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Chapter 6
The next afternoon John was playing pool at Rodi's waiting to have lunch with Michael, Marcie, and their baby when he was wrapped up in thought. Thought about Nat and what she had been thru since he last saw her, all the things she had been thru as a child with Roxy, all the things she had been thru since she stepped foot in Llanview. His heart ached for her as he thought about things more and more. He started to feel more and more guilty as he just couldn't stop himself from thinking it was a mistake; he had made a mistake by leaving and not trying. He knew Chris wasn't the same after all the brain washing but he still stepped aside and let Chris have his wife back. Why was that? He thought, well he knew the answer to that question, it was because he didn't think he deserved her, deserved her love, he never trusted that she could love him as much if not more than Chris. He knew he was wrong in that thinking, he had seen a therapist after leaving Llanview at the demand of the FBI when rejoining and that's what he had learned. He learned a lot in his therapy sessions, he learned that he could say I love you and it didn't mean that something bad was going to happen to that person. He learned that he didn't have to be afraid to love again. John was brought out of his thoughts when he saw Lauren run into Rodi's. He watched Lauren go up to the side of the bar and smile as Mac spoke with her. John walked closer to the two of them and looked for Natalie. She wasn't there, who was Lauren here with? He asked himself.
" Hi, Lauren, remember me? We met in the park yesterday; I'm a friend of your mom's? Is she here? Who are you here with? " John asked Lauren as he approached her slowly.
" I member, you made me laugh, my daddy's here, he's in the car." Lauren said as she smiled and John and Mac exchanged a look. What the hell was he doing in the car and letting a three yr old go into a bar by herself. John thought to himself, as he got mad at the situation. If Natalie found out she would be pissed he thought.
" Lauren, why is your daddy still in the car?" John asked
" He on the phone, told me to come in an see uncle Mac." Lauren told John
" Come on, lets go call your mom" John said as he reached his hand out to walk with her over to one of the tables so they could call Natalie. Lauren took his hand and walked with him and smiled when Chris walked into Rodi's. Chris and John exchanged hateful glares and Chris walked closer to them.
"Lauren, honey why don't you go tell uncle Mac you want a soda, I need to talk to this man for a minute." Chris said not wanting Lauren to see his anger towards John.
" You mean Mommy's friend" Lauren said as Chris nodded and she walked back towards Mac at the bar. When Lauren was out of hearing distance Chris turned to John.
" Don't talk to my kid Mcbain, don't be nice to her and don't ever hold her hand. She's not Natalie, she won't love you, you are nothing to her." Chris said in a very controlled manner, which shocked John.
" While we're talking about don'ts, don't ever let a three year old walk in a parking lot alone, and don't ever let them out of your sight for a minute something might happen to them." John said as he turned half way around to walk away when he turned back towards Chris.
" Oh, I almost forgot, don't ever think about putting your hands on Natalie again..." John said in a stern voice loud enough for Chris to get the point but not loud enough for Lauren to here.