Chapter Fourteen: Phone Calls

"I kissed him Manny! And then he kissed me back, and then…" Paige squealed into the phone.

"Whoa, slow down Paige. You're rambling," Manny told her.

"Sorry, but..."

"But what?" Manny asked.

"I think I'm in love," Paige finished.

"You just met the guy two days ago," Manny pointed out.

"Might I remind you that you fell in love with Chris the day you met him."

"You're right, but look where it got me. I'm a senior in high school, have two kids, and am getting married at the end of the year," she said.

"But you have to admit that you love Chris and your children and you've always dreamed of getting married," Paige told her.

"Okay, I admit it. But all I'm saying is that you shouldn't rush into things. Get to know him before you think you're in love."

"Manny? Is everything okay between you and Chris?" Paige asked.

"Yeah, why do you ask?" Manny replied.

"I don't know, it just seems like you're warning me because you think you've made a mistake or something…" she trailed off.

"Of course not," Manny said a little too defensively. "Hey, I gotta go, there's someone on my other line. I'll call you back later."

"Okay, bye," Paige said and hung up. Manny clicked over to the other line.

"Hello?"

"Hey Manny, it's me."

"Oh hi Em, what's up?"

"Not much, I just…" Emma began to say.

"What's wrong Emma?" Manny asked, a little worried.

"Nothing really. I just miss hanging out with my best friend. I mean, I know I've been out with JT a lot, but there are a lot of times when I'm sitting alone at home and I know you're probably sitting home too. I just feel like you only want to hang out with Paige and Jimmy," she finished.

"Oh Em! I didn't know you felt that way. I've just been busy with the twins and I went to Hazel and Spinner's wedding. Listen, Chris, Jason, and Heather are all at work. I have the twins, Quinn, and Anthony. Jayden and Caleb are over their friend's house. Why don't you come over, as long as you don't mind helping out," Manny said.

"I don't mind at all, but I have to bring Jack with me because I'm babysitting too," Emma said.

"Actually that's great. Anthony will have someone to play with," Manny told her. "I'll see you in a few."

"Bye," Emma said and hung up. About fifteen minutes later, she walked into the house, with a sleeping Jack curled up in her arms. "Sorry it took me so long," she whispered, careful not to wake him. "But since Mom is at work and Snake went out, I didn't have a car to drive over in," she explained.

"If the kids weren't all sleeping and I could fit everyone in my truck, I would have picked you up," Manny told her.

"That's okay. Can you take him while I get the stroller?" she asked. Manny lifted Jack out of her arms and laid him down on the couch in the living room. Emma went outside and dragged the stroller up the steps and stored it in the closet by the door. She covered Jack up with a blanket and then followed Manny into the kitchen.

"I'm really glad that you called Emma. I've been needing to talk to someone and I didn't really want to talk to Paige about it, and I know I can't talk to Jimmy about it because it wouldn't be right to," Manny began.

"What is it?" Emma asked, concerned.

"Don't get me wrong, I love Chris and our children but…" she trailed off. She wasn't sure if she could finish the sentence.

"But what Manny? Come on, you know you can tell me."

"It just seems like he's a completely different person from the day I met him. He's been acting really weird all of a sudden. Well, really since Craig shot him. I know he's not afraid that Craig will come back or anything like that, but I think it might be something that Craig said to him the day he came over," Manny paused. "I'm just really worried about him."

"Have you tried talking to him about it?" Emma asked. "It always helps to talk."

"Yeah, I have. I asked him a few times, but he either got really mad or really sad and he wouldn't talk to me. He's hiding something from me Em. I just know he is," Manny finished, beginning to cry.

"Don't cry Manny," Emma said and hugged her best friend. "I think you need to tell him how all of this is making you feel," she told her.

"I guess I could try that. But a part of me almost doesn't want to know. A part of me thinks it's horrible and it will ruin my life." Before Emma could say anything more to console Manny, the phone rang. Manny looked on the caller ID and it read 'unknown caller.' She answered it, thinking that maybe it was Chris from work.

"Hello?"

"Hi, is Chris there?" a girl's voice on the other end asked.

"No, he's at work. Who is this?" Manny asked.

"This is Sera. Can you just tell him that I called?"

"Sure." Manny said and the girl hung up. "Okay that was really weird," she said, turning to Emma.

"Who was it?" Emma asked.

"Some girl named Sera. She was asking for Chris. I've never heard of her," Manny explained. Before she could try to work out in her mind who this girl could be, Anthony came running into the room.

"Quinn is crying," he said. At the same time, one of the twins started to cry over the baby monitor.

"If I get the twins can you get Quinn?" Manny asked Emma.

"No problem," Emma replied.

"How was your day?" Manny asked Chris as he sat down on the couch in their room.

"Pretty boring. Nothing unusual or exciting. Although someone at work fell on his face when he tripped overmyfoot," he replied. Manny let a nervous laugh escape her mouth. "What did you do today?" he asked her.

"I babysat Quinn and Anthony. Emma brought Jack over and we all went to the park for a little while," she told him. "And I got a somewhat strange phone call today. Well, it was for you actually."

"Really? Who was it?" Chris asked.

"Some girl…" Manny trailed off. "Who is Sera?" she asked. Chris answered without hesitation, perhaps a little too quickly.

"Just a friend from New York," he told her.

"Why would she be calling you?"

"I have no idea," he said and shrugged.

"Oh. Well, she sounded a little upset," Manny lied, hoping that maybe he would tell her something.

"That's weird." He turned to Manny and saw the worry in her eyes. "You have nothing to worry about, trust me," he said and kissed her.

"I do trust you," she said and kissed him again. She pulled him on top of her and they made out until Lily and Lucas woke up. They got up to continue on with their lifetime jobs as parents.

A/N: Just in case anyone is confused, Sera is pronounced Sarah, I just like it spelled that way. Don't worry; there are more exciting things to come.