Chapter 5
EMERSON
“Come on, Em, when’s the last time we went shopping together?” her blonde father asked in excitement as she ate breakfast. Well, technically it was almost lunch time, but she’d slept in and he happily made her food when she eventually awoke.
And then suggested this little fun activity.
“Have we ever, just the two of us, gone shopping?” she asked in surprise, wondering why he was masquerading the fact he wanted to babysit her today. Miles was at school while her Dad was in his lab all day, leaving the woman to deal with Eager McBeaver.
She'd much rather go into a junk food coma but her Pop would never allow that.
“Well...all the more reason for us to go! I promise it’ll be fun,” he said with his big dopey grin that had Emerson instantly smiling and rolling her eyes fondly at the man.
“You’re ridiculous. Just say you want to babysit me and get on with it,” she said as she left the kitchen island to put her plate in the sink.
“Hey, can’t a man just want to spend some time with his kid?” When she turned around to raise a brow at him, she found him looking anywhere but at her.
“Uh huh…” she said with a smile, and then asked a little more seriously, “aren’t you worried you’ll be spotted?”
“Not if I wear my hat and sunglasses,” he said sincerely.
“Okay, you realize that’s not really a disguise, right?” she asked with a laugh. Her Pop just rolled his eyes before smiling back at her.
“It’ll be fun, pinky promise,” the over hundred year old man said as he actually stuck a pinky out, and still had that stupid shit-eating grin on his face.
“Jesus Christ you’re so old,” she said in sympathy as he kept his pinky out while throwing her a quick glare.
“I’ll even let that one slide!” he then said with excitement. He also started wiggling his pinky finger at her, finally eliciting a laugh from the girl.
“Alright!” she conceded, reaching her pinky out to return the gesture. Being the cuddle monster he was, he used his much superior pinky strength to pull her into a hug. She let it happen for another moment before pulling away, claiming she needed to shower and change before they could go.
“Sounds good, I’ll be in the living room whenever you’re ready.”
To his credit, it did start out fun. They went through a drive thru coffee shop and paid for the cars behind them - after also leaving the workers a hefty tip. Then they went to the mall and went straight to the pretzel vendor, munching on their food as they window shopped a few places before actually shopping at the toy store for the twins. She somehow convinced him to get ice cream before dragging him to Bath & Body Works to stock up on hand sanitizers. She couldn’t help but smile when she saw him buying some pink bubble bath stuff.
It actually seemed like the disguise was working. Well that, or people were being polite. Either way, she was grateful and let herself enjoy the day with her Pop.
That was until she went to the bathroom. It was next to the shoe store her Pop wanted to go to, so she let him know before excusing herself. Once she was inside and in a stall, that’s when she heard it. The sounds of teenage girls entering the restroom.
“Oh my GOD! Did you see him??”
“Over a century old and I would still do unspeakable things to that man.”
“Yeah, too bad he’s gay.”
“Ugh, right? What a waste of a hot guy.” Emerson rolled her eyes and plugged her ears, wondering how long these teens (she was guessing, by the chatty speech) were going to be in here.
“Are you kidding me? That’s freaking hot! Gay porn is way better than straight porn!” Okay, that’s not any better you pervs.
“Yeah, plus he’s been shacked up with Iron Man for thirty years, so you know he’s faithful.”
“Too bad he retired, I loved watching his tight ass on the news.”
“Oh right, why did he retire?”
“Didn't you hear? His adopted daughter apparently had a nervous breakdown.”
...wait...what? Completely looking past the ‘adopted’ jab - the math didn’t even add up, because he announced his retirement before she even moved back home...
“Oh damn, bet they regret taking in that little slut now.” This of course elicited an uproar of laughter from the group, freezing the woman in place on this stupid toilet. Even when she heard the sounds of them finally leaving the bathroom, she sat frozen; focused on her breathing.
It’s not true, Em, she tells herself as she buries her face in her hands. Your parents retired because they were superheroes for forty years. Had nothing to do with you. Those little twats can have the fact she’s adopted and was once a slut, but she wasn’t the cause of them retiring...
Right?
Once her breathing was under control, she got up on shaky legs; finally able to leave this fucking bathroom. Of course that was when she saw the crowd of people outside the shoe store.
Goddamn that stubborn man and his terrible ‘disguise’.
She sighs heavily before pulling her phone out of her pocket, sending a quick text to her Pop that she’d be out by the car before walking in that direction. As she walked back through the mall, she went over her grounding techniques in her head. Starting with her favorite.
Okay, five things I can see. Um...Claire’s sign, advertisement for KAY Jewelers, old lady’s red coat, that little boy’s blue hat and...Hot Topic.
Okay, four things I can hear. Baby crying, couple arguing, those kids laughing and an enthusiastic salesman we should avoid. Whew, close one.
Three things I can touch. My jeans, the inside of my jacket pocket, and, my wedding ring, she thinks to herself fondly.
Two things I can smell. Oh dear god the pretzel vendor again, keep walking. And that dude’s cologne, his very strong cologne.
And lastly, she thinks as she finally makes it outside, one thing I can taste. She smile as she thinks about the chocolate ice cream she could still taste on her tongue as she slowly walks to the car. And then wishes she could have a certain other chocolate on her tongue.
And then she laughed at her own joke, which caught her off guard as she accidentally bumped into someone.
“Oh, sorry,” she said before peering up at the face that just gruffed in response. The man kept walking, unbothered by a woman he apparently didn’t recognize.
She, however, was now frozen in place at recognizing the old friend of her father’s. Carlos Reyes. Robert made her call him ‘tio’ (Spanish for uncle).
A passing car honking helped shake her out of her trance, but only enough for her panic to set in as she can see a few people staring at her.
It was very rare that it happened, but sometimes the universe smiled on her.
Because at that moment, her Pop walked out and spotted her; walking over to her carrying all their bags in both his hands.
“Hey,” he says with a cautious smile, slowing down as he approached her. “You okay?” She shook her head no back at him in response, hating herself a little for telling him. Giving him more ammunition to keep babysitting her.
“Wanna carry the toys?” he asked as he pulled one bag out of the many to hand to her. She grabbed it gratefully, silently smiling while he continued speaking for the both of them. “Let’s walk to the car,” he said with a nod as he waited for her to make the first move.
Em waited another moment, taking a deep breath before walking alongside him to the car. She swung the bag a little as they walked, keeping her eyes on that instead of the inevitable stares. It was only when she got in the passenger seat that she saw a crowd with their phones out at the entrance. She then threw the toys in the backseat, grateful again when her Pop quickly got in the driver’s side after putting the other bags in the back.
“You were right,” he said after they started driving again.
“What?” she asked, turning to him after staring out the window.
“Not a great disguise,” he said, motioning to the cap and sunglasses.
“No shit,” she murmured, turning to stare back out the window. The blonde sighed before addressing her again.
“Look, I’m sorry kiddo. I tried to make it as fast as possible...is that all that’s bothering you? Or did something else happen?” he asked, already knowing the answer when he saw her. She let a long pause transpire before deciding to answer him.
“I bumped into a man, he used to be friends with Robert. He didn’t recognize me though.”
“Oh shit, I’m sorry sweetheart. No wonder you looked so shaken up,” her Pop said after shooting her a sympathetic look.
“Yeah...there’s something else,” she confessed quietly, sort of wishing he hadn’t heard it or she could take it back.
“What’s that?” Dammit, okay here goes.
“When I went to the bathroom, these girls came in. They said...you retired because your adopted daughter had a mental breakdown. Which, I know it isn’t true-”
“-what? No of course that’s not true!” the blonde interjected, offended for her.
“No I know, but still it...I don’t know, got to me…”
“That and the fact they called you my adopted daughter,” her Pop said with anger in his voice, keeping his focus straight forward. And reading her goddamn mind. “I’m sorry about that too.”
“Well, it’s better than what some other people have called me,” she scoffed.
“Doesn’t make it any better, Em. Those people have hate in their hearts and aren’t worth your time. Your parents chose you, their parents are stuck with them,” he said as he lifted his chin defiantly.
“Jee, thanks Pop,” she said as she fondly rolled her eyes at him.
“Wow. Is that the best sass you can come up with? You’ve been off your game lately,” he said teasingly as they turned down their driveway.
“I miss my wife, okay? Cut me some slack,” she groaned in fake annoyance.
“I know honey, that’s why I wanted you to have fun today,” he said sadly as he put the car in park.
“I had fun, up until the end,” she said with a small smile, getting out with him to help carry the other bags inside.
“I was thinking of taking us to get pedicures, but then I figured you’d wanna go home.” She smiled brightly at him as they moved to sit in the living room. That would be another first for them.
“Why don’t we just do it here? We can do each other’s feet?” she suggested, feeling a rush of warmth from his efforts and decided to reciprocate a little.
“That sounds fun! Do you have nail polish?” the blonde asked as he rummaged through his bags and pulled out the Bath & Body Works bag.
“Yeah, how about you pick out a rom-com and I’ll go grab my pedicure supplies?” she asked without waiting for an answer, walking to her room.
When she came back, her Pop was sitting on the couch waiting for her. There was some lotion, chocolate covered pretzels, and red drinks with little straws on the coffee table in front of him.
“What are those?” she asked as she sat down next to him, placing the box of nail polish between them.
“Shirley Temples,” he said with a smile as he immediately began rummaging through the various colors of polish.
“Nice, and what movie are we watching this afternoon?”
“My Big Fat Greek Wedding,” he said as he raised his brows at her. She laughed at the ridiculous man, shaking her head fondly as she watched him pick out a shimmery gold.