Thanks for the reviews; I love all of you for taking time to read my story. I really appreciate it.

Notes: In this Vaughn and Lauren had divorced before her alliance with Sark and Covenant was discovered. She also didn't die and she and Sark escaped before being caught by the CIA.

When A Heart Breaks

CHAPTER 3

"Nadia? As in Nadia, your dead wife? That doesn't make any sense! She was killed almost three years ago." Rachel said seriously and slowly got up from the bed looking at Eric with confusion.

"I know this is weird, but I saw her with my own eyes. She's been held captive for a long time and…" Eric said trying to sound reassuring. He didn't want to upset Rachel in any way, but it was better if she heard it right away and from him. Then it wouldn't look like he was hiding anything or still being in love with Nadia. Eric gave himself a strong, mental slap because of those thoughts. He couldn't think of Nadia and most certainly he couldn't love her, he should love and want Rachel who was almost seven months pregnant with his child.

"If she's alive, that means were are not married. You're still her husband. Are going back to her; are you leaving me and the baby?" Rachel said hysterically. She looked at Eric, who was in her eyes failing miserably at acting like nothing was wrong.

"I would never leave you and my son. You two are the most important things in my life. You saved me from dying on the inside when Nadia…," Eric tried soothing the hysterical woman in front of him. All this couldn't be good for the baby.

"Do you mean it? Do you mean that you love me more than you love her? That our family is more important than your past with her?" Rachel questioned a little calmer, but still the panic was evident in her voice.

"There was a time when I loved Nadia more than anything in this world, but you and my son are my future. I won't do anything that would hurt you, I would never walk away from my family with you. You and me are going to grow old together and raise a family. Nothing will change that," Eric said kneeling in front of Rachel and kissing her growing stomach.

"Do you mean that you're going to ask her for annulment? I don't want the baby being born without his parents being married." Rachel said strongly while stroking his cheek.

"Honey, she just returned from being kept somewhere for almost three years. She's still in shock and mentally fragile. I can't do that to her right now." Eric pleaded. He wouldn't hurt Nadia any more than he had done tonight.

"I'm sorry, I wasn't thinking straight. I don't want to make this any more difficult than it already is. I understand that you don't want to cause her more pain. I shouldn't complain, I still have you and you're not going anywhere," Rachel said more softly and walked to the bed to lay down. She was not feeling good.

"Are you okay? Is everything okay with the baby?" Eric asked with concern when he noticed her pained expression.

"Yeah, your son is just running laps inside my stomach. I hope that he'll settle when I'm lying down," Rachel assured the worried looking Eric. He rose from the floor and joined the blonde woman on the bed. He pulled the blanket over them and gently placed his hands on her waist.

"You need to sleep. Stress is not good for you. I'll be here and I'm not going anywhere. Except in the morning, I'll make you the Weiss family pancakes. There is nothing in the world that pancakes can't fix," Eric said with as much optimism he could muster. He didn't feel like everything was just fine and dandy in the least, but for Rachel's sake he needed to get himself in order so he could take care of her.

--

"Where have you been for three years? What happened to you when they took you?" Sydney asked Nadia who had assured her sister that sleep wasn't what she needed right now. Irina had returned briefly to check on Nadia and holding her tightly, but Jack had dragged her home with the theory that if she didn't sleep and change, she couldn't help Nadia at all.

"Me and Eric were going to the beach and I forgot my sun lotion. He went ahead and I returned to the bungalow we were staying in. When I had opened that door, someone put a needle in my neck and then everything went black. I woke up awhile later in a big house in the middle of nowhere. My father was there and he said that he needed me in solving the Rambaldi clues." Nadia told while staring in nothing.

"I don't understand this at all. You're telling me that Sloane had you kidnapped and faked your death? But I saw your body in my own eyes, the body we buried had your DNA and looked like you." Sydney sighed in confusion. All of this felt so surreal.

"Dad never told me how he did it. He said I didn't need to know anything other than no one was coming to look for me and if I even tried escaping, it would be like signing Eric's death certificate. There was four armed guards at all times and aside from Lauren and Sark, no one visited." Nadia told in a flat tone and didn't feel like reminiscing about her time captive.

"Are Lauren and Sark working for Sloane?" That was new information for Sydney, she had thought both were currently freelancers and working only from time to time for causes they both believed in.

"They did missions for dad a couple of times during my captivity. They stayed there always a couple of days at a time and Lauren talked to me sometimes. I hate her, but when your deranged father is your only speaking companion, even her company feels like an improvement." Nadia said a little amused.

"Mom told me that you and Vaughn are married and have a daughter. Tell me about her?" Nadia asked, hoping to lift her mood by talking about a niece she hadn't known existed.

Sydney remained quiet for awhile, thinking about everything that had happened tonight. She had gotten her sister back and now there were clues to the whereabouts of two the most formidable adversaries Sydney had faced in her time.

"Isabelle is five moths old and the cutest baby in the world. You will love her, she looks just like Michael. She's the best thing ever to happen to my life," Sydney said but immediately felt bad for bragging how great her life was, when Nadia's life was a mess.

"I'm happy for you. You and Michael deserve to be happy after everything. I want again to be as happy as you are. But I need to know some things… Tell me about her? Rachel. What's she like?" Nadia asked suddenly and looking at Sydney in the eyes. She really wanted to know who she was dealing with.

"She's…she's nice. She works for the CIA and was Eric's partner in missions." Sydney said as fast as she could, maybe hoping it would hurt less if it came out as fast as possible.

"What she looks like? How many months pregnant is she? Does he share our apartment with her?" Nadia asked ignoring the pang of hurt that came over her when she thought about her and Eric's place. And the possibility that her husband was sharing their bed with another woman.

"She's a tall blonde and seven months pregnant. Eric sold the apartment two weeks after the funeral, he couldn't live there with all the memories of you. Now he and Rachel live by the beach in Malibu." Sydney said unsurely. She knew Nadia wanted her to tell her that Rachel is not a good person and all wrong for Eric, but Sydney couldn't say that.

Nadia closed her eyes, hoping to fall asleep and wake up in the morning with Eric by her side and Rachel not existing. She hated her, although her mind told her that Rachel was as much a victim as she was. Nadia felt like crying, she had lost her husband to someone else who was pregnant, she didn't have a place to stay and she didn't have a job. There was almost no reason to get up from bed. She wanted to scream because of the unfairness of her situation.

After a bout with self-pity, Nadia told herself to snap out of it. She wasn't going to turn into a pathetic, weeping girl with a word 'doormat' written on her forehead. She wasn't going to give up and Eric was still her husband. He belonged to her, Rachel might have been pregnant, but she was still Mrs. Weiss. Everything was salvageable, Rachel was a hurdle, but she had survived worse things in her life.

--

Michael was watching in confusion as Eric was making pancakes in the kitchen. He had been awoken by the panging coming from the kitchen and decided to come and see what was going on.

"Michael, are you just going to stand there or are you going to help?" Eric asked startling Michael as he had been deep in thought.

"Why are you making pancakes? I thought you'd be at the hospital already, visiting your wife?" Michael asked, deciding to call Nadia Eric's wife because there was no escaping the fact that they were still married. Rachel might be carrying Eric's baby, but Nadia was legally his wife.

"Rachel is my wife and I'm making her pancakes because I promised. I'll go to see Nadia a little bit later when I know everything is okay with Rachel." Eric replied not looking at Michael.

"You can't stay with Rachel when you still love Nadia. I know you want to do what's right, but staying with Rachel because she's pregnant will make both of you unhappy in the end. Same thing happened with Lauren, I stayed with because I felt like I had an obligation to be with her. And look how that turned out," Michael commented when he entered the kitchen properly and poured himself a cup of coffee.

"My relationship with Rachel is nothing like your marriage to Lauren. There is no comparison, I love Rachel and we are going to have a baby. I am committed to her and I won't be one of those scumbags who abandon the woman who is carrying their child." Eric replied angrily and started putting a tray together to take to Rachel, who was still sleeping. Would it have been too much to ask of Michael to have be a little more understanding with this whole fiasco.

"I get your need to do the right thing and you might be happy with Rachel for awhile, but eventually you're going to regret it if you ignore your feelings for Nadia. Look at me, I tried my best, but I never loved Lauren as much as I loved Sydney and I know you won't ever love Rachel more than you love Nadia." Michael tried reasoning with Eric, he needed to understand that it was never going to work with Rachel now that Nadia was back in the picture.

"I'm not you and Rachel isn't Lauren. Now if you don't mind, I'm taking this breakfast tray to my pregnant wife who you want me to leave like a bad habit. Me and Rachel are leaving as soon as we finish breakfast, I don't want to stay here when you can't be supportive of me and the woman who is carrying your godson," Eric said in a huff and left the room leaving Michael to just stand there.

To be continued…

Next chapter: Rachel and Nadia meet for the first time. Will they like each other??