Chapter Fifteen: The Calm Before The Storm

Hold me and tell me that everything's gonna be alright.
And I'll tell you that everything's gonna be alright.

I couldn't wait for Oliver to call me. After Danica and I had breakfast, I dressed her and we drove over to his apartment. A million reasons ran through my mind as to why he didn't call me. Maybe he decided to stay with Brooklyn after all. Or maybe she was still there. Yeah, she probably slept over. When I pulled into the parking lot, I scanned the area for her car. I didn't see it, so Dani and I headed into the building and up to the second floor via elevator. I rang the doorbell and waited a minute. The door opened and Oliver was standing there in his boxers and a wife beater, rubbing his eyes.

"A bit early isn't it?" he asked as I walked past him and he shut the door behind me. He yawned and plopped down on the couch. I set Danica on the floor with a few toys and then sat down next to him.

"No, it's almost noon," I said, rolling my eyes. He smiled and put an arm around my shoulders. His face came closer to mine and he kissed me lightly on the lips.

"Sorry, this is the first time I've slept in since either of the babies were born," he explained.

"Meaning Maddox and Danica?" I asked. Hopefully he didn't have any other children. Except, of course, neither of them were his children either.

"Of course I mean them. Don't worry; I don't have any other kids I didn't tell you about. At least I don't think so," he joked. I shoved him playfully and changed my position, straddling his lap and facing him. I put my forehead to his; something we used to always do, and looked into his eyes.

"Did you tell her?" I asked. He groaned, meaning he probably didn't.

"Don't be mad at me…" I interrupted him.

"Oliver! You promised that you'd tell her!" I whined.

"I didn't know how!" he said. "She wasn't even over that long. We ate pizza, and then she brought Maddox home to bed. And what was I supposed to say? Oh, by the way, you know your best friend? Yeah, Emma, she's the one. I fell in love with her in L.A. and I never really loved you. But I still want to see Maddox. Have a nice night." He looked back into my eyes and gave me the puppy dog face.

"I'm the only one that's allowed to make that face!" I said, kissing him. "If you can't tell her, then I will," I said, climbing off of him and picking Danica up.

"No Emma, I don't want you to do that. I'll tell her when the time is right. Okay?" he looked into my eyes and I couldn't resist.

"Fine." I gave in and cuddled close to him. We watched Danica play on the floor, lying on her stomach.

"She's beautiful," Oliver remarked suddenly. "Looks just like her mom."

"That's so sweet," I said, pecking him on the cheek. "I'm so glad she doesn't look like her father at all. Except I did notice that her hair's getting a little curly."

"So her dad…" he trailed off.

"Craig," I said.

"Yeah, Craig. He doesn't know about her at all?" he asked. "How is that even possible?"

"He knows that I have a daughter. Thanks to Manny's big mouth! But he thinks Jay is the father," I explained.

"That guy you kissed?" Oliver asked.

"Yeah."

"And does Manny know?"

"No! She can't ever know. She'd open her big mouth and tell him. And besides, she'd hate me if she found out; even though they weren't together at the time. We've had a rocky friendship over the past few years. I don't want it to end over this," I said, sighing and laying down with my head in his lap. He played with my hair while we talked. I loved it when he did that.

"So let me get this straight. You and this Craig guy have sex, you find out you're pregnant, and you move away to California. Then, a year later, you return to Toronto, with a baby, and he doesn't figure out that it's his? Man, what a moron!" Oliver said, laughing. I laughed a little too, but it was forced. It wasn't really funny at all.

"And to top it all off, I find out that my best friend is marrying him."

"You know what? We need to have a fun day and forget about all this crap for awhile," Oliver suggested. He leaned down and kissed me. It only lasted for a split second, due to the awkward angle, but it was heaven. Every kiss from him was heaven to me. "We could just stay in bed all day…that would be fun," he said. I sat up and he kissed me again, this time shoving his tongue into my mouth. My mind flashed to that night, only a few days ago, at the ravine. The guy ripping off my clothes, forcing himself on me…

"I think we should go out somewhere," I said quickly, snapping out of my nightmare. "We can go to the park, have some lunch, I dunno."

"Okay, how about I pack us a picnic lunch to eat at the park?" Oliver asked.

"That would be perfect." I kissed him before he got up to start packing food. I picked Danica up off the floor and walked over to the little table, sitting down and watching him. He was done a few minutes later, and then we left, taking his car.

Once we got to the park, Oliver laid a blanket down with our food on top of it, and we sat, enjoying the warmth of the sun on our faces.

"It feels great to not have to hide from everyone," I said, smiling at Oliver. He was lying on his side, looking so sexy that I wanted to jump on him. He took Danica from me and she leaned against his chest. I watched as he wrapped an arm around her protectively and kissed her on the top of her head.

"I'm happy because you're happy," he said. I moved closer to him, and then lay down on my side across from him with Danica between us. She reached out and softly hit my face, laughing at this little game she was playing. We both lay there and watched as Dani's eyes began to close. Oliver laid her down with her head on resting on his arm and she slowly fell asleep.

"Guess we weren't the only ones who thought of having a picnic," I heard a familiar voice behind me. I rolled over and saw my parents and Jack.

"Oh hey!" I greeted them. I sat up and gave Jack a hug. I hadn't really seen him in a while. "Come sit down with us," I said, motioning to the blanket. My dad spread their blanket down next to ours to give us all more room. Oliver sat up and waited for an introduction. "Oh I forgot! This is Oliver," I told them. "Oliver, this is my mom, my dad, and my brother Jack." He shook all their hands, even Jack's.

"Nice to finally meet you," my mom said. "We've heard a lot about you."

"Mom, don't embarrass me," I said through gritted teeth.

"Well, I'm starving," Dad said, trying to change the subject. "Let's eat." I realized then that Oliver and I hadn't eaten either. We all brought our food out and started eating. Oliver now had Danica stretched out across his lap.

"Oh Emma, I forgot to tell you that you're dad and Joey are going out tonight. And I have to work an extra shift," my mom said between bites.

"I have to work! What am I supposed to do with Danica?" I asked.

"Don't worry. Craig and Manny offered to babysit Jack. And they're bringing Angela along. You can leave Dani with them." I was shocked.

"I am not leaving her with them," I said stubbornly. "I don't trust Manny with my baby; no matter how good of a friend she is. Three kids would be too much for her to handle." The truth was, I did trust her. But I didn't need my parents suspicious about Craig. It was him I was really worried about.

"Well, if you won't leave her, then you'll just have to stay home," my dad suggested. "Can't you find someone to cover your shift at work?"

"No, I can't. It's not like that at my work," I said, shaking my head.

"I can watch her," Oliver spoke up. All eyes were on him.

"Are you sure?" I asked.

"Of course!" he laughed. "I've had plenty of experience with her," he said.

"Oh, yeah, I forgot. Well, now that that's settled, we better get going. I have to go pack some stuff for Danica and get ready for work." I looked at my watch; it was almost three and I had to be at work for five. Oliver stood up with Danica and I shoved all our extra food back in the basket and folded the blanket up.

"See you later guys!" my mom called as we walked away.

"It was nice meeting all of you!" Oliver called over his shoulder. We walked back to the car and got in, driving over to my house.

"So you've met everyone in my family," I said. "How weird do you think they are?"

"They're really nice people. I like them a lot. Maybe one day they'll be part of my family too." I looked over at him and he winked. We walked into my house and down in the bedroom. I placed Dani in her crib for a few minutes while I threw diapers, wipes, clothes, bottles, and a few toys into a bag. Oliver lay on my bed watching me.

When I was finished, I plopped down onto my bed and rolled close to him. He smelled so good. I pretended to close my eyes, but then quickly climbed on top of him and started kissing him. Within seconds, we were rolling around, making out, and exploring each other's bodies with our hands. Without thinking, I pulled my shirt off and his hands instinctively went for the clasp on my bra. My mind flew back to that guy ripping my bra off, and I immediately stopped.

"No, we can't do this with the baby in the room," I said. It was the first thing that came to mind.

"She's asleep," he said, looking into my eyes. "She's not gonna wake up or anything," he gave me that face again, and I almost gave in. But then I shook my head.

"Sorry, not today." I was about to put my shirt back on when he pulled me down and kissed me. It wasn't forceful at all, he was just playing around, but I took it the wrong way. "I said stop!" I yelled, tears welling up in my eyes.

"Emma I'm so sorry! I was only joking around!" he said, lightly pushing me off of him and helping me put my shirt back on.

"It's okay, really," I said, turning away.

"No, it's not okay. I want you to know that I would never force myself on you or anything." He looked deep into my eyes and kissed me on the forehead.

"I know," I said, quickly kissing him on the lips. "I really have to get going to work now. I just need you to bring me over to the apartment so I can get my car and drive to work."

"Sounds like a plan," he said, getting up, grabbing the diaper bag, and then picking Danica up. We left the house before Manny and Craig had a chance to show up. Oliver drove me back to his apartment. He waited outside while I got in my car. Before I had a chance to leave, he tapped on my window. I pushed the button and it rolled down. He kissed me tenderly. "I love you."

"I love you too Oliver," I said before pulling out and heading off to work.

'Cause it's you that can break me and keep me on my back.
'Cause it's you that can save me from falling into the black.

A/N: Okay, I know, not an incredibly exciting chapter. The next one will be better…I promise. The lyrics are from the song "Into The Black" by Butch Walker and he owns it! R&R