Chapter Ten

"Mommy!" Sydney screamed and before John even realized it the girls had broken free of his grasp and were running toward Natalie as she rushed towards them. They came together in a tight embrace. Feeling like an outsider, John just stood back and watched and listened as Natalie, the mother of his children, reassured everyone that they were safe now.

Eventually, Natalie looked up and met his eyes and mouthed a silent "Thank you." John just nodded and stood back. He felt completely out of place and hated himself for it. He was broken out of his self-pitying thoughts by Bo coming over to him. "No sign of Cris in there?" Bo asked.

"No."

"Damn it," Bo cursed under his breath. "I want to get the girls and Natalie out of here just in case he does come back. They should also be examined at the hospital just to make sure they're all right."

"I'll drive them," John said.

Bo reached in his pocket and handed John the keys to his car.

John cut across the grass and went over to where Natalie was still embracing the girls. He cleared his throat. "Natalie? Bo wants me to take you guys back to Llanview and get the girls checked out at the hospital."

"Come on girls, we are getting out of here." The three of them stood up, each of the girls clutched tightly onto each of Natalie's hands.

They put the girls in the back seat of the car and before Natalie got in next to them she stopped and threw her arms around John. "Thank you so much for bringing our girls home. Thank you." She buried her face in his chest.

With a smile on his face, John just held her for a second until Syd's voice called out, "Mommy?" and Natalie broke free to join their daughters.

John gently closed the door and walked around to the driver's side.

During the ride to the hospital the girls continued to cling to their mother. The only time any of them spoke about what they had endured was when Sydney bolted straight upward and started to cry. It took come cajoling but Natalie finally got the child to admit she was scared about when the bad man came back.

"He told us he was going to get us something to eat and that we had to stay in that room…. and… and… that if we didn't do what he said…. he would… he would… hurt you Mommy," Sydney said through her tears, her voice shaking.

Unsure of what to say, Natalie just gathered her daughter in her arms and let her cry. "Shhh… it's okay Syd. Nothing bad is going to happen to me, I promise."

Eve, who had been completely quiet up until this point, leaned over Natalie and took one of her twin's hands. "Mommy is right Sydney. Besides, John is here and he won't let anything happen to her or us right?"

Surprised that she had addressed him, John glanced behind him and into her eyes. "No I won't."

For the first time Syd broke away and also looked at him. "You promise?" she sniffed.

"I promise."

Shocked at how quickly her daughters had taken to John, Natalie met his eyes in the rearview mirror and for the first time since he'd been back, actually smiled at him.

By the time they reached the hospital Bo had called ahead and almost all the Buchanan's and McBain's were there waiting for them. The second they walked through the door there had been smiles, laughs and hugs all around.

Once again, John stood back and watched feeling and outsider. He knew there was no one to blame but himself, but it still killed him to see the way his daughters were hugging his mother and brother when they had no idea who he was. Sighing, he pushed the feelings away and just stood there watching. Now that he had this second chance he had to do whatever he could to make things better.

After checking out both girls for any injuries, Michael realized that Eve was favoring her right hand. After feeling around and seeing the way she winced, he decided to send her for some X-Rays. It turned out that she had broken her hand and hadn't wanted to worry Natalie by telling her about the pain. So after insisting that Natalie stay with Syd and that he could handle it, Michael went to work on his niece.

Michael and Eve had always had a special relationship as she reminded him a lot of a younger John, so Michael tried talking to her in order to get her mind off of everything that happened. But soon Eve got a serious look on her face.

"Uncle Mike can I ask you something?" Eve said as Michael started to apply the plaster cast to her left arm.

"Of course Evie-Bear."

"Is that man John our daddy?"