4-

Later that night, Emma paid the cab driver and started to stumble up the front walk. She giggled to herself as she thought about how pissed Phil would be right now to see her so drunk. She didn't care though; she was done caring. She wanted her freedom from him. Lately she had been thinking about what a mistake she had made by marrying him when she was only 19. Sure, she loved their kids more than anything, and her and Phil had made some good memories together, but somewhere along the way, she lost who Emma was as a person, not just Punk's wife.

Sitting down on the couch, Emma pulled her cell phone out of her pocket and looked at the time; it was almost three in the morning and she wanted someone to talk to in her drunken state. She smiled slyly as she thought of the only person she knew that would still be awake at this time and she was feeling feisty.

She dialed his cell phone number and waited for him to pick up.

"Yeah," he said quietly; she could hear the television volume on low. She rolled her eyes at the thought of him watching some dumb movie based on a comic book. He was such a nerd sometimes.

"What are you doing?" she asked slowly, trying not to slur her words. She didn't want a lecture from him about how drinking was bad and blah blah blah.

"Watching a movie. Why are you calling so late? The kids are already in bed."

"I didn't call to talk to them, Phil."

"Then why the hell are you calling at three in the morning, Emma?" he sharply replied. He had a funny feeling that she was only calling right now to get on his nerves.

"I wanted to talk to you."

"So talk. What do you want?"

She sighed and bit her bottom lip; did she really want to do this? "Is Scott there with you?"

"Yeah, he's sleeping. Why," he asked cautiously.

"Come over," she said simply.

"Emma, it's three in the morning."

"So? Scott's there, he can keep an eye on the kids in case they wake up. Besides, you know as well as I do that you probably didn't put them to bed until almost midnight anyways, so they'll sleep until nine or ten. Come over. I want to..." she trailed off, letting the sentence end like that so his imagination could take over.

"So we can do what, Emma? Come over and have you make me look like an idiot by not answering the door? Come over so you can yell at me over something stupid? Come over so I can hold your hair back while you puke? Come over so-"

"Stop, Phil. I'm only going to offer one more time."

"And exactly what are you offering me, Emma?" He was intrigued; she used to play this game all the time, and it usually ended up with the two of them having sweaty and hot sex on the kitchen floor. Is that what she wanted tonight?

"Me," she said simply.

Punk chuckled. "You said I couldn't have you."

"And you said that yes, you could. Prove it," she said as she hung up, leaving him to stare at the phone with a smile on his face. He could tell that she had been drinking, otherwise she never would have been this bold and teasing with him. He debated for a few minutes of whether or not he should actually go over there and see her, or if he should play her game and stay here.

It had been over seven months since they had made love last; sex was probably one of the things he missed most about her. Along with everything else...Eventually his manly urges won out and he woke up Scott. "Hey, can you keep an eye on the kids in case they wake up?"

Still half asleep, Scott nodded. "Where ya going?" he mumbled as he tried to stretch on the couch that he had crashed on earlier that night.

"To see Emma," Punk said as he pulled a t-shirt over his head.

"Why are you going to see that toxic woman, Punk? You know she's probably been drinking and is just playing games with you. You'll get all the way over there and then she'll do something to prove what a bitch she is; she either won't open the door or she'll get you all hot and bothered and then kick you out. She's done this before. Just go to sleep, man," Scott said as he closed his eyes again.

"I'm going over there, man. Promise to stay here with the kids until I get back?" Punk asked as he slipped his shoes on and looked around for his car keys.

"Yeah, yeah, I guess. But when you come back here all pissed off because she made you look like a fool, don't be a dick about it."

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Emma stared at her cell phone for a long time after she hung up with Phil; she couldn't believe that she had just dared him to come over and pretty much try and make love to her. What the hell was she thinking? Shaking her head, she set her phone down and headed into the kitchen to find the bottle of wine she had stashed in the cupboard. Phil was straightedge and didn't drink; for the longest time Emma didn't drink either until she decided that she had had enough of Phil and his 'rules'. Since their court ordered separation six months ago, she had taken a liking to wine, beer and rum. Sighing, she realized that she must have already finished the bottle of wine last weekend when the kids were at her mom's house. She stood in the kitchen and thought hard for a few minutes before she remembered that she had a small bottle of rum tucked away in her bedroom.

It would take Phil at least fifteen minutes to get across town. She hurriedly grabbed a glass and a can of Coke out of the fridge and headed upstairs. He could either let himself in or look like a fool in front of the neighbors knocking on the door—his choice.

Upstairs, Emma slipped off her red high heels and put them back in the closet; she was going to keep the red dress on just to see her husband's reaction when he got there. She smiled to herself as she poured a strong drink.

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Twenty minutes later, Punk pulled up in front of the house. He then sat in the car for another ten minutes trying to psyche himself up enough to actually go in there and do this with Emma. She had rejected him for the last seven months; no matter how hard he tried, no matter how romantic or sweet he tried to be, and no matter what type of lavish gifts he bought her, she kept turning him down. Until tonight. He was sure that she had been drinking, and from the sound of her voice on the phone earlier, she must have been drinking heavily. He just hoped that she hadn't already passed out; that would make this a wasted trip.

Not bothering to knock on the door, he just used his key and walked in, locking the door behind him. He sighed as he didn't see Emma anywhere downstairs but she had left every light on. He still paid all of the bills for this house, so it's not she actually made it a point to conserve energy. Seeing that she wasn't in the kitchen either or sitting on the back deck, he started to make his way upstairs. He wondered if she still had that little red dress on or if she had changed into something a little more comfortable. A huge smile broke out onto his face as he thought about the little black number he had bought her at a lingerie store in LA for her birthday one year. Maybe this was going to be a turning point for them; maybe she finally realized what a huge mistake she had made by filing for divorce and kicking him out of his own house. But then again, knowing Emma the way he did, maybe this was just another one her damn mind games that she liked to play with him. He still hoped that she had finally seen the light and was ready to take him back.

Creeping down the hallway slowly, he made his way to their once shared bedroom; the door was slightly ajar. Peeking in, he saw her sitting on the edge of the bed, still wearing her red dress, and she was looking at something. A book maybe?

Slowly opening the door, he moved inside the room without her noticing him and watched her for a few minutes. He finally recognized the book she was looking at; it was the photo album. He smiled a little thinking of all of the memories that they had made together over the ten years that they had been together. He started dating her when she was only 17 and vowed to marry her one day; and he did just that two years later when she was 19. Yeah, she was young, but she swore up and down that she was ready for that kind of forever commitment with him. Jack was born eight months after they were married. Josh came three years later and then two years after that Jenna was born. Life had moved fast for the little family. He could see where she might have been a little bit overwhelmed with it all.

He sat down behind her on the bed and pulled her into his lap. Surprisingly enough, she didn't protest or even say anything, she just let him wrap his arms around her and hold her tight. He looked over her shoulder at the photo album, smiling at the happy memories that had made together. He pushed a lock of dark hair off of her shoulder and started gently nibbling on her right shoulder. Again, she didn't protest. She set the book on the floor and turned herself around so she was now straddling his lap. "You did come..." she whispered as her blue eyes searched his for a reason why.

"You asked me to. You know I would do anything for you, Emmy Sue. All you've ever had to do was ask..." he whispered back as he leaned down to kiss her sweet mouth. She kissed him back as desperate as he had just kissed her.

She lifted his t-shirt off of him and started to go to work on his neck; she knew damn well that if her gentle nips made it up to his earlobe, he would be a goner. His fingers went to work unzipping her dress and lifting the skimpy fabric over her head and throwing it on the floor, leaving her straddling his lap in nothing but her red panties. He ached for her right now. Very gently he pushed her off of his lap and had her lay down while he hovered over her, placing light kisses and bites all over chest and he was working his way down to her stomach. She ran her fingers through his hair and let out a big sigh as his teeth made contact with the waistband of her panties and he pulled them off of her and down her legs by using his teeth. He discarded the panties on the floor and took a brief moment to take her all in; she was still long and lean, curvy in all the right places. Having three kids had made her hips a little bit wider than when they were first married, but he didn't care. Very lightly he fingered her butterfly tattoo on her right hip before he bent down and gently bit the skin near it, causing her to involuntarily buck her hips at him. He sat up and smiled down at her; she was very slowly trying to unbutton his jeans to get what she wanted from him.

He helped her fumbling fingers and took his pants off; her hands rested on the waistband of his boxer shorts, pulling gently. Punk leaned down and whispered in her ear, "Do you want me, Emmy Sue?"

She nodded and pulled him down for a kiss. Punk broke the kiss and gently pushed her thighs apart and settled in between them. Leaning down by her ear one more time before he pushed his way inside, he whispered, "Still love me?" He could have just thought he had heard her, but maybe she really did say it. He swore as he entered her, she whispered back, "Never stopped loving you, Phil..."