Disclaimer: I don't own these characters or this world. I just like to be a part of it sometimes
Author's Notes: This is all A/U, but takes place in my A/U where everything after the finale of 5A applies, so you'll see some familiar characters in here.
Yay! Two Drabbles in on time! So, with AL now done, would you all like me to shift the posting schedule of this? Or stick to the Sunday/Thursday postings? Let me know.
This was beta'd, but I feel like I missed some of my beta's suggested edits. Therefore, if something doesn't make sense, it's totally my fault.
Prompt: Audrey meets Nathan's nosy aunt/ older female relative who provides us and Audrey intriguing info on Nathan's past and/or ancestors. (Courtesy of Imissnaudrey)
Summary: A woman from Nathan's past arrives in Haven, giving Audrey information she never dreamed of having.
Distant Relatives
"Uh, ma'am, you can't go in there unless you have an appointment."
"It's ok dear, I'm family."
Curiosity got the better of her and won over annoyance, so Audrey looked up as the voices between her assistant Heather and another woman floated in the room. But when she could see the woman barrel past Heather's desk and enter her office, Audrey furrowed her brow.
"There you are!"
As the woman quickly moved towards and around her desk, Audrey pulled back in surprise, and fully stiffened when the woman leaned down and wrapped her arms around Audrey. When she was finally let go, Audrey pushed her chair back as far from the woman as it could go, which wasn't far in her cramped corner of her and Nathan's office. "Um, can I help you ma'am?"
The rather rotund woman leaned back and her face erupted in a wide grin, so wide that Audrey could feel herself responding to the woman's joviality. It was infectious for some reason. A Trouble perhaps?
"Oh, don't ma'am me. I'm your Aunt Betty!"
What? Audrey was instantly confused. Audrey Parker had no family, whether one was thinking of her Audrey Parker, or the Audrey Parker from Boston. "Uh, ma'am, you must have me confused with someone else."
"Of course not, dear. You're Audrey Parker, aren't you?"
Audrey was thoroughly confused. "Yes."
"Then I'm your Aunt Betty! Well, I'm Nathan's Aunt Betty, but I've heard so much about you, I know that even though we're not technically family yet, we practically are."
Audrey squirmed as the woman pinched her cheek, but realization flooded through her. Of course this woman wasn't her aunt. She was Nathan's. Nathan had never mentioned an Aunt Betty though, which instantly made Audrey suspicious. While it wasn't out of the realm of possibility, because Nathan had to have some family somewhere, it never hurt to be on alert. Especially in Haven.
"Let me see the ring!"
Betty's question startled Audrey, and instantly had her head spinning. Barely two minutes ago, she was deep in paperwork, and now she had a strange woman claiming to be Nathan's aunt completely invading her personal space, asking about a ring.
"Audrey! I'm so sorry, I couldn't stop her."
Thankful for the interruption, which caused Betty to step back a step, Audrey pushed her chair back a tiny bit more so she could stand as well. She turned towards Heather. "Uh, it's ok, Heather. Can you call Nathan though?"
"Of course."
As Heather rushed out, Audrey looked back towards Betty. She was at a loss as to what to do. "Can I help you ma'am?"
"Please, stop calling me ma'am. We're family! Call me Aunt Betty. Now, can I see the ring?"
"What ring?" Audrey watched as Betty's face fell.
"Oh dear. He hasn't asked you yet?"
Confusion. Utter confusion. "Asked me what?"
"To marry you of course! Louie from the All Things Shiny jewelry store called me a couple of weeks ago to tell me Nathan was buying a ring for his girlfriend. Of course I was shocked because I didn't even know Nathan was dating anyone, no less how serious he was about her! So I asked Louie all about this girl, and he told me all about you, and I packed my bags up right then and there so I could come meet the new addition to our family!"
Audrey closed her eyes and pinched the bridge of her nose as she let out a long breath. Coffee. She needed coffee right now. Or, alcohol. Alcohol seemed really appropriate right about now. What was this lady talking about? Had Nathan really bought a ring and was planning to ask her to marry him? And if he did buy a ring, why was it taking him so long to ask? They had never really discussed marriage – it was just kind of assumed they eventually would get married. Several times Nathan had brought up how they would have a white picket fence around their house, and a swimming pool in the backyard. She always laughed at his suggestion of the pool, because they lived in Maine for heaven's sake. They would only be able to use the pool a few weeks out of the year.
But maybe he really was serious. Was she that serious about marriage? While she had never really thought deeply about it, she knew she would marry Nathan. It was a given. Fate had brought them together, so it was only natural they spent the rest of their lives together. The kicker here however, was that she was finding out about this from a stranger, albeit one who claimed to be family, but a stranger none the less, and she had found it out from the jeweler himself. Damn small towns and their gossip. Was that why people had been so friendly to her recently? Now that she thought about it, it had been a remarkably pleasant couple of weeks around town. People had been talking to her more. She had chalked it up to the nice weather, but maybe it was something more.
"Oh, dear. Hasn't he asked you yet? Did I ruin the surprise?"
"Aunt Betty!"
Relief flooded through Audrey as Nathan's voice cut through the silence of the room. Never in her life had she been happier to see him. All those other moments in their lives, like when she was teetering over the edge of a cliff, or when she jumped through another dimension to him, or even when she flashed into ghost Haven to find him alive – none of those compared to her level of elation of seeing Nathan right now.
"Nathan! My dear boy!"
Audrey breathed out a sigh as Betty finally moved away from her, and into Nathan's personal space. She watched with a smirk as he was enveloped in the same hug she had found herself only minutes ago.
Nathan tried to extricate himself from his aunt, and pulled back. "Aunt Betty. What are you doing here?" He looked over at Audrey, who only raised her eyebrows. Nathan had the distinct feeling he was walking into a landmine.
"Louie called me and I knew I needed to get here immediately. Why haven't you told me about your girlfriend?"
"Louie called you?"
When Nathan closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose, Audrey briefly wondered which one of them had picked up the habit from the other.
"Oh yes! He told me about you going in there and buying…"
"Hey! Aunt Betty! Have you been to the Grey Gull yet? It's getting close to dinner, and we can talk then."
Audrey had to smirk. How little Nathan knew. The surprise was already blown, but he was still trying to keep it under wraps. They made eye contact and she winked at him, causing him to look momentarily confused, but he then focused his attention back on his aunt.
"That would be lovely, Nathan. Will Audrey be joining us?"
"Whether she likes it or not." Nathan glanced back at Audrey, silently begging her to join. If he was going to have to deal with Aunt Betty, he needed backup.
"So you two work together? That's so exciting!"
Nathan's tightening grip on her thigh had Audrey squeezing his hand so he would let go. He couldn't feel her through the fabric of her jeans, so he had no idea how strong his grip had become. She knew she would have bruises in the morning, but such was life, and having a man who can't feel as a boyfriend. Audrey had made an excuse of needing to change once they arrived at the Gull, and went upstairs for a few minutes, giving Nathan the opportunity to talk to his aunt without Audrey around. And because of that time, no more mention of a ring or Louie had arisen during dinner. Instead, conversation had been light, and had mostly focused on what Aunt Betty and the family had been up to since she last talked to Nathan, but the conversation was quickly shifting to focus on Nathan, and Audrey knew his defenses were rising. He was a private man, even in the face of family.
"We do. Audrey came into town because of a case she was working on, and decided to stay. We became partners…"
"…and then you fell in love."
Audrey could feel a blush forming across her face, but bit her lip to try to keep it in check. Beside her, Nathan cleared his throat.
"So, Audrey, you must really have to look out for this guy, especially because of his idiopathic neuropathy. Was it difficult to get used to?"
Audrey slid a confused glance at Nathan, but quickly turned back to Betty. She had learned Betty was Nathan's aunt on his mother's side, so perhaps his mother had kept the Troubles secret from her own sister. It probably was easier to explain that way anyways. Or maybe, his mother wanted to believe her son really did have idiopathic neuropathy. Because she was from out of town, she would have met Max Hansen during the time the Troubles were gone, so she would have had no knowledge of them. And being an outsider, no one in Haven would have enlightened her as to what they were. Perhaps that was why Nathan had to endure so many tests as a child. Every time he brought that up, Audrey always did wonder why he would be forced to go through so many tests. Even if his real father was in prison at the time of the reemergence of Troubles, surely one of the doctors in Haven would have known about Max Hansen's Trouble, and the possibility it was passed down to Nathan. It was definitely a hypothesis she would have to question Nathan on later.
"Oh, it's not too bad. He already had his own routine. I just help out where I can, like with testing the temperature of his coffee and things like that."
Betty leaned back and clapped her hands together. "Oh, you are just wonderful. You got a good one here, Nathan."
Nathan looked down at Audrey and smiled. "I really did."
Audrey grinned back, and briefly lost herself in Nathan's eyes, before remembering where they were, and who they were with. She looked away, and leaned conspiratorially across the table towards Betty. "So, Betty, Nathan is always so secret about his past. What was he like as a child?"
"Oh, he was a wonderful child. Always so rambunctious. We came to visit several times when he was young, but then I got the phone call from his mother about him developing his idiopathic neuropathy. She was going through such a difficult time, I felt guilty about visiting and invading her home, and so stayed away. I didn't want her to have to worry about taking care of us while dealing with what was going on with Nathan. I wanted to visit, because since her lowlife ex-husband was in jail, she was dealing with this all on her own. I knew she was seeing someone however, so that made me feel a little better. I hoped he was helping her with little Nathan. And then the doctor visits just seemed to take over her life, and then…well, then we lost her. "
Audrey squeezed Nathan's hand. He rarely talked about his mother, but Audrey knew his mother's absence still bothered him.
"Garland had adopted Nathan by then, bless him, and flew out the body so we could bury her at home. Haven was never her home. I'm not sure why she stayed here after she left Max, but something was keeping her here."
Audrey snuck at glance at Nathan, and could see his jaw was tight. Subtly, so Betty wouldn't see, Audrey reached behind Nathan, and pushed the back of his shirt up slightly so she could rest her palm on his lower back, just above the waistband of his jeans. Immediately, she could feel him relax slightly, and so she rubbed her thumb up and down his back in a soothing gesture.
"We all loved Garland, but we knew he would never visit again. Haven was his home, and he was the chief of police here. He wouldn't leave. And since he wouldn't leave, Nathan wouldn't either. I used to call as often as I could, but time and distance just became too much, and soon Nathan was a grownup and doing his own thing. I would check in when I could with my friends to see how he was doing. I almost came out here when I heard about Garland." Betty turned from Audrey and looked to Nathan, reaching across the table to squeeze his hand. "I'm so sorry about your loss, Nathan. I should have been here."
Nathan shook his head. "No, it's alright."
"Why didn't you come, Betty?"
Betty looked back to Audrey, and then looked at the table. "When Nathan didn't call me, I figured I wasn't welcome. We weren't close anymore."
Audrey let go of Nathan's hand, and reached across the table to Betty's. "You're always welcome. Nathan…we…were going through a rough time. And, you know how private Nathan is."
Betty looked up at Audrey and gave a small smile. "I do. But I'm so happy he has you. His mother would have loved you. You remind me of her. She came here too because of work, and ended up falling for a man, who kept her here. She had an energy to her which is very similar to yours. Yes, she would have loved you."
She couldn't explain it, but Audrey felt a warmth spread through her with Betty's words. As ridiculous as it was, she somehow wanted Nathan's mother's blessings, and these seemingly were them.
"Well, I'm sorry you two, but I travelled today, and I'm exhausted. Would you mind driving me to my hotel?"
Nathan seemed to break himself from his revere, and stood up. "Of course, Aunt Betty. Should we pick you up in the morning for breakfast?"
"Why, that would be lovely, Nathan. Thank you."
The three stood from the table and made their way towards the door, the cool air of the evening enveloping as they stepped out. Audrey held Nathan's hand as they walked towards the Bronco, and stood next to him as he unlocked the passenger side door. As she climbed in the truck, and pulled herself to the middle of the bench seat, she could hear Betty whisper to Nathan.
"Don't wait too long to ask, Nathan. This one fits right in with us."
Pretending to not hear, Audrey fastened her seatbelt, and then reached across to help Betty pull herself up and in. She had learned a lot about Nathan and his family in only a few short hours with Aunt Betty, and she was sure she would learn more the longer Betty was in town. However, the main thing on her mind was the ring Betty had mentioned…
Upcoming Prompt: Since Duke is always third wheeling I would love a story about Duke tagging along with Audrey and Nathan a lot and interrupting sexy times so Audrey and Nathan set up a dating profile for him to find him a girlfriend. (Courtesy of Guest)
