Be Strong (Tag Eri)

Eric sighed and turned his hues up to her, ''Don't get mad at me... But I ws thinking about last night... and then I thought this could have been our life if you had chosen me, and not Flynn that night'', he said quietly and smiled towards Emma, ''She does look like you'', he said quietly.

Belle paused a bit and smiled at the ground before shifting her golden hues back onto Emma. Emma smiled at her and clapped her hands for more food. Belle giggled gently and fed her a few more spoonfuls. "Why would I get mad at you, Eric?" She questioned after a moment as she turned her warm hues back to him. "I told you how often I think about that," She shrugged. 

''I know...'', Eric shrugged lightly and smiled towards them, ''I never really thought about that until you told me that stuff last night'', he sighed and took another piece of bacon, ''If I haven't met Kida, I think I would be single... Maybe I could have turn into a rockstar in this realm'', he teased.

"With your singing voice?" Belle scoffed and rolled her eyes. She walked over to him and moved behind him, wrapping her arms around his shoulder and resting her chin on his shoulder. "You would be cute in leather pants, though," she teased and kissed his temple before stealing the bacon from his hand and prancing back over to Emma.

Eric chuckled and followed her with his eyes as she moved closer to him, ''You have never heard me singing'', he teased back and shook his head as she stole his bacon. ''I look hot in leather pants... Sometimes I wear those at the club. You should go there and see by yourself'', he winked at her.

Belle arched a brow at him and chuckled softly. "Really? Well then. After Emma goes back to my house, we'll plan on going to your club tonight. You have to work anyway, correct?" She mused. "I've never been there. Should be... interesting," She mused. "I'll have to find something to wear... what do the girls there wear?" She questioned, tilting her head.

Eric chuckled and arched his eyebrows when she suggested she could go to the club tonight... ''Anything you feel comfortable... Ask Lizzy, she went there once'', he shrugged lightly. He turned his hues back to Emma and smiled, he didn't want to be far from the baby girl, but Kida was her mother, and his baby needed her daughter more than she needed him.

Belle arched a brow. "Oh, right... She snuck out with Violet," She mused. "Flynn still doesn't know that," She sighed and shook her head. She giggled a bit and watched Emma. "You two are cute together," she said softly. "You're a good father, Eric."

Eric nodded and ate what was left on his plate. He chuckled to himself, ''I know more about your children than their own father'', he grinned and cleaned his hand upon the napkin, ''Now, excuse us...'', he hummed and scooted Emma into his arms, ''I plan to spend my day with this little girl.'', he smiled and made Emma wave his hand towards Belle, ''Say bye bye to aunt Belle, and whatever plans she has for dad!'', Eric cooed. Emma squeaked cutely and clapped her hands... ''Daddy!'', she cooed and placed her little hads upon his face.

Belle smirked and shook her head. "Flynn knows what he needs to know," she mumbled. "Go have your fun now. I'm going to wear you out later," she hummed as she ate the rest of her sausage and took a sip of her milk.

Eric smirked and hummed back, looking down to Emma, ''Bad aunt Belle won't get dad later'', he winked to Belle, and headed towards the nursery. He sat Emma on the floor and played the blocks with her.

Belle smirked and shook her head. She finished eating and put away the leftovers. She then went upstairs to find some of her old clothing that she'd given to Kida. She found a blue tank top and her white shorts. She looked at herself in the mirror and grinned. She liked that the clothes in this realm showed off her skin. She liked it now that it wasn't scarred. She also liked how good she looked despite her age. She didn't mind how short the shorts were -- though, Kida had a problem with that. Kida didn't mind short shirts that showed skin. But, she preferred covering legs. How that worked in Kida's mind, she never understood. 

She walked downstairs to the nursery and smiled as she pulled her hair into a ponytail. "Awe. How cute," She cooed as she saw Eric playing with Emma.

Eric had no clue of how long he could get alone with his baby girl. He was having some fun, and sweet father-daughter moments for sure. He smirked when he heard Belle's voice from the door, and turned his hues towards her. Legs!... That was the first thing on his mind when he saw Belle. He smiled sheepishly when he looked at her face, after roaming up to her body. ''Oh no... Aunt Belle is here!'', he made a desperate voice as he turned his gaze back to Emma.

Belle smiled and knelt down beside the two of them. "Big bad Belle," She teased and sat down, stretching out her legs. She giggled as she stacked up a pile of the blocks and smirked when Emma bat them down and laughed as they all fell.

Eric nodded, ''Big bad Belle!'', he teased back, and looked briefly at her legs. She had some damn good legs... He wished that Kida used shorts more often. He leaned back on hs hands and chuckled softly as watched Emma playing with the blocks. ''Lemme daddy help you pilling those again'', he said softly as he leaned back closer to Emma.

Belle giggled and then caught notice of where Eric's gaze went. She giggled and bit her lip. She bent one leg while she kept the other extended. "I'm still tired," She sighed and laid onto the ground. She stretched out and groaned as she popped her back. "So you gonna raise Emma to run that bar in your stead?" She questioned, smirking to herself.

Eric shook his head slightly as he saw what she was doing... He knew Belle too well to know what game she was playing, and he just decided to it was for the best if he ignored her. ''No, I don't want Emma into that bar... And I hope that with Christian in military, he can get some chances to be better than a bar's owner'', he said with a small shrug. He was already aware of how brilliant Ian's future would be if he continued focused on the medicine career. ''I might sell it someday, and give the money to the kids'', he said softly, ''Unless you want to run the bar...'', he said with a playful smirk.

"Me, run a bar? Oh, yeah. Flynn would love that idea," Belle scoffed and sat up, though she leaned back on her hands. "I can't even drink without him telling me that he would prefer I didn't," She mumbled, poking out her bottom lip in a pout.

Eric chuckled, ''Kida tried to get me stop drinking'', she said, his eyes upon Emma. That happened a long ago, and she did make him decrease the amount of alcohol he took, except on a few occasions. ''But I got her drunk a couple of times... She's funny when she's drunk, and sexier'', he smirked slightly and then sighed. He forgot for a moment that he signed those divorce papers.

Belle arched a brow, her eyes wide with shock. "You got Kida drunk? Shit, did you drug her first?" She mused, leaning forward to hug her legs and rest her chin on her knees. She watched the way his blue hues changed when he remembered the severity of his and Kida's relationship as of late. She scooted over to him and rested her head on his shoulder. "You could fight it, you know... The divorce, I mean," She said quietly.

Eric sighed and leaned his head against hers gently, ''How could I fight it?'', he asked quietly, ''I signed those papers... It's done, there is no turning back'', he murmured and looked down. Emma noticed her father got sad, and crawled over to him, climbing to his lap.

"That's bullshit, Eric... If you love her, you'll convince her of why she shouldn't give up on this -- on you," Belle said quietly. "Make her fall in love with you again... Show her you do care. I know you love her... I know you want her back. So, fight, Eric. When you have to go to court over the divorce, fight it. Say you revoke your signature. Do everything you possibly can. Kida's worth it, isn't she?" She asked softly.

Eric pursed his lips and shook his head, ''You said the right words, Bells'', he sighed and looked at her throught his eyelashes... ''Kida is worth every fight I can make to be back to her... The question is, am I worth?'', he murmured. ''I have let her down so many times. Everytime I said I was going to get better, that I would try to be the better man... But this is only getting worse.''

"People make mistakes, Eric... But Kida loves you more than anything. Make her remember that," she mumbled and kissed his cheek affectionately. "You are worth it. Im just sorry I didnt know that back then," she smiled sheepishly.

Eric took a deep breath and pursed his lips shyly... He wished Belle could stop saying that she wanted to be with him, that she had thought of having a family with him... That was on their past. Kida was his past, present, and future for that matter. ''You are going to help me on not making those stupid mistakes again, right?'', he murmured quietly. If he was sure he wasn't going to act like a jerk, then he imagined he had a chance to be worth to Kida.