Chapter 28

"So, why did you forgive me so quickly?" Emma asked as she snuggled up against Punk's chest. While she was happy that he would be able to move past her infidelity, she needed to know that he wasn't going to try and use it against her down the road. "I did something horrible and you yelled for a little bit and now you're fine," she whispered. "It doesn't make sense….how do I know you're not going to hold this over my head for the rest of our lives?"

He shrugged his shoulders. "I love you, Em. All I've ever wanted to do was to make you happy."

"Is it enough?" she whispered.

"I hope so," he said quietly. "When we got married, you promised me forever and a day. I'm holding you to that even if you won't. I can't stop loving you. You've been such a big part of my life, Em, that I couldn't imagine my life without you," he said softly. Punk was never big on admitting his feelings. Emma knew that when her husband talked like this, she had better listen. "And the kids….I never thought I would want kids. I never thought that I could love anyone as much as I love you. I never thought that being someone's dad would be a bigger rush than winning a championship."

He pulled her closer and kissed the top of her head. "You and the kids are what keep me sane. When everything else—being buried at work, the nasty travel schedule, having to put up with stupid marks—gets me down, I just have to close my eyes and think of your pretty face and it all disappears." He stopped talking briefly, allowing time to let his words sink into Emma. "No one is ever going to love you like I do….No one can even come close…."

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A little while later, Emma went to bed while Punk stayed up. His insomnia was creeping back tonight even though he had Emma by his side. A smile formed on his face as he watched her sleep peacefully. He leaned over her, kissed her on the forehead and pulled the blanket up to her shoulders. He walked away from the bed and was about to check in on Jenna when he heard Emma's cell phone beep with a text message. He knew that he should do the right thing and just let it be, but he couldn't help himself; he had convinced himself that in order for them to move forward he needed to forgive her, but that didn't stop him from being curious about who was texting his wife at two in the morning. Glancing over at her to make sure that she was still fast asleep, he crept over to her phone and picked it up.

Unlocking the phone, he held his breath as he opened her text message folder. "Son of a bitch," he growled softly as he read the message.

"Babe, we need to talk. I need to explain why I did what I did with Jenna's papers. I love you. And I know you still love me. I know you well enough to know that you only got back together with Punk because you got scared. I won't let anything happen to you. Please. Talk to me."

He dropped the phone on the nightstand and paced silently back and forth. What was going to do? The macho manly part of him wanted to fly straight to Chicago and beat the crap out of Colton for still trying to get his wife to leave him. The other part of him, the rational part, knew he had to count to ten, take a deep breath and have faith that his wife wasn't going to fall for her former lover's sweet words.

What should he do? Should he shake Emma awake and demand to know what's going on between her and Scott? Or should he confront Scott himself. He was about to dial Scott's number and have it out with him when he heard Emma calling his name softly. "Punk? What are you doing?" she mumbled as she struggled to sit up in bed, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. Damn it, he thought to himself, he must have been grumbling and pacing too loudly and had woken her up. "Why do you have my phone?" she asked with soft interest. Punk still had her cell phone clutched in his hands.

He sat down on the edge of the bed and leaned forward, his head resting in his hands. "Why is Colton still texting you?" he whispered.

She didn't quite hear him the first time. Pushing the blanket off of her she moved over to the edge of the bed with him. "What?" she asked softly.

His head snapped up, hazel eyes flashing, he growled, "I said, why the fuck is Colton still texting you."

Emma's mouth dropped open. "What is your problem, Punk….We've talked about this…nothing is going on between me and Scott—"

He scoffed. "Yeah, now. Now that I know all about what you two had been up to while I was gone," he shot back. Emma rolled her eyes and started to move away from him; it was too late to deal with this right now. Punk reached out and grabbed Emma's arm. "Stay put. I'm not done talking to you yet," he growled.

Emma let out a dry chuckle and moved his hand off of her arm. "You know, I've never let you talk to me this way before, and I sure as hell am not going to let you start now," she said evenly.

"Well, you've never cheated on me before, said you were sorry, but are still texting your little lover," he shouted a little too loud.

"Shut up," she hissed. "You're going to wake up Jenna."

"Waking up Jenna is the least of my concerns right now," he said coldly. "I'm more concerned with figuring out if my wife, who swears up and down that she'll never do it again, is still cheating on me!"

Emma closed her eyes and counted to three; she was going to let that comment roll off her back. "If you would let me say something, I could tell you that, yes, Scott's been texting and calling me, but I haven't been responding or answering. After what he did to me," she reached out and touched Punk's hand, what he did to us," he let her keep her hand on top of his. "I don't ever want to talk to him again. I know what he's been saying and I don't want to hear it."

"How do I know you're not just saying that tonight so you don't have to fight with me, Em?" Punk insisted on asking. He wanted to hear it from her; he wanted to hear the words come out of her mouth.

"I. Love. You." Moving closer to him, she straddled his hips and settled on his lap. She took his face in her hands and looked him in the eyes. "Open your eyes," she whispered. He opened his eyes slowly and looked at his wife—her blue eyes filled with sincerity. "I love you, Phil. I was such an idiot for doing what I did with Scott. And even after everything that's happened over the past few months, you've still loved me." She gently stroked his cheek with her thumb. "I can't apologize enough for what happened. Please," she whispered, "don't give up on me. Don't give up on us…."

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Two Months Later

"Hey, Emmy…..you all right?" Punk called from the other side of the closed bathroom door. He tried to keep a smile from his face. It wasn't nice to be smiling and happy when his poor wife was throwing up. He heard the toilet flush and the sink water run. A minute or so later, a very tired looking Emma emerged from the bathroom with a fresh mouth and a hand on her upset stomach.

"You're lucky I love you…." she mumbled as she walked past him. She stopped a few steps away and turned around. "I almost forgot…." she leaned up and kissed him on the cheek. "Six and a half more months," she mumbled as she rested her head on his chest briefly.

"You'll be fine, baby. You're a great mama….." he whispered encouragingly into her ear as he pulled her closer to him.