Saving Ma
Summary: After Frank proposed to Natalia, Rafe Ave and Emma team up to help their moms.
Disclaimer: I do not own these characters and I do not make any profit from this
Chapter 27
The next morning the got up early and ordered breakfast. Natalia didn't eat much, but insisted that Olivia did to take her meds. They were heading down to the car when Mel stopped them. "I need to pick up a fax at the front desk that just came through for me so I will meet you at the car."
They nodded and headed to the car to wait for her. She got in the car a few minutes later and they were off. They arrived at the attorney's office with fifteen minutes to spare. When they entered the room they saw six other people there. Natalia's Aunt and Uncle, Maria and Jose Gonzales, there were two children with them.
Also in the room were her mother Marisol and very agitated father Miguel. "What the hell is she doing here?" He stood and bellowed causing Olivia to step slightly in front of her.
The attorney shook his head. "Mr. Rivera you knew she was going to be here no let's just get this started without the drama shall we?" Miguel huffed and sat back down.
The attorney was about to start when the baby in her Aunt's arms started reaching for Natalia getting very upset and starting to cry. Maria stood and walked over to her and hugged her as the baby launched himself into her arms. "Hello Natalia dear. This is Josie's son Natalio. You look just like her, I think that's why he wants you."
Natalia gasped and pulled the baby, who looked just like her sister, into her arms. Her aunt smiled as the boy settled down completely for the first time since is mother dies. "Would you like to hold him while we do this? This is the calmest he has been in weeks."
Natalia nodded holding him close as she sat with Mel and Olivia flanking her. The attorney waited for everyone to settle then got started. "We are here today for the reading of the last will and testament of Josephina Consuela Rivera. She has left a letter for her sister Natalia Rivera." He paused and handed her the note. "I will now read her wishes. 'I Josephina Consuela Rivera being of sound mind would like to leave my estate as such. All of my worldly good are to be left to my sister Natalia Maria Rivera to be done with as she sees fit.'"
The attorney paused again and handed a list to Natalia. "She didn't have much and the house went into foreclosure four months after she entered the hospital and could no longer make the payment. They did have all the things within the house packed up and put into storage. If you want them you will have to pay the storage fees to the bank and it will all be relinquished to you. The car on the list was totaled in her accident but the insurance money for it will be giving to you. I have the check they drew up for you. Continuing 'I also leave in her care the solo rights of my children Mateo Alejandro Rivera, and Natalio Mario Rivera. I know that she will be the best person to raise them in my stead. Mateo needs you Natalia, please keep him safe.'"
The attorney was about to continue but Miguel cut him off. "This is an outrage. Mateo is my son and Natalio is my grandson they should live with me."
Mel leaned over and whispered to Natalia where only she and Olivia could hear her as the attorney tried to calm him. "I did a background that came in this morning. The boy Mateo was taken by Child Protective Service because of physical and emotional abuse and given to the care of your sister when he was five. He's 11 now."
Natalia stood up and silenced the room. "Over my dead body will you get anywhere near my boys. She left them to me, in my care. CPS will never approve of them being with you and I will fight you to my dying breath if you try to take them from me." Mateo started inching himself toward her scared of Miguel and feeling that since his Ma thought she was safe for him, that was who he needed to get to.
Olivia stood beside and slightly behind her in a show of support, placing a gentle hand on her back to calm her a little.
Miguel rounded on her. "You are not a fit guardian for my boys. I know of this unholy union with this cachonda. They do not need to live with such filth. How can such ungodly women ever support two growing boys?"
Natalia smirked as Olivia stepped beside her. "Because we are rich and have three children already that thrive. You will not find a judge in the state that will grant a child abusing sorry excuse for a man custody of these boys over two pillars of the community. We own one hotel, soon to be two and run our business together with our oldest two children. Our youngest child is 9."
Natalia saw Mateo out of the corner of her eye making his way to her. She held on to Natalio, who had fallen asleep on her shoulder, with one arm and opened the other to him. He rushed over to her burying himself in her side. "We are not ungodly father. We attend church every Sunday and pray as a family. They will know God, but not by you. Your God is not the God I know and not the one Natalio will ever know. And certainly not the God Mateo will ever be subjected to again."
The attorney stepped forward. "As I said before Mr. Rivera your presence here is not needed. Now I suggest that you leave or I will be forced to have you removed."
Miguel stepped toward Natalia and the boys only to be blocked by Olivia, Mel, Maria, and Jose. Olivia stopped him cold with a glare as only she can. "Come one step closer to my wife or our boys and I will make your life a living hell, and trust me, I have the money and resources to make it happen." She said with such venom he visibly shivered in fear.
He turned and grabbed his wife, who hadn't moved or made a sound since they entered the room, and pulled her after him leaving the room.
After he was gone Olivia returned to Natalia's side rubbing her back. The attorney turned to them. "I apologize about him. We all tried to make him leave before you arrived."
Olivia scoffed thinking he should have tried harder but Natalia gave him a small smile. "It's done now and he knows he doesn't stand a chance against us. Let's just move on."
Everyone returned to their seats except Mateo who stayed with Natalia and the attorney began. "That was really all that she had to say. I have the documents here releasing the boys into your custody and the adoption papers she had drawn up. This is everything you need." He handed her all of the paperwork that he had for the boys and her sisters estate and she handed it all to Mel to look over.
Natalia held up a hand. "May I ask when she passed, what was wrong with her and why it took so long to contact me?"
Maria sat forward. "She was in a car accident with Natalio's father Michael, seven months ago. He was pronounced on the scene and she held on until her heart finally gave out two weeks ago. Mateo was visiting with me when they had the accident. Natalio was born a month after the accident but was still early and was in the hospital for four months. He is perfectly healthy now. I have all his medical records for you. She told us the day he was born that if she didn't make it that they were to go to you. Mr. Johnson, her attorney here has been looking for you since. He just found your information last week. We wanted you here for the funeral but we didn't find you in time."
Mel looked at him suspiciously after looking at the date on the PI's report. "You just found her last week?"
He nodded. "Yes, on Thursday. Friday I set up the courier that was delivered Saturday."
Mel took out her laptop and typed something then put it on the desk. "I just did a google search for Natalia Maria Rivera and her birthdate. It immediately pulled her information of her wedding and name change from ten weeks ago, as well as her address. This information from the PI that was time stamped upon delivery to you was from at five months ago. You could have found this information yourself. Why sit on it for so long?"
Jose stood up his face red with anger. "You mean to tell me that we could have had Natalia home five months ago and her sister could have had some peace knowing that she had her babies. Causing Natalia to miss her sister's funeral, when you were what? Just racking up the billable hours and charging a dying women who was desperate to find her sister. Then continue to charge us after her death when you already had the information."
He was about to explode when Olivia stood. "Mr. Gonzales, don't bother with him. Mr. Johnson I suggest you get an attorney of your own, you're going to need it as you will be hearing from our attorney here with the lawsuit we are about to slap on you." She turned back to Jose. "We will get the money back, he will lose his license, and if I have anything to say about it will serve jail time. I know that's not going to make up for what you all lost but we will ring him for all he is worth."
She looked to Mel. "Is that all the papers we need to get the boys squared away and get Natalia's sister's things?"
Mel nodded. "Yes I will have to modify the adoption papers to add your name to them, but everything else is in order. The check for the car is even in here."
She turned back to Johnson. "Have a good day sir, because they are numbered." She took the sleeping baby from Natalia so she could get up and get Mateo who was still glued to her and they all turned to leave the office.
Outside Natalia turned to her Aunt and Uncle. "Would you like to go out to lunch with us so we can discuss picking up whatever the boys have with you and get them ready for the move? We live in Springfield about three hours south of here." They nodded and headed to the parking lot.
They transferred the car seat so they baby could ride with them. He had woken up as they were leaving the building and wouldn't leave Natalia. She sat in the back with the boys and Mel sat up front with Olivia.
Mel turned to Olivia before they entered the car. "Can you drop me by the hotel? I will get lunch there and get to work on getting Josephine's things released to you and add you to the adoption papers. If I can get this done before 3:00 we may be able to get it settled and have you on your way home tomorrow. I will call when I need you to meet me at the courthouse to sign so I can get these filed. I'll take a cab there when I need to go." Olivia nodded and informed Maria and Jose of the change in route.
They headed off and dropped off Mel and stopped at a pizza place that Mateo wanted to eat at. Olivia called Ava and Rafe to inform them of what happened at the will reading and the boys' impending arrival. She promised to call them later that night with more information.
They got settled at a large round booth with the baby in a highchair next to Natalia and Mateo between her and Olivia. They talked with Mateo to make sure he understood that he would be going home with them.
He just smiled and leaned into Natalia. "My Ma told me that Nate and me would be going to live with you and Rafe. That you were going to be my new Ma." He looked at Olivia. "Who are you? Ma didn't tell me about you."
Olivia smiled down at him. He looked so much like Rafe. "I'm Olivia. I'm Natalia's wife, we're married. You boys will be living with both of us and Rafe. We also have Emma and Ava our daughters that live with us too."
Mateo looked thoughtful for a moment. "Oh, like my babysitter Jenny. She has a girlfriend named Barb and they are getting married, and Barb has a boy like me and Jenny is going to be his ma too like Barb is."
Olivia ruffled his hair. "Yep just like that." Thankful that he understood and they wouldn't be confusing him.
He looked thoughtful again then looked back to Olivia. "But that means I have two new Ma's but do I call you both Ma? That's going to hurt my head."
Olivia chuckled, "Well our kids call Natalia Ma and Me mom, but you can call us whatever you want."
"But my old Ma said she was my new Ma so I gotta call her Ma, and you're a Ma too so I should call you what the other kids do." He looked up to Natalia worried, "Is that right? Is that ok?"
Natalia hugged him with one arm. "If that's what you want, it's fine with us."
He smiled again and looked to Jose. "I need to go to the bathroom."
They got out of the booth and headed to the bathroom. Natalia turned to Maria. "I know that our Emma is very advanced for her age but he seems to process thing and speak very differently and she's two years younger than he is."
Maria sighed. "I was waiting to get you alone without him able to hear. The reason they took him from your parents was because Miguel used to hit him. The last time he hit him Mateo fell into the coffee table and it caused him to have a severe head injury. He has been a little slow since. I have all his medical records as well. He is on an eight year old level right now. The doctors say that with enough work he should be fully functional as an adult he will just take longer to get there. Josie worked tirelessly to make extra money to get him good doctors, speech therapists and tutors to get him on track but the money wasn't always there."
Natalia wiped a tear. "Well he'll have it now. We have excellent medical insurance and can afford whatever he needs. We will make sure he thrives."
Maria took her hand. "I know you will. Just hearing you talk about your children, I can tell you are good mothers. Josie made the right choice in you."
Before Natalia could reply Mateo and Jose returned. Mateo sat back in his seat and looked to Olivia. "Who's going to take me to the bathroom when we get to my new home? I don't need help at home just in public so no one steals me."
Olivia chuckled. "Well, Rafe will take you. He's a good big brother."
Mateo smiled and pointed to himself. "I'm a good big brother too. My old Ma told me so cause I help with Nate."
Natalia smiled at him then turned back to Maria. "What about Natalio's father? Do we need to worry about his family wanting him?"
Maria shook her head. "No, he was an only child and his parents passed a few years ago. He had no other family he was in contact with."
They talked some more while Natalia fed Nate his baby food and they finished their pizza. They headed over the Maria and Jose's house to pack up the boy's things and load them into the back of the SUV. All they had were some clothes and a few toys. The porta crib he had been using had been borrowed from a neighbor. Both boys had a blanket that Josie made for each of them that they always slept with. Natalio had a diaper bag and a new bag of diapers and about ten jars of baby food, three cans of liquid formula and two bottles. Not much had been bought for him since he was born early and she had been in the hospital for a month before. All of Mateo's stuff was in the storage the bank had put everything in.
Once they were loaded they said goodbye to them and headed to the store to get some more things for the boys. They went to Babies R Us first and got some powdered formula and new bottles for him. They also bought a new porta crib and blankets for him. They grabbed him a few new outfits, pajamas and shoes. The last thing they got was a new car seat and some toys that attached to it for the car ride. The one he was using he had already grown out of and wasn't safe. They would figure out what else he need once they were home.
After they finished with Natalio they went to Kid's R Us next door and got some things for Mateo. They picked up a few outfits and some new shoes for him as well. Along with another blanket and some pajamas. They found out that he loved cars and he got a few new ones and some games to play with in the car on the way home. He also got a pillow in the shape of a car that he fell in love with.
They were headed back to the hotel when Mel called and needed them at the courthouse. They arrived and met Mel in an empty courtroom. "Hey guys, here's what I got for you." She handed them a set of papers. "These are the adoption papers, just sign them and I will file them, they are already signed by the judge."
They looked up shocked. "How in the world did you accomplish that without our signatures being on them?" Olivia asked incredulously.
Mel smiled. "Well I ran into our friend Judge Watkins who was here to hear a case. He asked what I was doing in Chicago and I explained. He asked me for the papers and signed them. Said for me to find him once you signed and he would get them pushed through. He also signed the name change papers I have in case you wanted to do that too."
Natalia looked down to Mateo. "Mateo, I used to be a Rivera too like you, your brother and your other Ma, but when I married Olivia I became a Spencer like her, Emma and Ava and so did Rafe. Natalio will be a Spencer too once we finish with the papers. Would you like to be a Spencer like all of us too?"
"I can change to Spencer and not be like the bad father anymore? I was going to be a Rodriguez like Michael but he and Ma died so I stayed a Rivera." He looked up hopeful.
Natalia smile. "Yes you can be a Spencer like us. You don't have to be a Rivera anymore."
He clapped his hands and bounced in his seat. "Ok, I want to be a Spencer like my Ma and mom."
Olivia smiled and turned to Mel. "Well you heard the boy. Let's make him a Spencer."
Mel chuckled and gave them the papers. They signed everything and she put it all in a folder. She pulled out another folder and handed Natalia the papers. "These are the release papers for your sister's things in storage. I hope you don't mind but I took the liberty of setting up a moving truck." She looked at her watch. "It's 2:30 so they should be pulling out about now to head to Springfield. Ava is expecting them and has some storage lockers at the Beacon ready for when they get there. They will load it in the lockers for her and you just need to go through it when you get to it."
They just stared at her in shock. Olivia sat forward. "So you're telling us that everything is done and all we have to do is go home?"
Mel beamed. "Yep. I will take these to Judge Watkins he should be in recess in about half an hour. Then we can leave whenever you are ready."
Olivia smiled. "You know, every time I turn around you remind me why I pay you the big bucks." Mel beamed and she turned to Natalia. "What do you want to do princess?"
Natalia looked at the boys then back to her. "I want to take them home. We should be able to be home in time for dinner. We can set up the porta crib in our room and maybe Mateo can sleep in Rafe's room. We have that roll-away bed in the attic."
Olivia nodded and looked to Mateo. "Well buddy, looks like we are headed home really soon. Want to go to the hotel with us to get our stuff and check out? Then we can go home and eat dinner with the rest of the kids."
He nodded his head vigorously. Olivia chuckled and turned back to Mel. "Do you want us to go now? We can grab your suitcase for you and come back and pick you up once you see the judge. Then we can get on the road and have you home tonight."
Mel smiled, "sounds good to me. My stuff is packed already, you just need to grab the one case I have there. I have my briefcase and computer bag with me."
They went back to the hotel, got their things together, loaded and checked out in thirty minutes. Natalia called her Aunt and Uncle and let them know they were heading home and that she would call soon for a visit. She also called Rafe and Ava to let them know they would be home tonight in time for dinner. She asked Rafe to pull the roll-away out of the attic and for them to explain to Emma what was going on. They headed back to the courthouse and picked up Mel and were on the road by 3:30 taking their new babies home.
