I could hardly see Emmett as he walked up to the porch. 

In the very early morning light, he was walking like he was sore. I waited for him at the edge of the stairs, my heart nearly beating out of my chest as he got closer and closer. I could begin to see him more clearly.

There was a cut on his forehead and his knuckles were bruised, but other than that he seemed okay. I let out a long sigh of relief. He was okay...Mostly. I wrapped my arms around his neck, pulling him in close.

"Oh my God, Emmett. Are you alright?"

Physically, he looked okay. But I had no idea what he was thinking. What was going through his mind.

"I'm fine, baby," He said gently. "Have you been waiting out here all this time?"

"Yes. I couldn't have slept if I tried. What happened?"

"Let's go inside and sit down and talk about it."

We walked into the living room and he sat down on the couch.

"Do you need something to drink? Something to calm your nerves?" I asked, running my fingers through his hair. He seemed on edge, and even though I didn't know what happened I couldn't blame him.

"There's some Jack Daniels in the freezer."

I went into the kitchen, pouring the Jack Daniels that was in the freezer into a cup. It was a hearty amount, and I dropped a few ice cubes in there. When I walked back into the living room, he had his head in his hands.

"Emmett?" I asked, sitting next to him. He lifted his head and took the cup from me.

"Thank you."

He took the cup from me, bringing it to his lips and tilting the glass back. He swallowed a generous mouthful, allowing a moment for the comforting burn to die down before he spoke.

"Kira is in the hospital. When I got there, that sick son of a bitch was pummeling that poor girl. I got there in time to stop him from doing any long lasting damage. My knuckles hurt, my ribs hurt, and I got this cut on my eye but I'm okay. I did more to him than he did to me. Much more."

He took another drink of the whiskey and set it down.

There was a twitch in his jaw that only happened when he was angry. He was looking straight ahead. I swallowed past the lump that had formed in my throat.

"I'm sorry that I pulled you into this, Emmett," I said.

He turned to me then, putting his hand over mine.

"Charlotte, you don't have to apologize. I would have done the same thing for Kira if you weren't here. There's no telling what he would have done to her if she hadn't called you. He's in the hospital and will be getting out tomorrow afternoon and will be going straight to jail. Kira is a ward of the state right now, and she'll be staying with the pastor and his wife until they can find someone to adopt her. It won't take long, everyone in this town loves that little girl."

He took a third and final drink of the glass, draining it of it's contents. He set the empty glass down. I reached up, putting my hand to his cheek.

"Thank you, baby."

He grabbed my hand and kissed it.

"You don't have to apologize and you don't have to thank me. It was the right thing to do, and I hope I can believe that any man would have done the same thing that I would have. I just don't know how he could do that to a little girl, his own daughter no less."

"I don't know either," I said, shaking my head. "I don't think we ever will."

"The important thing now is it's over. Your aunt is making damn sure he never goes near her again. She is safe now."

"Good."

I stood up, offering him my hand.

"Let's go to sleep now, okay? You need some rest."

He stood up with me and we made the exhausted climb back upstairs to bed. I wasn't sure I would be able to sleep. There was so much going through my mind, but for some reason the second my head hit the pillow I was out.

When I woke up, I was tangled in Emmett's arms. It was well past sunrise, and between the warm comfort of the sheets and his body heat I was much too cozy to want to move. I blinked the grogginess out of my eyes and looked at the clock.

It was just after ten o' clock in the morning.

Gently, I removed Emmett's arm from around me and snuck downstairs. I made some coffee and went upstairs to set it next to his bedside table. Slipping on my shoes, I went outside and fed the animals. I gathered the chicken's eggs and brought them back in the house.

It wasn't much, but I did what I could.

I was going back to Aunt Lauren's house today, but we had planned to go to lunch before he took me back. Emmett was coming into the kitchen just as I was walking back into the house.

"Thank you for the coffee, baby," He said, bending down and kissing me.

"How are you feeling?" I asked, grabbing his hand and running my thumbs over his bruised knuckles.

"Well rested. A tiny bit sore, but I'm good. I have to go feed the animals and then we'll go out to lunch."

I'd turned around to wash my hands, having just finished cleaning up some stuff in the fridge.

"Already done," I answered.

"Already done?" He asked as I turned around. His eyebrows were raised. "You didn't have to do that."

"I know, but I was awake and you weren't. I knew you could use the extra rest."

"Well, thank you. Where would you like to eat?"

"Wherever you want," I shrugged.

We both got dressed, heading into town and making it to the restaurant just before noon. We enjoyed a long lunch, having long conversations about important things and nothing at all.

By the time that we were done, our plates were long since empty and I was sure the waitress was sick of us sitting there with nothing on our plates. He dropped me off soon after, and we said goodbye before I hopped out of the truck.

It was getting harder to do that.

Harder to kiss him goodbye.

I remembered being so afraid that he wouldn't want me back. So afraid that he wouldn't want our baby - wouldn't want our son. In retrospect, it all felt silly. Of course, we'd had a few hiccups. But that was natural.

No relationship was perfect, and it would be boring if it was.

Sometime around dinner, Aunt Lauren came home. We made taco salad and decided to watch some movies. At around ten, she started yawning.

Aunt Lauren went to bed, having had a long day. I went outside, sitting on the rocking chair on the porch. I had a warm cup of tea in my hand, and looked out at the night sky.

My thoughts drifted to Kira.

The people who took her in until she'd been adopted spoke with Aunt Lauren today and had her tell me that she was adjusting just fine. She was shy and quiet, but seemed to be warming up to them when she realized that they weren't going to hurt her nor were they going to starve her.

Kira was okay, and it was only going to be going up for her from here. I was doing well, and my baby was healthy. Everything was great.

I was at peace.

Author's Note: I know this chapter is sort of short...But I think it wraps the whole Kira thing up nicely. Just a warning, there will be a time jump after this. Nothing major or anything, so no worries. I'm not cutting any thing out like the birth or any pregnancy related things like that. NOTHING important will skipped. 

What do you guys think about Kira? How I ended that whole thing? I know you guys wanted Emmett and Charlotte to adopt her, but she's only 17 years old...She is only 9 years older than her and Emmett is only 11 years older than her...They are just not in a good place to do it. Especially with their own baby on the way. I hope you guys understand.