Thanks so much for everyone for reading my story. I hope you like this update

When A Heart Breaks

CHAPTER 5

"Eric, can I talk to you for a minute in private, please?" Irina said throwing a stern look to the raven-haired man, who was standing near the bed where her daughter and his wife lay, holding hands with Rachel.

"Sure. You want to go to the hall?" Eric asked apprehensively and squeezed Rachel's hand in a reassuring manner before following his mother-in-law to the hall.

"Why did you bring your blonde, pregnant Lolita to where my daughter is? Do you want her to suffer more than she already has?" Irina demanded as soon as they had left the room. She looked furious and seemed to tower over Eric.

"Rachel wanted to come, she felt that she had a right to be here. I would never hurt Nadia intentionally, I love her. This situation is just so hard. Tell me what to do," Eric sighed slumping to the nearest chair and covering his head with his hands.

"You need to make a decision and stick to it. If you are going to be with Rachel, then just do it, but don't parade your happy family life in front of my daughter. Make it clear to Nadia that you two won't have a future together, you can't string her along if in the end you are staying with Rachel. But if you choose to honor the vows you exchanged with my daughter, don't prolong the decision." Irina said a little softer and sat next to Eric and placed her hand on his shoulder.

"Whatever I do, someone's gonna get hurt. I've never been good at hurting people, usually I'm the one that gets hurt. On one hand there is Rachel, someone who brought me back to life and is the mother of my son, but then there's Nadia, who I never really stopped loving, she never left my thoughts and visions of her haunted me after her 'death' for a long time. This is a lose-lose situation," Eric said shaking his head and massaging his temple with his fingers.

"Eric, don't let some misguided sense of responsibility stop you from listening to what your heart tells you. If you stay with Rachel because of the baby and not because you truly love her, you're making a big mistake." Irina said rising from the chair and going to the window. She watched the interaction between Rachel and Nadia with worry.

"Don't sell my relationship with Rachel short. I never said I didn't love her, because I do, I really do. I can't turn back the time with me and Nadia, three years have gone by and I'm not the same guy I was. Rachel has changed me for the better and so has the prospect of being a father," Eric said with determination that Irina was surprised by. She had never seen Eric behave this maturely before, she had previously thought of him as a happy-go-lucky jokester.

"As I said, you have to make a decision soon, prolonging this will only cause all of us more pain. For what it's worth, I think you and Nadia should be together, but that's just my opinion." Irina concluded and noticed Jack approaching them, meaning that Rachel and Nadia were now alone in the same room.

--

Rachel watched Jack exit and sat on the chair next to Nadia's bed keeping her left hand on top of her baby bump. Awkward or not, she now had to say something to the other woman or she would come across as a bimbo.

"Hi, I know this is awkward, but I'm Rachel. I wish we had met under happier circumstances." Rachel offered with a weak smile. Although she had been to had insisted of coming, now it didn't feel that good of an idea. Nadia had been looking her over with contempt and Rachel felt unnerved by that. She had always been liked by everyone and had been Miss Popularity in High School, so this was new territory for her.

"You're right, this is awkward. You are having a baby with my husband and I'm still married to Eric making your marriage null and void. I don't think me showing up alive was what you wanted as a gift for your baby shower nor I didn't expect to spend my reunion with my husband and his pregnant new wife. I would say were both quite unhappy right now." Nadia responded slightly nodding in Rachel's direction. Maybe she could like Rachel after all, but she still wasn't going to get her husband.

"When me and Eric first met, you were all he ever talked about so I feel like I know you and I hope you want to get to know me as well. I feel sorry what you must have gone through," Rachel said with sympathy that made it harder for Nadia to flat-out hate her. She sort of wished Rachel would have come across truly unlikable so she wouldn't feel guilty when she and Eric would continue their life together.

Before Nadia had a chance to respond, her mother rejoined the room accompanied by Eric and Jack. Eric approached the bed and stood behind the chair Rachel was sitting in and placed his hands on her shoulders. She smiled and leaned back so her head was resting next to his midsection.

They were quiet for a while, but the arrival of Sydney broke the silence a minute or two later.

"I just talked to the doctor, you get to go home today." Sydney gushed happily and sat Nadia's bed and exchanged glances with her father as if to ask what was going on with her sister and Rachel.

"That's great sweetie, you're coming to stay with me and Jack. I'm going to spoil you rotten, like I never had a change to do when you were little." Irina said and already started gathering some of Nadia's things to get ready to leave.

"Mom, I'm going to stay at Sydney's. I need to find a place for myself soon, but before that, I want to reconnect with my sister and meet my niece. I'm sorry mom," Nadia said and avoided his mother's gaze.

"I think me and Rachel should get going. I'm relieved that you're okay Nadia and I'll come and see you when you are settled, but now I think you need to be with your family," Eric said in a fake upbeat tone and gave Nadia a light kiss on the cheek before guiding Rachel out of the room. Nadia wanted to scream that he was also her family, the words somehow stopped before they left her lips. Why didn't Eric understand that although being with Sydney and Irina was great, it was he who she really wanted to be with. She wanted him to hold her, kiss her and tell her everything was going to be okay.

--

Irina had begrudgingly agreed to let Nadia stay with Sydney, but had wanted her to call her if she needed anything and had insisted that Nadia do nothing but rest and eat. Nadia had kissed her mother goodbye and left with Sydney to gain some sense of normality back into her life.

"I think I need to go and buy myself new clothes, a pair of jeans and a sweater is not sufficient for my every day needs," Nadia laughed looking at her rather faded clothes as Sydney was feeding Isabelle.

"You don't need to go shopping. Eric couldn't bring himself to throw away any of your stuff and when he bought a new house with Rachel, I took everything and they are in boxes in the garage. You can just pick and chose," Sydney responded and gestured Nadia to join her as she left the room.

Nadia was floored with emotions as she started unpacking boxes that brought back memories that took her back to days when everything had been perfect. She fought off tears and almost succeeded until she found her wedding dress neatly packed in one of the boxes. That sight brought hot, burning tears to her dark eyes that she didn't bother to wipe.

The white, strapless dress with a beaded bodice and voluminous Organza skirt had represented her hopes and dreams for the future. She had carefully chosen white, high-heeled sandals that looked fabulous on but hurt so badly that during their first dance as husband and wife, she had only slightly moved her legs to the tune of the music.

She was loudly sobbing when she uncovered her simple, white tear drop veil that had a noticeable champagne stain on it. She pressed it tightly to her body and was so wrapped in her own word, that she was startled when Sydney gently placed her hand on Nadia's shoulder.

"Nadia, maybe you shouldn't look at those right now. I can take them to somewhere else…" Sydney said taking her wedding dress into her arms.

"No, it's the only thing I have left from me and Eric's wedding. I was so happy when I wore this dress and when he practically ripped it off of my on my wedding night. I can't deal with losing it as well," Nadia adamantly said and took it out of Sydney's hands.

--

"Are you happy with me?" Rachel asked from out of the blue as she and Eric were sitting at their terrace looking at the sunset.

"What? Of course I'm happy with you, I love you. Where does this sudden insecurity come from?" Eric inquired from the blonde who was leaving against him and stroking her stomach.

"I saw how you and Nadia were looking at each other today. She was the one you were looking at the whole time, I hardly existed." Rachel said getting up with difficulty and threw him a dangerous look. She didn't want to step around the issue any longer, she needed to know.

"Of course I was looking at her. She's been gone for three years and my eyes just need verification that she's really here and I'm not hallucinating. I love you Rachel, you don't need to question it," Eric assured but only managed to anger Rachel even more.

"I'm so sick of your bullshit. You keep telling me that you love me and Nadia's return won't change anything, but it changes everything. Before I was your wife and we were having a baby, but now I'm the mistress who's knocked up," Rachel screamed and placed her hands on her hips.

"Honey, you should relax. It's not good for the baby if you're upset. You're not my mistress, I consider you my wife and as soon as Nadia's feeling better, I'll ask for a divorce so we can make your union official," Eric said gently and inwardly felt like he was disappointing Nadia miserably.

To be continued

Next Chapter: Nadia returns to work and Rachel has her baby shower.