Chapter 23
The next few days passed by as normal. The Spencer-Rivera house falling back into routine. This particular morning was a rare day, Natalia left for the office by herself. Olivia was taking the day off, at Natalia's instance, for some much-needed rest. She was ironing one of Emma's shirts and couldn't take it anymore. She needed to hear Natalia's sweet voice. She grabbed her phone from the counter as she poured another cup of coffee.
Natalia answered smiling. "I was just about to call you."
"I'm trying to make Emma's lunch for tomorrow and I need to know, what is Rafe's super-secret sandwich?"
"Oh yea, it's Wednesday. Um, it's peanut butter and banana. And it's on whole grain bread and you cut the crust off."
"Ow."
"What are you doing?"
"I burnt my thumb. I'm ironing. Is Wednesday also wear pink to school day?"
"What is wear pink to school day?"
"You didn't know about that either, did ya? Oh, I was hoping for like ham and cheese ya know. Something simple."
"Well nothing good is ever simple. I miss you."
"I miss you too. What if um, you know you came home, and you gave me secret sandwich seminar?"
"You want me to make you lunch."
"You got me."
"See ya soon. I love you."
"Love you too."
Olivia finished ironing and waited for her lady love at the kitchen table. Natalia came in and brushed her lips to her fiancé's. "Mmm, I think I like coming home early."
"Me too. I missed you."
"You were just bored."
"Maybe." Sitting down at the table where Olivia had already placed the supplies needed they started to make Emma's lunch. Natalia supervised while she spooned peanut butter into her mouth.
"This sandwich is more like a desert."
"Well yeah when you put that much banana on it. Don't use all that."
"Well, you're hogging all the peanut butter."
"I'm not hogging it. Just a little.."
Olivia laughed and made mumbling sounds at Natalia as she licked peanut butter from her fingers. "You got peanut butter on you."
"I know, I'm a mess. I'm sorry."
Olivia walked around the table. "Let me see." She ran one hand along her jaw and cleaned the peanut butter off with her other thumb. Bringing the digit to her own mouth and sucking it off. Natalia's breath hitched and she reached up, pulling Olivia into her lap and kissing her wildly.
Olivia pulled back and looked at her. "I think we should just get away you know, from the world for a little bit. Figure some things out."
"That's not possible."
"Might be. I just, what if we left Springfield for a couple of days? Just the two of us. I mean, Emma has this overnight field trip, and um, I've been thinking about it. Unless you think it's impractical, to just go away like that."
"No, um,…"
"It doesn't have to be a big deal you know, we can just spend sometime together. Make sense of what's going on in our lives."
"I would love to make some sense."
"I'm not trying to run away, I just feel like there is always something. Seems like daily sometimes."
"We do need to figure out what to do about everything. And some time alone would be nice. I like, I like this idea. Lets do it."
"Okay."
"Yeah."
"Alright."
Olivia moved from her lap and went back to making Emma's sandwich.
Natalia looked at her bemused. "You, what are, well."
"What, am I doing this wrong?"
"Yeah, she, just"
"Is there a wrong way to make a peanut butter and banana sandwich?"
"Yeah, you need to put like more peanut butter. She's very specific the way she likes it. Just let." She took the sandwich form Olivia.
"This is an art. When did she get so picky?"
"Just, I'll do it, I'll do it, I'll show you."
"Okay."
Frank sat at Fraley's drowning his sorrows. Tossing back his latest beer, he set it down and looked around at nothing in particular.
Doris Wolfe walked in and straight to him. Leaning on the bar, "Frank, how ya feeling?"
"Alright. You?'
Having talked to Olivia, Doris knew what Frank did with Rafe and Emma. She knew she shouldn't, but she can't help but stir the pot. "I just, wanted to say sorry, about your proposal, to Natalia."
"Yeah well," He turned and looked at the two men that came in with her. "Who are your boy toys?"
"Oh those guys, that's my new security detail." She swiped the hair from her eyes. "Pretty cute huh?"
"Doris, why don't you just try being more likable instead of wasting tax payer money on body guards." He said, taking another swig from his beer.
"Look, I understand, I mean, but uh, man up and move on. You're gonna be fine. Frank."
"Look, I'm not finished with Natalia. She doesn't know who Olivia is yet. She's uh, she's just not ready. She'll see who that bitch is soon enough, and I'll be there."
"You know what, I can't do this. Frank, Natalia, is in love with Olivia, and believe it or not, Olivia really does love her. Let it go."
Frank sat for a moment after Doris walked out. Then he followed her outside, pushing aside her body guards, he spun her by her arm. "That's not true. Olivia can't love, and Natalia does…"
Before he could finish, Doris's body guards pulled him off of her. Frank put up a good fight. Fending off both body guards for a good while before he was pinned to a door and the two beat him until he fell to the ground.
Natalia and Olivia had finished Emma's lunch, ate themselves and cleaned up. Olivia handed Natalia a glass of milk with a quick kiss, then leaned against the counter. Natalia looked up from the table. "You know it was the same thing for Rafe. It was always Wednesdays. He always had a math test in the morning, and this was like a treat, that he could look forward to."
"Kids and their rituals. They're very adaptable, little people."
"That's true, they are."
"So our trip. I don't know. I was thinking of this place. This time share place that has really great restaurants and shopping."
"Sounds kind of expensive."
"Well ya know, we can do a little write off there. If we do a little Beacon business up there. That would be good"
"Where's up there?"
"Um, in the mountains. And I have a barouche." She grabbed the barouche from the counter and handed it to Natalia. Natalia starred at it. A perplexed look on her face. Olivia was concerned. "What no good?"
"No it's beautiful."
Olivia still couldn't quite read the look on Natalia's face. "Um, there's also some really nice spa resorts we can look at. You do wanna go don't you?"
"Of course I wanna go. Sorry I was just thinking about Rafe. I don't know what to do."
"We're just gonna have to make him understand."
Before Natalia could answer, there was a knock at the door. Frank opened it and stepped in. Not waiting to be invited.
Natalia took a look at his face. Bruised and bloody. "Oh my god, what happened to you?"
"I got into a fight."
Olivia pulled out a chair and touched his arm. "Well here, sit down."
Natalia and Frank starred at each other. "Frank, I think maybe, maybe you need to see a doctor."
"Oh no, I'm fine. You should see the other guys."
Olivia placed her hands on her hips, shock in her voice. "There was more then one?"
Natalia started to walk to her purse. "Okay, we're gonna go. I'm gonna get my…keys, we're gonna go."
At the hospital, Frank was sitting in a bed, Natalia and Olivia near by. "This is stupid. I can't believe they checked me in for this."
Natalia took a tentative step towards him. "You're hurt."
"I'm fine, I'm fine, just, I'm just a little banged up is all. Story of my life."
Natalia looked at him with pity written on her face. She reached to touch him but he held up his hands. "I'm alright, I was just kidding, I'm alright."
"You got into a fist fight, that's not like you. So what, what happened?"
"Don't worry about it. Look Natalia…" He started to cough and wince in pain.
"I'm gonna, I have to get your doctor. I'm gonna get you doctor." She walked out the door with Olivia following.
In the hall outside his room, Natalia turned to Olivia. Who took her into her arms. "This is all my fault."
"What, that he got beat up? No, that's not your fault."
"It takes a lot to push him Olivia."
"I know that Natalia. He's a good man…when he's sane." She added with a chuckle.
"This isn't funny Olivia."
Olivia hugged her tighter, rubbing her back. "I know. I'm sorry."
An hour later they were sitting by Frank's bed while he slept. Natalia leaned into Olivia. "I'm just gonna step out, just for a minute."
"Okay."
Natalia stood, leant down to give Olivia a quick kiss, and left the room.
Frank had opened his eyes and watched the exchange. As soon as Natalia left he moved to get out of bed.
Olivia leaned forward, "Hey, where are you going?"
"I have to get out of here."
"Frank it's not a hotel, you can't just check out. Let me get your doctor. Okay?"
"Haven't you done enough already?"
"Excuse me? How about what you've done?"
"You had to take her from me. You just couldn't let me be happy. I haven't done anything."
"Frank you need to stop. You're hurt, and I'm trying to help, although I don't know why. This is not the place for this."
"For what Olivia? What have I ever done to you?"
"Really Frank? How about the lies you told Rafe, lies that hurt not only me, but Natalia. How about lying to my daughter? Confusing her. Making her think her family was breaking apart. Did you think about that when you convinced an eight year old child to help you and Rafe trick Natalia? No you didn't. All you thought about is what you want. What about what Natalia wants? You say you love her, if that were true you would let her make her own decisions. Quit trying to manipulate her. You've been lying to her son for months. Do you really think she would want to be with someone who does that? She thinks of Emma as her own and you made my sweet little girl cry. Do you know who calmed her down? Natalia did. By assuring her that she isn't going anywhere. That she loves her. So many people have been in and out of her little life, and that's on me, but for you to lie to her, to make her think that Natalia was going to leave her, that's low Frank. Hurting a child, that's below even me. I thought you were better then that Frankie."
"Olivia…"
"NO! No, you don't get to speak. Let me make something perfectly clear to you. I asked Natalia to marry me." She watched his face transform from anger to shock. "She said yes Frank. So you need to stay away from my family. You have hurt my baby girl and confused my son." Frank looked at her confused. "That's right, Rafe is Natalia's son, I'm going to marry her, that makes him my son. And you need to back off. You know me Frank, I don't allow people to hurt the ones I love. You know I will stop at nothing to protect them. I have tolerated your behavior up until now, because of our past, because I've hurt you, and your family before, but no more. You will keep your distance from MY fiancé, and from MY children. Do you understand me Frank? Do not test me."
Frank just starred at her and then walked out the door. Olivia followed him out. Everything in her wanted to let him walk off, but she knew Natalia would be upset that he hadn't been released by a doctor. "Just wait, wait. Natalia's gonna be worried sick."
"If you care so damn much about Natalia, you'll get out of her life, before you ruin it." He went to leave again and she stopped him.
While Natalia searched for Frank's doctor, she ran into Doris. "What are you doing here?"
"Uh, I was just gonna check up on Frank."
"Why?"
"Well maybe I just like to check up on the voters. I'm just that kind of mayor."
"Bedside visits don't really seem like they're your thing."
"Alright maybe I also want to apologize. And avoid any unnecessary lawsuits. Look, my guys, got a little carried away. They take their jobs very seriously."
"This is you? This, you're the reason Frank looks like he lost a fight with a train?"
"You know what, Frank was drunk, and very belligerent, and my security guards took him down."
"No, that is not like Frank at all. What…what was this fight about?"
"You, and the woman he feels you left him for." Doris left that thought hanging in the air as she walked away.
Olivia was trying to get Frank to stay but was loosing her patience. "After all you've done to her, the least you can do is stay and get checked out. Ease her mind a little."
"I haven't done anything to her. You have. This was your idea wasn't it?"
"Excuse me?"
"The two of you hooking up. You know, I'm not angry with her at all. Because I know this is you."
"Frank I know this is difficult but…"
"You mixed her up, cause that's what Olivia Spencer does, doesn't she? She sees something that she wants, she goes after it, and she does every trick in the book to get it."
"Could we not talk about this in the middle of a hospital? Frank."
"What was it? You didn't want to see us happy? You couldn't deal with it? Is that what it was?"
"That's not fair."
"You struck out with Gus so you decide to go after his wife."
Natalia had been walking up from around the corner. She over heard the end of Franks rant and decided to put an end to it. "Stop, stop it Frank. If you want somebody to blame, blame me."
Both Olivia and Frank turned and starred at her. She dragged them both into his room to continue in private.
Frank leaned against the hospital bed. "I finally figured it out. I know the real reason you wont date me. She mixed you up."
"Frank if you think that Olivia pushed me into anything, that I could be that easily manipulated, then you never really knew me."
Olivia didn't want Natalia to take the blame for Frank's ugly behavior again, so she tried to stop her. "Natalia, you don't have to do this."
"Frank, this has to stop. We didn't have a relationship. I care about you, as a friend. That's all Frank. That's all it's ever been."
"She got into your head. She can convince anyone of anything."
"I know this is really hard to accept. But, you know. This just, it just happened, and it's real. And now you have to let go."
"So that's it huh? It's you and Olivia? What is it that you are exactly?"
"We're together Frank. We're in love. I'm going to marry her. And it's not harmful, or sinful, or a hundred other words, that had me running from it for so long. I never meant to hurt you Frank. It was just one dinner. You have to stop. You can't keep doing this. And you can't keep putting things in Rafe's head. I cannot believe that you have been lying to him for months. Making him think that we're together. That I was going to marry you. He has so much to adjust to already and all you did is make his life harder. And the things you said about Olivia, Frank I don't even want to look at you. Are you so perfect? Have you no mistakes in your past? Really Frank? I don't think I even know you. For you to be so mean and hateful. And Emma. Do you know the pain you caused my daughter? You had her so confused. Making her think I would be mad if she talked about me and Olivia. Making her lie to Rafe about us. She was terrified. I can't believe you would do that to her. She loves you, and she trust you and you violated that. If you ever, come near any of my children…." Her anger was blinding her and she knew it. She knew she needed to stop before she said something she couldn't take back. "Frank, if you care about me at all, you have to just quit. Let me be happy, with my family. You and I, we will never happen. Even if Olivia and I weren't together. Now that I know who you really are…" She left that thought hanging in the air.
Frank looked down at his feet in defeat and walked out.
Natalia fell into Olivia's arms. Clinging to her partner. A million thoughts racing through her mind. She knew without a doubt, she wanted to be with Olivia, she knew she loved her, and wanted to marry her. However, she didn't want anymore of the drama. Her fears of people getting hurt were surfacing and she was unsure how to approach them with Olivia. Her fear was that Olivia would feel like she was backing out or was afraid. But she just needed to talk it all out for herself and knew that Olivia was the only one she could talk to about it. Deciding to clear her head before talking with Olivia, she asked Olivia to give her a minute and went for a walk.
After over thirty minutes, Olivia started to get worried. She went looking for Natalia and found her sitting on a bench outside of the hospital. She sat down next to Natalia and gave her a sad smile. Sitting silently, she took Natalia's hand and waited for her to be ready to talk.
Natalia looked at her and then turned to face forward. "I had to tell Frank the truth. Get him to understand. Or else he's just gonna keep getting into fights."
"That's how he got that shiner."
"He deserves to be happy."
"So do we."
"Yes we do. But I mean, is this the price that we have to pay, to be together?"
"I don't know."
"Let me tell you, it's Frank, next it could be Emma, it could be Rafe."
"I don't know, I don't know. We shouldn't have to. We fell in love. Like anybody else. We've been through so much in the past five months. But we're together. I mean we're together, so what does that say?"
"That this is real. But now there are all these real consequences that we have, because we feel like anyone else in love."
"I knew the consequences the minute I told you that I loved you. The minute I kissed you. If you want out, then you need to let me know, now. We can't have any regrets."
"No, no baby." She took Olivia's face in her hands and gave her a small kiss. "That's not it. I just needed to talk. To say it all out loud. Just like you have. Please don't let this give you more doubts. This isn't me doubting us, just voicing my concerns, about the things that are happening to the people around us."
"Sweetheart, you can't keep taking the blame for Frank and his craziness. This isn't your fault. You had one dinner with him, a dinner that I set up. It's not like you left him at the alter or anything."
"I know. And I had my personal talk with god months ago and I've made peace with this. Have you?"
"Well, my souls never been much of a battle ground. Honey, we can't stay inside forever. We've got to live our lives."
"Okay, so um, when we go away, we'll figure out how to do this. Be out without all the drama."
"Good. I love you Natalia, and I know this is going to be hard, but you have proven to me time and time again that we are in this together. That we can do this. I guess it's my turn to be the strong one."
Natalia gave her a small smile and lay her head on her shoulder. "I love you so much. We can do this. We just have to walk through the storm to get to the rainbow. We are worth it."
"Yes we are. And I think between you and I both laying into Frank, he might actually have gotten it."
"When did you talk to Frank? And how bad was it?"
"In the hall. Just before you came up. It wasn't bad. I pretty much said the same thing you did. To leave our family alone."
"I hope he finally listens. I am so done with all of this."
"Lets go home baby."
The two stood and walk to their car hand in hand. Olivia opened Natalia's door and gave her a long sweet kiss. This kiss was as simple as it was complex. It wasn't passionate or heated. It wasn't meant to ignite. This kiss was simply moving forward.