Chapter One
February 2006
It was now or never.
Mustering up all the courage within her, Natalie Buchanan looked down at the pregnancy test she was holding in her shaky hands.
It was positive.
Drawing in a sharp breath, Natalie all but fell onto her bed as the stick fell out of her hands. She was going to be a mother.
After three months of being constantly tired, run down and often nauseous it had finally dawned upon her that those missed periods may not have just been caused by stress.
Natalie sat there alone and in shock for almost an hour until she reached a decision. Regardless of what their current situation was, she had to tell him. She knew it wouldn't be an easy task, as just yesterday they had had an awful fight – one which ended with an awful lie on her part – she had told him she hated him. Of course Natalie hadn't meant it, but John hadn't given her a chance to explain. Grabbing her purse and jacket, Natalie jumped up from the bed and rushed from the room… she knew where to find him.
Taking a shaky breath, Natalie raised her hand and knocked loudly on the hotel room door, still unprepared for the conversation that lay ahead. However nothing in the world could have prepared her for the sight she was about to see.
When the door swung open it wasn't John she faced, but Michael.
At first Natalie that didn't register as odd – until she looked past him and realized that John's apartment had been stripped bare.
He was gone.