The next morning at the station Natalie burst into Bo's office to tell he Uncle Bo about her engagement to John.
"Hi Uncle Bo!" Natalie said happily. She had always thought of Bo as more of a father then an uncle. He had been there for her more then her own father. She wanted to ask him to walk her down the isle at the wedding as well. She hoped he wouldn't say no because her father was his brother.
"Hey, Natalie. How are you feeling? What's got you so happy this morning? It has something to do with John doesn't it? He looked about ready to split his face he was smiling so hard when he came in today." Bo asked, thinking how nice it was to see his niece so happy. He really thought of her more as a daughter then a niece and only wanted her to be safe and happy.
"John asked me to marry him!" Showing Bo her ring she practically danced with glee.
"I take it you said yes," Bo said with a big smile. "The ring is beautiful, but why a claddagh ring?" He asked, he wasn't all that surprised that John popped the question. Seeing him the other night when Natalie had been attack it had been clear just how much John loved Natalie. If Natalie had died Bo thought that maybe John would have too.
It was obvious that Natalie was John's world.
"John wanted something special. He said no ordinary ring would do. Willow helped him pick it out." Natalie said fondly. She was so happy she could burst. She didn't even care that there was a killer loose right now. She just wanted to bask in the moment.
"It was so romantic," Natalie sighed. "John set up the roof exactly like the last time it was when we first got together and had romantic music. He was so shy when he asked me. Like he was scared I would say no! As if I would!" Natalie laughed remembering the wonderful night.
Bo smiled again and mentally applauded John for his thoughtfulness. Natalie deserved the best after all she had been through in the past couple of years. John would make sure she had it from now on. "So have you set a date yet?"
"No, we want to wait till he gets this music box case solved. I want his mind firmly on me and with this case going I know it won't be."
Bo nodded, "that sounds like a plan."
"Actually.. I was hoping that you would give me away. I know the father is supposed to do it but you are more of a father to me then Clint. Please?" Natalie asked.
"Of course I will," Bo said very touched, "how are you going to tell your father though. He isn't going to be happy about it."
"I guess he should have come around more often then. I love him but I don't know him at all. He is just Clint to me. If he wanted to be my father he should have been here and not in London. You on the other hand have been there for me. Before John you were the only one I could trust. I will never forget that." Natalie said choking up a little.
Bo, getting a little choked up himself, pulled Natalie into a big hug and held on tight for a minute before pulling back. "Now get to work!" he said teasingly giving her a gentle push towards the door.
Natalie grinned at him and left the office feeling even better then she had before. On the way to her desk she bumped into someone. "oh sorry," she said with out looking up.
"I just bet you are!" Evangeline snapped at her.
Natalie rolled her eyes. She really wasn't in the mood to be polite her. "I see you got those teeth fixed! How much did that cost ya?" She said a little loudly, getting everyone in the room's attention.
"I don't know what you are talking about! You barely laid a hand on me." Evangeline said, unaware that the entire department had seen the tape. She looked around when a couple of people started laughing. "What was everyone laughing about?" She wondered. Then thought, "let them laugh I will have the last laugh."
"Evangeline, we have a tape of the fight. Everyone in the department has watched it at least once." One of the laughing officers said. As Evangeline turned red, turned around and stomped out everyone else in the room broke out laughing.
John stuck his head out of his office door to see why he heard laughing just in time to see Evangeline stomp out. He breathed a sigh of relief. He hadn't wanted to deal with her today anyway. He just wanted to be happy for a while. Natalie was going to marry him! He knew she wanted to tell everyone so they were planing a party tomorrow for all their family and friends. They were going to tell every one then. He was pretty sure Natalie would tell Bo before though. In fact he was sure she had already told him. Natalie wanted Bo to give her away and John thought that was an excellent idea.
Natalie walked into John's office with a huge smile on her face and John smiled back at her. He pulled her into his arms and kissed her. "Life is good," John thought unaware that he had spoken out loud.
"Yes it is," Natalie replied. "Very good!" Then she kissed him again and it was a long time before either came up for air. Both unaware that at that very minute there were 2 people plotting to destroy that happiness.
Willow sat with Rex at Carlotta's Diner talking about Willow's kidnapping case. Willow had finally told Rex about Dr. Balsom being the doctor that delivered her. At first he apologized for his fathers actions but she had made him stop. It wasn't his fault and had nothing to do with him. She didn't want him to feel guilty over something his father had done. Rex was currently telling her about why Dr. Balsom had stolen Natalie and for whom.
"He Delivered Natalie and took her away from Viki on orders from Mitch Lawrence." Rex supplied with disgust. He hated the man for what he had done to Natty.
"Who is Mitch Lawrence? Why did he have Natalie kidnapped?" Willow could have found out all this her self but she didn't want to pry into Natalie's life. If she wanted to know something she would rather go right to the source anyway. It made things much easier that way.
Rex scooted closer to Willow and said more quietly, "He was a cult leader that was obsessed with Viki. He raped her and got her pregnant with Jessica but Viki was also pregnant with Natalie at the same time. So Mitch is Jess's father and Clint is Natalie's father. He wanted his child raised as a Buchanan but he didn't care how Natalie was raised."
"You said was. Is he dead now?" Willow asked already hating the guy.
"Yes he is dead. He kidnapped Natalie again and tried to cut out her heart to give to Victor Lord." He said a little angrily. Willow put her hand on his to calm him down and he turned his palm up and intertwined his fingers with hers so that they were holding hands on top of the table.
They looked at each other and smiled a bit shyly. This was the first time Willow had been the one to initiate any kind of physical contact. Willow leaned over and kissed Rex on the mouth softly and he dived into the kiss, deepening it. Carlotta came over with their food and coughed, hearing the noise they both drew back and Willow looked down at their still clasped hands, blushing a fiery shade of red. Rex was grinning like he had just won the lottery when Willow looked at him still red in the face.
Rex sat there grinning like a fool and he didn't care. She had actually kissed him! Not only that, but she kissed him in front of a whole diner full of people. Before, he had been the one to initiate the kisses, and she never let him kiss her in public. Rex couldn't remember a time when it had taken so long to get a girl into bed. He could sense that Willow wasn't ready for that yet. He had had fantasies about it enough times though. And his dreams! All week he had woken up drenched in sweat his pulse racing and the taste of Willows lips still on his. Just the sight of her made him want to smile and set his pulse racing.
Rex knew Willow was attracted to him, but it seemed like she was holding back something every time they were together. Yesterday when he had gone into her office she had been staring at a picture and crying. When he had asked her about it she quickly hid the picture and told him she was fine. After she had left he went to look for the picture to see who it was but she had either hidden it or removed it from the office.
"So what were we talking about?" Willow asked breaking into Rex's thoughts. "Oh yeah you were telling about how Mitch kidnapped Natalie and wanted to cut out her heart. So what happened to him."
"He was murdered. Not that anyone cared." Rex said with a slight smile. Everyone had been relieved when Mitch had been found dead.
As they finished their meal Rex and Willow threw theories back and forth about who was actually behind her kidnapping. Neither thought that Dr. Balsom had done it alone. In fact Willow had a suspicion that the case went a lot deeper then her own kidnapping. She hadn't said anything to John yet but she suspected that Dr. Balsom had been involved in a black market baby selling and adoption ring. She and Rex had just discussed the possibility of it and he agreed that it was possible. They were going to look into all possible members of the cult and try to find out if their theory was true.
When they had finished and left the diner Rex brought up their kiss. He wanted to know what it meant.
"Willow, you kissed me." Rex said softly.
"Rex we have kissed before. What is the big deal?" Willow said. She knew it was a big deal. She just didn't want to get into it. She really liked Rex and he was very patient with her. He thought she was shy but in reality she was afraid, afraid history would repeat it self and she couldn't handle that kind of pain a second time. The first time had nearly killed her.
"Yeah, but this time you kissed me." Rex said hoping that she would say something, anything.
Willow took a deep breath and said very softly, "I know. It just felt right. I really like you Rex." She then leaned in and kissed him a second time, knowing that she was risking a great deal but not caring Willow deepened the kiss moaning softly in Rex's mouth.
Rex thought he was in heaven as he slid his hands through Willow's hair bring her face even closer to his deepening the kiss even further. Lost in the kiss neither of them saw Evangeline and Steven Haver watching them with interest. They didn't see John and Natalie approaching either.