Everlasting Love (Now & Forever)
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Authors: Melissa Johns
EVERLASTING LOVE
BY
MELISSA JOHNS
EVERLASTING LOVE
MELISSA JOHNS
Copyright © 2012
All rights reserved. Except as permitted under U.S. Copyright Act of 1976, no part of this publication may be reproduced, distributed, or transmitted in any form or by any means, or
stored in a database or retrieval system, without the prior written permission of the publisher.
Dedication
To my husband, Mark. You stood next to me as I started my dream and you never gave up hope that I would accomplish it. This book is inspired by you. Never stop dreaming of a better tomorrow.
To my friend, Kelly. Thank you for standing by me and helping me sort out my thoughts for this book. You have no idea how much I appreciate it and how much I owe you.
PREFACE
Sometimes we have to grow up too quickly in life. We aren’t ready for the challenge but we don’t have a choice. Sometimes you just have to choose the path that will make you happy.
Everything changed that October day. It was her birthday celebration when she had to break the news to Eric that she was pregnant with their child. One careless moment of passion led to the biggest decision of their lives.
She was so afraid of being alone and dealing with this situation by herself but Eric proposed that very minute and she accepted. She was apprehensive about telling their parents knowing that they would not be happy about this. Eric’s father had plans of him becoming a high paid professional football player and their announcement would definitely threaten that dream.
They had to sit down first and discuss how they were going to handle a baby. They were still freshman and a baby would mean something would have to change but they hoped they could both finish up their first year of college.
They talked for hours on the phone going through all their options and discussing what their future would hold. They realized that they needed the help of their parents if they still wanted to reach their dreams and support a new baby.
Last year Emily learned that her mother had given up a baby during her youth and it crushed her to know that she had to tell her mom that she was in the same situation. The biggest difference was for them was that Emily had graduated from high school and found the love of her life. There was no way she was giving this baby away to strangers. It was a part of Eric and her and they would just have to figure out a way to make it work. About a month after her birthday, Emily and Eric headed over to her mom’s house to break the news to her family.
“Emily, I have a feeling I already know what we are about to discuss, so please just say it.”
Emily took a deep breath as Eric held her hand. “Mom, we are pregnant.”
Her mom started to cry. “I knew it. Oh Emily, how could you let this happen, you have your whole life in front of you and now you have to give up this baby and it will change you forever.”
“Mom, we aren’t giving up the baby. I love Eric and we will make this work somehow.”
Emily’s mom gasped. “Are you kidding me right now? What do you know about raising a baby, Emily? You don’t know what you're talking about. Paul, say something!”
Emily’s soon to be step-father grabbed her mom’s hand and looked at them. “Look, you two are still
very
young. Have you thought this through? Have you thought about the stress and strain that a child brings to a relationship; let alone a couple of young adults? I’m not your father Emily, but I have gotten to know you over the past few months and I have seen your paintings. You have a talent that only some people can dream about. Do you want to put your dreams on hold while you raise a child? I just want both of you to be sure of this decision.”
Eric spoke up, “Of course we have thought about this, Sir, and I have asked Emily to marry me.”
Emily’s mom jumped off the couch and started to pace around the room. “Marriage isn’t going to solve the problem! You are thinking like kids, not adults. You are in college, Emily, and Eric, your future is so bright. Why would you want to ruin that?”
“Ms. Stone with all due respect, your daughter is my future. I’m nothing without her in my life. We tried to live without each other and it didn’t work. Of course, we weren’t planning on this speed bump, but we will figure it out,” Eric’s hand rubbed Emily’s stomach gently. “This baby is our future. It’s part of both of us and I couldn’t imagine our life without him or her. Emily agreed to marry me and we will figure out the rest.”
Emily’s mom sat back down and sighed. “Eric, I love you, you know that. You two are wonderful together but you need to realize that this baby will change your life forever. If you plan on staying in school, where will the baby go during classes? If you continue at
Syracuse
and Emily stays at
Buffalo
, you will be separated from the baby, Eric. Have you thought about that?”
Eric, quickly to respond, said, “We have, Mrs. Stone. We have talked about Emily moving to
Syracuse
to be closer to me during the school year.”
Emily’s mom started raising her voice again. “So, my daughter has to drop out of school so you can continue your football career? She has to desert her family and friends so you can have your dreams come true?”
“Mom! Stop screaming at us, we are just talking about our options. Nothing is final yet except for the fact we are keeping this baby. So, you can either chose to be a part of his or her life or not,” Emily said standing up and leaving the room crying.
Eric calmly looked at Emily’s mom. “Listen. We both want you in our lives but it’s our decision in the end and I will say the same thing to my parents. I love your daughter more than I thought was possible and we will get married one day. I just hope you will be there supporting us because honestly, we will need your help.”
Eric left the room to find Emily.
Emily’s mom had a hard time accepting the idea of having a grandbaby so soon in life. Besides having a pregnant daughter, she was planning to marry Paul. She was stressed out all the time and to make matters worse, Emily’s dad refused to talk to Emily once he found out. He wanted Emily to fly back to
Texas
immediately and write Eric out of her life forever. Things were spinning out of control.
Eric and Emily knew that breaking the news to his parents would be met with the same level of anger and criticism. The day they told them about the baby, Eric's father told Emily to leave and take the baby with her. After all, his son had a future and she wasn’t going to bring him down. Eric quickly defended her and told his father that the baby was going to happen, so either be a part of it or miss out seeing their grandchild grow up.
Emily was shocked, but pleasantly surprised to see Eric’s mom jump in and override her husband. “Eric and Emily, you are about to provide this family a new member and we will not miss it. We may not agree with your choices but I will help you with anything you need and if Emily's mom needs help with something, we will make it work together. This is a blessing and we will treat it as such,” she said intently looking at her husband.
Almost moved to tears, Emily managed, “Thank you, Mrs. Mason that means a lot to me, to us. We have decided that we will both stay in school. Eric will continue at
Syracuse
and I will finish up my freshman year at
Buffalo
then my plans are to move back home and commute to classes. Any support that you can give me so I can keep up with my schoolwork, I will be forever grateful for.”
Mrs. Mason smiled. “Of course, Emily. I’m always here to babysit, and Eric, I’m so happy that you want to continue your football program, but you realize you will be missing out on your child’s early years, correct?”
His father quickly stood up and spoke, “Doesn’t matter, he’s going to finish what he started, do you hear me?" He said turning to Eric, "I have worked too hard to watch you throw it all away because you couldn’t keep it in your pants.”
Eric’s mom quickly turned around to look at him. “Sit down. This is our son, not just your pawn in a football game. He’s about to make a huge decision and it’s his decision to make.”
Eric hung his head and looked into his lap. “I’m not happy about leaving them but Emily insists that I continue my football program and get into the league so we can spoil the baby rotten.”
His father just stared at Emily, not saying a word but looking surprised.
Mrs. Mason continued, “Well, it just seems like you are going to miss all the important stuff. I’m worried about that.”
Emily spoke up, “We know that it will be a sacrifice but we think it will be better in the long run. With current technology, Eric will be a part of every step. He will come home when he can and we will go visit him when we can. We know how difficult this will be, but we hope for your support.”
“Of course, our door is always open and we can’t wait to meet our grandchild," Mrs. Mason added.
Eric and Emily managed to return to school and work their way through their first year of college. Sam was on morning sickness duty since she was the lucky college roommate. Eric would text Sam all the time and ask how Emily was doing. He wanted an update on every step of her life. Sam was able to see the baby bump start and watch it grow as the months went on. Even through all the drama and chaos, they reached the end of May and were ready to head back home for the summer. Sam and Emily stood in their dorm room and cried in each other’s arms realizing that their first and last year as roommates was over. Emily had worked out with her mother that she would return home and commute to clas
s
next fall.
Things at home calmed down when her mother decided that she and Paul would become active grandparents. Her father was talking to her again, but rarely. Her mother even offered to turn her old bedroom into a room that Eric and Emily could share when he was home including a baby suite in the corner.