Everlasting Love (Now & Forever) (2 page)

Despite the beautiful, warm, June day in
Buffalo
, and the fact that Emily had recently been refitted for her maid of honor dress, she was eight months pregnant and miserable. Even though she felt huge and wanted to jump out of her skin, she remembered this day was about her mom and Paul, so she finished getting dressed and put on her best smile.

Watching her mom walk down the aisle in a simple white dress to a waiting groom was wonderful to see. Her mom finally found happiness. It was a short, intimate ceremony on the grounds of a local country club. Emily watched as the couple said their vows and exchanged rings. She had a step-father now and he was good guy, just like Eric. Thinking of him, made her eyes move instinctively to the small group of guest chairs and found Eric watching her. He smiled and winked at her as the pastor announced the marriage.

Emily clapped her hands and leaned over to kiss her mom’s cheek. “Congrats, Mom. I’m so happy for you guys.”

“Thanks, Sweetheart. Are you doing ok?”

Emily nodded slowly. “Just hot.”

“Let’s go find some shade for you,” she said as Paul locked his arm around her mom’s waist and they walked up the aisle together.

CHAPTER TWO

It was late July when Eric and Emily finished decorating the baby’s room at her mom’s house. She was overdue and uncomfortable. It was the middle of summer in
Buffalo
, which meant it was hot and humid at all hours of the day. They had the air conditioning on full force but Emily couldn't get comfortable. As she looked around the room, she loved the neutral colors that they had chosen together. They wanted to be surprised about the sex of the baby so they picked soft beige for the color scheme.

“Emily, I love you and I can’t wait to meet our baby. I just don’t know about leaving you. The baby won’t even be a month old when I head back to school and that’s just not fair to you.”

“Eric, we have been over this before, several times. My parents will always be here and your parents are just a phone call away. Besides, your future is important to this family, you need to focus on that.” Emily smiled, kissing him lightly.

Eric smiled back at her. “I just don’t want you to feel alone.”

Emily smiled as she wrapped her arms around him and kissed him lightly. “Our little family will be perfect. It will just take us a little time to get all the pieces in one place.”

Eric leaned down and kissed her again as Emily gasped, “Oh my God!”

“Emily? What’s wrong?”

She grabbed her stomach bent down to catch her breath. “My water just broke! I think I’m in labor!”

Eric was smiling from ear to ear and called downstairs, “Mrs. Peterson, it’s time!”

Emily’s mom squealed with joy as she grabbed her daughter’s pre-packed hospital bag and rushed out the front door to the hospital.

It was the longest day of her life at times and she didn’t think she had the strength for it. Her mother warned her of the pain and what to expect but it wasn’t enough. The whole experience was overwhelming from the rushes of adrenaline mixed with dizzying pain and ultimately a bliss she never knew she could feel. She was in labor for almost twenty four hours and Eric stood by her side, supporting her, coaching her and soothing her the entire time.

The moment her daughter was born, Emily couldn’t believe how much she loved her already. She appeared so tiny as Eric held her. She had a baby, they had a baby.  Everyone’s life had changed. They were responsible for this little girl now, her well-being, her future. She stared at Eric holding their daughter. He was instantly in love with her too.

Eric sighed, “Emily. She’s beautiful. Thank you.”

Emily smiled at the sight of father and daughter. “You are in there too, Baby. She’s perfect.”

“We need a name. I know we had our ideas but what do you think?”

Emily stared at her baby’s beautiful face sleeping peacefully. “I can’t decide. Anything will be beautiful with Mason.”

Eric slowly got up and placed the baby gently in the hospital baby bed and turned towards Emily. “You are amazing. You look so beautiful right now.” He lightly kissed her lips as his fingers caressed her face. “How am I supposed to leave you now when I’m so in love with both of you?”

Emily grabbed his hand. “We are just a phone call away. Don’t worry I will call you for all of the two a.m. feedings.”

Eric laughed. “I hope you do.”

“Back to her name, you’re right. We need to make a decision. I think we were between Emma and Ana. I know I have my preference.”

“Me too, Gorgeous.”

Emily smiled now knowing that they were thinking the same name. “Well, I guess we are ready to welcome Emma Maria Mason to the world.”

Eric leaned back down and kissed Emily deeply this time. His fingers traced her cheek as they kissed each other. Hearing the door open behind them, they quickly looked up. 

“That’s how you two got yourself into this situation, I would like to remind you,” Paul said laughing.

They both laughed as Eric walked over to pick up his baby girl and show her off to their visitor. “Paul, I would like to introduce you to our perfect baby girl, Emma Maria.”

He reached out as Eric placed her into his arms. “She’s beautiful. I wish your mom would get here.”

“Where is she anyway?” Emily asked.

“She stopped at the gift shop to buy her granddaughter a present.”

Emily smiled as the door opened and her mom was already crying. “Emily, she’s beautiful. Paul, you better hand her over.”
Paul gently placed the tightly wrapped bundle in her arms. Through all her tears and enormous smile, Emily’s mom finally asked, “What’s her name?”

Emily smiled proudly, “Emma Maria Mason. She’s beautiful, isn’t she?”

“She’s perfect. Oh my God, I love her. I’m going to spoil you rotten, little one. I’m your grandma and I can do that.”

Just then a moment of panic overcame Emily prompting her to blurt out, “Mom, you are going to help me, right? I’m so scared that I’m going to break her.”

Her mom laughed softly, “Emily, I thought the same thing when you were born, but you’ll see, most of it comes naturally when you trust your instincts. It’s going to be tough at times, don’t get me wrong and at times you will want to pull all your hair out, but we will get through it.”

“Thank you, Mom.” Emily yawned and visibly relaxed as if that’s all she needed to hear in that moment.

“Emily is exhausted, why don’t we let her rest before my parents get here,” Eric said putting Emma back in her bed and turning to her, “Get some rest, I will be down the hall talking to your parents, ok?”

Emily nodded and was sleeping a few minutes later.

Eric and Emily returned to her mother's house with their child two days later. The first week was the most difficult as everyone adjusted to life while caring for a newborn. Even with Emily’s mom providing them with the much needed help and guidance, the days were a blur of diapers and feedings every two hours. Nothing could have prepared them for the demands of a baby and functioning with so little sleep.  It wasn’t until Eric was ready to go back to school that they finally had their bearings and a system that was working.  Now Emily would have to make it work without him and somehow go back to school herself. It was all so overwhelming at times. The day before Eric left them to head back to school, Emily's father showed up at the front door.

"Dad? What are you doing here?"

"I'm here to talk some sense into you."

"Dad, what are you talking about?"

Emily's dad walked into the living room and sat down uninvited. "Emily, it's not too late for adoption. I'm withdrawing your tuition support until you give that child a proper life and ditch that football wannabe because as I see it right now, it’s a total waste of money, a bad investment."

Emily couldn't believe what she was hearing. Where was this coming from? She knew he was not happy about her decision, but to show up here like this and throw around threats. It was all too much. The tears started to flow just as Eric and her mom entered the room. They both looked at her and then her father. It was Emily that spoke first, "You have no right coming here and saying that to me. You haven't even seen her yet and at this rate, you never will!"

"Emily, what's going?" Her mother asked.

"Dad just asked me to give up my little girl and Eric in exchange for college tuition."

"Geez, are you kidding me?" She exclaimed and walked over to him. "That's your grandchild upstairs. Yes, our daughter didn’t do the smartest thing but we all know that mistakes happen, don't we? But, I will tell you this, they are stronger than we ever were."

"Fine, so our daughter will throw away her career and be a stay at home mother while her football husband goes out and screws every cheerleading bimbo in the league. That is assuming he ever amounts to anything more than a wann
a
be."

Eric dropped the laundry at his feet and quickly turned red. "You don't even know me! Where do you even get off saying things about me, about my family? Emily and Emma are my life, my loves. I have to leave tomorrow and I'm breaking down inside. I would give up my football career today but your daughter insists that I go back to school and pursue that dream for all of us so we can have a real future and I know I will do whatever I can to make her happy. So, you can either apologize to your daughter immediately and assuming she forgives you, meet your only grandchild or you can turn around and walk out that door right now, leaving us to be a family."

Emily's father was silent for moment. Taking in everything Eric had said and then finally looked at him in amazement. "Well, that took some guts, Eric. I guess I never imagined finding you all so committed to each other and trying to make this work. Perhaps, I was too quick to judge the situation."

"I'm just speaking my mind, Sir. You have no right to come here and pass judgment on us. We are doing the best we can with a lot of help and support from our families."

"Emily, I'm sorry that I said the things I did. I'm just worried about you. You have a life of your own, or at least you did, I know you wanted to be a successful artist. I'm just looking out for my daughter."

"Dad, my dreams won't go away just because of Emma. They are just on hold for now. That little girl is my life now and whatever dreams we have now will include her. I want the very best for her just like you do for me and for that to happen, this football wannabe," she said pointing to Eric, "needs to follow his dreams first. I'm willing to sacrifice mine for his."

Eric walked over to Emily and kissed her soundly on the lips. "I love you."

"I love you too, Eric," she said smiling.

"I'm sorry, Emily. I will never stop worrying about what is best for you and while I’m not convinced that means raising a child right now, I will try to be more understanding and
considerate for the time being.”

“That’s all we ask, Dad.”

CHAPTER THREE

Emily signed up for the fall semester. She struggled to imagine how everything was going to work out. Between being away from Emma, coordinating her care while she was at school, keeping up with a full course load and somehow making a long distance relationship work, it was very overwhelming at times.

Eric and Emily spoke every night on the phone while she fed the baby and rocked her to sleep. She tried to share every new noise and movement Emma made with him so that he felt like he was still a part of their family.

After being named the backup quarterback that season, it seemed like Eric's football career was finally starting to take off. He was even expected game time action during the season. Even though it was exactly what he'd been hoping and planning for, it was really hard to balance it all and some days were better than others.

It was the beginning of October during one of their late night conversations that Eric and Emily started talking about the wedding.

“What’s the plan, Emily? With getting married, I mean.”

“I don’t know. It’s so hard to think about right now. I’m looking at a pile of homework, a pile of dirty laundry and I’m not sure how to plan for a wedding on top of it.”

“I know, but we have a beautiful daughter who deserves a complete happy family,” Eric said and sighed, “Don't get me wrong, I love that Emma already shares my last name but you should too. After all, you are the most important link in this chain; the one keeping us all together.”

She smiled. “You make me so happy, Eric and I wish you could see Emma right now, she’s even smiling like she knows what we are talking about.”