Same disclaimers as always. This chapter is a little dark and deals with Chris facing some series accusations from Erin and her delivering the worst case of "Irish Justice" in family history. It also deals with Erin's own doubts of what she's doing but helps her understand her parents use of discipline in her and her brothers' lives. I will put lines in here to mark the CP scenes so you can skip if you want. Enjoy
Chapter 22
Christopher was pacing back and forth in the apartment. It was almost midnight, and his mom wasn't home yet. That could mean that they were talking but it could also mean that something had happened. He was debating on calling her when he heard the key slide into the lock. He quickly sat in the chair in the living room and picked up the book he had been reading.
Erin walked in and looked up to see Chris setting in the chair. She walked over to the dining table and dropped her purse on it and then leaned up against one of the pillars in the apartment.
"I am surprised that you're here, let alone here and still up. You're pretty brave for someone who is looking at a death sentence."
"I thought I made it pretty clear that I was taking full responsibility for my actions. I understand why you're upset, and I am not looking for a break or mercy or getting out of what you promised."
"That's supposed to make everything ok, you owning your inappropriate, unwanted, disobedient actions. Wow! That's a real stand-up attitude, you should be so proud."
"I am sorry I am such a disappointment to you, I laid out the reasons of why I did this, and I didn't expect you to like it. Maybe you thought I was trying to be mean or was trying to embarrass you. I wasn't. I had a gut feeling and acted on it."
"Oh, that is even better, the great Chris Reagan had a gut feeling so that gives him the right to butt into other people's private lives, possibly ruining them or creating a bigger chasm than there already is. But your so much smarter than us mere mortals we should just let you tell us all what to do. I have seen arrogance in my life, but you might take the cake mister, you really think you are God's gift to mankind, don't you?"
By this time Chris had walked up to her and was standing in front of her looking up into her angry eyes as she towered over him.
"I'm sorry, I didn't realize you thought that of me. I can have my stuff packed and be out in a few minutes. I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me some day."
The rage that came over Erin's face was piercing, she reached out and grabbed him by the shirt and pushed him up against the pillar and drew her hand back behind her ear preparing to deliver a full blow slap to his face. Chris watched as she slowly moved her face to within a few inches of his. Her lips and jaw were quivering she was so angry.
"Don't you EVER say that to me again! You purposely disobeyed me and refused to consider my feelings or my wishes and then you have the nerve to try and walk out! You coward! You agreed to this arrangement and by God you are going to keep your word. Do you understand, you are my son, and we are family and you don't get to quit just because you don't want to face the music. I promise you, threaten me like that again and I will slap you! Do you understand?"
Chris wasn't sure what to say or do; he just wanted this to be over and wanted her to love him again.
"I think I do?"
"What do you mean you think you do, what part am I not explaining clearly."
"Well, do you still love me?"
Suddenly Erin's whole demeanor changed. Her face softened and she lowered her hand and grasped both of his arms and looked him square in the eyes. She never in her wildest dreams thought that he would question her love.
"What? I will always love you, no matter what. I might punish you, chew you out, and call you out, but that is my job as your parent. Just because I am angry, no furious, does not mean I don't love you and just because I challenge your behavior and your actions doesn't mean I don't want you anymore. You have been angry at me, angry enough that your eyes have turned black, did you stop loving me?"
"No,"
"Then why do you think, because I am angry at you, that I don't love you anymore?"
Chris didn't answer.
"You might not like what I just said to you but how do you think Jack and I felt tonight facing the things you said to us. You wanted us to face something that you thought wasn't being addressed. I did the same thing with you. I challenged you to look at yourself and see what you can look like from someone else's point of view. Sometimes it's not too pretty and it's hard to face but I won't let you run away from it. You will face it and we will work on it until you understand and can make some changes. Now come with me."
She grabbed his hand and walked into the living room and sat down on the couch and pulled him on to her lap and gave him a huge hug.
"I love you more than life itself. You and Nikki are the most important things in the world to me and I am going to do the best I can to raise both of you as warm, loving, responsible, human beings. But promise me you will never threaten to run away again just because I am angry with you!"
"Ok, I promise."
"Mom?"
"What?"
"Can we get this over with and then work at getting back to some kind of normal."
"Absolutely not, there is no way I am going to punish you tonight. I love you with all my heart, but I am so angry at you tonight, for what you did and for threating to run away, that it wouldn't be a spanking. What I would do to you if I started in tonight would …would …well I would throw someone else in jail if they did to a child what I would like to do to you right now.
I can't spank you right now because I am so angry that it would turn into a beating! And that is not going to happen. I have never punished anyone out of anger, and I am not starting tonight. I am going to blister your butt and it will be the most severe case of Irish Justice in family history, but it will be a spanking not a beating. And the way I feel right now it could be a couple of days before we can take care of this. Now give me a hug, tell me you love me and get your sorry little butt to bed. I will be in to tuck you in."
"I do love you. Everything I did tonight was because I love you. I know that's not how it feels to you right now but it's true. I hope someday you will understand."
"We will see, hug!"
They stood up and gave each other a huge hug and then Erin turned him toward his room and gave him a smack on his butt and said, "Get!"
Chris went to his room got undressed and slipped under the covers. A couple of minutes later Erin came in and sat on the side of his bed pulled his covers up and ran her hand through his hair on down his face.
"I do love you and I know tonight has been hard. But we will get through this together and we will be better for it. Now go to sleep my little one. I will see you in the morning."
"Good night mom, love you."
Erin turned out his light and walked out. She went to the kitchen and poured herself a glass of scotch and went back to her bedroom got undressed and put her shorts PJ's on and got in bed propped up against her pillows. She took a good drink and let it set in and sink down and felt it slowly work its magic. She then picked up her phone and texted a message, "he's still alive, but then again we haven't started yet. Maybe by tomorrow sometime I can do this without it turning into a beating." She hit send and leaned back and took another drink.
A minute later she heard a ding and got a return message. "Glad to hear it. It's good that you are waiting. For both of your sakes! It was good talking tonight I am sorry we didn't get some things out there sooner. But it was a good start! Thank you! By the way I've been thinking about it, and you can subtract my addition to the Irish justice sentence. I hate to admit it, but he was right on all accounts. Good night Erin!"
Erin smiled as she read the text. She took another drink and started texting.
"Your right I wish we had put some things out there earlier, but we didn't. I am glad we have started though and look forward to talking again. As far as the reprobate is concerned, I will not subtract your addition. You are an adult, and he should have listened to you and respected your wishes. It doesn't matter that he was right, that's not what he is getting punished for. Don't feel bad, he has it coming, and he knows it. He was completely right in my letter too, but that isn't going to stop me from giving him what he's earned! Sleep well, good night Jack."
She finished her drink and was totally relaxed and the fierce anger she had felt had totally dissipated. She felt at piece and knew she had a maternal duty to perform tomorrow, and she fully planned to keep her promise to her son. Just like the connection Nikki had felt to her after she was spanked. Erin now felt that same connection to her own mother. She had never thought she would be able to do to her children what her parents and grandparents had done to her and her siblings. But she now understood her parents better. It just took having a Reagan son to bring it out in her.
Christopher laid there thinking about the day. He still didn't know if his plan had worked but he had promised himself that once he set things in motion, he would not ask any questions or do anything else to help facilitate Erin and Jack getting back together. It was up to them.
As far as what he was facing, he would have rather gotten it over with tonight and been done. But he understood why Erin felt the way she did about punishing while she was angry, and he loved her for it. He remembered what he had gone through at the foster home. The difference between a spanking and a beating was the love. There was none from the old man and old lady. From his mother even as bad as she was going to lay into him, he knew that the love would be ten times greater than the spanking.
He was emotionally drained. This whole project had been a lot of stress. Partly because of the timing and planning, partly because he had been told not to do it, and partly because it might fail and make things worse. His gut told him the third part didn't happen, at least not tonight, so he felt confident that his plan might still work. But he was too tired to care right now and just wanted to sleep. As he started to doze off a vision of his birth mother came to him, and she was just smiling and shaking her head. Well at least she wasn't mad, was the last thought Chris had as he fell asleep.
Slowly Chris started to wake up. Even though he had been sleeping at Erin's for a few weeks he still woke up like he was on the streets. He didn't move but reached out with his senses. He was suddenly alert. Even though she had been in his room a few hours ago he could still smell his mother, only it wasn't a whiff, it was her scent, and it was strong. He slowly rolled over and opened his eyes. There sitting in his study chair was his mom in her PJ's staring at him. She was wearing her high hill slippers with her legs crossed and her fingers drumming lightly on her leg.
"Mom? How did you get in here without me hearing you?"
"What, you think you are the only one who knows how to sneak?" she grinned as she said it. Are you awake enough that you can listen to me and understand?"
"Ya, sure mom."
"I need to apologize for how I talked to you last night. The words I used were wrong and a mother, no matter how angry, should never use words that makes her child think that he is not wanted or isn't loved and needs to leave. You do come across as arrogant and a know it all, and it's something we need to work on, but not like I did last night. I am sorry and hope you will forgive me."
"I already have, I know what you mean, I try and not come across wrong, but I know it happens. And remember this whole situation is my fault. You didn't tell any lies in what you called out last night. I am sorry I didn't figure out a different, better, way of doing it. I just hope you can find it in your heart to someday understand."
"Well since you forgive me, I promise to try!"
"Thanks mom."
"Now, please get up and come over here."
"Ah, could you give me a minute to get dressed. I…well I…"
"Slept without any cloths on last night? I know, they are laying here on the floor. No problem works perfectly. Christopher get up, now, and come over here. Don't make me ask you again!"
Chris's face turned red as he slowly got out of bed and crossed over to his mother covering himself with his hands while trying to shake the cobwebs. Chris could talk and function early in the morning but sometimes it took a cup of coffee and a little time to get his brain up to speed.
"Embarrassed? Put your hands down, I guarantee you don't have anything I haven't seen. I want you to know how I felt last night when Jack showed up and I realized my son had deceived both of us and how I felt like a fool and a rotten mother."
"Sorry."
"You will be, this is for disobeying me!"
(Go to next line to skip CP scene)
With that Erin turned in the chair so the right edge was between her legs. She then grabbed Chris's left arm and pulled him toward her left leg which was sticking straight out from the chair seat. Chris lay across it and caught himself by putting his hands on the floor. He now knew why his mom had worn her heels. It raised her leg up to the point where he could just touch the floor to brace himself but couldn't push up. She then wrapped her right leg over both his and locked her foot behind her left ankle.
"Grab my left ankle and don't you let go, keep that left hand on the floor."
With that she reached back and grabbed her hairbrush which Chris hadn't seen, and she let rip. She didn't go full strength, but it was close. She wanted to put each swat right where she aimed. She started at a rate of about one swat every two seconds.
For Christopher things happened too fast and he didn't have time to get his head in gear to prepare for her on slot. The first ten swats lit a fire in his butt, and he couldn't help but give a few kicks and grunts which brought a little satisfaction and vindication to his mother.
But by the tenth swat he had got his brain going and was blocking and sending singles to his back side which allowed him to take the spanking without moving or making a sound. Erin could feel the change and kept up her barrage.
She kept her pace going for almost four minutes and scorched every inch of his butt settling on his set spots the last minute and a half.
Chris was breathing hard, and he was starting to struggle internally with the mental battle of blocking the pain with about a minute to go but managed to hold on until his mother stopped. He could hear her breathing hard from her efforts.
She pulled her right leg away, reached down and started to pick him up. He started to help when his feet hit the floor but was surprised that he was a little wobbly.
Erin turned him and pointed him to a corner in his room and marched him over to it.
"Nose, corner, hands on head, if you move or try and rub your butt we start over."
She turned, and Chris heard her heels on his floor as she walked out of the room.
Erin walked out to the kitchen and grabbed a bottle of water and downed part of it. She then took her time and finished the bottle a few sips at a time. After about ten minutes she reached into her lower cabinet and pulled out a cheese board with a handle. The handle was about four inches, and the wide end was about six inches across and ten inches long. She then went back to her room and opened her closet door and pulled out her thick heavy leather belt and turned around and walked back to Chris's room.
As Chris stood there his mind was fighting like crazy to try and check the volcano that was erupting in his back side. At the same time, he was reminding himself that this was the path he had chosen, he knew the consequences when he started this and it was now time to pay the piper. He heard Erin's heels as she came back into his room. He heard her throw something on the bed and then she was at his side.
Erin turned Chris toward the right wall of the corner he was in. She had grabbed a water bottle on the way back in and handed it to Chris.
"Hear I want you to drink half of this."
Chris hadn't realized how thirsty he was and guzzled half the bottle and handed it back. Erin turned him back to the corner.
Erin grabbed the chair and pulled it toward the corner and put it just behind Chris.
"Back up, without turning, to get behind the chair and lean over the back far enough to grab the front of the seat."
Chris did as he was told and found himself stretched as far as he could go and found that he had to raise up on his toes to hold on to the front edge, which in turn had his butt sticking well up in the air.
(Go to the next line to skip CP scene)
"How old are you?"
"Ten."
"You are to hold on to that chair and not let go. If you move or let go, we start over do you understand?"
"Yes, mam."
Erin picked up her belt, doubled it over, and grabbed the very end wanting as much length as possible. She stepped back holding it in both hands across his back side to measure then took her position for the best angle and distance to deliver a good licking.
"This is for sticking your nose into my private life and taking a chance on ruining it by your interference.
With that Erin lifted the belt behind her right ear, felt the end hit her back and then swung her hips and fired the end of it toward his butt.
Chris heard the whistle of the belt through the air and braced himself. It cracked his butt with the sharp sound of a rifle shot, right beside your ear. He felt the blow and then the napalm streak from one side of his butt to the other. It knocked the breath out of him, and he clamped onto the chair and hung on for dear life as he gave a grunt, and the wind escaped his lungs. Again, he was unprepared for the shock and had to recalibrate his mind to handle the pain.
Erin pulled the belt back after her follow through and cocked her arm for the next lick. She waited for ten seconds wanting to give the first blow a chance to settle in and really start the process of flaming his backside. She also took notice that it had sent a message and caused him to flinch and grunt.
"1"
And that was the way it went for the next nine licks. Chris adjusted quickly but she could tell that he was feeling it from his toes to the top of his head.
"10, do not move, stay put." She then reached over and grabbed the cheese board.
"This is a little something from Jack, special deliver, for the same reason I just gave you the belt. How old are you?"
"10."
"Same rules as before don't let go that chair."
Then using almost the same stroke as the belt she let fly. Another crack that sounded like a gunshot only more like a shot gun. It almost lifted Chris over the chair.
Again, Chris's butt erupted in unimaginable pain, and he was again struggling to keep from crying out and begging. But she had warned him, and she was keeping her promise.
"1"
Nine more times the board exploded against Chris's backside. He was able to take all ten and hold his position but Erin saw him slump over the chair after ten. She dropped the board on the bed and reached over and helped Chris up and put him back in the corner.
Chris assumed his position but was worried if he could hold it. He was almost at the end of his rope and was exhausted, both mentally and physically.
Erin looked at her handy work and was glad she had not done this while she was angry. His backside had swollen quite a bit and was glowing red with dark welts and bruises from the belt and the board.
She didn't feel bad, she had warned him, and he had chosen. That was truly what had settled her down last night, not the scotch. She came to realize that he had made a choice and had chosen her consequences. He knew what he was doing and what was going to happen, there was no teaching him a lesson; there was just the execution of the sentence. There was no changing him, she realized that. He was going to do what he thought was right no matter the cost. So, in cases like this she was going to have to inform him of the price of disobedience and if he was willing to pay it then it was her job to deliver.
She handed Chris the water and said finish it then she pulled the chair back out into the room.
"Come here, back over."
Chris made his way back over and lay back across his mom's leg and she locked him in again.
"Christopher, I have come to the conclusion that there are somethings I will never get across to you, nor will I be able to "teach you a lesson you won't forget" you are still going to do what is right in your mind no matter what I say or how I threaten you. In light of that I am just going to set penalties for you. So, you know the cost. If you then disobey me, you will know what's going to happen and I will just carry it out, do you understand?"
"Yes mam."
"So, this secession is from me to you. I still have some hurt and frustration built up inside of me and I am going to transfer it to you. No implement, just my bare hand to your bare butt and I am going to go until I no longer feel that hurt and frustration."
(Go to the next line to skip the CP section)
She lifted her hand and started in. She knew from the first swat that she wasn't going to have to put everything into it. His butt was so raw that each swat caused him to react. But he never cried out or begged. He just took it till he finally gave in and lay limp over her lap. She kept it up just a little longer and finally stopped and laid her hand on his back, waiting for him to move or say something.
"We are done sweat heart, it's over. Do you think you can get up? I want you to lay down here on the bed."
She helped him over and laid him down on his stomach. "Just lay here I will be back in a minute."
She went and got some more water and brought back an ice pack. She had him drink the water and put a towel over his back side and put the ice pack on it.
"Just lay there for a while and I will be back in."
The ice pack was a relief, but he was still having trouble blocking the pain. He had zoned out toward the end; it was just his backside and her hand. As things settled down, he slowly started to fall asleep with his last image being of his birth mom with a look on her face saying, "you had that coming."
Erin went out into the kitchen and stood there not knowing what to do. Her mother would have just picked up with whatever she was working on or started a new project. For her doing her maternal duty in disciplining her children was just an everyday fact of life.
For Erin, even though she knew she was justified and correct in her actions, doubt was setting in. She picked up her phone and made a call.
Linda was just about ready to come off shift and was getting her stuff around thinking about the things she needed to do at home when her phone went off. Looking at it she saw it was Erin and figured that she wanted to talk about Sunday diner.
"Hi Erin, what's up?"
"Hi, Linda, um, ah, …"
"Erin what's the matter, is everything ok?"
"Yes, Yes, I'm sorry I didn't mean to worry you. I could use some advice and your medical expertise if you have time, and it will work out."
"Ok, sure, what?"
"Are you at work?"
"Yes, I am just getting off, Erin, tell me what is going on, I can hear it in your voice, and I need you to just talk to me!"
"Can you come over for a little bit before you go home. I need to talk to you, and maybe have you look at something for me?"
"Is this an emergency, should you just be coming here?"
"No, it's not. But it needs to happen here, ok?"
"Ok, I am on my way, be there in ten minutes."
Linda was wondering what in the world is going on. I have never heard Erin being so unsure of herself. That was definitely weird.
"Erin are you ok, is someone hurt, are you sick?"
"No everyone is ok, but you could say that your nephew is hurt."
"Chris, what happened, did he get in a fight, fall, have an accident?"
"No, none of those, he just got the most severe case of "Irish Justice" in the history of the Reagan family."
"What? What did he do? Erin, just how bad was this, or do I want to know?"
"Well, it was bad enough that I would like you to check him out. And yes, it is part of the reason I didn't bring him to you."
"Oh Erin, what could he have done that was this bad, did he lie to you, steal? I have heard Danny talk about some of the sessions he had with his parents and grandparents, and they were pretty bad, I can't imagine what this was like if you're calling it the most severe case in family history."
"You have to keep it to yourself for now, because I don't know where it's going, promise?
"Ya, sure, I am guessing you are talking Danny too?"
"Oh God yes, especially Danny, can you come up with something, so he doesn't wonder why you're not home?"
"Not a problem, him and the boys were going to do a boys day. Go carts, movie, ice cream, I was just going to go home to a nice quiet day with a hot bath, glass of wine, and a book or a chick flick. So, spill!"
"The little brat set up a dinner date last night and didn't show, the problem was he had also set one up with Jack at the same restaurant. Guess who ended up having dinner together. Plus, he has been pumping everyone for info on Jack's and my relationship. We caught him doing it and both of us told him to stop. In my case I warned him of what would happen if he kept up. He didn't care, he feels that we are meant to be together, and he wasn't going to stop until he got us to face it. He wrote letters to each one of us about the things we kept from the other and encouraged us to share them so we might clear the air and find common ground. So, I have spent the morning making good my promise to him of giving him the worst case of justice in family history. And I did it very well."
"Oh my gosh, I wondered a couple of times about some of the questions or discussions we had but it was so smooth I never put two and two together. It's amazing that he is still alive."
"Well, I didn't feel the need to go that far, but he knew he had it coming, even admitted it to us in all three letters. There was a third letter summarizing why he did it. I came to realize last night after going to bed that he made a choice, premeditated choice to make that meeting happen. He chose my consequences, so I delivered."
"Where is he?"
"His room, he might be sleeping but that's ok, I found out this morning that it's a good time to ambush him, just when he's waking up. Come on!"
The girls walked into Chris's room and over to his bed.
"Chris, wake up, wake up sweetheart."
Chris slowly came around.
"Geeze mom I know I had it coming but I thought you said we were done."
"We are, I just want to make sure you ok, plus I want Aunt Linda to check you out to confirm."
"You don't need to bother her; I will be fine, really!"
"That's alright Chris, I am right here and better to be safe than sorry. Erin go get your medicine kit and cold cream."
As Erin moved away, Linda took her place and Chris whipped his head further around.
"Aunt Linda, what are you doing here, oh pleases you don't have to…"
Chris started to reach bake as Linda lowered the towel covering his back side.
"Don't you dare mister, my understanding is you butt has had enough for one day, so don't tempt me. Oh, my word, I can't believe this."
Linda looked down at Christopher's backside and felt sick to her stomach. She had never seen anything like it. That's just wrong she said to herself.
Chris could see the look and shock in her face. He knew what she was thinking, and he decided to speak up.
"Aunt Linda, it's ok, I really crossed the line and she had warned me what would happen if I did. I expected this and to be honest would have been disappointed if she hadn't followed through. Plus, she didn't do it right away; she was really, really, angry last night and refused to do it even though I wanted to get it over with. She was very calm and straight forward this morning and basically delivered on her promise. In fact, I am surprised it wasn't worse than what it was, I deserved this."
"I see, so you're not resentful?"
"No, I got what I deserved, and she got it out of her system. We are good."
Just then Erin came back in and handed Linda the stuff she had asked for.
Linda checked Chris out and on closer inspection it wasn't as bad as she first thought. No skin had been broken and the bruises and welts weren't as deep as she thought. She rubbed some cream in and then told him to stay off of it for a while and he should be fine.
"Go back to sleep, and next time you might want to make a better choice or plan."
"Yes mam, thank you!"
They left the room and when they got out of ear shot Linda just looked at Erin and said "I cannot believe you did that to your son. If we were at the hospital, I am not sure what I would do. You could get arrested for that! I believe in spanking and have done it to both the boys, but Erin!"
"Linda, ninety-nine percent of the time I would agree with you. But this is Chris, and it always takes way more of anything to make an impression on him. I got about two grunts and a foot kick a couple of times and that was it. He never cried, asked me to stop, or said one word. There was not one tear. He's hurting but I guarantee you he is none the worse for wear. But hopefully he will at least think twice about crossing a line like the one he crossed this time. If he thinks he's right, it won't stop him but at least now he knows the price he is going to pay."
"Not one tear, never said a word, nothing?"
"Nope, took him by surprise a couple of times but he adjusted and just took it."
"Well let's hope he doesn't get in an accident or someone else sees it. But I understand where you are coming from. I remember thinking in the hospital that I couldn't believe how much pain he should have been in, and he never said a word or asked for pain meds. Changing the subject, how did it end up going with Jack?"
"We talked; it was interesting. I will tell you more tomorrow. I need to talk to everyone, but Jack and I are going to start talking again and maybe do some things together with Nikki and Chris. Nobody knows this yet so don't say anything. But I am going to explain it to everyone tomorrow and also tell them I don't want any interference. We aren't planning on getting back together or anything other than just making our relationships with each other and the kids easier. But this time things will be different as far as the family is concerned. I expect him to be treated the same as you and Eddie are and if not then there will be a serious come to Jesus meeting with my peers and the older generation of the family and they may just have to make a choice. I hope you will back me."
"Erin, I always liked Jack and was really sad when you guys broke up. I had wished I would have talked to you more and would have stood up for him better. I have always thought that you two belonged together. So I will be behind you one-hundred percent!"
"Oh, thank you!"
They hugged and Linda headed for home.
Erin looked in on Chris and saw that he was fast asleep so she went back out and fixed herself a late lunch and went over some papers she brought home from work. She found she couldn't concentrate and went and sat down in her favorite chair and almost immediately fell asleep from the mental and physical stress of the morning.
They both woke up right around supper time. Chris came out of his room needing to go to the bathroom and woke Erin up from shutting the door. She got up and waited for him to come out.
Chris finished up and came out and sat down at the kitchen island.
"That doesn't hurt, sitting there like that"
"Well, it depends."
"Depends on what?"
"If I say no, are you going to take me back in and give it to me again?" Chris said this with a little grin.
"No, I have had enough of delivering deserved punishments for the day! Even though you might not believe it I would prefer not having to do what I did this morning. It brings back old memories I would like to forget, but it did help me understand my mother better. She was dealing with me and your Uncle Danny and that almost, when it comes to trouble, matches you."
"In that case, it's a little sore but I will survive. Are we done, am I forgiven, and it is ok to move forward? And just so you know I am sorry I threatened to leave last night, I promise to try and not to do that again."
"Yes, you are forgiven and thank you for your apology. We will have problems Chris, but I do love you and I am sorry that I put you in a position to question that."
"No, I put myself in that position. None of this is on you. So can we close this chapter and can we get something to eat. I am starving?"
"Sure, get the takeout menus and we will order something and watch a movie, but not too late we have church in the morning."
So that's what they did only they ate supper in the living room on the couch, those island stools got just a little bit hard after a while.
Well Chris has got his wish and paid a heavy price, they are talking even if he doesn't know it yet. Next Chapter is the last. Erin talks to the family and her expectations about Jack and tells Nikki and Chris about Jack too, Chris finds out what getting ready for the school year is like and there is a surprise on the last weekend before school. And Nikki, Erin, and Chris review the last few months and think about the future.