*Thank-you for all the reviews on the last chapter. They were greatly appreciated. Thank-you all so mcuh.
John:
I am sitting in my hotel room when my cell phone starts to ring. It is pretty late and I want to ignore it at first because I have an early flight out of Pennsylvania in the morning but I pick it up to see who is calling just in case it might be Ashley again. She has called me at least 10 times tonight and I have ignored every call. When I look at the phone I don't see Ashley's name but Natalie's. I answer right away. "Hello," I say.
"John," she says. I can hear that she's been crying.
"Nat, what's wrong?" I ask.
I hear her sniffle and choke out the words, "please come over."
"All right," I say. I waste no time. I get up and get some clothes on to head over to Natalie's house. "I'll be right there."
"Thank-you," she says before hanging up the phone.
I click my phone off and throw it on the bed while I get dressed. I didn't ask her any questions because I don't need to. She obviously needs me so I am heading over to her house. I grab my hoodie and grab my phone before I head out the door. I walk through the lobby and pass Max on my way. He glares at me but I just keep walking the asshole. I can't stand that guy. I turn around before I walk out the door and I see him walking off with that Callie girl. He is such a prick. I head out the door, get in my rental car and head off to Natalie's. I arrive at Natalie's 10 minutes later. I get out of my car and walk up to the front door. I ring the doorbell and she opens the door quickly. She is a mess. Her face is swollen, her lip is bleeding and there is blood from her nose. I just want to cry when I see her. "Nat, what happened?" I ask as she pulls me into the house, shuts the door behind me and locks it.
She breaks down and starts crying. She wraps her arms around me tightly and I wrap mine around her just to comfort her. I'm not sure what happened to her but if Max did this to her I will kick his ass. I hold her while she cries for I don't know how long but it doesn't matter. I like holding her. She finally speaks and says, "John."
"Nat, what happened?" I ask looking at her. "What happened to you?"
"Max," she says.
"Max?" I ask. I'm not shocked the guy is an asshole. She cries and nods her head. "He did this to you?" I ask as I touch her face.
"Yes," she says. "He did. He did this too," she says lifting up her shirt and exposing bruises starting to form on her rib cage. "and this," she says showing me her wrists. My heart breaks for her but I am pissed.
"Natalie," I say. "I am so sorry."
"It's not your fault," she says. "It's mine."
"Where's Angelina?"
"She just went back to bed. She saw it. She is a little upset but she's okay now. He tried to hit her…"
I am beyond upset now knowing that Max tried to hit my daughter, "he didn't right?"
"No," she says. "I stopped him. I would never let him hurt her."
"Nat, this is crazy," I say. "Let's get you cleaned up," I say, "and then we can talk."
"Okay," she says as we walk to the kitchen so she can get cleaned up. I walk over to the sink and get a wet towel to clean up her blood. I walk over to her and clean her up. "Thank-you," she says.
"It's no problem," I say as I clean up the bloody mess Max left on her face. The more I clean the more pissed off I get. I just want to go back to the hotel and kick this guy's ass. If I see him again I probably will. I am so pissed off. I finish cleaning her off and put the towel in the sink. She looks beautiful even with the swollen nose, busted lip and bruised face. She definitely doesn't deserve this. She deserves so much better. "Let's go talk," I say.
"Okay," she says as she leads me to the living room. We sit down on the couch and she says, "I'm sorry I called you. I just need someone to talk to."
"It's okay. I don't mind," I say, "so what happened?"
"He got pissed that you were here. He started yelling about you being here and then I told him you were Angelina's father. He wants me to get you out of her life. He doesn't want you to be in it."
"That's not his decision," I say. It isn't his decision. Angelina is my daughter. I missed 7 ½ years of her life. I'm not missing anymore.
"I know and I told him I wasn't going to do that to Angelina or you. I told him you were going to be in her life. That only made him even more upset. Everything else is just a blur. I know he got upset when I accused him of cheating on me. He smelled like woman's perfume," she says.
I know Max is cheating on her and with that girl at the hotel but I can't bring myself to tell Natalie. She's been through hell tonight. She doesn't need to know that as well. I will tell her another time. She's had enough go on tonight. "And what did he say?"
"That he wasn't. He got upset and hit me. Everything was a blur then. I just remember getting hit over and over again, slammed against the counter and thrown to the floor. It was bad," she says. "It was really bad and then when he tried to hit Angelina I couldn't let him do it. I told him to leave. He's so angry, John."
"I know," I say. "Natalie, why do you deal with it? Why are you with him?"
"I don't know," she says, "I honestly don't know."
"I can't believe he hurt you. I can't believe he did this to you. What kind of man hits a woman?"
"I don't know," she says. "He wasn't like this before. He's hit me before yes but this is the worst."
"I do a fucking coward," I say upset. I am really upset about this. I don't want to see Natalie beat up and hurt. She doesn't deserve that. No woman deserves that. "If I see him I'm going to kick his ass. I'm going to show him how it feels to get his ass kicked. What a fucking asshole."
"John, don't hurt him. That will only get you in trouble," she says. "I don't' want you to get in trouble because of me."
"Natalie, I don't care. He hurt you. He should get his ass kicked and when I see him I will do just that."
"John, please," she says, "don't."
"Did you at least call the police?"
"No and I'm not going to," she says. "I just don't want to go through all that."
"You should press charges. He beat you up, Natalie."
"I know but it's not worth it," she says. I don't know if she is going to go back to this guy or not. I think she might because that's usually how it goes but I really hope she's smart about this and doesn't go back to him.
"And this is the guy you're going to marry?"
"I don't know," she says. "I don't know what's going to happen with Max," she says. "I have no idea what's going to happen tomorrow."
"Okay," I say as I look into her brown eyes to see her looking back into my blue eyes. She quickly looks away but it was enough to feel a passion between us. One that has never died in the last 8 years. "So," I say trying to make conversation.
"So," she says.
"How are your parents doing?"
"I don't know," she says, "I haven't talked to them for years. I don't talk to many people from West Newbury anymore. I just felt it was better that way."
"You don't talk to your mom? You two were so close," he says.
"Until I got pregnant," she says. "She was there for me during my pregnancy as long as I was giving the baby up, she was there for the first month or so but then after I moved down here we just weren't as close. We talked but not that much. Now we never talk. I do miss her though."
"You should talk to her," I say. "Does she know I'm Angelina's father?"
"No," she says. "Just Nick, Jay and Josh know. I only told them."
"So my three best friends have known for 8 years I was a father but didn't' tell me?" I ask. I am a little hurt by this. My three best friends knew I was a father before I did and never said a word.
"They knew," she says, "but not for 8 years. They didn't know till she was about 2. They came down here to visit me. Nick was playing with Angelina and he was trying to piece together where he has seen her jawline before and her blue eyes. He was trying to figure it out and got Josh and Jay involved. Josh knew right away she was yours. He said, 'Nat, is John her father?' I couldn't lie to him or my other brothers so I told them. Don't be upset with them. I made them promise not to tell."
"Okay," I say even though I'm still hurt. "So you've really done all this work by yourself?"
"Yes," she says. "I finished school, got this job and have been raising her all this time."
"I see," he says. "Was it hard?"
"Doing classes online with a little baby yeah but I got through it. Being a single mom? Yes that was hard too. I juggled between work and being a mom. I never let her want or need for anything. The only thing I couldn't give her was you," she says, "but now she has you."
"I have to commend you, Natalie even if I don't agree with the way everything turned out and how you handled it you still were the best mom a kid could ever have."
"Thanks," she says. "So you really would have been there for me if you knew sooner?"
"Absolutely. I wouldn't have ran away. I would have been there for you."
"Oh," she says, "and what is your wife going to say about her?"
"I don't' know. Ashley is Ashley. She's unpredictable. I'm sure she will be upset. She's trying to get me to have a baby with her but I don't want to."
"You don't want to have a baby or you don't want to have a baby with her?" she asks.
I never really thought about it but the way she asks it makes me think that maybe it's not Ashley I want to have a baby with. "Natalie, honestly, I don't even want to be married to her. She's horrible."
"Then divorce her," she says.
"If it were that easy," I say as I look into her eyes again. This time she doesn't look away as our eyes meet. I can feel that passion building and I know she can feel it too. Before I can even stop myself I lean into kiss her lips softly. She pulls away at first but a few seconds later she presses her lips against mine kissing me passionately, wanting me. I want her more than anything at this moment. I know she wants me too as she pulls me down on top of her continuing to kiss me. I have never forgotten her touch or her kiss. She moves her hands up my hoodie and removes it from my body exposing my bare chest. I lean down and kiss her once again after I unbutton her blouse and slowly remove it. My hands move up her body to her breasts as I gently massage them as I continue to kiss her. She doesn't stop me. I want her more than anything. I remove her bra and slowly kiss down her body till I reach the top of her skirt. I slowly remove it followed by her underwear. She reaches up and unbuttons my pants. I help her remove them. She goes for my boxes and we remove them together. I am towering over her looking at her as she looks at me with her eyes full of want. I lean down and kiss her lips softly. She pulls me down on top of her. "Nat, are you sure about this?" I ask.
"Yes," she says, "are you sure about this? Your wife?"
"Forget my wife," I say with a smile as I kiss her lips softly before I slowly and gently enter her. I gasp out in pleasure as she lets out a moan. I press my lips against hers as I begin to make love to her. I move slowly at first but pick up my pace as she moves with me with moans of pleasure. I move faster and harder, the passion grows stronger and she releases herself around me as she lets out a moan. I continue moving until I feel the urge inside and as I let out a grunt I release myself inside her before collapsing on top of her. I kiss her lips softly before removing myself from her. I sit down on the couch next to her as she sits up.
I reach down for my boxers and put them on. I get up to put on my pants and she says, "John, please stay tonight."
"Stay here?" I ask. I am shocked. I am shocked at the events that just occurred. I'm shocked at this entire week in Hershey.
"Yes. Please. Don't leave me alone. Just in case Max comes back," she says. "I don't want to be alone."
"Okay," I say, "I'll stay but I have to leave early in the morning. I have an early flight."
"Okay," she says with a smile. She is absolutely beautiful. "Let's go upstairs," she says as she gets off the couch. I follow her up the stairs and into her bedroom. She puts on a t-shirt and gets into bed as I take off my pants. I planned to sleep on the floor but she says, "you can sleep in bed with me."
"Are you sure?"
"Yeah," she says.
"Okay," I say as I get into bed with her. We cuddle up next to each other and I say, "goodnight, Natalie."
"John," she says, "remember when you asked me if I was happy?"
"Yes," I say.
"I wasn't until tonight," she says. "Goodnight, John."
I smile as I say goodnight once again. We soon drift off to sleep. The next morning I wake up holding Natalie in my arms. It is about 6 in the morning when her alarm goes off. She gets up and gets ready for work while I help to get Angelina ready for school. We eat breakfast together and soon she is off to take Angelina to school before work and I head off to the hotel to get my stuff before my flight. I hug both Angelina and Natalie goodbye before I leave. I know I will be gone before Natalie comes into work.
When I arrive at the hotel I pass by Max once again. I have got to stop running into this guy. I want to kick his ass so bad but I just smile at him. "What are you smiling at?" he asks me.
"Nothing," I say as I think about the night before. I so badly want to say I made love to your fiancé last night but I don't. I smile at him again and say, "have a good day."
"Whatever," he says as he walks out of the building. To know you hold that over someone's head is way better than kicking someone's ass. I'm not sure what all this means for Natalie and me but what I do know is this trip to Hershey has changed my life forever.
*A/N: So what did you think? Please review and thank-you for taking the time to read.
*I have to say this was one of my favorite chapters I have written so far. There is more to come but so far this is my favorite. I hope that you enjoyed this chapter as well.