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Chapter 8

"I need to call my dad! I need to know when he'll have her back, when they'll be coming home. It's late, he said he'd have her back to us tonight" Connor told his Aunt Jess'. It was now eight at night, eleven hours since it happened.

"Connor, your dad I'll call when he knows something, Go Help Brenna get your sisters ready for bed" Jess told him pretty worried herself.

"Travis... You can't just keep me tied up and blindfolded forever. It's been hours, my wrists hurt, and I have to use the bathroom." Natalie told Travis as she sat in a chair. She had been sitting in a chair for most of the day. She heard noises around her. He was obviously doing things, getting the place ready even. Natalie had been trying this whole time to come up with a plan, to figure things out even.

"Just be patient Sher... It'll be worth the wait," Travis told her as he worked on the room they were in.

Natalie heard him say it'd be worth the wait. What would be worth the wait? She asked herself. She shook some unpleasant thoughts out of her head and tried to focus on happier ones. Happier times from eight years ago to this day.

Flash Back

"I give you Mr and Mrs Mcbain" Joey said as everyone smiled and clapped.

Natalie felt his lips still on hers. Their wedding kiss seemed to be going on for a bit longer than anyone would have liked.

"John" Natalie said mumbling under his lips as he still took them deeply.

Finally after a few more minutes John broke the hold on them. Natalie looked at him, he seemed to be groggy of sorts, in a trance even.

"Looks like everyone got tired of waiting and went outside to the terrace" John said looking around and he laughed.

Natalie looked into his bright eyes, she brought her hand to his face.

"John... I'--"

"Don't... you're here, we're here, we're together"

"We start a new from this point. We were married by God today, we now have his blessing" John told her. She smiled and became slightly teary eyed.

"Yeah" she said looking straight into his eyes.

"I Love you," he told her and he took her hand. He led them out to the terrace, to their family and friends.

End Flash Back

"All set" Travis said as he finished what he was doing to the room. He went over to Nat and took off the blindfold; he started to untie her wrists.

Natalie took a look around the room. It was a large room, almost a studio apartment type place... a Loft. She realized as she observed things about it that she might need to know for future reference. For when she might have an opportunity to get away from this loon of a man.

"So do you like it?" Travis asked her smiling. Natalie noticed the hostility in him for thinking she was married to someone else was gone. If only for now it was gone.

"Yeah... I love it," she said and she walked around the place observing it. He walked up behind her, touched her by her waist a bit. Natalie was caught off guard, shaken by his hands on her. She even thought for a minute if she should just take him. Try and throw him to the ground, But she remembered.

Flash Back

"Hi, Dr meadows... So...? Yes or No? I am or am I not?"

"You are... Number four is well on its way, two months to be exact"

"Really? John's gonna be so surprised and happy, he's been bringing this up some much over the last year"

End Flash back

"Sheryl? Sheryl honey is something wrong... you don't like it do you?" Travis said and he shook his head. He was starting to get upset. Natalie had to bring him back into a pleasant state almost immediately.

"No... I love it, it reminds me of something...Hmmm..." She told him and he smiled brighter.

"Our first apartment" Travis said and his smiled reached his ears.

"Exactly" Natalie said as she noticed a clock on the wall. The clock said it was around eleven at night. She wondered how the sleeping thing was going to go down. How she would get out of that one. She heard him speak and she came out of her thoughts.

"It's late and I have some print work to do down stairs. Why don't you go to bed?" he told her and she nodded yes.

John walked up the path to the Carriage House. He barely got to the door when it flung open and Connor came running out of it.

"Where is she? Where's Mommy? You said you'd bring her home tonight" Connor said. John couldn't help but hang his head a bit and he was pretty sure his very intelligent nine year old noticed.

"Connor... I ... we..." John started to say when he realized he had to keep his own emotions in check. His own fears. He needed to listen and hear the words they always spoke.

"No! You said... You said you'd bring her home, to me... to the girls...No! Forever and ever " Connor said as he ran into the carriage house mad at first. First Connor was mad, so mad at his father. Then he just gave into it, into the fear and the sadness.

John grabbed for him. Connor pulled away a bit. He resisted John's hold on him for a minute. " You said it" Connor told John as the tears came for the boy. The same tears that he had held inside most of the day. John pulled him to him, held him close.

"Connor... you're mom... she's pretty smart. She's pretty determined too. When she sets her mind to something, there is no stopping her and we both no that" John told him as he pushed him back out of this hold to look at him.

"She's so damn stubborn and so are we. Just because I didn't find her today doesn't mean we won't find her. " JOhn told his son but the boy wouldn't look at him.

"Look at me Connor"

"No-one pulls our family apart. I won't allow it and neither will your mom" John told him as he wiped his tears that were subsiding.