There was a knock at the door and Lux assumed it would be the takeout. She grabbed some cash and opened the door to a silver haired middle-aged woman with no food in site.

"Oh, Hi I was looking for Eric." the lady said.

"Hi, he's not here. He just went to take Rosie for a walk."

"Oh, okay, well I'm Debra, Eric's mom." She said to the young woman standing in front of her wearing her son's shirt.

"Oh my gosh, Hi come in, I'm Lux Eric should be right back."

"You're Lux?" Eric's mother asked.

"Yes"

"Eric told me all about you."

"Really, well it isn't as bad as it sounds really." Lux stated, surprised that she knew about her.

"He was very hurt when he had to leave you" Mrs. Daniels came in saying that she didn't know Eric had company.

"I kind of just showed up yesterday, Eric didn't know I was coming." Lux said.

"So you're why Eric didn't go to work today, I called him at the museum earlier today and they said he took the day off, which he never does. And then when I called his cell he didn't want to come to dinner tomorrow night. He never cancels on us. I thought something was wrong, that's why I stopped by on my way home from work."

"I'm why Eric cancelled on dinner, he didn't want to leave me alone." Lux explained. "What exactly did Eric tell you about me?"

"Eric has told us all about you Lux. He was very hurt when he had to leave you. It took us a long time to get him back into our family, into this city. I hope that for whatever reason you're here that you tread carefully when it comes to my sons heart."

"Mrs. Daniels, I would never want to hurt Eric. Maybe it is unfair of me to track him down and come back into his life after all this time but as crazy as it sounds I had to. I don't want Eric and me to be this what if thing forty years from now."

"Well my dear, I will tell you that this is the first time since Eric moved back here that I have came over and found a girl at his apartment. I know he goes out and dates but there hasn't been anyone special in his life since you."

And with that Eric's apartment door flu open. In he walked with Lux's bag and the takeout saying "Well, I ran into the delivery guy in the hallway…Mom what, what are you doing here?"

"I'm having a pleasant conversation with Lux my dear. I was worried about you and decided to come check on you." said Mrs. Daniels.

"Ok, should I be worried?" Eric asked looking back and forth from Lux to his mom.

"No, no, everything is fine." Lux assured him.

"Well I should be going, I still have to get home and fix supper." Said Mrs. Daniels.

"Ok mom, thanks for stopping by." Eric said placing the bags on the table.

"You know, I do wish the two of you could join your father and I for dinner tomorrow night. I would love the opportunity to get to know Lux more."

"Thanks mom but maybe another time."

"It was nice to meet you Mrs. Daniels."

"You too Lux. I look forward to seeing you again soon."

Eric walked his mom to the door and out into the hallway. "Look mom, I'm sorry you had to meet Lux like that. If I had known you were coming over I would have warned you she was here."

"Lux seems very nice, I see why you were so taken with her. Think about coming to dinner."

"Thanks mom but I don't know how long Lux is going to be here. Lux is dealing with a lot right now."

They hugged goodbye and Eric went back inside.

"I'm so sorry Lux I never would have left if I thought she was coming over."

"No, no it was fine. Your Mom is really nice and worried about you. I was surprised that she knew about me though." Lux stated.

"When I left Portland, I came back here briefly. I had to tell the truth. I had to tell them why I wasn't working at Westmont anymore. I had to tell them why I was so upset, so depressed."

"How did they take it?" Lux asked.

"With time has come perspective. They understood that I didn't want to do anything wrong but I fell for you so hard."

Lux took his hand. "I never meant for the situation to hurt you like it did Eric. I never wanted to hurt you."

"I know you didn't Lux. Lets eat before the Italian gets cold." Eric said.

"You know this food is almost as good as the real thing that you get in Italy. I spent some time there when I was traveling. It's a beautiful place, the architecture on the buildings, the wonderful food. It was a great experience. I have tons of pictures we can look at them later."

"It sounds wonderful. I saw your travel books on the bookshelf. Have you been to all of those places?" Lux asked

"Yes, every time I wanted to go to a new city I would research and buy a book on that city so I could do all the usual tourist things but I also explored on my own and took pictures all over the cities." Eric explained.

"You were right about this food, it's the best I've ever had." Said Lux.

After dinner they cleaned up the table putting the leftovers in the fridge. And they decided to watch another movie. Eric owned most of the classics on DVD. Lux picked Casablanca and they settled into the couch snuggled up together under an afghan to watch the movie.

When the movie was over Lux had fallen asleep next to Eric. She looked so peaceful. Eric remembered all the times they would go to Tasha's and watch a movie and curl up on the couch together. He had really missed those times.

Eric turned off the TV and picked Lux up and carried her down the hall to his bedroom and laid her under the covers. Lux held onto him for just a second saying "I've really missed you Minnesota." "You too Eeyore."