-9-
Punk walked out of the bedroom he had shared with Emma for so many years with his head spinning, trying to wrap his mind around what had just happened. His wife of eight years just told him that his baby girl wasn't his; Jenna's real father was his best friend. Without thinking about it, he found himself standing the doorway of Jenna's room. Despite how angry he was right now, he found a small smile on his lips as he watched his little angel sleep. How could he have missed the signs? Emma had given him no reason to believe that Jenna wasn't his baby. He just assumed that they had finally had their little girl and she was going to be a carbon copy of her mother. He found himself looking at the girl he thought was his daughter for the last three years and tried to see if he could see any sign of Scott in her. The thought of Scott touching his precious Emma was enough to make Punk sick to his stomach. He had remind himself to keep his temper in check and to walk quietly out of the bedroom and head downstairs to wait for Scott to show up. If he knew what was good for him, he would show up and explain himself before Punk beating the holy hell out of him.
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Scott pulled up to Punk and Emma's house with a racing heart; he knew what he did with Emma was wrong and the end result of their on again off again affair was wrong too. But he loved that little girl. And he loved Emma too.
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"Scott, we can't do this," Emma whispered breathlessly in his ear as he attacked her neck and ear with soft kisses."It's wrong."
"I know it's wrong, but it feels so fucking good," he mumbled as he lifted her hips and positioned himself to slide into her. "Shit, Em," he moaned in her ear as he started moving slowly, holding onto her hips so she moved with him. He bit her neck gently just as she let out a soft moan, "Scotty..."
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With shaking hands, he closed the car door and started to walk up the sidewalk to the five bedroom house Punk had always promised that he would buy his beloved Emma one day; he always kept his promises to her. She was his whole world, which was why Scott felt horrible after he betrayed his best friend the first time. The second time, he didn't feel bad, he just gave into lust, the third time...It was a never ending vicious cycle with him and Emma.
It was well after 1:30 in the morning and the neighborhood was dark and quiet; everyone was asleep. Except for Punk. He was sitting on the front steps waiting for Scott. Even in the dark, Scott could feel Punk's eyes burning a hole a into him.
"You son of a bitch," Punk said softly as he Scott came up the front steps and stood in front of his best friend.
"Dude, I am so sorry..." Scott started to stutter.
"She was my wife. You were my best friend. How the fuck could you two do this to me," Punk asked quietly.
"I'm sorry-"
"Sorry? That seems to be something that you and Emma have in common. She's sorry. You're sorry. You know what? I'm sorry too. I'm sorry that I met and married Emma in the first place. And I'm sorry that I trusted you enough to be my best friend. How could you fucking do this to me, man?"
"It wasn't all me, Punk. It takes two."
"Yeah, I know it takes two, but I would have thought that at least one of you would have had the decency to stop it. For the past three years, I've thought that Jenna was mine. My baby girl. I love that little girl. And now I find out that she's not mine? Do you have any idea of how fucked up that is?" Punk was starting to raise his voice. "I was there when she was born. I was the first person to hold her after she was delivered. I fucking named her, Scott! I stayed up all night with Emma when Jenna had colic or a fever. Where the hell were you? Huh? Do you honestly think that I would just step aside and let you call yourself that little girl's father?"
The front door opened and shut quietly as Emma came outside. Scott had to force himself not to stare at her. She was still wearing those little shorts and a tank top. "Stop eye humping my wife, Colton," Punk growled as he caught his former best friend making eyes at Emma.
"Phil, stop. Calm down and come inside before you wake up the neighbors," Emma said quietly as she put a hand on his arm. He immediately shrugged her off and turned to glare at her.
"Calm down? Calm down? Be quiet? So I don't wake up the neighbors?" he started to shout. "What's the matter, Emma. Don't you want to the neighbors to know that you're a whore?" he continued to shout as he stared her down. "Should we go inside so I can yell in there and wake up the kids? Do you want the kids to know what a whore their mother is? Do you want them to know that their 'Uncle Scott' is a backstabbing asshole?" he shouted as he turned his glare to Scott. The two men stared at each other for a few seconds before Punk said, "Aw fuck it," and speared Scott of the front steps causing Emma to shriek in panic as she watched her husband and former lover tumble to the ground.
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Jack woke up when he heard his mom screaming outside. He sat up and looked around; the hallway was dark, there was no light coming from her bedroom. Where was she screaming? He slowly walked out of his bedroom and checked on Josh and Jenna; both were sound asleep. He peeked into his mom's room and didn't see her. Turning on the light by the staircase he headed downstairs. Where was mom? Then he heard his dad yelling. Great, he thought to himself, they're fighting again.
Jack followed the sound of their shouting to the front door. He slowly opened the door to see what all the yelling was about when his mouth dropped open in shock. His mom was standing outside barely wearing any clothes and she was crying and screaming at her dad...and Uncle Scott? They were rolling around on the ground fighting and cursing and yelling at each other. He had never seen his dad and Scott argue, much less throw punches at each other unless they were practicing. Something must have really made dad mad if he was taking swings at Uncle Scott.
His mom was still shrieking and his dad and Scott were still rolling around on the ground, so they had no idea that Jack was watching this all unfold. With horrified eyes, Jack watched as he dad hit Scott so hard in the mouth that blood started dripping from his lip. "You son of a bitch! I trusted you! I came to you and confided in you when my marriage started going south. And now I know why you acted like you didn't care. It's because you wanted Emma for yourself!" Phil shouted as he landed another punch into Scott's cheek. Scott let out a growl and stood back up.
"Maybe if you would have been home more than once a week, she wouldn't have come to me, Punk!" Scott shouted back as Punk turned to face Emma.
"You went to him! You whore! I might have been able to forgive you Emma if it had just happened once, but you a baby with him. And then you lied to me about Jenna. How could you do this! " Jack had heard enough.
"Dad! Scott! Mom! Stop it! Just stop it!" Jack shouted from the front door. All three adults turned to see the eight year old boy on the verge of tears.
"Jack, go back in the house," Punk said quietly as he continued to stare down Emma.
"Stop yelling at mom. She's not that horrible word you called her. If anyone is horrible, you are!" Jack shouted at his father as Punk turned to face his son with an astonished look on his face. "Grandma Evelyn was right. You are a worthless asshole!"
"Jack Ryan Brooks, I am your father, you do not speak to me that way," Punk said as he took a few steps closer to his oldest boy; his eyes glazed over with anger and frustration. Emma saw what was happening and immediately ran over and stood in front of Jack.
"Stop it right now, Phil. Don't even think about hurting our son," Emma said with a shaky voice.
"Our son? Are you sure, Emma? You turned out to be such a slut maybe I need to get paternity tests done on my boys too!" Phil shouted at her as he pushed her shoulder, sending Emma tumbling backwards. Before Phil knew what was happening he was grabbed from behind my Scott and taken down to the ground; Scott was wailing on Punk when the sound of police sirens suddenly started. The men looked up and saw a police car had pulled up into the driveway. This fight, was apparently over for the night.
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After the policeman left, Emma sat on the couch trying to get Jack to calm down. The poor boy had started sobbing when he watched the cop put his dad into handcuffs and put him in the back of the squad car. At first the cop wasn't going to take Phil in, but then he started running his mouth and had stepped over the line.
Scott sat in the recliner next to the couch and watched Emma try to console Jack. He felt horrible for what the kid had seen tonight; no kid should have to hear his father call his mother a whore.
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"Scott, what we're doing in wrong, we have to stop," Emma said quietly as she pulled her dress back over her head and smooth the fabric down. Scott watched with lustful eyes as she put her stockings back on. He was going to reply to her, but he was too engrossed in watching the sheer fabric being slid up her long legs. He ached for right now and they had just gotten done with a heated love making session.
"I know it's wrong. But I don't want to quit. I don't want to quit you, Emma. You should just leave Punk."
She threw back her head and laughed, "Leave Punk? Yeah right, like he would let that happen. I promised him forever and a day, and he always said that he would hold me to that." She shook her head. "I think it's just better if we stop seeing each other."
He stood up from the bed and stood behind her, placing his hands on her hips and pulling her back towards him. "What if I don't want to stop seeing you..." he murmured in her ear.
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"Mom, what's going to happen to dad?" Jack asked quietly as he laid his head against Emma's shoulder.
"I don't know. I'm sure that they'll let him out tomorrow or Monday morning after he calms down," she responded sadly. She never meant for this to happen to Phil. It wasn't supposed to turn out like this.
"Why was he so mad tonight? Why was he calling you those awful names? Why was he so mad at Scott? What did he mean when he talked about Jenna?" Jack's questions were rushing out of his mouth rapidly. He was so confused and he wanted answers. Emma didn't want to give him those answers.
Emma looked over at Scott for help; what was she supposed to tell Jack? "Honey, it's really late and we're going to get up early tomorrow morning to go to Grandma Evelyn's for a few days," Emma finally said.
"Are you coming to stay at Grandma's too or are you going to get dad out of jail?"
Emma sighed. "You and Josh and Jenna are going to go to Grandma's for a few days until your dad and I figure things out, all right?" she asked as she motioned for him to go to upstairs and go to bed.
"I guess," Jack said quietly as he started up the stairs. He stopped on the third step and turned around. "Can I ask one more question?"
Emma nodded. "Jenna is my sister, isn't she?" he asked with a worried look on his face.
Emma nodded. "Yes, she's your sister. Please go to bed, Jack," Emma whispered as she started to wipe tears from her face.
Scott waited until he was sure the boy had gone upstairs for sure before he moved from the chair and sat down next to Emma on the couch. "Em, I'm so sorry that it turned out like this," he whispered in her ear as he put his arm around her and pulled her close.
"It should have never happened, Scott. I should have just said no in the first place. But I didn't. So I should have just told Phil when I found out I was pregnant that the baby might not be his."
"Sweet pea, we can't change the past. I think, after tonight, he's not going to fight those divorce papers anymore."
Emma was silent for a minute. "I know. That's what I'm afraid of," she said sadly as she let the sob she had been holding in out as Scott squeezed her tighter, letting her cry on his shoulder. This wasn't the first time he had to comfort her because of Punk, and he was sure that it wasn't going to be the last.