Chapter 49

The next morning, Emily woke up bright and early to start her new job. Dr. Keaton's office was about 25 minutes from her apartment but was much closer to her house and was just one of the reasons Emily was really looking forward to moving home. When she arrived, there was a sign on the door for all the employees to have a seat in the waiting room. Emily looked around and saw only a few other women who looked to be about her age sitting there. She greeted them and quietly introduced herself and took a seat. Dr. Keaton came out a few minutes later.

“Fantastic! You're all here!” she said. “I assume you've all introduced yourselves?” They all nodded at her. “Great! Well, in case you haven't figured out yet, you five are my nurses! Emily is starting off full time with the intention of someday in a few years dropping down to part time. Julie, Katie and Meghan are part time, rotating days. Last but not least, Toya is our weekender.”

Dr. Keaton had them all go around to share a little bit about themselves. Emily learned that Dr. Keaton was happily married with three children, two in college and one still in high school. Julie was single, had previously worked at Children's Hospital and was three months pregnant. Katie and Meghan were married, each with two toddlers. Toya had five kids ranging in age from two to fifteen and needed her one day a week to work to keep her sanity. Then it was her turn to introduce herself.

“Well, I used to work as a nanny, I've been married for almost three years and I just graduated nursing school this past May. I did my training at Glenview Pediatrics and then I worked at the Free Clinic but it wasn't a good fit for me and I was lucky enough to find this job.”

After the introductions, Dr. Keaton took them through a lengthy orientation on what her expectations were as far as quality of care, her standards for treatment and the basic way she wanted things done. It was a lot to go over. Every pediatrician does things differently, even down to how to treat a diaper rash, and as nurses, whenever they worked for a different doctor they would have to re-learn all new guidelines. Dr. Keaton had them all outlined in a nice book she gave them each.

“Obviously you all probably have your own remedies from your own experiences and please don't feel that you aren't allowed to share your own wisdom with the parents. These guidelines are just my basic preferences but as long as it isn't too outside of the box, feel free to share your own findings. Parents like it when they are offered first hand experiences from their doctors and nurses.”

After a lunch break, Dr. Keaton put them to work setting up all the exam rooms and learning where she wanted everything kept. They had a lot of supplies to put away and organize that they spent the remainder of the day doing that and they still weren't finished. Emily needed to speak to Dr. Keaton before she went home and found her in the reception office talking to a women Emily assumed must be the head receptionist as they were going over the charting system in the computer.

“Oh Emily! Meet Laurie, our office manager. Emily used to work at Glenview with Margie!” Dr. Keaton said.

“Nice to meet you, Emily! Margie is my sister, she's thrilled to death I took this job. I used to work in a boring factory office and she was always telling me how exciting her job was.”
“Margie is your sister?” Emily could hardly believe it. “That's so funny! Tell her I said hello, would you?”

“I'll do that!”

Emily knew that from that point on, she would have to practice complete discretion when discussing anything private at work because not only would it probably end up a topic of discussion amongst the staff, it would probably be a hot topic over at Glenview as well, as she imagined the two sisters on the phone with each other every evening catching each other up on the latest office gossip.

“Dr. Keaton, could I speak with you for just a minute?”

“Sure! Follow me to my office, I need to grab something.”

Emily followed her back to her office. “I was wondering if I could have the day off on Friday. I know it's short notice but it's really important.”

“You need a day off already?” Dr. Keaton asked, with a raised eyebrow.

Emily took a deep breath. “My husband and I have been having a lot of difficulties and we've been in counseling and we've basically been taking this week to not see or talk to each other and if we both decide we can fix this, we meet up on Friday at noon.”

Dr. Keaton smiled. “Done. Go save your marriage!”

“Really? Thanks!”

“Believe me, I've been there myself. I respect that you're doing what you need to do.”

Emily went home, ordered a pizza and changed her clothes. There was a phone call she just couldn't stop herself from making.

“Hello?”

“Hey Randy, it's Emily.”

“Hey! What's up?”

“I just called to warn you that your office gossip is just about to double.”

“Why?” he asked, sounding legitimately worried.

“Because Margie's sister is the office manager for Dr. Keaton. I met her today.”

Randy laughed. “Oh God! This could be ugly, couldn't it?”

“That's kind of what I thought. But hey, at least we'll be able to keep tabs on each other through the gossip chain!”

“I'm sure. Margie found out about Amanda today.”

“Oh really? How'd that happen?”

“I needed her to make me a dinner reservation, I was too swamped to do it myself. So of course she started up with the questions. I could tell she was all set not to like her until I told her that she was a friend of yours and then all of a sudden Margie was delighted. Apparently, any friend of yours must be ok for me.”

Emily laughed. “Well, at least you found a way to get her to be nice!”

“So how was your first day of work?”

“Good, orientation, putting things away, setting up, that kind of thing.”

“Amanda would like me to ask you what you think is going to happen on Friday?”

“Is she there? Tell her I said hi!”

“Why don't you tell her yourself?” he said, handing the phone to Amanda.

“Hey Emily! How's it going?”

“Pretty good. I called to warn you guys that Margie's sister is working for Dr. Keaton's clinic and the gossip rate is about to sky rocket!”

“Oh no! I still haven't even met this infamous Margie yet! Is she nice?”

“Very nice, don't worry. Just don't share anything personal with her.”

“So, tell me, anything new on Friday?”

“Well there isn't much to tell.”

“But you're going to show up, right?”

“I am. I am finally confident of that.”

“And do you think he'll be there?”

“Actually, I know he'll be there.” Emily said.

“How can you be so sure?”

“I just am. So...have you tricked Randy into seducing you yet?”

Amanda laughed. “No. We're going away this weekend....”

“Ahhhh.......well, we'll have to get together with your sister next week, we'll have lots to share with her!”

“Yeah, we should! How about Monday night?”

“Works for me!”

“Great! I'll tell Leighanne. Hey, I gotta run, dinner's ready. It was nice to talk to you!”

“Yeah, you too. Bye!”

AJ was laying on the couch pretending to watch tv but what he was really doing was thinking about Emily. He knew that today was her first day at her new job and he hoped it had gone well for her and that she liked it. Despite all his bullshit before, he really did want her to be happy and he was glad she found a job she was passionate about. As much as he hated to admit it, he had a feeling that had she never dated Randy she never would have gone to nursing school. Being around a doctor's office probably made her realize her dream even more. He hoped she was doing well in their time apart. He knew that Leighanne would have spoken up if she thought Emily wasn't going to show on Friday; Leighanne would have demanded AJ fight harder. He was sure she'd be there.

What he wasn't sure of was what he would do when he saw her. It was sure to be an emotional reunion. Should they stay and have lunch? Talk? Go home and make mad, passionate love all day long? Wouldn't it seem weird to just...sit down and have lunch like nothing had happened? They weren't supposed to bring anything up but that didn't mean they couldn't at least acknowledge this step in some form or another. He sighed and changed the channel. It was going to be one long week.

Emily was a nervous wreck when she woke up Friday morning. She was anxious when she went to bed but that was nothing to the way she felt when she woke up. It wasn't that she was afraid it wouldn't go as planned, she was just nervous about it in general. They had a lot riding on this working and she was also feeling nervous to be with him again. Nervous and excited. She got out of bed, turned on the coffee pot and got in the shower. She decided the best way to pass the time was to pamper herself so she used her special deep conditioning treatment on her hair while she exfoliated her skin and shaved her legs. When she was out of the shower she debated on how to do her hair. She had always thought it looked neater when she straightened it but AJ had always liked it curly so she put some curl foam in it and let it air dry hoping that today wasn't going to be one of those days her hair decided to dry weird. She put her robe on and went to pour herself a large cup of coffee and sat down on the couch to paint her toe nails, enjoying her morning energy boost while she watched tv.

Once her nails were dry, she set about finding something to wear. She decided to do what AJ would have done and picked out her underwear first. He had always liked her set of black lace so she decided to wear those. She couldn't decide how dressy she should get. While it was a fancy restaurant, they were meeting at noon and she wasn't even sure if Paris! was open for lunch. It was a rather chilly day for the first week of November so she decided to wear black dress pants with a pink, three-quarter sleeve sweater. With it she decided to wear the diamond necklace he'd given her the last time they'd been there that was to represent their past but more importantly, especially today, their future. She did her make-up next followed by shoes and perfume and she was ready. Unfortunately, it was only 10:30 and she still had a good hour to kill before she could leave. She sighed as she turned on the tv and tried to busy her mind with a re-run of ER as she looked at the clock every five minutes.

AJ really wanted to stay out on the deck and smoke an entire pack of cigarettes but he didn't want to smell all smoky when he saw Emily. He was surprised how anxious he was feeling. He was anxious to show her he was sorry and that he was different now. As awful as it had been, he really thought that trip to Mexico had saved their marriage. As far as he could figure they were trying too hard to move on when what they really needed to do was clear the air. The huge blow-out and Emily leaving was just what he had needed to kick his ass and wake him up. He took a long shower and then trimmed his facial hair. Emily had always preferred it to be neat if he insisted on having hair on his face. He'd grown a beard once and she said he looked like the uni-bomber.

He put on dark gray pants and an off-white sweater that Emily had bought him for Christmas with his new cologne, and checked himself in the mirror to make sure he looked good. He looked at his watch. There was still about ten minutes before he had to leave the house. On second thought, if he left the house now, he'd had just enough time to swing by the florist and pick up some flowers on his way.

Chapter 50

Emily was relieved when it was finally time to leave. She couldn't remember a morning that had ever felt longer. She wasn't even really paying much attention when she got on the freeway, she was only focused on getting there and seeing AJ. Unfortunately, she should have been at least watching how fast she was driving because when she looked in her mirror, she saw the unmistakable flashing lights of a Georgia state police officer pulling her over. Emily cursed loudly as she looked at the clock and pulled over.

She turned off the car and got out her license and registration just as the officer got to her window.

“Do you know why I pulled you over today, Miss?”

“Was I speeding?” Emily asked, trying to sound very regretful.

“You were going 80 in a 55 zone.” The officer said, not sounding very pleased with her.

“I'm so sorry, I really should have been paying better attention.” Emily said.

“Yes, you should have. I'm going to have to give you a ticket. Wait here while I call it in.” he said, and walked back to his car.

Emily was beginning to panic. She only had five minutes to get to Paris! and she knew it generally took at least that long for the officer to look up her plates and registration and write out her ticket. She picked up her phone and tried to call AJ but his phone was off.

“FUCK!” she yelled as his voice mail picked up. “AJ...it's me. Look I'm on my way but I'm not going to make it on time...please don't leave....” she said, hoping that he'd get the message. Unfortunately, she knew the only time he'd check his messages was when he thought she wasn't coming but if he was crushed that she hadn't shown, would he really want to check his messages?

AJ had gotten there a few minutes early. He decided the best place to wait for her was right in front of the door. He was excited to see her again, hold her, kiss her. He missed everything about her and he couldn't wait to have her back in his arms once again. He nervously checked his watch. It was 11:59. She should be there any second now. By 12:03, he'd begun pacing back and forth. He was so sure she was coming. How could she not be there? How could she give up?

At 12:05 he knew she wasn't coming. Emily hated being late and he knew if she were coming, she would have been there by now. He tossed the flowers in the trash and walked away.

Emily had called several more times as she finally got back on the road but his phone was still off. Her hands were shaking and she was mumbling every curse word in the book as she parked her car next to Paris! at 12:10. She got out of the car and ran to the front door and when she didn't see him standing out front, she went inside hoping he'd be there.

“May I help you?” the host asked.

“I was supposed to meet someone here at noon, is there anyone waiting?”

“No one inside. There was a gentleman out front but he left about five minutes ago.”

Emily felt like she was going to be sick. “He left? Didn't he get my message?”

“I got your message.” a voice behind her said.

Emily wheeled around and when she saw AJ standing behind her, her eyes immediately filled with tears and she covered her mouth with her hand.

“I was so afraid you'd left....” she said.

“I did leave. And thank God I checked my messages when I got into the car!”

“I'm so sorry...I was on my way and I got this damn speeding ticket!” she said, pulling the ticket out of her purse to show him.

AJ smiled. “It's ok. You're here now, that's all that matters.”

They stood there for a minute staring at each other, reveling in the incredible relief they were each feeling now that they were finally together again.

Finally, AJ took her in his arms and held her tightly. “Jesus, I missed you so much.” he said.

“I missed you too.” she said, closing her eyes and loving the feeling of being wrapped up in his arms.

“Would you like to stay for lunch?” he asked, after a minute.

“Yeah. Lunch would be nice. I hardly ate anything for breakfast, I'm starving!”

“Me too. I guess I was too nervous to eat or something.”

They sat at a table next to the Eiffel tower and ordered their traditional Paris! meal.

As Emily stared across the table at him, she couldn't believe she was sitting with him, that he was smiling at her, that it was finally all behind them.

“You look beautiful.” he said softly as he caught her staring at him.

“Thank you.” she said. “So...how have you been?”

“To be perfectly honest, I've been really shitty without you! Being home is so boring when you're all by yourself!”

Emily laughed. “Tell me about it. Anything new going on with your album?”

“I've had a few chats with Brent this week to go over some of our ideas for when we get to the studio and other than that I've just been kinda messing around with my stuff, making some changes.”

“Are you getting excited to get to work finally?”

“To be honest I'm kind of nervous.” he admitted.

“Why are you nervous? They love you!”

“Yeah well, so did the last label I worked with. And I think I'm also nervous that my ideas sound better in my head than they will in the booth, you know?”

Emily nodded. “You'll be great. Trust me!”

AJ smiled. He did trust her.

“So how do you like your job so far? Did you have to take time off today?”

“Dr. Keaton is amazing! We spent the week doing orientation and getting the clinic all set up to open. She has some other part time nurses and she's going to hire one or two more full time nurses so that I won't be the only one. She's really big on staff having flexible schedules. I did have to take today off but I was very up front with her about the reason and she was incredibly understanding about it. I'm so excited to get to have patients on Monday!”

“That's great! I hope the opening goes smoothly. Do you have a lot of patients signed up already?”

“According to the schedule we're nearly booked the whole week. There is only one potential problem I should warn you about.”

“What's that?” he asked.

“Well, I don't think I ever told you about Margie, the receptionist at Glenview but she is an absolute gossip queen. She can't keep anything to herself. What's really ironic is that her sister, Laurie, is the receptionist for Dr. Keaton's office so I'm going to be very careful what I say around there!”

AJ laughed. “Yeah, you don't want to be the star of the office tabloid!”

“Exactly!”

The conversation between the two stalled for a moment while they gazed at each other. It felt so strange to be sitting having lunch together after everything they'd been through. It didn't feel awkward in the sense that they were avoiding talking about what was going on like it had been in the past, rather it was awkward in the sense that so much had happened that to be enjoying each other's company felt strange because it had been so long since they'd last been able to.

“This is almost as nerve-wracking as our first date here!” she admitted finally.

AJ nearly choked on his water as he laughed. “I was seriously just thinking the same thing!”

“So do you think Brian and Leighanne are sitting at home dying to know what's happening?”

“I don't doubt it. And I have no intention of calling them today just to drive them nuts!” AJ chuckled.

Emily laughed. “I'm supposed to go out with Mandy and Leighanne on Monday night for another Girls Night Out, I'll catch her up then.”

“I'm sure she'll have a million questions for you.”

“When do you leave for New York?” Emily asked.

AJ sighed. “I'm supposed to leave Wednesday night.”

Emily felt saddened to know that their reunion would have to be short lived before they'd once again have to spend time apart. “Well, it won't be for too long at least.” she said, trying to sound cheerful about it.

AJ grabbed her hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. “It won't be for long. I'll be done just before Christmas and I can come home whenever I can and you can come up there whenever you can. And I'll definitely be here Thanksgiving weekend.”

Emily grinned. “Good! You can put up the Christmas lights!”

AJ groaned as he remembered their Christmas decorating extravaganza they do each year.

“Oh come on! It won't be that bad!” she said.

“You know you can pay people to come do that for you.” he said.

Emily scoffed. “That takes all the fun out of it!”

AJ's eyes twinkled as he smiled at her. He hadn't forgotten about her Christmas traditions, and as much as he liked to tease her about turning into an elf, he loved her spirit.

They made innocent conversation while they ate their lunch and they each felt great to be in each other's presence and enjoy themselves once again.

Emily looked at him a bit nervously once the bill was paid.

“So....what do you want to do now?” she asked.

“Did you have anything in mind you wanted to do?” he asked.

“No, I honestly hadn't thought about what I was going to do once I got here. I was just concentrating on getting here all week!”

AJ grinned. He'd definitely been thinking about what he wanted to do with Emily all week. “Well lucky for you, I have a plan!”

“What is it?”

“I thought it might be nice to have a bit of a romantic reunion this weekend, so instead of going home I booked us a nice suite at the Crowne Plaza downtown where we can lock ourselves up in our room for a few days.”

Emily grinned. It sounded like a pretty perfect plan to her. “That sounds good to me.”

“I grabbed some things for you from what you had at our house and packed them with my stuff.”

“Thank you.” she said. “Shall I follow you over in my car?”

“Sure.”

He grabbed hold of her hand and walked her out to her car.

“Before we go, there's just one thing.” he said as he pulled her to him.

“What?” she asked, looking up at him, her heart starting to beat faster.

AJ's response was to kiss her slowly and gently. Emily sighed as she relaxed into him.

“I missed you.” he whispered, leaning his forehead against hers.

“Yeah. I missed you too.” she said.

He reached behind her and opened her car. “Now listen, don't get any more tickets on your way there!”

Emily smiled sheepishly. “I'll try.”

They drove a few minutes further into downtown and parked in the hotel garage. AJ got his bag out of the trunk and he once again held her hand as they walked into the lobby and checked in.

“It feels a little strange, I haven't been here since I used to work in the bar!” Emily said as they waited for the elevator.

“And of course there was that night on your birthday when we did it for the first time.” AJ grinned.

“Oh God...don't remind me of that!”

“Don't worry. I have no intention of it being bad like that.” AJ assured.

Emily blushed. She didn't doubt it one bit.

As they walked down the hall to their room, Emily felt her heart begin to race in anticipation. She couldn't wait to be in his arms again, to feel his touch, his kiss. He unlocked the door and let her in. The room had a gorgeous view of downtown, a king size bed that looked very cozy with all the pillows and in the bathroom, a jacuzzi tub.

Emily walked across the room and stood in front of the window. She was still having trouble believing she was here with AJ, that everything was fine. When she left Mexico she had started to believe it would never happen again.
AJ walked up behind his wife and wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her back up against him.

“It's pretty amazing, isn't it?” he said, softly.

“What? The view?”

“No. Being here. Together.”

Emily smiled as she turned around in his arms. “Yeah. It is pretty amazing.” She tipped her head up and kissed him. She hadn't meant for it to be a long kiss but as soon as she felt his lips, she needed more. She moved her arms up around his neck as he pulled her tightly against him. She ran her fingers through the back of his hair as he gently nibbled on her lower lip.

She was breathless when he pulled away. She stared up at him as he smiled down at her.

“Damn!” he whispered. “I knew I missed you but I didn't expect being with you today to be so amazing.”

“I know what you mean.” she smiled.

As soon as she'd kissed him, AJ felt every nerve in his body tingle. He'd been imagining this moment all week and he never imagined it would feel this good and he wanted to feel more of it. He bent down and captured her lips as he kissed her roughly. Emily met his kisses full force as he backed them up towards the bed. As soon as he felt the mattress behind him, he fell backwards onto it, pulling her down with him. He slipped his hands underneath her shirt and gently caressed her skin as their kisses continued. Emily rolled beside him and he sat up and took off his sweater quickly before returning to kissing her. Emily lightly ran her nails up and down his spine sending chills all over his body. He took her shirt off and grinned as he saw her black, lace bra. All week as he'd imagined this moment, he'd always pictured her wearing the black lace set that was his favorite. Instead of taking it off like he normally did, he decided to leave it on. He fondled her through the lace, hearing her gasp as his thumb ran over her nipple.

Emily trailed her kisses to the hollow of his neck when she felt his hands move down to unbutton her pants. She sucked gently on his skin and felt his hands fumble when she bit down with her teeth. He had always loved it when she did that. He had her pants off in no time and as Emily continued to kiss his neck, she reached down and undid his belt buckle and every so slowly unzipped his pants. She slid her hand in and caressed his hard member.

AJ moaned as soon as he felt her hand on him. She was enjoying teasing him and he had always found the best punishment to be teasing her right back. He slowly slid his hand underneath her lace underwear and gently stroked her with one finger. Emily shuddered and moaned into his ear. He teased her clit for a few seconds before slowly inserting a finger inside her. Emily moaned loudly as she forgot all about teasing him, her hand letting go of him as she rolled onto her back. AJ began to swirl his finger around inside her and Emily's breathing became shallow. He worked her until she was almost ready to come.

“I want you.” she moaned. “I want you right now.”

AJ quickly removed his pants and Emily wasted no time as she removed her own underwear. She pushed him down beside her and climbed on top, slowly sinking on to him. AJ closed his eyes as he took in the sensation, loving the feel of her warmth surrounding him. As she began to ride him, he had to work incredibly hard at controlling his release. He reached around her and grabbed on to her ass, pushing himself deeper inside of her. He knew she was about to come when her moaning stopped and her body began shaking. He slid a hand around front and managed to find her clit with his finger and gently stroked it sending her over the edge, taking him right along with her.

Emily hadn't had an orgasm that intense for a long time and she collapsed on top of him, her head still spinning.

“Oh God!” AJ said, catching his breath. “I love you so much.” he said, wrapping his arms around her.

“I love you too.” she said, resting her head on his chest. Finally, she was back where she belonged: wrapped up in his arms.

They lay tangled up together for quite awhile, just enjoying the feeling of being together again.

“Emily?” he said eventually.

“Yeah?”

“I know we're not supposed to talk about anything that happened, but I really want to tell you that I'm sorry. For all of it.”

Emily smiled. She'd been wanting to say the same thing. “Yeah. Me too.” she said.

“We've both been through some pretty rough shit and I just wanted you to know that I love you.”

Emily rolled over and faced him. “I love you too.”

He reached over and gently stroked her hair. “You're so amazing.” he whispered.

Emily smiled. “You're pretty amazing yourself you know. And I think we have an amazing future together headed our way.”

“That we do.” he agreed.

Chapter 51

AJ and Emily never left the bed Friday night and only put on robes when their room service was delivered on Saturday. They spent a lot of time just holding each other, talking and of course making love. They were lying in bed together Saturday night after finishing their dinner, talking.

“So how exactly did you work it all out?” she asked.

“Work what out?”

“You know..how we had a week to figure it out. How did you do it?”

“It was something Brian said to me. He said from his perspective a lot of what happened was circumstantial to my drinking and that as long as I had faith in myself not to drink again we'd be ok. And that really got me thinking. Even through all of that shit, I always knew I was done with the drinking. Not once when we were apart did I even want to drink. And I knew that you loved me enough to have faith in me and in us to work out your part.”

Emily smiled. “It sounds so simple now, doesn't it? But it sure wasn't.”

“No. It certainly was not. How about you? How did it become simple for you?”

“I went to Mass.” she said.

AJ gave her a weird look. “Are you Catholic?”

Emily laughed. “Yes. I was raised very Catholic and I kind of walked away from it when I was with Joe. I was desperate so I thought I'd go back. Did you really not know I was Catholic?”

“We've been married almost three years and I did not know that! My mom always tried to get me to go to Mass but I think she gave up about ten years ago.”

“Well, I promised the priest I'd go tomorrow so you can come with me if you like.”

“Why did you promise him you'd go?”

“Well I went to confession and I talked to him about our problems and he said I was having a crisis of faith and that I'd come to the right place for that. We talked for a bit about it and then he had me meet him back at the church that night. It was the strangest thing, yet so brilliant. He had me go to a widow support group and made me realize that there are people out there who are ripped away from their loved ones without a choice and they spend the rest of their lives wishing for more time together and yet there I was wasting the time we have together like it would never run out. I was lucky enough to have a choice. Others aren't so lucky. It kind of put things into perspective a little.”

The thought of losing Emily for good made AJ's gut clench up and he didn't even want to think about it. “That is kind of jolting.” he said. “I feel like we were just being a couple of idiots.”

“Well, to give ourselves some credit, most married people just don't face things like that and if they do, most of them don't stick through it.”

AJ held her tighter, all the more glad they had made it.

The next morning Emily convinced AJ to attend Mass with her with the promise of a nice brunch afterwards. The priest smiled at Emily as she stood next to her husband, the two of them looking very happy to be together.

“Now was that so bad?” she asked when they got in the car.

“Well, bolts of lightening didn't strike me down so I guess it was better than I expected.”

Emily laughed. “Well I suppose it's a start. Let's go eat brunch, I'm starving!”

“Where do you want to go?”

Emily grinned at him. “Well, the hotel has this amazing brunch buffet on Sundays. They have a waffle bar and an omelet station and all kinds of stuff. We have to go back there to get my car anyway.”

“Giant buffet it is! I'm pretty hungry too. Someone made me work up an appetite last night.”

“Please. How many times did you wake me up? I think it was way more times than I woke you up!”

AJ laughed. “I never said I was complaining!”

“Smart man.” Emily said.

Once they were seated with plates full of food Emily took out her cell phone to check it.

“Oh my God!” she laughed. “I have twelve missed calls. Half of them are from Leighanne and half of them are from Brian!”

AJ laughed. “You'd think after the first five they'd get the hint that you weren't going to pick up.”

“Yeah, you'd think.”

“So what do you want to do today?” he asked, after devouring his waffle.

“Actually, I was thinking today might be a good time to move all my crap back home while you're still around to help me.” Emily said.

AJ smiled. “I would love to help you. I have been dying to have you back home with me.”

“Why, are you all out of clean clothes or something?”

“Hey! I did all my own laundry while you were gone!”

“I don't know why, you have enough clothes to not need to do laundry for months.”

“I ran out of underwear and socks.” he admitted.

Emily laughed. “Well, I don't have much really. We should be able to do it in one trip with both of our cars. I'll call the furniture rental place and have them pick up the furniture this week and then I'll terminate my lease.”

“I'm sorry I have to leave this week.” he said.

“It'll be ok. After everything we've been through it'll be a piece of cake.”

“I know, but I just wish we could have a little more time together after all the shit that's been happening, you know?

“I do know. But I'm so excited for you to get to do this that it doesn't even matter to me. You've worked really hard for this album. Don't let worrying about me ruin it for you! I want you to go to New York and enjoy every minute in that studio, got it?”

“Got it.” he smiled at her, wondering to himself how he ended up with such an amazing woman.

After brunch, Emily got her car and they drove separately over to her apartment. Emily's phone rang on the way there. It was Leighanne again. She decided to put them out of misery and answer the phone.

“Hey Leigh.”

“Emily! I have been calling you all weekend! Could you not have picked up the phone?!”

Emily bit back a laugh. “Sorry. I was a little busy.”

“We have been dying to know what happened on Friday! Is everything ok?”

“Everything is great. We spent the weekend locked up in a hotel room together.”

“Thank God!” Leighanne sighed. “I was so worried something would go wrong. You two have such bad luck!”

“Yes, everything worked out. I'll give you details tomorrow night when we go out with Mandy. Have you heard from her? Is she back from her romantic getaway weekend?”

“No!” Leighanne huffed. “And she's not answering her phone either!”

Emily laughed. “Well you'll be filled in soon enough, I'm sure. Listen, I have to go. We're at my apartment now to get all my stuff moved back home.”

“Aww! I'm so glad you guys worked this out.”

“Yeah, me too. Thanks for all your support.”

“You're welcome.”

“Who were you talking to?” AJ asked as they climbed up the steps to her apartment.

“Leighanne called again and I decided to answer it this time. She's going nuts between not hearing from us all weekend and not hearing from Amanda yet.”

“Why, what's Amanda doing?”

“Oh she went on some romantic weekend getaway trip.”

“That's nice.” AJ said with a mildly sarcastic tone as he didn't care to hear about Randy's romantic happenings just yet.

They had Emily's things all packed and loaded up in their cars in no time and before Emily knew it, she was finally back home. She inhaled a big, deep breath as she walked inside her house and set down the box she was carrying to look around. In the end she'd only been gone a few weeks but it felt a lot longer than that. Everything was exactly the same as it had been. The dogs still jumped at her when she walked inside, Guapo was still curled up on the sofa, and AJ's breakfast dishes were still sitting on the kitchen table. She had never understood how he could clean up lunch and dinner but never breakfast.

AJ found her admiring her new piano when he walked in the door.

“Do you like it?” he asked.

“I love it. I never got a chance to thank you.”

“You're welcome.” he said, kissing her forehead. “I'd be happy to dig all your sheet music out for you, I just didn't know what box it was in.”

“I think I can find it.” Emily said.

“I'm so glad you're home.”

“Me too.”

AJ and Emily spent the rest of their Sunday putting away her things and winding up back in the bedroom again making love late into the night. Monday morning she had to leave her love nest to go to work with plans to meet the girls for dinner afterward.

Leighane, Emily and Amanda met up at Abuelos for Mexican food and Margaritas.

“So Emily, we're both dying to know what happened this weekend!” Amanda said.

“Well I think it's pretty obvious what happened.” Emily grinned.

“I know but we need details!” Leighanne pleaded.

“Well, I was really anxious all Friday morning. I took a long time getting ready and I still had time to wait around. When it was finally time to leave I was so worked up that I wasn't paying any attention and I ended up getting pulled over for a speeding ticket five minutes before I was supposed to be there.”

“Oh my God!” Amanda exclaimed. “Did you freak? I would have freaked!”

“I seriously almost did. I called him to tell him I was coming but of course he didn't have his phone on so I had to leave a message and pray that he would check it when I wasn't there.”

“Oh shit!” Leighanne gasped.

“So I got there ten minutes late and he wasn't there.”

Leighanne covered her mouth with her hand.

“And I asked the host if anyone was waiting and he said there was a guy waiting outside but he'd left a few minutes ago. And then all of a sudden he's right there behind me saying, 'I got your message' and there we were.”

“Shit Emily! Do you guys ever do anything that isn't dramatic?” Amanda asked.

“Apparently not.”

“So then what happened?” Leighanne asked, leaned forward in her seat and sipping her drink.

“We had lunch, we talked, catching each other up. Then he took me to the Crowne Plaza where he'd booked a really nice room and we basically locked ourselves up there until Sunday. I mean we really never got out of bed the whole time.”

“Damn!” Leighanne exclaimed. “That is so romantic!”

“So you moved back home then?” Amanda asked.

Emily nodded. “Yesterday. I can't even tell you how good it feels to be over this finally.”

“So what is AJ doing tonight? I'm surprised he let you go out!”

“I think he's working on his album stuff. He leaves for New York Wednesday night. Which sucks but I'll get over it.”

“He's leaving so soon after you guys got back together?” Amanda looked shocked.

Leighanne was more understanding of the recording world. “Studio time isn't all that easy to come by. You have to take what they give you or nothing at all.”

“Well that sucks!” Amanda said.

“Yeah well, it is what it is.” Emily said. “So what about you? How was your romantic weekend trip with Randy?”

Amanda blushed. “It was really nice.”

“Awwwwww.” Emily and Leighanne chimed at the same time.

“Where did he take you?” Emily asked.

“We went to this really nice bed and breakfast out in the country. The food was amazing and they had little activities you could attend like a bonfire and a nature walk. He was really sweet the whole time.”

“So did you...do it?” Leighanne asked.

Amanda blushed again. “Yeah.”

“What was it like? When did you do it? Was it good?” Leighanne asked.

“Geez Leigh! Don't you think that's a little private?”

“I'm your sister! Nothing is private!”

Amanda laughed. “Saturday night after the bonfire. We went back to our room and he pulled out these candles and lit them and then we had some wine from a local winery we had visited that day. And yes, it was very good. Way better than it ever was with Steve.”

“I should hope so, Steve's an ass!” Leighanne said.

“Yeah, I don't think it can ever be good with a guy who's cheating on you.” Emily said.

“Apparently not.” Amanda agreed.

“So was it just the one time that night or have there been...multiple times since then?”

“Leighanne!” Emily said.

“What? I'm sorry, I'm hardly getting any lately, can you blame me?”

“Why aren't you getting any?”

Leighanne sighed. “Things are just a little tense lately.”

“What's going on?” Emily asked.

“Ok you guys have to swear not to let Brian know I told you.”

“Of course! Fight Club, remember?” Amanda said. Emily nodded.

“Well, I really want to have another baby.” she admitted.

“And Brian doesn't?” Emily asked.

“It isn't that he doesn't. We were all set to start trying and then all of a sudden he's talking with his record company about a second solo album without even talking to me about it.”

“What's wrong with that?”

“We had both agreed that this time he'd be around more. He wouldn't be touring and in the studio all the time. I mean Brian was around a lot when Baylee was born but he was also still gone a lot and during my pregnancy he was hardly around at all. I told him I didn't want to do it like that again and he agreed. So I got a little upset that he's doing that without even considering our agreement. And then when I asked him about it he didn't seem to think it was a big deal. His reasoning was that we weren't even pregnant yet and it'd probably take a few months for it to happen and even then he'd still have 9 months. But I feel like he doesn't really want another baby, he's just doing it because he knows it's what I want to do. And then he got really mad when I said I didn't want another one if he was going to be gone all the time with a new album and he said that wasn't fair of me to ask him to set aside everything he does and I said it isn't fair that I'm always setting aside my life for his career or for Baylee. And it's not that I always mind but sometimes in return for all that it'd be nice if he could set things aside for me, you know?”

“I can't believe he didn't talk to you first! I mean he should have done that even if you didn't want another baby.” Amanda said.

“Yeah, seriously, I'd be pretty upset too!” Emily agreed.

“Thanks guys.” Leighanne smiled. “At least you understand where I'm coming from. I just don't understand why my husband doesn't.”

“I'm sure he'll come around.” Emily said, giving her hand a squeeze.

“So Emily when are you going to have a baby?” Amanda asked.

“Really, I'm not even thinking about that yet. I'd just like to get through the rest of the year without anything eventful happening in my life and then maybe I'll think about it.”

“I wonder if your baby will be born with tattoos?” Amanda joked.

Leighanne laughed. “Probably!”

Emily couldn't help but notice that Leighanne didn't seem herself at dinner and she attributed that to her standoff with Brian. Emily had witnessed her fair share of bickering between Brian and Leighanne but she'd never seen them have a serious problem in their relationship. That was supposed to be all hers and AJ's department, not theirs.

“Well ladies, I hate to end it but I have to get going.” Amanda said after a round of fried ice cream.

“What? It's still early!” Emily said.

Amanda smiled. “Exactly! And Randy is at his house waiting for me to get home!”

Leighanne and Emily grinned. “Oh ok. I see. We're getting ditched so you can go home and have great sex, right?” Leighanne said.

“Sorry Leigh. Wait, no, actually I'm not sorry! You'll have forgiven me by the time you call me for details tomorrow.”

Leighanne laughed. “I know. I'm glad your weekend went well. Tell him we said hello.”

Once Amanda was gone, Emily decided to try and talk to Leighanne more about Brian.

“So this thing with Brian, how bad is it?” she asked.

Leighanne sighed. “I don't want Mandy knowing too much about it. I don't want her to worry.”

“She's your sister! She'd be nothing but supportive!”

“I know, but Amanda's perception of men and relationships are still a bit jaded after her relationship with Steve. I've gotten hints at a few arguments with Randy because of it. She's having a hard time trusting guys right now, and who could blame her really? I just don't want her to think all relationships fall to pieces.”

“Is your relationship really in pieces?” Emily asked, growing more concerned.

“Not yet but it sure seems to be heading that way. I mean we're barely even talking anymore.”

“How long has this been going on?”

“It started last week. We had a huge blow up last Monday and since then we only talk to each other when we have to.”

“I'm sorry, Leigh. Is there anything I can do?”

“Don't tell AJ, ok? I don't want this coming between him and Brian.”

“I won't. It's Fight Club, remember? Besides, you guys will get through this. You two have a great marriage.”

“Thanks.” Leighanne said, picking at the last of her dessert.

When Emily got home that night, AJ could tell something was bothering her.

“What happened? Did dinner not go well?”

Emily sighed. “No, just something Leighanne said tonight about her and Brian.”

“What did she say?”

“I'm not allowed to tell you.”

“Then why even bring it up?” he said, frustrated.

“Because I really need to talk about it!”

“But you just said you can't talk about it. Besides, I'm starting to think I'd rather not know so I don't get caught in the middle of it.”

“What if I told you a hypothetical story?” she tried.

“Nope. I'm not listening!” AJ said, getting up and walking away. “I don't want to hear it, I'm not listening, I can't hear you....” he said as he left so he couldn't hear anything she tried to say.

Emily smiled as he left. Leighanne and Brian might be having problems but at least she and AJ had finally managed to work through theirs.