"I love your laugh." Henry said into the phone. Him and Natalie had been talking for a good 20 minutes.

"Then make me laugh more." Natalie teased. It had only been 2 days but they were already inseparable. They only got off the phone with each other when they had to, and Natalie found herself giggling and acting giddy as if it were some silly junior high school crush.

"When are you coming back over?" She asked, these 2 days seemed like years. "I miss you." Natalie whispered.

"I miss you guys too. But this whole week when I'm not working I'm looking for a new job."

"Why do you want a new job?"

"I hate mine."

"Oh. What are you looking at?"

"Stuff I used to do – composer work, some record company positions, and a couple of music clubs in the city."

"All of them in New York?" Natalie asked, biting her lip.

"Yeah, but no worries, it's only like a half hour commute."

"Mhmm. Seriously, when are you coming over?" She asked, really missing him.

"Well, I've yet to take you out on an actual date in the past 4 years." Henry commented.

"Aw, you don't have to take me out. We can just hang here."

"With Jess?" Henry asked.

"Oh, well if you want…"

"No, I mean I don't mind it just being you and me. I was just wondering." Henry quickly clarified.

"Want to come over after bed time tomorrow?" Natalie asked, smirking. Henry grinned

"Sounds like a plan. But I AM taking you out on a real date."

"Of course you are." Natalie challenged.

"I am!" Henry exclaimed. Natalie giggled.

"I'll see you around, 9 tomorrow night?" Henry asked.

"Yeah."

"Great, alright I'll see you then." Henry smiled and Natalie could practically hear him grin and smiled too,

"Yay." She murmured.

"Nighty night." Henry replied and Natalie giggled.

"Goodnight Henry."

The next night they talked on the phone again for hours after dinner,

"Hey, I'm about to put her in bed, do you want to come over?" Natalie asked.

"Uh…sure, anytime?"

"Yeah." Natalie could feel herself grinning.

Natalie tucked Jessica in, and then went to make sure that even in her ratty tank top and pajama pants she still looked decent, and then she heard a light tapping on the door. She practically ran to it. Natalie couldn't remember the last time she felt so vulnerable. She opened the door and smiled brightly.

"Hey." Henry said in a husky whisper, grinning.

"Hi." Natalie leaned forward and put her hands on either side of his face, and kissed him gently.

She let him inside and then led him over to the couch, and they sat down. Henry slipped his arm around her shoulder.

"How was your day?" He whispered close to her, and Natalie could feel his warm breath on her cheek.

"Fine." She reached for his hand and wound her fingers through his, and then leaned toward him and kissed him again.

"Hey…" Henry murmured, pulling away, "Look, I think we need to talk." He said.

"About…?" Natalie asked.

"Us. I mean, you know I know how close we were before, but a lot of time has gone by, and a lot of things have changed. I think that…we just need to be careful, and take things slow. I mean…what's the rush, you know? I think that for everyone's sake, we should just take it slow and let things happen. Take some time and get to know each other again, and just enjoy being together before we take things too seriously."

Natalie nodded,

"You're right, I don't want to rush this….not with her in the picture especially. Because I think this could really turn into something, and I don't want to throw that away." Henry nodded,

"Good….both on the same page."

"But are we…like…?" Natalie asked.

"You mean like….um I dunno. Do you want to be?" Henry asked. Natalie decided to tease him and asked

"Do I want to be what?" Henry sighed, realizing what she was doing.

"Do you want to be my girlfriend?" Natalie smiled, remembering the first time he had asked her that, years ago.

"Hmm…" She teased.

"Don't even!" Henry cried, laughing.

"Of course." She murmured, and kissed him again, slowly and lovingly.

"Yay." Henry muttered. They pulled away and started talking some more, and before they knew it 2 hours had gone by.

"Mhmm…I need to go, I'm sorry." Henry whispered in between kisses..which they had ended up doing.

"It's fine, you need to sleep." Natalie replied.

"You look pretty exhausted yourself." Henry told her. "Do you ever sleep?" He asked.

"Nope." Natalie replied, Henry grinned,

"Well I'm going to change that…" And he lifted Natalie up, and she laughed and carried her to her room and tossed her gently on the bed.

"Goodnight, I'll talk to you tomorrow." He said. "Sweet dreams." He kissed her lightly.

"Night, Henry."

2 weeks later Henry landed a job being an assistant to a big record company executive in New York City. He drove in and out every day, and was usually exhausted by the time he got home so there were no more late night phone calls or secret meetings.

They went out to dinner, and met up for lunch when they could, and talked on lunch breaks, and Henry was always sending Natalie cute text messages through the day.

Henry: Dinner with my 2 favorite girls tonight? It's been a long 18 hours…missing you two

Henry: I can hear you're beautiful piano playing from another state

Henry: How's your Tuesday so far, beautiful?

Their relationship was so much different than it ever was. It was no longer Henry taking care of an angry, upset Natalie. It was Henry and Natalie caring about each other. Natalie was vulnerable, and flirty, and happier than she'd ever been.

And Henry was more spontaneous, and brave, and even though they were both so different, things were going perfectly. But they had decided that for the sake of taking things slow, they would take their time telling their family, friends, and Jessica about the relationship. So it was a secret. That wasn't so easy to keep.

Occasionally though, Henry did come over at night. He always brought something for Natalie – flowers, food, chocolate , gifts, even wine. It wasn't the same relationship Natalie had once known, but it still seemed so comfortable and familiar, and she was happier than ever.

"Have you told your family? About Jess?" Natalie asked one night, she was laying on the couch, her head in Henry's lap, looking up at him. Henry stroked her hair and replied,

"Not yet."

"Why not?" Natalie asked. "It's kind of important." She added.

"Of course it is! I just….I don't know." Henry murmured. Natalie sat up,

"What do you mean you don't know? When are you going to tell them?"

"I'm waiting for the right time, I just want to see how things go." Natalie seemed really upset now.

"What do you mean see how things go! Henry – you and I are taking it slowly to see how things go, because we aren't positive that it's going to work out. Are you saying that…what..you being her father isn't going to work out!" She cried, trying to keep her voice down, and standing up.

"Of course not Natalie! Look, it's kind of a hard thing to tell them, so I'm waiting until it's a good time – over the phone really isn't a good way…."

"But you barely ever see them!" Natalie argued.

"Yeah, because my Dad's an asshole! Maybe I don't want them knowing, I don't want him screwing her up the way he did me."

"What so you're just going to hide her your whole life!" Natalie yelled.

"Shhh…" Henry stood up and shushed her. "Look, of course it's not like that. You know what…fine, I'll call them tomorrow."

"Do you promise?" Natalie asked. Henry kissed her gently.

"Promise. Of course me being her father is going to work out, and you and me – we're going to work out too. I know it, okay?" Natalie sighed.

"I'll be really pissed off if you don't call tomorrow." She said.

"I will." Henry told her and kissed her again.

"I'll call you right after and let you know it goes, okay?" Natalie nodded and she kissed him this time.

"Goodnight." Henry hugged her and whispered and then left.

The next day….

Henry sat in his office during his lunch break, took a deep breath, and cautiously dialed his old home phone number.

"Hello?" He smiled, happy that it was his mom and not his father.

"Mom, hey."

"Henry! Sweetheart, how are you?" She asked excitedly.

"I'm good….I um actually wanted to tell you guys something."

"Is something wrong?"

"Oh no! No, no, no. Um, hey do you remember…Natalie?" Henry could almost feel his mother tense up. Henry had gone through a rough time after the break up, a really rough time and his family sat and watched. They knew he was going through it because of her, and they had grown this hatred for her and what she did to him.

"Natalie Goodman?" His mother asked, and he could hear disgust in her voice.

"Yes."

"Of course I remember her." Henry could hear the bitterness when she said 'her'.

"Good, uh well. I ran into her a little while ago, and uh I found out something important. Natalie…she broke up with me…to protect me from something. She didn't want it holding me back or hurting me, so she took off..but uh. Natalie was pregnant. When we broke up." Henry cringed, waiting for his mom to speak, but she didn't. So he continued, "And she had a daughter, and….we had a paternity test taken a little while ago and..and she's mine." Henry's mother cut him off.

"Why was there a paternity test? Who elses would it be?" She asked

Henry took a deep breath.

"Um, she had…."

"Slept with someone else while you were together! Yeah, she was the type…"

"Mom, please! Yes, okay…but don't talk about her like that. Until she left, you LOVED Natalie, don't deny it. You know she went through a tough time, but you know she was an awesome person."

"Fine. I liked her back when you two were in high school. Didn't see much of her in college but…"

"No buts..she was just as great. And yes – look she was honest with me, yes there was another possible father…but she's mine, our daughter. And I've been seeing her and taking her on weekends, and thought you'd like to know."

"Yes, Henry…it's good to know I have a granddaughter nobody told me about! So, she just hid this from you for 4 years?"

"Yes, but…she just didn't want me to get hurt. We talked, she was trying to protect me."

"Well of course she was." Henry's mom muttered.

"Mom! Please! Don't hate her because of what happened to me, that was my fault." Henry's mom sighed.

"I'm sorry, it's just that she was the reason that my son was hurting so badly, but you're right, she was a nice girl."

"She still is Mom. And Jessica….my daughter…she's amazing, Mom."

"I'd like to meet her. And I haven't seen you in months – how about you two come over for dinner Saturday night?"

Henry didn't want to – he didn't want his father meeting Jessica, but he knew that to keep the peace he had to say yes.

"Sounds good." He replied.

"I'll see you two then, I love you Henry."

"I love you too, Mom."

Saturday night:

"You two have fun." Natalie said, zipping up Jessica's raincoat.

"You, try to get some rest." Henry told Natalie. "Your mom never sleeps." He said, bending down to Jessica's height. She smiled.

"Mommy is busy, busy, busy!" She exclaimed. Henry and Natalie chuckled.

"Alright, I love you." Natalie kissed Jessica's forehead and smiled at Henry. "Be good." She warned him, she knew about his rocky relationship with his Dad.

Henry pulled into an all too familiar driveway and sighed.

"Alright, let's go kiddo." Henry said, lifting Jessica from her car seat. He held her hand as they walked up the walkway and rang the bell. His mom answered, and smiled.

"Sweetheart." She exclaimed, and hugged him and kissed him.

"My goodness, and this must be Jessica!" Henry's mom cried, kneeling down. Jessica smiled.

"Give her a hug, Jess." Henry said and Jessica quietly hugged her Grandma, who let them inside. Henry could hear heavy footsteps approaching and rolled his eyes as his father appeared.

He glanced down at Jessica and back up at Henry.

"Henry." He muttered, sticking his hand out. Henry shook it cautiously.

"Hey." Was all he said. Henry knelt down protectively beside his daughter, putting an arm tightly around her shoulder.

"This is Jessica, my daughter. Jess, this is your Grandpa." Henry told her. She nodded and smiled weakly. Mr. Carter smiled and bent down.

"It's so nice to meet you, Jessica." Was all he said. They all sat down to eat and made small talk, and Jessica was oddly quiet. Mrs. Carter could tell she wasn't very happy so she said,

"You know Jessica…if you go upstairs to the first door, there's a room where I set up some of your daddy's old toys if you'd like to play. There's blocks, and trains, and crayons and coloring books…and lots more if you'd like to go take a look." Jessica smiled and whispered

"Thank you." And then got up and made her way up the stairs.

"Your mom told me, about what went on a few years back, with that druggie." Mr. Carter muttered. Henry took a deep breath.

"She's not a druggie. Never was." He said firmly. Mr. Carter snorted,

"Alright." He said sarcastically. "So, she goes off partying like a little slut, gets pregnant and then doesn't tell you for four years. Probably wanted the kid for herself, selfish little…"

"HEY! That's enough." Henry yelled. Mrs. Carter sighed.

"Look you don't know her so just shut up." Henry cried.

"Excuse me?"

"Excuse ME!" Henry replied, standing up and slamming his fork down.

"Who the hell do you think you are!"

"Henry, stop it." Mrs. Carter said, putting a hand on his arm and sitting him back down.

"He has no right to disrespect her like that."

"Why do you care so much Henry, she's out of your life, and thank God…" Mr. Carter added.

"Why do I care! Maybe because we have a daughter together, and because you have no right to be judging her!"

"Really, because she's been hiding my granddaughter from…."

"HEY…stop." Mrs. Carter scolded, gesturing towards the stairs, where Jessica was watching.

They all looked at the upset looking girl in silence.

"Jess, c'mere." Henry said and she slowly walked down the stairs and stood next to him.

"Are you done?" Henry asked his dad.

"My son, my granddaughter, I have a right to serve up a piece of my mind. And if you ask me, she was a selfish, irresponsible, you know what…getting with god knows how many guys…"

"ONE." Henry yelled. "One other guy…and me. That's it. She's not selfish, and she's not irresponsible, and never was either of those things, so you know what…just…nobody asked you."

"How do you know it was only one other guy! How do you know she didn't slip the paternity test doctor some cash to give you the result you wanted?" Mr. Carter accused.

"Excuse me!" Henry yelled, and Jessica jumped.

"You know what, I'm fucking sick of this, you have no right to be disrespecting me and my family like this. We're going, Jess."

"No need to storm out, Henry." Mr. Carter said.

"Thanks for dinner, mom." Henry said, ignoring his Dad, and zipping up Jessica's jacket.

"I'm sorry." He apologized to her.

"It's okay, I understand." His mother said.

"Goodbye, Jessica." She quickly hugged her granddaughter. "I hope I'll see you soon." She told her.

"Me too." Jessica replied. Mr. Carter stood up,

"Goodbye Jessica." And he walked over, and opened his arms for an awkward hug. Jessica looked him up and down,

"Can I have a hug goodbye?" He asked.

"I don't want to hug you…if you were disrespecting my Daddy." She whispered and Henry grinned brightly.

His daughter…with his girlfriend's sass. She was perfect.

Mr. Carter smiled grimly at her, and then glared at Henry and whispered,

"Nice job with her." Sarcastically.

"I know…she's amazing." Henry said smugly, picking up his daughter, kissing his mom goodbye, and walking out – planning on never going back.

Henry rang Natalie's doorbell, holding Jessica's hand tightly. She was sort of grumpy, and he couldn't blame her, after being around his father. And she was exhausted. Natalie opened the door,

"You guys are back early." She commented.

"We left!" Jessica exclaimed, walking inside.

"What do you mean?" Natalie asked and Henry stepped in too.

"Grandpa was disreflecting…"

"Disrespecting." Henry gently corrected.

"Disrespecting Henry so we LEFT!" Jessica explained proudly.

"You just walked out?" Natalie asked Henry.

"I'm not tolerating his you know what anymore. He had no right to be saying the things he was saying."

"Jess, go to your room, Henry will come say goodnight." Natalie told her daughter who sighed and slugged her way to her bedroom.

"What'd he say?" She asked.

"Shit he has no right to be saying."

"About you?"

"About you. And me. And Jessica. I'm through with him. He fucked me over, I'm not letting him do it to her, or make her feel the way he makes me feel." Natalie nodded.

"Okay. What did he say about me?" Natalie asked.

"Nothing."

"Henry, c'mon I've heard it all before I just want to know."

"It doesn't matter what he thinks of you."

"I know, I just want to know what he said." Henry looked at Natalie's gentle eyes.

"Slut? Whore? Drug addict? C'mon, just tell me." Natalie told him. Henry sighed.

"Something like that." He murmured. "But don't you listen to a word of it." Natalie sighed. "Hey, c'mon, none of it's true." He said, hugging her.

"It is."

"It's not."

"Why don't you go say goodnight?" Natalie asked.

"Are you okay?" Henry asked her.

"Yeah."

"Please don't believe anything he said."

"Okay." Henry kissed her cheek and walked into Jessica's room.

"Goodnight kiddo, I'm sorry about tonight. I know it wasn't lots of fun, but I appreciate you going and being good."

"Anytime, Daddi-o." Jessica replied, giggling. Henry smiled and tucked her under the covers.

"Wow you put your pajamas on by yourself."

"YUP!" Jessica squeeled.

"Your shirt's on inside out…but we don't have to tell mom." Henry told her.

"Our little secret." Jessica said.

"Yeah." Henry said, chuckling. "Goodnight, I love you." He added.

"Goodnight, I love you too." She said, pulling the blankets around herself. Henry walked out and grabbed Natalie's hands.

"Don't worry about him, okay? He's wrong." He kissed her gently.

"I'll see you later." She told him. Henry nodded,

"Sleep tight." He told her and kissed her one more time before heading out.

"Wait, Henry! Did you tell your parents….that you and I are…together?"

"No, I thought we weren't telling anyone." Henry replied. Natalie sighed.

"Yeah, we're not I was just making sure. I don't want them like calling my parents….or whatever."

"Our little secret." Henry murmured and winked. Natalie laughed. "Bye."

Super duper sorry for the longggg wait! Hope it was worth it…reviews?