Chapter 20

Evelyn hung around for another hour before she finally gave up on talking any sense into Emma and left for home. What her daughter saw in that man she would never understand. He was a punk, plain and simple. He had no respect for his in-laws, he was cocky and mean, he was never around and his experience as a father was questionable at best. It was no wonder her daughter had turned to the affection of another man. Evelyn was sure that after the news broke that Emma had been unfaithful that the divorce would have been final; but what happened instead? Emma lost all of her senses and stopped the proceedings and let him move back in. If those two could only understand the damage they had done to little Jack over the past week. That child wanted nothing to do with his father right now; and what did Emma do? Let the man move back in and now the two of them were going to just act like nothing was wrong. Evelyn kissed the children good-bye, said good-bye to Emma and glared at her son-in-law before she left to wait for Emma to call crying like she always did.

Before she left, she leaned down and whispered in her oldest grandson's ear, "You call me if you need to, Jack. No matter how late. Grandma is here for you," she whispered with a kiss on his cheek.

Punk saw the interaction between Jack and his grandmother and wondered what thoughts she was trying to put into that boy's head now; probably something evil against him. Some things never change...

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Emma was finishing up the dishes in the kitchen when Punk and Jenna sat down on the couch to watch Toy Story together. The little girl snuggled up close to her dad, with her penguin in her lap, and let out a little sigh of content. Punk smiled down at the girl when he saw how much his daughter looked like his beloved wife right now.

Josh came stomping down the stairs and jumped over the couch, almost landing on his little sister who let out of a squeal of anger at her older brother almost smooshing her. "Jenna! We watched this movie a million times at grandma's this week!" he pouted. Punk looked over at his middle son and sighed.

"Just let her watch it, Josh," he said quietly as the boy settled down on the other side of him. Punk wasn't in the mood to try and break up a quarrel between his two youngest children right now.

"But we watched two times today already! I want to watch Spongebob!" he whined at his father.

"I like it!" Jenna screeched at her brother. "And daddy said I could watch it! So you just shut up you poopy head!"

"I don't like it! It's the only thing you ever want to watch and I don't want to watch it anymore!" Josh screeched back at her. "And don't call me a poopy head, you big baby!"

"Daddy!" Jenna whined at her father, her big blue eyes welling up with tears, indicating an impending meltdown if she didn't get her way.

"Emma!" Punk shouted into the kitchen.

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Emma was putting the last plate away and was thinking about what to have make for dinner tonight, while Jack sat at the kitchen table and did his math homework, when Punk hollered from the living room for help. She sighed and looked at Jack. "What do you think the little ones are fighting about now?" she asked him.

"Toy Story," he said simply. "That's the only movie Jenna will ever watch anymore."

"Did they fight like this at grandma's house?"

Jack nodded and went back to his long division.

"And what did grandma do about it?"

"Nothing. She sent Josh into the family room to watch Spongebob and let Jenna watch Toy Story in the living room."

"Nice," Emma muttered as she went into the living room to save her husband from two fighting children.

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"How could you be so stupid, Scott?" Beth growled at him from across the table.

Scott sighed. "What are you bitching about now?" Yesterday Punk and Emma had come over to confront him about the fake paternity test that he had showed Emma three years ago. Scott was surprised that Punk didn't beat the shit out of him right then and there; instead he just got a sucker punch in, still hurt though. Him and Beth had been so close to breaking Punk and Emma up for good, but apparently they had overcome the odds and were getting back together. Scott didn't blame Punk for taking her back; he would have done the same thing if the roles were reversed.

"I'm talking about the fact that four years worth of hard work just went down the drain yesterday because you couldn't keep your end of the bargain up," Beth sneered at him.

"Whatever-"

"No, not 'whatever'. I want Punk. I've always wanted him; and at one point he had wanted me too, and I was so close to getting him, but once again Emma fucked that up for me."

"Well, Beth, you're just going to have to get used to the fact that he loves her and that you're not going to get him. Why do you hate her so much by the way; you never really did say."

Beth's eyes turned dark with hate when she thought about Emma. "Because. She took Punk away from me. He doesn't belong with an airhead like her; he belongs with someone like me. Someone who understands him, someone who understands his love for the business. All Emma is good for is laying down and spreading her legs. I can't imagine that their conversations are very deep. I'm not giving up, Colton. I'll find a way to make him see that it's supposed to me and him."

Scott rolled his eyes, "Yeah, well good luck with that..." he muttered.

"No luck. It's fate."

"Shit. Now you're starting to sound like him."

"I'm the one who Punk is supposed to be with; not her. And you are going to help me break them up-"

"No, Beth. It didn't work before. It's not going to work now. I just lost one of my best friends because of your bullshit plan. So, let's recap, not only did I lose the girl, I lost my buddy. If anyone's a loser In this whole mess, it's me."

"That's where you're wrong, Colton. It will work this time. We just need to be patient. We're headed back on the road again in a few days and poor Emma will be all alone in Chicago with three screaming brats. In a few weeks, she'll start drinking and feeling frustrated again, and that's where you come in."

Scott chuckled. "What the hell am I supposed to do? He won't let me anywhere near her. And I seriously doubt that if I knocked on her front door she's going to let me in and act like everything is fine."

"There has to be another way to get to her."

"I can't think of anything, Beth. Maybe you just need to give this up." He was done trying to ruin Punk's life; as much as he wanted Emma, it just wasn't worth it anymore. He knew he should feel like shit for trying to break up his best friend's marriage, but it wasn't fair. It just wasn't fair that Punk had hit the big time and he was still struggling with independent shows, barely able to scrape rent money together each month while Punk and his beautiful wife lived in a five bedroom home.

"Jack."

"What about him?" Scott asked warily when she mentioned his oldest godson. Punk may be pissed as hell at him right now, but Scott still felt some sort of responsibility towards those kids to keep them safe.

"I can imagine that little Jack isn't too happy with his father right now...There has to be a way to get those two to start fighting again...There just has to be..." Beth trailed off as a sly smile broke out onto her face as she thought about what life was going to be like once she finally got Punk—perfect.

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"But mommy! I don't want to go to bed! I want to stay up with you and daddy!" Jenna whined as Emma tried to convince her to upstairs to her bedroom for the night. It had been a really long day and all she wanted to do was to put her pajamas on and crawl into Punk's lap and stay there for the night. "Daddy won't be here in the morning!"Jenna was still whining and was on the verge of tears. Emma looked over to her husband for some help with their daughter, but he was still trying to get Jack to talk to him in more than one or two word answers; he was failing miserably.

Emma sighed. "Yes, daddy will be here in the morning. He's not going anywhere until Sunday night when he has to work. So we have all day tomorrow and almost all day on Sunday to spend with daddy. Please, Jenners, let's go to bed."

"Daddy, can I drive you to the airport?" Jenna asked excitedly.

Punk sighed and gave up trying to talk to his oldest boy; he would just have to try later. "I appreciate the offer, baby, but you're only three. That and I don't think you can see over the steering wheel," he teased her with a wink as he picked her up and threw her over his shoulder. "Say good-night to mama."

"Night, mama!"

"Tell mama you love her."

Jenna giggled. "Love you, mama."

"Tell Jack good-night"

"Night, Jack."

"Tell him you love him."

"Love you, Jack!"

Punk started up the stairs with Jenna still thrown over his shoulder. "Love you too, buddy," he said quietly, but loud enough for Jack to hear him. His son still ignored him. Emma watched the hurt look on her husband's face before he continued going up the stairs with Jenna. She knew it was killing him inside that their oldest son was still so upset with him.

"Jack...how long are you going to be mad at dad?" she asked softly.

Jack shrugged his shoulders. "I don't know. I'm just...afraid he's going to leave right away again, or you're going to get mad at him and make him leave. How can you not be mad at him anymore, mom? He was so mean to you and you were so unhappy."

"I love your dad. And I love you kids. I...I was going through some rough stuff, but me and your dad worked it out and I think we're going to be all right."

"I want to believe you, mom, I really do. But I just got this bad feeling that something is going to go wrong again."

Emma didn't want to say it, but she was thinking the same thing. Everything had fallen into place too quickly, things don't normally work out this well without some consequences. She had a funny feeling that after the altercation with Beth yesterday, something was up with that, and it scared her to death to not know what it was. She also knew that Scott was persistent and probably didn't plan on giving up on her so quickly. She just hoped that this time around she would be able to resist his soft and sweet words.