Well, that was it. Their lives were all changed once again. Some more than others, in the case of the West family, but everyone present was affected. Natalie was gone. Ruthie had taken her away to God knows where, and there was nothing they could do about it. Mary and Wilson fought to the best of their ability, but ultimately gave in. They did want to make it any harder than it had to be on Natalie.
The thing that had Mary in awe was the way the rest of the family looked at Ruthie. They all stared at her as if they were just happy that she was alive. They last time they saw Mary was the last time they had seen Ruthie as well, but it seemed that they didn't worry about Mary. They didn't have to- they knew that she was in capable and loving hands. Ruthie, on the other hand, was not as lucky to have a Wilson to look out for her. Peter didn't even show up to take Natalie. Mary was, once again, reminded of how special Wilson was and the relationship they had with each other, although she hated the fact that her family had pointed that out to her.
Natalie left kicking and screaming. She hated everyone and no one blamed her. Her family had been lying to her for 10 years. Her mother wasn't her mother but her aunt, her father was her uncle, and her brother her cousin. Two thirds of her former "family" wasn't even blood related. The words she screamed as her mind contemplated the idea of leaving and the idea of staying shot through Mary like a dagger. She kept a stiff upper lip, though, and wouldn't let on that her niece was hurting her. Yes, her niece. That was what she was to her, wasn't it? That is who Natalie really is, Natalie Camden, niece to Mary and Wilson West.
After Natalie packed up her belongings and slammed the front door, the whole family sat numb. They seemed to have been knocked into a deep state of denial and depression, feelings that Mary had been dealing with since Monday. None of this was new; she had prepared. She anticipated how she was going to feel when she left, how Wilson would look at her, and how lost she would feel within her own nuclear unit. She was childless and a second wife. What was her importance in this world?
Mary stood up, startling the crowd, and looked around at the children. They all appeared to be beyond bored. "Well," she said, "we have a big pool. Why don't the kids go swimming?"
Lucy and Sarah both smiled, an instant face-lift to their dispositions. "I brought suits," Lucy said.
"Me, too," added Sarah.
"We didn't," David and Sam said simultaneously.
"You guys can borrow some of mine," Billy said morosely. He was not a happy camper. Being as though he was not a Camden, he desperately wanted to punch someone or something to get his anger out. He really needed some sort of release for all of these emotions.
Billy, Sam, and David walked upstairs and into Billy's room as Sarah, Matt, Kevin, and Lucy changed their children into their bathing suits.
Mary looked at the amount of kids that would be using the pool. Tons. More than one person should be watching all of them. Mary sighed heavily. "Lucy, want to go out and watch them with me?"
Lucy looked truly ecstatic. "Sure."
Wilson smiled at Mary. She was taking the high road, and that was like two giant leaps in the right direction for her. He knew how hard that was for her to do, and he was never more proud of her. Wilson put his hand on her waist and lightly kissed the back of her neck. She leaned into his touch, melting into his body and never wanting to let go. He turned her around and looked into her eyes. "Want me to go out with you?"
"No, I'll be OK. You stay in here and man the fort."
He smiled at her and kissed the top of her forehead. She leaned against him and closed her eyes as everyone started to file toward the sliding glass doors. She smiled slightly and opened her eyes once again, staring into Wilson.
"I'll be out there in twenty minutes."
"That's all I ask," she said back with a smirk.
Mary wanted to kiss him goodbye, but she figured that was enough touching for now. Mary left her husband and escorted everyone out to the pool, grabbing a stack of towels as they made their way outside. She saw everyone look at the pool and the backyard in awe. Their backyard had about the same square footage as the house did, and the pool itself was nothing to sneeze at either. With a grotto motif and spiraling slide, it was a child's dream. They all ran over and jumped right in to the nearly ninety degree water. Mary and Lucy took seats under the umbrella of the patio furniture near the pool.
"How deep is that thing?" Lucy asked.
"Not that deep. Five and a half feet. No diving, but it's safe for all of them to jump in and out without fear of breaking their legs."
Lucy nodded and surveyed the pool. Everyone looked as if they were having a good time. "The twins seem to be getting along pretty well with Billy."
Mary looked over in their direction. "Well, they are pretty close in age and boys will strike a conversation with anyone."
Lucy giggled.
Over at the pool, Billy, Sam, and David waded around for a while, basking in the warm Florida sun. After quickly getting bored, however, they got out of the pool and dangled their feet in the water as they sat on the edge.
"So, what year in school are you, junior?" Sam asked.
Billy nodded. "You guys go to public school, right?"
"Yup," they said together.
"Why, do you go to private?" David questioned.
"Yeah." Billy saw the shocked expressions on the boys' faces. "It's pretty common here. See, the elementary schools are good, and the middle schools are OK, but the high school is pretty bad. It's so overcrowded that there is three people to a locker and just about 40 people in every class. They merged the high school with Hollywood, and they're both decent sized cities. So most people go to private school. CrestMoore Academy."
"Do you have to wear uniforms?"
"Yeah, except on Fridays. It doesn't really bother me though, but the girls complain a lot. They tried to fight it last year, but the response the school gave was basically to deal with it or leave."
"We were almost going to have to wear uniforms," Sam said, "but we all protested during our lunch periods and they decided against it."
Billy nodded.
"So…" David said. "What are the girls like down here? Are they all beach chicks with bleached blonde hair and stuff?"
Billy laughed as he saw his father walking towards him with the cordless telephone in his hand. "It's Tori," Wilson said handing the phone to his son smiling. "She's welcome to come if she wants."
Billy nodded. "Hello?"
"Hey handsome."
Billy smiled. "Hi. Look, um, some stuff is going on so I can't really stay on the phone, but you could come over."
"Bad stuff or good stuff?" she questioned.
"A little of both I guess."
"OK. I'll leave right now. Love you."
"Love you, too," Billy said blushing and hung up the phone. He barely knew Sam and David and he just professed his love in front of them.
Sam and David smirked as Billy laughed nervously. "Someone special?" David asked.
"Yeah," he said honestly. Billy pulled his feet out of the water and grabbed a towel. "I'm…uh…going to go wait for her. You can come I guess."
The twins said OK and got out of the water as well.
Mary watched Billy, Sam, and David walk over to the front gate and smiled to herself.
"Where are they going?" Lucy asked her sister.
"Waiting for Tori," Mary responded like it was nothing.
"And who is Tori?"
"Short answer, Billy's girlfriend. They met at school. She lives three houses down on the other side of the street; she practically lives over here."
"Doesn't she have parents?" Lucy asked, making her lack of approval apparent.
Mary shrugged off her judgment and answered the question. "That would depend on your definition. Her parents are divorced and she lives with her father because he had all the money. He's loaded to say the least. He works almost all the time, though, and when she's not over here she is usually alone. That's why we always try to invite her over. She hasn't seen her mother since she was eight so her and I talk a lot…and she's just a really nice girl. A real sweetheart,"
"Wow."
"What, shocked that there are people out there who don't lead the same life that you do?"
Lucy's eyes immediately darted to the ground, but quickly perked up when she saw a young lady enter the backyard out of the corner of her eye. Tori had dishwater blonde hair and stood modestly at five feet and five inches tall. Lucy stared straight at Tori, trying to sum her up by her looks and the very limited information Mary had given her. Mary and Lucy looked on as Billy pecked Tori on the cheek and introduce her to Sam and David, and point out everyone else who was still in the pool. Tori saw Mary sitting by the pool and immediately went over to say hello to her.
"Hi Mrs. West," she said cordially, her faint southern drawl showing slightly.
Mary smiled as she looked at Billy. She could tell he wanted everyone to like her just as much as he did. "Hi Tori." Mary looked over to Lucy. "This is my sister, Lucy."
"Hello," Lucy said.
"Hi." Tori was all smiles, but she was nervous at the same time. Just as Billy wanted everyone to like her, Tori wanted everyone to like her as well. She knew that if her father didn't like Billy, he would have had to go, so family approval was very important to her.
Billy took Tori inside to meet and greet the rest of the family when they passed Wilson who was coming outside.
"Hey Mr. West," Tori said happily.
"Hi Tori," he said jovially. "How is everything?"
"OK. School was fine, but it would have been better if Billy were there. I missed him." Tori squeezed Billy's hand and he put his arm around her waist.
"Well, he had some family matters we needed him here for."
"I can see that. This is quite a large crowd you have here."
"You can say that again." Tori nodded. "Well, I am off to go tend to my wife. You two behave yourselves, all right?"
"Dad!" Billy said, slightly embarrassed.
Tori giggled. "We will."
Wilson made his way toward Lucy and Mary, and he could see that they were talking. That was a good sign. They didn't appear to be yelling at each other at the moment, so too much damage couldn't have been done. He approached Mary quietly, not wanting to disturb her, but to his surprise she quickly pulled Wilson aside.
"What?" he asked. "What's wrong?"
"Nothing," she said shaking her head slightly. Mary took Wilson hand in her hand and pulled it close to her heart. "It just hurts."
Wilson pulled her in tightly. Mary buried her head in his chest and sighed heavily, realizing that Lucy had to be watching them. He rubbed her back lightly and Mary pulled him in closer to him but lifted her head.
"I'm sorry," she told him. "This can't be easy for you either. I'm acting like I'm the only one this is affecting when it's really hurting all of us."
"It's OK. I'm here for you Mare; that's my job." He kissed her forehead. "I've been thinking, how about we take a shower tonight. It will give us some time to be alone together and-"
"Wash?"
"Sure, that too."
Mary smiled. "Only if you're good. Speaking of wish, I see Tori's here."
"Yeah. I told Billy he could invite her over."
"Was that the right thing to do?" she questioned.
"Why not?"
"Because, now Billy is going to have to explain to her about Natalie. Hadn't you notice he'd kind of been avoiding her for the past couple of days?"
"No," Wilson responded earnestly.
Mary shook her head. "Well, whatever happens it will be your fault."
"Thanks."
Mary laughed but quickly stopped herself. "Are you sure we can't have that shower now?"
"Later," he said after kissing her cheek. "I'll try and make it all better."
Tears welled up in Mary's eyes and Wilson wanted none of that, so he ushered Mary back over to Lucy and motioned for her to sit back down in the chair as he stood behind her. "So ladies, have we made any progress?"
"What type of progress?" Lucy asked.
"Well, did you guys make up?"
Mary elbowed Wilson in the side.
"There's your answer I guess," Lucy said. "I want to make up, but I don't think she's in the right frame of mind to do that right now. This has to be unbelievably hard on her- on you all."
"Stop," Mary warned Lucy.
"Stop what?"
"Stop treating me like I can't fend for myself. I hate it when you all do that. You treat me like everything is my fault and you feel sorry for me. I don't need your sympathy, especially not from you Lucy."
Mary stood up to run away and Wilson grabbed her forearm. She turned around, stared him square in the eye, and he let her go. Mary ran into the house, past Tori and Billy at the bottom of the staircase, and up to the bedroom. As she slammed the door, Tori turned to Billy.
"What's wrong with your mom?"
"I'm not completely sure," he answered, "but I think she's upset that we don't love her enough."
A/N: Well, first off, Tori is ALL MINE. Hands off; I know you all want her. So, what did you think of the chapter? Pretty decent length I think. About 2 times longer than the other chapters. And as for the plot line, I think I have one more chapter left in this story following this one, possibly two. After that, who knows?
Reviews warm my heart.