Thanks guys so much for the reviews. I haven’t decided yet about the ending; who do you guys think Eric should end up with?
When A Heart Breaks
CHAPTER 9
“What are you saying? We had a daughter? I don’t understand…” Eric said with a mixture of confusion and anger. He continued to held Nadia in his arms, although he needed answers and he needed them now.
“I’ll tell you everything you want to know. Just hear me out before you say anything,” Nadia said pleadingly with tears in her eyes and pulling away from Eric. She sat on the bed and gestured Eric to join her. He did with a nod and expected her to continue.
“Four weeks after they took me, I found out that I was pregnant. I was so thrilled at the prospect of having our baby, it was going to keep me strong when I couldn’t be with you. Dad was ecstatic, buying a sonogram machine and everything to monitor of baby’s development. The closer and closer I came to my due date, the sadder and more confused I felt. The walls seemed to be closing in on me and everything felt so overwhelming. I started doubting everything, having the baby and being alive. It was just too much for me to handle, I didn’t think I could raise her in the middle of nowhere without you.” Nadia explained holding Eric’s hand and letting her tears flow freely. He felt himself tearing up as well, but keeping them in check for Nadia’s sake. She needed him to be strong now.
“One night, I had a fight with dad, I refused to participate in another Rambaldi mystery and for some reason I was running up the stairs to get away from him when I tripped. I tumbled down the stairs and the pain was more intense I had ever felt. The baby didn’t have a change, I killed her by being so careless and consumed in the hatred for my father. It was all my fault,” Nadia cried, finishing her story and seeking refuge in the strong arms of Eric.
“You didn’t kill her, it was an accident. Listen to me, this is not your fault, you can’t do this to yourself.” Eric said comforting her. His heart was breaking for the pain she must be feeling, he was now looking at her with different eyes. Not only was she beautiful and smart, but an incredibly strong woman who had suffered silently with the fate of their daughter in her conscience. Their daughter, they had conceived a daughter and then tragically lost her, that knowledge was now weighting his heart so heavily that everything that was waiting for him at home with Rachel felt like an afterthought.
“Why didn’t you tell me about this. I want to be there for you, I want us to help each other through this. We need to mourn her together,” Eric said taking her face into his hands and looking deeply into her chocolate brown eyes.
“How could I tell you about a daughter I lost when after every time we spoke, you would dutifully return home to Rachel, to someone who is pregnant with your child. Do you think it’s easy for me to think about Rachel without bitterness and regret? She’ll have a perfect, healthy child to love and raise when I’m left with memories of a child I never had a change to know. I don’t know what she would have been like. Would she have your eyes or my smile? Your personality or my nose?” Nadia said with a certain amount of anger lingering in her voice.
Eric didn’t respond by words, instead he pulled her tightly against him and started stroking her hair lovingly. She had her head resting against his shoulder and slowly felt that her tears had stopped flowing. She lifted her head and caressed his cheek with her hand. Without thinking, she placed a soft kiss on his lips. Eric responded and the kiss that had started sweetly, turned into a furnace of passion.
Nadia lowered herself on the bed and pulled Eric with her. He tasted of coffee and his kisses felt better than she would have though to be possible. He was planting powerful kisses to her lips and caressing her hair with his other hand while the other found the strap of her dress that was quickly pulled off her shoulder.
All of his thoughts were concentrated on the woman below him, nothing else than kissing her felt important. Nadia let her hands wander to his shoulders and pushed his jacket of, throwing it on the floor. Soon, his black shirt joined the ever growing clothing pile. There was no stopping them now and it felt so right.
Eric rolled over and Nadia quickly climbed on top of him, never stopping their passionate kiss. His hands went to the zipper of her dress and Eric unzipped it with expertise and soon the red piece of clothing was pulled from her body and thrown carelessly away. In no time, the rest of their clothing had been peeled off and her soft naked skin was pressed against his equally bare skin.
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“It’s been over three hours since Eric came over. What do you think they’re doing in there? Three hours is an awfully long time to talk about something,” Sydney said glancing at her sisters door.
“I think the third moan was the final give-away. They are not subtle: a blind, deaf and mute person would know that they are doing the horizontal mambo,” Michael laughed and looked at his wife in an amused way. Thought he was surprised that Eric had had the cojones to cheat on Rachel.
“Honey, get your mind out of the gutter. For all we know, she might be crying about something and Eric’s just comforting her. I don’t want to jump to conclusions.” Sydney said slightly scolding Michael. She didn’t actually believe what she was saying, but she wanted to believe that Nadia wouldn’t cross that line with a man who had pregnant woman waiting for him at home.
“If she’s crying, then it’s the most orgasmic, satisfying cry I’ve ever heard. It’s more a cry of ecstasy then sadness.” Michael noted with a wink in Sydney’s direction. She responded with playfully sticking her tongue out.
“If you don’t want to sleep on the couch tonight, I would suggest you drop the topic of my sister’s sex life. She knows what she’s doing and I don’t want to speculate about it.” Sydney said in a mock stern way to which he responded with mock terror.
“You wouldn’t leave your darling husband alone with all of his carnal desires, would you? You’re not that cruel,” Michael said taking a hold of his wife and planting a kiss on her neck.
“I think you need to take a cold shower.” Sydney said teasingly and moved away from him to pour herself a glass of water.
“That’s cruel. I’m in an amorous mood,” Michael responded with a naughty wink. She blew him a kiss and went to check on Isabelle.
“Good for you honey, but I’m going to pass,” Sydney said before disappearing to the nursery. She loved this light-hearted flirting they engaged in.
“Cold shower it is then,” Michael yelled after her and plopped down on the couch to try and focus on the television show he had been watching earlier without much luck.
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Nadia had placed her head on his shoulder and draped her hand across his chest. She hadn’t been this happy in years, in this moment she felt like everything was possible. Eric still loved her, he had shown that during their lovemaking. He had been gentle and caring, caressing every bit of her body with his lips.
Eric was looking with Nadia, truly looking at her. She was laying there looking at him with love and devotion while he felt like scum for taking advantage of her. She had been emotional and fragile and he hadn’t let that stop him for sleeping with her.
“I have to go,” Eric whispered in her ear and kissing her deeply for the last time.
“Why? Stay here with me. I’m not going to let you pretend that this never happened. We made love and it was wonderful,” Nadia said as he rose from the bed and started looking for his black boxers that had been thrown somewhere carelessly.
“You know why I have to go. I’ll call you tomorrow,” Eric said pulling his boxers on and grapping his t-shirt from the floor. Nadia watched in silence as he dressed one garment at a time. After pulling his jacket on, he moved to the door and glanced at Nadia one more time before exiting.
“I love you,” Eric said and left the room, leaving her laying on the bed. Nadia mouthed ‘I love you’, although he had already left.
“Casanova, you have your shirt on backwards. I’d change that before I’d go home,” Michael said noticing Eric emerging from his sister-in-laws bedroom. He looked embarrassed and quickly changed the shirt so he would be presentable before going home to Rachel.
“Mike, it’s not what you think. Well, it’s actually exactly what you think it is, but don’t say anything. Nothing you say can make me feel anymore of a bastard than I already do,” Eric said hoping that Michael wouldn’t be too hard on him.
“Se’s your wife and you’re both consenting adults, so its not my place to judge. I just hope you know what you’re doing. Your face practically says ‘I just got laid’ which is bad when you have to go home to Rachel.” Michael said without judgment, Eric was a big boy and most likely he was already beating himself up for this.
“I’ll tell her everything. She needs to know and if she leaves me, I’ve deserved it.” Eric said taking his car keys and twirling them in his fingers.
“You can’t tell Rachel. You need to go home and think do you really want to continue this charade you and Rachel have going on.” Michael said strongly. Telling an eight-months pregnant woman that her baby daddy just slept with someone else was the worst idea ever in his opinion.
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During the car ride home, Eric had gone through a whole conversation in his head on how he would confess everything and throw himself at her mercy. He had taken into account everything Vaughn had said, but being honest felt like the best way of going about it. Rachel was going to find out somehow and it would be terrible if she heard it from someone else.
He had made his mind and fully prepared to be thrown out of his own home when he pulled in the drive way. He parked the car and entered the house that was dark.
He found Rachel in bed, sleeping with a book in her arms. She must have been reading something before falling asleep. He gently took the book out of her hands and put it on the night stand. He shut the nightlight and headed to take a shower.
He stood in the shower for at least thirty minutes, feeling dirty and ashamed at his behavior. Even the scrubbing didn’t take away the feeling so he gave up and decided to go to bed.
He laid next to the sleeping Rachel and gently kissed her forehead. She didn’t stir and he was glad. He could never look at her beautiful eyes again without feeling like the biggest piece of felgercarb currenly living on the planet. He signed and hoped that sleep would come soon.
To be continued…
Next chapter: Nadia and Sydney talk; does Eric tell Rachel??
