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Emma locked herself in the bathroom and forced herself to breathe in and out slowly. Her husband knew how to push her buttons. "It will all be over soon," she whispered to her reflection in the mirror. She started putting away miscellaneous bathroom items when her gaze came upon a little black box. She hesitated opening it; she knew what was in there. It was her wedding ring. She had stopped wearing it when the judge ordered a trial separation. Today, however, she noticed that Phil still had his wedding band on. What made him hold onto the belief that they could work this out, stop the divorce proceedings and act like nothing happened? For as cynical as he was about most of life, he sure was Mr. Positivity when it came to her and the kids. She had no intention of keeping him from them; but she was hell bent on keeping him away from her.

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Phil walked out of the bedroom he once shared with his loving wife and wandered into the living room. He felt a couple pairs of eyes staring at him from the staircase. "Come on down, kids. We're done yelling..." he said softly as he went and sat down on the couch. Jack came down first, holding Jenna's hand and Josh was trailing behind his siblings. Phil smiled at the sight of his children; his boys looked just like him and little Jenna was practically a clone of her mother, right down to the dimple in her right cheek.

"Daddy!' she squealed as she let go of her big brother's hand and leaped onto Phil's lap. "I missed you..." she mumbled into his chest and she gave him a big hug.

"Missed you too, baby," he murmured into her dark brown hair. He sighed thinking about how much his daughter reminded him of his estranged wife. Not only did Jenna look just like her mother, she also had Emma's temperament—she could be sweet as an angel one day and the next day a hell raiser, intent on pushing his buttons. All the more reason to adore this child.

Jack and Josh sat down on the couch with Punk and he pulled the boys closer to him too. The four of them sat on the couch in silence for a few minutes before Josh piped up. "Dad, are we staying at your apartment tonight?" he asked with a hopeful voice.

It killed Punk to shake his head. "Sorry kiddo, it sounds like mom made plans for you to go Grandma Evelyn's house this weekend."

"I don't want to go there. She isn't any fun. Not like you, dad," Jenna giggled as she remembered the last time she spent time at her dad's apartment. Dad and Uncle Scott had put on an impromptu puppet show that had left her and her brothers laughing for hours. Dad was a lot of fun; whereas mom was too serious all the time and they had to be quiet in the mornings when mom didn't feel good.

"I am a lot of fun, aren't I?" Punk asked teasingly. The three kids nodded and a great idea clicked into Punk's head. Emma might have made plans with her mom to take the kids, but he was their father and he was in town for the next week. He should have every right to have them spend time with him. "You know what, kids, I think I'm going to call Grandma Evelyn and tell her that you guys are going to come to my house instead. Would you like that? We could have Uncle Scott come over and we could laugh at him." He smiled broadly as the kids broke out into cheers at the thought of spending time with both their father and their beloved Uncle Scott.

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In the kitchen, Punk dialed his mother in law's phone number. He knew he had to call from the land line or she might not answer. Emma had basically brainwashed her mother into thinking that Phil was the worst husband and father in the world and should be exiled from the state of Illinois. If only Evelyn knew what her daughter had been up to...

"Hello?" came Evelyn's crisp voice.

"Hi, Evelyn, this is Phil," he said as he tried not to grimace.

"Who?"

"Phil. Your son in law," he replied as he rolled his eyes, thankful that she couldn't see him right now. If she had caught him rolling his eyes at her that would have launched her into a long-winded bitch session about how Phil had no respect for his in-laws or his wife and that he was a horrible father and blah blah blah blah.

"Oh. I see. What can I help you with Phil," she asked sharply.

"Well, I'm on off time for a the next week or so and I would like to have the kids this weekend."

"Well, they're not my children Phil, they're my grandchildren. You need to speak to Emma about this. Now, if that's all-"

"Here's the thing, Evelyn. Emma said that you were taking the kids this weekend, and I'm calling to let you know that plans have changed and you don't need to come into the city to come get them. They'll be staying at my place for a couple of days."

Silence. "Have you spoken to Emma about this? You know how she doesn't like spur of the moment plan changes."

"Oh, I'm well aware of what Emma does and doesn't likes. She likes her mom, doesn't like me."

"Can you blame her?"

"Ah, what are you saying, Evelyn? You don't like me either? I'm hurt," he said sarcastically.

"For your information, I never liked you. I never understood why my daughter insisted on marrying you. The only good thing that's ever come out of that abomination of a marriage are those children. Please tell Emma I will be calling her in a few minutes." And with that, his mother in law hung up the phone. Punk knew he had to act fast otherwise there would be a knock down drag out argument between him and his estranged wife over the phone call between him and Evelyn.

He walked back out in the living room and he swore his heart just skipped a beat and he had to remind himself to breathe. She still took his breath away even after eight years of marriage. He longed to run his hands through her long brown hair, feeling her purr in contentment as he kissed her neck and nibbled on her ear. He longed for the days when she couldn't get enough of him and his touch. Now, she didn't want him anywhere near her. He could tell right now that she was disappointed to find him still here.

"Kids. Are your overnight bags packed for Grandma's house?" she asked as she started picking up toys and putting them in the toy box. Phil knew she was only doing that right now to make herself look good in front of him. Basically she had this idea that she was good and that Phil was bad. It wasn't always like this though. At one time she had loved him enough to marry him and to have his babies. What changed?

"We're going to daddy's!" Jenna said excitedly as she bounced up and down on Phil's lap.

"No, you're going to grandma's house. She should be here at six tonight," she said warily as she looked at her estranged husband. She knew Phil well enough to know that he had been up to something.

"Actually, I called your mom and she said she would be delighted to let me have them this weekend instead," Phil said with a fake smile.

Emma returned his fake smile with a fake one of her own. "Gee. I don't remember my mom calling me and saying that."

"I called her." Emma saw red. Once again Phil had gone behind her back and done what he wanted.

"Kids...why don't you go outside and play for a few minutes while me and daddy talk about something."

Jack knew what was coming; he knew his mom wanted them to go outside so that her and dad could fight and yell and scream at each other. He grabbed Jenna off of dad's lap and took Josh's hand and led his siblings though the kitchen and out to the backyard.

Emma waited a minute or two until she was sure that they were outside. "What the hell are you doing, Phil?" she asked as her blue eyes flashed with annoyance for him.

"Taking my kids tonight, like I told you I was going to, Emma," he said as he emphasized her name.

"No."

"They're my kids too, Em."

"I already made plans for them."

"And I'm changing those plans."

"Do you really think those kids want to spend all weekend locked up in that shitty little apartment you call home?"

"I would have a five bedroom house if someone hadn't filed for divorce!" he said as he started to raise his voice.

"Oh, here we go again, let's blame Emma for everything!" she shouted back.

"I'm not blaming you for anything! I just want to see my kids, damn it!"

"Maybe you should have thought about that before you decided that the perfect life for you was being on the road all week and maybe, just maybe, having a day or even half a day available for them."

"Is this what this whole thing is about, Emma? My job? You never had a problem when I was wrestling for the indys."

"You were home every night!"

"It's also funny that you never had a problem spending the money I would bring home from the WWE. Hence, your fancy wardrobe, this damn house, that fucking car sitting in the driveway!" he shouted at her.

"I hate you," she said simply as she started to walk away from him. "You can take the kids but you better have them home Sunday night," she said as she walked upstairs to her bedroom and slammed the door behind her.

Punk smirked. He had won, but at what cost?