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Half fearing that it was a hospital; I quickly got the phone and answered it.
"Babe? It's me!"
"Where the hell where you? Why haven't you called?" I demanded worriedly.
"You're not gonna believe this! After work, I went to the store. Traffic delayed me Then, I saw an injured, abandoned horse that had collapsed on the side of the freeway." she explained. "So I stopped to treat it. Then, I made all the necessary calls to have the horse taken to The Animal Medical Center. Right after that, my cell died because I had forgot to plug it in last night. After a few minutes, a crash happened about hundred feet near me and the horse. Between that and the looky lous, the ambulance couldn't arrive until it was too late. Then, I had to wait for the SPCA investigators to come so that I could give my statement. One of them kindly lent me their cell phone so that I could call you."
"I'm sorry to hear about the horse" I said, forgiving her, and knowing that how much she hated to lose a patient.
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"So what happened?" I asked Dad when he hung up the phone after comforting Natalie. Charlie looked at him with curiosity.
"She found a collapsed horse on the side of the freeway" Dad began.
"A horse?" Charlie repeated in disbelief.
"Someone must have transported it in a trailer, then dump it" Dad explained then continued. "So… her cell died right after she arranged for it to be transported to an animal hospital. Unfortunately, the ambulance couldn't come in time because of traffic."
"That's a shame" I said. Charlie nodded. "At least Natalie's okay"
"Thanks for staying with me" Dad said. "I know both of you have work in the morning."
"It's fine" I told him with a dismissive wave of my hand.
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Don and I stayed until Natalie arrived home. Dad hugged and kissed her when she came through the door.
"Hey guys!" she said. "That's for staying with Alan"
"No problem" I said. "We were sorry to hear about the horse"
After a bit, we both left the house.
"I was beginning to think that maybe she was avoiding us" I joked.
Don did a half smile.
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I was glad when they left and closed the door behind them. After a hard night, playing hostess to Alan's sons was the last things I wanted to do, but I knew how much their visits meant to him. Plus, they comforted Alan when he was worried sick about me.
"Not only had that horse suffered abuse" I began "The poor thing had double pneumonia and lots of injuries."
Alan put his arm around me and I continued. "Losing a patient never really gets easier" I shook my head. "You just learn to cope with it better"
"Let me make you some tea" Alan suggested. "I bought chamomile tea bags." Soon he went to the kitchen and before I knew it, I had hot, piping tea.
"Thanks babe!" I said. The man could be considerate when he wanted to be. He gave me strength just by being there. Between his attentions, and Rocko's support, which consisted of being affectionate and nearby, I started to feel a bit better.
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I came home a few days later to find several cars in the driveway and nearby, including Charlie's and Don's. After turning off the car, I took a few deep breaths. Alan did it again! He and I were going to have a very serious talk after the guests left.
I put on my hostess face, and went into the house. Everyone said hi, Alan kissed me, though I responded like I usually did because we had guests.
"Don's case got closed, so I invited everyone who was involved in it to come over" Alan said happily.
"We had an agreement" I whispered in his ear with a hiss, then warmly greeted the guests. I went to the kitchen, and Alan followed me.
"I thought it didn't apply when it involved my boys" He got defensive.
"David or Colby's mother give you a surprise phone call?" I snorted.
"Nat! My boys helped put away a human trafficker!" he started to get angry.
"Having the boys over, and having a party for them, are two different things!" I interrupted him. What happened to the considerate guy I fell for? "The boys can come any time they want, everyone else, you consult me before inviting them."
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"I didn't think you'd mind!" I told her. What was wrong with her? I just wanted to celebrate my sons' success. Maybe it has to do with the fact that she doesn't have kids of her own.
"Even after I told you that I wanted to be consulted before you agreed to have a large gathering here?" she glared at me. "You could've just invited everyone to a restaurant."
"I wanted to make their favorite foods!" I countered. "And you were working late anyway!"
"Go tend to your guests!" she roughly opened the fridge.
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Alan left the kitchen with a sigh and a huff. After pouring myself some soda, I went back out, and sat next to Megan.
"I hope we're not imposing" she told me gently.
"No no!" I said dismissively. "Celebrations are a great way to end the workday. Alan told me about your guys' success. Congrats!"
"Thank you!" she smiled.
"How ya doing Natalie?" Colby joined us.
"Great!" I said with a fake grin.
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After all the guests left, Natalie and I fought.
"I honestly didn't think this violated our agreement!" I told her. We were in the living room. Both of us were standing.
"Looks like being married to a lawyer came in handy" she retorted. "Just because the boys were in the party doesn't mean you could invite the whole L.A F.B.I field office!"
"Being a father is a very important part of who I am..." I began to say, trying to get her to understand, but how does one explain that to someone who's' never had children?
"And I respect that!" she argued. "But what has that to do with having a large party? Is that an essential aspect of parenthood?"
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Could this man be any more oblivious? Finally, I decided on another approach. "Alan, how would you feel if I started to adopt and bring home animals willy nilly without consulting you? Would you like that?"
"Of course not!" he glared at me.
"Why?"
"You know why!"
"Well, that's how I feel about you having these big gatherings without consulting me!" I snapped
"I've got a few finishing touches to put on a project' He suddenly said, as he went to the dining room, where he kept all of his work stuff. I followed him.
"We're not done here!" I snapped, and blocked his way.
"I need to get that project finished!" he insisted.
With a sigh, I let him go. My big brother did the same thing during arguments, and I've learned that it's near impossible to bring back people to arguments, which they've retreated from. However, this wasn't over.
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Natalie finally went to the living room to watch T.V. With a sigh of relief, I half heartedly did some work. There are times when no matter what you say, you will still end up in the doghouse. I didn't want to deal with Natalie in the state she was in.
That night, the bed feltcold and empty asNat slept in the guest room.
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The next afternoon, Alan came to see me at my office.
"I was thinking that maybe we should hammer out few details to avoid any more misunderstandings" He suggested.
"Okay..." When one of the Vet techs had told me that Alan wanted to see me, I had been hoping for an apology, but not this. "But I thought I was clear."
"What happened last night would seem to indicate otherwise." He sat on a guest chair. "Maybe if I had asked you to clarify we wouldn't have fought"
"What part of 'let me know before you invite anyone else other than your boys', needs clarification?" I gave him a puzzled look.
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I tried to repress my sigh. "Remember just before the book club meeting you said 'When it comes to the boys, all limits are off?' "
"I meant when it comes to the boys visiting!" Natalie snarled.
"That's not what I understood!"
"Well now you know, right?" Natalie retorted. I didn't think she believed me.
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With that, Alan opened his shoulder bag, and took out a wrapped box.
"For you" He said.
My gut instinct told me that it was from See's candy, a company that sold chocolate treats. Upon unwrapping the box, I soon found out that I was proven right.
"It has all of your favorites!" he said.
"Thanks!" I told him. What a sweet and romantic gesture! It wasn't an apology, but the fact that he was making an effort made me relent a tad.
"Why don't we go out to dinner after work?" he suggested. "I know this great place, which my friend art recommended."
"Okay..." We weren't totally reconciled, but it was a step in the right direction.
TBC