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Chapter 14

As soon as the Limo drove off Jess picked up her cell phone and called John.

"John, it's Jess"

"Hey Jess is everything alright?"

"No, I don't ... I don't think so, something strange just happened, not really sure what to make of it"

'What is it?"

"Natalie and Aiden just left with Darren, she said she remembers him and she's going home, they're going home."

"What! Natalie went somewhere with Darren, the kid too?"

"Yeah, it was strange John, really strange, hello... hello.. John are you still there" Jess asked into the phone as the line went dead.

John raced over towards Darren's house just in time to see the Limo pull into the driveway around the back of the house, he jumped out of his car and called her name as Darren's driver escorted her into the house, Natalie was afraid to look at him, she knew if she did, she would give it away, her eye's would give it away, they could never lie to him, not when he saw right thru them to her soul, she walked quickly into the house with Aiden as Darren went up to John.

"Is there something I could help you with Agent Mcbain? My wife is very tired and needs to rest" Darren asked John as he walked towards him in the driveway.

"I want to know what's going on? I need to talk to Natalie" John told him and as he started to walk passed him and tried getting into the house.

"I've already told you my wife is tired, she and our son are resting, so speaking with her in out of the question"

"Well either I speak with her or I say here at your door until I do"

"And don't test me cause I'll do it, I can be more stubborn than Natalie on any given day" John told Darren and Darren could tell he wouldn't be leaving.

"I'll see if she wants to see you" Darren told him and he walked into the door and left an impatient John waiting outside.

Darren walked into the house and over to Natalie who was standing by the fireplace, she was looking down at the ground where she had fallen and hit her head, was she remembering it? He asked himself as he approached her quietly.

"He won't go away till he speaks to you, you need to see him and sell him on us being in Love, make him leave Natalie, leave us alone or something... something might happen to him, something could happen to Aiden."

"He won't believe me even if I try" Nat told him as he grabbed her arm forcibly

"Make him Natalie! Make him believe you, if he doesn't, if he doesn't leave things will get ugly, I've worked too hard for things to get screwed up now, they can't, there are a lot people that need this election to happen for me, people that wouldn't think twice of killing an FBI agent"

"Even if I get him to believe me, he's not going to forget that Aiden is his son, he doesn't seem the type"

"I don't care what you have to do, make him go away or you'll be sorry, you'll both be sorry"

Natalie thought about Darren's words, about the fear she felt inside, the fear she felt for John, Darren was obviously desperate to have her home, desperate to win the election, this election wouldn't be happening for another three weeks but it all just didn't make sense. Now she had to tell John, lie to John about this, about being in Love with a man she was finding out was a monster, she wondered if she knew this about Darren when she remembered things, when she had her memory. Either way she knew she couldn't chance Darren hurting Aiden or John for that matter. She looked at Darren and then walked out the front door to see John on the porch pacing back and forth.

"John" she said a bit cold as he turned around and saw her

"Hey, are you Okay? The kid?" he asked softly as he approached her

"We're both fine, we're both better than fine, we're home where we should be" she told him and he was taken back by her words for a minute

"What?"

"John, I remembered stuff, my marriage, my loving husband" Natalie said and almost threw up on the words but she managed to get them out. She again looked at him and started talking.

"I remembered that I ... I Love him"

"So you decided to come home with him, bring our son back to this museum"

"It's his home John, the only home Aiden has ever known, it's mine also"

"I'm really sorry John, I... I know we meant a lot to each other way back when"

"We loved each other Natalie, we still love each other"

"No" Natalie told him, shaking her head

"Yes, you just told me last night, this morning, you still love me, you don't remember to many things but you remember loving me and not him"

"I was confused again John, very confused, I'm sorry, I never should have let it get that far, we never should have had sex, I'm married and I now remember my husband, how..." Natalie took a breath she was going to have to say it again. "How much I truly love him, you need to go, don't come back here"

"What about my son?"

"He's not your son John, He's Darren's... Darren's been raising him for three years, three years while you were messed up somewhere doing God only knows what, he'll never be your son, Go John.. It's best for everyone," Natalie told him as she walked towards the front door; he walked behind her and put his hand on her shoulder before she entered into the house.

"Natalie, you can't stay here with him, I don't think it's safe, let me take you and Aiden back to the carriage house"

"No John, this is our home with Darren, we'll be staying here, leave, go back to AC or where ever it is you've been or live"

"I can't Natalie and you know why! Aiden is my son and I Love You" John told her raising his voice a bit

"You can't love me or him, you're incapable, remember, you don't know how to Love, you never did and you never will! " Natalie took a deep breath she needed to say something that would hurt him now, something that would get him to leave them and maybe even leave town.

"I was wrong when I said how much I loved you, I could never, never love someone again as broken as you, I could never love a failure, someone who couldn't even heal himself, I can never let someone, a failure help raise my son" Natalie said the words that she knew by their conversation the other day would sting him, not only sting him, shock him, hurt him. She never looked back and walked into the house while tears threatened to escape her eyes.

John stood shocked by her hurtful words, words that didn't sound like the Natalie he knew and Loved, he shook his head thinking this was probably her, who she was today, almost four years after he left, maybe she did get her memory back, remembered who she had become when she married Darren Southers. John walked to his car and got in, he was mad, more than just mad, upset by her, upset by her telling the truth, he was a failure, he wanted to be a part of his son's life but he was too much of a failure to be a good father, he was to much of a coward to be much of anything, he started driving to the city limits, for fifteen minutes he drove almost completely out of Llanview while deep in thought. He pulled his car over at the sign that said he was leaving Llanview, he gathered his thoughts, and finally after a few minutes he turned his car around and headed back towards into town.

He had a gut feeling that things were off and there was no way he was allowing his son to be here, to stay with a man he thought to be dangerous. Even if he couldn't get Natalie away from Darren, even if it was true about her loving him, which he had a funny feeling wasn't true, he couldn't, he wouldn't allow his child to be in any form of danger.