Chapter 16 #2
Vanessa leaned against her desk, scanning the last few pages of a personal statement one of her Year 12 students had left behind in a previous class this morning.
She was smart, articulate, and full of the kind of potential Vanessa loved to nurture.
Still, her eyes drifted from the page, her focus pulled in another direction entirely.
She hadn’t heard from Emma in nearly half an hour, and the message she’d sent—the one about being summoned to Ellie’s office—had Vanessa mildly panicked.
She wasn’t worried about Emma’s performance or professionalism, Emma was exceptional at her job, but there was something about the unknown that made Vanessa restless.
The moment her classroom door opened, Vanessa looked up.
Emma stepped inside, her shoulders slightly sagged despite her straight posture. Vanessa noted how her jaw was tight, and those flushed cheeks were not from the cold or from exertion. It was emotion. Vanessa recognised it instantly.
She closed the folder and set it aside. “What happened?”
Emma crossed the room without a word and collapsed into one of the chairs in the front row, her bag slipping off her shoulder with a thud.
She didn’t look at Vanessa right away; she just stared down at her hands, twisting her fingers together, her thumb brushing over her wedding ring like it was the only thing she had left.
Vanessa pushed off her desk, pulled out a seat, and sat beside her wife. “Baby?”
“It was about Freya,” Emma said, her voice barely above a whisper.
“Okay.” Vanessa exhaled as she reached out and rested a hand on Emma’s knee. “Talk to me.”
“She’s not being moved. At least not yet.” Emma puffed out her cheeks, her eyes wide. “A social worker called Ellie this morning and asked to set up a meeting with me.”
“That’s…something,” Vanessa said, mindful and careful not to sound too hopeful. “Did they say why?”
“No.” Emma shook her head. “Ellie said she didn’t get the impression I was going to be asked to leave or that Freya was being taken out of my classes. Apparently, the social worker was really positive about meeting me.”
Vanessa searched Emma’s face. “And that’s good news, right?”
Emma shrugged. “I don’t know what it is, babe. It feels like I’m being tested. Like I’m one wrong word away from messing it all up.” Emma scoffed. “I even offered to hand in my resignation.”
“What?” Vanessa frowned. “Emma, no. Why would you—?”
“I panicked,” Emma admitted, her voice breaking. “I don’t want to ruin her life by being around. And I don’t want this job if it means she suffers in any way.”
“You wouldn’t ruin her life.” Vanessa understood Emma’s reluctance to be happy in any way, but she wished her wife wouldn’t think so little of herself in moments like this.
“I’ve spent so long wishing I had family who gave a shit about me, and now she’s here, and I’m…I don’t know what I’m allowed to be.”
Vanessa moved closer, her thigh pressing softly against Emma’s. “You’re allowed to be her sister, Emma. Maybe not right away, and maybe not all at once, but you are her sister. That doesn’t disappear because you’re her teacher.”
Emma rested her head against Vanessa’s shoulder. “Ellie’s going to be at the meeting. She said she wants you there, too.”
Vanessa slipped her hand into Emma’s, and gave it a gentle squeeze. “Then I’ll be there. Of course I will.”
“I just—” Emma sat up, sniffling as she gazed back at Vanessa. “I wanted to tell you first, before I got in my own head about it.”
“I’m glad you did.” Vanessa brushed her thumb across Emma’s knuckles. “I can’t tell you how proud I am of you, Emma. The way you’re handling this…you’re being honest and careful. You’re thinking of Freya first.”
Emma’s eyes welled up, and this time, a tear did fall. “Remember how we both said she reminded us of me…” Emma smiled. “Every time I see her, I’m noticing it more.”
“Now that we know, it’s hard not to notice it.
” Vanessa squeezed Emma’s hand, desperately wishing she could lean in and kiss her.
To take away the uncertainty in her beautiful eyes.
“But I do believe there’s a connection there.
One that was always meant to exist…even if it came a little later than it should have. ”
Emma nodded as she exhaled a deep breath. “I wish I’d known about her sooner. Maybe I could have saved her from…I don’t know. From thinking she was alone.”
Vanessa did lean in this time, briefly kissing the corner of Emma’s mouth. “You can still be that person for her. If they let you in, even a little, you can show her she’s not alone now.”
“Ellie said we’ll all figure it out.”
“She’s right.” Vanessa nodded, making a mental note to thank Ellie Hamilton for her support on this. “And we will. You’ve got people who love you. People who will fight for you, and with you, when it counts.”
Emma regarded Vanessa with a small smile. “You always say the right thing.”
“That’s part of the wife contract.” Vanessa shrugged. “Fine print, or something to that effect.”
Emma laughed, and as always, it was music to Vanessa’s ears. She brushed Emma’s hair from her face and gently pulled her into an embrace. Emma melted into her, rested her head beneath Vanessa’s chin, and sighed. “Thanks, babe.”
Vanessa soothed a hand up and down Emma’s back as she whispered, “You’re doing everything right. Remember that.”
Emma nodded, the tension in her shoulders beginning to fade. “And I’ll keep doing everything right. For Freya…for us. For the people that matter to me.”
Vanessa held Emma a little tighter. “You’ve always done the right thing for us, baby. That’s not something you have to worry about. I’m here, I’m not going anywhere, and I know when you need space to process, okay?”
“Okay.”