Impulse

Emma sat in the kitchen silently, finger tracing the top of her glass that was filled with orange juice. It was the next morning, 8:38 am. Ivan, her father sat across from his daughter, taking in the information she had told him. His face blank, eyes cold, vacant as he stared above her head, hands clenching into fists.

Emma looked up at her father, blue eyes large, tired as she stared at his face. Sighing, Emma looked down at her hands, her face heating up as she listened to her father mutter curses under his breath. She ran her fingers through her hair, looking up at the sound of her Dad standing up. Inhaling, Ivan shook his head, walking over to the other side of the table.

"Why didn't you say anything sooner?" He asked quietly.

"I-I don't know... I assumed you already knew..." She said, running her fingers through her hair.

"I did know, Em. I just wanted to hear from you. Your mother told me we shouldn't interfere, that I should wait for you to tell me. You don't understand how much it hurts me, knowing that he's done these things to you since you two got married. But, it hurts me even more knowing that you didn't tell me when he first touched you" Ivan said.

"I know Daddy, and I'm sorry" Emma said softly, standing up.

"Its okay, you told me now" He said, pulling his daughter into a hug.

Emma wrapped her arms around her Dad's middle. Tears soaked into his black t-shirt, her face burring into his chest. He rubbed her back, squeezing her shoulder as his head rested against hers. Emma sighed, she felt as if somebody laid a blanket of comfort over her, keeping her safe, out of harms way, out of Brian's way.

"He's never going to hurt you again Emma, I promise" He whispered.

She pulled away from her Dad, looking up at him, tears running down her face, bloodshot eyes burning.

"You promise?" She asked.

"Yeah, I promise" He said.

Emma smiled, sighing softly as she walked out of the kitchen and up the stairs slowly. She could hear her mother's soft, south African accented voice, along with the sound of Amelia laughing. She smiled, walking into her old bedroom. Her mother sat in the middle of the room, Amelia in her lap as the two stared up at the TV, an episode of Spongebob was playing.

Emma took a seat behind the two on the bed, yawning softly as she laid down on the bed. Her mother stood up, turning around to smile at her daughter softly. She muttered a few words, leaning down to press a soft kiss to her temple, leaving the room silently. Amelia stood up, jumping on to the bed in front of her Mom.

"Mommy? Am I going to see Daddy again?" She asked, her eyes scanning her mother's face.

"No baby, you're not. I'm sorry for what he did, he's never going to hit you again, I promise" Emma spoke softly.

A silence fell over the two girls, Emma ran her fingers through Amelia's long brown hair, smiling at the girl as she studied her mother's face. Her eyes wandered from the now scaring, closed cut on Emma's lip, to the scar on her forehead. She looked at her mother, a curious look on her face as she placed her small fingers on her forehead.

"Does Daddy still hit you?" She whispered, afraid others would hear.

Emma stared up at her daughter, sighing softly as she looked to the wall. She wanted to tell her daughter the truth, let her know, then another part of her didn't want Amelia to know. She looked up at her daughter, smiling softly at her softly as she nodded, tears forming in her eyes as Amelia laid her head on her chest.

"Don't worry Mommy, he's not going to hurt you again. I promise" Amelia said.

Emma's arms wrapped around Amelia. She wished she could have her daughter back, or even have more time with her. Emma yawned, looking over at the clock that sat next to her, chewing at her bottom lip softly.

"Hey, how about we go to the park, huh?" She asked.

Amelia shot up from her place on her mother's chest, nodding at her. Emma laughed, getting up, grabbing her cell phone from the counter, she threw the device in her purse, picking it up from the ground. She followed Amelia out of the bedroom, down the hallway, and down the stairs. Stopping in the kitchen, Emma saw her father on the phone, and her mother making breakfast.

"Mom, me and Amelia are going to the park, we'll be back later" She said, waving to her mother as she and Amelia walked out into the hot California day.

Arriving at the park, Amelia ran to the gym, making Emma smile as she took a seat on the bench. Crossing one leg over the over, Emma grabbed her cell phone out of her purse, tapping the screen, seeing 15 missed calls, 8 voice mails, and 10 text messages. Looking through her phone, she wasn't surprised that the missed calls, angry voice mails, and text messages were from Brian.

Sighing, Emma ran her fingers through her hair, shaking her head. She felt scared, she could only imagine the things Brian would do when she went back. When she went back to Brian, her abuser, her husband. She wasn't going to to back until he was healthy, well, controlled. She could only hope that he wouldn't come looking for her, although she knew he would.

The sounds of Amelia's squealing brought Emma back to reality. She looked over to see Amelia standing over a small brown dog. Emma raised an eyebrow, watching closely as the puppy licked at her hands, his long tail wagging in happiness. Standing up, Emma walked over to the two of them. She smiled, scratching the puppy's head.

"I'm so sorry about this" Said a deep, gruff voice.

Emma turned around to meet a bare chest. She looked up into a pair of blue eyes, her mouth opened slightly, her face blank as she stared at him. He smiled at her, laughing softly at her surprise.

"I'm Julian" He said, reaching out.

Emma blinked, looking down at his outstretched hand, she grabbed his hand, his grip was firm, warm, and damp with sweat.

"I'm Emma" She spoke, her voice cracking.

"Its nice to meet you Emma. Again, I'm sorry about Bones here, I just got him, he's still a puppy, he tends to run off a lot" He chuckled, grabbing the leash that sat next to his feet.

"No, its fine. By the way, this is my daughter, Amelia" She said.

"Its nice to meet you, Amelia" Julian said, shaking the giggling girl's hand.

"Well, I should get going, I'll see you around, yeah?" He asked.

"Of course" She said, smiling as he jogged away.
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Emma and Amelia walked into Ivan and Kathryn's home, shutting the door behind them. Sighing, Emma shut the door behind her, yawning as she stretched, feeling her bones pop in her arms and back. Emma picked Amelia up from the ground, the small girl resting her head against her mom's shoulder.

It was almost 10:00 pm. After their encounter with Julian, the two girls walked to the beach, eating lunch, and playing in the water until the sun set. Emma walked into the dimly lit house, the sounds of her heels clicking against the hardwood floors. Emma walked into the living room, turning on light on the table, jumping at who she saw sitting on the couch.