Emma POV:

Her cries echoed in the small cottage and I sighed, rolling over to fetch my daughter. A late night with an English essay had given me a pounding headache and a desire to drop out of college in general. But as I peered over the edge of her crib I smiled in spite of myself, who could have possibly predicted this future? Where was it written in my cards to find this beautiful baby? How could I ever have known not only that I would be a mother, but a mother to a child in desperate need of just life and love and acceptance.  I stared down at the absolute gift right in front of me. Her tiny face was scrunched in discomfort and she wailed for attention.

"Shh" I said soothingly as I picked her up, cuddling her close to me. She whimpered, her tiny lips puckering and she let out a great sigh. I rocked her and hummed a familiar tune as we walked to the changing table. Following our basic routine she was soon dry and warm once again . I grabbed her bottle from the warmer, settling us into the rocking chair and soon all you could hear was her satisfied gulps and my soft humming.

As she slowly fell asleep in my arms, I felt the exhaustion settle over myself like a blanket as well. Staying up late doing homework and then waking up to feed her what felt like every other hour was taking its toll on me. I could finally understand how teen moms did it though, it was all worth it to see your baby smile in her sleep and cuddle against you. I smiled down at her blissful sleeping face and slowly got up to put her in her crib. I pressed a kiss to her soft hair and laid her gently in her bed, saying goodnight.

As I turned around to leave the room, the hairs on the back of my neck stood up and I jumped when I saw a shadowy figure standing in the doorway. My instincts were to back up and protect my baby, but knowing that there was only two keys to this cottage and I have one of them, I was fairly sure that it was Devon. Plus only he would just stand there silently with no obvious motive.

"Who's there?" I said with bravery I did not especially feel. The shadow took a step forward and I visibly sighed with relief, as I was correct it was just Devon. He hadn't been there since the day he held her for the first time, he had taken off only to show up again when the teacher came to check in on us. Which of course had been what I had expected and even hoped , but it was infuriatingly disappointing nonetheless. I wasn't sure how I could want one thing and still be upset as it happened exactly the way I thought I wanted it to.

"Devon! You scared me" I whispered as I made my way past him out the door of the nursery and towards the bedroom. He hadn't said a single word yet and the silence was a bit unnerving. I was worried something was wrong but the stubborn part of me didn't want to come out and say it. So I babbled along with mindless chatter about Alliyah and the milestones she was supposed to be hitting soon, I made the bed, although it was still the middle of the night, and he stood motionlessly  and silently behind me the whole time.

Finally I was fed up with his silence, so I whipped around prepared to give him a piece of my mind. How dare he leave and make me fend for my own! How dare he just randomly show up in the middle of the night expecting what? Gratitude? Was he out of his mind!

"Look Devon, what do you want?" I said in annoyance.

He took no time in responding, however "I want a chance" was all he said.

I looked at him, like a deer in headlights and I frowned. He rubbed his hand across his face and sighed, looking down at the floor, he opened his mouth to say something and I shook my head.

"You want a chance?" I asked, finally finding my voice. "When did I say you didn't have one? I don't remember telling you to leave me and Alliyah alone, I don't remember saying how I didn't really need your help." My voice shook with anger and I resisted the urge to flee the stressful situation. He looked at me with pain clear in his eyes and I immediately felt bad.

"Look, I don't know you, You don't know me, so all I have is assumptions to go off of unless you show me who you really are." My voice dropped to a whisper and I moved slightly forward. His eyes followed mine and he dropped his face to a few inches before mine.

"Show me who I am" He whispered and touched his lips to mine, a mere whisper of a kiss. It was enough to distract me with passion but suddenly he broke away, leaving me dazed and very confused on what had just happened.

A few seconds later I heard a small cry, coming from the nursery. I dropped my head to crook of his neck and groaned.

He muttered something under his breath and then looked at me again. "Look, just forget about it" He frowned again and then walked away, out of the room, and out of the house.

As I rocked Alliyah back to sleep, all I could think about was him. I knew it wasn't over between us, far from it.

My eyes ached in the morning, reminding me of the wave of silent hysteria that had overcome me late last  night. I chose to believe it was from being pushed into such a demanding situation with such a stressful partner, add homework to that mix and it was enough to drive anyone mad. I scrubbed the sleep from my eyes and sat up to go and check on my sweet tiny person. Alliyah was the one constant in my life, and as soon as I had signed the papers that signed her life over to me I knew she would be my rock. 

"Baby girl" I cooed as I stared down at her sweet face, sleeping in her crib. She stirred when she heard my voice and perhaps for the first time it hit me that she honestly thought of me as her mother. I may have had a life before her, but she has only ever known me. I smiled and another tear reached my eye, the stress and harsh reality all melted away when I looked at my baby. She was everything, just as she should be. 

Her tiny eyelids fluttered open and I reached down into her crib, brushing my fingers down her tiny arm and her fist closed around my finger. I used my other hand to brush away the happy tears that slid down my cheek. Such a simple gesture, really she didn't even know it meant anything but I knew and thats what mattered. 

"Come here baby" I said as I picked her up from her crib and held her to my chest, she happily melted against me and pulled her hand out in front of her to suck her thumb, a newly discovered skill. I kissed her sweet forehead before pulling my head back to look her in the eyes.

"Come help mommy with her homework" I told her as I walked towards the kitchen, momentarily enjoying the peace and calm with my favorite person on planet Earth.