Previous Disclaimers Apply

Chapter 2

The rest of the morning flew by and Olivia and Emma were on their way to Alan's funeral. They got there early and found Phillip with the rest of the family. They were in the ante room waiting to be seated once all the guests had arrived. When they entered the room, Emma ran over to her Daddy and he scooped her up into his arms.

"Hey there, Sweetie. How are you?" Asked Phillip to his beautiful 9 year old little girl.

"I'm OK Daddy. I miss granddad." Said the little girl quietly.

They walked off to a corner together to talk. Phillip's wife, Beth came to greet Olivia. Beth and Phillip were soul mates; they had been together for a while and had a couple of kids, but were then separated. It was then that Emma was born. A few years after Emma was born he and Beth reunited and have been together ever since.

"How is she?" Asked Beth to Olivia.

"OK, I think. She's been quiet. You know Emma's not usually like that."

"True."

"Though, I think Alan being sick, it softened the blow; I mean as opposed to a heart attack or car accident or something."

"Yeah. Will you sit with the family?" Asked Beth.

"If that is what you want."

Olivia and Beth rejoined the group as did Phillip and Emma. Before long the service was underway and the family was led out into the sanctuary. Natalia and her son, Raphael arrived a few minutes before the service was to begin and had to take a seat in the back. They did not have a chance to find the rest of the family.

After the service and burial, the family gathered at the church to receive. It was a long line of course. Alan Spaulding had touched many lives. Natalia and Rafe had been waiting in line for more than 30 minutes when Phillip happened by.

"Natalia? I didn't know you were coming. Why aren't you with the rest of the family?" Asked Phillip.

"We were late arriving and…"

"Well, come join us now."

"No, I don't think that would be right. I mean I don't know anyone and neither does Rafe."

"That doesn't matter. You're family, you were married to my brother. Even if we weren't raised together, Alan still loved Nick. Please?"

"OK."

Phillip led Natalia to the front of the line with Rafe following.

"Everyone, you all might not remember, but this is Natalia Aitoro and her son Rafe; she was Nick's wife." Said Phillip to the group.

Olivia had been talking some of the Lewis clan when she heard Phillip mention Natalia. She excused herself and Emma to join in on Phillip's conversation. She got there as he was introducing everyone.

"I'm not sure if you remember my wife Beth, our kids Lizzie and James."

Natalia was changing pleasantries when out of the corner of her eye she saw Olivia, the owner of the Beacon. The owner of those gorgeous green eyes.

"Oh, and this is Olivia Spencer and our daughter Emma."

"Yes, we've met. Rafe and I are staying at the Beacon."

"Hi again." Said Olivia.

Natalia was about to reply when Phillip motioned for them to get back in line for all of the well wishers. She wanted to clarify their relationship. She only knew what Nicky had told her about his family. She thought Phillip only had children with Beth. She didn't realize that Phillip and also been married to Olivia.

After a while, Emma was getting tired. Olivia wanted to take her home. They went to say goodbye to Phillip and Olivia was looking around for Natalia but did not see her. They found Phillip and he walked Olivia and Emma to their car. Emma got in the back seat and buckled in while Olivia talked with Phillip.

"Phillip, who is Natalia Aitoro to the Spauldings?" Asked a confused Olivia.

Olivia never remembered her being mentioned before. She didn't understand how she fit into the Spaulding family.

"Do you remember a while back when Alan discovered he had another son, you know the cliché about the man of the house and the maid?"

"Really? Alan had an illegitimate son, with the maid?"

"Yep, his name was Nicholas Aitoro."

"Was?"

"He died a while back. Natalia is his widow and Rafe's his son. They live in Chicago."

"So Alan didn't have a relationship with Nick and his family?"

"Not really. At first their tried to have a relationship, but that was back when Alan was always trying to control everything and Nick wouldn't have any of it and he didn't want his wife and child exposed to Alan. So they had limited contact. They'd come to town at Christmas for the day; Alan would go there on Nick's and Rafe's birthdays, but that was about all the contact Nick would allow. I'm actually surprised that Natalia came."

"Huh, OK. Well, I'm going to head home. You're still taking Emma tomorrow for the day, right?"

"Yes, I think it will help the both of us to spend some time together."

"Good night, Phillip. I'm so sorry."

"I know, Olivia. Thank you."

They hugged briefly before Olivia got in her car for the drive home. It was a short drive back to the Beacon. Emma and Olivia changed out of the nice clothes and they both ended up snuggled together on Olivia's big king size bed. Emotionally drained, they both drifted off to sleep.

Olivia woke up around 6pm that evening. She rousted Emma awake. Instead of ordering room service she decided to eat in the restaurant. She sent Emma to change out of her loungey clothes and she did the same. Olivia then called Ava to join them.

They strode into the restaurant and the host immediately seated Olivia in her favorite booth. He always kept it available because he never knew when the Boss would take a notion to eat in the restaurant. The booth was in a corner but it afforded the occupants a view of the entire seating area. It was only one of two rounded booths that sat six people. They had just been served their drinks when Olivia saw Natalia and Rafe enter the restaurant. Natalia had changed out of the black dress she was wearing earlier and Rafe was in civilian clothing.

Olivia grabbed a waiter as he went by and whispered something in his ear. She watched as the waiter quickly made it across the restaurant to the host and delivered the message. She saw the host nod in acceptance and start towards them the Natalia and Rafe following.

"Please would you and your son join us for dinner?" Asked Olivia to Natalia.

"We don't want to intrude…"

"You're not, please?"

"Alright."

Natalia and Rafe joined Olivia, Ava and Emma. The waiter took their drink orders and was soon back for their entrée orders. While they were waiting Olivia decided to let Natalia know that the their kids are related.

"So, you were married to Nick, Alan's son. And Phillip and Emma's father, so that makes Rafe and Emma cousins."

"Yes, I suppose it does." Replied Natalia.

"So you are my cousin?" Asks Emma of Rafe.

"Since our dads were brothers, yep, I'm your cousin."

"Cool. Why aren't you dressed like you were earlier today?" Asked Emma.

"That was my dress uniform. I am a Marine and when you attend functions like a funeral or a wedding, I am supposed to wear my dress uniform as a show of respect. But since we are done with that and I am still on leave I can wear civis."

"Civis?" Questioned Emma.

"Regular clothes, like I have on now."

"Oh, OK."

"A Marine is a soldier, right?" Continued Emma.

"That's correct."

"How long have you been in the service?" Asked Ava.

"I've always wanted to be in the military. I really wanted to attend West Point, but I didn't have the grades. When I was 15 I finally accepted that West Point wouldn't happen, so I went for the next best thing which was joining Marines as soon as possible. It took me a year to convince my folks to let me join at 17. The only requirement was that I finish high school. So the next two summers I did summer school and was able to keep a decent enough GPA. We lost my dad when I was 16 and I was going to put off joining, but my Ma said that I should continue with my plans that it is what my dad would have wanted for me. So I turned 17 in the fall and by the end of that semester I had completed all of my requirements and graduated early. I shipped out to boot camp just after the new year. Almost 4 years later, I'm now a Sergeant doing what I love."

"I'm very proud of him. Though I don't always like that he is in danger the way Nicky was being a cop, but I know he is doing what he is meant to do." Added Natalia.

"After I return to base, I'll be shipping out to the Middle East. It'll be my second tour there."

"Wow. Rafe I don't often get a chance to speak to any military personnel, but I want to say thank you for your dedication and sacrifice." Said Olivia.

"Mommy, why are you thanking him? I don't understand?" Replied Emma.

"Em, you know Mommy wasn't born here; but I chose to become an American citizen because of the freedoms we have in this country. And the reason we have those freedoms is because of people like Rafe who are in the military and they fight for us to have those freedoms and protect us from those who would want to jeopardize us having those freedoms. Understand?" Explained Olivia.

Olivia watched as her little girl thought and concentrated for a moment on the words her mother had spoken. Emma got up on her knees and crawled in the booth behind Ava over to Rafe and into his lap. Before he had realized what happened she had pulled him into a hug.

"Thank you Rafe. Thank you for being a soldier and allowing Mommy, Ava and I live the way we do and thank you for being my cousin." Said the little girl as she kiss his cheek.

Rafe was a bit overcome with emotion. For so long now it had been just him and his Ma, even still he was not home very often. It was nice to have other family now. Maybe he won't feel as bad now when he has to leave again.

"You're welcome, Munchkin. I'm proud to do it and I am glad to have found out that you are my cousin too." Said Rafe returning the hug.

Emma returned to her seat just as the waiter was bringing their meals. After he had plated everyone's dish and made sure they didn't need anything else, he retreated. Emma watch her Mommy reach for the salt.

"No Mommy, you told Chef to not put too much salt in your meals and he always gets it right. Your heart doesn't need any more salt." Scolded the little girl to her mother.

A look passed between Natalia and Rafe both wondering what that comment was about. They watched as Olivia pulled her hand back forgoing adding additional salt to her meal. Ava changed the subject and they continued with their meal.

TBC…