Thanks guys so much for reviewing, I so appreciate it. Please keep those reviews coming

When A Heart Breaks

Chapter 6

"Sydney, I need to have something to do. I've been sitting at home for the last three weeks going stir-crazy. All I have been doing lately is sleeping and feeling sorry for myself. I want to go back to work." Nadia said to Sydney and Vaughn as the threesome were sitting in the breakfast table sipping coffee.

"Nads, I'm not sure that's wise. You haven't been home that long and you would have to work with Eric every day if you come back. Are you sure you can handle that?" Sydney asked hoping to deter her sister from her desire to return to work.

"Just seeing him every day is something I've dreamed of for three years. I don't care about Rachel or what kind of relationship they have and I don't hate him for moving on. It's not him I'm mad at. It's my father, Lauren, Sark and in some way even Rachel that I'm angry with, which makes no sense since she had nothing to do with what dad did to me. Only way to get my life back, is to face the demons of my past and going back to work is a step in the right direction." Nadia explained carefully and thoughtfully. Recently she had had nothing but time to think and this was one of the conclusions she had came up with.

"I'll talk to dad about re-instating your field rating, but you know that you can't take a field assignment until you've had a complete psyche evaluation done which can take weeks to finalize. Most likely dad will keep you in the office for at least a month to see if you're ready," Sydney said evaluating the pros and con's of Nadia's return to work inside her head. Currently the pro's were winning.

"What kind of plans you've got today?" Michael asked while multitasking, reading the newspaper and writing a text massage with his phone at the same time. Being a father of an infant daughter had taught him to do many things all at once.

"I'm going to look at some apartments with mom, I can't watch any more daytime TV. I find it disturbing that I've gotten hooked on Days Of Our Lives and I now desperately need to know was it EJ or Lucas who fathered Sami Brady's baby. That if any, is an indication that I need to get out more." Nadia said giggling and didn't admit the real reason she wanted to get out of the house today. Today was the day Rachel was having her baby shower and both Sydney and Vaughn had been invited. They had tried keeping this piece of information from her, but it hadn't been all that difficult to put two and two together when a light blue invitation with a stork on it had came in the mail with this particular date in it.

"Sounds good, me and Vaughn are taking Isabelle to the park and then go see dad." Sydney lied nonchalantly. She didn't think Nadia needed to know that they were spending the day celebrating the immanent arrival of her husband's baby in the company of someone who now shared Eric's bed instead of her.

"You don't have to lie to me, I know Rachel has her baby shower today. I'm not a porcelain doll, I won't break that easily." Nadia said taking Sydney's hand into hers. She didn't want to be cuddled like a baby, she could handle the truth.

"We won't go if you don't want us to. We can all go see apartment hunting instead. How's that sound?" Sydney cheerfully asked, trying to not appear to be babying her.

"Of course you're going. Eric's your friend and he wants you to be there. I'll feel bad if you don't go because of me and besides I'll have a great day with mom. After looking at apartments, we're going for lunch and maybe even some retail therapy." Nadia said and left the table to get something in wrapped in blue gift-paper.

"Can you give this to Eric? I got something for the baby and I'd like him to have it." Nadia asked handing the present to Sydney. Even thought the baby was growing inside of Rachel, he was still Eric's child and he was an innocent party in the mess they currently in.

"You are incredible Nadia, you know that! I'll make sure he gets this and knows who's it from." Sydney said hugging her sister and changing glances with Michael.

"I want him to be happy and I know he's always wanted to have children, so I am ecstatic for him. I love him enough to do that," Nadia concluded and excused herself from the table to get ready to leave. Talking about Eric's baby was harder than she would have thought, but she needed him to know that whatever happened, she would always support him like he would always be there for her.

Eric had visited a couple of times during the last three weeks and they had had numerous phone conversations, last one a couple of days ago. He had always called from the car or work and Nadia suspected that Rachel didn't know about his calls or his visits, which was a good sign in her eyes. The relationship between the two obviously wasn't as solid as Rachel had advertised, why else he had to sneak behind her back to call or visit. Nadia had always believed that a relationship was ruined if two people couldn't be honest with each other and it didn't look like Eric could be that honest with Rachel about his life or feelings.

--

Rachel was surrounded by her friends, family members and colleagues during the opening of the presents. So far everything had gone smoothly, most of the guests had been able to arrive and even Eric, who had been moody the last couple of days, seemed to be having fun.

His behavior had been peculiar, one moment he was the most tentative and caring husband and another he shut her out completely. Rachel was sure it had something to do with Nadia and didn't like it one bit.

Eric had been chatting with Sydney for the past half-hour and laughed and joked at something. She hadn't seen him in this good of a mood since Nadia had returned and felt a tingle of jealousy that he was happier in Sydney's company than he was in hers.

"Okay, this Is from me and Marshall," Carrie Bowman said hanging Rachel a gift basket filled to the brink with everything cute and blue that the baby would ever need, including a receiving blanket, a pair of soft infant booties and a plush animal squeaker toy.

"I love it, it's perfect. Thank you guys so much." Rachel said enthusiastically, she had always loved getting presents and getting them for the baby was even better.

Gifts kept coming and soon the living room was filled with so much baby stuff that it looked like they were having triplets. Eric had tried his best to look enthusiastic and convincing Rachel that there were worries in the world. She didn't need to stress about anything, all she needed to do was concentrate on having this baby.

His mind had wandered back to Nadia when Sydney had privately given her gift to him. It was incredibly unselfish and thoughtful for her to do that and he was utterly moved by her gesture. At that moment, he had never loved Nadia more, but felt like the scum of the earth at thinking about Nadia in that way during Rachel's baby shower.

He also kept looking at Michael, wanting to patch this drift between them. He had only wanted to help, but he had snapped at Michael because he was telling him what he didn't want to hear. He needed to just swallow his ego and go make things right with his best friend, these three weeks of not taking to him had been awful.

--

"Mom, I love that place. I want to move in right now," Nadia laughed as she and her mother left the third place they had seen today. The third time had been the charm, this two-bedroom Malibu apartment had screamed 'rent me' as soon as she had entered.

"It was beautiful, but I think the location is all wrong for you. Maybe we can reconsider that second one, it seems more suitable. It's only a 10 minute walk away from me and Jack and it has more space," Irina said gazing through the brochure the realtor had given her.

"What are you talking about mom? Malibu's a great place to live and I don't like cleaning all that much, so it has less space that I need to keep tidy," Nadia reasoned with a smile and looked back the apartment that was practically calling her name.

"I know what you're doing honey. It's no coincidence that the place you want is in the same neighborhood where Eric lives with his family. You're hoping that you to will run into each other at the supermarket or that you can carpool together. If I can see that, Rachel will see it as well and won't like it," Irina rationalized. Chasing after Eric would not be wise in her opinion.

"I won't let Rachel decide where I can or can not live. Plus is it so bad that I want to be near my husband?" Nadia asked as they had reached Irina's car and got in.

"He's made up his mind and he staying with Rachel. Are hoping that if he sees you everywhere, he gets the urge to leave his family?" Irina asked more pointedly than she had intended.

"Mom, I don't want to argue with you, when we can go to the Ivy for lunch instead. I'm not going to decide on the place yet, not like I can afford to get a place right now," Nadia assured her mother but added in her mind that she would indeed choose the third place, but mom didn't need to know that right now.

"Okay, sounds good. Are you in the mood for fish or chicken? I'm leaning on fish myself," Irina asked settling for Nadia's promise to think this apartment thing through. Irina had been afraid that maybe she couldn't talk to Nadia after all these years, but it hadn't been that difficult. Almost like they were best friends instead of mother and daughter, which was nice in her mind.

To be continued…

Next chapter: Eric and Michael talk and a familiar face from the past appears.