Love Metamorphosis

Chapter 34

They quickly fell into a routine, Jemma would take Adele to school, a private school 10 minutes from Eric's house. She would go to work with Lucy on her normally scheduled three days and she would see LeBron on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Monday through Thursday she would pick Adele up on her way home, and they would make it home about an hour before dinner, long enough for Jemma to wind down and Adele to do her homework before Eric returned home. She would come home early on Friday and make a homemade meal, always giving the housekeeper the afternoon off and Eric would pick Adele up on his way home.

They were functioning like a normal family, and Adele was thriving under their constant affection. She still cried sometimes and had nightmares about the accident but time was a great healer. Eric had only done one unavoidable weekend trip to Italy in order to see a restaurant owner that wanted to promote his wine in London. He never trespassed on her privacy and she spent most of her time with Adele.

His tender treatment of Adele always amazed her, he cared for his little goddaughter as though she was his own. Adele had taken to calling her, Aunt Jemma, despite Jemma's initial wish for her to simply call her by her first name. August was already creeping into September and Eric insisted he needed to return to Italy in order to oversee some of the vineyard's operations before the harvest. Jemma had urged him to go, aware that she and Adele would miss him but could do just fine until he returned.

Jemma was reading on the couch and Adele was upstairs in her room playing after she had shown Jemma her completed homework, when Eric came home late. She glanced at the clock and it read just after seven, over an hour later then he normally was. He came in and took off his tie, having left his briefcase elsewhere and his suit jacket on the foyer chair.

He began to pour himself a glass of scotch from his minibar, his tiredness leached into the room. "Long day?" She asked after a moment.

He jumped and nearly dropped the glass, "I didn't see you there!"

She couldn't help but laugh at his surprise, "I didn't mean to startle you, Adele wanted to wait for you to come home before we had dinner."

He came over and plopped down next to her, slouching deeply into the fluffy goodness of the couch. "I should have called."

"I think she still would have wanted to wait," Jemma said leaning over to put the book on the coffee table. "You look exhausted."

"I feel exhausted," he said taking a sip before cradling the glass, "but the scotch is helping."

"You should eat before you drink too much," Jemma warned, she had rarely seen him drink hard liquor since she had been in the house. "You'll make yourself sick."

He gave her a sly sideways glance. "Yes, mom."

She made a face at him. "Make yourself sick. See if I care."

"You still would," he said with a smile before setting the glass aside. "What is for dinner?"

"Chicken Parmassan," Jemma answered. "I had better put it back in the oven to heat it up."

As she went to stand her legs refused to hold her and she nearly fell back down. One of her feet had fallen asleep and her muscles were cramped, Eric caught her by the shoulders as she tried to catch herself on the couch. He stood up as she cursed, her right foot tingling and sending lighting pains up her legs.

He was laughing, "Just how long were you waiting here?"

"Too long it seems," she said tilting her head back to look up at so she could thank him.

With him holding her up they were intimately close, the closest they had been the entire time they had been in the same house. She had her hands on his shoulders to try and steady her on her left leg while the blood flow returned to her other foot. Her mind emptied, at their closeness and her breathing quickened.