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It wasn’t the pinch that hurt so much as the feeling of separation that rocked Grace. Emma’s fierce response made Grace feel isolated and in need of reassurance. It was obvious how frightened Emma was of losing her father, and how angry she felt.
Still, Grace wondered how she and Aidan were to talk out their problems if Emma made this kind of fuss over them talking a little bit? But they weren’t only talking…
Lisa glanced from Grace to Aidan and moved quickly, picking Emma up in her arms, patting her back and trying to soothe her. “There, it’s okay. You shouldn’t pinch anyone, Emma. That is wrong.”
“I didn’t mean to.” Emma stuck her thumb in her mouth as Lisa picked her up. “I want Mommy,” she whispered, her tearstained face looking into Lisa’s.
“It’s going to be all right. You’ll see,” Lisa said, her pleading glance reaching across the room to Grace.
What should she do? Should she offer to take Emma and soothe her? Or would that simply make things worse?
Undecided, she stood rooted to the spot.
Emma began to cry again. Squirming, she stretched out of Lisa’s arms, reaching for her father. “Daddy,” she pleaded as big sobs shook her body.
Aidan reached for her, pulling her into his arms, forcing him to move away from Grace in his eagerness to soothe Emma, leaving behind an empty desolate space.
Grace watched helplessly as Aidan cuddled Emma, swaying with her as she sobbed into his neck. Grace didn’t belong here.
“I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to upset her.” Grace said, struggling to maintain calm, to not cry. Everything had been going so well, so much better than she could have hoped.
Aidan gave her an anxious smile. “This has happened before. She’ll be all right in a few minutes.”
Emma glanced at her suspiciously, sniffling and clutching her father’s shirt. “You can’t have my daddy,” she said, a dark frown on her face.
Overwhelmed with worry, Aidan felt trapped between his wife and his daughter. He’d never been in this sort of situation before, where everything hinged on how he behaved and whether or not Emma could be convinced to let Grace be around him.
He could see the hurt look on Grace’s face and wanted to hold her and reassure her that she was in this with him. They were a team. He had this moment of opportunity, one he wouldn’t let get away from him now that he was so close to having Grace in his life once again. “Lisa, can you take Emma for me?”
Lisa put her hand on Emma’s back, speaking gently to her. “You come with me, sweetie. We’ll play dump trucks in the living room. You like driving them over the carpet. I think there’s a bunch of new building blocks in the garage. Why don’t we get those?”
Emma’s sobs faded to soft hiccups. “I want to stay with Daddy.” She nestled into his shoulder.
Aidan struggled to figure out what to do. He didn’t want to upset Emma, but he couldn’t let Grace feel left out.
He couldn’t believe she’d agreed to go away with him. He’d started out today fully prepared to accept that Grace and he were finished, but now, with her willingness to be with him, everything had changed.
“Emma, Daddy really needs to talk to Grace. I need you to go with Lisa, just for a few minutes. I won’t be long, okay?”
Emma snuggled closer into his chest, her suspicious glance still on Grace.
Clearly unhappy, Grace moved away from them, over toward the kitchen table. “I’m going to sit here for a little while, Emma. You and Daddy talk a bit. You love your dad, and he loves you.” She sat at the table, her eyes meeting his, his heart flipping sideways at the look of consolation on her face.
She understood what was going on and had decided to remove herself from the situation. It had been clear from Grace’s expression that she’d been hurt by Emma’s abrupt response, but she’d recovered and had put Emma’s needs first.
