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Chapter 16

"Natalie... I don't want to pry but"

"Then don't Michael"

"Natalie, he's my brother and I just want to make sure he doesn't get hurt"

"He's a big boy Michael and... Well I like him alright, if that makes you feel better, he's not like anyone I've been with, I don't plan on hurting him"

"Natalie, you never plan on hurting anyone it just happens sometimes"

"Michael I've gotta go, I don't want to have this conversation with you, like I just said a few minutes again, he's a big boy, lets leave it at that" Natalie told him and excused herself.

John walked up to her door with a pizza in his hands and a six-pack tucked under his arm. He rang the bell and stood there for a few minutes, she didn't answer. He peeked his head in thru the front window of her house and saw the place was a mess, there were toys everywhere. He rang the bell again and watched thru the window as a small blond girl ran into the room towards the door.

"Aunt Natty, aunt Natty there's a strange man at the door" the girl screamed, John laughed the little girl called him strange and then he heard the little girl say something about a pizza.

"He's got a pizza too," Julia, screamed to Natalie as she walked into the living room, she smiled at her niece and her words.

'Then I guess he can't be that strange, not if he's bringing us a pizza" Natalie told her in a playful voice as she opened the door for John.

John heard how playful she was with her niece, he smiled, she was cute with her. She opened the door for him and he smiled at her as he reached over to her and gave her a kiss on the lips hello.

Natalie was a bit shocked by the hello kiss he gave her, it was definitely something that she was unsure of, he seem to be kissing her a lot lately, she smiled, she kinda liked it.

"Julia Brennan, this is the strange man with the pizza, his name is John," she told Julia and she laughed, John smirked to, he held out a hand to shake her little hand

"John this is my most favorite niece Julia"

'Aunt Natty, I'm your only niece" the girl said and Natalie smiled

"I know" she said laughing and smiling, John laughed as he watched her, she seemed so happy, she was so cute with her, he was still looking at Natalie when she walked over to him. She grabbed the Pizza out of his arms.

'If you are done staring maybe we can eat?" she told him joking and she led the way to the kitchen. They ate pizza and had some laughs; John had watched her almost the whole time with her niece. He just couldn't get over it, she was such a natural with the girl, and it was a wonder cause of her up bringing. The way she said the woman that was suppose to be her mother wasn't much of one, and then the foster homes she was shipped back and forth from. She must have gotten what she could of her nurturing from her foster mom Beth.

Dinner was just about over; Natalie took Julia up stairs to get washed up and to put her pajamas on. John took it upon himself to start cleaning the mess from dinner; he cleaned up and then went into the living room to wait for them to come down. He walked over to her fireplace, she had some pictures on the mantle, mostly of Julia, a few of a blond, her and Julia, he figured must be her sister Jess.

Natalie came down the stairs giving Julia a piggyback ride. She cleared her throat, as she placed her on the couch, Natalie started her favorite movie and then went over to see John looking at her pictures on the mantle.

He smiled when she walked over to him, he held out a picture.

"Who are all these people?"

"That's my brother Kevin, My brother Joey, Me of course, Jess and My mom" she told him as he asked about a few other pictures, she smiled, he seem to want to know who everybody was on her mantle, everyone that was important.

"Is this one Julia when she was just born?"

"Yeah it is, I was in the room with Jess, she was so small back then, time goes by fast doesn't it?' she asked and then got a bit teary, he noticed it. He brought his hand to her face and stared into her teary eyes for a few minutes, there was something in them, something she looked like she wanted to say, to tell him but she didn't.

"I've got more, more pictures if you really are interested in seeing them, you don't have to if you really don't want to" she told him knowing looking at pictures of other people might not be much fun for him, for anyone.

"I'd love to see them," he told her and she went to the draw in the table in the other room, she came out with two big books. They went thru the first book it was mostly pictures from when she first came to be with her family. Then the second was a mixture of everyone and everything.

"This is man from the night I took you to the Hospital" he questioned

"Yeah, that's my youngest brother rex, he's Roxy my mom, my sort of mom that raised me, Red and I are very close, I'm the closest to him, I sort helped raise him before his aunt came and took him away and I ended up in foster care" she said and he watched her, it was hard for her, then and even now, this opening up thing was hard on her but she was doing it and doing it so well.

Natalie went over towards the couch for a minute to check on Julia when she saw she was asleep, she picked her up and started to carry her upstairs, he motioned that he would carry her but Nat shook her head no.

John returned to look thru her photo's when he came to a envelope in the back of the book, he didn't think anything of it and he opened it up, she came down the stairs and saw him opening up her envelope and she freaked.

"No! ...That's ...nothing Important" she told him but he had already seen it, two pictures, one was actually a picture and another was an ultrasound of some sort. He looked up at her confused as she came hovering over him; she knew he already saw them and she walked away from him.

John followed her as she walked to the front window, he put his hand on her shoulder, and she pulled it away from his touch.

"I'm sorry, I didn't know I wasn't suppose to look at them, I really am sorry," he told her back

"That's fine maybe you should leave now, I'm tired," she told him shutting down, closing up

"Don't Natalie, don't do this, you've come so far, tell me about the pictures" he told her and she was silent for a few minutes

"One of them is you with Paul and Beth right?" he asked and she nodded her head she.

"And the other, tell me about the other, its a ultrasound or something, is it Julia?' he asked and he had a feeling it wasn't Julia, there was even a date on it, it was ten years ago. He reached his hand out to her again this time, this time she didn't flinch or move away.

"Were you pregnant Natalie? Ten years ago?" he asked her and he saw from behind she started to tremble a little. He turned her with his hands after no words for a few minutes.

Her silent tears stained her face and she didn't seem like she could speak, he pulled her into his chest and held her for a few minutes. He knew the answer.

"What happened to it, to your baby, did you give it away?" he asked her softly after a few minutes, when he thought she would be alright answering.