Restoration in the River

Carry That Weight

"What??" Emmaline snarled. "Wolf that is nothing to fucking joke about!! Tilly Almasi is my best friend in the entire world! She would do anything for me!"  

"Then you're gonna hate me for the next sentence... she and Amelia..." 

The doctor snatched the note from the detective, almost tearing it in two.

"Kitten! Be careful will you?" Harvey scolded her.

Julian sat her down on the bed and gently rubbed her arms "do you want me to read it to you, Sweetness?" He offered, his voice was soft and calm, soothing her.

Her world had just been completely turned upside down if what was in the note was true.

"What?? You think I'm trying to pull your leg doctor?" Wolf scoffed.

"Yes! Thank you, Logan!" Julian growled.

Sylvie gently squeezed Wolf's hand "put yourself in Emmaline's shoes. Imagine if you found out Harvey was trying to destroy your life when you think he is actually your best mate?" She whispered then, so everyone could hear "Check the other jars for anything Logan, please?"   

Emmaline handed the note to Julian, the tears had welled up in her eyes. 

Her entire world had come crashing down around her. What was right? What was wrong? Who could she trust? Who really loved her and cared for her? 

Harvey saw her tears and knew that she was thinking.

"Everyone in this room including Miss Mawko, you can trust with your life my Kitten, and we all love you and adore you! And don't you ever forget that! Promise me you won't? The night your beautiful mum passed away I made a promise to you, you were so tiny and red and crying as I held you in my arms and wrapped you up in a blanket to try to calm you down. Your face was all squished up as you'd just been born and your father wasn't coping, so I made a promise to you then and there in your mother's hospital room, to always take care of you, to never turn my back on you no matter how old you were! I wasn't sure that Rob would man up and take care of you, even though he knew he had to, losing Lizzie crushed him. God! They'd only knew each other for two years being married for only one!" 

"But Dad did man up, Uncle Harvey," She told him.

"He did, but it took him a while, Emmaline!" He said. "For the first six months of your life, you lived with your Aunt Holly and me! We even began the steps to legally adopt you! But one morning your father turned up on our doorstep and demanded you back! I remember Holly didn't want to give you up, and neither did I, but we put our faith in your father and..."

Emmaline had got up and headed into their ensuite, locking the door behind her. Julian was on her tail and was surprised she let him in.   

"My whole fucking world gets turned upside down and my uncle tells me this after fifty years! Fifty years! He didn't think to tell me before??  I could have had two parents, Julian!" She snarled, so upset.

"Your Uncle and Aunt could never be your Mum and Dad, Sweetness," He said, watching her closely as he sat on the edge of the beautiful deep set bath underneath a big open window looking out onto the river, tea light candles lined the windowsill.

"I know that Julian!" She snapped, pacing back and forth.

"But yes, you could have had two people raising you, but at the end of the day, your father was the man he had to be and raised you, not because he knew he had to, but because he loved you, Emmaline, you were his daughter, you were his flesh and blood! Something I would give my right arm for, you had thirty years with your father, I hardly had any with mine darling!"