Family reunion time!
Disclaimer is still the same... actually, I claim Nat and her whole family!
We walk up to the door and suddenly I am nervous. I haven't seen this man in at least six years. Does he even want to see me again? 'Of course!' I chide myself. Gibbs gives me the honor of knocking on the door. I square my shoulders and give a good knock. It's not long before the door is opened to reveal and man. "What can I-?" he stops when he notices me, "Natalie?" Silent tears start to slip out of my eyes as I nod. He kneels down slowly and I can tell he doesn't know what to do. I think he's being extra cautious because he doesn't want to scare me off. I let him know it's okay by throwing myself into his arms. We sit there in our awkward hug for a bit.
"How are the bowls?" I ask, trying to diffuse the tension. He laughs at that.
"They... well, they stopped being made shortly after you were taken," he admits.
"Why?" I ask.
"Because that was my special time with you. I couldn't look at those bowls with thinking of our time together," he tells me, "have you seen your parents yet?"
"No, I wanted to see you first," I say. He looks surprised at this.
"I'll call them,"
"No! I- I want to surprise them," I tell him. He nods.
"Can I come with you then? I would love to see their faces," he says. I look up at Gibbs and he gives me the okay. The three of us load into Gibbs' car and head off to my parents house... my house. We get there and Gibbs turns off the engine. We sit very quiet for several minutes, the men waiting for me to make the first move. I take a deep breath and open the car door. I get out and the other two follow suit. I make my uncle knock on the door. I have no idea why I'm so nervous... until the door opens. A woman open the door with at least six kids running around in the back. Only one seems older than me, but not by much. The woman herself also seems to have another one on the way... and soon.
"Hello, Ted. What can I do for you and your Marine buddy today?" she asks.
"Kirsten, this man has found Nat!" Ted exclaims. Her face goes into shock.
"He did? Where is she?" she asks quickly. I peek around from behind the two men. She notices me and runs over to me for a hug. I almost jump back, not used to this, but I didn't want to make her angry or sad. I accepted the hug, but that didn't stop me from looking at the two men for help. Gibbs stepped in and briefed her on what happened. "Well, come on in! Tom will be pleased to see you!" We follow her through the messy house and I realize suddenly that I may have to live here. I stop cold when the oldest comes up to me.
"Hi! I'm Jason and I'm eleven! What's your name?" the boy named Jason asks me.
"Um, m-my name i-is M-" I stutter and then stop. I almost said 'Morgan,' "Natalie. My name is Natalie." His eyes grow wide and he turns me around in a 360.
"Holy smokes! You're my sister ain't cha?" he exclaims, obviously astonished. I nod and he starts grinning, "Momma always did say every night 'now we have to pray for our baby Nat so she can return safely to us.' We stopped after Momma had Gina. She's only six. Connie is older, 'cause she's seven. But, golly! Now you're here!" Jason hopped around. He sure did seem excited for only seeing me.
"Well, I have to go now. I'm meeting Tom. Is he another sibling?" I ask. Jason laughs.
"Of course not silly! He our Dad!" Jason tells me. He walks with me towards the adults. I find it quite nice to have someone with me at all times.
"There you are Nat! Come here sweetie! Meet your dad," my mother tells me. I peek around the corner. He looks sort of like my uncle Ted, but has his own well defined face. I glance back at my mother and immediately know where I got the red hair. But I can also tell, I got the higher metabolism from my father. I walk cautiously towards the man. He didn't push me at all and let me choose the sped of our meeting. I turn towards Gibbs and he catches the look I give him. He ushers my uncle, brother and mother out of the room. All at once, I run towards my father and hug him tight.
"Hey there Pumpkin," he whispers into my ear.
"Daddy, I would say I missed you, but I have to be honest with you. I don't remember much of you," I tell him.
"Well, you seem to have had a great education," he says, starting off with light conversation. I nod.
"I went to private school in Chicago," I tell him. He nods, but I can see the pain in his eyes. I look away quickly. I hadn't meant to upset him, "sorry," I say as I look at my feet.
"For what? Did you know, its my fault you were taken? I looked away for... just a second and... you were gone," he swallowed and finally looked back at me... tears glistening in his eyes.
"Where?" I manage to whisper.
"We were at the park. Jason was with his friend Andy and they were wrestling. I should've taken you with me, but I thought you were fine. You were such a good girl, I knew you wouldn't run off. I broke up the boys before they got hurt, but when I turned back around... you were gone. I looked for an hour, I called the police, we searched for weeks, but there was no trace," he finished and it looked as if a ton of bricks were lifted off of his chest. I start to remember that day. Jason and Andy playing, me sliding down the slide, Daddy walking away and the boys yelling in the background... darkness after a sharp pain on the back of my head. That's all I remember from that day, after that is life with Viv and Greg.
"But, I don't remember much of anything before that either. What was I like?" I ask. He sighs.
"I wish I knew," he tells me as he puts a reassuring hand on my shoulder. I cock my head with a look of puzzlement inscribed on my face.
"I wasn't around much. To be honest, your mother and I had been talking about a divorce. But when we lost you, I realized how important this family is to me. Well, as you can see from the house, we decided to have more children. For awhile we tried to pass it off as loving kids, but later we realized that we were trying to a fill and un-fillable hole... yours." I look at him in complete shock.
"My spot was surely filled. There's not a place in this house not filled," I point out. He laughs.
"The house may be full, yes. But it's not the places in the house that we were trying to fill, it was the places in our hearts," he says. I start tearing up and he pulls me into another hug.
Awwwwwwwww! Sentimental moment! Who else is glad she finally made it home?
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