Title: A Little Frohike 
Author: MagsRose
Feedback: magsrose@comcast.net
Category: Gen
Rating: FRT
Summary: Frohike gets some shocking news from an old friend
Disclaimer: Well, you know who and you know what - used without permission. Seattle’s Best Coffee and Starbucks are registered trademarks and are also used without permission 



Hall Bros. Funeral Home


Frohike stood in the back of the funeral home’s chapel trying to be inconspicuous. He just wasn’t ready to be seen. He had been determined to come even though Langly had told him he should just keep out of it. The deceased had been his lover for two short but memorable months all those years ago. And besides, how often do you get an invitation to such an occasion from the person for whom the funeral is being held?

He leaned forward a little trying to see past the rows of pews but everyone stood up at that moment and he was unable to spot what he was looking for. He stepped back into the shadows as the mourners filed out. The first group up and out the door, mostly professional types in expensive suits, did not notice Frohike in his dark corner. All of them solemnly filed past him without so much as a backward glance. 

“Business associates,” he told himself. These left immediately. Another group was a little more interested in his presence but did not speak to him. He was grateful. He was not yet prepared to explain his right to be in this place at this time. One woman gave him a longer look than the others. He ignored her.

These people milled around in the vestibule of the chapel speaking to one another in hushed tones. They were waiting for a sign that it is time to go to their cars for the long, wagon train journey to the cemetery. 

He turned his attention to the front pew. There. That must be her. She sat unmoving facing the long, highly polished coffin. Alone. Very much alone. The funeral home attendants stood back out of her field of vision waiting for a sign that she was ready for them to wheel the coffin out. Frohike took a deep breath, adjusted the tie that Byers had lent him, and walked up the center aisle. He paused at the entrance of the pew just behind her. She heard him and turned her head slightly but not far enough to see him. He paused unsure how to proceed.



Several weeks earlier - Takoma Park


“Lone Gunmen Group, Byers speaking.” 

“I would like to speak to Melvin Frohike.”

“He’s right here.” Byers covered the receiver with his hand. “Frohike, it’s for you.”

“Who is it?” Frohike asked without looking up from fine tuning his column.

“May I ask who is calling?”

The woman laughed and said, “Tell him that it’s the bean stalk.”

Looking puzzled, Byers relayed the information. For a moment Frohike just stared at him.

“What did you say?”

Dutifully Byers repeated what the woman had said. Frohike finally got up. “I’ll get it upstairs,” was Frohike’s reply. He took the stairs two at a time. Although he was tempted to listen, Byers hung up the phone when he heard Frohike pick up the receiver. 

“What was that all about?” Langly had become interested when he heard the bean stalk comment.

“I don’t know.” Byers tried to go back to the layout he was working on when the phone rang but Langly kept hovering by the phone. “If you pick it up he’ll hear you.”

“Come on, man, don’t you want to know?”

“Not really,” Byers lied. He didn’t do it often but he knew if he gave in even a bit Langly would not let up.

Langly poked at the phone for a while then began to move nonchalantly towards the stairs. “You need to give him a little space,” Byers warned. 

“But I’m hungry!” 

“Jimmy went grocery shopping. There’s not much left up there. Just wait until he gets back and leave Frohike alone.”

“C’mon, Byers, I’ll just take a quick peek. He won’t even know I’m up there.”

“Yes, he will. He doesn’t miss much.”

“No, I don’t.” Both men jumped. Frohike had returned while they were arguing. 

Langly started right in. “Who was that?”

“I don’t want to talk about it.”

“Byers said it was a woman.”

“That’s none of your business, Punk.”

“Okay, fine, don’t tell me. I don’t know why I even bothered to ask!!”

Langly stomped off up the stairs mumbling under his breath that if everyone wanted to keep him in the dark he would just go get something to eat and that a peanut butter and potato chip sandwich was his only true friend anyway and there better damn well be some bread left. Byers looked at Frohike. He took a breath to say something but then thought the better of it. When Frohike wanted to talk he would.


Two days later, Frohike stood outside the Smithsonian Arts and Industries building. He was early. He had taken the Metro train from Takoma Park. There was an underground stop less than two blocks from where he now waited. He could have asked one of the guys to drive him but he wanted to see what Michelle wanted before his friends found out about her. Besides who would want to drive into DC unless they absolutely had to. 

The building to his left was called ‘The Castle’ but this one looked the part also. Both Smithsonian buildings were wonderfully detailed brick structures with stained glass windows. He supposed this one looked more like a church than it’s neighbor. The Castle had flag topped turrets and towers although the illusion was rather tainted by the scaffolding covering nearly a third of its exterior.

Frohike bided his time by getting acquainted with Spencer Fullerton Baird, 1823 - 1887. His statue guarded the front entrance. 

“The man was either very tall and liked to wear skirts under his suit coat or the artist suffered from a surplus of bronze,” a familiar female voice said from behind him. Frohike turned around and looked up into the face of his former lover. She had shoulder length, dark auburn hair and green eyes. Dressed in a tailored business suit she looked like she had just come from the office to meet him. She was even taller than he remembered. She bent down to hug him. 

“How have you been, Melvin?

“I’ve been good. What about you?”

“Until recently, very good but let’s go inside and sit down because that's what I need to talk to you about.”



Halls Bros Funeral Home


The young girl, not quite 12, turned her head farther and looked up at him. That released Frohike from his paralysis and he came around to stand in front of her. She said nothing but didn’t take her eyes off him. He introduced himself, “My name is Melvin Frohike. I’m very sorry about your mother.”

The girl’s eyes widen ever so slightly when he said his name. “She told me you would be here.” She spoke softly but without hesitation. She stood up and held out her hand. “My name is Emma MacKenzie. I’m pleased to meet you.” 

Frohike took her offered hand in both of his. She didn’t have her mother’s height but at 11 she would still be growing. She had long, brown hair that was French braided on both sides of her head and met in one braid that hung down to nearly her waist. Her eyes were green but they were not reddened from crying as he had expected. Maybe her glasses hid it. He began to speak but was interrupted by a loud voice from the back of the chapel. 

“Poppet!” It was the woman who had taken a good look at him earlier. Emma flinched at the sound of the woman’s voice and held on a little tighter to Frohike’s hand. “We need to let these nice men do their job and everyone is waiting for you so that we can go to the cemetery. We do need to go. The weather looks like it’s going to turn on us and I don’t want you out in the wet and the cold....” She continued talking in this manner as she advanced on them. 

“Come, Poppet, we really must be going. Thank the strange, little man for coming and let’s be on our way.”

Emma reluctantly released Frohike’s hands allowing the woman to lead her away. At this point an older, distinguished looking black man came up a side aisle and introduced himself.

“My name is Clarence Brown. I believe you spoke with the deceased Miss MacKenzie a number of weeks ago.” When Frohike said that he had, Mr. Brown handed him a business card. “Please be at this address tomorrow by 9:00 AM to give us your decision.” The card listed an address for a lawyer’s office in Georgetown. 

Frohike looked from the card in his hand back to the entrance to the chapel just in time to see Emma glance back at him before she was nearly pushed out of the funeral home by the woman who had taken charge of her in her mother’s absence.


The Smithsonian Museum of Arts and Industry - several weeks earlier


Frohike looked up from the picture of a smiling 11 year old wearing a black watch plaid jumper that had to be a private school uniform. She had a band of freckles that marched determinedly across her nose. He asked the question most men do when they find themselves in this situation, 

“But how did this happen?” He immediately regretted it. It was just such a stupid question. He knew it when it formed in his brain but he was so taken aback by the information that couldn’t keep the words from tripping out of his mouth. He didn’t know if he was hurt or relieved by Michelle’s reaction. 

She started laughing. That gave him an opening to try to save face. 

“That isn’t exactly what I meant.”

“It’s all right, Melvin, I know what you mean but she is your daughter,” She was still chuckling as she wiped her eyes. “And I’m afraid that I was not very honest with you when we were together.”

Frohike decided that at this point it would be best to shut up so that he would not say anything else truly ridiculous and let her explain.

“About four months before I met you, I decided I wanted a child. I hadn’t ruled out love and marriage but conditions were right for me to get pregnant at that time. I was in excellent health. I had a nice little house with a big yard, good insurance, and enough money in the bank to take a few years off once the baby was born. If I needed more money, I could always work from home as a consultant. All that left was a sperm donor.” 

Seeing the look on Frohike’s face at that comment, she reached across the table and took his leather gloved hand. She continued.

“I looked into sperm banks and was disenchanted with them. They supplied a fair amount of information about the donors but not what I really needed to know. There were physical descriptions and family medical histories but I wanted to know about the type of men they were. The old nature vs. nurture argument was never an issue for me. In my mind, both are important so I wanted to know the character of the father of my child.”

Michelle looked down at his coffee cup. “Let me get you some more coffee. You look like you could use it.” Pushing back the wrought iron chair, she walked up to the Seattle’s Best Coffee counter. She had insisted that they meet in this place because she missed good Northwest coffee and Starbuck’s didn’t count. You could get that just about anywhere and it always tasted like it had been left in the roaster too long. SBC was far superior and this was one of the few places in DC where you could get it.

She came back to the table and set down the hot cup of coffee. None of the fancy lattes and mochas for Frohike. He was a coffee black, no sugar kind of guy but he had to agree, it was damn good coffee.

“Now where was I?”

“You wanted to know the character of your chosen sperm donor,” Frohike offered. 

“That’s right. Then I met you.” This was a story he already knew so she didn’t elaborate. “After all the conversations we had I found that you had many of the qualities I was looking for: integrity, courage, ambition, loyalty, a strong sense of fairness and common sense.... I could go on but you are already blushing.” 

Frohike had thought that there wasn’t anything that could make him blush at his age but then she'd always had that effect on him. He put his hand to his cheek but she pulled it away saying, “Don’t. I still find it charming.”

“So that’s when you let me seduce you?” Frohike asked to shift the focus of the conversation.

She laughed at him again. “No. That’s when I seduced you. You had just about every quality I was looking for. There was only one physical characteristic that I wished would have been different.”

He began studying the tile patterns on the table top. “You would have wished that I was taller?”

This surprised Michelle. “No. As a matter of fact, that was what made me first approach you. I have always disliked being as tall as I am and I would not wish that on my daughter. It was the fact that we both need corrective lenses.” Michelle wore contacts. “That would nearly guarantee that she would need them, too. She got her first pair of glasses earlier this year.”

Frohike considered this statement. “What if you'd had a boy?”

It was Michelle’s turn to look puzzled. “What do you mean?”

“I have never liked being as short as I am,” he clarified. “I have always hoped that if I had a son, that he would be taller than me.”

“Oh, well, I knew I would have a girl.”

“How could you be so sure?” 

“There was never any question in my mind. My child would be a girl.” He could tell that she was completely serious. If that’s what she wanted, that’s the way it would be. It had always amazed him that, for the most part, that was how her life worked. She knew what she wanted and that was what she got either through hard work and perseverance or maybe just being born under a lucky star. 

Frohike looked down at the untouched cup of coffee in front of him. He picked it up and took a drink. He had no idea what to say about all this. What could he say that would not sound offensive? He picked up the little girl’s picture again and looked more closely at it. She resembled her mother more than anyone else but there were some qualities in her features that made him think of his mother. He set the picture back down and slid it across the table to Michelle. She left it on the table and continued to study his face. She seemed to be waiting for him to say something. 

People continued their conversations around them eating scones and other baked goodies that go well with just about any type of coffee. A few children sat with their parents drinking juice or hot chocolate. Frohike studied some of them. He spotted one young girl that looked to be about his daughter’s age. 

His daughter. 

He supposed that it was a good sign that he could at least think of her as his daughter. 

The girl he had noticed looked nothing like.... he realized that Michelle hadn’t mentioned the child’s name. 

He looked back at Michelle. She was still patiently waiting for him to speak. 

“What's her name?”

Michelle seemed to relax ever so slightly. “Her name is Emma.”

“Emma. That’s nice.” Then something occurred to Frohike. “Jane Austen, right?”

Michelle smiled, “Yes. I would have named her after Elizabeth Bennet in Pride and Prejudice but I couldn’t abide the thought that she could someday become a ‘Betty’.” She made a face that showed her opinion of the nickname. This made Frohike laugh which relieved the tension a little so he asked the question that was uppermost in his mind. 

“Why have you chosen today to tell me all this?”

Michelle took a deep breath and bit her bottom lip. She let the breath out slowly. Frohike remembered this habit. It meant that the other shoe was about to drop. 

“Melvin, I’m dying.” This time she did not look at him as she spoke.

“What!?!” He thought that he had shouted it but realized that it barely came out as a whisper. 

“Please, don’t make me say it again.” Now her voice was nearly inaudible.

“I’m sorry. I heard you the first time. I just can’t believe it.” Now it was his turn to take her hand. “How long?”

“Not long, maybe two months.”

“So, soon.” It was a statement, not a question. 

Michelle continued, not letting him ask more questions about her condition, “You know I have no close, living relatives. I have always been proud of my independence but now I’m afraid that my daughter will suffer because of it. She needs you but I can’t really ask it of you. I just wanted you to know so that you could decide for yourself if you want to be a part of her life. There is one blood relative that is willing to be Emma’s legal guardian but...” she let him fill in the rest for himself.

Michelle wiped her eyes, visibly willing herself not to cry. “This child is the world to me, Melvin. I only want what is best for her and I’m afraid I’m just not up to the job.”

Frohike sat back in his chair; his mind was in turmoil. What kind of life could he offer a child and a girl child at that? He lived as a bachelor and had all of his adult life. This would change the way he lived, worked, socialized..........everything! How could he agree to this? How could he not agree to this? 

Michelle could see evidence of his tortured thought processes on his face. She knew that what she'd told him was too much for anyone to try to come to grips with in such a short time. She reached down and picked her bag up off the floor. Out of it, she pulled a sealed envelope and handed it to him. “This is an invitation to my funeral. All the arrangements have been made. I don’t want Emma to have to try to deal with any of this.” 

Frohike stared at the envelope dumbfounded. By his count that made three times today. 

Michelle stood up collecting her belongings as she did. “It’s been nice seeing you again. Think about what we talked about.” She bent down and kissed him on the cheek. “Oh, and one more thing. Thank you.”

“For what,” he asked.

“For Emma,” was her reply. 

With that she turned and left. He watched her weave her way through the tables, pass through the archway into the atrium beneath the dome, then out of sight. He continued to sit at the table. After a time his coffee stopped steaming, then grew quite cold. Still he sat, lost in thought. He turned the envelope over and over in his hands but did not break the seal. The picture of Emma lay on the table where Michelle had left it. He did not touch it but he kept looking at it. He noticed that she had turned the picture so that it was facing him. 

He set the envelope down on top of the picture, stood up, pushed in his chair and walked away. He strode determinedly through the museum but did not go the way Michelle had. He went out the door that exited onto the Mall. He walked out into the middle of the grassy field. To his right was the Capital building. Off to his left was the Washington Monument and beyond that the Lincoln Memorial. He turned to face these two landmarks. 

He stood that way for awhile, unmoving, inscrutable. Then he turned and walked back toward the Arts and Industries Museum. He walked faster. Then he started running. When he got to the entrance he almost rushed past the security checkpoint. “Hey, wait!” the guard shouted. Frohike stopped and showed that he was carrying neither weapons nor bombs. The guard kept a close eye on him even following him back toward the coffee counter leaving his partner to guard the door. 

Fortunately, Frohike found the envelope and the photograph on the table where he had left them. He picked them both up and tucked them into the pocket of his leather jacket walking back towards the exit as he did so. 


Takoma Park - after the funeral


Frohike rang the buzzer and waited for someone to let him in. Those locks where so much easier to open from the inside that they had all agreed to do this for each other ages ago. He wished they’d hurry up though. The suit was starting to get to him. The last time he had worn it was at Anna Haag’s house when they had caught the Poisoner of Alsace. He leaned on the buzzer again and started to unknot the tie. He could at least get this off while he waited. Jimmy finally opened the door.

“What took you so long?” Frohike grumbled. 

Jimmy stepped back to let Frohike in. Then Jimmy leaned out the door to look around. Seeing no one else there, he let go of the door to go up the stairs. He checked out in the alley, around his car and peered through the windows of the VW bus. Hmmmmm. He had been so sure. When he got back down the stairs he realized that he hadn’t left the door ajar and would have to get someone to open it. “Oh, man!”

It was his turn to lean on the buzzer. Langly answered it this time and he wasn’t too happy about it, “Look if you can’t handle the door, don’t go out!”

Jimmy barely heard Langly’s complaining. He headed straight for Frohike.

“Where is she?” he asked.

Unbidden, Langly answered for Frohike, “He’s not bringing her back here. This is no place for a kid.”

“Langly, that is Frohike’s decision to make, not yours,” Byers pointed out. 

“I still think he’s going to do the right thing and take care of his daughter,” Jimmy insisted.

Frohike just sighed. This same argument had been going on in some form or another since he finally told them about his meeting with Michelle. He had prowled around the warehouse for about a week doing nothing but snapping at them before Jimmy finally got him to tell them what was bothering him. He had said some harsh things to the big guy before he gave up and just told the three of them about Emma and the fact that her mother was dying. 

Jimmy’s reaction had been one of delight. “That is so cool! Well, not the part about her mom dying but the fact that you are a dad is great! You’ll make an excellent dad! Look how you take care of all of us here. Hey, I know. I’ll go get some cigars for you to pass around.” 

Langly’s reaction had been the complete opposite, “Don’t be so stupid! He can’t be a father. He has other responsibilities. Besides a girl needs a mom. Living with a bunch of guys like us would be a mistake. She would cramp our style.”

“I don’t think we have a style to cramp,” was Jimmy’s honest reply.

Frohike decided he wasn’t going to sit around and listen to it. He didn’t usually participate because he hadn’t made up his mind yet. He did have to agree with Byers though. It was his decision and his alone. He could not let the others influence him as to what he should do. 

He left them, still arguing, and went upstairs to change out of the suit which was now really getting to him. Byers insisted that his were very comfortable and had no problem wearing them all the time. Suits just reminded Frohike of who he was not or would ever be. That and unhappy events like today’s. He attended more funerals than anything else. Let’s see. How many of Mulder’s had he been to? Three was it?

Byers watched Frohike climb the stairs to the living quarters. He sighed. He really felt for Frohike. He would hate to have to make that choice. He would want to do the right thing but Langly had a point. It would change everything. As things stood right now they could take off at a moments notice to follow a lead, go on a stake out, or do some ‘funky poaching’ as Mulder so delicately put it. 

He didn’t even want to think about how many times they had been thrown in jail. Add to all of this the fact that the child was a girl...not that he sat around in his boxers but Langly seemed to think this was appropriate attire for breakfast and sometimes well into the day. None of them ever brought women back to the warehouse not that many such opportunities often came up but it was something to consider with a young girl around. 

He supposed it could work out. There was space to build another room upstairs. It would make the ‘living room’ much smaller. They had set aside that area when they first moved in as a place where they could entertain ‘polite’ company. Byers had saved the nicer stuff from his old apartment: a Persian rug, a cherry end table, his stained glass floor lamp, and a few other pieces. They had found a decent love seat and a matching overstuffed chair. Byers had Frohike choose some of his best photos and got them framed. 

Of course the room was rarely used for what is was meant. Junk began to collect in it. They would clean it out occasionally but most of the time they just shut the door and kept the lights off. When Jimmy moved in, he emptied it of all the accumulated files, newspapers, and stray electronics and tried to get the others to use the room as an area to sit around and ‘rap’. Frohike declared this idea a load of crap so Jimmy asked if he could store and use his free weights there. Byers moved the lamp into his room and put some of the more breakable stuff into storage. 

Byers was just considering the fact that a teenage girl would probably necessitate another bathroom when Langly and Jimmy ratcheted their argument up another notch. He went to get them to keep it down. 

“It just won’t work out,” Langly was now nearly shouting. 

“We won’t know if we don’t try,” Jimmy insisted. 

“Jimmy, a child isn’t like a pair of shoes, you can’t just return it if it doesn’t fit,” Byers was trying to be the voice of reason. “And if you really think about it, Langly, we probably could do it. We do have enough room and there are four of us here now. If we had to go out for a story, one of us could stay here with the girl.” He left it unstated as to who that would be but Langly knew who he meant.

Jimmy brightened at this, “I could stay with her. I could help her with her homework and stuff.”

Langly gave Byers a disgusted look. “Do you honestly think that Frohike would leave his kid alone with George of the Jungle here?”

“Isn’t he the guy that always crashes into trees,” Jimmy asked.

Langly ignored him. Byers was now the focus of his frustration. “If he brings that kid here to live, I’m moving out!”

“Don’t worry. You won’t have to move out,” Frohike informed them. Once again they all jumped. For a man who usually wore combat boots, he had no problem sneaking up on them even when he wasn’t trying to.

Langly was speechless at first. He hardly ever won arguments with these guys. “So, you’re going to leave the kid with the other relative?”

“NO! You can’t do it! Come on, Frohike. This is your own flesh and blood!” Jimmy was becoming more and more agitated. 

Frohike put his hand on the taller man’s shoulder to get him to stand in one place so that he would be certain to hear him. “Calm down, Jimmy, I didn’t say that I was going to give her up.”

“Oh, great!!” Langly threw his arms up in disgust.

“Everybody just calm down,” Frohike insisted, “I didn’t say that I was keeping her either. But if I do, I’ll get my own place. It wouldn’t be fair to all of you and this is no place to raise a kid.”

“When do you need to let them know?” Byers asked.

“Michelle’s lawyer told me to be at his office tomorrow at 9:00 AM.” 

“That soon.”

“Yeah. I’m going out and I’m taking the van,” With that Frohike left.


The Law Offices of Clarence Brown

Emma tried not to fidget in the leather upholstered chair. It was comfortable enough but her dress was new and kind of stiff. Her ‘Auntie’ Cordelia had bought it for her just for this ‘special’ occasion. Emma found it inappropriate to wear such a brightly colored outfit the day after her mother’s funeral. Cordelia had insisted that she wear it and even did Emma’s hair herself. Emma felt that she looked stupid but Cordelia claimed she was adorable. 

She looked up at the ornate wooden clock on the wall. It had a swinging pendulum and weights on chains like a grandfather clock but it did not have the heavy wooden case. The pendulum and weights hung free. The clock read 8:55. He wasn’t here yet. She knew Cordelia was anxious to get started but Mr. Brown refused to begin until precisely 9:00AM. 

Emma wanted to get up and look out the window but she had already done that once. Cordelia had called to her to come back and sit down, “It won’t be long now, Poppet. Just sit here like a nice little girl for a few more minutes. When this is all done, I’ll take you out for ice cream.” Emma hadn’t said anything to that. She just sat still as she was bidden.

She studied the leather bound books that lined two of the walls. They were all legal reference books. She had tried to look at one to see if they had any pictures when she was younger but was gently reprimanded and given a hand full of books more appropriate to her age. She snuck another look at the clock. It now read 8:57. Three more minutes. Would he show up? Her apprehension grew.

The third wall in the room was occupied with extremely official looking diplomas, awards and certificates listing Mr. Brown’s accomplishments. There were also photos of him with politicians and other famous people. Her favorite was the one of Mr. Brown with Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. She had asked him about that one at once. He told her that it had been one of the most thrilling moments in his life.

8:58 AM. Emma could not remember time ever moving so slowly. When she was little and waiting to open birthday presents time could drag but this was torture. 

She studied the photos on Mr. Brown’s desk. There was a picture of his wife and family. She had met his sons and daughter only a few times but his wife was a wonderful woman. She was very kind to Emma and Michelle. She made them pralines every Christmas. Emma would give the couple crafty objects that she had made in return. Mrs. Brown proudly displayed them on her Christmas tree. Emma often imagined that Mrs. Brown was her grandmother but she never told anyone this not even her mother.

“It’s 9:00 and high time we got started,” Cordelia insisted. 

Mr. Brown was unmoved, “We have one more minute.”

One more minute. Emma started counting the seconds in her head. One one-thousand, two one-thousand, three one-thousand, four one-thousand, and so on. When she got to sixteen one-thousand there were voices in the outer office. 

“You can go right in. They are expecting you.”

He had come. When he entered the room, Emma tried to stand to greet him as her mother had taught her but Cordelia grabbed her arm and pulled her back down into the chair. Frohike saw her drop in the chair but not the reason for it. Emma rubbed her arm and looked around her ‘aunt’ at her father. He had a puzzled expression on his face. 

“Sit up, dear. Ladies don’t stare,” Cordelia said. 

Mr. Brown greeted him, “Thank you for coming, Mr. Frohike. Please take a seat.” Frohike sat in the chair on the other side of Cordelia, the one closest to the door. Cordelia had insisted that Emma sit in the chair by the window. Mr. Brown sat back down behind his big mahogany desk.

Mr. Brown opened a manila folder in front of him. He looked at the top page for a moment then crossed his hands on top of it. He turned to Frohike and said, “I’m afraid that I cannot commence with the reading of the will until we know your decision, Mr. Frohike.”

It was now Frohike’s turn to lean forward and peer around Cordelia. Why was Emma dressed like that? He had only met her once but from that one meeting and his long talk with Michelle, a yellow and blue ruffled dress seemed very out of character. Her long hair was in two braids, one by each ear. Each braid ended in a big, pale blue bow. It made her look like Laura Ingalls on Little House on the Prairie. He suspected something fishy was afoot. He would have to check it out before he said anything.

“I would like to speak to Emma privately.”

“NO! He is not leaving this room with her! I forbid it!” Cordelia nearly screeched. “We don’t know anything about him. He could be a kidnapper or a child molester!!!”

Frohike had disliked this woman when he saw how she treated Emma at the funeral. Now his dislike had turned into full blown, seething hate. He started to say something he would probably have regretted when Mr. Brown interceded. 

“You can have all the privacy you need in this room. If you step over by the window you will be able to talk unheard.” The fourth wall of the office was taken up entirely by this window. Emma had spent a fair amount of time playing there when she was little. It was a bay window with a cushioned seat that ran all the way along the wall under the leaded glass panes. Emma had fallen asleep there in the sun on more than one occasion. There were heavy velvet curtains hanging on each side of the window and another set that could be pulled across the opening. These would effectively absorb soft spoken voices.

Frohike stood up and walked over to his daughter. He held out his hand to her. She was surprised at first to notice that he was wearing gloves with half of each finger cut off. She took his hand. At first the leather seemed impersonal but where his fingers were exposed, his skin was warm and reassuring. 

She got up to follow him to the window.

“Don’t be frightened, Poppet. Auntie Cordelia is right here and won’t let the strange man hurt you.” Emma did not even turn around and acknowledge her ‘aunt’s’ statement. 

Frohike guided Emma to sit on the window seat. He stood in front of her with his back to the room. “Before your mother came to me two months ago, I knew nothing about you.”

“I found out about you at the same time.”

He started to say something else but changed his mind. He felt like he was passing judgment on her standing over her like that so he sat down next to her on the seat. He took her hand again. “I need to know what you want. You are my daughter but if you would rather live with your aunt, I would not get in your way.”

She turned slightly on the seat so that she was facing him. She struggled with what to say. What if he was just trying to be polite? What if he really just wanted to get rid of her? She didn’t want to have to live with someone who didn’t want her around. But he was asking and he seemed sincere. She really wished she had gotten to know him before this. Then she would have had some idea. Her mother had reassured her that Melvin Frohike was a good man. 

“Emma, are you all right?”

“Yes, I’m sorry, I...” She just couldn’t find the right words.

Frohike could sense her uncertainty so he took another shot. “Are you close to your aunt?”

“She’s not my aunt. She’s actually a second cousin twice removed but since she’s older than me she makes me call her ‘Auntie’. She made me wear this outfit.” She held out one of her braids and let it drop in disgust.

“You don’t like these clothes?”

“No. I look like an idiot. I don’t know if she thinks I’m a doll to play with or if she’s trying to scare you.” Emma couldn’t believe that she was talking about an adult like this. Her mother would never have allowed it but she understood that at this point that it was important to let this man know how she truly felt.

“Scare me?” 

“So you’ll think I’m just a little kid.”

“Tell me, Emma, what do you want?”

For the first time, Frohike saw tears in her eyes, “I want to be with you.”

That was all he needed to hear. Obviously, there was no true affection between Emma and that woman. He stood up and keeping a hold of Emma’s hand took two steps back into the room. 

“I’ve made my decision. My daughter will come with me.”

Cordelia started to whine loudly, “But Emma loves me. I took care of her when her mother died. I did everything for her. Tell them, Poppet!” She took a step toward them reaching out to Emma. Frohike stepped in front of Emma giving the woman a look that dared her to try to get through him to his daughter. 

Mr. Brown once again broke through the tension with a well placed comment. “We discussed this possibility, Mrs. Harrison. Here is your settlement.” He handed her an envelope. “Please have all of your belongings out of the house by noon.” With that he pressed a button on his intercom. A stern looking security guard came in. “James will be more than happy to assist you with any heavy belongings you may have. Thank you for all your help.”

James escorted ‘Auntie’ Cordelia from the room. Mr. Brown motioned for Frohike and Emma to take a seat telling them that he would be right back. 

When the door closed, Emma turned to Frohike and said, “Dad, can I ask you a question?” 

Frohike’s pleased reaction at being called ‘Dad’ for the first time was quickly overshadowed by the thought that he might be able to impart some gem of wisdom on his daughter or maybe to give some fatherly advice. “Anything,” was his reply.

“What on earth is a poppet?”



End Part One


 

Title: A Little Frohike – Part II
By: MagsRose
Feedback: magsrose@comcast.net
Category: Gen/Het
Rating: PG
Summary: Frohike’s daughter gets to know the Gunmen
Disclaimer: They’re not mine no matter how much nor how many times I wish it. CC, et al own then but don’t deserve them
Spoilers: Lots of Lone Gunmen episodes, some general Buffy TVS stuff 


Chapter 1

Once the lawyer read the will it turned out that it would be Frohike who would go home with Emma. He originally thought it would be the other way around. Michelle had said that she had a nice little house. That fact had slipped his mind. Not only did she have a house but it was paid for. It was a great relief to him to find out that he would not have to worry making mortgage payments. 

Shoot, he and the guys were barely making the rent on the warehouse. Frohike had been serious when he told Langly that he would move out and he knew he would have to get another job to afford it. 

He also figured that he would not be able to work a 9 to 5 job, do everything that needed to be done at the paper and still have time to be a decent parent. He would have to give up something and, unfortunately, it would have been his life’s work.

An account had been set up to cover property taxes, insurance, and maintenance on the house and the yard. Michelle had left a sizable estate above and beyond this. Emma would receive an ‘allowance’ each month to cover household expenses, her education, health insurance, clothing, entertainment, etc. It would be automatically deposited in a checking account in both her name and Frohike’s. 

He didn’t really want to tie himself in anyway to Emma’s money but he could see the necessity of having an adult on the account. There was more money allowed for each month than he felt was necessary so he planned to set up a savings account into which the excess would be deposited at the end of each month. This money could be for emergencies or for whatever Emma needed or wanted within reason. 

There had also been a big chunk of money left to Frohike himself. This he flat out refused. Although the money would have solved many of the problems they were still having at the paper, he just couldn’t justify accepting it. The money was Emma’s not his. He had done nothing to deserve it. He asked Mr. Brown to do what would need to be done to put the money into the trust that had been set up for Emma. She would inherit the bulk of her mother’s estate when she turned 21.

There was one thing he accepted though. 

When Mr. Brown handed him the papers to transfer the title for Michelle’s car to him, he gladly signed them. He would need another car. 

He’d always had a soft spot for the VW bus. He had bought it used and at first it was only transportation. Over the years more and more equipment had been permanently installed in it. It was now officially ‘The Mobile Command Unit’ and was needed for stakeouts, surveillance, or just to transport more than the two people that could fit comfortably in Jimmy’s car. He couldn’t afford another car so Michelle’s ‘98 Honda Accord would fit the bill. It was not his style but it was comfortable, had leather interior (he had to love that), air conditioning, and automatic everything. It was better suited as a family car. 

For the first time he thought of Emma and himself that way: a family.



They drove back to Emma’s house in the VW bus. Emma had been a little unsure of the elderly vehicle at first but after Frohike helped her into the front seat and she got a chance to look around she was full of questions. Why did the van have so much equipment? What did this button do? Was that a camera? Did it have two-way mirrored windows? What were all the monitors for? What kind of job did Frohike have that required such a set up? 

He started to talk about himself and what he did until he noticed that she was dozing off. Poor kid, so much had happened to her in the last few days. She must be exhausted. Soon she was sound asleep with her head leaning on the passenger side window. 

He was able to find the house on his own without too much difficulty. It was a two-story home with a neatly kept front yard. Frohike was kind of surprised that there was no white picket fence. He stopped the car at the curb in front of the house. He wasn’t sure how to wake Emma but turning off the engine did the trick. 

“Oh, we’re here. I didn’t mean to do that.” 

“Don’t worry about it. Have you gotten much sleep recently?” Frohike asked.

“No, not really.” Emma admitted. She slid off the seat and out the door. “Would you like a tour of the house?”

He said that he would. Mr. Brown had given him a set of keys to Michelle’s car and the house but Emma already had her keys in her hand. She unlocked the door and let them in. Emma gave Frohike a quick tour. It was comfortable, two story home: very tidy and more than big enough for two people. There were a living room, dining room, kitchen and an office downstairs. In the backyard there was a climbing structure that Emma swore she had not used ‘since she was a kid’. Upstairs there were four bedrooms and a laundry room. 

Michelle must have used the master suite but it was strangely stripped of all personal touches. There was a bed, a nightstand with a lamp, an over stuffed chair, and a dresser but not much else. Emma noticed his puzzled expression. “My mom had most of her stuff taken out of the room before she died. She said it would make it easier for the next occupant.”

Frohike was a little shocked by this statement. How frank had Michelle been with Emma about everything that was going on? 

When he said nothing she tried to explain, “My mom believed it was important to tell me the truth as much as possible. She said that she only ever lied to me once."

“And that was?”

“About how she got pregnant with me.” 

Okay, he wasn’t ready to go there just yet so he looked back at the large room. “I can use one of the guest rooms,” he offered. 

“No, this one is for you,” Emma insisted indicating the master suite. He just nodded. He would need to go back to the warehouse and get some clothes and other essentials. He didn’t feel that he should take her with him, not yet. He didn’t want to throw too much at her at one time. Let her get used to him before she met the other guys.

Besides the dark mood that Langly had been in when Frohike left that morning was one that was bound to last for a couple of days. So the problem now was: could he leave her home alone, even if it was only for an hour or two? 

“I’m going to go get out of this ridiculous outfit,” Emma informed him indicating the blue and yellow ruffled dress her ‘Auntie’ Cordelia had bought for her. She went into her room and carefully closed the door. 

Frohike went to wander around the house a little. He found the garage and checked out the car. He popped the hood. Six cylinders, that was good. The two-car garage held little other than the car. It was way too clean and it seriously lacked tools.

He went into kitchen and checked out the pantry and the refrigerator. Everything was well stocked with all the basic food groups. He and the guys occasionally made attempts to eat healthy but salads and vegetables were often passed over for chips and other junk. If he made one of his special dinners they were more likely to eat a balanced meal but too often they ate on the run or as an after thought. So fast food, cold cereal, and sandwiches made up more meals than he cared to admit.

Emma found him in the kitchen. “Would you like me to make you something to eat?” she asked him. She was now wearing a pair of jeans and a striped green and blue t-shirt. She had redone her hair. It was once again French-braided on both sides of her head with the two braids meeting in one at the back
.
“No, I was just checking to see if I needed to go grocery shopping.”

“Cordelia went shopping the day before yesterday.”

“How about you? Are you hungry?” It was nearly 2:00 PM. The meeting at the lawyer’s office had taken quite awhile.

“Not really, just a little tired.”

Frohike looked closely at her. She did have dark circles under her eyes. “Why don’t you go rest?"

“Oh, I couldn’t just leave you on your first day here.”

“Don’t worry about me. I can take care of myself.” Frohike assured her. “To tell you the truth, there is something I need to do. The coworkers I told you about will need the van. Why don’t you try to get some sleep and I’ll go take it to them.” 

“How will you get back?” Emma was concerned.

“I’ll get one of my friends to bring me back.” She seemed satisfied with that. “Will you be all right here by yourself?”

Emma favored him with a little half smile, “Dad, I am almost 12. I can stay home by myself without being afraid of boogiemen. Besides, the family next door is really nice and if I have any problems I can go over there.”

Frohike liked this idea but wanted to meet the neighbors. He might as well get to know them if he was going to be living here.

The neighbor, Patty Craemer, was the young mother of a very energetic three year old. Emma introduced her father to the woman who shook his hand warmly. Patty’s little boy, Louie, squealed with delight when he saw Emma. He insisted on a hug before running off proclaiming that he could not be caught. Emma excused herself and ran off after him leaving the two adults to get to know each other.

“Would you like some coffee?” Patty asked him.

“That would be great.” 

They moved into the kitchen. They exchanged pleasantries for a few minutes and Frohike told her a few things about himself. Patty was pleased to meet Emma’s father so soon because she genuinely liked Emma and had been very worried about her. Cordelia and Emma had not been a good match and although this man was not at all what she expected she had a good feeling about him.

“Emma tells me that when she is home alone she can come to you if she needs help with anything.”

“Yes, Emma is always welcome here. When her mother had to go out of town for a couple of days, Emma would often stay here with us. When Louie was first born and my husband was on business trips, Emma would return the favor by helping out around the house or entertaining the baby so that I could get things done.” Frohike was pleased to hear this. He was learning more about his daughter as a person and here was a solution to what he would do if he needed to leave town with little notice.

They talked for a short time longer when Frohike rose to leave saying he had errands he had to run but that Emma was going to stay at home. Patty said that she would be around for the rest of the day and that he was not to worry.

Louie and Emma were out in the backyard playing in a large sandbox. She had laid out a series of roads for the toddler to drive his trucks around on. When she rose to go, Louie complained loudly. Emma promised to come back and play with him soon but Patty had to pick him up and hold him so that they could leave.

With further assurances from Emma that she would be okay, Frohike took the VW bus back to Takoma Park.


He parked the van in its usual place in the alley, went down the stairs, rang the buzzer, and waited for someone to come and let him in. He had noticed that the Trans Am was gone. Good, he wouldn’t have to explain to Jimmy why Emma was not with him. Surprisingly, it was Jimmy who answered the door. Frohike walked in and pulled Jimmy back inside with him, “She’s not here.”

“What! Why not? You didn’t just ditch her did you?”

“No, Jimmy, she’s at home.”

“At home?” Jimmy was confused. “But this is home.”

“No, this is our home. She has her own home and that’s where she is. I just came back to get some stuff and leave you guys the van. I’m going to need a ride back and, by the way, where is your car?”

“Langly borrowed it but he said he’d be back hours ago.”

Byers chimed in at this point. “He said there was a new game he’d read about on the internet that he had to have. That was before lunch.” Frohike looked at his watch. It was almost 4:30.

“So the boy went off to have a little pout.” Frohike observed. He knew that Langly didn’t deal well with change unless it was some sort of new technology. He tended to be incredibly possessive and very resistant to anything that messed with his creature comforts. Unfortunately, Frohike didn’t have time to worry about Langly right now. He'd have to make peace with him later.

Jimmy volunteered to drive Frohike back. Frohike appreciated the offer but also knew that Jimmy would want to meet Emma. Jimmy agreed to keep the visit short.

Frohike grabbed a duffle bag and a few pieces of camera equipment from the work area. He then went upstairs to his room. Jimmy and Byers followed. They wanted to hear about Emma and the meeting with the lawyer. Frohike gave them the short version as he threw clothes and other personal items in the bag.

Byers was pleased to hear about the house. He wasn’t happy that Frohike was moving out but he would still be able to work with them on the paper. Jimmy was excited to hear about the car. He couldn’t believe that these three men had gotten along with only one car all these years. Another one would help but four would be even better.

Frohike was anxious to get back to Emma. He thought he had detected just a hint of fear in her voice when he mentioned that he had to leave. Jimmy was just as anxious to be off. Frohike took one last look around the living quarters. He knew he would be back nearly everyday but it was still a big step.

They all had lived and worked together in this place for more than 10 years. The first real change in their lives had been when Jimmy came to stay with them. Jimmy added to the group. He was taking away from it.

He turned to Byers and held out his hand. “I’ll see you around, Byers, but I probably won’t be in for a couple of days.”

Byers took Frohike’s offered hand and squeezed it. “Just let us know.”

Jimmy watched this exchange, went up to them and wrapped his arms around both of them. He hugged them both, thereby forcing them to hug each other. Frohike grumbled a bit about the rough treatment but Jimmy said it first, “Yeah, I know. We don’t hug. Maybe it’s time to start.” 



Frohike let Jimmy in telling him to keep his voice down in case Emma was asleep. They didn’t see her on the couch at first. Jimmy finally noticed her curled up at one end, her arms wrapped around a small pillow off the couch. Frohike had gone upstairs to check her room. Feeling slightly panicked when he did not find her there, he made his way downstairs. Jimmy called to him in a loud stage whisper. “She’s in here.”

They both stood there looking at her for a couple of seconds. “She’s going to have a stiff neck when she wakes up.” Jimmy said concerned.

“But if I try to move her, she’ll wake up and she really needs the rest.”

“Do you think she’s cold?” 

“I don’t know. Maybe.”

“There’s a quilt on that chair.”

“That would be too warm.”

“What should we do?”

“Let me go see if I can find something that’s not as heavy.” Frohike went back up the stairs. Jimmy sat down on the coffee table facing her. He didn’t see much of Frohike in her but asleep like that, it was hard to tell.


Man, he wished she’d wake up but he wasn’t stupid enough to do something to piss off Frohike like giving the couch a little shove with his foot. Fortunately, Frohike came back before this idea started to seem reasonable to Jimmy. 


“I found an afghan.”

“Right,” thought Jimmy, “the blanket, not the dog.”

Frohike carefully covered her with the afghan. She stirred a little and they both held their breath but, much to Jimmy’s disappointment, she didn’t wake up. 

“You’d better go,” Frohike informed Jimmy. 

“Yeah, I guess so.”

Frohike showed him to the door. “Don’t worry, Jimmy, she’s not going anywhere.”

 

Chapter 2

During the next couple of weeks Frohike and Emma got used to each other’s lives and habits. Emma had been enrolled at the National Cathedral School for Girls part way through the current school year. Michelle had been pleased that there was an opening. Emma had not really wanted to leave her old school but she couldn’t say no to her mother, not at that point.


She liked the new school well enough but all her friends were across town and without seeing them at school everyday those friendships began to fade. Most of the girls at the new school had been together since the fourth grade. They were nice enough but she was not part of group and did not have any really close friends.

Frohike adjusted his work schedule to fit Emma’s hours as much as possible. He would drop her off at school then go join the guys at ‘the office’ as he now called it. Depending on Emma’s schedule she either took Metro home and he would meet her there usually within an hour or he picked her up to take her to her dance lessons. 


Byers and Jimmy had no trouble adjusting to a 9 to 5 type schedule but Langly kept his own hours. He was working his way out of his snit but obviously resented the fact that Frohike was not with them all the time as usual. He often had some snide comment when Frohike needed to leave. Frohike put up with it for a while then finally called him on it. 

“Look, I’m not asking you to be happy about my new living situation but you can just keep the stupid ass comments to yourself,” Frohike demanded.


He had found out about the dance lessons purely by accident. He wondered if Emma would have continued with them if he had not stumbled across a collection of mostly tartan plaid ‘costumes’ in one of the guestroom closets. Along with these clothes he found a sword. He asked her about them when they were cleaning up after dinner that evening.

”Emma, I found some clothes in one of the closets upstairs that would have been too small for your mother. They look like costumes.”

She had noticed that he seemed to be methodically searching the whole house for something but she hadn’t said anything about it. She figured he would ask her if he wanted her help. “Was there a sword with them?”

“Yes, a basket hilt sword. It looked Scottish.”

“It is. Those are my dance clothes.”

Dance?! Excellent. He liked that thought that his daughter was a dancer. He didn’t mention his dance experiences. In his mind she was too young to know about the Tango.

“I take it they are for Scottish dances.” This was a safe bet considering all the plaid and the sword.

“Yes, would you like a demonstration?”

“Certainly.” He was pleased that she wanted to show off for him.

She ran upstairs. He thought she had gone to put on one of the costumes but she returned much too soon. She had changed shoes but not her clothes. She also brought down the sword and a CD. She put the CD in the player in the living room, chose a specific track and hit the pause button.

She removed the sword from the scabbard and laid them across each other to form a large cross in an open area on the carpet. She looked at him, “It’s kind of cheating to do this on the carpet. The sword and scabbard won’t move as easily if I kick them or step on them.”

Kick them! Step on them! He looked at her feet in horror. The dance shoes that she had put on had to be made of the thinnest leather he had ever seen and they had next to no sole. She intended to dance around this sword wearing nothing but these flimsy shoes. 


Emma laughed at the look on his face. “Don’t worry, Dad. The sword is not sharp and I know what I’m doing.” Then she added, “But remember, I am a professional.” She shook her finger at him. “Don’t try this at home.”

He knew this wasn’t the first time she had done this and if he had his way it would not be the last. So he sat back to watch. 

Emma stood by the hilt of the sword. ”Could you hit play for me?” He got up and stood by the CD player. She posed with her hands on her hips. “Okay.”

The sound of bagpipes filled the room. She waited for a few measures then made a deep bow and began dancing around the outside of the sword and scabbard alternating either the right or left arm up in the air. Sometimes it was both arms. 

After completing a series of steps at one side of the crossed pieces of metal she moved to the next. She did this on all four sides. “That’s not so bad,” thought Frohike. “She isn’t that close to them.” But when she got back to her starting point she stepped into the spaces between the arms of the cross repeating the identical dance steps only this time stepping and jumping over the blade and the scabbard as she went around the four quadrants. 


Then the music started to get faster. By the time she was done, Frohike had reviewed everything he could remember about first aid and tourniquets. He felt as out of breathe as she looked but he did remember to clap when she was done.

“That was amazing!” 

“Thank you. Considering how long it’s been since I’ve practiced or gone for a lesson that wasn’t too bad. I only kicked the sword once.” Emma was proud of herself.

“You haven’t been going to your lessons?” 

“Not for about 4 months.”

“Would you like to go again?” Frohike asked hopefully.

Emma hesitated to answer. “I don’t know.”

“Is this something you enjoy doing?”

“I like the dances and the competitions but sometimes the practice can get a little tedious. The main problem is the time.”

“Time to practice?”

“No, the lessons are right after school. I would need a ride to get there.”

“That’s no problem.”

“Dad, I know that being here with me is causing problems for you at work.” He thought he had shielded her from that but obviously she had overheard some of his phone conversations with the guys. “I don’t want to make it worse by making you come and get me early every Tuesday.”

“Look,” he made sure he had her full attention, “this is all part of being a family. We do things for each other that may not always be convenient.”

She just looked at him for a few seconds then surprised him by coming over and hugging him. He held her tight for a moment then let her go. “Okay,” she said. “I’ll go call Robin and let her know that I’ll be coming back.”

“Robin?”

“Robin McRae, she’s my dance teacher.” She ran off to use the phone.

“Hey, when will I get to see the other dances?” he called to her in the other room as she started dialing the number.

“Don’t worry. I’m sure you’ll get to know them quite well when I start practicing again.”


It was because of the dance lessons that Jimmy got to meet Emma for the first time. 
Frohike had told him that when the time was right, he and Emma would have all three of them over for dinner. Jimmy kept bugging Frohike to pick a day, any day. He even offered to buy dinner or to cook it himself so that neither Emma nor Frohike would have to. So when a time came that Frohike couldn’t get away to pick up Emma for her lesson, Jimmy had jumped at the chance to do the chauffeuring for him.

Frohike was hesitant. “I don’t know, Jimmy. She’s expecting me and she has never met you.”

“But you could call the school and have them tell her I’m coming instead.” Jimmy was not to be deterred now that he had a plan to finally meet Emma.

Frohike started to waver. Emma had only gone to a few of the classes since she started up again and he didn’t want to disappoint her. Jimmy did have a point; Frohike could call the school. He trusted Jimmy’s driving so that was not a problem but to send someone who was essentially a stranger to pick up Emma just didn’t seem right. If only he could talk to her to see if she would mind.

Jimmy refused to let up. He followed Frohike around begging and pleading until even Byers had heard enough and told him to knock it off. 

Langly was on Jimmy’s side. “Why not let him go if it means you can get this interview and have the article done for the paper to go to print Friday?”

Frohike was encouraged that Langly had something to say about Emma that wasn’t a snide comment. This fact helped sway him into giving it a try but he had to talk to her first. He called the school and asked them to tell Emma to call him as soon as possible. He was informed that she could call him during her lunch period. He looked at the clock and knew that would be soon.

When the phone rang about a half hour later Jimmy answered it. “Lone Gunmen Group, Jimmy speaking.”

“May I please speak to Melvin Frohike?”

“Can I ask who’s calling?"

“This is his daughter Emma.”

“Hey, Frohike, it’s Emma!”

Jimmy started to say something else to Emma when Frohike grabbed the phone from him. “Give me that.” He cupped his hand over the receiver and told Jimmy to get lost. He wanted to talk to her in private. 

“Hi, honey.”

“Dad is everything all right!” she sounded very worried.

“Yes, everything is fine.”

“Oh man, you scared me! I thought something had happened!”
“No, I just needed to talk to you.”

“Next time just have them write me a note so I don’t think you’ve been in a car accident or something.”

“If I had been in a car accident, why would I have you call me here?”

“I didn’t say I was being logical.”

“I assure you that if I had been in a car accident I would have sent someone to come and get you.”

“Okay, so, why did you want me to call?”

“Because I want to send someone to come and get you.” He couldn’t resist the obvious opportunity to tease her.

“DAD! That’s not funny!”

This was the closest they had ever come to having an argument. Byers and Langly were barely containing their laughter at Frohike’s end of the conversation.

“Okay, I’m sorry. I won’t tease you anymore. I know it’s your lunchtime so I won’t keep you long. I have a rather tricky interview that I need to do and the person is only willing to meet this afternoon. So, I wouldn’t be able to pick you up on time. I’m considering having Jimmy come and get you after school to take you to dance class.” 

“Jimmy? He’s one of your coworkers. The one who used to play football with blind guys.”

“Yup, that’s him.”

“I guess it would be all right but I don’t know what he looks like.”

“He’s about 6’ 3”. He has short spiky blond hair.” 

“What’s he wearing and what will he be driving?” Frohike looked over to where Jimmy was waiting out of earshot for Frohike to get off the phone.

“Jimmy, do you want to take your car or the Honda?”

Jimmy nearly tripped over some equipment coming back. “What does she want me to drive?”

Frohike just shook his head. “Right now he is wearing a light blue shirt and jeans. He’ll be driving a black Trans Am with New York license plates that say MODIV-8.”

“Okay, I got it. Wait. One more thing, what’s his last name?”

“Bond.”

“His name is James Bond? Now you’re teasing me again.”

“Nope, that’s his name.”

“Okay, tell him to make sure he has his driver’s license and that he’ll have to pick me up in the Lower School Lobby in Whitby Hall.” 

“I will. I’ll see you this evening. I’m not sure what time I’ll get there but it shouldn’t be too late. I’ll get something for dinner.”

“That would be great. I’ll see you at home.”

“Bye, honey.”

Frohike was impressed. He was pleased to see that she would not get into a car with anyone unless she was absolutely sure it was safe. He turned to tell Jimmy that it was all set but stopped when he saw the goofy look on Jimmy’s face. “What?”

“You called her ‘honey’.”

“Yeah, do you have a problem with that?”

“It’s just so…sweet.”

“Look, do you want to do this or not. I could get one of the others to go if you’re going to get weird on me.” This wasn’t actually true but it got Jimmy to leave him alone.


Jimmy spent most of the afternoon watching the clock. Frohike decided not to tell him where the school was or even its name until it was nearly time to go. He was afraid that Jimmy would want to drive over there too early and just hang out in the parking lot waiting for the bell to ring. A strange man sitting in a black sports car on the grounds of an all girl school was bound to bring the wrong kind of attention to himself. 

Finally at about 3:00 PM Frohike gave him the information. Frohike barely got him to repeat the directions before he was out the door. 

Jimmy arrived on the campus just as school let out. A lot of parents were there meeting their daughters but most of the girls were heading for the bus stop or just walking down the hill to the nearest Metro station. He asked a parent where Whitby Hall was. Finding the building, he entered through the double doors. This area was nearly empty. There were a couple of girls standing around but none of them was Emma. He walked up to the reception desk.

“Hi,” he gave his most winning smile to the woman behind the counter, “I’m looking for Emma Frohike.”

“Is she a student or a staff member?”

“She’s a student.”

The young woman consulted her computer for a moment.

“I’m sorry but there’s no one here by that name.”

“But that can’t be. Her father sent me to pick her up. This is the Cathedral School for Girls isn’t it?”

“Yes, it is. Maybe if you spelled the last name for me.”

“Sure, it’s F-R-O-H-I-K-E. Her first name is Emma.”

He heard a voice behind him. “Sorry, Mrs. Kelly, that’s my father’s last name. He must not know that my last name is MacKenzie.” Jimmy turned to see the speaker. It was Frohike’s Emma. With that braided hair she was hard to miss.

“I don’t know, Emma. How can I let you leave with someone who doesn’t even know your name?” The receptionist tilted her head in Jimmy’s direction as she said this.

“It’s all right. Check his I.D. It should say that his name is James Bond.”

Mrs. Kelly gave Emma a look that said, “You’ve got to be kidding!’ but examined Jimmy’s I.D. without comment. 

“Everyone calls me Jimmy.”

“Okay, Jimmy, you check out. See you tomorrow, Emma.”


When they got outside, Emma stopped and turned to Jimmy. “We really haven’t been introduced.” She held out her hand. “Hi, I’m Emma MacKenzie.”

Jimmy was a little surprised by her formal behavior but shook her hand anyway. “I’m Jimmy Bond.” They started walking again. 

“You have an interesting name.”

“Thank you but that’s the main reason I ask everyone to call me Jimmy. People always seem to expect me to wear tuxedos all the time. It’s just not my style.” This made Emma laugh. Jimmy was pleased that his comment had elicited this reaction. 

“Your car’s attitude matches your name though,” Emma observed as he unlocked the door to his Trans Am. She put her backpack in the back seat and noticed that her dad had remembered to send the change of clothes she left in his car. She hated dancing in her school uniform. 

On the drive to Robin’s he told her about going on undercover jobs with her dad and the other Gunmen. He didn’t tell her the scary ones though like how Byers, Frohike, and Langly had been deep inside a missile silo when it had been blown up. They had gotten out without much difficulty but he had been nearly certain they were dead. He did tell her some of the funny ones. 


Her favorite story was the one in which Jimmy impersonated an Elvis impersonator on a cruise ship. They suspected that the man whose place he’d taken could be the real Elvis. Jimmy went on stage in a wig and white sequined jumpsuit while the guys got the man’s fingerprints. They were quite surprised to discover that not only was the man black but that he was wanted for fraud. Jimmy had gotten arrested right off the stage. 

Emma found all this very funny. Jimmy did his Elvis imitation for her. She liked Jimmy. It seemed that it would be nearly impossible not to like him.

He stayed with her at her dance lessons. The teacher said it would be all right if he watched. He went to sit with the waiting parents. There were six girls in the class. At first Jimmy just thought that they were cute little girls doing cute little dances but the longer he watched them the more impressed he became. What they were doing was actually quite strenuous.

By the time they were done he doubted that most of the guys he had played football with could have kept up with these little girls. About fifteen minutes into the lesson, Emma started wheezing and having trouble taking a deep breath. She asked to be excused. She ran over to Jimmy and he got a little concerned. He knew that sound. He had heard Langly suffer in the same way. 

“Can you hand me my backpack, Jimmy?” 

“Are you going to be okay?” 

“Sure, I just need my inhaler. It’s in my backpack.” She left the room to use it.

When she returned the teacher reminded her, “You’re supposed to do that before you start dancing.”

“Sorry, Robin, I forgot.”

“Well, just don’t forget before the competition. You remember what happened last time. You had to leave the stage halfway through the first dance.”

“I know. I won’t forget.”

 



Jimmy drove Emma home afterwards. She was surprised that he knew the way. “Oh, I’ve been here before.”

“Did my dad bring you here when I wasn’t home?”

“Um, no, you were here.”

“I was?”

“It was that first day.”

“I don’t remember.”

Now he was getting a little embarrassed. “You were asleep on the couch.”

“Oh. Well, I’m sorry I missed you then.” Emma considered him for a moment. “Look, I need to go take a shower. Why don’t you make yourself comfortable? There’s fruit in the kitchen or I can make you some coffee before I go upstairs.” 

“No, I’m fine. Go ahead.” Jimmy waved her toward the stairs. Left to his own devices, Jimmy looked around for a TV. There didn’t seem to be one, at least not in the living room. 

He went to the kitchen and got an apple. He spotted the climbing structure in the backyard. With the apple between his teeth, he climbed to the top platform. He leaned against the railing eating the apple. Checking out the yard he found a perfect spot for a basketball hoop. 

When he was done with the apple. Jimmy wandered back into the house. He checked a large cabinet in the living room. No TV in there either. There was a piano against one wall. He went over to it, pulled out the bench, sat down and lifted the lid off the keys. 

He positioned his fingers tentatively over them and very softly began to play a short melody he knew. Emma came slowly down the stairs trying not to disturb his performance. “You play very nicely,” she complimented him when he was done. 

Jimmy jumped. She was standing right behind him. Her unbraided hair still wet from the shower. She could move as quietly as her father. Either that or he needed to pay better attention. “I took lessons as a kid but didn’t really keep up with it,” he told her.

“But you can still play.”

“I remember a few songs.” He got up. “Here, you play something.”

“No, that’s okay.”

“Please.” He figured that she was just being shy so he put his hand in the middle of her back and gave her a little shove toward the piano bench. She twisted her body to get away from him. 

“No! I really don’t want to.” She stood well out of his reach. “It’s just that I can’t. Not now.” 

Jimmy could see that she was trying hard not to cry. “I’m very sorry, Emma. I didn’t know. I didn’t mean to upset you.” He gently closed the lid over the keys and pushed in the bench. He changed the subject giving her a chance to pull herself together. “Hey, how come you don’t have a TV?”

Emma took off her glasses and rubbed her eyes. “We have a TV. It’s in there.” She pointed to a set of doors he had assumed opened to a closet. He went over and opened them to discover not only a TV but also a VCR, a DVD player and an expensive stereo. 

Jimmy looked at the arrangement of the furniture and saw that he had missed the most logical spot. “Did you want to watch something?” Emma asked. Playing hostess restored the amiable mood she was in when she got home.

They sat down and surfed though the channels until they came across something they could agree on. She didn’t want sports and he was sick of that show where neighbors redecorate rooms in each other’s houses. Langly always wanted to watch that one. 

They settled on a rerun of “Buffy the Vampire Slayer.” Jimmy was glad that it was one of the earlier ones where Buffy and Spike were not going at it like rabbits. He figured she knew about sex and stuff but he would have been uncomfortable letting her watch something like that when he was kind of babysitting. 

They had a good time counting how many times Buffy had died and come back to life, making fun of Willow’s clothes, and thinking of vengeful things that Anya could do to people for them. They debated why Xander had left Anya at the altar. Was he just freaking out or was he still in love with Buffy? 

Jimmy told Emma about the old Taster’s Choice commercials that Giles had been in. He explained that there had been a whole series of them and that at one point they were so popular that they even advertised in TV Guide when the next new commercial would be shown.

Frohike came home with dinner about 45 minutes into the show. They moved to the kitchen to eat while it was still hot. Frohike got plates and silverware while Emma scattered placemats around the table. Jimmy tried to help at first but found that he was just getting in the way. 

When Frohike told him to go sit down for the second time, he did as he was asked. He sat back and enjoyed the show. They hadn’t been living together that long but the two of them very quickly had everything in order to serve a nice family meal, even if it was takeout. 

They ate discussing work and school. Frohike talked about his interview. He was very pleased with the results. He had gotten the information he needed along with some other interesting leads. Jimmy talked about going to the dance lessons and how impressed he had been with the dancers. 

Emma described a big research project she had just finished and turned in. She thought she had done very well. It was quite late by the time dishes were loaded in the dishwasher and everything else put away. Frohike looked meaningfully at his watch and Emma took the hint. He asked her about homework and she said that she had finished it during study hall. She wished them both good night and thanked Jimmy for all his help. 

Jimmy waited until he felt certain she was in bed before bringing up what had happened at the piano. He told the whole story including trying to get her to sit down. He apologized to Frohike for upsetting her but he was concerned about her reaction. 

Frohike admitted to Jimmy that he was becoming more and more worried that he had seen no sign that Emma even missed her mother let alone mourned her. Something had to give. The incident at the piano demonstrated to him that her emotions were closer to the surface than he suspected. 

“I’m not sure what to do. Do I push it and get her to talk about her mom or let her do it in her own time?” Frohike suddenly looked very tired. Jimmy was amazed that Frohike was telling him all this. He wasn’t usually this talkative. If he talked to anyone it was Byers. Jimmy wanted to help so he picked his words very carefully.

“Sometimes it helps to talk to someone who isn’t involved. Is there a counselor at her school that she could talk to?” 

Frohike looked up at Jimmy. “I hadn’t thought of that. I could check. Even if there isn’t they should be able to recommend one. I’ll call there tomorrow or better yet I’ll check when I drop her off.”

Jimmy was pleased that he could help.



Chapter 3

The next day, Frohike went into the school and made an appointment to meet with the counselor the following week. He didn’t tell Emma what he was up to. He wanted to wait until he had actually talked with this person. He made a vague excuse about checking out her schedule, which she accepted because she was in danger of being late.

That evening they had dinner with the next-door neighbors, the Craemers. Frohike had met Patty’s husband, Paul, shortly after moving in. He was an executive at a small software company that was doing quite well. He was also a do-it-yourself kind of guy so he and Patty had spent a great deal of time remodeling their home. He also liked to work on vintage cars and was rebuilding a 1957 Chevy Belair convertible in his garage. Frohike had willingly helped him with the car a couple of times when he needed an extra hand. 

Dinner was delicious and the conversation was amiable. Little Louie thoroughly enjoyed the extra attention the company offered him. Emma was his favorite and he insisted that she sit by him. Emma was more than happy to oblige. When dinner was done and it was time for Louie to go to bed, Patty carried him to his room. 

Not five minutes later, Louie came running back in his pajamas insisting that Emma had to come and read him a story. Patty followed closely behind him to return him to his bed. He started to whine and cry. Emma picked him up and assured Patty that she would not mind reading to him. She put him down and walked out of the room holding his hand. Patty sat down smiling to herself, “Thank God for Emma. She can be a real life saver sometimes.”

With Emma out of the room Frohike took the opportunity to talk to these two people who knew his daughter better than he did. “Does Emma seem all right to you?”

“What do you mean?” Patty asked. 

Frohike took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “I don’t know what is normal for Emma. As far as I can tell, she has shown no real sign of grieving the loss of her mother.”

“She doesn’t seem all that different to me but Patty has spent more time with her than I have,” Paul offered.

Patty thought for a moment. “For the most part she seems normal, but there’s something missing. She’s more subdued than usual.”

“A friend of mine picked her up from school the other day. When they got home he tried to get her to play the piano and she became quite upset.”

This didn’t seem to surprise Patty. “Michelle taught Emma to play the piano. One of their favorite things to do was to play four handed.” Frohike asked what that meant. “They would both sit at the piano. Emma would play on the upper keys and Michelle on the lower ones. They had a number of pieces that were pretty involved that required two people to play the whole thing. Emma had also gotten good enough to play accompaniment so that Michelle could sing. She had a beautiful voice.” 

This Frohike knew. She loved to sing and did so often. Of course she had passed her love of music on to her daughter. Patty continued. “I’m willing to bet that the piano is a symbol of what her mother meant to her. “ 

“I have an appointment to talk to the counselor at her school. We’ll see what she has to say.”

“If we can help in anyway, please let us know.” Patty was sincere in her offer and Paul nodded in agreement.

Emma returned a short time later having read no less that 4 stories before convincing Louie that sleep would be a good idea. Frohike told her they needed to leave so she could finish her homework. Emma agreed. They said their good nights and left.




Late that night Frohike awoke with a distinct impression that something was wrong. Hearing a noise he turned in bed and looked toward the open door of his room. He could just make out a figure standing in the doorway to the dimly lit hallway. He fumbled for his glasses, finally found them and put them on. “Emma?” She moved towards him. Now he knew what had woken him up. It was the sound of her quick, wheezy breathing. 

“Dad, I can’t find it. I can’t breathe and I can’t find my inhaler.” She managed to gasp out between short, shallow breaths. He turned on the light as she came all the way into the room. 

“I’m calling 911,” he told her as he got out of bed.

“No, don’t! I just need my inhaler.” 

“Where is it?” He put his hands on her upper arms and guided her to sit down on the edge of his bed. She gripped the edge of the bed with both hands and started rocking back and forth ever so slightly in time with her labored breathing. 

“It was in the drawer of my nightstand and now it’s not there.”

“What does it look like?”

“It’s in a blue bag.”

He left her on the bed and ran into her room. He flipped on the overhead light and quickly surveyed the room. The nightstand drawer was open. He pulled it out all the way spilling the contents onto the floor. He checked the bottom shelf and behind the nightstand. Next he got down on his knees and looked under the bed. There was a blue drawstring bag under there. He reached under and pulled it out. She must have knocked it out of the drawer and under the bed in her panic. 

He ran back to his room, opened the bag and handed it to Emma. She took out three different inhalers before she found the one she wanted. She tried to take a deep breath and hold it but started coughing. Her breathing did ease though and her eyes looked much less wild. 

“Thank you. I’m sorry I woke you up.” Emma started to get up to leave. 

“Sit down. You’re not going anywhere until I am certain you’re back to normal.”

She didn’t argue. The whole thing had really scared her. She hadn’t had an asthma attack that bad since she was a kid. Frohike picked up the bag from where she had set it down. She still had the one inhaler she had used in her hand and there were three more in the bag. She used the original inhaler again and this time was able to hold it in for about 10 seconds before she started coughing again.

“Why didn’t you tell me about this?”

“I didn’t…” she started then changed her mind, “I haven’t really had a problem with this for a long time.”

“But you still should have told me.”

“I’m sorry.” 


He held the other inhalers out to her. “What are all these others for?”


She picked up one, “This one and the one I already used are for when I have trouble breathing. The other two are supposed to keep me from having an attack.”

“Have you been using the others?” He figured he already knew the answer to that.

Emma looked down at the floor and shook her head.

“I didn’t think so.”

She switched to the second rescue inhaler. “I need to drink water after using this one.”

“Wait here.” He went into the bathroom and got her the water. 

By the time she was done with the second dose on the other inhaler she couldn’t keep her eyes open. Frohike just had her lie down in his bed. He covered her with the quilt he used as a bed spread. He brushed stray hair back from her face. Then he bent down and lightly kissed her cheek. 

“His face is scratchy,” Emma thought as she slipped down towards sleep. She took a deep breath. It felt good to be able to do that. She noticed that the pillow smelled like her father. She found that comforting. Soon she was sound asleep, snoring softly. 

Frohike could still hear a slight whistling sound as she exhaled. He pulled the overstuffed chair away from the wall and put it where he could see her face. He turned off the bedside lamp. The lights were still on in Emma’s room. They cast enough light down the hall to enable him to see her in his darkened room. He got an extra quilt from the linen closet in the hall, wrapped it around himself and sat down in the chair.

Frohike knew that sleep was going to be a long way off. The jolt of adrenalin he had just gotten would keep him buzzing for some time. He sat there watching his daughter sleep trying not to let regrets run unchecked through his thoughts. 

Why hadn’t he made his decision immediately so that he could have met Emma and spent the next few weeks getting to know her? He had thought that they were getting along pretty well but why hadn’t she told him about having asthma? What else had she not told him? He wished it wasn’t the middle of the night. He wished he were back at the warehouse where he’d have someone to talk to, or to at least bounce ideas off.

“If wishes were horses…” he told himself. 

He did make a couple of decisions. A visit to the doctor for Emma was first on the list. Second, he would have to sit down with her and find out if there was anything else he might need to know no matter how insignificant she thought it was. Third, he was going to ask her where her mother’s personal items had been stored. Something he desperately wanted had to be with those missing items.

He finally fell asleep but woke up before his alarm went off. It took him a few seconds to remember why he was sleeping in the chair. He checked on Emma in the bed. She was still asleep. He got up and turned off the alarm. Emma needed more sleep. She wasn’t going to school anyway. He picked up her inhalers and got the name of her doctor off one of them. He checked the address book he had found in the desk in the office. The doctor was listed but 6:14 AM was not the right time to call. He’d wait until 8:00. 

Emma didn’t wake up until 8:45. Frohike could hear her banging around from downstairs. “Dad, why did you let me oversleep!!” she accused him when he came upstairs. 

“Because you are not going to school.”

She looked at him as if he’d just suggested that she jump off a bridge. “Why not?”

“I made an appointment for you with Dr. Zimmerman. I already called the school and told them you would not be in today.”

“But why?!”

“You have to ask that after what happened last night?” Frohike didn’t raise his voice. He was pleased that he sounded calmer than he felt. 

“But I don’t need to go to the doctor. I’m fine.” She tried not to whine but did not succeed.

“You say you’re fine. Take a deep breath and exhale quickly for me.”

She didn’t want to do it because she knew what it would sound like and that would just prove his point. “The doctor will just want me to take Prednisone and I hate that stuff. No matter how fast you try to swallow the pills, they taste nasty!”

“Does the Prednisone make you feel better?”

“Yes.” She had to admit that it did.

“Then don’t you think it’s worth it?”

Emma gave in. She could tell it was going to be difficult to win an argument with him. He was so irritatingly logical and she just couldn’t get around that.

“What time is the appointment?”

 

 


“Go ahead and get dressed. I want to talk to your father.” Dr. Zimmerman had just finished lecturing her about using the preventative medication. 

She had kept her answers simple, “Yes.” And “No.” She hadn’t even complained when he did prescribe Prednisone. 

Frohike met with the doctor in his office. After introductions the doctor asked Frohike to describe Emma’s symptoms during her asthma attack. Dr. Zimmerman shook his head and said, “Her asthma has flared up but not to the degree that would completely explain what happened last night. To me it sounds like it might have been as much a panic attack as an asthma attack.” 

They talked for a little longer about Michelle’s death and how that might affect Emma. The doctor went through her prescriptions with Frohike and explained the routine of the preventative medications. He told Frohike that she needed to take it easy for a couple of days and to keep a close eye on her. If she continued to have serious attacks he was to bring her back in and they would consider what to do from there. 

After filling the necessary prescriptions, they went out for lunch. Emma had been rather subdued and even took her pills with nothing more than a sour face and downing the rest of her milk to cover the taste of the medication. 

“Emma, I have to go into the office but I can’t leave you home alone. The doctor says someone needs to keep an eye on you. Do you want to go with me or would you like me to call Patty and ask if you can stay with her?”

Emma brightened considerably at this question. She sat up straight and smiled. “You mean I could go to work with you?”

“If that’s what you want.” Frohike was a little surprised by her enthusiasm.

“Yeah, I do.”

“Well, that’s settled then. It’s not really all that exciting there. Just a lot of computers and equipment.”

“Will Jimmy be there?”

“He usually is and my other two coworkers as well.” Frohike hoped that Langly was in a good mood that day.

“Mr. Byers and Mr. Langly?”

“That’s them.”

“I’d like to meet them,” Emma said, “You talk about them so much.”

They went by her school and picked up the rest of her books and the assignments she would need to make up. She wanted to complain when he told the main office she would not be in the next day either, but decided not to embarrass them both by acting petulant.

Chapter 4

The buzzer rang at the front door of the warehouse. Byers went to answer the door. Langly was deep into some game he had downloaded the previous day and pointedly ignoring what was going on. Byers checked the monitor. Frohike stood at the bottom of the stairs talking to someone who had her back to the camera. 

He had called earlier and told them that he might not make it in because he needed to take Emma to the doctor. This set Langly off again. How were they ever going to get the paper out if Frohike was never there? Byers took a closer look at the monitor. Frohike was pointing at the camera and the other person turned and looked right into it. 

“See the camera is right there,” Frohike pointed it out to Emma as he explained some of the security at the warehouse. Emma looked up at the camera. She was tempted to wave but didn’t. Frohike rang the buzzer again and once again Emma cringed. If it sounded that loud out here what must it sound like inside.

“Are you going to get that or what?” Langly glanced up from his computer. The light from the monitor reflected off his glasses. Byers still hadn’t opened the door. 

“It’s Frohike,” Byers explained.

“Yeah, so, let him in. That buzzer breaks my concentration.”

“He’s got Emma with him.”

“Great,” thought Langly, “just great.” He was getting tired of hearing about her. Emma this. Emma that. Emma is so smart. Emma can dance. Emma, Emma, Emma. Time to talk about something else for a while.

“So open the door already!” Might as well get this over with. She didn’t appear to be going away. He got up and went behind one of the big sets of metal shelves. Where was that mask: the one that Frohike had worn to trick Morris Fletcher?

The door finally opened. A bearded man in a suit stood on the other side. He smiled broadly at Emma. She smiled back. Emma went in first with Frohike close behind. With the door shut and locked behind them Frohike made the introductions. “John Byers, I would like you to meet my daughter Emma MacKenzie. Emma this is Byers.”

Emma held out her hand. Byers shook it, a little amused to be greeted in such a grown up way by an eleven year old. “I’m pleased to meet you, Mr. Byers.” 

“Oh, please, I’ve heard so much about you, I feel like we already know each other. Call me John or call me Byers.”

“Well, okay, I’ll try.” Emma had been taught that it was not polite to call an adult by his/her first name and there were very few who encouraged her to do otherwise. Patty and Paul were the two exceptions. Now ‘John’ was the third. There was also Jimmy but she wasn’t sure whether to put him in the adult category or not.

She heard a strange, muffled noise come from behind one of several sets of shelves that took up most of this section of the room. She looked in the direction of the noise and saw something gray with big, black shiny eyes duck from view behind some boxes. This frightened her and she moved closer to her father putting her hand in his for reassurance. 

Byers and Frohike were discussing the fact that Jimmy was going to be gone for the day but that Langly was around somewhere. When Emma touched him, he looked at her and then in the direction she was staring. He saw Langly behind the shelves with that old, alien mask on. “Langly, knock it off! You’re scaring her.” Frohike sounded mad.

Langly took off the mask. Emma watched as a tall man with long, blond hair put on his glasses and came around the shelves. She didn’t notice that he still had one hand behind his back. Emma stepped up and offered her hand for the second time. “My name is Emma.” Langly stuck out his hidden hand in return. On it was one of the weird fingered gloves that went with the mask. She hesitated and he pulled his hand back.

“Too slow!” Langly exclaimed.

“Just ignore him,” Frohike advised Emma. He would’ve had some choicer words for Langly but he had learned very quickly to censor himself when Emma was around.

“Knock it off, Langly,” Byers admonished him when Frohike had taken Emma to show her around the work area. “No one’s asking you to be her friend, but you don’t have to be an absolute asshole either.” These were unusually strong words from Byers. 

Langly was surprised at first but then when he thought about it he decided he had taken it a little too far. It wasn’t the kid’s fault that her mother had died or Frohike’s fault that the woman had tricked him into getting her pregnant. He watched father and daughter as they came back toward them. She didn’t seem too bad for a little kid. She wasn’t all sticky or snotty or anything. He supposed he could put up with her being around some if she didn’t talk too much or mess with his stuff.

Byers and Frohike got to work. Frohike had some pictures he needed to develop and Byers was working on an article about the meatpacking industry. Langly had done a great deal of research for Byers and was just waiting for the others to finish up their parts. Frohike still hadn’t written his column. Langly didn’t think Frohike had a prayer of getting everything done in time. 

Langly looked around for the kid. She was sitting on the red couch reading what had to be a textbook. The light over there was awful. She would probably get a headache sitting in that dark corner. He got up and found the old floor lamp that had been replaced by something better upstairs. He checked the bulb. It looked good. He brought it over and plugged it in. Emma watched him without saying anything until he turned it on. “Thanks, that’s much better.” He didn’t reply as he walked back to his game on the computer. 

Emma tried to go back to reading her homework but she’d never found history all that interesting. It didn’t take much to distract her from it. She propped the book up on her knees and pretended to continue studying. 

What she was really doing was watching Langly. She knew that most of the problems her father was having at work were with this man. She had heard the two of them arguing on the phone and had heard her dad talking about him with one of his other coworkers. He seemed like a nice enough man. He had brought her a light when he thought she needed it. Emma tried to think of a way that she could make friends with Langly. Her mother had told her that the best way to get to know people was to get them to discuss something they were passionate about. 

It was obvious that computers were Langly’s passion. Even if her father had not talked about what a whiz Langly was on the computer and how lucky they were to have him working with them, she would have guessed it from watching him for only a few minutes. He had shut down the game, moved to a different computer, one with a flat-screen monitor and was now working on something she couldn’t see. She continued to watch him fascinated by the motion of his fingers over the keys. 

She was amazed by how fast he could type. He never even looked down at them. It was almost hypnotic. She stood up to get closer so that she could actually see what he was doing. She walked slowly, drawn by the intensity of his concentration but moved silently so as not to disturb him. She stopped behind him, a little off to his left side. Wordlessly she watched as he switched to another computer beside the one with the flat screen, this one a laptop. 

Dialog boxes opened on the monitor only to be covered in quick succession by others, most of which she didn’t have time to read let alone comprehend. He gleamed the information he needed from each and moved quickly onto another. He moved back and forth between both computers, sometimes typing with one hand on each keyboard. Emma decided it was like a well-choreographed dance: absolutely flawless, perfect in interpretation, performed by someone who was not fully aware of his own genius. 

She watched him for sometime, eventually getting caught up in the flow. He seemed to be searching databases for information on two people: Dolph Haag and Anna Haag. She suspected that most of the data was not meant for public perusal but Langly seemed to have no trouble accessing it. One computer was bringing up the information in various languages and the other seemed to be translating them into English. She recognized German and French but was unsure of some of the others.

At that point her asthma gave her away. The slight wheeze in her breathing was much too familiar a sound for Langly not to notice. The only indication he gave that he heard her though was a barely perceptible pause in his typing. He continued working long enough to convince Emma that he must not have heard when he suddenly stopped, turned in the chair and calmly regarded her with his arms crossed over his chest.

“Did you want something?” he asked.

Emma was relieved that he didn’t sound mad. She then felt free to ask him what was on her mind. “How do you do that?”

“Do what?” Oops, now he sounded a little perturbed so she went on quickly.

“How can you do two things at once?” She didn’t give him time to answer. “I mean how can you type on both keyboards and still know what’s going on? That was one of the most incredible things I have ever seen! Can you actually read that fast? It was so cool!” 

All of this came out in a rush. She clamped her hands over her mouth her eyes getting big in shock at her own behavior. She knew that when she talked like that she sounded like a bothersome little kid and that was something she was trying very hard not to be, especially with him. She wanted so badly for Langly to like her so that he wouldn’t give her father a bad time anymore. 

Langly couldn’t help it. He started laughing at her. His laugh was deep and irresistible. Taking her hands away from her face, Emma smiled at him. 

“Here, I’ll show you,” he told her. Without getting out of his chair, he turned and hooked his foot around another chair behind him. He wheeled it around bringing it up next to his. He patted the seat. 

“Sit here.” She did as she was told.

Byers who had been watching the exchange with great interest smiled to himself and went back to his work. The crisis had passed. He knew that Langly had now accepted the fact that Emma was a part of their lives. It was about time because it was obvious to everyone else that she was too important to Frohike to ignore.

When Frohike came out of the darkroom, he was shocked to see the two heads, one blond and rather messy, the other brunette and neatly braided, bent over the same monitor. Had hell frozen over in the hour since he had gone to develop his photographs? He walked over to Byers and asked him in a voice that would not be heard by the other two, “Not that I’m complaining, but what happened?” He pointed to Langly and Emma.

Byers chuckled. “She did the one thing guaranteed to put anyone in Langly’s good graces. She complimented his skills on the computer.”

“Thank God,” Frohike let go of some of the tension he had been holding. Byers looked at his friend. Frohike was starting to show some wear from the added responsibilities and concerns that he now had in his life. Byers had been trying to get him to let them help since Frohike had moved in with Emma but Fro was determined to prove that he could do it all: hold up his end at the paper and take care of his daughter. Letting Jimmy pick her up at school the other day was the first step. Bringing Emma here today was the next. Once they all got to know each other, then maybe the other three men could really be of assistance. 

“Emma, did you finish your homework?” 

Emma and Langly both looked up at Frohike. The light from the monitor now reflected off two sets of glasses. “No.” Emma admitted frowning. She was having fun and homework was the last thing she wanted to do right then.

“Don’t you think you’d better get it done?”

Byers wanted to kick Frohike. “Leave them alone,” he thought. “Let them get to know each other.”

“She can do it later. We’re in the middle of something,” Langly insisted. He looked back down at the monitor. 

“Emma, how much do you have left to do?” Frohike didn’t give up.

“I need to finish reading the history assignment and do the math but everything else is done,” she said hopefully. “I still have all day tomorrow. Can I please do it later?”

“You’d be better off getting it done now.”

“She’s also got all weekend,” Langly suggested. “Cut her some slack, ‘Dad’. The kid deserves some down time.”

Frohike had no intention of making her do the homework now. He just wanted to give Langly an out. He wanted to be absolutely sure that Emma wasn’t bothering him. From Langly’s reaction, he’d have to say that they were getting along quite well.

“I guess you can do it tomorrow but you’ll have do it first thing when we get here.”

“I can come back tomorrow?” Emma asked a little surprised.

“If it’s all right with you two.” Frohike looked from Langly to Byers. He knew Jimmy wouldn’t mind. 

“That’s fine with me,” Byers replied.

“You’ve never asked my permission before. Why start now?” Langly turned and winked at Emma to show that he was teasing.

“If you’re going to be difficult, I could work from home.” Frohike had missed the wink, maybe he had misjudged.

“Oh, go back to work, Frohike. I’m just giving you a hard time. We have bad guys to track down and destroy.” 

Emma watched her dad for a moment longer to make sure that it was all right. He just nodded at her and began going through photos with Byers to use with the meatpacking article.


After the pictures were selected and the layout agreed upon, Frohike worked on his column. Every half hour or so, he would check on Emma and Langly. He didn’t usually disturb them; he’d just wander past and see what they were doing.

At one point they were discussing music. Emma almost ran over Frohike in her hurry to find her backpack. “Sorry, Dad.” She carried a portable CD player to listen to music on Metro on the way home. She found it, took the CD out of the player, and handed it to Langly who put it in the CD drive of the computer they were working at. “It should connect to a secret website,” Emma told him.

A window popped up that showed a picture of a plate of sushi. “Don’t you have internet access at home?’

“Yeah, but I wasn’t allowed to play on it. I only used it for research and stuff.”

Langly sat back in his chair. “I don’t know if we should then.” Emma looked disappointed. Langly felt bad for her. He knew the internet was safe if you didn’t do anything stupid. “Why don’t you go ask your dad?” She went over to where Frohike was working.

“Dad, Langly said I had to ask you if I could go on the internet.”

Frohike looked across the room at Langly who shrugged, “She said her mom only let her use the internet for school work”

“Please, there’s something I’ve been dying to try.”

“What’s that?”

“There’s a secret website that you can only get to if you have the new Alanis Morissette CD. Please can I? Please?”

“Okay, okay, but until I can go through some stuff with you on using the internet, you don’t go online without one of us with you. Got it?”

“Sure. Thanks, Dad.”

She went back to where Langly was sitting. He clicked on the sushi picture and another window opened up, this one connected to the internet. It asked the user to register. Langly typed in the information of one his online personalities instead of Emma’s. A new window opened which offered three choices: ‘letter from Alanis’, ‘exclusive audio tracks’, and ‘making of Hands Clean’. Emma pointed to the last one then to ‘see the video’.

Langly had seen the video a number of times but Emma was getting a kick out of watching it play just for her. She sang along with it during the chorus. He wondered if she understood exactly what the song was about. He wanted to warn her that some guys were really like that but he figured there would be plenty of time for such discussions later. Let her enjoy the song for the time being.

They explored the website for a while longer. Then Langly suggested a few of his favorite game sites. When Frohike next came to check on them they were playing cards together online but on separate computers. It looked like Gin Rummy. “You could just get a deck of cards.” Frohike suggested.

“This is better,” Langly told him.

Emma agreed. She pointed at her monitor. “See, you don’t have to shuffle and deal. It’s a lot faster. And look, we can type messages to each other.”

“But you’re sitting right next to each other. You could just talk.”

“This is more fun,” Emma insisted.

Frohike walked away shaking his head. Go figure.


After a while Frohike stopped checking up on Emma. Langly was doing an excellent job keeping her entertained. Or was it the other way around? Either way, by late afternoon he had gotten quite a bit of work done. He had just asked Byers to proofread for him when Langly began shouting. “Frohike! FROHIKE!!” He looked over at them. Oh, God, not again! He and Byers rushed over. Emma was in a bad way: the same quick, labored breathing as the night before only this time she was shaking, too.

“Emma, where are your inhalers?”

“I don’t know!”

“Did you check your backpack?” 


“They’re not there.”

“I’ll get mine,” Langly offered. He knew how it felt. He didn’t like watching anyone else go through it.

“No, we don’t know if the dosage is the same.” Frohike headed out to the car. They had to be in the car. “Keep an eye on her. I’ll be right back.”

Byers knelt down in front of Emma to be at her eye level. Frohike had told him what the doctor had said about the possibility of the asthma triggering a panic attack. “Emma, I want you to try something. Take a deep breath and hold it for 3 seconds.” She just stared at him. “Try it. It might help until your dad brings your inhaler.” She gave it a shot but barely made it for 2 seconds. “Try again.” She did a little better the second time. “Keep trying.”

“I can’t.”

“Sure you can.”

“I can’t.” She was getting frustrated.

“Saying you can’t is just giving yourself permission not to try.”

Now she was mad and going to prove him wrong. She held her breath.

“Good,” Byers said, “now exhale for 3 seconds.”

“What?”

“Try it.”

She held her breath for 3 seconds and exhaled for 3. 

“Now breath in for 3 seconds, hold it for 3, exhale for 3, and wait 3 seconds until you take another breath.”

“That’s too hard,” she snapped at him.

“No it’s not. You’ve already proved you can do most of it.”

He was right about that. So, she tried to do it with him counting this time. The buzzer went off. Langly ran to let Frohike back in.

Frohike had found the inhalers in the backseat. She had forgotten to put them in her backpack. When he got back inside he noticed that she was better off then when he left her. Byers was counting as Emma was breathing in a more reasonable way. 

Frohike handed her the inhalers. She used the first one and was able to hold the medication in her lungs for a full ten seconds and didn’t cough much when she exhaled. Frohike was standing right next to her chair. She leaned into him, her head resting against his side. He put his arm around her and hugged her close. She was still shaking a bit but even that was subsiding. “I’m sorry, honey, I should have kept track of the time. You were supposed to use that over an hour ago.”

“I wasn’t watching the clock either,” Emma sounded more normal now.

“Maybe we should get you a watch with an alarm on it.”

“That might be a good idea.” Emma agreed.

Byers stood up. Emma looked up at him feeling guilty for getting angry with him when he was just trying to help. “John,” she tried the name, “I’m sorry I got mad at you.”

“Don’t worry about it.”

Frohike stayed with her until she completed the whole inhaler regimen. When he walked off, Langly and Emma were discussing the finer points of inhaler use and which ones had the nastiest side effects. He sat back down at his workstation. Byers came over. “I think the doctor was right about the panic attacks.”

Frohike agreed. “What did you have her do?” He wanted to know in case she had another episode
. 
“It’s called Square Breathing. It wouldn’t have worked if it was just asthma. It’s a method of slowing down your breathing if you’re hyperventilating or having a panic attack,” Byers explained. “You said that last night she couldn’t find her inhalers. It was the same just now. She’s panicking when she thinks she won’t be able to stop the asthma attack.”

“I’m afraid there’s more to it than that,” Frohike wasn’t going to kid himself. 

“I know, but it’s probably what’s pushing her over the edge.”

Chapter 5

“Done,” Frohike announced. The paper was ready to go to press. He looked at his watch. It was almost eight o’clock and he was hungry. Emma had to be starving. She hadn’t eaten much at lunch. “Who wants dinner?”

Langly was, of course, quite willing to eat. Emma was more than ready and Byers agreed that it sounded like a good idea.

“What do you think, Emma, should we take these two out to dinner?” 

“Sure!” Emma liked the idea of treating her new friends to a meal out. “Can we go in the VW bus?”

“I don’t see why not.”

Emma sat in the back of the van with Langly. He showed her as much of the equipment as possible while they were moving. When they got to the restaurant he demonstrated how the periscope worked. Frohike finally had to insist that they get out of the vehicle so that they could go to dinner. “You two can play around with all this junk tomorrow. Let’s go!"

Dinner was nothing fancy but still very good. Emma had suggested ice cream for dessert but Langly vetoed the idea. The milk she had for dinner was bad enough but adding ice cream to that was way too much mucus food. Frohike requested that the word mucus not be used at the dinner table. Langly pressed the point and they all had pie for desert: three ala mode, one plain. Emma was not happy about it but Langly promised to take her for a huge hot fudge sundae when she had shaken the asthma completely. 

An hour and a half later, the plates long since cleared away they sat talking over coffee. Emma had fallen asleep leaning against her dad. He got her to lie down in the back of the big semicircular booth in which the hostess had seated them. Byers’ jacket was in use as a blanket. 

Frohike knew he should take her home but he was enjoying a chance to catch up with his two oldest friends. Langly looked down at Emma then over at Frohike. “Fro, I owe you an apology. I’ve been a real jerk these last few weeks.” 

“That’s okay, buddy, I knew you’d come around to my way of thinking eventually since I’m always right.”

“Yeah, but then you’re just a smug s.o.b. aren’t you?” Langly slung back at Frohike with a grin. 

“I guess I am at that.”

Langly became serious again. “Man, you know if there’s anything I can do to help, I’m there.”

Byers seconded that offer. 

“I wanted to do it on my own but I’ve discovered that it’s a lot harder than I thought. I’m trying to do everything right but I’m not always certain what ‘right’ is.”

“You seem to be doing pretty well so far,” Byers told him.

“I should have brought her around to meet you guys before this.”

Langly agreed. “It might have made things easier. At the very least Jimmy wouldn’t have been so obnoxious trying to get you to let him meet her. I was ready to lock him in a closet.”

“He’s going to be really unhappy that he wasn’t here today.” Byers added.

“Where is he anyway?” Frohike asked.

“He said that Yves wanted his help with something.” Byers couldn’t imagine what that could be but Jimmy had jumped at the chance. 

Langly laughed at the idea of Jimmy helping Yves but knew Jimmy had it bad for the woman.

“Who’s Yves?” Emma asked propped up on one elbow. She wasn’t completely awake.

“She’s an associate of ours.” Frohike explained. “Are you ready to go?”

“Anytime,” she replied but then flopped back down on the seat.

All three men laughed at her. She got back up. “What?”

“Let’s go. Do you have everything?” Frohike asked as he got up out of the booth. He wanted to make sure they did not leave without any vital medication.

“I don’t know. What time is it?” She looked around to find her backpack but Langly had it slung over one shoulder. “Have you seen my backpack?” She started to crawl under the table. Byers stopped her. She looked up at him as he pointed to Langly. “Oh, thanks.” She slid out of the booth almost tripping over her own feet as she tried to stand up. Frohike took her arm and turned her toward the door. 

“Come on, Sleeping Beauty.”

“Hey, don’t make fun of me. I’m sick remember.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah. We’re walking now.”

They finally made it out to the VW bus. “Can you guys just drop us off at home?” Emma had been strapped into the front seat and had already fallen back to sleep. “I don’t want to wake her up to change cars again.” 

“No problem, but you won’t have a car.” Byers hated to leave them without transportation. “Do you want me to come get you in the morning?” 

“That would work. Thanks.”




Byers arrived as promised at 9:00 AM. Emma must have been watching for him because she had the front door open before his foot hit the first step. “Good morning, John.” She found it easier to call him that now that she had gotten to know him a little. “Dad’s almost ready.” She ran over to the bottom of the stairs and yelled up it, “Dad, he’s here.”

Frohike appeared at the top of the stairs. “You don’t need to shout. I figured that out when I heard the front door slam.”

Emma ignored him. She had learned that he could be grouchy in the morning but it soon passed. She turned back to Byers. “Would you like a tour of the house?”

Byers and Langly had seen most of it the night before but he let her lead him around while Frohike got some coffee. Upstairs she quickly made Frohike’s bed and grabbed the wet towel out of his bathroom and threw it in the laundry room. Byers realized that Emma was taking care of Frohike almost as much as Frohike was taking care of Emma.

He’d heard the story about the piano so he didn’t ask if she played when they got back downstairs. They met Frohike in the kitchen. He did a quick check to make sure Emma had all her homework and medication. 

Emma was a little disappointed that Byers had brought the Honda and not the VW bus. Langly had needed it to run some early errands, mainly to go grocery shopping if Emma was going to be with them all day. Beer and pretzels was not an appropriate lunch for an 11 year old. 

Emma rode in the back seat talking about things that excited her during the trip to the warehouse. She would get so intent on what she was saying that Frohike had to keep reminding her to sit back in the seat. Byers was pleased to see that she was feeling better but Frohike looked very tired.

Langly was not back yet when they arrived. Jimmy wasn’t around either. He hadn’t come home the night before but no one was really worried. Emma was disappointed that neither man was around.

“This is actually better,” Frohike told Emma, “because you still need to finish your homework.”

“But, Dad, I’ve got all weekend to do it.”

Thank you, Langly, for putting that idea in her head. “Don’t ‘but, Dad’ me. We had a deal. You agreed to finish your homework first thing this morning.”

“I know but there isn’t that much to do.”

“Emma, if you’re going to give me a hard time about this we’ll go back home right now.”

That was the end of the argument. Emma looked around for a clear table space that would be big enough for her math text and notebook. Finding none she asked if she could move some stuff. 

“Come with me. You can use the table in the kitchen.” Frohike led her up the stairs. She was surprised to find a whole living area up there. It was much brighter here where windows let in the daylight. There was a kitchen area, a table with four chairs, a TV viewing area, and a space that looked like a workout room with a bunch of weights on a rack. 

“Did you live here before you came to live with me?”

“Yes. Here, you can work at the kitchen table.” Frohike cleared away some newspapers. “I’ll be right downstairs if you need me.” 

Emma sat down at the table and spread her school stuff out before looking around. Down the hall to her left, she could see a series of doors leading to other rooms. She listened for sounds of her father going down the stairs. She tiptoed over to the top of the stairs and cautiously looked down. She couldn’t see him so she waited for a few seconds. Yes, she could hear the two men talking. 

Good. She walked silently back past the table and down the hall. Most of the doors stood open. The first one was a bedroom. It was extremely neat and well appointed. “This must be John’s room,” she correctly guessed. She respected her new friend too much to invade his privacy. She similarly identified and stayed out of Langly’s room and Jimmy’s room.

Her father’s room, on the other hand, she did not hesitate to enter. Flipping on the light she saw that the bed was made, something he seldom did at home. There was a nightstand with a bedside lamp. She went over and sat near the head of the bed. There wasn’t much here. He must have brought almost everything with him when he moved in with her. 

She opened the drawer of the nightstand. There were lots of little odds and ends here but nothing of true interest. On the floor against one wall were three silver briefcases. She picked one up and put it on the bed. Opening it she discovered a very large telephoto lens for a camera. “Okay, this is in the ‘If I’m Even Found Touching It, I’m Dead’ category,” she quietly told herself. Using extreme caution, she closed the lid and put the case back on the floor where she found it. She ignored the other two cases figuring they held similar items.

In the closet she found some clothes that looked nothing like what Frohike usually wore. That must have been why he left them there. There were some old shoes and a black jump suit with lots of pockets. She couldn’t imagine what that was for. There were also some winter coats and a funny, fur lined vest. 

She looked in a couple of boxes stored in the back of the closet and found some old papers and letters. These looked important so she put them back where she found them. She found a large shoebox full of photographs. She took this box out of the closet and set it on the bed. She checked outside the door to make sure no one had come up the stairs. She went back over to the bed and started going through the pictures.

Her father was in very few of them. Most of them appeared to have been taken fairly recently. She had hoped to find some really old pictures: family shots, group or individual pictures of her dad as he was growing up. There were several of John and Langly and a few of Jimmy but one person showed up more than any one else. 

She was a red haired woman with fine features and an intelligent face. This woman was almost always in a suit, usually with a skirt and she wore a necklace with a small gold cross on it. Often there was a tall, good-looking man with her but she was always the focal point of the picture. 

She went through the pictures again just in case she had missed something, just to be sure. But she never found any family photos. She had asked Frohike a couple of times about his family. She had learned that his dad, her grandfather, had died many years ago and that his mother had died only six years ago. 

She had missed a chance to know her grandmother. She found out that she had an uncle but that neither man, her father nor her uncle, would have anything to do with the other. She had always wanted to be part of a big family with brothers, sisters, aunts, uncles, cousin, etc. When she had found out about her father, her first thought was that now she might have grandparents and everything. But Frohike didn’t even know if his brother was married. Emma had been deeply disappointed by that. She had lost the only family she had ever known when her mother died. ‘Auntie’ Cordelia didn’t count. At least she had her dad now but they were still just a family of two.

Emma sat feeling a little sorry for herself when she heard the buzzer from downstairs. She figured Langly must be back from the grocery store. With the kitchen on this floor she knew that she would have company in short order. Emma quickly put the pictures back in the box and shoved it in the closet. She turned off the light and peeked out the door. She could hear them on the stairs. There was no way she could get back to the table in time.

Seeing that no one had reached the top of the stairs yet she ran then slid across the hall to the bathroom. She closed the door noiselessly, flushed the toilet, washed her hands and dried them. She walked out of the bathroom as the three men were putting bags of groceries down on the counter. At the last minute she realized that there was no math work on the page of the notebook she had left open on the table. She mentally crossed her fingers hoping that no one would notice.


“What’s our little ‘funky poacher’ doing now?” Langly asked. 

They had put all the groceries away and left Emma upstairs to finish her homework. Frohike checked the monitor. “Now, she’s actually doing her Math.”

“How long would you have let her rummage around up there before telling her that she was on ‘Candid Camera’?” 

“The only room she went into was mine. If it had been any of yours I would have stopped her.”

“Are you going to give her a bad time about it?” Langly knew that Frohike was unhappy about her snooping but Langly didn’t think it was that big a deal. 

“What if she had gotten into something dangerous?”

“There’s nothing dangerous up there. Is there?” Then something scary occurred to Langly. “You don’t still have that old gun do you?”

Frohike shook his head. “No, I got rid of that ages ago. There’s nothing dangerous up there but down here is another story. If I can’t trust her to be alone without getting into things, I won’t be able to bring her around as much as I’d like.”

Langly agreed with him on that. “Well, just don’t yell at her.”

“I’m not going to yell at her but it looks like we’ll have to lay down some ground rules. I’ll talk to her tonight. There are some other things we need to discuss as well.”

Once her homework was complete, Emma and Langly went out to the “Mobile Command Unit” to finish exploring the equipment. Emma loved the name assigned to the ancient vehicle and messing with all the surveillance gear. The periscope and parabolic microphone were her two favorites. The only thing that she did not get a chance to try was the night vision goggles but that could wait.

While Emma and Langly were keeping each other entertained, Byers went to the printers with the disk for the newest edition. Frohike had been yawning excessively. He hadn’t gotten much sleep the night before. Every time he heard a noise from Emma’s room he woke up. 

He hadn’t noticed before that she talked in her sleep. Often she just murmured but sometimes she spoke very clearly. She talked to or about her mom most often. It broke his heart to listen to her. At one point she was even crying. He didn’t wake her though. Sleep seemed the best choice. He was relieved that she had no problems with her asthma during the night. Needless to say he got very little sleep himself. 

He trusted Langly to stay with Emma so he went up to his old room to try and catch a few Zs. Once there he looked around to see what she could have been doing in this room for so long this morning. The three cases of camera equipment were all undisturbed but in the closet he found his box of photos with the cover askew. He took it out and quickly looked through it. He wasn’t sure what all had been in there but found nothing that could have shocked or traumatized her. He replaced the lid and stored the box in its original spot in the closet. He fell asleep immediately once he lay down.


He was shocked out of sleep by the sound of Emma screaming. He jumped up and ran out into the hall. He heard her scream again. She was downstairs in the work area. Where on earth was Langly? He flew down the stairs and stopped dead. 

“Jimmy, what the hell are you doing to her?”

“This,” Jimmy demonstrated. He grabbed Emma from behind with his arms under hers and swung her around, her feet flying out in front of her. This time she didn’t scream because she realized she’d been thoughtless and woken up her father.

Frohike’s pulse was racing. “You two are going to give me a heart attack! Put her down and knock it off!” Frohike hadn’t intended to shout. Jimmy did as he was told. Frohike went back upstairs to get his glasses. When he came out of his room, Emma was waiting for him in the hall. 

“I’m really sorry, Dad. I didn’t mean to wake you up.” She looked near tears. She knew he was worried about her and that he wasn’t getting enough sleep. She hadn’t meant to make so much noise but Jimmy had surprised her. 

Frohike felt bad for yelling at them. “Come here.” He hugged her tight. “I was just grouchy because you scared me. I’m not really mad.”

“I’m sorry, I won’t do it again.” 

“It’s all right. I just have to learn the difference between excited squealing and frightened screaming. But for right now let’s just say no screaming or squealing indoors. How does that sound?”

She nodded.

“Why don’t you go let Jimmy know everything is fine.”

“He knows. He’s standing right there.” Emma pointed down the hallway toward the kitchen. Jimmy ducked back behind the wall to Byers’ room not wanting to get caught spying on them during a private moment. 

“Jimmy, I can still see your shoes,” Frohike called down to him. The toes of Jimmy’s shoes also disappeared. Frohike chuckled at his friend. Emma was smiling, too.


When they went back downstairs, Frohike discovered that Yves was there. In all the commotion, he hadn’t noticed her. She took her first opportunity to tease Frohike having met Emma earlier. 

“So, Melvin, you weren’t kidding about having a whole litter.” 

Frohike shot her a dirty look. Emma watched the two of them sensing that this was an old joke between them and that it probably would do no good to ask what Yves meant. 

Emma wasn’t sure what to make of Yves. She was very beautiful and exotic and had a great accent. Emma wished her hair looked like Yves’. At times, she was very cool to all the guys, almost disdainful. But then, when Yves wasn’t careful, Emma could tell that she really did care about them. She wondered why Yves felt she needed to hide this fact from them. What was she afraid of? No one here would hurt her. They had all readily accepted Emma and they had known Yves for a lot longer. 

Yves was very nice to her. She had even teased her a little asking how she liked living with all these men. Emma had explained that she didn’t live at the warehouse but in the home her mother had bought before she was born. 

Emma noticed after talking with her for a while that Yves was very good at turning the conversation away from herself and back to Emma and the Gunmen. Emma didn’t push it though. There was something going on with Yves that she did not understand so she just decided to accept her at face value.

Yves didn’t stay for very long. Jimmy was obviously reluctant for her to leave.

As soon as Yves was gone, Emma asked Jimmy, “Is Yves your girlfriend?”

Jimmy didn’t answer. He just looked down at the floor.

“Emma!” Frohike shook his head at her. 

“I’m sorry, Jimmy.” She retreated behind Langly’s computer and watched as Jimmy went upstairs. She sat down next to Langly. “What did I do wrong?”

Langly patted her back to offer reassurance. “You didn’t do anything wrong. That’s just a really sore subject.”

“That Yves is Jimmy’s girlfriend or that she is not his girlfriend?”

“That he would like her to be his girlfriend.”

“Oh, I didn’t know.”

“How could you?”

“Will he be okay?”

“Yeah, he’s pretty tough. He’s also very patient.”


After about twenty minutes Jimmy came back down stairs. He brought a basketball with him. Emma was more than willing to shoot a few baskets and between the two of them, they talked Langly into going outside with them. 

Emma couldn’t really play with the two tall men so she just had a good time getting in the way and stealing the ball in the most outrageous ways. She would grab the back of Langly’s t-shirt and keep him from moving very quickly. When he would turn to disengage her, she would knock the ball out of his hands, run off with it not even trying to dribble, and take wild shots at the basket. 

She would also wrap her arms around the ball and not let go. At one point, Jimmy held the ball up in the air with her dangling from it. She could not maintain her grip on it for long and dropped off. She accused him of cheating and then grabbed the ball from him when he stopped to protest that he was not the only one. 

Needless to say, she had a wonderful time and was pleased to note that after an hour of such strenuous activity, that she had not thought about her asthma even once. 

The call to dinner interrupted their game and then it was time for a tired father and daughter to head home. When they had gone Byers told Langly and Jimmy how he figured they could do a little remodeling. They sat down at a computer and started plotting out how the living room/workout room could be converted to make space for Emma.

Chapter 6

Frohike was too tired that night to have the talk with Emma that he had discussed with Langly. It would wait until morning. He made sure she took her medication, tucked her in and dropped into his own bed.

Frohike didn’t hear a sound all night. Maybe he was too tired or maybe Emma just had a quiet night. He woke up slowly the next day relishing the freedom to stay in bed. He could see that it was already light out but it was Saturday and Emma didn’t have school so he didn’t have to get up right away. He rolled over to look at the clock. It said 6:03 AM. It was much too early to get up on a Saturday. Emma usually slept in until 8 or so on the weekend. Gratefully he rolled over and fell back to sleep.

When he woke up the next time, he could tell that it was really late. The sun had to be overhead. He looked at the clock. It said 8:24 AM. That little brat! She must have reset his clock. He got up, showered, and got dressed and went looking for his recalcitrant daughter. 

She was reading in the living room looking rather pleased with herself. “Did you sleep well?” She asked him when he came down the stairs. 

“A little too well. My clock seems to have reset it self so that it’s three hours slow.”

“Wow, I wonder how that happened. Maybe the power went out during the night.”

“And only affected my clock. How strange.”

“Yes, that’s really weird.”


“Seriously, Emma, don’t do it again.”


“But you were just so tired and it’s Saturday. You needed to sleep in and I knew you would get up unless you thought it was too early.”

“I would still like the option to decide for myself when I want to get up.”

“Okay, I won’t do it again.”

“Medication?” Frohike nagged.

“Taken.”

“All of it?”

Big sigh from Emma, “Yes, all of it.”

Ah, one of the many joys of being a parent. At least she hadn’t favored him with the eye roll that time.

Frohike made himself some breakfast, heck, he might as well call it lunch. Emma came to sit in the kitchen with him while he ate. She brought her book with her. He leaned across the table and tipped the book up so that he could see the cover. “What are you reading?”

“Island of the Blue Dolphin,” Emma held up the book so he could see it better.

“What’s it about?”

“This girl is left on an island by herself and has to gather all her food and everything that she’ll need to survive.”

“Why is she left there?”

“Trappers come and kill most of her people. The rest are taken off to go live somewhere else but her brother misses the boat. She dives in the water and swims back to the island to be with him. He dies though so she’s left by herself.”

“Are you reading it for school?”

“No, I just like it. I’ve read if before. It’s supposed to be a true story.”

“Does she ever get off the island?”

“I don’t know if I should tell you,” Emma teased. “You’ll have to read the book to find out.”

He snatched the book out of her hands. “Thanks, I think I will.”

“Hey, I wasn’t done with it.”

“But you know how it ends and you won’t tell me.”

“Okay. Yes, she gets off the island but it’s like 20 years later or something.”

“Thanks, now I don’t need to read it.” He gave her back the book.

“It really is a good book.” Emma insisted.

“I know. I’ve seen the movie.”

“There’s a movie? Then why’d you ask how it ended?”

“Movies and books they’re based on aren’t always the same. People want a happy Hollywood ending. They don’t like their favorite characters being killed off.”

“I’d like to see the movie. Is it out on video?”

“It’s pretty old but we can check.”



After he had cleaned up from lunch, Frohike decided it was time to have the talk that he, in many ways, had been dreading but knew was necessary. Emma was still reading her book in the kitchen. He didn’t want the table between them so he asked her to come with him to the living room. He had her sit on the couch and he sat on the coffee table facing her. She looked as nervous as he felt. 

“Is this a family meeting?” Emma asked.

That sounded about right to Frohike. “I guess you could call it that.”

“Did I do something?” 

“Well, let me get to that.”

Emma had learned long ago that it was best to just let the adult talk. If you start confessing too soon, you often confess to something no one knows anything about. So, she waited.

“First of all, I need to know if there are any other medical problems that I should be aware of.”

“No, not that I can think of. Oh, wait. I sprained my ankle once. Does that count?”

“No, I’m more interested in recurring problems, like the asthma.”

“I can’t think of anything but if I do I’ll tell you.”

“I’d appreciate that. I don’t like surprises that require quick trips to the doctor. Next, you know that my work is rather unusual. You’ve seen the inside of the VW bus. There is a lot of equipment there and in the warehouse that could be dangerous to you if you didn’t know how to use it correctly. 

There are even some chemicals and electronics that could hurt you. I want to be very clear about this; you cannot touch anything that you don’t fully understand how to use unless one of the guys or I are with you. And there are some things you will not be allowed to use or touch at all.”

“All right.”

“Yesterday, when you were up in the kitchen at the warehouse, you did a little exploring.” He waited for her to acknowledge this.

“Yes.”

“You went into my room and went through some boxes in my closet.”

“Yes.” How did he know? She had been so careful.

“What did you find?”

“Some pictures.”

“Was that what you were looking for?”

“Kind of.” She didn’t mean to be vague so she tried again. “I was just looking through your things to find out more about you. I was curious.”

“Why didn’t you ask?”


“I thought you would say no.”


“Emma, you won’t know if you don’t ask.”

“Okay.” 

“Did you see what you wanted in the photos?”

“No.”

“What would you like to see?”

“Pictures of my grandma and grandpa. Maybe my uncle.” 

“Oh, honey, I don’t have any pictures of them.”

“None at all?” she asked wistfully.

“I’m sorry, baby. I used to have some but I’ve moved around a lot over the years. Things get lost in the shuffle.”

“What about your brother? Maybe he has some.”

“I don’t even know how to get in touch with him. I told you this before.”

“I know. It’s just that I’ve never had much family. I just wanted to see what they looked like.”

Frohike ran his hand down the side of her face. He wished he could help her with this. He had taken so many pictures over the years and he didn’t have any of the people his daughter wanted most to see. 

“Maybe you can help me.” Frohike knew it was pointless to continue on the other track. “I have looked through the whole house trying to find one thing. Pretty much the same thing you were looking for in my closet. Somewhere there have got to be baby pictures of you. I haven’t been able to find them. You said that all your mother’s personal stuff had been put into storage. Would your baby pictures be there?”

Emma was surprised by this question and pleased that the focus of the conversation was off her poor judgment of the previous day. She knew he had been looking for something around the house but photos had not occurred to her. This she could help him with.

“I know where they are. Mom gave them to me. Should I go get them?”

“Yes!” They had to be in her room. He had not looked there.

She ran off and came back shortly with her arms wrapped tightly around two huge photo albums. She stopped halfway across the room suddenly unsure if she could do this. These two books represented her whole life with her mother. She didn’t know if she would be able to show them to her father without losing her carefully maintained control. 

Frohike got up and came over to where she was standing. He suspected she had realized what it would mean to share these memories with him. He knew it was time but he wanted to proceed cautiously. He wanted her to take this step on her own terms. He spoke softly. “They look heavy. Let me help you.” He held out his hands. 

Emma looked at his outstretched arms then up at his face. She trusted him completely. Her mother had been right; Melvin Frohike was a good man who would take care of her. “Oh, Mom, I miss you,” Emma thought.

Frohike saw tears well up in her eyes but continued to wait. She relinquished her death grip on the books and handed them to him. He walked over to the couch and set the albums on the coffee table. He waited for her. Emma stood for a moment longer then came to sit next to him.

“Which one is first?” She pointed to one of the books. He picked it up and sat back on the couch. Emma did the same. He slid the book halfway onto her lap and waited for her to open it. “Will you show me?”

Her hand was shaking a little as she reached out to lift the leather bound cover. The first page was full of those awful pictures they take of an infant shortly after birth. The ones that everyone oohs and ahs over proclaiming things like: “He has his father’s chin” or “She has Grandma Jodie’s eyes”. But you can never really tell because all the babies in them look the same: red, blotchy, and really pissed about being awake.

Emma turned the page. There were some pictures of Michelle here as well holding the new baby, changing her diapers, bathing her, playing with her, rocking her to sleep. 
Frohike experienced a pang of jealousy. Michelle could not have taken these pictures. Someone else had been here with the two of them for quite a while. Emma took a deep breath and continued to turn the pages slowly, giving Frohike a chance to look over each page. 

He was just glancing at them though. They could wait. He was looking for some sign from Emma that she was ready to share her feelings for her mother. Emma continued to turn the pages. She wasn’t really looking at them either, just mechanically turning the pages. Her unshed tears blurring the edges of the photos and making the colors swirl together. 

Most of the way through this first album were the pictures from what was undoubtedly Emma’s first day of school. Frohike put his hand on the page preventing her from turning it. In one photograph Little Emma looked impatient to start her career at school. 

She was wearing a red jumper with a white shirt and knee socks. She had shorter hair with butterfly shaped barrettes keeping it out of her face. She was looking back at the camera while pulling open a large wooden door that would admit her to a big, brightly decorated room.

“Was that your first day of Kindergarten?” Frohike decided that he would have to speak first. 

“Yes.” It sounded a little strangled but she did answer.

“Who took the picture?” As if he didn’t know. It was a dirty trick but sometimes it’s the dirty tricks that get the desired results.

“My mom,” she managed to say with only a slight catch in her voice. 

He moved his hand to let her turn the page. Here were holiday shots from that year. There were also pictures from Greece, one with Little Emma playing among the ruins of an ancient building. Frohike had noticed that many of the pictures where taken in foreign countries and exotic places. 

“You and your mom sure traveled a lot.”

“Yes, she liked me to go with her whenever it was possible.” She tried valiantly to catch the sob before it came out but did not succeed. 

Frohike put his right arm around her shoulders. “Honey, it’s all right to be sad that your mom is gone. It really is okay to cry.”

Her reaction to this was not what he expected. She jumped up and stood facing him. He caught the photo album before the heavy book hit the floor. “NO! I CAN’T!”

Now he was thinking he really should have talked to that counselor first. He set the album on the table. “Why not? I know you miss her. I can hear you at night. Why won’t you let me help you?”

She turned to leave, to run off and hide and regain control of her emotions. He grabbed at her wrist and caught it. Emma didn’t expect this and was almost knocked off balance. She tried to pull away from him but he was too strong and she was just hurting herself in the attempt.

Her legs betrayed her by simply refusing to do their job anymore. She slipped down on to the floor. She knelt there the picture of dejection. Frohike moved closer to her and let go of her arm.

“What is it you are afraid of?” he spoke softly.

“I’m not afraid of anything,” she declared defiantly.

“Then what is it?”

She looked up at him. For the first time he saw the depth of her grief in her eyes. “I have to be strong.”

“Who told you this?” He was betting it was Cordelia.

“No one told me. I just knew.”

“Who is it you have to be strong for?”

“For my mom and now for you.”

“Baby, your mom is gone. She wouldn’t want you to do this to yourself and you don’t need to be strong for me. Being strong is my job. I’m the dad, remember.” Well, that sounded a little sexist but he hoped he could convince her to let him do the job.

She did start to cry at this point. Softly at first but then, when she let herself feel the full brunt of the terrible loss of the only person who had loved and cared for her all of her short life, she began to weep. 

She put her hands over her face and her head down on her knees. The pain was horrible; she didn’t think she could bear it. She felt her father’s hands on her arms as he lifted her up to get her off the floor. He had her sit on the couch, but then took her in his arms and cradled her like a baby. She tried to sit up and make herself stop but he held her tight and said, “No, you don’t. You’re not going anywhere.” She knew it was useless to fight him. So, she just relaxed, rested her head against his chest and gave up. She had fought it for too long. 

They sat like this for some time. When the worst of it had passed, Frohike went in search of a box of Kleenex. Both of them needed some. Emma’s emotions washed over her in waves. 

After a while she was able to talk. They sat side by side on the couch; Emma tucked under Frohike’s protective arm. Kleenex was scattered around them and on the floor. She shared some of the more personal stories about her mother. She talked about simple, everyday things: the smell of her mom’s favorite perfume, watching her whip eggs in a bowl, talking with such confidence to people she didn’t know or just the taste of her mother’s lipstick when she would kiss her goodbye to go out for the evening. 

Many of these elicited more tears but that was the point. To keep the tears at bay, Emma had also needed to keep herself from remembering what was special and precious about her relationship with her mother. 

One that was particularly hard to tell was about a time when Emma’s asthma had been bad enough to land her in the hospital. She was frightened and feared that she might die. The one thing that comforted her, all through that terrifying night, was her mother holding her hand. Every time she woke up, no matter how late that night or early the next morning, her mother had not moved from her side. Even if she did not come fully awake, she could feel her mom’s hand in hers and she was reassured.

Sitting next to her dad with her head on her his chest, she could hear his heartbeat. She tried to match her breathing to his but he took deeper breaths and she would run out of air too soon. She gave that up and just listened to the steady beat of his heart and watched the gentle rise and fall of his breathing. She realized that she was as comforted by this as she had been by her mother’s hands when she had been so ill. 

He had noticed that she was breathing funny. “Do you need to use your inhaler?” He glanced at his watch. “How long ago did you last use them?”

“It’s been a while. I’ll go do it.” Through all the crying she hadn’t felt a need for it but she was getting a little wheezy now.

Another box of Kleenex was searched for and located. Kleenex was added to the shopping list on the refrigerator. Emma got a glass of water. “I need a refill,” she joked. All the used Kleenex was picked up and discarded. 

Frohike sat back down with the photo albums. “Do you want to try this again or would you like to wait?”

Emma now felt it was safe to go through all the pictures with her father. There were more tears but she knew he wouldn’t think she was just being a crybaby. When they were done with the pictures he had a couple more questions to ask her. 

“Do you think I will ever get to hear you play that piano?” They both turned and looked at the instrument. “Jimmy told me what happened the day he picked you up to take you to dance class.” 

Emma got up and went over to the piano. She pulled out the bench and sat down. She lifted the lid and brushed the tips of her fingers along the tops of the white keys. They were so smooth. She placed her fingers in position to play the opening chord of a favorite song. She left them poised there for several seconds then let her hands drop into her lap without playing a note. 

Frohike got up and came over to her. He put his hands on her shoulders. “Give it time,” he told her. “You can play for me when you’re ready.”

“I’m sorry, Dad.” She closed the lid over the keys.

“I have one more question.” She looked up at him expectantly. “I’m embarrassed to ask but I either just missed it or it’s got to be really soon. When is your birthday?”

Emma laughed in relief. The laugh was a bit shaky but it was still a laugh. This was an easy question to answer. “It’s in two weeks.”

“Two weeks? Why didn’t you bring it up? Were you just going to let it pass without saying anything?”

“No, two weeks is a long time.”

“Maybe if you’re only 11 but at my age the days and years go by a lot faster. You’ve got to give me some advanced warning of these things!” he was teasing her and she knew it.

“Oh, Dad, by the way…”

“Yes, Emma?”

“This is your two week warning that my birthday is coming up.”

“Thank you, that’s very considerate of you to remind your old dad of things he would probably forget otherwise.”

Emma suddenly grew serious again. “You’re not old. You’re going to be around for a long time.”

He hugged her close, kissing her forehead. “Yes, baby, I have every intention of being with you for a very long time.”

Chapter 7

Two weeks and one day later four men and one dancer climbed out of a rather beat up looking VW bus on to the parking lot of the community center. There was a lot of shuffling around; making sure that all the dance costumes and every other piece of necessary equipment was accounted for. Emma sighed. 

This had been easier when her mom brought her to these competitions. She’d been very organized. Maybe she should just ask John to bring her next time. He was the most organized of the bunch and would cause a lot less commotion. People stopped in the parking lot to watch. Her dad and Langly were arguing about Langly’s poor parking job. 

Jimmy kept opening and closing the passenger side front door, slamming it because it wouldn’t latch. Then her dad started in on Jimmy for making so much noise. He told Jimmy to get out of the way and got the door shut in one try. Langly tried to help John carry her stuff but ended up knocking half of it on to the ground. 

Emma waited patiently for them to decide they were ready to head into the hall so she could check in. She had actually gotten used to how they interacted, at times fussing and yelling at each other. It didn’t bother her. She knew that they all loved and respected each other and each would defend the others to the end if need be.

Emma thought about her twelfth birthday the day before. It had been happy in many ways and sad in a few. It was the first big occasion in her life that she celebrated without her mother. But it was also the first time her father was part of a family event. She still desperately missed her mother but did enjoy spending her birthday with her dad and the guys. They all came over to the house for dinner. Patty, Paul and Louie came as well. Yves had been invited and stopped by for about the last hour. 

Emma got a basketball backboard from Jimmy. Paul went next door and got the tools to put it up. He and Langly installed it above the garage door while Jimmy ran back to the store because he had forgotten to buy the basketball. 

Langly gave her a copy of J.R.R. Tolkien’s The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings in a box set with a promise to take her to each movie as it came out. They’d watch the first on DVD but it would not be available until August. He said she really needed to read the books first anyway. 

John gave her a set of tiny pierced opal earrings. He remembered her mother had promised she could get her ears pierced when she turned twelve. He said he’d take her to get the deed done in the next few days. 

Her dad had been very mysterious for the last week. She had been forbidden to go out into the garage at all for three days. She found out why when he brought in a shiny, new, red bike with a big bow on it. She told him, “Thank you. I love it but I don’t know how to ride.

“Then it’s about time to learn. We’ll take it out to the warehouse and you can practice riding around in the alley.” Patty and Paul gave her a matching helmet to go with the bike. 

When all was said and done, candles blown out, cake and ice cream eaten, wrapping paper picked up and dishes cleared away, it had been a memorable day.


She smoothed out the pleats of her kilt and straightened the puffy sleeves of her blouse while absent-mindedly humming the tune to one of the dances for the competition that day. She was wearing Tevas over her dance shoes to keep them clean and protect her feet until she got inside. She patted her hair to make sure it was all still in place. “Look, I’m going to run inside and check in. I’ll meet you guys in there.” 

“I’m coming with you,” her dad said.

She checked in, got her number pinned to the front of her kilt, rescued the rest of her costumes from Langly (John had gone back out to the van to get the video camera) and went in search of the dressing area to put her stuff down. She greeted friends she hadn’t seen in a long time. There would be 8 girls dancing at the Premier level in her age group. It was going to be a tough competition. She suspected she would not do very well. She hadn’t competed in months let alone taken many lessons. Most of the girls knew about her mother’s death and a few offered condolences. 

She was proud of the fact that she could thank them and talk some about her mom. The school counselor had recommended a therapist that specialized in helping children deal with grief. She was going three times a week for now. The therapist said as they progressed he would cut back on the amount of time spent with him until Emma no longer needed to see him at all.

The other dancers were curious about her ‘entourage’ as they called her father and his friends. She explained who they all were. She brought several of them over to meet the guys. Some of the older teenage dancers were hovering around Jimmy. He talked to them and just about everything he said sent them into peals of laughter. Emma stood by Langly and watched. “If I ever act like that around a cute guy, will you please shoot me?”

“Don’t worry, squirt, you’ll never act like that. You have too much good sense. But if you did, your dad would probably lock you up in your room and leave you there until you turn 30.”

The first set of competitors arranged themselves on the stage and the bagpiper played the tune for them to begin dancing. Seeing a few boys standing with the girls who were waiting their turn, Jimmy asked Frohike. “Are those boys going to dance, too?”

“So, it would seem.”

“Wow, that is so cool.”

“You thinking of giving it a shot?” 

“Not really. What I want to try is the bagpipes!”

“Don’t get any ideas! I would have to club you over the head with your own bagpipes if you even brought a set home.”

“Why would you care? You don’t live with us any more. I could practice when you aren’t there.’

Langly had to put his two cents worth in at this point. “He doesn’t live there but I do. I would do the job for him.”

“Hey, look, Emma’s in the next group.” Byers brought their attention back to the stage. He put the video camera to his eye to start filming.


Emma came and talked to them when she got a chance. There was time between dances and costume changes. She was pleased that they had come with her today. It was a lot of sitting around to only watch her dance 5 times. They swore they were not bored. She secretly hoped that they would like it enough to go with her to The Virginia Scottish Highland Games in Alexandria in a couple of months. 

She could so see them all in kilts. Her dad in a military khaki shirt and a Royal Steward tartan kilt, John in full dress with silver buttons on his jacket and a glengarry hat, Langly with that long hair could go Braveheart with an ancient style kilt with one long section thrown up over his shoulder and a big claymore sword strapped to his back, and Jimmy in a t-shirt and kilt ready for the athletic events. She just knew he would love to toss the caber and figured with practice he would become quite good at throwing the long heavy pole. 


Emma stood on the stage at the end of the competition as awards were handed out for her group. There had been five dances. She totally messed up on one, did all right on two others, but thought she did the best on the Sword and the Hornpipe. 

She knew she had no chance to get the aggregate trophy that went to the dancer who had the best overall score in her group, but thought she had a chance to place in at least two of the dances. She got fourth place in the Fling and third in the Hornpipe. 

Her dad and the guys all applauded wildly when she walked over to receive her ribbons. The Sword was the last to be awarded. She didn’t get fifth or fourth, she knew she’d done better than that. But when she didn’t get third or second, she was disappointed. She thought she’d done all right on it. Not great but certainly good enough for second or third.

“And first place for the Sword dance goes to number 413 - Emma MacKenzie.” Emma wasn’t paying attention.

The girl next to her elbowed her in the ribs. “They called you.”

“They did?”

“Yes, hurry up. They’re waiting.”

She looked out the audience. Her guys were standing and cheering. She walked over, accepted the ribbon, and returned to her place in line. Emma stood watching her father and her friends in the audience. 

John was still behind the video camera but waved at her when he saw her looking their way. Her dad was standing with his arms folded across his chest smiling proudly. Jimmy was pounding Langly on the back in his exuberance. Langly was fighting to maintain his balance. She smiled at them. 

A friend of hers from dance class got the aggregate trophy. Emma was happy for her. She had earned it. While she was being presented with it, the girl who had prodded her to go get her ribbon asked, “Who are those men that keep yelling every time they call your name?”

Emma answered without thinking, “They’re my family.” 

But as soon as she said it she knew it was true. Here in these four men was the family she had always wanted. They were brothers, uncles, and cousins, all in one group. Her dad would always be her dad but the others took on whatever role they deemed appropriate at the moment. 

For about the hundredth time in the last two weeks, tears spilled down her cheeks but these were different. These were happy tears. She quickly wiped them away so as not to worry her father. There was only one thing lacking in their little family: women. She had gone from living in a world with only her mother as guidance to one of only men. She occasionally missed the female perspective. Maybe it was fate that her mother had named her after Jane Austen’s Emma: a character who relished the role of matchmaker.


And there were a lot of unmarried teachers at school who would probably love to meet a nice guy. 
 
The End