Chapter Seventeen: Remains Of Summer Memories

The remains of what's left of our past
Of a future yet to come
Of the battles that we've lost
And the fights that we have won

After crying myself to sleep the night before, I woke up with a headache. I decided not to go to work tonight; I just can't deal with that right now. I quickly threw on some sweatpants and a sweatshirt over my tank top and put some flip flops on. I ran upstairs to find an empty house and a note on the refrigerator.

Emma: Went to church; didn't want to wake you. We'll be home around eleven. Love Dad.

I flipped the note over and wrote on the back of it.

I'll be out for the day, home around seven. Love Emma.

I stuck the note back on the fridge and left the house. I headed over to Oliver's. I'd only been away for one night and I already missed him. It was also the first time I hadn't been with Danica for the night since she was born. I rushed up to the door and banged on it frantically. Oliver opened it, his hair messy, and yawned. The first thing I did was kiss him. He pulled back, looking surprised, and for the first time, I looked over his shoulder, into the apartment. Brooklyn was sitting on the couch, Maddox in her lap, glaring at me. They were all in pajamas.

"What the hell?" she asked, standing up and looking to Oliver for an explanation. He didn't say anything, so she pushed past him, shoved me in the shoulder, and stormed off.

"Wait!" he yelled, running after her. I sighed and went into the apartment, finding Danica asleep in the playpen. Plopping on the couch, I leaned my head back and closed my eyes. Oliver came back a minute later and closed the door. He sat down next to me and held my hand in his.

"So I'm guessing you never told her," I said without opening my eyes.

"You guessed right," he said, sighing.

"What did she say just now?" I asked him.

"Nothing really, she just kinda spat at me and drove off," he said, shrugging his shoulders.

"Well…at least she knows now…kinda."

"I guess," Oliver said, getting up off the couch.

"Did…she stay over last night?" I asked him, opening an eye to look in his direction.

"Yes, but before you get mad, nothing happened. I asked her over to tell her…and it never happened. I just couldn't bring myself to do it." He walked into the kitchen, poured us glasses of milk, and set mine down on the coffee table.

"I'll have to talk to her later. I need to explain myself. She's my only friend that I can relate to. I don't want her to hate me," I groaned.

"For now, let's put this behind us. I was going to ask you why you rushed over here and started banging on the door?" he asked.

"I had a really bad night last night. And I missed Dani," I said, stretching out and shoving a pillow under my head.

"What happened?" Oliver asked, leaning over the back of the couch, taking a sip of his milk.

"Craig stopped by work last night."

"Craig? As in Dani's father?" he asked.

"The one and only." I closed my eyes once again.

"He stopped by here last night."

"WHAT?" I yelled, flying up into a sitting position. "When?"

"It must have been before he went to your work. I guess he went to your house and your parents said you were at work, and told him where I lived because he was asking about Danica. And he came here," Oliver explained.

"What did you do?" I asked, still in shock.

"Well, basically he yelled in my face about wanting to see his daughter, and I told him I didn't know what he was talking about. It all ended with him storming off and me slamming the door, resulting in Maddox and Danica crying. But he did slip in there that you worked at Tric…" he trailed off, looking me in the eye. "Is that true?" I looked down at my hands and sighed.

"Yeah."

"You're just a waitress right? Or a bartender?" Before I knew it, tears were pouring from my eyes, soaking my cheeks. Oliver came around the couch and sat down next to me, putting an arm around me.

"I'm a dancer," I sobbed. "A stripper."

"Emma! Why would you do that to yourself?" he asked. Now he was the one in shock.

"It was the only way I could make enough money to support Dani," I said, wiping a few tears away, only to have them replaced by more. "I have bills to pay, and all kinds of stuff I have to buy for her."

"You can stop that now. I'll help. I have a good job, and I'll help you find one that you like," he suggested.

"Oliver, I can't ask you to do that. You already have one child to support that isn't yours." I couldn't believe I said it. Maybe he wouldn't notice.

"What do you mean that isn't mine?" he asked, sounding a little mad. Okay, so he did notice.

"That came out wrong," I said. "I just meant that you already have a baby to support. It's not fair that I ask you to help with mine. It's the same problem I had with Jay. He wanted to by her all this stuff and he's not her father either." I was pretty much done crying, but my head hurt again.

"Have you thought about having her actual father help you then?" he asked. At least he left the thing that I accidentally said behind him. I guess he believe me.

"I can't do that. Craig is marrying Manny! She's always been in love with him and I'm not going to ruin this for her," I said, laying my head on Oliver's chest.

"Maybe she'd understand. They weren't together when it happened," he pointed out.

"I just can't risk losing Manny too. Brooklyn probably won't talk to me now."

"We'll think about that later. But back on the subject of your job, maybe we can go hunting for one today," he suggested.

"I can't leave my job, I just can't," I admitted, sighing.

"Why not?"

"Look, I don't want to talk about it okay?" I snapped at him. I was thinking about Mark and how he wouldn't let me leave. I guess I'd have to wait until I turned eighteen to even think about quitting.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to make you upset. What do you say we both go lie down? I'm in need of a little nap. I didn't get much sleep last night." I was just about to agree when Danica started crying.

"You can go. I'll have to take a rain check though." I got up and picked Danica up from the playpen. "Hey honey, Mommy's here. I missed you so much," I whispered to her. I went to the fridge and got out one of her bottles I brought over the night before.

"Nah, I'll sleep later. My favorite baby girl is awake," he said, following me. He took the bottle and put it in the microwave. "Should I heat up some of that oatmeal she likes so much?" he asked.

"No, she should be fine with just a bottle for now," I told him. When it was done heating, I took the bottle out and began to feed her.

"Why don't we go out to breakfast when she's done?" Oliver suggested.

"Sure, sounds good to me."

"I'll go get dressed then," he said, leaving the room. By the time I finished feeding and burping Dani, Oliver was dressed, his hair styled into the mohawk that I loved, and ready to go. I changed Danica into her purple dress that Jay picked out, grabbed the baby bag and we were out the door. "Oh, by the way, I put Maddox's old infant car seat in my car so you don't have to keep switching out yours," Oliver told me as we walked to his car.

"That's sweet," I said, kissing him on the cheek. I put Danica into the car seat, buckled her in, then got in on the passenger side. We drove to The Dot and found a booth. They had no available high chairs, so I set Dani down in her car seat onto the bench seat next to me, and Oliver sat across from me.

We ate mostly in silence. Neither of us were having a very good weekend. By the time we were done eating, it was already almost lunch time; around noon. On the way back to the apartment, Danica fell asleep. Once inside, I put her back in the playpen.

"How about that nap?" I asked, smiling at Oliver. He nodded his head and we went into his bedroom. I slipped my flip flops off, pulled the blankets back, and plopped on the bed. I watched Oliver takes his shoes and then his shirt off. Then he climbed into bed next to me, covering us both with the blankets. I placed my head on his chest, closing my eyes. I tried to fall asleep while Oliver stroked my hair, but I just couldn't. "I can't sleep," I groaned.

"I can't either," he admitted.

"Well, I know why I can't sleep…why can't you?" I asked him.

"I was just…thinking."

"About what?"

"Okay, this might sound crazy, and I don't know how you'll react but…I was thinking that maybe you could move in here with me…" he trailed off. I sat up quickly, looking him in the eye.

"Are you serious?" I asked. "You'd really want me to?"

"Of course I would! Emma, I love you. Will you move in with me? You and Danica of course. She can have the other bedroom. And you wouldn't have to pay rent; my parents pay for that," he explained.

"I love you too," I said, kissing him. "And I'd love to move in here. But how will your parents react to this? Wasn't Brooklyn supposed to be moving in?" I asked.

"My parents won't care. They love you; you were like a daughter to them the whole time we were together in L.A. And they never really liked Brooklyn…" he trailed off. I kissed him again, extremely happy. Things are turning out great. I got Oliver back, and now we're going to be living together. Danica finally has the father that she deserves to have; he has always been there for her. Smiling, I jumped on top of him, and we began making out.

I started unbuttoning his jeans and slowly tugged them off, Oliver watching me the entire time. We were soon making out again, and I got hot, so I pulled my sweatshirt off, then my sweatpants. I was lying there on top of him, in my underwear and tank top, and I could feel him bulging through his boxers.

Smiling, I kissed him down his stomach and stopped when I got to the top of his boxers. Teasing him even more, I pulled his boxers off with my teeth. I could tell he was about to go crazy. I then took my own underwear off, followed by my tank top and my bra. Without any words, I lay down on top of him and kissed him, snaking my tongue into his mouth, with our naked bodies pressed firmly together. And then Danica started crying.

The remains of summer memories spent so far away
Free from the fear or jealousy that plagues our lives today

A/N: Heh heh that's as far as they'll get for now. That's what happens when you have a baby lol. Tell me what you think. The song is "Remains of Summer Memories" by Rise Against and they own it. I know a few people are complaining about the lyrics and saying they don't like them, but it's just something that I decided to do for this story. I always pick songs that fit with how people are feeling or what's happening…please let me know in review if you do like them so that I actually know some people do. No matter what, I'm not going to stop it because I've already done it for seventeen chapters and that would be dumb. So anyway, review!