Ethan's POV

"Dad?" I heard a voice say. I turned towards the door, looking at Emerson.

I sighed. "You should be in bed."

"I heard you and mom fighting." She walked up to me. "What happened?"

I shook my head. "Nothing that you should be worried about. Go back to bed."

"But I am worried about it." She looked into my eyes. "You guys may not be my real parents, but I love you like you are. If your marriage falls out... I don't know what I'll do."

I moved out of my chair, leaning down so I was eye level to her. "Emerson, that's not gonna happen. I love your mother. Yes, we'll have fights sometimes, but we'll work it out."

Emerson was silent for a moment. "Mom's crying upstairs. She's... really upset."

I nodded. "And so am I. But, like I said, we'll work it out."

"Right now." She grabbed my hand, pulling me towards the door. "Go talk to her."

I smiled slightly. "You're serious about this, aren't you?"

She nodded. "Very." We reached the bottom of the stairs. "Go. Talk to her." I took a deep breath and walked up the stairs to the bedroom, opening the door.

(Y/n) was curled into a ball, silently crying. She looked up at me and shook her head. "If you're here to start fighting again, don't bother. I don't want to-"

"I'm not here to fight." She looked at the blankets. "I'm here to talk. I'm sorry about what I said. I know I should trust Elaine more. She only wants what's best for Emerson. I know that. It's just... sometimes I get the feeling that... she's not trustworthy, or she's dangerous, or she wants to take Emerson away from us."

(Y/n) wiped her face. "I know. I get the feeling, too." She looked up at me. "But I also know that we can trust her. I mean, she warned us about that Wilford guy, and she's helped us this far."

I nodded. "Yeah, I know that. But there's just so much that we don't know about her... it just makes me not trust her."

We were silent for a moment. I sat down on the edge of the bed. (Y/n) uncurled herself and laid her head down on my legs. She looked up at me, and I leaned down, kissing her.

I pulled away after a moment. "Are you okay now?"

She nodded. "Yeah, I think so. Thanks, Ethan."

I smiled. "No problem, babe." She yawned. "We should get some sleep. We'll talk about everything in the morning." She nodded and moved so her head was laying on the pillows. I got up, turned off the lights, and laid down next to her, wrapping my arms tightly around her.

I love this woman so much. It hurts me that we would ever fight. She's so beautiful, and amazing. She's perfect. If anything happened to her, my life would be ruined.

Emerson's POV

It was dark. Very dark. I didn't know where I was. I thought back to what happened. I was talking to dad, then he went upstairs, then...

That man. That Wilford guy. He was in the living room. He grabbed me, and the next thing I knew, I was here.

"Hello?" I called out. No answer. "Somebody? Anybody?"

"I've been searching for you." A weird voice said. I looked around, but I couldn't find a source. "You look so much like your mother."

My heart stopped. "I-I don't know what you're talking about."

"Your mother. Your real mother. Elaine. I know she talked to you. I know the two of you met. Don't play that game with me."

"Where are you? Who are you? Where am I? Where are my parents?"

"Don't worry, Ethan and (Y/n) are safe.  I promise that they won't be harmed. As for me, well-" A light turned on behind me. I turned around, and was face to face with Wilford.

He smirked. "You already know who I am."