Chapter 6 - The Family Nobody Planned
Martha’s heart surgery lasted four hours.
Emma sat between two millionaires in the waiting room.
Neither could fix anything.
That terrified her.
“What if she dies?”
William answered immediately.
“She’s fighting.”
“That’s not an answer.”
“No.”
Emma stared at the operating-room doors.
“Adults always say things that aren’t answers.”
Ethan leaned forward.
“You’re right.”
Emma looked at him.
He continued.
“So here’s an answer. If something happens to Martha, you will not be alone.”
Emma’s eyes moved to William.
William nodded.
“You won’t.”
“Why?”
William’s voice softened.
“Because I said I would prove I’m different.”
Hours later, the surgeon appeared.
Emma stood so quickly her chair fell backward.
“Ms. Reynolds came through surgery successfully.”
Emma stopped breathing.
“Successfully?”
The surgeon smiled.
“She has a difficult recovery ahead. But yes.”
Emma threw her arms around William.
He froze.
Then slowly hugged her back.
“You stayed,” she whispered.
“Yes.”
“You actually stayed.”
“Yes.”
Ethan looked away, smiling.
Three months later, apartment 4B looked completely different.
The building had heat.
New windows.
A repaired elevator.
Fresh paint.
But Martha had refused William’s offer of a luxury apartment.
“I have friends here,” she told him.
“You complained about Mrs. Alvarez yesterday.”
“She’s still my friend.”
“She stole your newspaper.”
“She returned half.”
William stared.
Martha shrugged.
“Community.”
Ethan visited almost every day.
He learned diapers.
Badly.
He learned bottles.
Eventually.
And he learned that Noah hated peas.
One afternoon, Emma watched Ethan hold his son.
“You’re getting better.”
“That may be the nicest thing you’ve ever said to me.”
“Don’t get used to it.”
William arrived carrying groceries.
Emma groaned.
“We have food.”
“I know.”
“Then why groceries?”
“Because your grandmother invited me to dinner.”
Martha called from the kitchen.
“I did not invite you. You invited yourself.”
William loosened his tie.
“Same result.”
Emma laughed.
Her life had not become perfect.
But it had become safe.
Ethan received primary custody of Noah under an arrangement that kept Martha and Emma permanently involved in his life.
He purchased an apartment in their neighborhood instead of moving Noah immediately to his estate.
And William?
William kept showing up.
Parent-teacher conferences.
Grocery runs.
Hospital checkups.
Emma’s school science fair.
One evening, Martha found him helping Emma with algebra.
“You’re terrible at this,” Emma complained.
“I run a company.”
“That is not a math qualification.”
“I employ accountants.”
“Exactly.”
Martha watched them.
Then smiled.
“You know, William, there’s paperwork.”
He looked up.
“For algebra?”
“For becoming Emma’s legal guardian if anything ever happens to me.”
Silence.
Emma stared at her grandmother.
“Grandma.”
“I’m not dying.”
“You better not.”
“I’m planning ahead.”
William slowly looked at Emma.
She suddenly became very interested in her homework.
“What do you think?” he asked.
Emma shrugged.
“You’re annoying.”
“Understood.”
“Bossy.”
“I’ve heard.”
“And you buy too many groceries.”
“Anything positive?”
Emma finally looked at him.
“You stay.”
May you like
William’s expression softened.
“Then I’ll keep doing that.”
