Everlasting Love (Now & Forever) (6 page)

“Well you know you are always welcome here anytime, so tell me, what’s going on?” She asked as she unbundled Emma and held her.

“I haven’t spoken with Eric in weeks now and I’m starting to worry about ev
erything. I’m so afraid that he’
s been swept up by the stardom and the attention being thrown his way. He has clearly lost all focus on his family.”

“What do you mean that he hasn’t spoken with you i
n weeks? I don’t like the sound
of this and I’m about to get really upset, Emily.”

“I’m sorry but it’s true. I’ve tried to call him and tell him news about Emma, see if he’s ok, but all I get is his voice mail. I don’t understand what I did wrong.”

“It’s not you, Emily. It’s my ego-filled son!”

Emily nodded as she saw Eric’s dad enter the room. “Hello, Mr. Mason.”

“Hello Emily and Emma. I just got off the phone with Eric.”

“Well, it’s nice to know he still talks to someone in his family. I’ve called him several times but no response. I haven’t spoken with him in weeks now. I don’t think he wants us in his life anymore
,
” Emily said as she started to cry.

Mrs. Mason placed Emma in her stroller and came over to Emily and wrapped her arms around her
.
“Do you know anything about this?” She asked looking at her husband.

He shook his head no.
“I’m sorry, Emily. I will have a talk with him. I may not agree with his choices but he will live up to his responsibilities.”

Mrs. Mason sighed.
“Hang on, Emily.” She left the room and came back ho
lding her cell phone.
“Hello, Son. Oh, I’m fine but you and I are going
to have a long talk later on,” s
he continued to
speak with him as Emily watched.
“Well, someone wants to say hi.” She handed the phone to Emily and left the room with his father.

“Hi,” she whispered.

“Emily?”

“So, you do remember me? Do you remember your daughter too?”

Eric sighed.
“The last time we talked you hung up on me, remember?”

“So, that means you can ignore me and forget about your daughter? I’ve tried you several times over the past couple of weeks and no response.”

Eric didn’t respond.

“You are missing out on your daughter’s life. You get that, right? She asks for you every day and I can’t take it anymore.”

"She does?”

"Yes. It's amazing how big she is getting and how much she picks up on. She knows there’s something wrong too and I don’t know what to tell her when she asks why her
Daddy
hasn’t called to talk to her. Eric, what's going on? This isn't like you."

"Emily, I'm sorry. I'm getting caught up in all the hype and I'm not handling it well. I need help."

"Eric, come home. Take a break from all of it."

"I can't
.
I have interviews everyday and classes to finish."

"Come home for the weekend. Your family misses you, please."

"I will see what I can do. Give Emma a kiss for me, ok?"

"Sure. I still love you, Eric."

"I love you too and I'm sorry," he said and hung up.

Emily got up to find Eric's mom
.
"Here's your phone back, thank you."

She looked up at Emily
.
"Please tell me that my son is going to snap out of his bad behavior?"

"I hope so.
I'm trying to ge
t him to come home this weekend.
"
Emily smiled.
"Well, Emma and I will be heading back home."

"Thanks for coming by and don't worry about Eric, we will work on him."

It was Saturday morning and the sun was peeking through the blinds. Emma was up only a few hours ago so she knew that she was still sleeping. Emily moved to stretch out and felt something behind her. Her body tensed as she slowly turned her head around. She gasped softly as she saw Eric staring back at her.

"When did you get here?" She asked.

"About an h
our ago, you looked so peaceful. I didn't want to wake you,
" Eric said.

"I'm so happy that you are here. What made you come home?"

Eric got closer to her and touched his lips to hers
.
"You. I have acted like a real jackass. These past two weeks have been crazy and I couldn’t handle it. I have never experienced anything like this. I need you with me, Emily. Please don't leave me."

"Why would I leave you? If we are going to get married, we just can't give up on each other."

Eric sighed.
"I love you. I don't deserve you. Last weekend they threw a party for me and it was out of control. That's why you couldn't get a hold of me. I lost my cell phone in the mess."

Emily looked at him.
"Are you trying to tell me something?"

"The party was full of students. It was at a local frat house. The drinking was out of control. A bunch of players and me were working on a keg. It just seemed like the right thing to do at the time."

Emily heard Emma wake up
.
"Hang on. I need to feed her and change her."

"I got it. It's the least I can do
. W
hy don't you go take
a
shower?
"

"Thank you but we still need to talk."

He nodded as he picked up Emma
.
"Hello beautiful girl
. W
hy don't we go catch up
while Mommy has some quiet time?
"

“
Daddy
!” Emma squealed with excitement.

As Emily stood in the shower, she thought back to his story. He was trying to tell her something but she was almost afraid of what that might be. She finished up in the bathroom and headed back to the bedroom. The room was empty so she put on her clothes and went searching for her family.

She was surprised when she found Emma with her mom at the breakfast table. "Have you seen Eric?" She asked.

"Yeah, I think he's upstairs. I told him I would watch Emma so you guys could catch up and talk."

Emily headed back upstairs and found Eric in her art room.

"I see that you've been busy drawing and painting."

Emily nodded.
"I try but it's hard between school and motherhood."

"I know. I'm sorry. Sometimes I can be a real prick. My mom yelled at me last night and told me to wake up," he explained as he circled the room. He walked up to the disturbing self-portrait she had painted
. S
taring back at him was the depressed Emily.

"Is this painting of you?" H
e asked quietly.

"The jury is still out on that one. I painted it right before you found out about the draft. It's been a rough time for me."

Eric turned around and faced her. His piercing brown eyes were full of terror.

He grabbed her hand and sat down next to her on the love seat
.
"That night was crazy. There were girls, alcohol and drugs everywhere. My teammates knew I wouldn't let go so they got me to start with the beer and it went downhill. By the end of the night it was just me, a few other players and a bunch of girls left at the house."

Emily sighed
.
"Did you cheat on me, Eric?"

"I watched my so called friends get dee
per into trouble," he continued.
"That's why I couldn't talk to you, Emily. Stuff at that party can't be known. A lot of people could get tossed from the program and school. We all needed to lay low for awhile. I don't want people to know that I was there. That was my wake up call. I don't want to be that guy."

Emily watched him as he told his story
.
"You realize that you have a child, right? I don't care about myself but I care about our daughter, Eric. You can't put yourself into those situations."

"I know that
.
I feel like I let you and Emma down and I can't apologize enough for that."

Emily
leaned in closer
and wrapped her arms around his
shoulders.
"We will always be a team but you have to be honest with me."

"I know."

"Do you want to talk more about this party?"

"No, I want to forget about it."

Emily looked at him
.
"Ok, well, I'm here if you do."

"Can we discuss this painting now? What's going on with you? Did I do this to you?"

Emily shook her head
.
"I honestly don't know. I know I have had a lot on my mind. Emma is growing up so fast and my studies haven't been great. I'm behind on all my lab work for my graphics class. I'm stressing that graduation is so close and I'm not going to make it. You don’t know what’s been going on here," she explained as she cried
.
"I'm sick of crying all the time. We were too young for all of this. I know you have made mistakes but at least you have had the chance to make them. I'm always he
re or at school, and I never
see my friends anymore."

Eric listened without interrupting her so that she could vent and get everything off her chest.

As she finished, he looked down into her red eyes and took her lips with his as he kissed her with every ounce of passion he had inside of him. His fingers ran up into her hair and tightened. Her lips opened and felt his tongue invade her mouth. Her moans escaped as her fingers traced over his chest. She found the bottom of his shirt and slid her hands across his hot skin.

No words were being exchanged just pure passion. They both felt it was way overdue. His breathing got deeper as he removed her shirt. His lips moved to her neck as he licked and sucked gently
.
"I have missed you so much, Emily. I keep forgetting just how beautiful you are
.
I'm the luckiest guy on the planet." His breathing stopped as her fingers traced over his zipper.

He looked down at her
.
"You are going to be the death of me, Emily."

Emily smiled
.
"I can stop if you want me to."

Eric
pushed her further down on
the love seat
. H
is lips found hers again as she unzipped his jeans and removed them. His lips wandered over her neck and chest as she closed her eyes and just enjoyed the sensations.

As much as they seemed disconnected lately, their bodies always found a way to communicate that pleased them both immensely and sparked a passion that neither one could deny.

"I can't wait anymore, Emily. I need you now. Right here," he pleaded as he took her in one fast movement.

Emily moaned as her body responded
.
"Oh Eric, I love you."

"I will always love you, Emily. Always."

CHAPTER SIX

Eric returned to school the next day, they had stayed up all night talking and getting back on the same page.

He explained how nervous he was about the draft. While his agent was doing a good job of keeping him updated on all of the constantly changing details, it was too much to process and he was barely able to sleep at night. Thankfully he managed to find a tutor to help get him through to next two months because he was really starting to fall behind in a lot of his classes. She listened as he also talked about his fears of being in the major league and all of the pressures that would come along with it.

The draft was only a month away and there was nowhere to escape the excitement of it. After Eric headed back to school, Emily drove into town to do some shopping when she ran into her old high school art teacher.

"Emily, how wonderful to see you! How's college?"

"It's great
.
I'm graduating in May. Can you believe it? I’m not sure where the last four years went."

"Wow, four years already? Time flies and who is this little one?" She asked pointing at Emma.

"This is my daughter, Emma. She’
ll be three in July. Time sure does fly."

Her teacher smiled at Emma and turned back to her
.
"Good for you, she's beautiful. It must be hard managing a baby and college."

Emily nodded. "It definitely is, but I have a great support syst
em including a wonderful fiancée
, Emma’s dad."

"Wonderful, congrats again! And who's the lucky guy?"

Emily smiled. She loved when people didn't know her business already and it was fun to watch them register a reaction when she said his name. "Eric Mason."