Chapter 25

Punk's POV

I had just finished up hanging up the last pink balloon in the living room when the doorbell rang. Emily's party was supposed to start in about fifteen minutes, so I just assumed that it was Jules's parents or her sister coming over early. Before I could get to the door though, Drew had made it before me. He opened the door without asking who it was, a habit that Jules was trying to teach him, and there she was. Fucking Skylar was standing there with Dakota in her arms, looking really nervous as she looked down at my boy. "Who are you?" Drew asked innocently. He had no idea that this woman standing in front of him was the same one who almost ended his parents' marriage.

"I'm Skylar. Is your dad home?" she asked softly as she tried to look past him. I was frozen in place by the couch, not moving. Was this really happening? Did my mistress really just show up on my doorstep unannounced? Again.

"Yeah, he's here…." Drew said slowly as he turned around to look at me. His hazel eyes, so much like mine, were full of questions that I didn't want to answer. I already knew what he would ask: who is Skylar? Why does she have a baby with her? Why is she here? Is she why you and mom couldn't get along so well?

"Oh. Can I see him? I had a long flight and I just wanted to talk to him…" she said nervously as she shifted Dakota to her other hip.

"Dad?" he called as he turned around and moved away from the door. Skylar's face lit up when she saw me.

"Phil! I'm so glad that I found you!" she started to say before I put my hand up to stop her from talking anymore. I glanced back at the kitchen to see if Jules was standing there; she wasn't she must be upstairs with Emily still.

"What the hell are you doing here?" I hissed at her. I was about to add more, but I caught Drew's wide eyed stare and stopped. "Drew. Why don't you go upstairs and make sure your room is clean for when your cousins come over in a little bit," I said quietly, my eyes still burning a hole into Skylar's scared face.

"My room is already clean, dad. I finished it this morning…." my son replied. "Remember? You helped?"

"Go see what your mom is doing then," I retorted back as I glared at Skylar, who was starting to look extremely uncomfortable watching me argue with my son right now.

We watched my son walk up the stairs and I turned to Skylar. "What the fuck do you think you're doing here? I told you that you shouldn't come up here. We would talk when I head back out on the road."

"But, Phil! I had to see you! You sounded so upset with me last night—"

"Of course I was upset, Sky! You are making things difficult right now."

"You love me…" she said softly as she sashayed over to me, switching Dakota to the other hip. "And you love Dakota….why can't we be together," she murmured.

"Because I'm married…" She reached out a hand and placed in on my chest.

"But you're not happy, Phil. If you were happy with Julia, you wouldn't keep coming back to me….." I couldn't help it. I'm a weak man. I'm scum. I didn't deserve my wife and I didn't deserve Skylar either. I glanced quickly back at the stairs, and then leaned down and kissed Skylar hard on the mouth.

.

.

Jules and the kids came down the stairs about a minute or two later. If looks could kill….I'd be dead. I saw Jules grip the banister tightly and trying like hell to keep her composure in front on the kids right now. "Hello, Skylar….I didn't expect to see you today…." she said politely as she took Emily's hand and finished coming down the stairs.

"Um…I was just stopping by," she stuttered as she held Dakota closer to her chest and started to back away from me.

"And now you were just leaving," my wife said bitterly and she stood in front of Skylar. "Emily, honey, why don't you and Drew go into the kitchen for a minute; Mommy wants to talk to daddy's friend for a second….."

I started to follow the kids but Jules stopped me. "Not you, Punk. Stay. This has gone on long enough."

"Baby, please, you have to believe me when I tell you that I didn't invite Skylar here this weekend—" I started to say.

"Why is she here then?" she almost shouted.

"I….I needed to see Phil…..He's been gone so long….I missed him. Dakota missed him…." Skylar said softly.

"He's been at home. With his wife. And children. You need to stop this. He is a married man. Leave," Jules said boldly as she pointed to the front door. Skylar's eyes filled with tears and her mouth opened like she wanted to say something more, but was interrupted when the doorbell rang. Jules shot her one more death glare and went to answer the door.

I groaned when I saw who had shown up—my in-laws. This awkward situation just got more awkward.