Title: The Importance of Family
Fandom: Guiding Light
Characters: Olivia Spencer, Natalia Rivera, Ava Peralta, Emma Spencer, Jeffrey O'neil
Category: Angst, but the good kind. Romance, Drama.
Rating: R...I'm gonna say because there are some disturbing themes explored in here and some violence, although I don't think either is described in graphic detail.
Word count: 5,504
Summary: Life goes on. Sometimes it throws you a curveball and you never know what's coming your way on any given day.
Spoilers: Takes place around Thanksgiving '10, and includes the events of the finale.
Author's Note: This fic is solely for kelltwomyn. I was bemoaning the fact that I wasn't going to be able to afford a Venice subscription and she swooped in and got when for me when I said I'd be willing to offer fic in exchange. I hope this fic is both somewhat what you were hoping for and also worth your ten bucks and the wait. I really have enjoyed Venice so far. Thank you. :)
Beta: Many thanks to q_wordy13 for beta'ing this for me! Your insights, comments, suggestions and encouragement have all been very much appreciated! :D
Disclaimer: All characters (Olivia Spencer, Natalia Rivera, Emma Spencer, Ava Peralta, blah blah etc.) and situations belong to Guiding Light, Telenext, Proctor & Gamble, etc. I'm not them.
Warning: This story eventually deals with Olivia's rape. I don't think it's discussed graphically, but I don't want anyone to stumble upon it unaware either.
Part Six
Ava was expecting breakfast to be awkward, and by anyone's reckoning it should have been. Yet, when they came down the steps, both slightly stumbling their way into the kitchen - if for different reasons - a mug of coffee was waiting for both of them on the table. Olivia took her mug with the expression of an addict with a fix in sight and thanked Natalia with a sleepy kiss, her aim not quite true, catching the corner of her mouth instead of her lips.
Ava took a hesitant sip of her coffee, trying not to burn her tongue but eager to absorb the caffeine jolt that it promised in the hope that it would ease her pounding head and clear away the fuzziness that was the remains of her search for oblivion the night before. Over the rim of her mug, she caught Natalia's eyes and winced. She wasn't sure she was ready to look Natalia in the eye. There were parts of the night before that she couldn't recall completely, but she remembered enough to know that she had been inexcusably rude to Natalia, and somehow Natalia had also seemed to understand why Ava had gotten drunk and ended up on her mother's doorstep ready to pick a fight. It made her want to squirm in her seat and left her feeling even more unsure, especially of how to deal with Natalia.
She settled for invisibility. Not actually disappearing, but remaining silent and hiding behind her cup of coffee and the general assumption that she was still hungover from the night before. In truth, she didn't feel wonderful, but she wasn't nearly as effected as she was pretending to be. Ava was concentrating so intently on the mug of coffee in her hands that she didn't notice anything until she felt the hand on her shoulder.
Startled, she glanced up and found herself looking directly at Natalia for a second time. It was only then that she realized that somewhere in the low murmur of conversation in the room between her mother and Natalia, she had missed a question directed at her, because Natalia was looking at her expectantly.
"Sorry, I didn't hear you." She hoped her voice didn't sound weird. Not too high pitched or nervous. It didn't, did it?
"I asked if you wanted some breakfast." Natalia didn't sound angry. Or was she one of those people who let her emotions simmer below the surface only to ambush someone with it later, when the effect would be more devastating? Ava didn't know her well enough to decide. She would just have to take it at face value and hope for the best later. In truth, she knew they needed to talk and she needed to apologize for what had been said, but it was another thing she wasn't quite ready to face. It still left the question of breakfast.
"I'm not that hungry," Ava demurred. "I can just fix something simple."
Natalia's hand was back on her shoulder, pressing her back down into her seat. "Let me." She smiled and this time it was both reassuring and a little bit amused. "The last time your mother said something like that, she caught the toaster on fire."
Out of the corner of her eye, Ava saw Olivia's head snap up, drawn from serious contemplation about the inside of her coffee mug by Natalia's comment. "Hey! I'm an excellent cook. I could make a breakfast like you've never even dreamed of."
"I know, Sweetie," Natalia said agreeably. "You are an amazing cook; you're just not a good morning person."
Ava couldn't hold back a soft snort at that. Olivia had never been a morning person before, and it looked as if that was one thing Natalia hadn't changed. She wondered if she had tried.
The small pout on Olivia's face was almost enough to make her let out a full laugh. She had seen Olivia pout before. The woman was infamous for expressing her displeasure - and doing something about it - when she didn't get what she wanted, but she had never considered it amusing or endearing before. That was new. So was the light kiss that Natalia placed on pouting lips. Or at least it was new to Ava, because the action didn't seem to surprise Olivia at all. She responded by deepening the kiss, her hands going to Natalia's hips, slipping under the hem of her pajama top and attempting to guide Natalia down to her lap.
Ava had seen more than enough and she glanced away, slightly uncomfortable as it was abruptly made clear that she was the outsider here. They were so caught up in one another that she might as well not have even been in the room. It wasn't a pleasant feeling, and Ava was about to get up and retreat to her room when there was a knock at the door.
"Mmph." Natalia's first response - whatever it may have been - was muffled by Olivia's lips. One hand dropped to Olivia's chest and she pushed away from her gently, until she was leaning back against the table instead of melting against Olivia. Ava could hear her breathing just a little bit faster than was normal and the woman she had always thought of as prim, and something of a prude, looked flushed and disheveled. Natalia pinned Olivia with a look. "You should answer that."
"I would, Sweetheart, but someone's sitting in my lap."
This time it was Natalia who snorted, but she rose anyway, batting away Olivia's hands as she tried to hold her in place. "Get the door," she countered firmly, still not taking her eyes off Olivia. "I'll start on breakfast."
"Right," Olivia agreed, but she didn't take her eyes off Natalia until she was already pulling the door open. When she did, she found herself face to face with Jeffrey.
Ava blanched. This morning just refused to get off to a good start.
Olivia's good mood drained away in an instant. "What are you doing here, Jeffrey?" The question was harsh; there was no denying it, but it was how she felt. The anger she was feeling now was different from the impotent rage that she had carried around with her for years before she had finally let go of it. This anger was born of fear, indignation and worry. The bits and pieces of what Ava had told her about the night before hadn't made her any happier with him either. She had always been able to count on Jeffrey to be a good father. It was something he had excelled at even when she had hated the idea of that too, but now he wasn't living up to that. Not only had he put Ava and Emma in physical danger, seemingly without any regard for the possible consequences of his actions, but he had also upset Ava enough for it to end up with her drunk and running to Olivia, which wasn't something she would have done if she hadn't been hurting - badly. Olivia was well aware that she wasn't Ava's first choice for a shoulder to cry on.
Jeffrey stood stiffly at the door, not quite looking at her, but trying to see past her into the kitchen. "I came to see Ava."
"It's early, Jeffrey." Her statement might have been non-committal, but the steel in her voice was far from it.
He seemed to sag into himself, growing smaller in front of her eyes. "Please, Olivia. I just need to talk to her. I know-" He swallowed, glancing down. "I screwed up last night. I wasn't paying attention. I was so focused on making sure it was really Edmund and confirming that he was really dead." His fists clenched. "You have no idea how many times he's gotten away. Then Reva..." He trailed off, before looking back up at her, his eyes pleading for understanding. "She's with Josh." As if that explained it all.
"She thought you were dead. Everyone did." Making that phone call to Ava, having to tell her that her father was dead was one of the hardest things she'd ever had to do.
"I'm sorry for everyone I hurt, but it was the right thing to do. He would have kept coming after Reva and Colin until he succeeded and I couldn't let him. I had to stop him. You know, Olivia. You would do anything to protect your children."
Olivia folded her arms across her chest and looked down. She wasn't close to being okay with Jeffrey, not yet, but she could recognize that this moment wasn't about her. "It's up to Ava if she wants to see you." She felt the gentle touch of Natalia's hand at the small of her back and another hand curling around her bicep as Natalia came to stand beside her. When she glanced over, however, she didn't find the welcoming expression she had expected on Natalia's face. Instead she looked cold and disapproving. It was jarring because it was Natalia and she was always welcoming.
"Maybe you should come back later," Natalia suggested. "Ava isn't up yet."
It was a blatant lie and it rolled off Natalia's lips smoothly, without a hint of hesitation or anything else to give it away. As startled as Olivia was she kept it off her face and instead acted as if nothing unusual were going on.
"I could wait-"
"It would be better if you came back later," Natalia repeated. "It's about time for Francesca to get up and mornings around here get pretty crazy. Besides, there's no way of knowing when Ava will get up." A friendly smile never left her face the whole time she spoke, but Olivia could see that it didn't reach her eyes.
"Francesca?" Jeffrey looked confused now.
"Our daughter," Olivia clarified.
Jeffrey's eyebrows shot up, and then he nodded. "Congratulations." It sounded heartfelt but his exhaustion was clear in his voice.
"A lot of things have changed, Jeffrey. You need to give it time." Part of Olivia couldn't believe that she had softened toward him. She certainly hadn't forgotten what he had done yesterday, but seeing the defeated, saddened man on her back step this morning had changed things. She could imagine what it would be like to come back to Natalia, holding on to that one person in her mind to get her through everything else, only to find out that she had moved on to someone else, or worse yet, gone back to Frank. It would break her.
"Even Ava?" Jeffrey asked.
"Especially Ava. You hurt her. You need to give her time to forgive you. You can't just expect things to go back to the way they were before. People have changed and so have you. You have to start over."
Jeffrey dropped his head, a deep sigh slipping out of him. "When did you get so smart?" He asked, raising his head up enough to look at her.
Olivia smiled weakly and tipped her head in Natalia's direction. "It's all her influence."
"Does this mean you forgive me?"
Olivia felt Natalia stiffen, the hand she had wrapped around her bicep tightening painfully. "No. I won't forgive you for knowingly placing my daughters in danger - whether you felt it was the right decision or not - but I won't try to stop you from seeing Ava. You're her father and she needs you."
Jeffrey nodded as if he expected that and straightened. "I should go."
When he had gone and the door was shut behind him, Olivia finally looked over at Natalia.
"Are you okay?"
Natalia shook her head. "I'm furious that he would dare to come here and ask for your help, after, after...everything." The last word exploded out of her mouth as if there were so many other things that she wanted to say instead and that was the only thing she could get out.
"It's okay," Olivia said soothingly.
"No," Natalia countered. "It really isn't."
Olivia caught her hand and cradled it in both of her own, rubbing her thumb back and forth across her knuckles for a long moment before she said anything. "I love you for loving me like this."
"But," Natalia prompted.
"There is no 'but'." Olivia rested her forehead on Natalia's. "I made my peace with Jeffrey because I had to. I still have to. I can't go back to being the person I was before," she whispered. "Don't ask me to."
"Olivia, I wouldn't..."
"Please. I need you to accept that I've made my peace with Jeffrey."
It was the first word that caught Natalia's attention and grabbed something visceral within her. From Olivia Spencer, 'please' was close to pleading. It was more than asking; it was almost begging, and that was something Olivia didn't do. At least not when they weren't in bed, and then only when she couldn't hold out any longer; she simply needed Natalia. Now, she was asking this just as fervently.
"I..." Her voice trembled and honestly, Natalia wasn't sure what she was going to say. It was impossible to resist when Olivia was asking this way, it melted her stubbornness and determination. What it couldn't touch was the anger she felt toward Jeffrey. As much as she wanted to accede to Olivia's request, she just couldn't accept what Jeffrey had done, couldn't simply let it go. It wasn't that easy. Usually loving Olivia made things easier, this was one thing that it made harder.
Olivia rubbed the bridge of her nose. "I don't understand. Why are you being like this? You're usually the first one in line to see the best in someone. Forgiveness is what you do."
"Don't say it like that," Natalia snapped before she could hold the words in. She couldn't take being mocked right now, especially not by Olivia, and not when she was already on edge.
Olivia looked startled and finally let out a weary sigh, sinking into a seat at the table. "I don't want to fight," she said softly. "Not about this."
"I don't either!" Natalia blurted.
"Then tell me," Olivia urged her, exasperated.
"It's different, because it's you." She gestured at Olivia as if that should explain everything. When Olivia looked no more clear than she had a moment before, Natalia continued. "Jeffrey hurt you - I can't just brush that aside and welcome him into my home - our home."
"It was a long time ago, Natalia," Olivia said gently. "He's done his best to make up for it."
"Good." Natalia said firmly. "He should do whatever he can to make his penance, but that doesn't make what he did right."
"It's not that simple."
"It should be," Natalia countered, stepping closer to Olivia. "He hurt you."
"I know!" It was loud enough to startle them both into silence. "It doesn't matter," Olivia finally said into the silence.
"But it does." Natalia held her hand over her heart. "It matters to me, Olivia, because I love you." She took a deep breath. "I might not have stood in a church and taken any vows with you, but I have in my heart. To cherish and honor, to love and protect. We may not have spoken those words to each other, but it's what we do, what we have always been about, and I can't just turn that off."
Olivia's breath caught at her words, deeply affected by them even at this moment. "And I can't ask you to do that." She held a hand out to Natalia, wanting some physical connection to her after their brief verbal skirmish. It wasn't over yet, but a temporary cease-fire had been declared. Mutually assured destruction was the only thing on the menu if they continued. "I don't like who I was back then. She isn't the woman you deserve, and I don't want to go back to being that person."
Natalia placed her hand in Olivia's without hesitation. "Deserve has nothing to do with it. You are the only person I want in my life. And you won't - go back to being that person. You have so much more now than you did before and you would never be willing to give that - give all of us - up for that. And I...I will do my best to come to terms with Jeffrey. I'll try for you and for Ava."
"Thank you," Olivia said simply, tugging on the hand that she held and pulling Natalia nearer, until she could wrap her arm around her and press close against her.
Natalia held her just as tightly, her chin resting on Olivia's head. She shifted until she could put a reverent kiss on the top of her head. Together was where she found her peace; together they could face anything. They had proven it time and again. In the end, they always found their way back to one another, but sometimes it was more difficult than others to come to an agreement. They would never stop trying, though. It was something Natalia would always be thankful for.
"You lied." Olivia's voice is muffled with her face pressed up against Natalia's midsection, but Natalia can still make her out clearly enough to pull back away from her.
"What are you talking about?" At the moment, Natalia was more confused than upset. She simply had no idea what Olivia was talking about and that worried her. Since the months that they had spent painstakingly trying to conceal their growing feelings from themselves and one another she had done her best to not conceal anything from Olivia. The one, huge, horrible lie of omission she had made had spurred her into making one of the worst decisions of her life, leaving Olivia without a word, and it was a mistake she was determined not to repeat. Not leaving, per se, although she didn't want to ever do that again either, but doing anything that would hurt Olivia that badly.
"To Jeffrey. You told him Ava wasn't awake yet."
"Oh." Well, there was that. It was about as blatant of a lie as one could make. Her eyes flickered fleetingly from Olivia to the statue of the Virgin Mary across the room and then back. "I shouldn't have lied." There was no letting herself off the hook for that. Her lips pursed into a thin line. "But I would do it again if I had to. She got up as soon as she realized it was Jeffrey at the door. She didn't want to talk to him and I-"
"You were defending her the same way you would me or Emma."
"Exactly." Natalia said, somehow feeling deflated. What she felt toward Ava wasn't exactly parental. That would be a little bit ridiculous. Ava was only about ten years younger than her, but she was definitely family, and that was all that mattered.
"I kind of like it," Olivia admitted, her voice almost a purr.
"Like what?" Natalia demanded, pushing away from her enough to look at her.
"When you show your not so innocent side. I know it's there, but it comes out so rarely. It's fun."
Natalia could only shake her head. Olivia caught her chin and drew her down to capture her lips. Natalia didn't resist, sinking into the contact, savoring every moment of this. The connection - the love - they shared hadn't been watered down by the year they had spent together. Neither of them took it for granted; they were both all too aware how easily it could be taken away.
Finally it was Olivia who regretfully pulled away from her to rest her forehead against Natalia's, their noses brushing together not quite ready to relinquish anymore contact. "I should go check on Ava."
"Okay," Natalia agreed, but made no move to let Olivia go.
Olivia laughed softly. "You have to let me go for that unless you want to go with me."
Reluctantly, Natalia shook her head and let her hands slip down Olivia's sides and then fall away. "I should go check on Francesca. She's probably up and impatient by now."
A knock on the door interrupted them. Olivia wrinkled her nose. "Do you think it's..."
A quick glance toward the door and Natalia was shaking her head. "No, I don't. He'll come back later, but I don't think Jeffrey would push anything right now." Natalia rose. "I'll get it; you, go. Check on Ava." She could see that Olivia was about to protest and pressed a finger over her lips. "Nope. I've got it. Go."
"Bossy," Olivia murmured, her lips moving under Natalia's finger, the puff of breath coming out with the crisp syllables tickled Natalia's finger and sent a shiver down her spine.
"Impossible," Natalia countered lightly as Olivia nonetheless rose and headed into the living room. She watched her leave, not because she needed any assurances that she was going but because still, after the more than a year that they had spent together, she couldn't look away. More pounding at the back door reminded her of what she had been doing and she moved quickly to answer it. "Coming!"
"Hi, Natalia," Frank was grinning broadly, almost shifting from foot to foot in his excited impatience.
"Frank!" With everything that had happened that morning, she had forgotten that he was supposed to be coming over to pick up Francesca. It was the reason she had been up so early on a rare morning that they could all sleep in. She was no late sleeper like Olivia, but she had come to cherish time spent together, mornings when she could linger in bed with Olivia, savoring the closeness that it encouraged. It was pure decadence, not something she would have indulged in before, and it was heady, wonderful stuff, all the more because she did get to share it with Olivia. "Come on in," she stepped aside and waved him into the kitchen, pushing her hair back out of her face with one hand as she did. "Do you want some coffee? Francesca isn't ready yet. We're running a little bit behind this morning."
"No problem," Frank said, rubbing his hands together eagerly. "I just can't wait to spend some time with one of my favorite girls."
Despite everything, Natalia couldn't help but smiling at that. This was what she had always wanted for Rafe: another parent to love and support her child. Francesca was lucky enough to have two more people in her life who loved her like that. It was more than she could have ever hoped for when she moved to Springfield. She shook her head, dismissing the thoughts and returning her focus to the present. "Have a seat. I'll bring Francesca down in just a minute."
"I can help," Frank offered. "I'm sure you could use an extra set of hands." He held his up as if she needed an example.
Something in Natalia balked. She couldn't put a finger on it or name the root of its cause, but it made her uncomfortable just the same. Without a solid reason though, she couldn't bring herself to disagree. She had always struggled to make Frank feel like he was every bit as much a part of his daughter's life. "Okay. Just be quiet," she warned. "Emma's still sleeping."
Frank followed her through the living room and up the stairs. Behind her his tread sounded too heavy and she kept having to force herself not to look back over her shoulder at him. At the top of the stairs, she lifted her fingers to her lips again in warning and hoped that his heavy footfalls would land a little bit more lightly up here. When they entered the nursery, Frank was hovering just over shoulder.
"Everyone else still sleeping?" He whispered, still full of good cheer as he headed straight for the crib in the corner of the room.
"No," Natalia said, tossing her hair over her opposite shoulder as she leaned over the crib rail and ran her fingers up and down Francesca's back. It was a soothing gesture, but one meant to bring her gently out of her slumber. "Olivia and Ava are up."
Francesca shifted in her crib, her face scrunching up grumpily as she was pulled from sleep. Rubbing at her eyes, she tucked her body inward, clearly unwilling to be woken up just yet.
"Time to rise and shine, little one," Natalia said, shifting her attention away from Frank and back to her little girl. Easing her hands under Francesca's arms, Natalia lifted her out of the crib and tucked her close to her body. Barely awake, Francesca reached out for Natalia, clinging to her as she laid her head on her shoulder. Nuzzling the soft skin of her neck, Natalia let her eyes fall shut and sent up a brief prayer of thanks for the blessings she had been given. She opened her eyes again, flashing Frank a small smile as she saw him watching them and carried Francesca over to the changing table.
"Shouldn't Olivia be helping you with this?" Frank asked, as he watched Natalia expertly change their now-squirming daughter's diaper.
He had probably meant nothing by it, just an innocent comment to make conversation. That was what Natalia told herself, because mostly Frank had gotten past the part where he resented Olivia, where he thought that she had stolen something from him that had never really been his to begin with. But every once in a while, Frank said something that struck her last nerve. It had only happened occasionally, but when it did it was all she could do to force herself to be civil. Even Olivia seemed to accept his rare digs with incredible calm. Maybe that was why it angered Natalia so easily, because no one should take cheap shots at Olivia, not when all of this was her fault, when Frank should have been angry at her, not Olivia.
"We had a busy morning," she said curtly, glancing back at Frank over her shoulder. "We're still dealing with everything that happened yesterday." She hoped that was enough to stop him from asking anything else, because the rest of it was none of his business.
"Oh, yeah." As if he had forgotten. How could he have forgotten so quickly when it could have easily changed everything forever? If Jeffrey hadn't killed Edmund, if the fight had gone on longer.... Natalia was from Chicago. She knew that a bullet that missed could kill just as quickly as one that hit its target. She shuddered, not wanting to think about what might have happened if one of those bullets had hit Emma or Ava. Just the thought alone made it hard to breathe. "There was a lot of excitement going around yesterday."
Excitement, not quite the word she would have used for it. Terrifying, more like.
"It was a long day," she said succinctly, hoping that they can leave it at that and move on to a safer topic.
"I bet," Frank said knowingly. "I heard Jeffrey and Olivia got into quite an argument."
Her lips pressed into a thin line. It was somewhere between an invitation to gossip - something she didn't have time for on the best of days - and prying into her life. Whether it for official reasons or just because Frank wanted to know, she wasn't sure, but she didn't like it.
"It was a very scary moment for everyone, Frank. We had no idea what had happened to Emma and Ava. She just wanted to make sure they were safe," Natalia concluded as she finished dressing Francesca.
"Sure," Frank said agreeably, finally seeming to realize that he had pushed far enough. "I didn't mean anything by it." He shook his head. "I just remember when it was very different. They've come a long way, you know?"
"We all have, Frank," Natalia pointed out, lifting Francesca up and setting her down on the floor, but not letting go. She wasn't steady on her feet just yet, especially first thing in the morning. She had teased Olivia about it more than once. Nurture vs. Nature and all that.
"Well, yeah, but going from sending a hit man after your daughter to almost getting into a fight with Jeffrey over placing her in danger? You have to admit, that's a lot farther than the rest of us have gone, Natalia."
His words hit her like a slap in the face and she gasped. There were gaping sections of Olivia's past that she didn't know about, Natalia knew that. Their conversation yesterday had made it clear, but it wasn't as if they had been hiding things from one another. After all, there were huge chunks of her own past that she had never explicitly discussed with Olivia either. They just got one another so well that it had never seemed to matter and the rest of the time they had been so busy struggling against whatever was trying to keep them apart or dealing with their children that there simply hadn't been time. It still upset her that she hadn't known, that Frank had been able to shock her so easily with it.
She straightened, still keeping an eye on Francesca. "I think we've all done things that we regret, Frank, and none of us have room to judge anyone else's actions."
"But a hit man?"
Natalia held up a hand as if to ward him off. "Frank, you need to stop. Now, are you ready to take your daughter for the day?" At the moment, she was hoping he would say no. Originally Frank was supposed to have kept Francesca, not just to give them some quality father/daughter bonding time, but also to give Olivia and Natalia a chance to prepare for the big Thanksgiving celebration that they were hosting the next day, and the smaller, more intimate family celebration of Francesca's birthday, the following day. At the moment, she was angry enough with Frank not to care. Between her and Olivia they could juggle things enough to take care of Francesca and manage all of the things that needed to be done before the big day.
"Of course." Frank sounded offended that she had asked, but at the moment, Natalia didn't care.
Picking up Francesca's bag, packed with a few of her favorite things as well as a change of clothes and any other essentials that Frank might have misplaced since the last time he had taken care of her, Natalia handed it to him. "Then you two should probably get going before it gets too late. She needs a good breakfast or she gets grumpy." Scooping up her daughter, Natalia held her close for a moment. It was impossible to be upset with Francesca in her arms; she blocked everything else out until the world consisted of just the two of them. "I love you, little one." Natalia whispered and kissed the top of her head gently. Each time she handed her over to Frank it was difficult, not because she resented him spending time with his daughter. No, she approved of that, but it meant letting go, one of a thousand times that she would have to let her go until, eventually, she would be a grown woman and leaving for the last time, gone to a home of her own.
This time she was the one who followed him, down the stairs and through the kitchen, locking the door behind them after watching them get in the car and then one last wave to Francesca. When she turned around, it was only to face her empty kitchen and the thoughts swirling around in her head. She wasn't naive enough in the ways of Springfield to believe what Frank said without reservation. Over the years she had spent in the town, she had heard more rumors than she could count about Olivia. Most of them were false, some had a grain of truth in them, but were told in the most malicious way possible. Natalia had learned never to believe anything she hadn't seen for herself or heard directly from Olivia. She was also aware that Olivia wasn't an angel even now, despite how much she had changed. She was just a person like everyone else, prone to making huge mistakes and even bigger acts of kindness. In the grand scheme of things, how important was it really? Did it change anything that she already knew about Olivia? No one could answer that question but Natalia, herself, and all it accomplished was leaving her wishing that Frank had never come by as she set about preparing breakfast for the rest of her family.
Francesca wasn't the only one who was grumpy without a hearty morning meal, and she needed something to occupy her as she waited for everyone else to come down. It certainly wasn't proving to be an uneventful holiday.
(6/?)
