Chapter 19

Punk woke before Emma the next morning and headed downstairs to call the attorney's office while she was still sleeping. He was able to get an appointment later this morning. He started the coffee pot and crept back upstairs to wake his sleeping Emmy. For a few minutes he watched her sleep before he slowly crawled back into bed with her; she must have sensed that he had come back to bed because she immediately snuggled back up to him, threw an arm around his waist, and let out a contented sigh.

"Emmy..." he whispered as he played with her hair. "You have to get up, we need to go see the lawyer in an hour..."

"No...sleeping..." she mumbled as she squeezed him tighter.

Punk chuckled. "Emmy...we have a lot to do today; the kids are coming home." Her eyes popped open at the mention of her kids; she had missed them terribly this week and was excited to have them back. She was also nervous to tell them that daddy was moving back in; not so much for Josh and Jenna, they would be over the moon, but she was nervous about telling Jack. The poor boy had witnessed his parents at their lowest moment, and Emma had hoped that her mother had smoothed everything over and explained what had happened.

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The appointment at the attorney's office last longer than they both thought it was. Apparently stopping a divorce wasn't as easy as just ripping up the papers. Because there was children involved, Punk and Emma would have to attend marriage counseling for six months per the court's orders. The attorney asked several times if this is what they really wanted; he had been shocked when Punk called this morning and said that they wanted to call it off. There had been many, many heated arguments between the estranged husband and wife in his office; it was just a little bit hard to believe that it only took a week of them together, talking, yelling, screaming, making love and confessing to decide that they had wanted to give it another chance.

On the ride back to the house, Punk asked to stop by his apartment. "I need to get my travel stuff for when I leave on Sunday," he said softly, not meeting Emma's eyes. He wasn't sure how she was going to react to that; they had just gotten back together for good last night and now he was leaving in a few days and would be gone for two weeks.

Emma followed him upstairs and into his bedroom. She sat on the edge of the bed and watched him gather his wrestling gear and clothes for his two week tour. "Come with me," he said softly as his back was turned to her and he was putting his boots in his duffel bag.

"What?" she asked. He had said something so softly that she didn't hear him correctly; it almost sounded like he had just asked her to come on the road with him,

He walked over to the bed and sat down beside her. "Come with me on the road this week, Emma," he said as he pushed her bangs out of her eyes.

She shook her head. "I can't do that, Punk, and you know that."

"Please?" he asked; she let out a giggle at the sight of her rough and tough husband begging for something.

"You know I can't Punk. The kids need me at home..." she said softly as she put her arms around his neck and started playing with the hair on the nape of his neck.

"Let's bring them with..."

"Punk, you know we can't do that. Jack and Josh have school."

"It's gonna be hell not having you with me everyday after everything we just went through, Emmy. Right now things feel like they're so up in the air."

She sighed and laid her head on his shoulder. "I know..."

"I don't know if it's a good time for me to leave right now."

"You have to. You have a job to do, Punk."

"Yeah, but how did it end up that my job is more important than my family?"

"I don't know..." Emma replied softly. She knew that the only thing her husband ever wanted to do with his life was wrestle. She promised herself a long time ago that she would never interfere in that dream. She wasn't going to break that promise now.

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The couple made it back to the house after a brief make out session and were surprised to see Emma's mother already sitting in the driveway with the kids. Emma pulled up to the curb and smiled as she could already hear little Jenna shrieking her name. She barely made it on to the front lawn before she was practically knocked down by the little girl who was clinging to her legs and had secured herself in some sort of death grip. The only thing that could break that hold was the fact that her daddy was suddenly standing next to her mom. Her little mouth dropped open, "Daddy!" she screeched as she let go of her mom and flung herself into Punk's arms. He chuckled as he held the little girl close. "Missed me, princess?" She nodded as she buried her little face into his neck.

Emma was watching the interaction between the two when Josh came tumbling out of his grandmother's car and ran full speed at his mom. He stopped short of knocking her over, grinned and wrapped his arms around her legs. "Mama..." he mumbled. She picked the little boy up and hugged him hard. "I missed you, buddy. Did you have a good time at grandma's house?" He nodded his head before she set him down so he could tackle Punk to the ground.

Emma watched Punk, Josh, and Jenna hug and talk animatedly about the kids' adventures this week. There was one child missing: Jack. Emma looked over to Evelyn's car and saw her oldest boy standing solemnly next to his grandmother while it looked like she was talking softly to him, trying to convince him to go say hello to his parents. Every once in a while, the little boy would shake his head and glare in his father's direction. Emma sighed as she started over to the driveway.

"Hey, Jack...how was school this week?" Emma asked as her son obediently came over and hugged his mom.

"All right..." he mumbled.

"Jack..." his grandmother warned.

"What?" Emma asked, looking at her mother confused.

"Perhaps we should go inside and chat," Evelyn said as she handed Jack his backpack and the boy followed her inside.

Jack sat down on the couch next to Evelyn; Emma sat down in the recliner and looked over at her shoulder at the front door opening up and Punk walked in with Josh and Jenna talking at the same time a mile a minute to their dad. "Mommy! Guess what? Daddy's moving back in!" the little girl said excitedly.

"Yeah, daddy's moving back in and he's gonna sleep here when he's not wrestling and he said he's gonna take us to the Cubs game! And that maybe after school is out for summer, we could come on the road with him!" Josh added as he jumped up and down with excitement.

"Why is dad moving back in?" Jack asked his mom softly. "Dad said some real mean things to you, mom."

Emma sighed, "I know, Jack, but dad and I worked everything out. We're going to be fine."

"But, mom, he called you that awful word and then he hit Uncle Scott."

Punk interrupted. "Jack-"

"Phil, listen to what the boy has to say," Evelyn interrupted Punk, then turned to the two little ones. "Josh and Jenna. Please go put your suitcases away." The two little ones looked at each other and then at Punk; unsure if they should leave the room right now. What if they came back down and daddy was gone? They reluctantly grabbed their little suitcases and headed upstairs to their bedrooms.

"Jack, tell your mom and dad what you told me last night," Evelyn said softly, reaching over to hold the boy's hand.

Jack looked down at his feet then over at his grandmother. "Do I have to?" he whispered.

Evelyn nodded and prodded Jack to speak. "I don't want dad to live here anymore," he said softly.

"Why not?" Emma spoke up, concerned that what Jack had saw last Saturday night really had traumatized him.

"Because I don't want dad to yell at mom anymore, and I don't want mom to yell at dad anymore. And I don't want to see Jenna and Josh cry because you two don't get along. And I don't want the kids at school to look at me weird anymore. And I don't want dad here one day and then gone the next," the words rushed out of his mouth while he stared at the floor. "And I don't ever want to here dad call mom that awful word again. She isn't that word!" he said with a little anger in his voice as he glared at Punk.

Emma and Punk sat in a shocked silence for a few minutes before Emma cleared her throat and spoke up. "Jack, I know you don't like it when we yelled at each other, and I know you didn't like it when we couldn't get along. But, son, that's all over. Dad and I made up-"

"For now! How long until you two start fighting again and you start kissing Uncle Scott again," Jack said.

"Did you see mom kissing Uncle Scott?" Punk demanded, his hazel eyes suddenly filled with anger. He loved Emma too much to not forgive her, but now that he found out that his son had seen it all happen, his mind was turning again; what else did the kid see?

Jack nodded. "Yeah, um...that night the cop put you in their car, Uncle Scott came back in the house and I was supposed to go to bed, but um...I stayed on the stairs and I saw mom kiss Uncle Scott."

"Emma. What the hell?" Punk growled at his wife.

"Phil, I suggest you watch your language around the child," Evelyn snapped at him, daring him to talk back to her.

"Oh yeah? Well, Evelyn, I suggest you mind your own business," he growled back at her softly, daring her to stick her nose into their business further.

"I want to live with grandma," Jack blurted out.

"You want to what?" Emma asked in shock. "Jack, honey, why would you want to do that? You belong here with us and Josh and Jenna."

"Because, no one yells at grandma's house and I don't have to take care of Josh and Jenna," he said as tears started to well up in his eyes.

Emma had no words right now. She knew that her behavior over the year had been hard on her oldest, but until this moment she had no idea how horrible it had really been for the boy.

"Son. Your mom and I had a long talk this week, and we decided not to get divorced. I'm moving back in; you are not moving in with grandma. That's final," Punk said firmly.

"For how long?" Jack asked.

"What do you mean 'for how long'? We're a family; we just hit a rough spot but everything's fine now," Punk replied.

"Phil, I think what the boy wants to know is-" Evelyn started before Emma interrupted.

"Mom, I know what's he's asking. And, yes, Jack, mom made some mistakes, and I'm really sorry that you and your brother and sister had to go through that, but things are going to go back to the way they were. Me and your dad are fine now."

"I love you mom, but I...Dad, you were so mean to mom that night."

Punk sighed. "I know, and trust me buddy, I apologized to your mom a million times and I'm really sorry that you had to see it. It's not going to happen again. I promise."

"What about Uncle Scott? Did you apologize to him? You were pretty mean to him that night too."

At the sound of his former best friend's name, it was at that moment that Punk realized that things weren't going to be exactly like the way they were before. He might have started to confront Scott, but it looked like he wasn't finished yet. "I'm dealing with your Uncle Scott; he did some things that were pretty shitty-"

"Like kissing mom?"

"Yeah, like kissing mom. But don't you worry about him. I'm going to take care of it," Punk said with determination.