it, and came face to face with a calico kitten, who looked straight at her and meowed insistently, leaped out of the box, and landed in her lap. She lifted wondering eyes to Prince, who responded, 'A long time ago I had a cat. You talked once about how much fun getting kittens for the girls was, and I thought that would be fun for us, too. So, here she is. I hope you approve!'
'Awww, Prince, she is so sweet! I love calicos! Girls, isn't she adorable!'
Emma picked up the kitten, and realized it had on a very unusual collar. The collar was actually a stunning tennis bracelet of alternating amethysts and diamonds.
'This is precious! What a beautiful piece of jewelry! Thank you so much!' Emma grabbed Prince and planted a great big kiss on his face, while the kitten climbed onto her shoulder and began batting at Prince's picked out hair.
They broke the kiss to see both girls with their phones up taking a picture of the sweet moment. 'You better not post that anywhere except your mama's phone...' Prince mock scowled at the girls.
'Now you know we've got your back,' Mya replied. 'It is really hard to not talk about y'all all the time though, because you two are so cute together! At some point you're going to have to go public and put all the foolishness to rest. If you believe any publicity is good publicity, then you are in great shape! There is a new story speculating about the two of you every other day.'
Prince replied, 'Honestly, I don't care what they say, unless it gets ugly about your mom. We're happy, and that's all I care about. I have been fielding emails and calls from some of my friends and family, who are surprised I chose Emma. That tells me a lot about them. When they get to know Emma, they'll see what I see.'
'I've dealt with the same thing,' Emma admitted. 'Some of my friends think I've lost my mind, and want to stage an intervention. I just laugh, and move on.'
Emma's cell phone rang. When she answered, Kirk asked, 'Is Prince there?'
'Yes, Kirk, would you like to speak with him?'
'No, if it's okay, I'll just come over. Something's come up, and I'd like to run it by him.'
'Kirk, get over here right now! I thought you were in Minnesota. I have food for you, and family to boot. This is not a day to be alone. Yes, I'm getting that look, and I'll deal with it. We'll see you in a minute. Bye!'
Emma hung up the call, glared at Prince, and said, 'You don't tell me someone is a friend closer than a brother and then leave him hanging on Christmas Day! I am ticked at you, husband!'
A/N-Thanks for the votes and comments, and thanks most of all for reading!