ABC Owns Them

Chapter 15

"Hey guys," Michael said as he approached John and Nat at the pool table.

"Michael, is he alright?" Natalie said as she glanced over to see that Thomas was still asleep.

"He's perfect Nat, Marcie and I were just wondering if it would be alright with you if we...took him home with us, you know maybe kept him for the night" Michael asked quietly knowing Natalie didn't like to be away from Thomas

"I don't think so Michael not tonight, I...I miss him to much" Natalie told Michael trying to let him down easy, she knew it was important to Michael and Marcie that they get adjusted to having a baby around since Marcie was pregnant.

" Come on Nat, Marcie really needs the practice at taking care of a baby, please? You could finish playing pool and maybe stay up late, have a little time to yourself." Michael pleaded with her as he looked over to John and winked at him. John looked at Michael and wondered what that was all about.

"Alright, but I'm picking him up at eight, wait I don't have too many bottles with me" Natalie told Michael

"That's alright I'll stop at the pharmacy on the way home and we'll get some" Michael told her and she shook her head still a little unsure. John walked over to her as she was starting to walk over to Marcie to say goodbye to Thomas.

"It's okay, this isn't a bad thing, you could use a break" John told Nat

"I know, I know but I can't stand to be away from him, the other day when you watched him while I was at the shelter it almost killed me, that was the longest I had ever been away from him" Natalie said as she went over and kissed Thomas goodbye, she have Marcie all the instructions and told her to call at anytime if there was a problem. John also went over and said goodbye to Thomas, then he and Nat watched as they all left Rodi's.

"So what do you want to do?" John asked Natalie

"What?" Nat turned to face John as she questioned him

"Do you want to finish playing pool or maybe go for a walk, it's only four in the afternoon, we've got all night" John told her as he saw Nat's expression on her face change a bit.

"I'm sorry, did I give you the impression that I would be spending my alone time with you?" Natalie told him harsh

"There's no reason to be mean, if you don't want to spend anymore time playing pool with me you just have to say so." John said as Natalie realized she wasn't being fair

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean for it to come out that way, are you up for another beating?" Natalie asked as she smiled. John smiled back and made a mental note to thank Michael and Marcie tomorrow.

Natalie and John continued to play pool for most of the night, it was somewhere around ten o'clock when they both realized the time, they had a great night, they forgot about all the stuff hanging over them and it was almost like old times, Natalie couldn't remember laughing as much as she did tonight, it felt comfortable, it felt right.

"I have to go home it' s pretty late," Natalie told John as she put her stick on the wall.

"It's ten, that's not late, one more game?"

"No, it's late for me, I don't stay up so late anymore, not since Thomas came along," Natalie told him and she walked towards the door.

"Wait, Thanks for the games of pool, let me walk you to your car" John told her as he ran after her. Just as Natalie was about to get in her car in started raining very heavily. Nat got in her car and noticed he started to walk towards the hotel.

"Hey, you walked here today?" Natalie asked John and he told her yes.

"Get in I'll drive you" Natalie told him and he didn't waist anytime getting in. once at the hotel John didn't leave the car when she parked in front. He turned his head and looked at her. She looked back at him meeting his eyes.

"If I asked, would you be mad at me, I mean do you think maybe you would want to come in, for just a minute?" he asked softly almost afraid of her answer.

"I ... I.. I guess I could, I guess it wouldn't hurt anything" Natalie said and then both of them got out of the car into the pouring rain. Natalie walked into the hotel first, soaked, Roxy was at the counter and saw her. Roxy didn't notice John.

"Hey baby, did ya come to pay me my rent for the month?" Roxy asked her and Natalie shoed Roxy not to open up her big mouth in front of John. John heard Roxy's words and he was confused but decided not to say anything right now.

"Nice to see ya Roxy" John said

"Yeah, same back at ya Johnny" Roxy said and she excused herself.

"Want to go up to the roof and have a beer?" John asked and he saw the undecided look on Nat's face.

"It's pouring rain out John" Natalie told him

"We can stand under the awning and watch the rain" John answered her

"Come on, it's just one beer and it's not that cold out" John said and he pulled on her arm towards the stairs.

John and Nat walked up the stairs and were almost at the roof when Natalie stopped walking, she stood still on the next to last step. John noticed she stopped and he turned and looked at her. He met her eyes and he knew she wasn't ready for this yet.

"I've gotta go. I...I...It's to soon for me to be up here with you" Natalie told him and she walked back down the stairs, John followed her down. He watched her stop briefly to speak with Roxy and then she left. John was heading back up to his room when Roxy called for him.

"Hey, Johnny, your old room it's available again, if you want it" Roxy told John and John was a little confused by it.

"All of a sudden now it's available?" John questioned her

"Yeah, do ya want it or what?" Roxy told him

"Why is it all of a sudden available?" he asked her knowing there was more to the story

"Well, don't tell her I told ya but Natty said to let you have it back" Roxy told John

"What? Why did Natalie tell you not to let me have it?" John asked

"She's been renting it from me since you left, she wasn't staying in it but she said she knew how much you loved that room, hell I'm sure she was keeping it to cause she loved it too. I think she kept it for the two of you for when you came back" Roxy told John as John wasn't quite sure how to make sense of all this.

"Do ya want it or what?" Roxy again asked

"Yeah, I want it" John answered as he made his way up to it, he opened the door and it was exactly how he left it seven months ago. Exactly the same except she wasn't here, she was gone and all her stuff was too. He sat on the couch and tried to figure things out. First she went and named Thomas after his dad and she even gave him the last name Mcbain, then she didn't keep it a secret about John being Thomas' dad, she took Thomas to see Eve a few times cause she knew it would be important to John and then she even paid Roxy not to rent their room, their home. He shook his head realizing they weren't in need of as much repair as he had originally thought. A small smile formed on his face and he thought that she was still so very much in love with him but she just didn't want to admit it. He laid his head on a couch pillow and closed his eye's thinking about what to do next, next to get her to trust him again, because he definitely after tonight knew this wasn't about her not still Loving him.

Natalie drove home in the pouring rain; she thought about what she almost did tonight, she almost went up on the roof with him tonight, the roof where they made love for the first time ever. She knew if she went up there with him she wouldn't have been able to walk away, to be strong, she was having such a hard time trying not to feel for him right now, she never denied no longer being in love wit him but she couldn't give herself to him again if she didn't trust him, trust that he wouldn't leave if things got to difficult or if he was scared. Natalie arrived back at the Carriage house and she parked the car and went in, in to a silent house, a silent place that she had tried so hard to make home since she left their room at the hotel. But it seemed no matter how hard she tried this place didn't feel like home to her, of course it felt better when Thomas was here with her, but it still didn't feel warm or like home.