Note: This chapter contains some sexual/NSFW screenshots

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Emberlynn closed her eyes as the hot water ran down her body, relaxing her muscles and washing away the sweat and smell that still lingered on her skin. Her lips stretched into a smile as she thought back on just how mind-blowing her morning had been.

It had taken time, but her and Xander’s sex life had finally started returning to normal. It had been so hard at first — even after learning that they weren’t related, Emberlynn struggled with knowing she was having sex with someone who shared DNA with the man she considered her father.

Even after moving in with him, it had still taken time before she felt comfortable allowing Xander to do much more than just kiss her. And thankfully, he’d been very patient and understanding.

But now that she’d finally felt ready to start having sex again, well… It seemed like Xander was trying his best to make up for lost time.

And Emberlynn certainly couldn’t complain. She was loving every minute of it. This was the first time she’d ever stayed with one guy for so long, and she was quickly learning just how much better sex could be once you had the chance to get to know each other’s bodies… It was incredible.

Once she had dried off and gotten dressed, Emberlynn emerged back into the bedroom to find her boyfriend messing around with his guitar and humming softly to himself. It was a song she didn’t recognize, but it was absolutely beautiful. He’d really come such a long way since she’d first started watching his YouTube videos all those years ago.

Xander didn’t seem to have noticed her enter, so she let him play for a few moments before finally making herself known. Emberlynn always loved watching him play — it was one of the sexiest things she’d ever seen.

“I don’t think I know that one.” She said at last as the song finally came to an end. “Is that one you wrote?”

Xander smiled as he returned his guitar to its stand. “Yeah, I’m working on it.” He explained as he reached out and pulled her to him. “I’m feeling extra-inspired this morning… Can’t imagine why.” Xander teased.

Emberlynn smiled against his lips as he gave her a long, slow kiss. It didn’t take long for her to feel his arousal beginning to grow as he pressed against her.

“Woah there, Mister.” She said when she finally pulled away. “I just finally got cleaned up! And we don’t want Monsieur Rioux bitching again…”

Xander’s elderly downstairs neighbor loved to complain that Xander played his music too loudly, or sometimes even came to the door, shouting about how he could hear Xander and Emberlynn’s ‘obscene activities’. These were usually followed by empty threats to call the landlord, and a series of insincere apologies from Xander.

But that morning, when they’d been going at it on the sofa and were interrupted by a sudden knocking at the door, they’d decided to ignore it. “We’ll give him something to complain about…” Xander had teased.

And boy, did they.

Xander rolled his eyes. “The old dude’s just jealous he’s not getting any. Monsieur Rioux can suck it.”

“Hmm… but isn’t that my job?” Ember asked, raising an eyebrow suggestively.

Her boyfriend chuckled. “Not helping!”

“Sorry!” Emberlynn joined in his laughter. She loved how fun and natural things were finally feeling between them again. She’d really been missing it. “So no more knocking from angry neighbors while I was in the shower, I take it?”

Xander shook his head. “I think I heard your phone go off a couple times though.” He gestured toward the living room, where Emberlynn had left her phone.

She gave Xander a quick kiss on the cheek before finally going to check her messages.

Emberlynn let out a soft sigh at the sight of the message. It had already been almost a week since the last time she’d spoken to him. She missed her Papa, and loved that they’d been talking more and more lately… but their conversations always left her feeling so sad and frustrated.

Sad because of their awkward, forced smalltalk and avoidance of the enormous elephant in the room.

Frustrated because somehow, without fail, he would always find some way to work in a hint that she should talk to Gigi.

Here we go again… She thought as she clicked on Phoenix’s name and raised the phone to her ear.

Phoenix answered after only two rings. “Hey, Honey.”

Emberlynn’s expression softened at the sound of his voice. She really did miss him so much. “Hey, Papa. What’s up?”

“Not much.” He replied, sounding slightly uncomfortable. “Just… wanted to say hi.”

Yeah, right. Shitty Bluff roll, Papa. “Well, you could’ve just called me yourself, you know.” Emberlynn reminded him gently. “If that’s really all you wanted…”

Phoenix cleared his throat. “I didn’t want to, uh, interrupt you. If you were… um… busy with something.”

“Is everything okay?” She asked, not even trying to mask her concern. “I mean besides the obvious. I know that’s not okay, but…”

“Emberlynn.” The way he spoke her name was so familiar — it was the tone Phoenix had always used when he was about to tell her something she wasn’t going to like. “I know you’re still hurting. And I know how hard it’s been for you… But I really need to see you. It’s been too long.”

“I know. I’m sorry.” Emberlynn felt a slight tightening in the back of her throat as all the guilt she’d been trying to hold back for the past two months suddenly began bubbling to the surface. “I just needed to get away. I couldn’t stay there anymore.”

“I understand.” He assured her. ”That was part of what I wanted to talk to you about. I was wondering… What if I came to you instead?”

“Know what’s funny?” Emberlynn asked, her guilt being slowly replaced by happiness at his suggestion. “Xander and I were just talking about that the other day… We’d love it if you could come visit. We both really wanna see you.”

“Oh… great!” Phoenix sounded genuinely surprised by her response. “That makes me feel a hell of a lot better about the next thing I need to say then…” He laughed nervously as he spoke.

“Oh God, what?”

“I’m, uh… I’m already here.”

Emberlynn’s brow furrowed in confusion at his words. “What?”

“I’m sorry to totally spring this on you, Honey…” Phoenix went on to explain that he’d taken a train to Paris that morning, and was hoping for the chance to see her.

Despite her surprise, Emberlynn couldn’t bring herself to feel angry at him. She knew the way she’d been behaving was so unfair. It was only a matter of time before he reached this level of desperation.

“I’ll have to ask Xander, but I’m sure he won’t mind.”

“Thanks.” Phoenix still sounded so relieved. “I’ll be there in about five or ten minutes, if that’s okay?”

“Oh, uh… okay…” Emberlynn replied, surprised he’d be arriving so quickly. “Don’t you need the address?”

“No, I already have it… I’ll see you soon. Love you.” He hung up then without another word.

As soon as she hung up the phone, Emberlynn headed back into the bedroom to explain what she’d just learned. Xander was just as surprised as she had been to learn of Phoenix’s impending arrival, but agreed that it was good that he was finally coming. They’d put off this conversation for much longer than they should have.

Emberlynn tried her best to quell the odd mixture of excitement and anxiety that bubbled in her stomach at the thought of seeing her Papa in person again. There was no use in worrying about it — it was finally happening, whether she was ready or not.

Together, she and Xander hastily tried to make the apartment as organized as they could. And then, as promised, in about ten minutes, Phoenix had arrived on their doorstep.

Emberlynn just barely managed to hold back her tears at the sight of him. So many of the feelings she’d been trying desperately to suppress began welling up inside of her the moment she laid her eyes on him. Emberlynn said nothing, but practically threw herself into Phoenix’s arms, putting as much love and warmth into her hug as she could muster.

She could hear him sniffle as he spoke to her. “Hey, Munchkin. I missed you so much.”

“I missed you too.” She said seriously, giving him one last squeeze before finally pulling away from him.

Beside her, Xander shuffled his feet awkwardly. “It’s nice to see you again, Mr. Rosebrook.” Emberlynn wasn’t sure if she’d ever heard him sound so stiff and formal.

“You too, Xander.” Phoenix took a step forward, giving his biological son a quick handshake.

As happy as Emberlynn was to see Phoenix again, the whole thing already felt so uncomfortable and tense and… wrong. She’d never imagined that seeing him again would be quite this hard.

“Um… Do you wanna sit down?” Xander asked Phoenix awkwardly.

He nodded and followed them toward the couch, pausing to smile down at Gucci as he rubbed against his legs.

As Xander and Emberlynn took a seat on the sofa, Phoenix seemed to hesitate. His eyes scanned the room for a moment, finally coming to rest upon Emberlynn’s sewing chair. Phoenix pulled it close to the couch before taking a seat.

“There’s plenty of room on the couch, Papa.” Emberlynn told him, her brow furrowing curiously.

“This is fine.” Phoenix assured her uncomfortably.

None of them spoke for a few moments after that. Now that the three of them were all in the same room together, it all felt so strange and uncomfortable. What could any of them possibly say? Where could they even begin?

“We’re really glad you came, Papa.” Emberlynn broke the silence at last, trying to sound as casual as she could. “And I’m sorry it took so long for this to finally happen.”

“It’s alright.” Phoenix assured her. “And I apologize again for showing up unannounced like this.”

Emberlynn gave him a small smile, still fighting to overcome her own discomfort. “It’s okay… I guess I can’t judge too much. I kinda did the same thing to Xander a few months ago.” She explained. “But I showed up at his front door without any warning or anything… At least you called first!”

“Yeah… But to be honest, I, uh… I actually wasn’t originally planning on doing that…” Phoenix confessed.

“Oh?”

He bit his lip uncertainly before continuing. “Yeah, I tried stopping by earlier, actually. But, um… it sounded like you were… busy?”

Xander’s face fell instantly. “Mr. Rosebrook… When you say ‘busy’…?” He asked nervously.

“Oh my GOD…” Emberlynn could barely gasp out the words. “That was you?!”

Phoenix seemed to have a hard time meeting her gaze. “Uh, yeah. That was me.”

A horrified silence fell over the three of them. In that moment, Emberlynn wanted nothing more than to curl up into a ball and just die.

But then, she felt an odd sort of vibration beside her. Emberlynn turned curiously in the direction of her boyfriend to find Xander completely shaking with silent laughter. Emberlynn watched a few tears escape from the corners of his eyes as his laughter continued.

Before she could say anything, across from her, she heard a loud snort, followed by a deep booming laugh. She turned in the direction of the sound and found Phoenix practically doubled over in his chair, laughing even harder than Xander was.

For a moment, Emberlynn felt almost appalled. How on Earth could the two of them be laughing over something so awkward and mortifying?

But then, didn’t ‘awkward and mortifying’ sum up the entirety of the last two months of their lives? The situation they found themselves in was already so horrible and twisted… What had happened earlier that morning was simply the cherry on top of the most fucked-up sundae ever. It really was almost laughable, wasn’t it?

What else could they do at this point? All three of them had certainly shed enough tears over what they’d been through. Maybe it would be nice to be able to laugh, for a change.

So Emberlynn closed her eyes, threw her head back, and joined them.