AllFreeNovel
Share Us
Ma sits down in a chair and grabs a pillow, pulling it onto her lap. “Gimme.”
Dad laughs and shakes his head as I walk over.
Leaning down, I carefully place Emmie in my mother’s waiting arms. “Meet your granddaughter. Emmie.”
“Hello, Emmie Mae. You are the sweetest thing I’ve ever seen. Absolutely beautiful. A perfect mix of your mommy and daddy. I’m your grandma or halmeoni, but that one might be a mouthful until you get a little older. I’m not a pushover for many people, but I’ll let you call me whatever you want to.”
Watching my mother meet my daughter is more emotional than I thought it would be. She’s an incredible mother—not just to me or my sisters, but to all my friends and to Amelia. The way she not only welcomed Amelia but claimed her as her own means so much to me. I’m grateful I got to learn from her and grow up with her as my mother. It fills me with pride that I’m the one to place her first grandchild in her arms.
“I’m going to love you for the rest of my life,” Ma whispers to Emmie. I’ve never seen my mother so happy.
My father sits down in the chair next to her as they both fawn over Emmie. I walk back to Amelia and sit down on the edge of her bed, then give her a quick kiss. I don’t think I have ever been this happy.
I’m thankful my life didn’t go according to plan and led me here instead. Proof that sometimes it’s better when I’m not in control.
Amelia
“How are you doing?” Katie asks, tucking a strand of hair behind my ear as Addie and Jameson sit on the couch together, baby-talking to Emmie.
“Pretty good. I can almost feel my toes again.”
She laughs at that. “That’s good, but not exactly what I meant.”
I nod. “I’m okay. I’m sad that I’ll never get to see my dad hold her and that my mom can’t be here, but I’m grateful for the people we have here, and for today, I’m trying to focus on that. I have a bunch of old videos of my dad, and I plan to play them throughout her life, so she always knows who her grandfather is. Hopefully, I can at least get pictures of her with my mom.”
“You will,” Katie assures me. “I’ll take them myself if I need to.”
“Thank you. And thank you for this. Being here, loving me, accepting me into your family.”
“You’ve always been a part of our family. We just didn’t know it.” She smiles softly at me. “And now you’ve given me my new favorite person.”
“Rude much?” Addie says.
I stifle a laugh as Jameson says to Emmie, “Enjoy it now. As soon as you aren’t cute anymore—”
Katie cuts her off with a sharp look. Hands on her hips, she marches over to Jameson and Addie, yelling at them in Korean.
Miles snatches Emmie back from Jameson. “Easy, Ma. Little ears,” he playfully chastises.
Katie puts on a sugary-sweet voice and walks over to him, running her hand over Emmie’s head. “It’s a good thing she doesn’t know what any of those words mean yet. And you never have to tell her.”
Miles smirks at her. “Or I can wait until she’s old enough and make sure she knows exactly what it means so she can make a special swear jar just for Grandma.”
Katie’s eyes narrow, and she crosses her arms over her chest. “You’re trouble.”
“He got it from somewhere,” Andy sing-songs.
Katie pins him with a glare, but he takes Emmie from Miles. “I’ve got the baby. You can’t hurt me.”
Miles shakes his head and sits down on the edge of the bed, watching them.
Katie walks over to Andy, then says something else in Korean, which makes Miles’s brow furrow.
“Ew, Mom!” Addie yells.
“What did she say?” I ask.
Miles looks at me with a grimace. “She said ‘wait till we’re alone later.’” He leans in closer to me and says, “Remember how I told you Emmie should grow up thinking we don’t have sex?” He gestures to his parents. “That’s why.”
