Daddy's Girl Afterall

Marty was fuming, she just couldn't believe how this had happened! She had changed the results to Natalie's CVS tests herself so that it would look like Brody was the father of the redheaded shrew's demon spawn instead of John, and yet, there they were, celebrating that he was the father.

Of course John was angry at Natalie having had the tests done behind his back and lying to him about it when she had dropped her bombshell and Natalie couldn't defend herself, but it wasn't the blowout she had expected. John had just glared at her and asked her how stupid she thought he was, stating that of course he had suspected that something had happened the night he hadn't shown up at Rodi's and that Natalie was hiding it. That of course he knew damned well there would only be one reason why, and it wasn't to protect him. Him she knew she could trust. She would only keep a secret of that magnitude if it meant keeping her sister safe and sane.

What Marty also hadn't expected was the slap across the face from Jessica, who she had to admit, had hit her with more force then she thought the dumb blonde was capable of as tears ran down her face: "are you happy now, Marty?" Jessica had accused. "You ruined everything for me. What could've been a happy time for me, you took the last piece of it away. YOU took Brody away from me. Not Natalie. YOU. YOU and your need to break her and John up because you can't admit that your son is a killer. I hate the fact that this family covered for you and him so many times. G-d I can't believe I sided with you over my own sister! But then again, I did it before, didn't I, with Kevin?
Don't you ever grow up? Change? Get tired of ruining other people's lives?" Jessica demanded, then in a cold voice added: "or is this your revenge against me too? For taking Hope when I was sick? Well if it is, nicely done," she continued as she doubled over in pain: "because you just might cost me this baby too."

How she had come to be the bad guy while Natalie sat foldng silently in on herself on the couch at Lanfair she still didn't know. No one ever took Natalie's side. That just wasn't how things worked in Landview. Instead, Kelly called 9-1-1 while Natalie stared in shock, wrapped in Gigi, and then John's embrace, while Nora glared at her and Vikki looked from her blonde daughter's side, her words the simplest and most damning: "Patrick would be so disappointed in the woman you've become since he died."

Charging into her apartment, Marty threw her purse down onto the floor and slammed the door shut as Vikkie's words repeated like a mantra in her head. Words she couldn't let go of. But, in her heart of hearts, she tried to convince herself that she was right. Cole would be free if it weren't for Natalie. Patrick would understand what she had done. She could've made him understand the same way she should've been able to make all the rest of them…

"What the hell are you doing here?" Marty asked when she realized she wasn't alone and was being watched, "why aren't you at the hospital?"

Clint Buchanan glared at the blonde woman: "You mean where you put both my daughters?" he asked her.

"Jess was the one in labor," Marty shot back as she crossed her arms defensively over her chest.

"And you better hope they can stop it," Clint told her coldly. "Natalie's blood pressure's through the roof thanks to your little show."

"Well, she shouldn't have cheated on John," the blonde shrugged, not getting the hint, or understanding that to cheat on someone you needed to be in a relationship with them first. "Especially not with her sister's fiancé."

Clint leaned forward in his chair: "Natalie never cheated on John, thanks to you and your games she didn't know she had a chance with him that night. But you let him see her letter. Only when you thought she was gone."

Marty pushed her hair back and huffed: "unlike your daughter, I don't need to lie to hold onto a man."

"Really? Is that why you LIED to John that MY daughter pushed you down those stairs, conventently forgetting that Todd was in the hospital too?" Clint demanded.

A smile at the memory of how John's distrust had stung the redhead and drawn him closer to her pulled at Marty's lips: "easy mistake."

"Mistake that got your son his second strike. You better be glad that it was Todd he took his anger out on and not my daughter or… well, I think that speaks for itself."

"My son doesn't abuse women!"

"Really? Seems to me you showed yourself the first time in the Police Station because your drug addict son assaulted Star Manning."

"He paid for his mistakes."

"Did he now?" Clint wondered as he leaned back in his chair, "seems to me he got away with murder, or at least, attempted murder. Now, after John and Nora have gone out of their way to get him off of charges that have almost gotten members of my family killed you go after my daughter for doing her job because you couldn't hold onto a man, even with getting pregnant on purpose?"

"I. Didn't. Plan. That. Pregnancey."

"No, but you certainly planned on making it look like Natalie caused you to miscarry," Clint shot back as he rose and smiled coldly, "really, did you think you were the only one who could access medical records illegally, Dr. Sagbrooke?"

"I don't…"

"Of course you do. Four miscarriages while married to Patrick, high risk pregnancy with already one scare this time. Your doctor told you to prepare yourself. That you probally wouldn't carry to term. Pass the first trimester even. But you never told John that, did you?"

"It was supposition," Marty shrugged off his words.

Clint laughed: "You picked every fight with Natalie you could hoping that it would be just afterwards that you lost that baby. Then, when you were pushed, you blamed her. Eli Clarke would've been caught a lot sooner if you had told the truth."

"Hannah lied too," Marty defended.

"Crazy over your son for some unfathomable reason, which brings me to the reason I'm here," he said crossing to her. "Did you really think that I would let you hurt my daughters?"

"Since when have you or any of the Buchanans given a damn about Natalie?" Marty retorted, trying to put on a brave front.

"She's not as fragile as Jessica, we don't have to be as demonstrative with her. She knows where she stands with us. That's why she's so loyal to her sister."

"Loyal?" Marty laughed. "You think she kept quiet out of loyalty. She was scared to death that Tess would come out and give her every bit of hell she deserves."

"Being scared of her sister's alter and loyal to her are two different things, but you wouldn't know that. Loyalty's never been one of your strong points," Clint told her evenly. "That's why those lies roll off your tounge so easily. Lies about Andrew. Lies about my son raping you. Hell, even about Todd raping you when you were the one asking him to sleep with you."

"I wouldn't have if I knew what that monster had done to me."

"You can only play the rape card so long, Marty, then people start to tire of it," Clint said with a yawn and then stretched. "Notice, neither of my daughters play the victim card. They stand up for themselves and fight for themselves, neither need a man to do it, although Jessie does play as if she does more than her sister does, makes men like Brody feel more like a man. Men like John could care less. They want a strong woman, probally why he threw you over as soon as he could."

"He didn't throw me over, it was a mutual decision."

"If you say so," Clint smirked. "But of course I'm sure you're wondering how Natalie's test results came out with the right father on them. So I'll tell you. Had my own spies in the lab, wanted to make sure the right name appeared on Jessie's. But you tampered with those. Have to give you credit. Didn't think you would."

Marty narrowed her eyes: "made all the better if Brody was Natalie's baby's father and not Jessica's don't you think?"

"Got one set fixed. Think I'll make sure Jessica has the other tests redone, if you haven't cost her her baby. And if you have you better run. Faster still if anything happens to Natalie and hers because of your manipulations."

Marty rolled her eyes: "please. The lying tramp is faking so Jessica doesn't get all the attention."

"I loose my daughters or grandchildren because of you and you loosing your liscense is the last of your worries."

"Excuse me?" Marty asked indignantly.

"You stole my daughter's medical records. Lied and pretended to be her to get her test results. Changed them to suit your purposes. Put my other daughter's health in danger. I think that's more than enough ammunition to get your liscense taken away."

"As if loosing my son isn't enough?"

"He shot and killed a man. His fault not my daughter's. Neither was the fact that you were too stupid to shoot the gun before she showed up so you had gunshot residue on you," Clint told her. "I will make you pay for this, and everything else you did to my daughter. Like that slap you gave her in the squardroom."

"She deserved it."

"Hope you think your son deserves the little present I have waiting for him," Clint told her as he headed for the door. "Now, if you excuse me, I have to go see the two daughters you put in the hospital."

"If something happens to Cole…" Marty started.

"You'll do nothing. You won't be able to pay the consequences and neither will he…."