Chapter Twenty Two

A/N: Hey, guys! I just felt like writing again, this chapter might suck, I don't know, but I did not kill Lizzie off. The story isn't over yet. You just gotta keep reading it to see what happens...that's if you wanna though.

I know this chapter is short, but who cares, at least it's another chapter.

Chapter Twenty Two

The next Monday...

Gordo drove home in silence. He had chosen not to take a plane to Hillridge, he decided to drive. He was still in a state of shock. The week before, Miranda had called him and told him that Lizzie was in a coma. And that everyone said that he should get custody of Natalie. The McGuires finally convinced him, and then came the next part. Telling Natalie.

She was sitting beside him, in the passenger seat. The back of the car was loaded with her belongings. Natalie knew. She knew that Gordo was her father. Her grandparents had told her, and she didn't quite understand at first. She thought her father was dead. Lizzie hadn't told her that, though. She said that her father lived somewhere else. But Natalie didn't believe it. She thought he didn't exist, therefore, he was dead. It made sense to her, somehow. She was only a seven year old, she wasn't as smart as everyone else.

"Uh...dad?" Natalie asked. It was the first time she had actually called someone 'dad.' She never really knew what it was like to have a father. No Father's Day cards, no birthday cards for him, no "Hey, Dad!" No "Dad, could you help me with this homework?" She only knew what it was like to have a mother. But now...it was all reversed. Now there was no Mother's Day cards, no birthday cards for her mom, no "Mom! What's for dinner?" or "Mom, could I have a friend over?" All of that was gone. She would probably never see her mother again. Now she was moving to a different state, and she had to get used to her new surroundings.

"Yes?" Gordo replied.

"Umm..." Natalie looked out the window, then she turned to face him. "Where do you live?"

"Massachusetts," Gordo told her.

Basically what happened next was that Natalie asked where exactly, and Gordo answered that. Then Natalie started asking tons of questions, and Gordo answered every one of them. They talked for almost an hour, basically about what's been going on in their lives and things like that.

"Dad?"

"Yeah?"

"Are you married?" Natalie asked.

"I'm-" Gordo glanced at his daughter, then he went back to concentrating on driving. "I'm engaged."

"Oh. I also wanted to ask you something else," Natalie said.

"What?"

"I know that I was born when you and my mother were like, sixteen," Natalie told him, "And my mom said that you lived somewhere else, because you moved when she was pregnant with me. But how come you guys were never...in love?"

Gordo hesitated. He didn't know what to tell her. He had secretly loved Lizzie...since the fourth grade. He still loved her when they were fifteen. He thought she was beautiful, inside and out. But when he met Brooke, he decided to push his feelings aside, and bring someone new into his life. Now, he was engaged to Brooke, and she was pregnant. But what is she going to say when I bring Natalie through the door? he thought. Our apartment isn't big enough for all of us. But we are moving soon. To that really nice house that used to be Brooke's aunt's...

"I'll tell you what happened when you're older," Gordo said, "You would understand it better."

"Fine," Natalie sighed. She looked out the window once again.