Chapter Eleven

After leaving Llanfair, Natalie nervously made her way her to Asa's. Not only was she going to be seeing everyone after months away, but Clint was here and it had been years since she had seen her father. Even after four years in the Buchanan family, at times Natalie still felt like an outsider. Kevin, Jess and Joey had grown up with these people and been loved unconditionally – something Natalie wasn't sure applied to her.

Natalie had enjoyed being reunited with her mother and was happy to see how relaxed and well her mother looked. Jessica's DID combined with Natalie's sudden departure had at first taken their toll on Vicki. But, now she looked happy and seemed overjoyed to have her daughter back. They had spent dinner catching up, Natalie telling Vicki about her time in Atlantic City, and excitement over going back to school, and Vicki sharing her hope about the romance her and Clint were slowly re-embarking on. Natalie had considered telling her mother about the pictures John had been sent, but decided against it not wanting to ruin what has been a wonderful night. Natalie did however; promise herself that if there were any new developments she would tell Vicki, knowing that it would be better coming from her, rather then Bo or John.

Natalie pulled in to Asa's long winding driveway and sat in the car for a few moments thinking. John. Even thinking about him briefly caused everything to come flooding back. Although she hated herself for it, she wasn't over John. Natalie had spent over a year loving him before they got together and unfortunately those feelings didn't just disappear after what he did.

Natalie sighed.

Thinking about Cristian was still hard. Hundreds of times over the past three months Natalie had opened the leather bound journal and tried to force herself to read it all the way through. But, she never made it past the first page. It brought back too many memories of that night.

Tap. Tap

Natalie was startled from her thoughts by a tapping at her window. Seeing her father's concerned face peering in at her, Natalie smiled. Quickly she unbuckled her seat belt and jumped out of the car.

"Dad!"

Clint pulled his daughter in to a tight hug, happy to have her home. Now that he was back in Llanview, one of his top priorities was becoming closer to Natalie.

"Its great to have you home darlin', what in the world are you doing sitting out there thought? It's starting to snow."

Natalie grinned, still finding herself unable to get over her fathers light Texas accent. "I was just heading inside. It's so great to see you Dad."

Clint smiled and held out his arm to Natalie. "Well we don't want to hold up this reunion. Let's go."

And for the first time since Natalie's wedding, she happily walked hand in hand with her father, grateful to be at home.

Natalie poured herself another glass of eggnog and looked around. The evening was going great, and had surprisingly turned out to also be a welcome home party for her. She really was happy to be surrounded by her family. Once she and Clint had entered the mansion, everyone took turns coming over to hug her and tell her how happy they were she was back. At first it was a little overwhelming, but Natalie got used to it.

In the past hour that she had been there, Natalie had managed to get caught up on all the Llanview happenings. Bo and Nora were officially back together, their previous problems behind them. When Natalie had a minute alone with Bo, he had told her, "There is nothing like almost losing someone to make you realize how much you love them." Natalie was happy for them, even through her and Nora had had their differences, Natalie knew she was a great match for her uncle. Plus, Nora didn't seem to have any hard feelings either, so it seemed that their problems were also a thing of the past. Natalie also got a chance to see her and mother and father together and was excited to see how happy they were. They both deserved it after everything they had been through.

As Natalie took a sip of her eggnog, she tried to push the pang of jealously that hit her. Everyone, except her, was coupled off, happy and in love. As much as she was happy for her family, she couldn't help but think of John and how months ago she had envisioned them here together celebrating the holidays.

"Don't do this to yourself Nat," she thought to herself as she took another sip. Seeing that Asa was walking toward her, Natalie pushed her thoughts aside and smiled warmly at her Grandfather. "Hey Grandpa, the tree looks amazing."

"It does, doesn't it?" Asa grinned at his granddaughter. "I'm glad you're home Natalie. There is something I want to talk to you about." Asa motioned for her to follow, as he made his way toward his study. Natalie wordlessly did so, wondering what her grandfather wanted. Asa was a wonderful man, who although could be a little scary and unorthodox, always had the best interests of his family in mind. However, Natalie and him had never become close. When he'd first found out she was actually a Buchanan and not just some scam artist, he had tried to shower her with lavish gifts and money, trying to buy her acceptance into the family. But by the time she came around and was ready to be part of the Buchanan's, Asa was up to numerous schemes – including his kidnapping of Blair. Despite all that, Natalie knew her grandfather would always be there for her, as in his eyes, there is nothing more important than family.

Once in the office, Asa closed the door behind them and took a seat across from her. "So, you back for good?" He asked, leaning back in his chair and studying his granddaughter.

Natalie nodded.

Asa smiled. Although he loved all his grandchildren the same, Natalie held a special place in his heart. A small part of it was because she was his biological granddaughter and to Asa the Buchanan blood meant something. That didn't mean he loved Kevin, Joey and Jessica any less, it just made Natalie special. The larger part was because of Natalie's upbringing. Asa knew what it was like to grow up with nothing, and have to learn to depend only on yourself, something which Natalie had obviously learned from a young age. She was tough, feisty and despite a few small judgment errors in the past had a good head on her shoulders. Asa also admired the way she insisted on working for a living and had put all her money away in trust for her children.

"You know, out of all my grandchildren you're the most like me."

Natalie couldn't help but laugh. "Why? Because I'm the only grandchild that's managed to get into the messiest situations that have Uncle Bo ready to strangle me?" she quipped.

Asa grinned. "That too." Asa paused for a moment realizing how proud he was of her. She had come a long way from the scheming brat who had stormed in to Llanfair demanding the Buchanan name and money.

"I have a proposition for you."

Natalie groaned. "Grandpa if this is about B.E, I've told you a thousand times I'm not the business type. I really couldn't care about mergers and kissing clients asses."

"No it's not about B.E, well not exactly. Ever since news of that merger leaked and Jessica's multiple personalities went public, our stocks have been down. Kevin and I decided we needed to do something big, and give back to the community in some way in order to present a kinder softer Buchanan Enterprises." Asa held up a hand to stop Natalie from interrupting. "Now, as I am sure you heard from Vicki or Jess, the Love Center has been falling apart so, Kevin decided, and I agreed, to buy it and run a non-profit organization for troubled teens and young adults. Good, Kevin you're here."

Natalie turned her attention to her older brother who just entered the room. Smiling, he took a seat beside her. "You can finish explaining the details of the center."

Nodding, Kevin started. "It's really great Nat. We're doing a complete overhaul on the building, adding some dormitory style rooms and private offices. We plan on keeping the original Love Center area for the gym and basement, so that it can act as a drop in center for local teens that need small things such as someplace to go, computer access, homework help. And we are doing the additions so it can also accommodate those with larger needs such as food, shelter, medical assistance, and therapy."

Natalie raised an eyebrow. "B.E is doing non-profit work?"

"We're providing the money." Asa said flippantly.

"And you're going to watch the stock soar when the word gets out in a carefully orchestrated PR campaign run by Kelly. What do you need me for?" Natalie asked, not bothering to hold back the grin that was spreading across her face. She understood her Grandfather pretty well.

"We want you to run it."

"Me? I wouldn't have the slightest idea how to do something like that." Her eyes widened in shock.

"Yes you do. You're tough, no one intimidates you. Who looked after Matthew when the whole Coulson thing was going down? Who stood up to Nicki Smith when she was trying to ruin your life? Who committed perjury in order to win back Llanfair? The way I see it there no one else in this family is better suited for the job." Asa stood up and poured himself a glass of Bourbon from the side table. "We're not expecting you to provide medical care, just run the place. Dr. Jamison and Michael McBain will be there a few times a week and some social workers. Kelly will do the fundraising."

"So what exactly would my job be?" Natalie asked, still unsure what Asa was asking her.

"Exactly as I said, you would run the place. You would oversee the hiring and firing of staff."

"Act as someone these teens can talk to outside of their therapy. Help them line up jobs, or homes. Run youth programs, basically whatever you think would work. Natalie, the key to business is delegating. Take the skills you don't have and find someone else to do them, but at the same time take your skills and put them to use." Kevin jumped in, trying to help her understand.

"I have enrolled at L.U for the winter semester. I wanted to finish up my degree."

"I know, your Pa mentioned it to me. We're just starting construction, and won't be ready for opening until July or August. Which means you can get your degree and start work right away." Seeing Natalie's hesitation, Asa moved back toward the door. "Take some time, but not too long. You're not going to get a better offer."

Natalie followed the two of them out of the study, there conversation weighing on her mind.

When they got back in to the living room, the party was starting to break up so Natalie made her way over to Jessica. "You still coming back to my place?" she asked her sister.

Jessica's eyes lit up, "Of course!" she replied.

After they had made their goodbyes and were in Natalie's car, Natalie spoke. "I am dying for a burger. Wanna stop at Rodis?"

"Detective McBain?" The rookie officer shyly poked his head in the office.

"Yeah?" John barked, still going over files from some of his previous cases.

"I have that information you requested, the files on Natalie Vega."

John motioned for the rookie to enter the office. "Thanks Officer…" John looked up at the rookies tag, "Officer Collins. Just leave 'em there."

Officer Collins remained standing there for a few seconds, before gathering up the nerve to speak.

"Uh.. Sir. I took the liberty of also pulling up old police reports and articles from both The Banner and The Sun, on Mrs. Vega. It's all there in the files."

John glanced up sharply at the young officer in front of him. The officer taking this look as one of annoyance quickly began to explain. "Since it's a stalker case I thought it might help to see what other information this person may have at their disposal. Maybe one of the articles has a picture or some information about Mrs. Vega that would have provoked this."

"Thanks Collins. You can go."

Once the officer had left the office and shut the door firmly behind him John pulled at his hair. "The rookies are doing a better job then I am," he thought to himself. Of course, there was nothing in the newspapers articles he didn't already know about Natalie Balsom Buchanan Vega. And there was nothing that was coming to mind from any of it.

Frustrated, John stood up, John grabbed his leather jacket and headed toward the door. He needed to take a break from this. Pulling out his cell phone he dialed.

"Hey Mikey… want to meet me a Rodi's for a beer?"