Accepting Owen (Emilia's Perspective)

Chapter Twenty-One

"I know you don't want to move. I just have to be there for my brother," I said, looking up at Owen full of hope.

"I didn't say no. Why are you still making your case?"

"Because I know you don't want to go."

He pulled my hand into his lap and squeezed it, smiling at me. "I heard his voice on that call. He's having a break down. You need to be with him. We were going to have to move anyway. We'll just have to figure out how to do it."

My heart sank as I looked at him. "I don't know how. Because I'm assuming Jess lives in Green Bay?"

He sighed. "Shit." He rubbed his fingers backwards through his hair. "It's fine. We'll make it work."

I considered for a moment what it would be like to be apart from him. We hadn't even been able to spend a night apart since we met. "Maybe I could spend a week with EJ and make him feel better," I wondered out loud.

"I can come with you," Owen said.

"Don't you have to work?"

He heaved a sigh. "I do. I want to tell you to just wait until we can move, but you're right. He can't wait. He needs help."

I stared into his eyes. "I don't know if I can do it."

"What do you mean?"

"I don't know if I can help him. Especially if I have to be away from you for a week, what if I get sad, too?"

"I'll come and take you out to dinner one night. You can always video chat with me. It'll be okay."

"What if it takes longer than a week?"

"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it," he said softly.

I swiftly crawled into his lap, holding him around the neck as I pushed him into his bsck. My heart was beating painfully fast as I considered spending a week away from my husband, the only true comfort I had ever found in my life.

"It will be okay," he said forcefully. "I promise. You're doing the right thing. We have so many years ahead of us. One week won't change anything."

After cuddling with him, inhaling the smell if his cologne for awhile, I leaned up so I could look at him. "I'll text my brother to pick me up from the airport."

Owen kept a smile, even though it didn't reach his eyes. "That's a good start."

~~

I woke up thinking the world was spinning. I picked my head up but I was so dizzy it dropped back down. "Oh no," I whispered to myself.

"What?" Owen grumbled in his sleepy voice as he rolled over to put his arm around my waist.

"I'm getting sea sick," I whispered back.

"Oh no."

I laid in bed past breakfast even though Owen went to the dining room to eat. I was getting more and more nauseous as the day dragged on, but I was starting to think it wasn't sea sickness upsetting me, but anxiety.

My phone rang from the bedside table and I picked it up. Worry scorched through me when I saw my brother was trying to call me. Was he already panicking again.

When I picked up, he was already speaking. "Emilia, I need you to do something for me," he mumbled into the phone.

"What's that, EJ?"

"Octavia has a Facebook profile. I can't see anything. I need you to add her as a friend and check it out."

"Bubby, she is fourteen. She is not your wife. I don't think I can help you spy on her."