Whatever It Takes

As Emilia walked over to the oven, she glanced at Ellie who was busy coloring at the kitchen table. The little girl was busy drawing away as Emilia pulled out the chocolate chip cookies that she had been baking. She settled the cookies on the stove to cool down when she heard her phone chirp from its position on the counter. She took off her oven mitt and picked her phone up to see that Andrew finally returned her text message from the other night.

Two nights ago when Andrew had his game, she had watched it with Lydia’s two boys. She and her husband Rob had a dinner meeting to attend to so Emilia offered to watch their boys since they always watched Ellie for her. The Blackhawks had lost that night and Emilia had sent him a text that night telling him that he still played well. This was the first she had heard from him in two days.

Andrew: Sorry for taking so long. Can I call you in a bit?

“Mummy! Look!” Ellie smiled proudly as she held up her masterpiece. “I draw for daddy.” Emilia put her phone back down on the counter before walking over to the table. She took the picture in her hands and smiled down at the poorly drawn stick figures and random squiggles.

“Wow, it’s beautiful!” Emilia gasped, “Can mummy draw a picture too?”

Ellie nodded as her little pink tongue was sticking out of her mouth. She handed her mother a piece of paper and a few crayons to let her mother draw as well. Emilia wrote down the words, “I love daddy” and asked Ellie to copy it. She knew that Ellie’s father would love it more than anything and it didn’t hurt for Ellie to work on her hand writing.

The Hurst girls were making a care package filled with pictures and homemade cookies to send to Ellie’s father. Scott was currently stationed at a base in Arizona with the US Army and would be visiting Emilia and Ellie in a few months at their home in Chicago. He was a tall, 27 year old man that Emilia had met when she was 19 in Florida. Ellie was a product of a summer fling.

Together, Emilia and Ellie put the cookies into an air tight container and placed it at the bottom of the box. Ellie placed a few pictures that she drew for her father, along with a recent picture of herself into the box. After taping the package up, Emilia grabbed Ellie’s winter coat and hat and dressed her up so they could drop the package off at the post office.

“Can I play with Max and John now?” Ellie asked from the back seat.

Emilia smiled, “you’re playing with them tomorrow, love.” She glanced at her rear view mirror and could see a big pout and Ellie’s face. “Tomorrow will be here before you know it. You’ll have lots of fun with your cousins.”

“I wanna play with them now,” she whined, kicking her feet in frustration.

“If you keep up that behavior you’re staying home tomorrow, do you understand me?”

Ellie crossed her arms over her chest, adding a little huff in the process. Moments like these made Emilia wish that Ellie had a sibling to play with just to keep her occupied. For now, she would have to settle with playing with her neighbors and cousins. Emilia was already young enough having a three year old daughter, she had no time or patience to deal with another.

She snapped out of her thoughts as her phone rang from her purse. She knew that it was Andrew calling her because of the text message he had sent her, but she had to ignore it. One, she was driving and two, she didn’t want to answer the phone call in front of Ellie. He still didn’t know a thing about Ellie and she was afraid of what would happen if he did.

There was the possibility that Andrew really didn’t mind at all, but knowing how a 22 year old man would normally act in this situation, he would freak out. She understood that a 3 year old was a big responsibility and she never expected Andrew to step up and be the father.

The thing that she was really afraid of was that Ellie would be the deal breaker in their relationship. She found herself liking Andrew a lot more than she ever intended to and they had only been on a few dates. She loved his bright personality and how she never had a dull moment with him. But she knew that Ellie would always come first in her life, no matter what.


Andrew sighed as got Emilia’s voicemail for the second time that day. He ended the phone call as his lips pulled down into a frown. He walked away from his kitchen and joined Bryan and Nick back in the living room where they were busy playing a video game. He tossed his phone to the ground as he plopped down on the couch, kicking his legs up on the cushions.

“Did you get her voicemail again?” Bryan asked from the other side of the room. He sat on the recliner that was positioned by the window.

“Yup,” Andrew put emphasis on the word. “I don’t know what to do anymore. It’s getting really annoying when she acts like she’s so interested in me but will never answer my damn calls.”

Nick glanced up at Andrew from his position on the floor. “Why don’t you just ask her?” He questioned, “I mean, you like this girl and she likes you. You deserve to know, don’t you?”

“I guess I do,” Andrew said with a shrug. “I’m just afraid of what I’m going to find out. What if it’s something so bizarre that it’s going to end up as a deal breaker?”

Bryan paused the game, causing both Andrew and Nick to look over at him. “If you like the girl as much as you say you do, it won’t be a deal breaker. Just talk to her and figure everything out before you call it quits.”

He resumed the game and went back to kicking Nick’s ass. Instead of just moping around, Andrew decided to enjoy his friend’s company. He was able to relax for a good half hour before Charlie trotted into the room with his bowl in his mouth. Charlie placed the bowl by Andrew’s feet, telling him that he wanted something to eat.

Andrew patted Charlie’s head as he picked the bowl up from the floor. He could hear Charlie follow him into the kitchen as Bryan and Nick continued their game. He refilled Charlie’s and Bailey’s bowls and even refilled their water bowl while he was in the kitchen. While he was busy taking care of his dogs, he could hear Bryan on the phone with who he thought was his fiancé.

When returning to the living room, Bryan and Nick both had goofy smiles on their faces as Andrew realized that they were actually on his phone and not Bryan’s. He could feel his heart beat quickly in his chest as he feared who they were talking to.

“Yeah, tomorrow at eight is fine Emilia! We’ll all grab some dinner beforeha- hey, I was talking to her!” Bryan yelled as Andrew yanked his phone out of Bryan’s hand.

He gave Bryan and Nick the middle finger, making them laugh loudly. He walked into his bedroom and locked the door to get some privacy.

“I’m so sorry if they said anything offensive,” Andrew apologized. “My friends are a bunch of idiots but I swear they’re good guys.”

She laughed sweetly on the other end of the line. Just hearing her laugh put a smile on his face. “Oh don’t apologize, your friends are actually quite sweet. Bryan mentioned something about how you wanted to go to the cinema tomorrow evening?”

“It was just an idea that I had. My friend’s really want to meet you,” he said nervously as he sat on his bed. “I tried calling earlier to see if it was okay with you but you never answered.”

Emilia sighed, “I know. I’m so sorry about that. I’m still trying to impress my bosses so I’ve been taking work home with me to try and get on their good side. I hope you understand.”

“Yeah, of course I do,” he said, feeing stupid for even second guessing her motives. She had a real full time job and he needed to respect that. “Listen, you don’t have to meet my friends if you’re not up for it. I know we’ve only been on two dates. They’re just idiots.”

“I don’t mind if you don’t mind,” she said in a timid tone. She didn’t want to push her boundaries either and seem needy or pushy. “Your friend Bryan was trying to get me to agree to go rock climbing with you guys next week.”

Andrew cursed to himself as he could hear Bryan and Nick shouting. “Sorry about him, again,” he chuckled. “There’s going to be girls there, if that’ll make you feel better.”

“It does,” she said. He could tell she was smiling. “Listen, I have to go, I have to get back to work. I guess I’ll see you tomorrow evening, say around seven?”

His lips pulled into a smile. “That sounds perfect. I can’t wait to see you.”

He and Emilia exchanged goodbyes before joining his friends back in the living room. They shut off the video game and were now watching a movie. Bryan was now lying back in the recliner as Andrew joined Nick on the couch. He smiled, thinking about what had happened the last time he and Emilia were on the couch together. He’d give anything to have their limbs tangled together again.

“Are you thinking about Emilia?” Bryan sang her name, “Are you getting all warm and fuzzy thinking about your British girlfriend?”

Andrew felt his face turn hot. “So what if I am?”

“Did you see her naked yet?” Nick asked teasingly, knowing that he’d get a rise out of Andrew. He got punched in the arm as Bryan laughed. “Do you know the difference between British and Canadian girls yet? I bet I could find out sooner.”

“Do you want me to punch your face in?” Andrew threatened, making Nick hold up his hands in defense. He knew Nick wasn’t serious but it still aggravated him to hear it. “Man, you’re annoying, Leddy.”

“That’s not what Emilia said last night.”