Impulse

Emma sat on her bed, Amelia’s head resting on her lap as she ran her fingers through her daughter’s brown hair. Tears streamed down the mother’s face as she stared mindlessly ahead of her. She would sniffle intermittently, her thoughts on hold. Minutes after Amelia had run upstairs into the room, Emma ran after her daughter, finding her laying on the floor, crying.

“Its not your fault.” Emma spoke. “Its not your fault, Amelia. You did nothing wrong.” She ran her fingers through her hair.

Amelia stared down at her mother’s legs. She nodded quietly, sniffling as she ran her fingers over Emma’s legs. The feeling of Emma’s fingernails digging into her scalp made her relax, Olivia never treated her this way. Amelia was tired, she wanted to come back to her Mom, she missed Emma. She sat up suddenly, placing herself on Emma’s lap before she rested her head against her Mom’s shoulder.

Emma smiled, grabbing Amelia’s soft hand. She ran her fingers over her daughter’s hand, her nails painted purple. Emma smiled at this, that was a thing Amelia and Brian had in common, their love for the color purple, along with other things. The sound of her phone vibrating on the nightstand made Emma sigh. Reaching over, she looked at the caller ID, surprised to see Matt’s name.

“Hello?” She answered.

“Hey, how are you?” Jane asked.

“I’m good. How about you?” Emma asked, gently pushing Amelia off of her lap.

“I’m great, actually. Look, me and the whole gang are going out to lunch, I was wondering if you wanted to tag along? We haven’t really been in touch ever since the whole… incident went down. We miss you.” Jane said on the other end.

Emma smiled. “That sounds great, actually. I miss you guys too. What time?” She asked.

“Uhm… How about an hour from now? It’ll give you some time to get ready, and we haven’t left the studio yet.” She explained.

“Okay. How about Red Robin down by the Pier?” Emma asked, walking over to her closet.

“Alright. Sounds good. We’ll see you then.” Jane said.

“Okay, and I’m bringing some company, if that’s okay?” Emma asked, searching through the hangers upon hangers of clothing.

“Yeah, that’s fine. Uhm, Brian’s coming… So, is that okay? Or… Do you want us to make him stay at home?” Jane asked, her voice hushed.

“No… That’s fine. Just if he doesn’t flip out or anything. I‘m fine with it.” Emma mumbled, pulling a piece of clothing off of the hanger, draping it over her forearm.

“Okay. We’ll see you soon, Em.” Jane said.

Emma hung up her cell phone, pulling down her pajama pants before turning to look at Amelia who stood in the middle of the room awkwardly, twisting her fingers around one another. Emma smiled and pulled off her tank top, leaving her in her bra and underwear.

“We’re going to lunch with all the guys. You remember them? Matt, Jimmy, Johnny, Zacky?” She asked, Amelia nodded.

“Jimmy. He’s weird.” She said, scrunching up her face.

“Yeah, he is. That’s why we love him.” Emma said, grabbing a brush from her vanity, brushing through her collar bone length hair. “And your Dad is going to be there too, honey.” Emma explained, placing the brush back down on the vanity. “We don’t have to go if you don’t want to, baby.” She said, pulling on her dress.

“No. Its okay, Mom.” Amelia said, pulling out her overnight bag. “I’m fine with it. I’m just a little nervous I guess.” Amelia explained.

“He’s not going to hurt you, Amelia. I promise. I won’t let him.” Emma said, picking up a thin, white, plastic headband.

“I know Momma.” Amelia said from behind her. “Can you do my hair for me?” She asked, pulling on a pair of shorts.

“Of course I can.” Emma said, turning around, pushing the headband back. “What do you want me to do with it?” She asked.

“Just a ponytail.” Amelia said, pulling the hair tie off from around her wrist.

“Alright.” Emma said, walking over to her daughter. “Bend over, hon.” Emma said, grabbing the hair tie from her daughter’s hand. Emma brushed through her daughter’s long hair, before tightly gripping the strands in her hair. “You can stand up.” She said.

Amelia stood, and Emma tied her daughter’s hair into a tight ponytail at the top of her head. She brushed the wavy strands and moved away from her daughter, letting her check herself in the mirror.

“I’m going to get my make up done. I’ll be back out.” Emma said, disappearing into the bathroom.

----
Emma stopped outside of the restaurant, looking over at her daughter. Amelia looked back over at her Mom before smiling at her, feeling the butterflies in her stomach. Emma chuckled and pulled the keys from the ignition, putting the break on. She unbuckled herself before grabbing her purse and getting out of the car, Amelia mocking her actions.

Walking over to the other side of the car, Emma grabbed Amelia’s hand and looked at her daughter’s attire. The little girl wore a pair of gladiator sandals, a pair of deep blue shorts, a tank top, and a grey cardigan. She smiled and let Amelia lead her into the restaurant. Emma searched the restaurant before her name was called, she looked to the right to see Matt standing up, a wide smile on his face.

Emma lead Amelia over to the table where her friend’s were sitting. The two were greeted with smiles, hugs, and kind words. Amelia got in the booth first, taking a seat on Jane’s lap, beside Johnny. Emma got in after her, sitting between Matt and Jane. Looking across from her, she locked eyes with Brian. She gave him a polite smile.

“We already got you two some food.” Matt said from beside her.

“How have you been, Emma?” Charlotte asked, who was sitting between Zack and Brian.

“I’ve been good, actually. How about you guys?” She asked.

“Pretty good.” Adrianna said, resting her head against Johnny’s shoulder.

“Good. And you, Brian?” She asked, taking the man by surprise.

He rubbed the back of his neck. “Uhm. I’ve been better, but I’m getting through.” He said, nodding at her.

Emma looked over at him, smiling softly. “That’s good to hear.” She said.

Emma sat quietly, laughing whenever somebody would say something humorous. She couldn’t help but lose her appetite as her mind wandered. She wanted to tell them that she was pregnant again, she didn’t know how they would react. She didn’t want to keep them in the dark forever, she knew she couldn’t. They were going to find out sooner or later. She thought that sooner would be so much better.

“I have something to say.” Emma said, a smile on her face. Brian stared at her knowingly.

“Go ahead.” Charlotte said from across the way.

Emma breathed in, chewing at her lip. She looked at the faces of her friends, her family. She looked down at her hands before looking up again, their faces were worried.

“So, I went to the doctor a few days ago… And…” She stopped, her words coming to a halt.

“And?” Jane said from beside her.

“And, I found out that I’m pregnant.” She looked up, not seeing anybody’s eyes on her, she looked around to see all eyes on Brian.