Chris felt Eve's sobs die down as he kept her in his arms wanting to make her feel safe and protected as he realized that the demons of the past were still haunting her far more than she'd wanted to admit. Now as she snuggled in against him, he kissed the top of her head wishing that there was some way he could propose a quick fix to this situation, but alas he knew that this was only the beginning as they faced her misery together in an attempt to heal the wrongs that had fallen upon them.
"I'm sorry," Eve sniffled as she tipped her head up to meet Chris's eyes, "I shouldn't have tried to push things with us…"
"Eve, sweetie, you have nothing to be sorry for," Chris tried to assure her touching her cheek gently as he held her, "I just want to be able for us to find a way to help you get through all of this."
"I know…I really do know that on some level, but Chris, you know how I feel about talking things through especially things like this," Eve sighed heavily as she lowered her eyes once again, "When I think about it…"
"Eve, there's nothing you can't tell me. You should know that by now," Chris insisted squeezing her closer to him, "Believe me on this one as you know all my shameful exploits and things that no other person has known about me."
"Even so this isn't the same," Eve met his concerned eyes, "this isn't like the time Lucy Coe told the world I was once an escort. This is about the time I spent with your father in a situation that…"
"That was horrible," Chris finished with a knowing look, "Eve, I realize that he did some terrible things to you, but you can't hold it all in. Sweetie, we need to find you some help…"
"Chris, I can't tell a perfect stranger about everything and besides," she frowned in response, "What is talking about it going to accomplish?"
"It might help you in ways that right now don't seem clear or possible," Chris offered up gently, "as you and I both know that wounds like this won't heal overnight."
"Chris, you don't understand," Eve frowned as she shifted her positioning on the floor sitting upright as she looked to the fireplace, "When your father took me, well I was so determined to get away. I was ready to do anything and everything in my power to find a way to fix the situation I was in. I mean here I was taking on a man who'd made my life miserable--a man who'd damn near destroyed me the first time I was pregnant and when DV hired Henry to do all of those things in keeping me away…"
"Eve," he sat up reaching out to touch her shoulder as he could feel her pain consuming her.
"Chris, I wasn't going to accept defeat, but then, well once I found out that I was having Sarah," Eve began tearfully, "things changed. I refused to put her life in danger as I knew what happened the last time I'd crossed DV. Sure, he wasn't there with Henry and I, but I knew he'd been pulling the strings," she paused thinking back to her time being held captive, "Before I knew I was pregnant, Henry would taunt me, get violent when I'd tried to get away, but that I could take. I mean sure I've deal with men in the past who had issues with using violence as a means of control and I always believed that I'd get away, but then…"
"Then what?" Chris touched her shoulder, "Eve, what happened?"
"As soon as he was certain that the timing was right, well, they'd done an amnio and when Henry discovered that Sarah was really yours," Eve closed her eyes feeling the tears slip past her cheeks, "that's when things changed."
"Because you were trying to protect our daughter," Chris half questioned as she nodded painfully.
"I didn't realize that they were becoming what they were, but the day after they ran the tests, well that was the first time Henry…" Eve stopped herself as her voice grew cracked with emotion, "It was as if he knew that you and I had something precious between us and he wanted to destroy it. I can still feel him over me…his hands on my throat as he kept…" she broke down into full blown tears again trembling at the memory.
"Eve," Chris wrapped his arm around her securely wishing that he hadn't brought this up as her heart was breaking before his very eyes.
"All he kept telling me was wouldn't Chris just love to see his whore now," Eve continued her voice growing hollow with the memory as a chill rushed over her, "He kept telling me that I was his and that from that point on, there would be no going back as you'd never want me--that you'd never look at me the same after I'd been with him--that in your mind I was betraying you and you'd never forgive that…you'd never forget."
"Eve, this wasn't your fault," Chris began kissing the top of her head as he turned her in his arms, "You did everything in your power to save me and our little girl and I could never blame you for that…"
"But Chris I should've…" she started painfully.
"You did what you had to do and you survived," he cupped her face in his hands, "You're back with me and our daughter is safe. We're a family Eve and we're going to find a way to make Henry pay for hurting you. He's not going to get away with any of this and when the time is right, well then we'll work on trying to work on that life we should've had a long time ago."
"You mean when I get past what's happened," Eve questioned sadly.
"Eve, what happened was not your fault. I don't blame you for any of this as if anything this happened to you because of me," Chris ran his fingers through her hair before pulling away from her, "because I loved you I put you in a position for Henry to…"
"No, Chris, don't do that," she shook her head placing her hand over his mouth to silence him, "Please don't blame yourself for what happened because I can't bear the thought of you doing that…"
"Eve, you endured so much to try to keep me safe. You and our daughter went through a nightmare all because you chose to love me…chose to be in my life…"
"And despite the way things went down, Chris I wouldn't change loving you for a second," Eve blurted out tearfully, "Loving you was the one thing that kept me longing to keep going. Your love gave me Sarah and with Sarah I found a renewed faith in us…in how much we had to keep fighting for and not even Henry could take that away from me."
"Eve, I just wish…" he sighed unable to found the right words as he leaned forward kissing her gently, "You're everything to me. You have had my heart from the moment I met you and I know now that I have you here with me, I'm going to do anything and everything in my power to keep you and Sarah safe. That's the most important thing in my life."
"Chris, I just want to forget about what happened. I want to put it behind us and just focus on what we have together," Eve pleaded with him, "I want that more than anything."
"And we'll have that Eve," he assured her pressing his forehead against hers, "Just as soon as Henry is put behind bars for life."
"I just want him out of our lives," Eve confessed throwing her arms around him, "I don't even want to think about him. I want him gone so that we can go through our days without having to look over our shoulders in fear of him lurking…"
"We'll make that happen one day," Chris promised cupping her face in his hands and kissing her gently, "One day we'll find a way to make that possible for us and we'll go all out. I'm talking the works. We'll get a house with a yard and hey maybe even a dog. What do you say to that?"
"A dog," Eve couldn't help but smile at the thought, "and a swing set for Sarah?"
"We'll get two swing sets for her," Chris promised dropping a tender kiss upon her salty lips, "and while we're at it, maybe we can even work on giving Sarah a little brother or sister running around. We can have the American dream there with the kids and the house and the little quiet slice of heaven."
"It sounds like a beautiful dream," Eve confessed cuddling into his arms, "and I know that Sarah would love every minute of it as she already loves you so very much."
"She's so beautiful, Eve," Chris admitted thinking to their perfect little girl, "She looks so much like you and she's got the most amazing spirit."
"She gets that from you. I can see it when I'm with her," Eve couldn't help but smile proudly of their daughter, "She's got such a zest for life even considering all we've been through."
"I tend to think she gets her spunk from her mother as her mother's always been a very strong willed, determined woman who went through hell to return to the life that was hers," Chris reminded Eve brushing her hair behind her shoulder as he held her, "You're a fighter Eve and I have no doubt in my mind that our little girl is going to follow in your footsteps taking on the world."
"I want so much more for our daughter. I want her to have a life of happiness--a life where she doesn't have to worry about living up to her parent's mistakes…where she isn't ashamed of her background and where she came from as her mother was a complete failure."
"Eve, you're so far from being a failure," Chris urged her to meet his eyes, "You're nothing like your mother was as you've put your daughter first in your life and Sarah knows that. I can see it when she looks at you as she loves you so very much and while I hate that I wasn't there with the both of you when she game into this world, I want nothing more than to learn all I can about her as I see so much of you in her eyes."
"She's the best thing that ever happened to me," Eve beamed proudly thinking of their little girl, "well except for her father…"
"But of course," Chris hugged her in his arms feeling her relax a bit as his finger tips massaged over her spine gently, "as you know I do happen to have that effect on women."
"Well I wouldn't go that far," Eve teased with a tiny giggle as her brown eyes lifted up to his once more, "but you do have a way with me…"
"I'm glad to hear it because truth be told you're really the one and only woman except for our daughter that I'm out to impress," he leaned down to kiss her teasingly.
"Then you've succeeded in your mission because I find you absolutely charming," Eve offered up in confession as the tiny baby monitor at her side made a sound before she heard Sarah calling out to her.
"Mommy," Sarah's voice beckoned her in what sounded like fear as Eve exchanged looks with Chris before leaping up to go check in their daughter. She quickly fumbled with the buttons on Chris's shirt she was wearing closing it up as she entered Sarah's room turning on the light to find Sarah sitting upright in bed with tears in her eyes.
"Mommy, I had a bad dream," Sarah explained as Eve rushed over to her side pulling her completely into her arms.
"It's okay baby," Eve tried to soothe her daughter as she ran her fingers through Sarah's dark hair, "It's going to be okay now as the dream's all gone."
"It was so scary," Sarah explained with a sniffle as Eve held her closer, "I was so worried that…"
"It's over now baby," Eve promised as Sarah looked up at her with a tiny half smile.
"I'm just glad you're here with me," Sarah replied as Eve touched her tiny cheek.
"I wouldn't be anywhere else," Eve assured her thinking about how close she'd come to losing her.
"Is my daddy still here," Sarah questioned as her gaze drifted to the doorway where Chris was standing taking in the scene between Sarah and Eve. As soon as Sarah saw him, her eyes widened and she opened up her arms to accept him as she explained, "I had a bad dream."
"A bad dream you say," Chris replied stepping in towards the bed before bending down to scoop her up in his arms, "This is horrible news that we really need to work on fixing, Princess Sarah."
"It was so scary," Sarah explained throwing her arms around him as she cuddled into him, "There were monsters and tigers and they wouldn't let me be near you or mommy…"
"Hmm, well the next time you have one of those bad dreams, you just tell the bad dream that isn't going to happen because your daddy and your mommy aren't going to let the monsters or the tigers get you."
"Really?" Sarah's eyes widened in surprise, "I can do that?"
"You absolutely can," Chris nodded in confession, "as you can do anything you want in your dreams."
"Really? You mean I could fly if I wanted to?" she inquired turning her big eyes up towards him.
"Of course you can," Chris nodded, "In fact you can start flying right now if you'd like."
"Really?" she gasped as Chris began making airplane sounds as he carried her around the room 'flying' with her as her laughter surrounded them filling the small bedroom before he returned to Eve's side setting Sarah down on the bed. She curled her lip in a pout stretching her arms out towards him, "Daddy, let's do it again."
"Okay, but only one more time," Chris repeated the process enjoying the sounds of Sarah's happiness as he returned to sit beside Eve on the bed with Sarah in his arms.
"Daddy," Sarah patted at his arm, "Let's do it again and again…"
"Sarah, just give daddy a minute here," Chris felt a dizzying sensation take over him as he looked to Eve, "Did you see our daughter flying?"
"She was having the time of her life, wasn't she," Eve reached out to touch Sarah.
"He's like totally the best," Sarah nodded before giving Eve a strange look. She turned to Chris eyeing him closely before refocusing on Eve, "Mommy, why are you wearing Daddy's shirt?"
"Well I…" Eve began as she looked to Chris.
"She was cold so I thought I'd share my shirt with her," Chris offered up in explanation.
"Well, aren't you cold too?" Sarah asked innocently.
"Nah, I'm too busy being an airplane with my Sarah," Chris hoisted her up into his arms again spinning her around the room as Eve watched the two of them together realizing that at long last she'd finally found the happiness in her life that had slipped away time and time again as in being with Chris and Sarah she'd finally found her way back home.
"I'm sorry," Eve sniffled as she tipped her head up to meet Chris's eyes, "I shouldn't have tried to push things with us…"
"Eve, sweetie, you have nothing to be sorry for," Chris tried to assure her touching her cheek gently as he held her, "I just want to be able for us to find a way to help you get through all of this."
"I know…I really do know that on some level, but Chris, you know how I feel about talking things through especially things like this," Eve sighed heavily as she lowered her eyes once again, "When I think about it…"
"Eve, there's nothing you can't tell me. You should know that by now," Chris insisted squeezing her closer to him, "Believe me on this one as you know all my shameful exploits and things that no other person has known about me."
"Even so this isn't the same," Eve met his concerned eyes, "this isn't like the time Lucy Coe told the world I was once an escort. This is about the time I spent with your father in a situation that…"
"That was horrible," Chris finished with a knowing look, "Eve, I realize that he did some terrible things to you, but you can't hold it all in. Sweetie, we need to find you some help…"
"Chris, I can't tell a perfect stranger about everything and besides," she frowned in response, "What is talking about it going to accomplish?"
"It might help you in ways that right now don't seem clear or possible," Chris offered up gently, "as you and I both know that wounds like this won't heal overnight."
"Chris, you don't understand," Eve frowned as she shifted her positioning on the floor sitting upright as she looked to the fireplace, "When your father took me, well I was so determined to get away. I was ready to do anything and everything in my power to find a way to fix the situation I was in. I mean here I was taking on a man who'd made my life miserable--a man who'd damn near destroyed me the first time I was pregnant and when DV hired Henry to do all of those things in keeping me away…"
"Eve," he sat up reaching out to touch her shoulder as he could feel her pain consuming her.
"Chris, I wasn't going to accept defeat, but then, well once I found out that I was having Sarah," Eve began tearfully, "things changed. I refused to put her life in danger as I knew what happened the last time I'd crossed DV. Sure, he wasn't there with Henry and I, but I knew he'd been pulling the strings," she paused thinking back to her time being held captive, "Before I knew I was pregnant, Henry would taunt me, get violent when I'd tried to get away, but that I could take. I mean sure I've deal with men in the past who had issues with using violence as a means of control and I always believed that I'd get away, but then…"
"Then what?" Chris touched her shoulder, "Eve, what happened?"
"As soon as he was certain that the timing was right, well, they'd done an amnio and when Henry discovered that Sarah was really yours," Eve closed her eyes feeling the tears slip past her cheeks, "that's when things changed."
"Because you were trying to protect our daughter," Chris half questioned as she nodded painfully.
"I didn't realize that they were becoming what they were, but the day after they ran the tests, well that was the first time Henry…" Eve stopped herself as her voice grew cracked with emotion, "It was as if he knew that you and I had something precious between us and he wanted to destroy it. I can still feel him over me…his hands on my throat as he kept…" she broke down into full blown tears again trembling at the memory.
"Eve," Chris wrapped his arm around her securely wishing that he hadn't brought this up as her heart was breaking before his very eyes.
"All he kept telling me was wouldn't Chris just love to see his whore now," Eve continued her voice growing hollow with the memory as a chill rushed over her, "He kept telling me that I was his and that from that point on, there would be no going back as you'd never want me--that you'd never look at me the same after I'd been with him--that in your mind I was betraying you and you'd never forgive that…you'd never forget."
"Eve, this wasn't your fault," Chris began kissing the top of her head as he turned her in his arms, "You did everything in your power to save me and our little girl and I could never blame you for that…"
"But Chris I should've…" she started painfully.
"You did what you had to do and you survived," he cupped her face in his hands, "You're back with me and our daughter is safe. We're a family Eve and we're going to find a way to make Henry pay for hurting you. He's not going to get away with any of this and when the time is right, well then we'll work on trying to work on that life we should've had a long time ago."
"You mean when I get past what's happened," Eve questioned sadly.
"Eve, what happened was not your fault. I don't blame you for any of this as if anything this happened to you because of me," Chris ran his fingers through her hair before pulling away from her, "because I loved you I put you in a position for Henry to…"
"No, Chris, don't do that," she shook her head placing her hand over his mouth to silence him, "Please don't blame yourself for what happened because I can't bear the thought of you doing that…"
"Eve, you endured so much to try to keep me safe. You and our daughter went through a nightmare all because you chose to love me…chose to be in my life…"
"And despite the way things went down, Chris I wouldn't change loving you for a second," Eve blurted out tearfully, "Loving you was the one thing that kept me longing to keep going. Your love gave me Sarah and with Sarah I found a renewed faith in us…in how much we had to keep fighting for and not even Henry could take that away from me."
"Eve, I just wish…" he sighed unable to found the right words as he leaned forward kissing her gently, "You're everything to me. You have had my heart from the moment I met you and I know now that I have you here with me, I'm going to do anything and everything in my power to keep you and Sarah safe. That's the most important thing in my life."
"Chris, I just want to forget about what happened. I want to put it behind us and just focus on what we have together," Eve pleaded with him, "I want that more than anything."
"And we'll have that Eve," he assured her pressing his forehead against hers, "Just as soon as Henry is put behind bars for life."
"I just want him out of our lives," Eve confessed throwing her arms around him, "I don't even want to think about him. I want him gone so that we can go through our days without having to look over our shoulders in fear of him lurking…"
"We'll make that happen one day," Chris promised cupping her face in his hands and kissing her gently, "One day we'll find a way to make that possible for us and we'll go all out. I'm talking the works. We'll get a house with a yard and hey maybe even a dog. What do you say to that?"
"A dog," Eve couldn't help but smile at the thought, "and a swing set for Sarah?"
"We'll get two swing sets for her," Chris promised dropping a tender kiss upon her salty lips, "and while we're at it, maybe we can even work on giving Sarah a little brother or sister running around. We can have the American dream there with the kids and the house and the little quiet slice of heaven."
"It sounds like a beautiful dream," Eve confessed cuddling into his arms, "and I know that Sarah would love every minute of it as she already loves you so very much."
"She's so beautiful, Eve," Chris admitted thinking to their perfect little girl, "She looks so much like you and she's got the most amazing spirit."
"She gets that from you. I can see it when I'm with her," Eve couldn't help but smile proudly of their daughter, "She's got such a zest for life even considering all we've been through."
"I tend to think she gets her spunk from her mother as her mother's always been a very strong willed, determined woman who went through hell to return to the life that was hers," Chris reminded Eve brushing her hair behind her shoulder as he held her, "You're a fighter Eve and I have no doubt in my mind that our little girl is going to follow in your footsteps taking on the world."
"I want so much more for our daughter. I want her to have a life of happiness--a life where she doesn't have to worry about living up to her parent's mistakes…where she isn't ashamed of her background and where she came from as her mother was a complete failure."
"Eve, you're so far from being a failure," Chris urged her to meet his eyes, "You're nothing like your mother was as you've put your daughter first in your life and Sarah knows that. I can see it when she looks at you as she loves you so very much and while I hate that I wasn't there with the both of you when she game into this world, I want nothing more than to learn all I can about her as I see so much of you in her eyes."
"She's the best thing that ever happened to me," Eve beamed proudly thinking of their little girl, "well except for her father…"
"But of course," Chris hugged her in his arms feeling her relax a bit as his finger tips massaged over her spine gently, "as you know I do happen to have that effect on women."
"Well I wouldn't go that far," Eve teased with a tiny giggle as her brown eyes lifted up to his once more, "but you do have a way with me…"
"I'm glad to hear it because truth be told you're really the one and only woman except for our daughter that I'm out to impress," he leaned down to kiss her teasingly.
"Then you've succeeded in your mission because I find you absolutely charming," Eve offered up in confession as the tiny baby monitor at her side made a sound before she heard Sarah calling out to her.
"Mommy," Sarah's voice beckoned her in what sounded like fear as Eve exchanged looks with Chris before leaping up to go check in their daughter. She quickly fumbled with the buttons on Chris's shirt she was wearing closing it up as she entered Sarah's room turning on the light to find Sarah sitting upright in bed with tears in her eyes.
"Mommy, I had a bad dream," Sarah explained as Eve rushed over to her side pulling her completely into her arms.
"It's okay baby," Eve tried to soothe her daughter as she ran her fingers through Sarah's dark hair, "It's going to be okay now as the dream's all gone."
"It was so scary," Sarah explained with a sniffle as Eve held her closer, "I was so worried that…"
"It's over now baby," Eve promised as Sarah looked up at her with a tiny half smile.
"I'm just glad you're here with me," Sarah replied as Eve touched her tiny cheek.
"I wouldn't be anywhere else," Eve assured her thinking about how close she'd come to losing her.
"Is my daddy still here," Sarah questioned as her gaze drifted to the doorway where Chris was standing taking in the scene between Sarah and Eve. As soon as Sarah saw him, her eyes widened and she opened up her arms to accept him as she explained, "I had a bad dream."
"A bad dream you say," Chris replied stepping in towards the bed before bending down to scoop her up in his arms, "This is horrible news that we really need to work on fixing, Princess Sarah."
"It was so scary," Sarah explained throwing her arms around him as she cuddled into him, "There were monsters and tigers and they wouldn't let me be near you or mommy…"
"Hmm, well the next time you have one of those bad dreams, you just tell the bad dream that isn't going to happen because your daddy and your mommy aren't going to let the monsters or the tigers get you."
"Really?" Sarah's eyes widened in surprise, "I can do that?"
"You absolutely can," Chris nodded in confession, "as you can do anything you want in your dreams."
"Really? You mean I could fly if I wanted to?" she inquired turning her big eyes up towards him.
"Of course you can," Chris nodded, "In fact you can start flying right now if you'd like."
"Really?" she gasped as Chris began making airplane sounds as he carried her around the room 'flying' with her as her laughter surrounded them filling the small bedroom before he returned to Eve's side setting Sarah down on the bed. She curled her lip in a pout stretching her arms out towards him, "Daddy, let's do it again."
"Okay, but only one more time," Chris repeated the process enjoying the sounds of Sarah's happiness as he returned to sit beside Eve on the bed with Sarah in his arms.
"Daddy," Sarah patted at his arm, "Let's do it again and again…"
"Sarah, just give daddy a minute here," Chris felt a dizzying sensation take over him as he looked to Eve, "Did you see our daughter flying?"
"She was having the time of her life, wasn't she," Eve reached out to touch Sarah.
"He's like totally the best," Sarah nodded before giving Eve a strange look. She turned to Chris eyeing him closely before refocusing on Eve, "Mommy, why are you wearing Daddy's shirt?"
"Well I…" Eve began as she looked to Chris.
"She was cold so I thought I'd share my shirt with her," Chris offered up in explanation.
"Well, aren't you cold too?" Sarah asked innocently.
"Nah, I'm too busy being an airplane with my Sarah," Chris hoisted her up into his arms again spinning her around the room as Eve watched the two of them together realizing that at long last she'd finally found the happiness in her life that had slipped away time and time again as in being with Chris and Sarah she'd finally found her way back home.