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Emma's Sweet 16
Emma had been living with her family again for about five months.
The day she met them (again) was really something as for the last two years she had been living with just an old man named Eldar who had been kind enough to take her in when he'd found her without any memories of who she was and where she came from and then one day while doing groceries she'd gotten approached by a huge crowd of children, teenagers and young adults claiming to be her family who had been looking for her for years.
Their loud and wild behavior had scared her at first but when Norman had stepped up and given her a speech on how much she meant to them, even if she didn't understand everything, she felt warmth.
She had felt as if the emptiness she felt for the last two years had finally been filled and had agreed to come live with them.
She had been reluctant to leave Eldar and the others offered for him to come live with them too but he had declined, saying he could never leave his home where his family and friends were.
Still, he and Emma had agreed to try to write each other as often as possible.
Coming with them was a whole other challenge but it was one she accepted wholeheartedly, doing her best to remember the many, many names and faces of everyone and their personalities.
It had been hard at times, to the point of frustrating not because of how many there where and how different they were but because Emma was frustrated at herself for not remembering them and having to learn everything again, especially why they cared so much for her.
Either way, she was determined to become friends with them all over again, even if it would never be the exact same bond as she used to have with them.
Now here she was, in her own room after just waking up.
"Shhh!" she jumped at hearing a hiss coming from behind her door, followed by multiple voices mumbling something she couldn't make out.
Taking a look at the alarm-clock she saw it read 05:55, five minutes before everyone usually got up.
Curious to what was going on she jumped out of bed and rushed to quickly get dressed.
When she was done the clock started ringing but she right away slammed her hand on it, stopping at after half a second.
Slowly and quietly she tiptoed to the door, praying that whoever was talking earlier was still there.
When she reached it she grabbed the handle and opened it and...
"SURPRISE!" "Eep!"
She screamed as many of her siblings from Grace Field stood outside her door and threw a ton of confetti on her.
"Happy birthday, Emma!" they cheered and she blinked, pausing in wiping off the colorful papers.
"It's my... birthday?" she asked unsure even when all the got was bright smiles and nods.
"Yep! You're officially sixteen today! Come here!" Don announced as he pulled her into a big bear-hug, oblivious to how she didn't return the gesture.
"Don, get off her! Can't you see she's uncomfortable?" Gilda luckily did notice and scolded the boy as she pulled him off the frozen redhead.
"Emma?" she snapped out of it and looking down felt immediately bad upon seeing the little ones staring up at her with big worried eyes.
"Are you okay?" Phil asked and she found herself smiling again.
"Yeah, I'm okay." she said before looking at everyone else sheepishly.
"I guess I was just a little caught off guard that today's my birthday. Back with Eldar we never celebrated my birthday since we didn't know when it was or even how old I was." she explained.
"You seriously never celebrated your birthday?!" Alicia cried and Emma winced slightly at how it might have sounded to them.
"But it's not like we never had a party! I mean, we did celebrate the anniversary of when he found me and there was also his own birthday!" she quickly added, waving her hands to try to calm them down.
"We're sorry if we scared you and maybe overwhelmed you, Emma. Do you want us to leave?" Anna offered, making Emma shake her head.
"Oh no! I really appreciate this! How are we gonna do this?" she asked, glad to see everyone perk up.
"Well, first we need to get you into a different outfit!" Gilda announced, stepping forward and making Emma blink.
"But why? What's wrong with what I'm wearing right now?" she asked as she looked down at the simple white blouse and black pants with her trusty necklace around her neck.
"Not necessarily wrong but it's too boring! Today's a special day so you need to look your best and that means brighter clothes but don't worry cause I brought the perfect outfit right here!" the green-haired girl proudly held up a bag before dragging Emma back into her room.
"We'll be downstairs in a few minutes!" she told the others before slamming the door and turning to grin at the confused red-head.
"Now let's get down to business!" she said and reached into the bag.
"Emma's here! Emma's here!" multiple little ones cheered when the birthday-girl walked into the kitchen where everyone was busy setting the table.
"Whoa! You look so pretty!" Jemina exclaimed and Emma blushed.
"Thanks." she said as she looked down at at herself.
Gilda had made her wear a black dress covered in multiple sunflowers and in her hair she also wore two sunflower-clips so keep some out of her face.
She honestly felt a little awkward to wear a dress, always having preferred pants and shorts but she had to agree that is was pretty and also nice for the warm weather.
"Yo." she jumped and looked up to find see Ray slamming a plate with a should-be impossibly high stack of pancakes on the table.
"Happy birthday, you crazy ball of chaos." he greeted her before giving her an expectant look.
"Well, come on! Bring it in, birthday girl! I don't have all day!" he held his arms open and understanding Emma grinned and ran to hug him tightly, squealing when he playfully lifted and twirled her around.
"Here's to you having lived another year where you've driven me crazy." he smirked and dodged her fist as she tried to hit him.
"Hey, it's my birthday so you're not allowed to be mean!" she cried but still grinned.
"Whatever. Hurry up and eat something. The others from Goldy Pond and Lambda will be coming over later and we still have a lot to do." he told her and she gasped in excitement at hearing all her other friends were coming over too.
Due to their whole group being so large they were not able to all live in the same home and were split up over houses but they were all still in the same neighborhood so everyone was constantly visiting each other.
In their house if was just the Grace Field children.
She frowned however upon noticing that every single member of their family was there except one.
"Where's Norman?" she asked, looking around.
"We left an hour ago to pick something up. He'll be back later today." he answered.
Emma pouted to herself, wondering what could be so important for Norman to leave that early and on her birthday too.
Was it something that was more important to him than she was?
That thought hurt a little.
No! She shook her head at the thought.
Norman was one of her best friends who was always there for her and treated her so sweet and tenderly!
Those were some of the many reasons why Emma had developed a small crush on him during the last few months.
And the fact that he was honestly very good-looking also played a big part but never mind all that.
Whatever he went to pick up probably couldn't wait and Ray said he'd be back later, not miss everything completely.
"Emma?" she blinked and looked down to find Sherry staring at her.
"Hey, Sherry! What's up?" Emma asked as she knelt down to be on eye-level with the girl.
"I-I know that you miss Norman and I do too! But he'll be back soon!" the little girl told her and Emma smiled.
Ah, that's right.
Out of all the many members of their family Norman was Sherry's absolute favorite.
It was honestly adorable how she always clung to him and how he was always willing to indulge her, something everyone loved watching.
"Well I guess that means I'll just need you to keep me busy, right?" she said, poking Sherry's tummy and giggling when she squealed.
Still, as she watched everyone gather around for breakfast she couldn't help but feel a little sad that Norman wasn't with them at the moment.
"I got it!" Emma yelled later that day as the doorbell rang and beamed to find both groups from Goldy Pond and Lambda at the door.
"Hey, guys! Come on in!" she greeted, stepping aside.
"Hey, Emma. Happy Birthday." Oliver chuckled as he smiled down at her.
"Oh my gosh, I love your dress!" Gillian cried as she pulled Emma into a hug before holding her at arms-length to look her up and down.
"Thanks! Gilda gave it to me!" Emma answered, looking down at herself again.
"Yeah, it looks good on you and all but all I'm seeing is you wearing different hair-clips than the ones I gave you!" Sandy joked as he joined them.
"Don't worry, Sandy. I promise that the ones you gave me are safely in my room and I'll wear those again tomorrow." Emma giggled as he mock-pouted.
"You better!" he waved a finger at her with a grin before walking inside.
"How you doing, Pumpkin?" the girl jumped a little when a hand landed on her head and roughly ruffled her hair.
She relaxed however upon seeing it was just Barbara, thought she should have know due to the nickname only that girl called her by.
She wasn't sure if the name Pumpkin was in endearment like how many others called people that or if Barbara was simply making fun of her bright orange hair, though.
Maybe both.
"Hey, guys! Glad you could make it!" she greeted Vincent, Cislo and Zazie who stood behind Barbara.
"Glad to be here, miss Emma." Vincent spoke formally with a nod.
"Yeah, what he said!" Cislo agreed with a thumps up.
"Awhaa~" Zazie mumbled and while Emma didn't really understand what he was saying, she did know from his tone and body language that he was happy.
After exchanging a few more greetings with all the others everyone was inside and gathered in the living-room.
"Everyone please make yourselves comfortable! Dinner will be served in a few minutes!" Anna announced from the doorway leading to the kitchen where Ray had been preparing a feast and snacks for the whole day.
Emma blinked however at the news.
It seemed that while she spend all day playing around with the kids and helping out with the decorating and cooking as much as the others were allowing her to, time had really flown by.
She frowned upon realizing something.
"Where's the boss?" Hayato asked out loud, as if voicing Emma's thoughts.
Norman still hadn't returned from whatever he was picking up.
Seriously, what could it possibly be that took the whole day and even if she hadn't minded earlier, the fact that he was missing this much of her birthday irked her a little.
She was about to answer when the front door could be heard opening.
"Norman's back! Norman's back!" "Hahaha! Sherry, I can't walk like this, now can I?"
Emma gasped at that.
Speak of the devil and he shall finally appear.
Mumbling a string of apologies she started pushing her way through the crowd so she could reach the hallway again.
Just as she reached the door and opened it she came face to face with the boy she had wanted to see all day.
"Norman." she called his name softly, staring at him in awe as he smiled down at her.
"Happy birthday, Emma." he said as he gently cupped her cheek in his hand, drawing a blush from the girl.
"Hey, emperor! You're late! You were supposed to be back two hours ago!" Ray yelled as he stomped out of the kitchen, making his friends pull away from each other with a start.
Norman gave a sheepish chuckle.
"Right, sorry about that. Traffic on the way back was worse than expected." he explained.
"Why were you even gone? What were you supposed to pick up that couldn't wait till tomorrow?" Emma pouted, trying not to let it sound how upset she honestly was.
"That would be because of me." a new voice suddenly spoke and Emma's eyes went wide.
She hadn't heard that voice in months and neither the heavy footsteps that were getting closer.
Tears formed in her eyes upon seeing who the voice and steps belonged to.
"E- E-" her mouth tried to speak but couldn't as she stared in shock.
"Hello, Emma." came from a smiling mouth and she snapped from her trance and leapt forward.
"EEEEEEEELDAAAAAAAR!" she cried as she threw her arms around and buried her face into the chest of the old man who had found and taken care of her for two years and wept.
"It is so good to see you again, my dear. I've missed you so much." Eldar whispered as he held her tiny frame against his large one.
"Y-You're here! You're really here! How?!" Emma cried as she looked up at him and he chuckled.
"You have your friend to thank for that. He's the one who contacted and arranged for me to come here." he motioned to a sheepish Norman and she gasped.
"Is that why you were gone all day? Because you were picking up Eldar?" she asked and he nodded.
"You were with him for the years when we couldn't be there for you and became even more family. I figured you'd want everyone to be here today." he said before yelping when she threw her arms around him now with enough force that they almost toppled over.
"Thank you!" she cried as she hugged him, unable to believe how far he would go just for her.
"You don't have to thank me." he said as he gently pushed her away so he could look her in the eyes.
"Seeing you happy makes every bit of effort worth it." he almost whispered and she felt her heart flutter.
"Oi." they both jumped and pulled away with bright blushes upon remembering they weren't alone.
"You guys done?" Ray rose an eyebrow, unimpressed at the display in front of him, even as many others giggled.
"Yeah? Good. Dinner's ready so get your asses to the table. That counts for everyone. Move it, people!" he didn't even wait for an answer and started herding everyone to the kitchen where extra tables, chairs and dishes were set up.
Norman was about to follow when Emma grabbed his hand.
"Oh no you don't, mister! You're not allowed to leave my side for the next few hours!" she said sternly before als grabbing Eldar's hand.
"Same goes for you!" she grinned.
"Well, that would be fine with me but are you sure you really want that?" the old man chuckled.
"Definitely! We need to make up for lost time, if at least for today!" she nodded.
"What if I need to use the bathroom?" he joked.
"Then hold it!" she answered without missing a beat.
"You really are determined, aren't you?"
"Yup and I'm gonna have Phil and Sherry help me!" as if on cue the young children appeared, Sherry right away latching onto Norman's free hand and earning a chuckle and Phil taking Eldar's hand.
"I was already planning to ask if I could sit next to you anyway!" he said happily.
"Well, I would most likely have agreed to that either way but I suppose that now I don't even have a choice anymore." Eldar joked.
With that they went to join the rest of their huge family for a delicious dinner.
"Hey." Norman said as he approached where Emma was standing outside of the house, taking a small break from the party.
"Hey yourself." she smiled as he stood next to her.
"Are you enjoying yourself? It's your first birthday with us after all." he asked, concern in his eyes and once again Emma felt her heart flutter.
"I couldn't be happier with all my friends and family are here! Thought I would have preferred it if you'd been here all day." guilt flashed over his face.
"But I'll forgive you since you brought Eldar here and he's even told me he's staying for a whole week!" she added, laughing a little at his obvious relief.
"I'm glad you're so happy he's here. I wasn't sure if I should contact him since I didn't want to upset you somehow." he ran a hand through his snowy hair, a nervous tic as she had learned a while ago.
"Well I'm glad you did it and even if I would have for some reason felt awkward or sad or anything bad, I know you probably had to put a lot of effort in getting him here!" she protested and he visibly relaxed.
"If it's to make you happy then it's more than worth all the effort."
"You're the best." she said, stepping closer and leaning against him.
This action earned a blush.
"I'm really not that great." he attempted to shrug the complement off and Emma shook her head.
"I think you are! You're my best friend and always so nice to me!" she insisted, leaning a little closer.
Norman stared, lost in her green eyes that were sparkling in their typical Emma was along with reflecting the many stars in the sky.
"I think you're better." he said softly, cupping her cheek again and smiling more as she leaned into the touch.
"Why's that?" she asked just as softly and he chuckled.
"What's not great great about you? You're always so bright and cheerful, loving to both friends and family, determined to the point of being stubborn but always for the sake of others and with a bravery where you'd do anything for those you love. You're amazing, Emma." he listed off, leaving her in awe.
"It's why I lo- like you so much." he tried to correct his slip-up but Emma wasn't fooled.
"What did you say?" she asked.
"That I like you?" Norman tried to play it off with a wobbly smile but it didn't work.
"No, what were you about to say, Norman?" she asked again, frowning.
Norman looked like he was considering running but ultimately deciding against it and giving her a defeated smile.
"I was about to say that I love you." he confessed and her eyes went wide and heart started beating wildly against her chest.
Come to think if it, she could have probably figured it out herself but hearing Norman say it out loud was something completely different.
"Why?" she whispered softly.
"Why not? I just listed some of the reason's didn't I?" he answered with a nervous chuckle.
He frowned when she shook her head.
"But I'm not even 'me' anymore!" she protested, "I don't remember anything from before you and the others found me, I don't know who I was or how I was or how to act like I used to! I'm practically a stranger!"
"How can you say you love me when I'm not even the same person!?" tears formed in her eyes, ready to spill.
"Emma." she stopped at hearing him calling her name.
He was smiling the same smile he had back when they found her, both happy yet pained.
"Emma, you're still you. Memories or not." he told her.
"But-" "Please don't." he cut off her attempt to protest again and took a deep breath.
"I-I'm well aware you may not remember your past but that doesn't have anything to do with how I feel. Yes, all those things I just mentioned summed up who you were before but they also describe who you are now. You're always smiling and spreading so much joy for everyone else, you're willing to spend time with everyone and always ready to help out with everything no matter what even when we tell you that you don't have to. To me you're still the same amazing girl who I fell in love with years ago and never stopped."
"Norman..." Emma whispered as the tears finally spilled, feeling overwhelmed before Norman gently brushed them away.
"And if you still think you're not the same anymore then I suppose we can say I fell in love with the Emma I knew as a child and all over again with the Emma I know now." he finished as she hiccuped softly.
"Emma, please don't cry. It really doesn't suit you." he told her.
"I-I'm sorry!" she apologized as she tried her best to wipe the rest of her tears away, stopping when he laid a comforting hand on her shoulder.
"It's okay. Just take your time." he said patiently and she nodded, taking a deep breath to calm herself down.
"It's just... Thank you!" she looked up at him, all sadness gone and replaced by joy.
"You're welcome, I suppose." Norman nodded.
He blinked when Emma then looked at her feet and fidgeted with her dress, looking uncharacteristically shy.
"Emma?" he called her name and was surprised when she looked up with her cheeks flushed red.
This combined with her nibbling her bottom lip made her look adorable to Norman.
"You know, Norman. Ever since you guys found me I've kinda had a bit of a crush on you." she admitted, grinning sheepishly as Norman forgot how to breath for a moment.
"A-Are you serious?" he asked nervously as he grabbed her shoulder and looked into her eyes but found not a single hint of doubt in them.
Having always preferred actions over words Emma answered by standing on the tips of her toes and pecking him on the cheek.
"Does that feel not serious to you?" she grinned and he let out a breathless laugh.
"I believe you..." he said, sounding a little dazed which made her giggle.
"May I...?" he trailed of as he softly grabbed her hands and leaned closer.
Emma's eyes widened upon realizing what he wanted and despite her heart and stomach feeling like they were doing some professional level gymnastics, she gripped his hands back and als started leaning in because she knew she wanted this.
As they got closer they closed their eyes and Emma could feel Norman's breath on her lips when and-
"Emma!" a voice cut through the air out of nowhere, making the teens eyes snap open and quickly jump away from each other, both tomato-red.
"Turning around they saw Phil, Chris, Alicia and Jemina all running their way.
"Oh of all the times!" Emma muttered under her breath before smiling at the approaching kids.
"They're bringing out the cake!" he told them when they all reached them.
"Cake?! I love cake! I wonder what flavor it is! Come on, let's go!" Emma right away forgot her disappointed at being interrupted and started running towards the kitchen with the kids following, leaving Norman behind.
He stood there for a moment, stunned at what just happened before shaking his head with a smile and following.
It was Emma after all.
"Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you, happy birthday dear Emma, happy birthday to you~" everyone finished singing and cheered when she blew out the candles on top of the giant chocolate cake in front of her, Norman and Ray flanking her sides and Eldar standing behind her.
"Thanks you guys!" she happily thanked the others who grinned back.
"What did you wish for?" Nigel asked from the crowd and many leaned eagerly to hear her answer.
"I didn't wish for anything!" she chirped, earning disappointed cries.
"Tch. Calm down already! It's not like those wishes ever come true anyway." Ray scoffed and rolled his eyes, only to get a nudge and hiss from Gilda.
He right away realized what he did wrong and looked at where some of the younger children where looking at him with wide eyes.
"They don't?" Naila whimpered as tears formed in her eyes.
"Of course they do! Ray's just being dumb!" Emma was quick to reassure and luckily that was all that was needed.
"But why didn't you wish for anything then, Emma?" the little girl still asked and everyone looked at the redhead again curiously.
Emma smiled sweetly at that.
"Because I already have everything I could ever want!" she held out her arms enjoyed the warmth she felt as she looked as she looked at everyone in the room.
From her friends from Goldy Pond and Lambda to her siblings from Grace Field and from her best friend Ray to Eldar who had taken her in when she was alone and helpless and became like a grandparent for her and finally to Norman who made her feel the warmest and happiest of all.
"Enough of this mushy stuff! Let's paaaarrrtaaaaayyy!" Don cried and half the room broke into excited cheers.
"Congrats." Ray told Emma as he handed her a cup of punch when she took a break from dancing to stand with him and Norman.
"Thanks but you already told me happy birthday this morning." she blinked as she accepted the cup.
"I wasn't talking about getting older, Em. I'm talking about you and this guy finally getting together." the dark-haired boy casually pointed a thumb at the white-haired one while taking a sip from his own cup none the less.
Needless to say the new couple was caught off guard.
"EEEEHHH?!" Emma cried out dramatically, lucky that the music was loud enough that nobody else really noticed her outburst.
"Guess it's not too weird for you to have already figured it out." Norman chuckled sheepishly.
"Well, yeah. I mean, what did you expect? I spend my whole life around you two and I've seen you both swoon whenever the other wasn't looking. Honestly, if you hadn't gotten together very soon I might have taken matters into my own hands." Ray said, smirking at seeing both his friends blush.
"And I must say that while I have not really gotten the luxury on seeing you two interact a lot, I am old enough to know what two young lovers look like." Eldar said as he also went to join them.
"Eldar!" Emma cried out in embarrassment as the old man gave a hearty laugh.
"Forgive me, dear." he apologized before fixing his gaze on Norman who straightened himself right away.
The two stared at each other intensely for what felt like hours for Emma and Norman while in realty it was only a few seconds.
Finally Eldar was the one who broke the little staring-contest and spoke.
"I know you are a good man and care greatly for her. You went out of your way to help me come over and picked me up from the airport yourself just to surprise her on her birthday after all. I trust that you will take good care of her." he said and help out his large hand.
Without missing a beat Norman nodded and firmly gripped the older man's hand.
"I will." he spoke firmly without hesitation.
"Good." Eldar nodded his eyes glinted playfully.
"Just make sure to remember that when you get married I will walk her down the aisle~" he teased and laughed as both teens turned bright red again.
They really were a good match.
"Eeeeeldaaaaar!" Emma whined as she rapidly but lightly hit the him on the back.
She yelped when Ray roughly wrapped an arm around her shoulders and grinned at Eldar.
"Sure you can, old man but just remember that's gonna be your biggest part. I'm definitely gonna be both the best mand and photographer!" he grinned.
"Ah! Ray!" Norman cried.
"I-I think Sonya's calling for me! Gotta go!" and with that Emma ran off into the crowd, leaving Norman to deal with the teasing on his own.
She did make it up to him with a kiss on the lips later however.
All in all, Emma's sixteenth birthday and her first one with them again was a huge success.
The End