You Took My Heart by Surprise

“How are you feeling, Emmy?” Charlie posed as he stood by the counter of the bookstore, his eyes watching his daughter who moved around the store carefully, placing new stock onto the shelves. It was a scheduled visit, with Adelina visiting Oscar in London, Charlie had taken the opportunity to check up on his older child, wanting to make sure that everything was moving along smoothly for her. It had been more than a surprise to find out that she was pregnant, he’d thought that she knew better, but he doubted that she could have picked a better man to be the father. Sergio was going to be there, no matter how much Emilie pushed him away, and Charlie had no doubt about it.

“I’m fine, papa” Emilie noted, leaning down to place another book onto the shelf.

“And the baby?” Charlie quipped.

“Babies” Emilie corrected, not looking away from the books on the floor ahead of her.

Charlie tilted his head a little and stepped towards her, placing a hand on her arm that made her stand up. “Babies?” he posed.

Emilie sighed. “There are two of them. Twins” she noted carefully. It hadn’t sunk in, even if almost a week had passed, Emilie was still struggling to wrap her head around the notion that there was going to be two infants rather than one, but she knew that she would get there eventually. Whether she loved the idea or not, she was going to have two children and she needed to get herself to a point where she felt prepared for it.

“Twins” Charlie repeated “You’re going to have twins?” he posed.

“The two heartbeats would say so” Emilie replied, turning back to her work.

Charlie watched her for a second before he sighed, carefully pulling the books out of her hands. “Come on” he noted gently, tugging her towards the counter “You can take a little break to talk to your papa” he added with a little smile. He could see that there was something up with her, for the first time in months, she seemed quiet and distant, and Charlie was reluctant to let it slip by without query. He liked the way she had changed, since she and Sergio had started seeing one another, she had grown into a bright and confident woman, and Charlie didn’t want her to change back to the shy and quiet girl she’d been before. He much preferred his cheerful and smiling daughter.

“Papa…”

“Please, Emmy” Charlie noted, offering her a seat “Talk to me” he added with a warm smile.

“What do you want me to say?” Emilie murmured, fiddling with her shirt.

“I don’t know, Emilie” Charlie sighed “But I want you to talk to me about what’s going on up here” he noted as he carefully prodded the side of her head “You’re not yourself and that’s not all the shock of this pregnancy” he added knowingly.

“Papa” Emilie complained.

“I am sure you talk to Isla” Charlie noted “And I would like you to talk to me. Please, Emilie, let me in” he noted.

Emilie sighed gently. “I’m scared, papa” she murmured gently “Things are so…so messed up and I don’t like it at all” she added, her blue eyes peeking up at him gently.

“What’s messed up?” Charlie prodded.

Emilie shrugged. “Everything just feels off somehow” she murmured “When I pictured this moment, it didn’t exactly occur to me that the father to be would be off with his girlfriend somewhere and that I’d been trying my hardest to get over these ridiculous feelings that I don’t know if I have towards him. I thought I would be easy, papa, and this last month or so has been anything but” she rambled gently.

Charlie listened to her for a moment before he shook his head, a knowing smile on his face. “You know, you could just admit that you’re not over him” he mused.

Emilie shook her head.

“Emilie, the guy is the best thing that you ever had” Charlie continued thoughtfully “He made everything seem a little brighter for you and you’re not the only one who knew it. Sergio made you happy and it’s not going to easy to forget that, especially when you seem so content to pretend it never happened. He’s not some one night stand, Emmy, he’s the man you wanted to marry” he added.

“But we proved it didn’t work” Emilie protested softly.

“No, you hit a stumbling block and in the heat of the moment, you both made a ridiculous choice” Charlie returned.

“He’s with someone else” Emilie reasoned “He can’t have been all that into me” she added defiantly.

“Emilie, I spent nowehere near as much time around him as you, but even I know that that is completely untrue. He adores you, even now. Yes, he made a mistake in getting back with that other woman, but I think you and I both know that the second you tell him that you got it wrong, he’d be there” Charlie smiled softly.

Emilie listened to her father’s words before she let out a small sigh, stretching her arms out for a hug which Charlie was more than happy to give her. “I fucked it up, didn’t I?” she mumbled, sniffing a little.

“It’s not too late” Charlie replied “You two are kind of stuck together now” he added, his eyes glancing down at the slight bump she carried.

Emilie sighed. “I don’t want to pull him back into something that isn’t going where he wants it to go, papa. He knows what he wants, he always did, but me?” she squeaked.

“You’re timid, you always have been, but if you just talked to him, without yelling or looking backwards, then I am confident that the pair of you could figure something out. I saw his face when you shied away from the arm he tried to put around you when you told us, Emmy. That’s not an expression that can be forced” Charlie mused kindly, his hand brushing up and down her back comfortingly.

Emilie sniffed and turned a little, allowing Charlie to wrap her in a tight and comforting hug. “You know how that man feels about you, Emmy” he mumbled as he pressed a kiss to the top of her head “It’s up to you now to put right what went wrong and make things as easy as you can before you have those babies” he added. He knew how stubborn she could be, Emilie tended to take after her mother when it came to her ability to bury her head in the sand, but he knew that she would eventually say what Sergio was dying to hear. She regretted it, it was evident to anyone who knew her, and it was only a matter of time before she bit the bullet and just admitted it.