Thanksgiving day…the dinner went pretty smoothly and everyone had been formally introduced to the new Mrs. Richardson. Emma was pretty nervous though the whole dinner and Kevin could tell. So could Anne. Every once in a while, Anne would place her hand on top of Emma’s hand and smile at her. It made her feel better knowing that Anne cared.
The questions were few and far between; luckily for Emma and Kevin, they asked exactly what Kevin thought they would. The only time Emma got real uncomfortable was when Jerald asked about Lou Pearlman. Kevin spoke of him only briefly and Emma watched as his eyes became clouded over with hate.
She’d never seen him like that before and it scared her.
If Kevin's brothers gave him a hard time, Emma didn't know about it. Around her, they were the perfect southern gentlemen. What happened when she wasn't around was kept quiet.
All in all, the day went exactly as planned and Emma enjoyed all the attention Kevin was throwing her way. It was obvious to her that he was trying his hardest to play up to the fact that their marriage was real. At some point during the day, he was actually starting to have her convinced of the same thing.
If he didn't have his arm draped over her or his hand clutching hers, he was always nearby. Kevin didn't let her out of his sight for long.
“Emma, I’ll help clean up. Why don’t you go and sit with the kids for awhile.”
“You sure Kevin?”
“Hey, men can clean too you know.” He smiled at her and pointed towards the kids.
Madison and Will were playing in the living room when Emma walked in. Sitting next to Madison, she quietly began talking. “Hi Madison. Whatcha drawing?”
“A picture.”
“What is it a picture of?” Emma studied the picture and was having a hard time deciphering what this six-year-old was drawing.
“A Christmas tree.” Madison replied.
“Well, it’s beautiful.”
“It’s for Aunt Kristin.”
“I’m sure she’ll love it.” Emma watched as Madison put her crayons down.
“Why did you marry my Uncle Kevin?”
Emma was taken back by the question. Leave it to kids to speak what’s on everyone’s mind.
Carefully wording her response, Emma whispered quietly so that no one else could hear. “Because I love him.”
“I thought he loved Aunt Kristin.” Madison replied.
“I’m sure he did and probably still does in his heart.”
“If he still loves her, then why’d he marry you?” Madison was staring directly into Emma’s eyes now and it made her feel guilty for lying, but what other choice did she have?
“Well, I’m not sure honey, we would have to ask Uncle Kevin that.” Emma didn’t know how to respond to that one. She didn’t know the answer herself. Maybe she’d better find a new topic to discuss…
“Will I ever see her again?” Madison asked sadly.
Emma shrugged, “That’s up to your mom sweetheart.” She leaned closer in to her and half-smiled, “I don’t see why you couldn’t.”
“Does she miss me? I really miss her.”
“I’m sure she does miss you. Why don’t you ask your mom if you could mail her this picture you drew for her…I’m sure she would love it,” Emma offered. It made her feel terrible…seeing how much Madison liked Kristin.
“My mom told me that I shouldn’t talk about Aunt Kristin when Uncle Kevin’s around.”
“Oh, well…then maybe when you get home, you could ask her to mail it for you. Uncle Kevin won’t be around then,” Emma smiled.
That seemed to satisfy her. “Okay, I’ll ask her when we get home. Do you want to draw a picture for her too?” Madison asked innocently.
“No, that’s okay honey. I don’t really know Kristin but she would probably love to get a picture from you.”
“My mom said that Aunt Kristin didn’t marry Uncle Kevin because she throws Tupperware® away and Uncle Kevin doesn’t like that.”
Emma laughed, “Oh well, I definitely don’t throw Tupperware® away!”
“That’s good or Uncle Kevin would be mad at you too.”
“We don’t want that, do we?” Emma smiled while watching Madison’s eyes light up.
Madison cocked her head to the side, “Do you like to dance?”
“Sure do…how about you?”
Madison grinned from ear to ear, “I love to dance. Aunt Kristin loves to dance too. She taught me how to dance to Uncle Kevin’s music. It was funny…do you wanna see?”
“I would love to see…could you teach me too?”
“Sure.” Madison grabbed Emma’s arm and pulled her into the kitchen. “Uncle Kevin, we want to dance to your music. Can we, huh, can we?”
Tim walked past Kevin and remarked, “Oh boy, here we go again. Another two hours of Backstreet Bliss!” He looked over at the girls, “Thanks a lot Madison.”
Kevin shot him a dirty look and then looked back at Madison, “Your wish is my command darlin’…of course we can listen to Uncle Kevin’s music…Mom?”
Anne turned around and replied automatically, “It’s in the cabinet to the left, about half-way down.”
“Let’s go girls.” Kevin grabbed both of their hands, “I can’t wait to see this.”
Emma’s stomach was in knots. Her extent of dancing in the last five years had only been in Nick’s room in New York. Now, she was going to be on public display…for everyone to see. Okay, well not everyone. But Kevin would be watching and who knew who else would find their way into the room once the music started.
Kevin put on the Black and Blue CD and took a seat on the couch. Watching Madison jump all around, Kevin yelled at Emma, “Hey, aren’t you supposed to be up there too?”
Emma shot back on her way to join Madison, “Aren’t you supposed to be helping in the kitchen?”
“Nah, there’s enough of them in there. I got some time to spare.”
Emma went over and pulled Kevin off the couch. “Then you can dance with us.”
“Do I have to?” Kevin whined.
“YEA! Uncle Kevin’s gonna dance too. Show us how you do it Uncle Kevin…don’t count cuz you remember what Aunt Kristin says…you look like a clown when you count!”
“Thanks, I’ll try and remember that.” Kevin grabbed hold of Emma’s arms and twirled her around. “This song is not the easiest song to dance too.”
Emma laughed, “Yeah…no kidding.”
When Shape of My Heart came on, Kevin grabbed hold of Madison and picked her up, “You wanna dance with me?”
Emma’s heart was practically pounding out of her chest watching Kevin and Madison dance. She could see how much he loved children; he was a natural.
Kevin saw Emma staring at him; dancing around in circles, he turned around and smiled at her. He mouthed to her, “What?”
She shrugged, shook her head and mouthed “nothing” back.
“So, how do you like your new Aunt Emma?” Kevin whispered in Madison’s ear.
“I like her a lot Uncle Kevin…do you like her too?”
Kevin laughed at her question, “Of course I do honey.”
