Bab 262: Chapter 262
"Good morning, nightingale." Erik said as Pearl opened her eyes. She smiled and kissed him, getting up and heading to the bathroom to take a shower. A knock at the hotel room door forced Erik out of bed and into a robe.
"Good morning, Jim. To what do I owe this lovely wake up call?" Erik asked, yawning.
"Is Pearl awake yet?" Jim asked.
"Yes. She is having a shower. What do you need?" Erik asked, inviting him in.
"Um, well. I got a message that someone was here to see her, so, I went down to the lobby." Jim said, shakily.
"Ok. Who is it?" Erik asked.
"It's her parents." Jim said, nervously.
Erik took a deep breath.
"Ok. Send them to the restaurant. We will be down shortly for breakfast. And you should come as well." Erik said.
"I planned on it." Jim said, closing the door behind him. Erik wasn't sure how this would play out but it needed to happen. It was only a matter of time.
"Starting coffee?" Pearl asked, walking into the kitchen area as she towel dried her hair.
"Yes. We are going to need it, I imagine." Erik said, looking at Pearl.
"What's going on?" She asked, aware of his ominous tone.
"We have guests, downstairs, waiting for us." He said.
"Guests? Who?" Pearl asked, shakily.
"Your parents." He said, with a deep breath. Pearl looked shocked and immediately went pale.
"Why are they here?" She asked.
"I don't know. Jim notified me when you were in the shower. I told him to take them to the restaurant where we would meet them for breakfast." He said. Pearl sat on the couch and looked forward blankly.
"They haven't been in my life much at all these years. I asked them for help a few years back when I first wanted to leave Paul. They told me to suck it up, basically. I haven't spoken to them since." She said.
"Well, I am here now, you don't have to face them alone." Erik said, sitting down next to her and putting his arm around her. She nodded and sighed. "Ok. Let's do it, then." She said, getting up and getting dressed.
******************
Pearl and Erik walked into the restaurant and the hostess took them to their table.
"Hello, Mom. Dad." Pearl said, dryly.
"Hey Pearl!" Her mother said, trying to sound peppy and happy.
"I'm Erik." Erik said, holding his hand out to shake. Her mom and dad both smiled and shook his hand.
"It's good to meet you, finally." Her father said.
"Sorry. Yes. Erik, this is Darlene and Allen." Pearl said.
"Lovely to meet you." Erik said and pulled out Pearl's chair, unbuttoned his suit jacket and sat down.
"How did you know we were in town?" Pearl asked.
"It was on the news. A couple was talking about what you did for them in the Poconos. The wedding. Everyone is talking about it. Then I saw another interview saying you were at a restaurant here in town together." Her mother said.
"Ah. Ok." Pearl said.
"So, how have you been?" Her father asked.
"I am doing well, thank you." Pearl said, formally.
"We have been following all your stuff. Your album. Your last relationship. We watched your wedding, it was really beautiful." Her mother said.
"Thank you very much. It was a lovely day." Erik said, looking at Pearl and smiling.
"I just can't believe it. Our daughter. A Princess!" Her mother said.
Pearl looked at Erik and he could see she was struggling to remain civil.
"Way to suck it up, huh?" Pearl said, unable to take it anymore.
"Pearl. You know what we meant. Marriage is a serious vow to take. We didn't want you to leave without making sure it was absolutely necessary." Her mother said.
"Mom. There were four other women, that I KNEW about. And that isn't all. He was abusing me, mentally. Every day. He made me believe it was my fault he had to go elsewhere. The entire marriage was spent in a gaslighted state of fear and self loathing. I was controlled. Lied to." Pearl said.
Her mother put her head down and her father nodded.
"I know I was a horrible person. For years. I can't make excuses about it. I needed help and self medicated instead. But your mother stuck it out with me. And I'm grateful." He said.
"But that was your experience, with your marriage. Not mine. I needed to leave." Pearl said.
The waitress came and poured coffee for them. Erik ordered for himself and Pearl.
"I understand that. We are just trying to help you understand where we were coming from." Her father said.
"My entire life, all I wanted to do was live up to your idea of what a successful, good person is. And all my life, nothing was ever good enough. You've never told me you were proud of me. You've never hugged me. I've never witnessed you showing one another affection in any kind of way. You've never touched. Hugged. All this misery inside of yourselves and instead of dealing with it, you projected in onto me." Pearl said.
"Again. We know we are far from perfect. But for god's sake. You married the prince of England and decided not to tell us about it? Pearl. We need to try and fix this. Don't you realize how much that hurt us? How we look to the world?"Her mother said.
Pearl crossed her arms and sat back. Erik took a deep breath, and said, "For many years I created distance between myself and my family. Not for the same reason but similar ones. I can't tell you if it helped or hurt us. I also can't tell you if reconciliation was necessary or not but I will tell you, I was ready to renounce it all for Pearl. I recognized her role in my life as something positive that I hadn't been used to feeling. I honestly wanted to keep her away from the toxicity between myself and my family, if that makes sense. Not as a personal insult to them but as a protective barrier for myself and my feelings." Erik began. "I hope to one day have children. And I think it's important for me, as a father, to remember not to take what my son or daughter does personally. To allow them to grow and learn without making everything about me and how it affects me. My parents did that. Took everything personally. My ferocity. My finding myself. They saw it as an act of rebellion against them. When in actuality, it wasn't about them at all." Erik said, taking a drink of his coffee. "Sometimes being a parent means allowing your children to be who they are and to love them unconditionally, regardless of the pain it causes. I mean, parents seem to demand that kind of respect from their children, after all. Why shouldn't it go both ways?"
Pearl's parents sat quietly. Pearl looked at him with so much love. She found herself falling in love with him even more at moments like this.
"If you want a relationship with Pearl, it's like anything else in life. It has to be earned. Take it from someone who had a life handed to him, it isn't the best way to learn to appreciate things. Earning them is so much more rewarding." He said, leaning over to Pearl and kissing her forehead.
"I understand." Her father said. "And what I came here for today, was to ask for the chance to do that."
Pearl nodded. "The opportunity has always been there. It's not something you needed to ask. You just had to want to put in the effort yourself." Pearl said.
She looked at Erik. "I'm pregnant. I'm due around Christmas. If you want to know your grandchild, the first thing you might want to do is stop trying to make me feel guilty for how my life choices have hurt you and start understanding that if you want me to forgive your past mistakes, you need to try to at least have some empathy for mine." Pearl said. "I'm sorry my love, I have lost my appetite." She said as she got up and left the table.
Erik nodded and stood. She thanked her parents and headed back to the room.
"It was nice meeting you, Erik. I'm happy to see someone treating my daughter so well." Allen said.
"Yes. But she'd still be with Paul, as his doormat, if you had any say in it. I hope that's what keeps you working on fixing yourself for your daughter and grandchild. We would love to have you in our lives, if you can be." Erik said, standing up and excusing himself. He turned to Jim and told him to make sure breakfast was on his room tab. Jim nodded.
*************
"I'm proud of you." Erik said, entering the room.
Pearl smiled.
"Thank you for what you said to them." She said.
"Pearl, I meant it when I said you never have to go through one more thing alone in this life. No more fighting. No more having to be strong. I meant it. I will defend and honor you, mercilessly. I would die for you. Kill for you. And nothing will ever come between us. Do you hear me?" He asked.
"Yes." She said.
"I love you." He said.
Status Power Mingguan
-- Peringkat
Power 
-- Power
stone