Disclaimer: If they were mine there'd be a lot more Garret/Renee make out scenes, trust me on that one kids.

A/N: Yeah, yeah, it's kinda hokey, it came to me in a dream, and this is the end result. But if I want to be honest, the first and third chapters are simply to have a reason for the second.

Natalie Macy knocked on the doorframe of her dad's office.

"Hey Dad, what's up? Eric told me his mom told him to tell me to come see you after school."

Garret Macy, while taking off his glasses looked up at his eighteen-year-old daughter, realizing how much she looked like her mother.

"I figured telling Jordan would be easier than trying to track you down on campus." He stood up and motioned her into his office, before shutting the door behind him.

Nat just looked at him. "Are you okay? You're acting kind of funny..." She said, with a twist of her lips as she crossed her ankles, sitting down on the couch that'd been in his office for years.

"I'm fine."

She watched him pick up an envelope on his desk, and tap it against two of his fingers.

"Dad...what is it? You're starting to freak me out."

He sighed, knowing he had to do this, but half not wanting to, afraid of what the letter would contain.

"You know your mom died when you were eight months old, but she wrote a letter to you, and told me to give it to you when you turned eighteen. I know you've been eighteen for a few months now, but it was in that box of old letters and photos we sort of lost when we moved. I found it last night, and the letter was right on top." Garret leaned forward and handed it to her. "She made me promise never to read it, until you let me, and I kept my promise, so I have no clue what she wrote."

Natalie held the letter between two fingers. "Why eighteen? Why not when I needed to know why I was the only kid in my class who on Mother's Day who didn't have a mom to give a gift to? It's not important anymore Dad, I don't care."

She dropped the letter on the table, berating herself for using sarcasm and anger as a weapon again.

"God Nat, are you trying to be as stubborn as she was? Read the letter." He shook his head. "I remember when she was writing it. She was trying to hard not to cry. She loved you, so much more than you'll ever know."

"Right. Because she wasn't there when I needed her." She stood up. "Was this all you wanted me for?"

"Natalie Claire Macy. Take the letter." He said, standing as well.

"Fine." She snapped as she picked it up, "But don't expect me to actually read it."

"It's your choice." He shook his head. "Tell Eric I hope his dad feels better soon. I need Nigel back at work."

"Okay." She said softly, before leaving.

By the time she was halfway home, she'd already put the letter in the glove compartment, because she kept looking at it.

Maybe I should read it, I mean, I've never had anything even remotely like this but...

Natalie's thought's trailed off as she made up her mind, before she reached over at a red light and picked up her cell phone, dialing her boyfriend, Eric Townsend's phone number. She chewed her lip in the same nervous fashion her mother had as she waiting for him to pick up.

"Eric," She sighed when he did, "Can you meet me at the house? I need to see you."

"Sure." Came his voice through the phone, sounding tinny, "I can be there in about fifteen minutes."

"Thanks baby," She said as she hung up, before heading home.

She got to the house at almost the same moment as he did, and smiled softly when he right away pulled her into a kiss.

"My mom wrote me a letter." Natalie said softly, after they'd gone inside and gotten comfortable.

Eric looked at her and raised an eyebrow slightly. "I though your mom was...dead?"

"She is doofus." He got a pointed look. "She wrote it before she died and told my dad not to read it, and to give it to me when I was eighteen, and I don't know if I want to read it."

"She is your mom...wouldn't you at least like to know what she thought of you? Even if you've never met her? Because you've never met her?"

"That's why I called you, Eric. If I'm gonna read it, I need someone here with me, because I have no idea what's in here. At all, and I'm a little worried about it if I want to be honest. I'm scared to know what she was thinking about before she died. I'm afraid of what she thought of me."

"Nat..." The black haired boy whispered, gazing into her frosty blue orbs. "Just read it, and you'll know."

"Okay." She nodded, carefully opening the envelope.