Girl That You Love

So Emma sent her piece off to Christian and it was published in the very next edition of the magazine and uploaded onto their site. The piece drew quite a buzz from all of the other news sources, some who lauded her effort in not fighting back against the criticism and the hate and to just let the public know who she was and how her relationship was with Patrick. There were some dissenters, though, who saw it all as an act, as a last ditch effort for her to save face with Patrick.

“I’m going to rip that egotistical half-wit Perez a new hole in his ass,” Christian shouted, stomping out of his office and over into Emma’s cubicle area. She looked up from her computer and glanced at Joel, who just raised an eyebrow in concern.

“Christian, we both know that’s just what he wants, so why bother?” Emma said, returning her attention back to the article she was editing.

“Because he is basically calling you a liar, which undermines your credibility as a journalist!” Christian exclaimed. “And it also undermines my magazine and my hiring decisions and it makes me look like a fucking idiot.”

“Ah, I knew there was more to your misplaced outrage than the fact he is lying about Emma,” Joel replied. “Your reputation.” He and Emma exchanged looks of amusement.

“I am worried about Emma! I am also just noting how his non-journalistic opinion is shitting on my life too,” Christian remarked.

“Duly noted,” Emma said. “I apologize that my life is affecting yours.”

Christian groaned. “Come on Emma, don’t be demeaning. It’s not my job to be concerned about your feelings. That’s Patrick’s job.”

“While I can’t argue that, I can argue that as my employer, you should have at least an ounce of concern.”

“I do, a milli-ounce,” he said, cracking a smile. Emma looked at Joel who rolled his eyes.

Emma really didn’t care if Christian cared about her feelings or not, but she did enjoy getting on his case about it. To be honest, the buzz about her and Patrick didn’t bother her as much as it had before. She was really starting to let all of it roll off of her shoulders.

“So what is Patrick getting you for Christmas?” Marie asked her as they were trolling through Macys. Emma stopped in front of a rack of dresses. She wanted to pick out a nice dress for the party they were going to in LA for New Years, something that Pete had concocted at a club he used to DJ at regularly during the hiatus.

“I don’t know. We didn’t really talk about it. We’ve been so busy with the wedding and stuff that I guess Christmas just kind of fell by the wayside.”

“But it’s your first Christmas together since….” Marie trailed off. Emma knew what she was going to say; since the break up.

Emma remembered the last Christmas that she and Patrick spent together. It was about four months before the fateful incident. Patricks’ parents couldn’t make it to LA, and Emma decided not to have Christmas with her own family. She didn’t want to leave Patrick alone. He was already dropping weight fast after the Folie a Deux tour and she was starting to notice that he preferred being alone in his studio drinking than be with her. She was hoping it was just a phase, but she feared that it wasn’t.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

It was all going to be perfect. She had went out to Target, bought a ton of decorations and spent all day decorating the house, while he was locked in his studio. She bought a real tree, lots of ornaments and lights, and wrapped garland around the staircase railing and the railing out on the back porch that overlooked the Hollywood Hills. She had even ordered a Thanksgiving meal from one of the restaurants that Patrick liked to go to. She had even bought him a few presents, some Star Wars collectibles that she thought he might like to add to his collection and a few Rosetta Stone CDs because he kept talking about how he wanted to learn more languages.

On Christmas Eve, she knocked on the recording studio door.

“Patrick? Baby?” She said timidly.

She heard the music go off and rustling around. The door slowly opened and Patrick peeked out. He looked run down, his hair disheveled, his pale beard growing in. “Emma, what’s up? I’m working on something.”

She looked down at her feet. “Um, I had dinner brought in, for, um Christmas Eve.”

Patrick’s eyes widened. “It’s Christmas Eve?”

She nodded. “Yeah, come out. Celebrate with me.”

He seemed to pause for a second, but then smiled. “Okay, that sounds good.” He slipped out of the studio and kissed her cheek, his hairs on his face tickling her.

They walked into the kitchen, where Emma had set up the table with red candles and Christmas styled table settings. She even put a fire on in the fire place. Patrick turned around, his smile growing. “This looks beautiful. I didn’t even know you did all of this,” he said, looking around the living room at the tree and the garland. He grabbed one of the stockings. “Ooh, what’s in here?”

Emma slapped his hand away playfully. “Not something you should be touching right now!”

She was happy that he seemed to like what she had done. He seemed a bit lighter in mood than usual, which was exactly what she wanted. “Come on, let’s eat.”

They sat down at the table, and Emma poured them both some wine and set a plate in front of him. She started eating, asking him questions about his music that he was working on in his studio.

“R&B stuff, nothing I think I’ll actually put out, but it’s fun because,”

“It’s different from the other stuff you’ve been doing, more your style,” she finished, grinning at him.
“Yeah, it’s kind of nice doing something different, something more aligned with my own musical passions,” he replied.

“Definitely. Okay, so after dinner, I thought we could watch a Christmas movie. I bought Love Actually, your favorite A Christmas Story, and The Santa Clause,”

“Ooh A Christmas Story,” Patrick jumped in with a smile.

“Yes, and then tomorrow morning we’ll get up, I’ll make us some pancakes and hot chocolate and you can open your presents.”

Patrick frowned. “Presents?” He put his fork down slowly. “Emma, you didn’t have to get me any presents…”

She blushed. “It’s okay! I wanted to. You’re my guy.”

Patrick looked down at his plate. “Emma, I didn’t get you anything,” he said in a soft, miserable voice.
Emma stopped chewing her turkey. “Oh, babe, that’s okay,” she said quickly. “I don’t need anything! I just want to make this Christmas special for you because…” she trailed off. Because it was the first Christmas since the band parted ways.

She heard Patrick sniffling, wiping his eyes. “I’m such a fucking loser,” he muttered.

Emma shot up out of her chair and rushed over to him. “Babe, no,” she said calmly, wrapping her arms around him. “You’re not. It’s okay that you didn’t get me anything, I swear. Christmas isn’t about the presents, you know that.”

Patrick slammed his fists onto the table forcefully, shaking all of the plates on top of it and spilling his wine. Emma jumped back, shocked by his action. “Oh, let me get a towel…”

“Why are you with me, Emma?” He exclaimed. “My own friends don’t even want to hang out with me? Why do you?”

“I love you Patrick,” she said quietly, grabbing a towel from the drawer near the stove.

He stood up, his fists clenched. “I have to go back into the studio.”

“What?! No, Patrick, the movie! And I made cookies!”

He didn’t even acknowledge her as he stormed back into his studio and slammed the door shut. She heard him lock it behind him, and she could feel a sob catch in her throat. She quickly cleaned up the wine and the rest of the food. She knocked several times on the door, begging him to come out, but he just turned his music up louder.

The next morning, Emma sat by the tree and cried silently, waiting for him to open his door. But he never did.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Emma came home from her shopping trip and opened the door to her and Patrick’s condo. The first thing she noticed as she walked in was the Michael Buble Christmas album playing throughout the house. She was really happy at that moment that they had installed the speaker system into the ceilings. She walked further into house and stopped in her tracks as she got to the living room.

There next to the large loft windows was a tree nearly fifteen feet tall, covered in white lights and silver sparkly deco mesh and white flowers.

There were some people dressed in khakis and polos putting up garland around the fireplace, and strategically placing a large wreath right above the sofa. Emma set her bags down.

“Uh, honey?!” she called out warily. “I think Santa’s elves are here?”

Patrick came bounding in from the kitchen. “You weren’t supposed to be home for another hour!” he exclaimed, a worried look on his face.

She raised an eyebrow. “Uh, what? Patrick, what’s going on?”

He blushed slightly. “I wanted to surprise you. It’s our first Christmas together in such a long time, and I wanted it to be special. But then I realized I am a terrible interior designer, so I called these guys up.” He grabbed her hand. “Look at that tree! WE never had ceilings high enough for one of those!”

“It’s beautiful,” Emma whispered, tears coming to her eyes.

Patrick looked at her. “What’s wrong?”

She shook her head, wiping a few tears away. “Nothing, I was just… it doesn’t matter. It’s amazing, thank you.” She kissed his lips softly. “You’re so amazing.”

He smiled proudly. “I do what I can.” Just then the stove timer went off. “Holy smokes the cookies!” he raced into the kitchen, and Emma laughed, following him. He grabbed some oven mitts and pulled two cookie sheets out. “Okay, I made these from scratch!”

Emma looked at the chocolate chip cookies hungrily. “I can’t wait to try one.”

“Well, here!” he picked one up and blew on it to cool it. “Try it,” he fed her the cookie, which was still warm and gooey. “Ooh, some chocolate got on your,” he paused, leaning in to kiss the chocolate off of her lip.

Emma giggled. “If you weren’t the one making the bulk of our money, I’d beg you to stay home and be my little Susie homemaker.”

“I think I’d make a terrible one. I would end up hiring other people to do everything,” Patrick joked. He leaned against the island in their kitchen and pulled her toward him. All around them, Michael Buble’s voice echoed as he sang “Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas,” and it made Emma feel completely at peace. “Do you like it?” he murmured, rubbing her back.

“Yes, Patrick, the tree, the music, the decorations…” She leaned her forehead against his.

“I wanted it to be special since I botched up the last Christmas we had spent together,” he said quietly, looking at her with a regretful stare. Emma wondered if he had remembered that Christmas all those years ago.

“Patrick,”

“No, I had no right… you did all that work to make me happy and I was too wrapped up in my own misery to appreciate it. I wanted to show you that that is never going to happen again.”

Emma sniffled. “Stop, stop making me cry,” she giggled, wiping her tears.

He smirked. “Okay, you’re right. So, Christmas movie… Love Actually?”

“But I thought you liked A Christmas Story!?”

“Emma, this is your Christmas,” he said.

She grinned. “Okay, then Love Actually it is. Nothing like seeing Rick Grimes as a woeful love sick man without facial hair.”

They spent Christmas at their house in New York, Patrick’s family coming to visit them. His mother, and Megan and his brother Kevin and his wife, Ellie and their daughter Katherine. Emma, Ellie and Patricia made a lovely Christmas dinner while Megan played on her phone and Kevin and Patrick played with Katherine. Emma kept glancing at them, her heart warming every time she saw Patrick interacting with his niece.

“Patrick and Katherine are so adorable together aren’t they?” Ellie said, smiling slyly at Emma. Emma felt herself blush and looked away. She glanced at Patrick’s mom who’s head was tilted in their direction, yet she seemed to still be working on making the stuffing.

“Patrick will make a great father,” Emma admitted. “One day.”

Ellie smiled. “And how soon will that be?”

Emma shrugged. “We actually haven’t talked about it. I mean, we did briefly, but with the band so busy and the wedding and everything, adding to our new family isn’t something we put much thought into.” She looked back over at Patrick who was now sitting down having tea with Katherine and her fake tea set that she had gotten for Christmas from Ellie’s parents. She giggled. “Although, the thought has crossed my mind a time or two. Especially when I see that.”

“Well, take your time,” Patricia cut in, walking over to them, wiping her hands with a kitchen towel.
“Children are a lot of work. They’re worth it, but you have to make sure you both want them.” Emma smiled at her soon-to-be mother-in-law. “But if I can be honest, another grandbaby wouldn’t be the worst thing.” She winked at Emma, who blushed again.

That night as they settled into bed, Emma rolled over onto her side and looked at Patrick. He was on his phone, going through his Twitter account. “Keeping up with all your avid fans?”

He fixed his glasses and looked over at her. “Everyone’s wishing me a Merry Christmas,” he replied, grinning. “But I’m done now. I think I’d rather spend tonight doing other things… if you get my drift.” He raised his eyebrows twice and pursed his lips in a kiss.

“Subtlety huh? Not one of your stronger suits,” she laughed, kissing his lips. They held each other close, kissing and talking quietly. “So, Ellie and your mom brought up babies.”

Patrick looked at her aghast. “Wait, are you telling me Ellie is pregnant again? And my mom too!”

She quickly could see that he was kidding with her and she slapped him playfully. “No, our babies. Or our future babies.”

“Oh, Luke and Leia?”

“I’m going to pretend that you just didn’t say that,” she replied. “But yes, our hypothetical babies. Marie brought them up too earlier, and I realized that we really never talked about it before.”

“Do you want babies? If so, let’s get started,” he grabbed at her waist and she laughed.

“Patrick,” she said, rolling her eyes. “What do you really think?”

“You’re serious, you want to talk about this right now,” Patrick said, giving her a more serious smile. “Okay, let’s talk about it. Do you want to have kids?”

She bit her lip. “Um, you go first.”

“Why?”

“Because I don’t want to upset you with my answer, or make you change your answer.” He raised his eyebrow.

“Um, okay, how about on the count of three?”

She sighed. “Okay.”

“One, two, three…”

“Yes,” they both said at the same time. Emma breathed a sigh of relief.

“Really, you do?” she asked him.

“Yes! What makes you think I wouldn’t!?”

“I don’t know, I mean, with all the stuff going on…”

“Emma, if I waited for everything to settle down, we’ll be 80 years old,”

“Or dead,” she added.

“Wow, that’s morbid, but yeah,” he laughed. “The question is, when do you want to start?”

Emma looked at her hands. “I don’t know. On the one hand, I feel like we already wasted too much time, you know, being apart all of those years. On the other…”

“It wouldn’t be bad waiting for a few months until we’re married and settled,” Patrick finished for her. She nodded silently. “Emma, that’s fine. I’m not in a rush. Why don’t we wait until after the spring tour and start really looking at it.”

Emma smiled. “That sounds like a good plan to me.” She giggled and started playing with the collar of his shirt. “But, doesn’t mean we can’t practice a bit.”

Patrick laughed and drew her close to him again, pressing his hard member against her. She could feel her insides ache with delight. “That’s going to be the best part all of the practice and all of the trying.”

She slipped her hand into his pajama pants. “Remember to be quiet. You’re mom is in the room next to us.”

“Wow, just like the old days when we would hang out at home after the tours, huh?”

“Yes, it had the potential to be traumatizing then and still does,” she giggled.

“Noted, now, less talking and more sexing,” Patrick said in a ridiculous version of a seductive tone.

Emma felt herself letting go, but in the back of her mind, she knew that this was only the calm before the storm. For once Christmas and New Years were over, only a few weeks separated them from starting their lives together as husband and wife.