Title: Confessions Lead to Strange Bedfellows
Author: Kimberly21570
Fandoms: Guiding Light / All My Children
Pairings: Olivia and Natalia / Lena and Bianca
Disclaimer: The characters of Olivia and Emma Spencer, Natalia and Rafe Rivera, Gus/Nicky Aitoro are owned by CBS/TeleNext and Proctor & Gamble. The original characters Nastassia Rivera/Ana Mackenzie and her family, Antonio and Kaleigh Rivera, Dante Rivera and Taylor Delaney-Rivera, Sierra Rivera, and Christiana Rivera and her husband, Brennan, and Dr. Maya Carter are the property of this author, and any resemblance to fictional characters, or real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.
No copyright infringement intended with regard to Guiding Light, CBS/TeleNext, Proctor & Gamble, or any other entity. The dialogue, settings, and story content in these scenes are original. Written for fun, not profit. All other standard disclaimers apply.
This update has not been proofread. Thus, all errors are my own.
Rating: Chapter 19 is rated PG.
Finally, thank you all for your patience, and for the lovely, supportive comments you've left me on the board. The medical issues I've been facing are challenging, for certain, but with some accommodations, I'm still able to work. I love my job, and I remain positive and very grateful for the many blessings in my life. Though I may be slow to update at times, I will continue to write for as long as I am able, and I look forward to completing this story for all of you.
I hope you all enjoy this installment, as Natalia comes face-to-face with her twin for the first time in more than two decades…
Regards—
Kimberly
Confessions Lead to Strange Bedfellows
Copyright May 2009
"Sometimes life takes unexpected turns. Sometimes we hide the very core of our existence because we fear the judgment of others. Sometimes the universe shifts and we are provided with a brief moment to begin anew. These moments allow us to become fearless and let our perfectly created souls shine."
― Cori Garrison, New Beginnings
Chapter 19.5 – New Beginnings:
Friday, May 14, 2010… New Beginnings, Chicago, Illinois—3:30 p.m. Central Daylight Time
"You kissed her, didn't you," Natalia said bluntly.
It wasn't a question. It was an inevitability.
Her head still reeling from the news that her estranged twin was sitting in Olivia's office just down the hall, Natalia's heart pounded erratically in her chest, that piercing dark gaze locked solidly on Olivia's nervous jade one as she anticipated the response she knew would be forthcoming.
Sheepishly, Olivia bit her lip, as she contemplated her response. Natalia's arms were crossed, but she didn't look angry. She considered her options, and decided to go with humor. "You're not gonna hit me, like you did Nicky, are ya?"
Despite her own quickly escalating anxiety, Natalia laughed and shook her head. That certainly wasn't the response she was expecting. Not in so many words, anyway. Olivia had that way about her—that ability to make Natalia laugh, to ease her anxiety, in the precise moment when it threatened to overwhelm her. "No, Honey, I'm not gonna hit you," she reassured.
"Whew!" Olivia wiped her brow in relief. Rising from her crouched position in front of Natalia's chair where she had delivered the news, she settled into the seat beside her, turning her body at an angle to invite further conversation.
Natalia grinned. "Seriously, Liv, what are the chances that you would run into Nastassia at all, let alone here in your own office?" she somehow managed to reason in a moment when she might otherwise have been losing her mind. "How could I hold you accountable for not knowing she wasn't me?"
Shrugging, Olivia enthusiastically nodded her agreement. She had already explained the complete and utter shock she'd experienced when she realized the candidate she was expecting to meet—Ana Mackenzie—was actually Natalia's own twin, who hadn't gone by her given name in more than twenty years.
"As for Nicky," Natalia continued, "he knew there were two of us in close proximity. He just wasn't paying enough attention. And I'm certain Nastassia didn't protest, until she'd had her fill."
The look on Olivia's face said she was surprised by the comment, and Natalia laughed. "I know my sister—she never passed up a chance to stir up a little trouble. I can't imagine that she's changed all that much."
She sounded almost amused, allowing Olivia to truly relax for the first time since delivering the news of Nastassia's unexpected appearance in their offices. Releasing a slow breath, Olivia offered a soft smile. "You'd probably be right about that," she commented without divulging any details.
"Let's just leave it at that," Natalia said. She didn't want to know anything more.
Thankful for the reprieve, Olivia breathed a sigh of relief. She certainly wouldn't argue with that.
"We should probably go in to see her," Natalia suggested, though she didn't exactly sound convinced it was what she wanted.
"I know this is a lot," Olivia said understatedly. "Are you sure you're up for it right now?"
Natalia responded with a wobbly smile. Her heart raced a little faster, but she bolstered her strength and nodded affirmatively. "No time like the present," she announced.
Rising from her seat, Olivia held out a supportive hand.
Readily, Natalia accepted it. "I'm glad you're here," she said, allowing their fingers to entwine. "I couldn't do this without you."
"You can do anything you set your mind to," Olivia said encouragingly, as she gave Natalia's hand a firm squeeze. "But I wouldn't be anywhere else."
Friday, May 14, 2010… New Beginnings, Chicago, Illinois—4:00 p.m. Central Daylight Time
At the sound of Olivia's office door slowly opening, Nastassia jumped to her feet, and whipped her head around, her dark wavy locks swaying and then falling in a tangled mess around her face. Her heart triple-timed and her jaw went slack the moment she set eyes on Natalia.
At that very same moment, Natalia's breath caught, mahogany eyes flooding with tears. She made a mad dash toward her twin, and gathering her close, she held her with a fierceness she hadn't known she possessed. How many times had she wished for, longed for, dreamt of this moment? And until now, she hadn't been certain how she would react.
Would she be angry? Happy? Nervous? An amalgam of all three? Or something else altogether unexpected?
Now she had her answer. Her world was set right again the moment Nastassia spoke.
Nastassia's heart soared the moment she was in Natalia's arms. "God, how I've missed you, Lia," she husked, squeezing her twin even harder in return as tears streamed down her cheeks.
Once again, Natalia's breath caught in her chest. She hadn't heard that name in more than two decades, and it made her heart soar. "I've missed you, too," she murmured, her own tears mingling with Nastassia's. "You have no idea how much."
Words ceased then, and they held one another for the longest time, crying together as they reveled in the renewed connection. And all Olivia could do was marvel at the sight as tears streamed down her own face, unchecked.
"I can't wait to hear all about your life," Natalia finally whispered. She was curious how her wayward other half had stumbled into a career as a Social Worker, and what had brought her to seek employment at New Beginnings. Seriously, what were the chances?
"I can't believe you would even talk to me," Nastassia whispered, emotions overwhelming her as she leaned back, gazing into those tear-filled eyes that looked so much like her own. "How could you ever forgive…"
Shaking her head, a soft smile rippled across Natalia's lips as she gently touched her sister's face. "There's nothing to forgive," she said softly.
Nastassia opened her mouth to protest, but Natalia simply shushed her. "We have plenty of time to deal with the past," she said, knowing for certain that she would never again be without her sister. "Let's just focus on today."
Nodding her head in agreement, Nastassia smiled. "I'd like that," she declared. "A lot."
Natalia released a breath of relief. And then they were giggling like little girls through their tears as though they'd shared some private joke, as Natalia took Nastassia's hand, leading her over to the sofa across the room.
Again, Olivia marveled. Had she known this moment would bring Natalia so much joy, she would have sought Nastassia out purposefully, instead of leaving it up to fate. But that didn't matter now. Nastassia was here, and Natalia seemed happier than she had in months. Olivia could live with fate, if this was how it played out. She watched their interactions—their perfect mirror images—for a few moments. And then turning her attention away from the two of them, she returned to her desk to focus on some work, allowing them a little privacy.
Friday, May 14, 2010… New Beginnings, Chicago, Illinois—4:45 p.m. Central Daylight Time
"Wow… It's getting late," Olivia remarked absently after a quick glance at the clock on her desk. She was surprised to see that nearly an hour had passed.
Her comment prompted Nastassia to assume she was being dismissed from the originally intended point of their meeting. "Oh, goodness," she declared, glancing at her watch. She grabbed her portfolio from the coffee table. "I'm so sorry to have monopolized your time this afternoon," she said, rising from her seat.
Olivia furrowed her brow. "Going somewhere?" she intoned.
"You're… still going to interview me?" Sounding stunned, Nastassia dropped back down onto the sofa.
"Your résumé is quite impressive, Ana," Olivia acknowledged, as she leaned back in her chair with great authority, perusing the document with keen eyes.
Natalia found it strange to hear her sister being addressed by that name. Yet somehow, it seemed fitting of the woman who sat beside her. In many ways, she was the Nastassia that Natalia remembered and longed for in her darkest moments—but in other, more striking ways, she was far different: Classier. Regal, almost. Confident and professional. Natalia appreciated the changes, and yearned to know the woman her sister had become.
"Thank you," Ana said, humbly.
That was different too. That humility. Natalia noticed it immediately. "Of course we're still going to interview you," she said confidently. "Olivia wouldn't have contacted you if you weren't highly qualified to run this program."
Glancing at Natalia, Olivia offered an approving smile. And then she stood from her desk, moving to sit in one of the soft leather armchairs across from the sofa, making the conversation a little more intimate, less intimidating. "What brought you to this field?" she asked, turning her attention back to Ana. She already knew the answer, but Natalia deserved to hear it too.
Ana looked directly at Natalia; emotions threatening to overwhelm her. "I have a sister who got pregnant at sixteen, and she was brave enough not only to carry the baby to term, but to keep him and raise him on her own, despite our Papi's completely unreasonable objections," she answered.
Natalia's eyes welled up with tears again, and Ana had to look away.
Turning her gaze back to Olivia, Ana set her jaw. "He was a stubborn old goat, and he kicked her out of our house," she continued. "My sister had nowhere to go, and she was completely alone. I know she was scared. I could feel it," she said; and Natalia understood exactly what she meant. They had always been connected in that way; had the ability to feel the others' emotions.
At least back then.
"But there was nothing I could do. I couldn't help her, but I swore to myself that once I was out on my own, I would help other girls who found themselves in her position," she explained. "So I went to college, got my Bachelor's and Master's degrees in Social Work, with an emphasis on working with the adolescent population. And I've been a caseworker specializing in teen pregnancy for the past ten years."
Olivia bit her bottom lip on the side that wasn't bruised, and nodded. Shifting in her chair, she glanced at Natalia for a moment, receiving a teary-eyed smile from her fiancée. "Are you okay, Sweetheart?" she asked softly.
Natalia nodded at her, and Olivia offered her a comforting smile. Then, turning her attention back to Ana again, she pressed her fingertips together, studying the woman over the tip of the steeple they had formed. "What prompted you apply for this particular position?" she asked forthrightly.
Ana considered the question with deliberate care. She had known the moment she saw the job posting in the paper that it was the answer she had been searching for—she just hadn't known the question. Not until now. Her eyes locked securely on Natalia's, she answered softly, "Divine intervention."
A fledgling smile played at the corners of Natalia's mouth, causing Ana to smile a little as well. All thoughts of the job interview were cast aside without preamble, as she focused on her twin. "I know I don't have the right to expect, or even to ask, Natalia, but I miss you, and I want you back in my life."
Tears flooded Natalia's eyes, darkening them to black onyx. "I'd like that," she said softly. "You have no idea how much."
Ana may not have known, but Olivia did, and in that moment, she made a silent pledge to make sure it became a reality for both of them.
Friday, May 14, 2010… Enigma, Chicago, Illinois—7:30 p.m. Central Daylight Time
"So you're not even slightly put off by my being in a same-sex relationship," Natalia said as she sat across the table from her twin a few hours later. It wasn't a question, but rather, more of a verbal observation.
Suddenly very nervous, Olivia shifted in her seat. What if this didn't go well? Natalia had been over-the-moon excited back at their hotel as they got ready for dinner—the first Natalia had shared with her twin in more than twenty years. For Natalia's sake, she couldn't bear the thought of this being the last.
Ana offered a dimpled smile, but didn't answer. Rather, she reached into her purse, fishing around for a moment before finally producing an iPhone. She tapped the screen repeatedly, rapidly flipping from one to the next, until she landed on the object of her search, and then she handed the device across the table.
Natalia scanned the picture, her eyes taking in the image of Ana sitting next to a woman who looked remarkably like Olivia, with her soft, chestnut hair cut to the shoulder, and green eyes that literally jumped off the page, and four little girls with dark curly hair and gorgeous brown eyes; the youngest two, obviously twins. Glancing back at Ana, Natalia's eyes begged an answer.
"My wife," Ana reported, grinning almost mischievously at Natalia, whose eyes grew as big as saucers. "Kait. And our daughters," she said, tipping the top of the phone down to peek at the screen.
"Y—your wife?" Natalia sputtered. The corners of her mouth flickered with the kindling of a smile, and then a heavy burst of air escaped her lungs, and dimples bloomed. "You have a wife," she said, as if trying the notion on for size.
Olivia couldn't help but laugh; not a mocking laugh, but one of extreme relief. Some things were beginning to make a whole lot more sense. Not that she would ever tell Natalia that.
"I have the most amazing wife," Ana gushed. "And four incredible daughters."
Natalia caught Ana's gaze over the top of the phone. "I can't believe you have four little girls, Stassi," she said quietly, addressing her twin by her childhood nickname. When Natalia had first learned to talk, Nastassia was too much for her little tongue to enunciate, and thus, she had called her Stassi. It was a name only Natalia called her.
The quiet utterance caught Ana completely off guard. It was music to her ears, and her heart flipped in her chest, as tears flooded her eyes. "No one's called me that in twenty years," she murmured.
Reaching across the table, Natalia took her twin's hand. "It won't be another twenty before you hear it again," she whispered in promise.
Ana squeezed the hand that held her own, and a knowing smile flickered across her lips. "This is Natalia," she said softly, her eyes meeting her twin's again, as she pointed with her free hand to the oldest of the four. "We call her Lia, just like I used to call you," she smiled. "She's almost nine."
Natalia's eyes flooded with tears, as she gazed at the little girl who was her namesake. "I can't believe you named your daughter after me," she said; her voice trembling with emotion.
Scooting a bit closer in the secluded booth, Olivia slid a comforting arm around Natalia's shoulder. Instinctively, Natalia leaned into the embrace.
Witnessing the obviously natural exchange of support and acceptance, Ana couldn't help but smile. It made her heart sing to see Natalia in such a loving, supportive relationship after all the heartache and disappointment she'd experienced over Nicky Aitoro.
She reached across the table. "I missed having a Lia in my life," Ana whispered, gently touching Natalia's hand again. "I've missed you terribly," she confessed, her eyes and voice brimming with two decades worth of fettered emotion.
Natalia covered that hand with her own, giving it another light squeeze.
Clearing her throat to stave off the rising emotions, Ana continued, "And this is Alyssa, she's four. And these two little cuties are Jadyn and Jazlynn. We call them Jade and Jazz. This picture was from last year," she explained. "They're almost eighteen months now. Went from crawling to running, almost overnight," she laughed. "And now they're into everything."
The three of them laughed together, a natural camaraderie of sorts, because they all understood how challenging toddlers could be. Olivia couldn't even fathom having two of them at once. "They look just like the two of you," she noted, smiling at their mother. "They're beautiful, Ana."
"Thank you, Olivia," Ana said appreciatively.
"They do look like us," Natalia smiled. "It's like looking at a picture of the Rivera girls when we were little."
"Yeah, I know…" Ana said, a wistful cadence to her voice. "It's uncanny, isn't it? There's no denying they're little Rivera's," she laughed.
Natalia laughed, as she studied the four little faces. And then she looked up at Ana again, grinning, "You look amazing for a woman who's given birth to four babies in less than a decade," she complimented.
"Well, thank you," Ana laughed, "but… I only carried the twins," she corrected.
Natalia's face was riddled with confusion. "I don't understand…"
Ana quickly launched into explanation, saying, "Kait carried Natalia and Alyssa. She's their biological mother."
Sensing the mental gymnastics going on in Natalia's head, she paused for a moment, allowing her the opportunity to process the information.
An eyebrow vaulted, and the corner of her mouth twitched. "But they're both Rivera's," Natalia said; the question implicit within the statement.
Nodding her head, Ana confirmed, "Yes, they are. Tony was our donor," she explained.
"Tony," Natalia repeated, furrowing her brow. "As in… our Tony? Papi's pride and joy Antonio, Tony?" she said, trying to wrap her head around the notion.
Nothing that she remembered about her big, strapping brother, who followed the rules of Catholicism religiously, would have led her to believe he would agree to such an arrangement. He never voiced any hatred toward gays, but this would have been considered a mortal sin. Not to mention what he would have had to have done in order to be their "donor." She couldn't even think about that. Natalia was stunned, but certainly not displeased.
Ana laughed at Natalia's cognitive gymnastics. "Yes, as in our Tony," she confirmed. "He and Kaleigh knew how much we wanted children, and they agreed that he would be our donor, so that the children would have a biological connection to both of us."
"Tony married Kaleigh?" Natalia gasped excitedly at the revelation that her brother had married one of her childhood friends.
"He sure did," Ana smiled. "And they have four beautiful children—two girls and two boys."
"Wow," Natalia quietly uttered. And then she smiled. "I kinda love that," she said, fondly. Kaleigh was one of the kindest, most loyal friends Natalia had known in her younger years.
"Me, too," Ana agreed.
"And they're really okay about you and Kait," Natalia marveled. It was more a statement uttered in wonder and awe, than a question.
"Totally," Ana assured, understanding where Natalia's thoughts were taking her. "And you and Olivia will be accepted by everyone, as well."
For what seemed like the thousandth time in just a few hours' time, Natalia felt herself tearing up again. "You have no idea what that means to me, especially after Papi…"
Natalia couldn't finish the statement. It was simply too hard; far too emotional.
Mercifully, she found that she didn't need to, because Ana understood. "I get it, Lia," she said supportively.
Nodding, Natalia sniffed back tears and took a deep breath. "What about Dante?" Now that she knew she and Olivia would be welcomed by her family, she felt excited for any news about her siblings. "Is he married?"
"Sure is," Ana said, proudly. "Do you remember Taylor Delaney?"
"Are you serious?" Natalia gasped. She couldn't believe what she was hearing. "She used to drive him crazy, following him around all the time." The girl was five years younger than him, and pestered him incessantly.
Ana wiggled her eyebrows playfully as she grinned. "I guess her persistence paid off," she said, wittily. "They have two little girls."
"Sierra and Christiana?"
"They're both married, too," Ana reported. "Sierra's husband is an EMT, and they have twin boys. And Christiana and Brennan are working on it, but not nearly fast enough for Mama's liking," she chuckled.
Natalia's heart swelled from excitement over all of the new information she was receiving about her family. She couldn't wait for more. "And what about you and Kait?" she asked. "Tell me absolutely everything."
Ana smiled at the delight in Natalia's voice. "Kait and I have been together for fifteen years," she reported. "We met in college, and were married in Boston six years ago, when same-sex marriage was first legalized there."
"And Mama and Papi are okay with all of this?" Natalia inquired, sounding doubtful despite Ana's previous reassurances.
"They weren't at first. But I didn't really give a damn," Ana said, forthrightly. "I loved Kait, and I wasn't going to let the two of them dictate my happiness anymore."
Her dark eyes flickered downward, avoiding Natalia's gaze. "Papi stole enough from me when he sent you away," she said, softly. "We all felt that way, Natalia. I think that's why it was so easy for the others to accept my relationship with Kait—they didn't want to lose another sister because of Papi's ignorance."
"Wait a minute," Natalia said, halting the flow of conversation. She backed up to the beginning of Ana's statement. "Mama and Papi weren't okay with it at first?" She emphasized the timeframe.
"No," Ana confirmed. "They weren't at all."
"And now?" Natalia questioned. Perhaps there really was hope for reconciliation.
"And now, Mama is very accepting," Ana said, softly. She reached across the table, taking Natalia's hand into her own. "But Papi—"
Olivia knew what was coming, and she wished more than anything she could spare Natalia the truth. She reached over; gently taking Natalia's other hand into her own.
She didn't get to finish before Natalia surmised the truth. The expression in Nastassia's eyes said it all. "Papi is gone, isn't he?"
"Yes—," came the quiet confirmation.
Natalia couldn't really be certain how she felt. Should she, could she, mourn a man who had cast her out into the cold when she was barely more than a child? She couldn't think about that right now. It was simply too much. "How?"
Ana drew in a deep breath, exhaling slowly. "He had a heart attack eleven years ago," she reported. She bit her bottom lip, and Natalia instinctively knew there was more.
"And?" Natalia braced herself for the worst.
"It happened not long after he found out about my relationship with Kait," Ana confessed; a veil of guilt shrouding her expression. "He went on one of his tirades, screaming at me about how I had shamed the family, and what he wouldn't tolerate out of a child of his, and…"
She closed her eyes, fighting back tears. "And the next thing I knew, he was clutching his chest, and gasping for air, and then he was on the ground."
Her voice was quavering as she relayed the story, and Natalia squeezed her hand, offering support. "Dante was there," she managed to report, fighting for control. "He tried to save him, but he couldn't. He's never forgiven himself for that."
"How could he blame himself for that?" Natalia wondered aloud.
"He's a paramedic, Natalia," Ana explained. "He felt like a failure, because he couldn't even save his own father."
"He shouldn't blame himself," Natalia asserted. Her heart ached for her tenderhearted brother. "It's not for us to control who lives and who dies. God holds the power of life and death in His hands." Given the guilt she still carried over Dantéa's death, the irony of her words was not lost on her. "Besides, it was Papi's choice to be angry, instead of accepting."
"Try telling Dante that," Ana said, ruefully.
"I intend to," Natalia said, firmly.
"Does that mean you want to see everyone?" Ana couldn't suppress her smile.
"Of course I do," Natalia confirmed. "But right now, I just wanna focus on you." She squeezed her twin's hand. "Tell me more. How did Papi find out about you and Kait?"
"We decided to have a baby," Ana answered. "And I figured if I was gonna have to face him with the fact that I was unmarried and pregnant, he might as well know the whole truth, because nothing he could say would change anything anyway."
At that point, he was still furious with her for defying him and going away to college. Higher education was fine for a girl, he had grudgingly declared, as long as she either got married and had babies too, or stayed in her father's home until she was ready for marriage. This idea of a girl running loose without a man to look after her was positively blasphemous in his opinion. She had promptly ignored him, and walked out the door toward the life that she wanted for herself. She loved her father, but she was eighteen, and never again would he stifle her, or take away something that meant so much to her.
God, there was so much information. Natalia could hardly process it all. "I'm really confused right now," she said, sounding forlorn.
"I can only imagine," Ana empathized. "Just take one thing at a time. I'll answer all your questions."
"I thought Kait was the mother of your oldest child?" The question was evident in Natalia's tone.
Ana's eyes fluttered closed. "She is Lia's mother," she said, softly. "But Lia wasn't our first-born…"
Natalia's lower lip started to tremble. The medical condition that had taken Dantéa's life was genetic, inherited. Sensing where Natalia's thoughts had gone, Olivia's arms were immediately around her.
Ana saw the pain in Natalia's eyes just before they fluttered closed against Olivia's chest. She locked into Olivia's gaze then, quietly asking, "The two of you lost a child too, didn't you?"
Olivia only nodded in response, as she gently stroked Natalia's hair.
"It was last summer." Ana's voice was gentle, her tone, knowing.
Regarding her with marked curiosity, Olivia asked, "How did you know?"
"I could feel Natalia's pain," Ana said, softly. "I didn't know for certain what was wrong, but I knew it was something bad. It felt like the pain I experienced when we lost Francesca."
Olivia's heart lurched in her chest. "What did you just say?"
Natalia looked up at Ana, a haunted expression in those tearstained eyes. She couldn't believe what she'd just heard—Francesca was Dantéa's middle name, after Frank! Despite his behavior throughout the pregnancy, they had decided it was the one thing they could do to honor him as her father, given that she wouldn't carry the Cooper name. "Francesca?" she murmured quietly.
Instantly Ana understood. "Our first baby was named Francesca. After Kait's mother," she explained.
Though delivered on little more than a whisper, the reality railroaded both Olivia and Natalia like a freight train.
"She, uh… she was born prematurely—at five months," Ana shared. "We lost her when she was just a few weeks old."
Olivia was in shock. She had heard of such bizarre coincidences with twins, but literally couldn't believe her ears. It would've been one thing for both of them to have lost a child; but both children having been given the same name, and the timing of their births and deaths—that was simply uncanny.
"What um…" Olivia swallowed hard. "What happened, Ana?" she asked gently. It couldn't possibly get anymore eerie.
"The women in our family have some sort of genetic abnormality that makes us prone to bacterial infection during pregnancy," Ana explained. "We didn't know that when I got pregnant with Chessie, of course, so neither Kait nor my O.B. looked for complications there. Not that Kait didn't obsess over anything and everything else that could possibly go wrong." She laughed just a little at the bittersweet memory of her wife's incessant worrying. "I took it terribly hard, but I think it was even harder on her. She blamed herself for a really long time."
Dark eyes widened, and Natalia sat forward, fully ready to engage for the first time since the topic had arisen. "Why would she blame herself?" she asked. "They told me the condition was hereditary, too."
That fact hadn't stopped Natalia from feeling guilty, but that was neither here nor there. As Olivia had once told her, emotions have nothing to do with logic.
"I know," Ana said, attempting to offer comfort. "But Kait saves babies every day. She's a neonatologist—it's what she does," she explained. "And there was nothing she could do to save our little girl—the infection had spread to her, and her little body was just too tiny to tolerate the antibiotic regimen necessary to clear it up. I was barely able to tolerate it, and I almost died with her."
Natalia's heart lurched. The very idea that Nastassia could have died without her being there tore at her emotions. And to top that off, she felt as though she was listening to a replay of everything the doctors had told her about Dantéa.
Olivia's memory began to coagulate beneath the mass of mind-numbing information. "Oh, my God," she breathed, the expression on her face was an amalgam of shock and disbelief. "Kait Mackenzie."
Ana looked at her oddly, waiting.
"Olivia, what's the matter?" Natalia asked.
"Dr. Kait Mackenzie," Olivia uttered, her words sounding almost disjointed. "She, uh… she was the specialist Phillip called in when Téa was born. She's one of the best neonatologists in the world. She was trained at Children's Hospital in Philadelphia, and she works at Children's Memorial here in Chicago," she said, sounding almost like a résumé for the good doctor. "She was, um… yeah, she was at a conference in… in Switzerland, and she couldn't come. She couldn't… get away…"
"No, she couldn't," Ana said, her memory as clear as day now that the connection had been made. "She was at Geneva Children's University Hospital—the premiere speaker at the conference, with thousands of neonatologists from around the world. The lecture series was a week long, and then she had clinicals with some of the physicians for another two weeks. She was gone almost a month. I remember her talking about getting the call about the baby in Springfield, though—she read the medical records, and called me, so upset, because she said it was like reading the case files for Chessie and me."
"How could she not realize it was me?" Natalia asked.
"HIPAA regulations," Ana said, knowingly. "Um… the privacy laws about medical records," she explained, realizing neither of them would likely be very familiar. "The hospital in Springfield would've redacted any identifying information before sending the records to her for review. They have to be really careful about that, especially when transmitting over unsecured lines."
"Kait consulted on Dantéa's treatment, though. She was in constant contact with Dr. Carter," Olivia acknowledged. "That must've been really difficult for her."
Ana nodded confirmation. "She was devastated when your baby died," she said, forcing back tears. "It was like losing our daughter all over again."
Gently, Natalia squeezed Ana's hand. "I'm so sorry for your loss, Stassi," she whispered.
Tears streamed unchecked then, down two sets of olive cheeks. "I'm sorry for yours, as well, Lia, Olivia," Ana quietly comforted, her gaze flickering back and forth between her sister and her fiancée. "I'm sure it's still just so fresh and raw," she acknowledged. "It took Kait and me a really long time to get past the loss."
Natalia nodded. "Us too," she said in commiseration. She glanced at Olivia then, both of them remembering how difficult those months had been. "But we're getting there together."
Smiling softly at her fiancée, Olivia lifted Natalia's hand to her lips, pressing a tender kiss to her palm. "One day at a time," she said, "but always, always together."
TBC in Chapter 19.6…