TITLE: DAYS Fairy Tale: Eric & Greta: Chapters 141-145
WRITTEN BY: Heather Ferguson (fergus80)
EMAIL: hferguso@niu.edu
WEBSITE: http://eric_greta.tripod.com (from when Jensen was on days)
Rating: If you can watch DAYS, you can read this. If there is a rating change, a link to the chap. will be provided.
Disclaimer: Days of Our Lives and all of their characters are property of Corday Productions and NBC.
My Rant: Okay, I'm finally putting this up on FanFiction.net. Mostly to free up my website space. This was started way back in Oct. of 1999, and I haven't decided if it's finished yet or not. Reviews are always welcome!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chapter 141
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The weekend passed by quickly, and soon monday night was there. Greta was shaking her head laughing slightly as Eric opened the door for her as they walked into Tuscany. "What?" He asked her.
"We are late," She told him, giving him that look that said she wasn't angry just slightly amused, but trying to sound like she was angry.
"We got side tracked is all." He told her with a wink.
She smiled as they walked inside, "Seems like we get 'side tracked' a lot lately."
His grin widened, "Don't worry, they'll forgive us when they eventually find out what we've been up too." He said guiding her towards the table, after he spotted everyone at the one side of the restaurant.
"Well there are the two missing people," Belle said standing up and rushing around the table to give each of them a hug.
"Sorry we're late, work went a little long and then we had to change, and you know how women..." He was cut off by dirty looks from Greta, Belle and Sami. "Ohh kay, I forgot how out numbered I am."
John laughed, "Don't worry about it, we were just trying to figure out what we wanted to order anyway."
They sat down, and opened their menu's as well. "So, how is work anyway?" Marlena asked them.
"Busy." They said at the same time, and Greta continued, "But at least the traveling has stopped, at least for the time being."
"So, what has everyone else been up too?" Eric asked them looking around at everyone there.
Belle chimed in, "Well, Shawn and I went to the Last Blast." Her smile grew wider, and a slight blush went on her checks, "And we are going out now."
Greta smiled, "You are going to have to tell me all about it."
"Oh she will, and it will take hours," Brady said rolling his eyes.
Belle hit his shoulder, "So?" She said defensively.
"Brady, don't you have news?" John said reminding him.
"Oh, yeah, yeah right." He said, not sounding too enthusiastic, "I got accepted at Salem U for next semester. So I'll be going there in the Fall."
"That's great." Eric said, "What are you going to Major in?"
"Have no idea."
"I know how that is," Greta told him, "Don't worry just take a lot of different things to start and you will find what you like." They all continued to talk and catch up on family gossip, Salem happenings, and had their family dinner. After dinner and dessert they sat for awhile continued to talk, and then said their good-byes. Eric and Greta then headed home, for some personal time alone.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Some more time passed, and next week was going to be the 4th of July. Which meant time off work, since the 4th was a Wednesday, Titan decided to be closed the 2nd and 3rd as well. The couple was looking forward to the time off. However, they weren't taking a trip anywhere, unless you thought of a trip as going over to Mrs. Horton's for the Annual Brady-Horton 4th of July Picnic. And this year Greta told Mrs. Horton that she would help her with it, which meant that Eric was helping too.
"Oh don't start." Greta said as she sat at the kitchen counter going over the list she had in front of her.
"Well you could have asked me." He told her leaning on the other counter.
"I never said you had to do anything, I volunteered to help Mrs. H, I didn't say you had to do anything." She said as she ran through the items she needed to get and the things to do.
"Yeah, but if you volunteer that means I have to too."
"Why?" She said looking up at him.
"Because, we're married." She looked at him like he had lost it. "Okay, but say I don't help. What will that look like?"
"Like you don't want to help, which is exactly what you are saying you don't want to do. So then don't."
Eric sighed, he knew he was caught. She was right, he didn't want to do it, but he didn't want it to look like that. "Okay, okay. What do I need to do?"
She shook her head and laughed slightly at him. "Do you think you can manage to help set up the chairs and tables? Help me carry the food into the house and back yard, and fill the ice chests will pop?"
He laughed, "That's it?"
"Yeah, what did you expect? This is a picnic not a formal affair."
"Well I thought I might get stuck at the Grill all day or something."
"Oh no, couldn't if you wanted too. Mrs. H told me your grandfather always insists on taking over the grill."
Eric laughed, "That's right, I forgot about that." He thought back to all the other years he had went to the picnics, "Those picnics have always been so much fun." He stood up straight and walked up behind her, wrapping his arms around her middle, and she leaned back into him, "Who knows maybe next year, three of us will be going together."
She turned around on the stool to face him, "We can hope," she said and leaned up to kiss him.
She then turned back around and he looked over her shoulder. "So what else is there to do?"
"Lots. Tons of food to make, but mostly I just need to call people and see what everyone is bringing, and then fill in what isn't being brought. Need to get balloons, streamers, sparklers, etc....." She said going on and on about everything she needed to get. Eric listened, and actually did agree to help with a a lot of it, because after thinking about it, he realized it was going to be a lot of fun. And he had also realized something else as well, he was actually an adult. Not a person who is of legal age, someone who has a job or something like that, but a real grown up. He was now married, trying to have a baby with is wonderful wife, working a steady job, living in a nice house, and now helping to plan a family get together. His smile grew as the realization of everything actually hit him.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chapter 142
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Okay, chairs and tables are all set up. Pop is in the coolers with tons of ice, what else do you need help with?" Eric asked walking into the Horton kitchen from the backyard.
Greta smiled as was stirring the huge bowl of potato salad, "Help with this." She said pointing to the bowl, "There's so much in here it's hard to mix together." He laughed slightly, and walked up behind her, and his hands went over hers with the spoon and helped her to mix it all together.
Mrs. Horton sat at the table, filling one of the vegetable trays with a large smile on her face watching them together. "I'm so glad the two of you came over so early to help with the picnic."
They turned to her, "Not a problem, glad we could help." Eric told he with a smile, and then backed up, and lightly tickled Greta's sides before he moved over to the table making her squeal. He noticed Mrs. H was done with the trays, and he picked them up and put them over on the counter. "So how long do we have before everyone starts showing up?"
Greta looked at the clock, "Well it officially starts in an hour, but knowing some of the people, I would say... soon."
"Actually, Bo and Hope should be over any minute now." Mrs. Horton told him, "They were bringing over a lot of stuff and Hope wanted to help decorate."
"Decorations!" Greta said, moving over to the bags they had brought into the house, "I almost forgot. Eric? Can you put the table cloths on the tables for me," she looked over at him batting her eye lashes, "Pleaseeeee."
He shook his head with a large smile, "How can I say no to that?" He walked over and got them from her and then went out the door to do just that.
Greta walked over to the table and sat down on the other side, and started to help lay out the trays of the hot dog and hamburger fixings. "Well, I was going to ask, but I don't think I need too." Mrs. Horton said to her.
"Ask what?" Greta asked looking up.
"How you are Eric are doing. But I can tell that you are both doing wonderful."
Greta's smile got bigger, "Yes, yes we are." Then she turned around as she heard the other kitchen door open.
"Hello!" Bo said walking over and giving Mrs. Horton a kiss on the cheek. "Sorry we are a little late, Thomas had a last minute diaper emergency." He then went to the counter setting down tons of bags. Hope was right behind him with her arms full. Bags in one, Thomas in the other.
Greta got up quickly, and tried to take the bags from Hope, but was given Thomas instead. "Take him, take him." She said then went over to Bo, "He's going to passed around all day today anyway, he might as well get used too it."
Greta held up Thomas, smiled at him, and he cooed at her. "Hi, Thomas, how are you?" She asked him, and touched her forehead to his, and then moved him back to her, holding him to her chest and hugging him. He smiled, and giggled. She sat back down at the table, and turned him on her lap so that he was facing her.
"Okay, the table clothes are all on, and weighed down I might add. It was difficult I must say, it's slightly windy out..." Eric said walking in the backdoor, but stopped short when he saw Greta. She was playing peek-a-boo with Thomas, and he had just reached out and grabbed her nose, making them both laugh.
Bo and Hope turned to Eric, and caught the look on his face, they then smiled at each other. "What did you weigh them down with?" Hope asked.
Eric turned to her quickly, "Huh? What?"
Her smile grew, "The tablecloths what did you weigh them down with?"
"Oh, I found the table candles for later tonight, and just put them up early." Hope nodded and started grabbing some of the bags of chips and started to take them out back, after nodding at Bo.
Bo grinned and walked over to Eric, and patted him on the shoulder, "I know exactly what is going through that head of yours."
Eric barely heard him, as Greta had looked over at him, smiled, and then turned her attention back to the little bundle in her lap.
"What do you mean?" Eric said turning towards Bo.
"I can see the look on your face. The look that says, 'I wish the kid sitting on my wife's lap was ours and not someone else's'." Eric looked down, not wanting to admit anything. "Don't try to deny it."
"I'm not." He said simply.
"Well then? Have the two of you discussed it?" Eric smiled shaking his head, and went for the counter to grab some more of the food to take outside, and Bo followed him doing the same. They then went out in the back yard, setting them on some of the food tables. "Well?"
"Of course we have talked about it."
"And?" Bo said pushing him.
"What?" Eric said, trying to dodge the questions he knew he was going to get asked. He didn't want to answer, he didn't want to give away anything, because he could just imagine the questions and pressure if they actually admitted that they were trying to have a baby.
"Does she not want too? Because the look on her face in there, was just as priceless as yours." He said with a slight laugh.
"Hey!," Eric said, then laughed, "We both want children. But Bo, remember, we've only been married 6 months now."
"Uh huh, so you want time for just the two of you."
Eric nodded, "Something like that." Eric let out a deep breath when it looked like Bo had given up on the line of questioning, and then went into ask how work was. *Dodged that one.* Eric thought to himself, and he just wondered how many more he could dodge the rest of the day, surrounded by friends and family.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The party started not to long after that, as everyone started to show up. John, Marlena, Belle, Brady, and Shawn showed up not followed too long by Jennifer and Abby. Doug and Julie were next. Everyone started to file in, and the music started going, and once Shawn and Caroline showed, the grill was up and running.
Of course the grand kids were the main stars of the picnic. Abby, Will, and Thomas were passed around, to either ask tons of questions to or just hold and play with. Greta was beginning to believe there was a conspiracy going on, because Thomas kept getting passed to her or Eric, and each time one of them got him, they would look over at each other and smile.
Greta had just handed the little bundle over to Jennifer, and walked over to snack table, where Eric was. "So what was that, the 20th time now?" He asked her.
She leaned against him and put her face into his chest. He wrapped his arms around her, and then she looked up at him. "At least. Do you think the Brady's and Horton's are trying to possibly tell us something?"
He laughed, "What makes you think that?" He said then winked at her. "They are making it really difficult not to tell that we are well... trying." He said whispering the last word, so that no one could hear.
She agreed, "Yeah, and you know what the big problem is?"
"What?" He asked her looking confused, she seemed so serious, but he relaxed once he saw the huge smile on her face.
"Thomas is just so adorable!"
He held her tighter, hugging her. "Come on, let's get some of this food. Then I think there might be some dancing soon. And you know how everyone gets into the dancing." She laughed remembering the last picnic, and the square dancing.
"I can't wait!" She said, and then grabbed at plate.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chapter 143
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The picnic was progressing nicely, people were dancing, singing, eating, and of course talking about anything and everything. Eric took another bite of his potato salad, as Sami continued talking across from him about how work was going. "So, work is well, how about you and Brandon?" He asked her, giving her that questioning look.
She sighed slightly, looked down at the table, took a drink of pop, then looked back up at him, "It's... okay."
"Just okay? That doesn't sound good, what's wrong?"
"Well, everything is basically okay. I mean, we are getting along fine, great even, it's just that..."
He titled his head to the side, "Just..."
She took a deep breath, "We keep getting into the same argument, and I don't know what to do about it."
"About?" He prompted.
She rolled her eyes, and stabbed her fork at her own salad, "Abe."
He gave her a strange look, "Abe?"
She nodded, "He has this thing against him, which he won't tell me about. We keep getting into an argument over it, because I stick up for Abe. I mean, I've known him like my whole life, and he just, I don't know. That's the problem, he won't tell me anything. So I get mad, he gets mad..... It's frustrating."
"But everything else?"
"Everything else, is great."
"Well, maybe the two of you can come to terms to just disagree on that one little thing."
She smiled, "Yeah, yeah. Mom said the same thing. But anyway. Everything else is great. Brandon and Will get along wonderfully. And," She said with a smile, "You won't believe it, but him, Will, and Lucas I might add all went to baseball game last weekend together as a guys day out. They wouldn't let me go."
Eric laughed, and she smiled. "That's great. I'm glad that you and Lucas have finally worked out a lot of things, Will really needed that."
Her smile grew, "Yeah so am I, I hate to admit it. But, Lucas and I use to be really good friends at one point, and I wouldn't mind getting that back sometime." She looked up to Eric's grin, "Speaking of which, there he is now." Eric turned to see Lucas and Greta over on the other side of the yard talking. "I wonder what they could be talking about."
Eric sighed, "Knowing them, more than likely work." He said turning back to Sami, "Probably some article that he want's her to do, or some idea that she has that she wants to run by him." Sami's smile grew wider, and Eric noticed. "What?"
"Nothing... it's just that... well." She shook her head, "Nothing."
"No, no. I don't let Greta get away with that, and neither will you. What?"
"Well, I know a little while ago you wouldn't have let any girl you were with be alone or near Lucas for one minute. And now... you just turned your back on him and your wife."
Eric looked at her strangely, "Is that a bad thing? Or something I should know about?"
Sami shook her head no, "Of course not, neither one. Just glad you are over that whole... fiasco."
"Me too." He said, "I have been for awhile, and now I'm more happy then I could have ever imagined, and no one, absolutely no one will take that away from me." He smiled and so did she. "To happiness." He said raising his pop can, Sami raised hers and then clinked them together, both with large grins.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Awhile later, Eric jumped slightly when he felt a pair of hands go around him, "So what are the two of you up too?" Greta asked, then kissed the side of his cheek.
His hands came up to grasp hers, "Talking." He replied, taking one of her hands and kissing it.
She smiled and sat down next to him, "Is it a secret, or can you tell me about it?"
"Happiness," Sami informed her.
"Oh, what a wonderful conversation. Happy about what exactly? The party, family, friends, or life in general?"
"All and more." Eric said, leaning into her, and then wrapping his arms around her.
"Well, I see that Grandpa has been talking to Brandon since well... since I left him there to talk to you. I think I'm going to go rescue him."
Eric's eyes went wide, "We've been talking for about a half hour." Sami nodded, "Go, now... hurry." The three laughed, and Sami picked up her plate and went over towards the Grill. Eric turned sideways to face Greta. "So, you help plan this great picnic for everyone, and then you go and talk about work with Lucas?" He said teasing her.
She laughed, "You saw us talking huh?" He nodded, "Well, we don't always talk about just work."
"Oh really?" He asked amusement in his eyes, "What else do you talk about?"
She smiled, "Uhhhh, Will." He laughed, and leaned in and kissed her.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
It was finally dark out, and everyone gathered around, getting ready to watch the fireworks that the town set off at Salem park. They were far enough away to not be to loud, but close enough for a good view. Some people were sitting at the tables, others lawn chairs. Some were just standing and talking, while some sat on the ground. Eric was sitting in the grass, with his hand raised, "Sit with me?" He said taking Greta's hand. She nodded and he pulled her between his legs, and she rested her back against his chest. He wrapped his arms around her, kissing her neck, and then looked back up at the sky. "Not to much longer."
She grinned, "Today was really nice." She said, her hands coming up to hold onto his.
"Yes it was, and still is." And then the first tester was up in the air, and a few minutes later the fireworks started. Everyone got quiet, except for the 'awhhh' and 'wowwwws'. Fireworks of all colors went across the sky, and soon the grand finally came. Will covered his ears with his hands, making some people giggle slightly, and Lucas reminding him to keep watching. Thomas however didn't notice because he was actually sleeping right through it in Hope's arms. And Greta just leaned her head back on Eric's shoulder, looking up at all the colors, feeling his around her, holding her. He squeezed her slightly, making her smile larger.
Soon, it was over, everyone was back to talking, while others were packing up and getting ready to go home for the night. Greta turned her head to look at Eric, her hand coming to the side of his face. "How about when we get home... we make some of our own fireworks?"
Eric's hand came to the back of her head, entangling in her hair, and pulled her in for a deep kiss, lasting probably longer than it should have in front of so many people, he didn't care. Once he finally pulled away, he spoke, "Definitely." He said, then stood up and offered her a hand. Pulling her to her feet and close to him, he placed another kiss on her lips. "Now, let's help get this place clean and tidy, so we can hurry home."
"Nope, no need." Came a voice from behind him, making them both jump slightly, and realize that someone had heard them. Marlena smiled at them, "Hope and I have it, it's almost done. Not much food left anyway. Why don't you to go home, you did so much work this morning anyway. We can take care of it, besides you two have work tomorrow."
They didn't even argue, they hurried and said their good-byes, and soon were out the door and on their way home, to celebrate their own Fourth of July.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chapter 144
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Time continued to move quickly in Salem, and soon the summer was almost over, it was already the middle of August, and Titan was finishing up with the shoots and article's for the next month's magazine for back to school. And since that meant a little bit of down time before the next huge thing, Eric couldn't be happier. It meant that him and Greta could be together a little more often once again. Both had been working long hours, especially after Greta got a promotion. She was know in charge of coordinating all the current events and interview articles for the magazine, as well as writing big feature articles. Her DC article had gotten her noticed, and after a few other magazines tried to lure her away, Titan offered her a lot more. She was all to happy to stay and accept the new position.
Eric shut the lab door behind him and walked towards her office, *Done for the day.* He thought with a happy sigh, also knowing that nothing was scheduled for tomorrow either so that meant he had a nice three day weekend ahead of him. He was just wondering how Greta's day was going. He got to her office, and smiled at the Secretary, one of her new perks. "Hi Liz, is Greta in?" He asked the friendly, freckled red head.
"Yeah, she's in. She'll be happy if you could rescue her, her and Lucas have been going over the next issue's articles for over three hours now."
Eric smiled, "I'll see what I can do." He said as he knocked lightly and slowly opened the door. "Hello?"
Greta looked up from her desk, and Lucas turned around in his seat. "Hi..." She said with a smile on her face. Her hair was slightly in her face, and she tried to blow some it out of the way, "I'm swamped."
Lucas gave her a look. "Okay, we're swamped. Victor want's this thing done by Friday night, and we are already finding major troubles." She moved some more papers out of the way.
He leaned against the door, "Let me guess, the two of you are going to have another late night."
"I'm soooo sorry. I swear I'll be home as soon as possible."
He walked over and gave her a kiss on the cheek, "Okay, you better." He said with a wink, "You two don't work to hard, and Lucas..." He said, and he looked up.
"Yeah?"
"Make sure she eats some dinner."
Lucas laughed, "I will," He shook his finger at her, "Especially since she only ate a half apple for lunch."
Eric shook his head at her as well. And Greta looked back and forth between the two of the them, "Geez, it's like I have two husbands."
Eric gave her another kiss, this time to the top of her head, and then moved back to the door, "Okay, I'll see you late. Love you."
She smiled, "Love you too, bye." She said and then her head tilted back down to the desk with the papers.
Eric just shook his head, and walked back out and shut the door behind him. He smiled at Liz, "Well it looks like I couldn't save her this time."
Liz nodded, "Another late night."
"Yep." He said and started to walk to the elevator, "Have a good night."
"You too," She said as he made his way into the elevator.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Eric barely heard the door open to the bedroom, "Greta?" He said sleep still in his voice.
"Yeah, sorry." She said and turned on the small lamp. "I didn't mean to wake you up." She said moving around the room, quickly taking off her clothes, and grabbing a towel.
"It's okay," He said looking at the clock, it was almost midnight. "Come to bed." He said with a yawn.
"I need to take a shower." She said moving into the bathroom and he could hear her turn the water on. Then she walked back out, and started to brush her hair.
"Take one in the morning."
She shook her head, and set the brush back down, "Can't, I want to just wash this day off me. Good thing is, we did get all the work done, so I should be out of work early tomorrow." He nodded, and she came over and kissed him on the forehead, "Just go back to sleep, and I'll get in bed when I'm done." She turned out the light and moved into the bathroom.
Eric yawned once again, rolled back over and fell back to sleep.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Eric took the next day he had off while Greta was at work at went and visited Sami at work, had lunch with his Mom at the Pub, and then went to Salem place for some window shopping. When he got bored with it, he made his way to Java Cafe, ordered an ice coffee, and then took out his cell phone.
{{Hello?}}
"Hi." He said with a smile.
{{Hi yourself. So what are you up too on your day off?"}} Greta asked over the line.
"Just visiting family, and window shopping. Do you need me to pick anything up?"
{{Nothing I can think of.}} She said, {{I should be done here in about an hour or so though.}}
Eric smiled, "Great, how about we go out for dinner and a movie?"
But a yawn was issued over the line, {{Actually, do you think we could just stay in, order a pizza and get a movie or something?}}
"Sure, I'll go pick out some movies, grab a pizza and meet you at home." He told her.
{{Sounds wonderful, see you soon.}} She said, and soon she was off the phone and Eric was ordering the pizza and then on his way to the video store.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The two made it home at about the same time, and Greta went to go change into something more comfortable. A pair of sweat pants and a T-shirt, and Eric went and got something to drink, got the movie ready and then got some plates for the pizza. The two sat down, watched the movies and ate the pizza. Greta laid on her side with her feet up and on Eric's lap while he had his up on the coffee table. When they got through the second movie it was getting late. "Time for bed." Eric said with a slightly wicked grin towards her.
She smiled slightly at him, and then yawned. "Bed sounds wonderful."
He looked at her and tilted his head to the side, "Exhausted huh?" She nodded yes. "You do look like you need some sleep." He said and he moved her feet of his lap, stood up, and then moved over to her. He then scooped her up in his arms and started to carry her over to the steps.
"Eric, I can still walk."
"I know, but I haven't had you in my arms in awhile, I'll get you anyway I can."
"I'm sorry..."
He hushed her with a kiss to the lips as he made his way up the stairs, "Don't be. You have been really busy, it's understandable. Besides, we need to keep you healthy." She gave him a strange look, "Well, we are still trying to have a baby, at least when we have time to try." She gave a soft smile and nodded. He made the way over to the bed, and laid her down. He grabbed her nightgown and threw it over to her, and he changed quickly. She quickly changed, and then threw her clothes at him, hitting him lightly on the shoulder, making him laugh. She then yawned again, and curled up on her side, and her eyes were already starting to get heavy. He crawled into bed next to her, and curled up behind her, wrapping his arms around her. "Good night," he said into her ear, and found that she wasn't going to return the statement because she was already out cold.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chapter 145
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Eric smiled slightly, and buried his face back into the hair in front of him, smelling the slight scent of vanilla and roses. His eyes could tell that it was morning, because the sun was shining in from the window, but he didn't want to get up. He was to content to just sleep, sleep with her warm body curled up next to him. But he decided to open his eyes anyway just to look at her. Greta looked so peaceful, and absolutely dead to the world. His arm squeezed her gently, not wanting to wake her. She had been working so hard lately, many, many long nights at Titan since her promotion, and this next magazine was the first one out since she had moved up. Eric knew how important it was to her, and that's why he didn't complain about all the time she was spending away from home, away from him. But that was now over for now, and they had the weekend together, and some down time until the next 'crunch' time.
He was just going to just watch her sleep, but had a better idea. He decided to try and slowly get out of bed, and get breakfast ready and surprise her. He slowly pried her arms away from him, and got her to turn slightly, so he could move out of bed. Once he got to a sitting position, he looked back over to her, and found her instead, now hugging his pillow, but still completely asleep. That is, until the phone rang, and she sat straight up. He quickly reached for it, as she started to look around in a daze. Her hand going out to alarm, trying to turn it off, which made him smile, and grab her hand, indicating the phone he was picking up. "Hello?" He asked.
{{Morning, Eric. It's Lucas, is Greta there by chance?"}}
Eric sighed, "Do I want to know why you are calling?" There was a long pause on the other end. "Lucas?"
{{Eric, just please put Greta on, if she is there.}}
He shook his head, and looked over to Greta, who had finally figured out what had happened, and was yawning. "It's Lucas." He said handing her the phone.
She took it, yawned again, and then answered, "Lucas?"
Eric stood up, and started to get dressed, he already had a bad feeling about this. *It's Saturday for Christ's sakes.* He thought to himself. He watched Greta's head nod, and her say a few things here and there. He zipped his jean shorts, and pulled on a T-shirt, then went back over and sat on the bed. She was running her hand through her hair, and didn't even look at him. He could tell she wasn't really happy about it.
"But... Lucas... but... I know, but... It's saturday... what about..... what about Ken?.... or Bonnie.... yeah... uh huh.... but... but...." Then she gave a loud sigh, "Okay, okay.... okay... fine.... yeah... yeah... okay. Bye." She said and then hung up the phone, put it on the bed next to her, grabbed a pillow, and pushed it to her face and screamed.
"What now?" Eric asked her, already knowing it was not good at all.
She kept her face in the pillow, not looking at him, "I'm leaving, I'll be back Sunday night."
"What?" he asked, not thinking it was going to be that bad, going in a few hours to work sure, but not going somewhere. "Where?"
"Chicago, the limo will be over in a little bit. Lucas was supposed to go with Ethan to this magazine thing there or whatever. Well, Ethan can't go, big family emergency thing or something. Bonnie's on vacation, and Ken's son is in a baseball tournament. So that leaves me." Her eyes slowly looked up from the pillow, and he could tell she was trying to gage how angry he was. He slumped his shoulders, he wasn't angry at her, just upset at the situation.
His hand came out to rest on her cheek, "I don't like it, but it's not your fault. I mean, I hate that I don't get to see you again, and more time apart. But what I really hate is how horrible this is all on you, you really need to get some rest."
"Well, he did promise me I would have a three day weekend next week for all this." She then smiled, "And he did include you in that too."
Eric grinned, "Well, we better hold him to that." Eric looked at the clock, "So when will the car be picking you up?"
She looked at the clock too, "An hour. So, I need to hurry up and pack." She said quickly getting up, and getting out her suitcase, then moving into the closet grabbing things that she needed.
"Okay, you do that, I'll make a quick breakfast, so you can at least eat something before you leave."
She smiled, and kissed him on the cheek, "Thanks." And with that he made his way down stairs to do just that. Soon, they were eating breakfast, and when they were almost done, there was a knock at the door. She sighed and they both went, and sure enough it was the driver. They hugged and kissed good-bye, and she went out the door, the driver carrying her bags and putting them in the trunk. Eric walked out with her, and the Limo door opened and Lucas got out.
"Listen guys, I'm really sorry about this." He looked over at Eric, "I promise to have to back here tomorrow night." Eric just nodded. Greta gave him another quick kiss, said bye again, and got into the car followed by Lucas. The door shut, and soon the car was driving away, leaving Eric standing there, with a very weird and slightly familiar feeling. The only thing was, he couldn't figure out exactly what it was.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
To Be Continued
WRITTEN BY: Heather Ferguson (fergus80)
EMAIL: hferguso@niu.edu
WEBSITE: http://eric_greta.tripod.com (from when Jensen was on days)
Rating: If you can watch DAYS, you can read this. If there is a rating change, a link to the chap. will be provided.
Disclaimer: Days of Our Lives and all of their characters are property of Corday Productions and NBC.
My Rant: Okay, I'm finally putting this up on FanFiction.net. Mostly to free up my website space. This was started way back in Oct. of 1999, and I haven't decided if it's finished yet or not. Reviews are always welcome!
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chapter 141
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The weekend passed by quickly, and soon monday night was there. Greta was shaking her head laughing slightly as Eric opened the door for her as they walked into Tuscany. "What?" He asked her.
"We are late," She told him, giving him that look that said she wasn't angry just slightly amused, but trying to sound like she was angry.
"We got side tracked is all." He told her with a wink.
She smiled as they walked inside, "Seems like we get 'side tracked' a lot lately."
His grin widened, "Don't worry, they'll forgive us when they eventually find out what we've been up too." He said guiding her towards the table, after he spotted everyone at the one side of the restaurant.
"Well there are the two missing people," Belle said standing up and rushing around the table to give each of them a hug.
"Sorry we're late, work went a little long and then we had to change, and you know how women..." He was cut off by dirty looks from Greta, Belle and Sami. "Ohh kay, I forgot how out numbered I am."
John laughed, "Don't worry about it, we were just trying to figure out what we wanted to order anyway."
They sat down, and opened their menu's as well. "So, how is work anyway?" Marlena asked them.
"Busy." They said at the same time, and Greta continued, "But at least the traveling has stopped, at least for the time being."
"So, what has everyone else been up too?" Eric asked them looking around at everyone there.
Belle chimed in, "Well, Shawn and I went to the Last Blast." Her smile grew wider, and a slight blush went on her checks, "And we are going out now."
Greta smiled, "You are going to have to tell me all about it."
"Oh she will, and it will take hours," Brady said rolling his eyes.
Belle hit his shoulder, "So?" She said defensively.
"Brady, don't you have news?" John said reminding him.
"Oh, yeah, yeah right." He said, not sounding too enthusiastic, "I got accepted at Salem U for next semester. So I'll be going there in the Fall."
"That's great." Eric said, "What are you going to Major in?"
"Have no idea."
"I know how that is," Greta told him, "Don't worry just take a lot of different things to start and you will find what you like." They all continued to talk and catch up on family gossip, Salem happenings, and had their family dinner. After dinner and dessert they sat for awhile continued to talk, and then said their good-byes. Eric and Greta then headed home, for some personal time alone.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Some more time passed, and next week was going to be the 4th of July. Which meant time off work, since the 4th was a Wednesday, Titan decided to be closed the 2nd and 3rd as well. The couple was looking forward to the time off. However, they weren't taking a trip anywhere, unless you thought of a trip as going over to Mrs. Horton's for the Annual Brady-Horton 4th of July Picnic. And this year Greta told Mrs. Horton that she would help her with it, which meant that Eric was helping too.
"Oh don't start." Greta said as she sat at the kitchen counter going over the list she had in front of her.
"Well you could have asked me." He told her leaning on the other counter.
"I never said you had to do anything, I volunteered to help Mrs. H, I didn't say you had to do anything." She said as she ran through the items she needed to get and the things to do.
"Yeah, but if you volunteer that means I have to too."
"Why?" She said looking up at him.
"Because, we're married." She looked at him like he had lost it. "Okay, but say I don't help. What will that look like?"
"Like you don't want to help, which is exactly what you are saying you don't want to do. So then don't."
Eric sighed, he knew he was caught. She was right, he didn't want to do it, but he didn't want it to look like that. "Okay, okay. What do I need to do?"
She shook her head and laughed slightly at him. "Do you think you can manage to help set up the chairs and tables? Help me carry the food into the house and back yard, and fill the ice chests will pop?"
He laughed, "That's it?"
"Yeah, what did you expect? This is a picnic not a formal affair."
"Well I thought I might get stuck at the Grill all day or something."
"Oh no, couldn't if you wanted too. Mrs. H told me your grandfather always insists on taking over the grill."
Eric laughed, "That's right, I forgot about that." He thought back to all the other years he had went to the picnics, "Those picnics have always been so much fun." He stood up straight and walked up behind her, wrapping his arms around her middle, and she leaned back into him, "Who knows maybe next year, three of us will be going together."
She turned around on the stool to face him, "We can hope," she said and leaned up to kiss him.
She then turned back around and he looked over her shoulder. "So what else is there to do?"
"Lots. Tons of food to make, but mostly I just need to call people and see what everyone is bringing, and then fill in what isn't being brought. Need to get balloons, streamers, sparklers, etc....." She said going on and on about everything she needed to get. Eric listened, and actually did agree to help with a a lot of it, because after thinking about it, he realized it was going to be a lot of fun. And he had also realized something else as well, he was actually an adult. Not a person who is of legal age, someone who has a job or something like that, but a real grown up. He was now married, trying to have a baby with is wonderful wife, working a steady job, living in a nice house, and now helping to plan a family get together. His smile grew as the realization of everything actually hit him.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chapter 142
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
"Okay, chairs and tables are all set up. Pop is in the coolers with tons of ice, what else do you need help with?" Eric asked walking into the Horton kitchen from the backyard.
Greta smiled as was stirring the huge bowl of potato salad, "Help with this." She said pointing to the bowl, "There's so much in here it's hard to mix together." He laughed slightly, and walked up behind her, and his hands went over hers with the spoon and helped her to mix it all together.
Mrs. Horton sat at the table, filling one of the vegetable trays with a large smile on her face watching them together. "I'm so glad the two of you came over so early to help with the picnic."
They turned to her, "Not a problem, glad we could help." Eric told he with a smile, and then backed up, and lightly tickled Greta's sides before he moved over to the table making her squeal. He noticed Mrs. H was done with the trays, and he picked them up and put them over on the counter. "So how long do we have before everyone starts showing up?"
Greta looked at the clock, "Well it officially starts in an hour, but knowing some of the people, I would say... soon."
"Actually, Bo and Hope should be over any minute now." Mrs. Horton told him, "They were bringing over a lot of stuff and Hope wanted to help decorate."
"Decorations!" Greta said, moving over to the bags they had brought into the house, "I almost forgot. Eric? Can you put the table cloths on the tables for me," she looked over at him batting her eye lashes, "Pleaseeeee."
He shook his head with a large smile, "How can I say no to that?" He walked over and got them from her and then went out the door to do just that.
Greta walked over to the table and sat down on the other side, and started to help lay out the trays of the hot dog and hamburger fixings. "Well, I was going to ask, but I don't think I need too." Mrs. Horton said to her.
"Ask what?" Greta asked looking up.
"How you are Eric are doing. But I can tell that you are both doing wonderful."
Greta's smile got bigger, "Yes, yes we are." Then she turned around as she heard the other kitchen door open.
"Hello!" Bo said walking over and giving Mrs. Horton a kiss on the cheek. "Sorry we are a little late, Thomas had a last minute diaper emergency." He then went to the counter setting down tons of bags. Hope was right behind him with her arms full. Bags in one, Thomas in the other.
Greta got up quickly, and tried to take the bags from Hope, but was given Thomas instead. "Take him, take him." She said then went over to Bo, "He's going to passed around all day today anyway, he might as well get used too it."
Greta held up Thomas, smiled at him, and he cooed at her. "Hi, Thomas, how are you?" She asked him, and touched her forehead to his, and then moved him back to her, holding him to her chest and hugging him. He smiled, and giggled. She sat back down at the table, and turned him on her lap so that he was facing her.
"Okay, the table clothes are all on, and weighed down I might add. It was difficult I must say, it's slightly windy out..." Eric said walking in the backdoor, but stopped short when he saw Greta. She was playing peek-a-boo with Thomas, and he had just reached out and grabbed her nose, making them both laugh.
Bo and Hope turned to Eric, and caught the look on his face, they then smiled at each other. "What did you weigh them down with?" Hope asked.
Eric turned to her quickly, "Huh? What?"
Her smile grew, "The tablecloths what did you weigh them down with?"
"Oh, I found the table candles for later tonight, and just put them up early." Hope nodded and started grabbing some of the bags of chips and started to take them out back, after nodding at Bo.
Bo grinned and walked over to Eric, and patted him on the shoulder, "I know exactly what is going through that head of yours."
Eric barely heard him, as Greta had looked over at him, smiled, and then turned her attention back to the little bundle in her lap.
"What do you mean?" Eric said turning towards Bo.
"I can see the look on your face. The look that says, 'I wish the kid sitting on my wife's lap was ours and not someone else's'." Eric looked down, not wanting to admit anything. "Don't try to deny it."
"I'm not." He said simply.
"Well then? Have the two of you discussed it?" Eric smiled shaking his head, and went for the counter to grab some more of the food to take outside, and Bo followed him doing the same. They then went out in the back yard, setting them on some of the food tables. "Well?"
"Of course we have talked about it."
"And?" Bo said pushing him.
"What?" Eric said, trying to dodge the questions he knew he was going to get asked. He didn't want to answer, he didn't want to give away anything, because he could just imagine the questions and pressure if they actually admitted that they were trying to have a baby.
"Does she not want too? Because the look on her face in there, was just as priceless as yours." He said with a slight laugh.
"Hey!," Eric said, then laughed, "We both want children. But Bo, remember, we've only been married 6 months now."
"Uh huh, so you want time for just the two of you."
Eric nodded, "Something like that." Eric let out a deep breath when it looked like Bo had given up on the line of questioning, and then went into ask how work was. *Dodged that one.* Eric thought to himself, and he just wondered how many more he could dodge the rest of the day, surrounded by friends and family.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The party started not to long after that, as everyone started to show up. John, Marlena, Belle, Brady, and Shawn showed up not followed too long by Jennifer and Abby. Doug and Julie were next. Everyone started to file in, and the music started going, and once Shawn and Caroline showed, the grill was up and running.
Of course the grand kids were the main stars of the picnic. Abby, Will, and Thomas were passed around, to either ask tons of questions to or just hold and play with. Greta was beginning to believe there was a conspiracy going on, because Thomas kept getting passed to her or Eric, and each time one of them got him, they would look over at each other and smile.
Greta had just handed the little bundle over to Jennifer, and walked over to snack table, where Eric was. "So what was that, the 20th time now?" He asked her.
She leaned against him and put her face into his chest. He wrapped his arms around her, and then she looked up at him. "At least. Do you think the Brady's and Horton's are trying to possibly tell us something?"
He laughed, "What makes you think that?" He said then winked at her. "They are making it really difficult not to tell that we are well... trying." He said whispering the last word, so that no one could hear.
She agreed, "Yeah, and you know what the big problem is?"
"What?" He asked her looking confused, she seemed so serious, but he relaxed once he saw the huge smile on her face.
"Thomas is just so adorable!"
He held her tighter, hugging her. "Come on, let's get some of this food. Then I think there might be some dancing soon. And you know how everyone gets into the dancing." She laughed remembering the last picnic, and the square dancing.
"I can't wait!" She said, and then grabbed at plate.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chapter 143
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The picnic was progressing nicely, people were dancing, singing, eating, and of course talking about anything and everything. Eric took another bite of his potato salad, as Sami continued talking across from him about how work was going. "So, work is well, how about you and Brandon?" He asked her, giving her that questioning look.
She sighed slightly, looked down at the table, took a drink of pop, then looked back up at him, "It's... okay."
"Just okay? That doesn't sound good, what's wrong?"
"Well, everything is basically okay. I mean, we are getting along fine, great even, it's just that..."
He titled his head to the side, "Just..."
She took a deep breath, "We keep getting into the same argument, and I don't know what to do about it."
"About?" He prompted.
She rolled her eyes, and stabbed her fork at her own salad, "Abe."
He gave her a strange look, "Abe?"
She nodded, "He has this thing against him, which he won't tell me about. We keep getting into an argument over it, because I stick up for Abe. I mean, I've known him like my whole life, and he just, I don't know. That's the problem, he won't tell me anything. So I get mad, he gets mad..... It's frustrating."
"But everything else?"
"Everything else, is great."
"Well, maybe the two of you can come to terms to just disagree on that one little thing."
She smiled, "Yeah, yeah. Mom said the same thing. But anyway. Everything else is great. Brandon and Will get along wonderfully. And," She said with a smile, "You won't believe it, but him, Will, and Lucas I might add all went to baseball game last weekend together as a guys day out. They wouldn't let me go."
Eric laughed, and she smiled. "That's great. I'm glad that you and Lucas have finally worked out a lot of things, Will really needed that."
Her smile grew, "Yeah so am I, I hate to admit it. But, Lucas and I use to be really good friends at one point, and I wouldn't mind getting that back sometime." She looked up to Eric's grin, "Speaking of which, there he is now." Eric turned to see Lucas and Greta over on the other side of the yard talking. "I wonder what they could be talking about."
Eric sighed, "Knowing them, more than likely work." He said turning back to Sami, "Probably some article that he want's her to do, or some idea that she has that she wants to run by him." Sami's smile grew wider, and Eric noticed. "What?"
"Nothing... it's just that... well." She shook her head, "Nothing."
"No, no. I don't let Greta get away with that, and neither will you. What?"
"Well, I know a little while ago you wouldn't have let any girl you were with be alone or near Lucas for one minute. And now... you just turned your back on him and your wife."
Eric looked at her strangely, "Is that a bad thing? Or something I should know about?"
Sami shook her head no, "Of course not, neither one. Just glad you are over that whole... fiasco."
"Me too." He said, "I have been for awhile, and now I'm more happy then I could have ever imagined, and no one, absolutely no one will take that away from me." He smiled and so did she. "To happiness." He said raising his pop can, Sami raised hers and then clinked them together, both with large grins.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Awhile later, Eric jumped slightly when he felt a pair of hands go around him, "So what are the two of you up too?" Greta asked, then kissed the side of his cheek.
His hands came up to grasp hers, "Talking." He replied, taking one of her hands and kissing it.
She smiled and sat down next to him, "Is it a secret, or can you tell me about it?"
"Happiness," Sami informed her.
"Oh, what a wonderful conversation. Happy about what exactly? The party, family, friends, or life in general?"
"All and more." Eric said, leaning into her, and then wrapping his arms around her.
"Well, I see that Grandpa has been talking to Brandon since well... since I left him there to talk to you. I think I'm going to go rescue him."
Eric's eyes went wide, "We've been talking for about a half hour." Sami nodded, "Go, now... hurry." The three laughed, and Sami picked up her plate and went over towards the Grill. Eric turned sideways to face Greta. "So, you help plan this great picnic for everyone, and then you go and talk about work with Lucas?" He said teasing her.
She laughed, "You saw us talking huh?" He nodded, "Well, we don't always talk about just work."
"Oh really?" He asked amusement in his eyes, "What else do you talk about?"
She smiled, "Uhhhh, Will." He laughed, and leaned in and kissed her.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
It was finally dark out, and everyone gathered around, getting ready to watch the fireworks that the town set off at Salem park. They were far enough away to not be to loud, but close enough for a good view. Some people were sitting at the tables, others lawn chairs. Some were just standing and talking, while some sat on the ground. Eric was sitting in the grass, with his hand raised, "Sit with me?" He said taking Greta's hand. She nodded and he pulled her between his legs, and she rested her back against his chest. He wrapped his arms around her, kissing her neck, and then looked back up at the sky. "Not to much longer."
She grinned, "Today was really nice." She said, her hands coming up to hold onto his.
"Yes it was, and still is." And then the first tester was up in the air, and a few minutes later the fireworks started. Everyone got quiet, except for the 'awhhh' and 'wowwwws'. Fireworks of all colors went across the sky, and soon the grand finally came. Will covered his ears with his hands, making some people giggle slightly, and Lucas reminding him to keep watching. Thomas however didn't notice because he was actually sleeping right through it in Hope's arms. And Greta just leaned her head back on Eric's shoulder, looking up at all the colors, feeling his around her, holding her. He squeezed her slightly, making her smile larger.
Soon, it was over, everyone was back to talking, while others were packing up and getting ready to go home for the night. Greta turned her head to look at Eric, her hand coming to the side of his face. "How about when we get home... we make some of our own fireworks?"
Eric's hand came to the back of her head, entangling in her hair, and pulled her in for a deep kiss, lasting probably longer than it should have in front of so many people, he didn't care. Once he finally pulled away, he spoke, "Definitely." He said, then stood up and offered her a hand. Pulling her to her feet and close to him, he placed another kiss on her lips. "Now, let's help get this place clean and tidy, so we can hurry home."
"Nope, no need." Came a voice from behind him, making them both jump slightly, and realize that someone had heard them. Marlena smiled at them, "Hope and I have it, it's almost done. Not much food left anyway. Why don't you to go home, you did so much work this morning anyway. We can take care of it, besides you two have work tomorrow."
They didn't even argue, they hurried and said their good-byes, and soon were out the door and on their way home, to celebrate their own Fourth of July.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chapter 144
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Time continued to move quickly in Salem, and soon the summer was almost over, it was already the middle of August, and Titan was finishing up with the shoots and article's for the next month's magazine for back to school. And since that meant a little bit of down time before the next huge thing, Eric couldn't be happier. It meant that him and Greta could be together a little more often once again. Both had been working long hours, especially after Greta got a promotion. She was know in charge of coordinating all the current events and interview articles for the magazine, as well as writing big feature articles. Her DC article had gotten her noticed, and after a few other magazines tried to lure her away, Titan offered her a lot more. She was all to happy to stay and accept the new position.
Eric shut the lab door behind him and walked towards her office, *Done for the day.* He thought with a happy sigh, also knowing that nothing was scheduled for tomorrow either so that meant he had a nice three day weekend ahead of him. He was just wondering how Greta's day was going. He got to her office, and smiled at the Secretary, one of her new perks. "Hi Liz, is Greta in?" He asked the friendly, freckled red head.
"Yeah, she's in. She'll be happy if you could rescue her, her and Lucas have been going over the next issue's articles for over three hours now."
Eric smiled, "I'll see what I can do." He said as he knocked lightly and slowly opened the door. "Hello?"
Greta looked up from her desk, and Lucas turned around in his seat. "Hi..." She said with a smile on her face. Her hair was slightly in her face, and she tried to blow some it out of the way, "I'm swamped."
Lucas gave her a look. "Okay, we're swamped. Victor want's this thing done by Friday night, and we are already finding major troubles." She moved some more papers out of the way.
He leaned against the door, "Let me guess, the two of you are going to have another late night."
"I'm soooo sorry. I swear I'll be home as soon as possible."
He walked over and gave her a kiss on the cheek, "Okay, you better." He said with a wink, "You two don't work to hard, and Lucas..." He said, and he looked up.
"Yeah?"
"Make sure she eats some dinner."
Lucas laughed, "I will," He shook his finger at her, "Especially since she only ate a half apple for lunch."
Eric shook his head at her as well. And Greta looked back and forth between the two of the them, "Geez, it's like I have two husbands."
Eric gave her another kiss, this time to the top of her head, and then moved back to the door, "Okay, I'll see you late. Love you."
She smiled, "Love you too, bye." She said and then her head tilted back down to the desk with the papers.
Eric just shook his head, and walked back out and shut the door behind him. He smiled at Liz, "Well it looks like I couldn't save her this time."
Liz nodded, "Another late night."
"Yep." He said and started to walk to the elevator, "Have a good night."
"You too," She said as he made his way into the elevator.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Eric barely heard the door open to the bedroom, "Greta?" He said sleep still in his voice.
"Yeah, sorry." She said and turned on the small lamp. "I didn't mean to wake you up." She said moving around the room, quickly taking off her clothes, and grabbing a towel.
"It's okay," He said looking at the clock, it was almost midnight. "Come to bed." He said with a yawn.
"I need to take a shower." She said moving into the bathroom and he could hear her turn the water on. Then she walked back out, and started to brush her hair.
"Take one in the morning."
She shook her head, and set the brush back down, "Can't, I want to just wash this day off me. Good thing is, we did get all the work done, so I should be out of work early tomorrow." He nodded, and she came over and kissed him on the forehead, "Just go back to sleep, and I'll get in bed when I'm done." She turned out the light and moved into the bathroom.
Eric yawned once again, rolled back over and fell back to sleep.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Eric took the next day he had off while Greta was at work at went and visited Sami at work, had lunch with his Mom at the Pub, and then went to Salem place for some window shopping. When he got bored with it, he made his way to Java Cafe, ordered an ice coffee, and then took out his cell phone.
{{Hello?}}
"Hi." He said with a smile.
{{Hi yourself. So what are you up too on your day off?"}} Greta asked over the line.
"Just visiting family, and window shopping. Do you need me to pick anything up?"
{{Nothing I can think of.}} She said, {{I should be done here in about an hour or so though.}}
Eric smiled, "Great, how about we go out for dinner and a movie?"
But a yawn was issued over the line, {{Actually, do you think we could just stay in, order a pizza and get a movie or something?}}
"Sure, I'll go pick out some movies, grab a pizza and meet you at home." He told her.
{{Sounds wonderful, see you soon.}} She said, and soon she was off the phone and Eric was ordering the pizza and then on his way to the video store.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The two made it home at about the same time, and Greta went to go change into something more comfortable. A pair of sweat pants and a T-shirt, and Eric went and got something to drink, got the movie ready and then got some plates for the pizza. The two sat down, watched the movies and ate the pizza. Greta laid on her side with her feet up and on Eric's lap while he had his up on the coffee table. When they got through the second movie it was getting late. "Time for bed." Eric said with a slightly wicked grin towards her.
She smiled slightly at him, and then yawned. "Bed sounds wonderful."
He looked at her and tilted his head to the side, "Exhausted huh?" She nodded yes. "You do look like you need some sleep." He said and he moved her feet of his lap, stood up, and then moved over to her. He then scooped her up in his arms and started to carry her over to the steps.
"Eric, I can still walk."
"I know, but I haven't had you in my arms in awhile, I'll get you anyway I can."
"I'm sorry..."
He hushed her with a kiss to the lips as he made his way up the stairs, "Don't be. You have been really busy, it's understandable. Besides, we need to keep you healthy." She gave him a strange look, "Well, we are still trying to have a baby, at least when we have time to try." She gave a soft smile and nodded. He made the way over to the bed, and laid her down. He grabbed her nightgown and threw it over to her, and he changed quickly. She quickly changed, and then threw her clothes at him, hitting him lightly on the shoulder, making him laugh. She then yawned again, and curled up on her side, and her eyes were already starting to get heavy. He crawled into bed next to her, and curled up behind her, wrapping his arms around her. "Good night," he said into her ear, and found that she wasn't going to return the statement because she was already out cold.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Chapter 145
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Eric smiled slightly, and buried his face back into the hair in front of him, smelling the slight scent of vanilla and roses. His eyes could tell that it was morning, because the sun was shining in from the window, but he didn't want to get up. He was to content to just sleep, sleep with her warm body curled up next to him. But he decided to open his eyes anyway just to look at her. Greta looked so peaceful, and absolutely dead to the world. His arm squeezed her gently, not wanting to wake her. She had been working so hard lately, many, many long nights at Titan since her promotion, and this next magazine was the first one out since she had moved up. Eric knew how important it was to her, and that's why he didn't complain about all the time she was spending away from home, away from him. But that was now over for now, and they had the weekend together, and some down time until the next 'crunch' time.
He was just going to just watch her sleep, but had a better idea. He decided to try and slowly get out of bed, and get breakfast ready and surprise her. He slowly pried her arms away from him, and got her to turn slightly, so he could move out of bed. Once he got to a sitting position, he looked back over to her, and found her instead, now hugging his pillow, but still completely asleep. That is, until the phone rang, and she sat straight up. He quickly reached for it, as she started to look around in a daze. Her hand going out to alarm, trying to turn it off, which made him smile, and grab her hand, indicating the phone he was picking up. "Hello?" He asked.
{{Morning, Eric. It's Lucas, is Greta there by chance?"}}
Eric sighed, "Do I want to know why you are calling?" There was a long pause on the other end. "Lucas?"
{{Eric, just please put Greta on, if she is there.}}
He shook his head, and looked over to Greta, who had finally figured out what had happened, and was yawning. "It's Lucas." He said handing her the phone.
She took it, yawned again, and then answered, "Lucas?"
Eric stood up, and started to get dressed, he already had a bad feeling about this. *It's Saturday for Christ's sakes.* He thought to himself. He watched Greta's head nod, and her say a few things here and there. He zipped his jean shorts, and pulled on a T-shirt, then went back over and sat on the bed. She was running her hand through her hair, and didn't even look at him. He could tell she wasn't really happy about it.
"But... Lucas... but... I know, but... It's saturday... what about..... what about Ken?.... or Bonnie.... yeah... uh huh.... but... but...." Then she gave a loud sigh, "Okay, okay.... okay... fine.... yeah... yeah... okay. Bye." She said and then hung up the phone, put it on the bed next to her, grabbed a pillow, and pushed it to her face and screamed.
"What now?" Eric asked her, already knowing it was not good at all.
She kept her face in the pillow, not looking at him, "I'm leaving, I'll be back Sunday night."
"What?" he asked, not thinking it was going to be that bad, going in a few hours to work sure, but not going somewhere. "Where?"
"Chicago, the limo will be over in a little bit. Lucas was supposed to go with Ethan to this magazine thing there or whatever. Well, Ethan can't go, big family emergency thing or something. Bonnie's on vacation, and Ken's son is in a baseball tournament. So that leaves me." Her eyes slowly looked up from the pillow, and he could tell she was trying to gage how angry he was. He slumped his shoulders, he wasn't angry at her, just upset at the situation.
His hand came out to rest on her cheek, "I don't like it, but it's not your fault. I mean, I hate that I don't get to see you again, and more time apart. But what I really hate is how horrible this is all on you, you really need to get some rest."
"Well, he did promise me I would have a three day weekend next week for all this." She then smiled, "And he did include you in that too."
Eric grinned, "Well, we better hold him to that." Eric looked at the clock, "So when will the car be picking you up?"
She looked at the clock too, "An hour. So, I need to hurry up and pack." She said quickly getting up, and getting out her suitcase, then moving into the closet grabbing things that she needed.
"Okay, you do that, I'll make a quick breakfast, so you can at least eat something before you leave."
She smiled, and kissed him on the cheek, "Thanks." And with that he made his way down stairs to do just that. Soon, they were eating breakfast, and when they were almost done, there was a knock at the door. She sighed and they both went, and sure enough it was the driver. They hugged and kissed good-bye, and she went out the door, the driver carrying her bags and putting them in the trunk. Eric walked out with her, and the Limo door opened and Lucas got out.
"Listen guys, I'm really sorry about this." He looked over at Eric, "I promise to have to back here tomorrow night." Eric just nodded. Greta gave him another quick kiss, said bye again, and got into the car followed by Lucas. The door shut, and soon the car was driving away, leaving Eric standing there, with a very weird and slightly familiar feeling. The only thing was, he couldn't figure out exactly what it was.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
To Be Continued