Otalia fic - Heroes & Friends, 22/25
Title: Heroes and Friends
Fandom: Otalia
Rating: PG-13 for this chapter
Disclaimer: These wonderful ladies and the rest of the town belong to CBS, Telenext, and P&G. I’m just having some fun with them.
Spoilers: I don’t think so. This story picks up at the “no more waiting” gazebo scene and goes off canon.
Summary: Nat gets the shock of her life and it turns Liv’s world upside down.
Warning: Not beta’d so if it sucks, there’s only me to blame.
Links to previous chapters: Chapter 1 - Chapter 2 - Chapter 3 - Chapter 4 - Chapter 5 - Chapter 6 - Chapter 7 - Chapter 8 - Chapter 9 - Chapter 10 - Chapter 11 - Chapter 12 - Chapter 13 - Chapter 14 - Chapter 15 - Chapter 16.1 - Chapter 16.2 - Chapter 17 - Chapter 18 - Chapter 19 - Chapter 20 - Chapter 21
Chapter 22
She curled tighter into the warm body next to her, burying her face in the long dark hair and wrapping her arms more securely around Natalia’s waist. Olivia sighed in contentment as Natalia nuzzled back into her, seeking more contact.
“Perfect.” Olivia mumbled.
“Mmm, good morning.” Natalia laced her fingers with the ones over her stomach. “How did you sleep?”
“Wonderful.” Olivia murmured huskily behind her ear.
“We need to get up and get Emma.”
Olivia groaned. “Nope. Just a few more minutes. This feels too good to get up just yet.”
Natalia nudged the grumpy woman with her hip. “If we don’t get Emma as soon as humanly possible, we’ll never hear the end of it.”
The older woman brushed Natalia’s long hair aside and nibbled on an earlobe. “Who’s gonna tell her?”
Natalia rolled partially over. “You know good and well that we don’t have to say anything to her. She’s a spy and she knows all.”
She dropped her head to the younger woman’s shoulder in defeat. “This is very true. The girl has mad skills.”
“You trained her well.”
Olivia smiled at her, proudly. “That I did.”
“I’ll make coffee. You get a shower.”
Olivia jumped out of bed at the magic words. “Coffee? Why didn’t you say that earlier? I’m up, I’m up!”
Natalia giggled at Olivia’s antics as she watched her stumble sleepily to the bathroom. She crawled out of bed and stretched, then went to the small suitcase they had acquired on the island to pull out a fresh pair of shorts and a tank top. Looking a little further, she located a white t-shirt and a pair of cargo pants for Olivia. She tossed them on the bed along with a pair of royal blue lace underwear, pausing only a moment to imagine Olivia in them before getting herself together enough to change and go downstairs.
When she came down the stairs, Rafe was sitting on the couch reading the newspaper and sipping some juice.
“Hey, did you sleep okay on the couch?” He gathered the paper together and followed his mom into the kitchen.
“Yeah, better than I thought I would. You?”
“Wonderfully.”
He tilted his head to the side watching his mom before sitting down in the chair at the table. “You really are happy, aren’t you?”
She turned to him after filling the coffee reservoir with water and smiled. “Very.”
He looked down and scratched nervously at the cast on his arm. “I’m really glad, Ma. I know I was really difficult and all, and I didn’t react well to it, but I really do just want you to be happy.”
Natalia could barely hold back the tears. She was so afraid she’d never hear these words from her son. Everything just seemed so bad after he found out. “I am, baby. I really am.”
“Good.” She came over and kissed him on top of the head, like she used to do when he was little. And he did something he hadn’t done since he was little. He pulled her close to him, with his one good arm, into a tight hug. For a long moment, they stayed like that until footsteps could be heard on the stairs. He quickly pulled away and wiped at his tear-stained face.
Olivia, more awake after her shower, slid into a chair next to Rafe and gratefully took the mug of coffee being dangled in front of her. “Thank you.” She looked at a smiling Rafe. “Mornin’.”
“Mornin’.”
Natalia smiled as she looked back and forth between them, feeling a little giddy jump of happiness in her stomach. Once Emma was there, she knew the picture would be complete. Her family would be together.
“Breakfast?” She looked at the duo as Olivia tried to get the business section of the paper from her son, who was holding on for dear life because the sports were on the back.
Olivia finally gave up with a sigh and found the comics. “Sure. Sounds good.”
Natalia turned to get started, pulling out eggs, bacon, and some pancake mix. After a few minutes and into her second cup of coffee, Olivia looked at Rafe.
“Do you want to go with us to get Emma?”
He hesitated and looked between his mom and Olivia. “I’d love to, but I, uh…I was kind of wondering if you two could drop me off at Frank’s apartment instead.”
The two women looked at each other and then back at Rafe. Natalia spoke first, “Sure, baby. If that’s what you want.”
He wiped a hand nervously on his pants. “I mean, I need to get some things anyway, but I kind of want to spend a little time there, you know? Not stay or anything yet. I don’t know if I can do that, but just hang out for a bit.”
Olivia reached a hand out to his. He didn’t have to say what he was feeling, she knew. She did the same thing after her mom died. She sat on the floor of their house for hours looking up at the rocking chair her mom had sat in for years. Like Rafe, her life had changed almost instantly and she hadn’t had time to cope. So she had just sat there feeling alone and empty. She could see the same loss and sadness in his eyes now. Frank had been more than a mentor to him. He had become a friend, and Rafe still needed to do some letting go. In his own way and in his own time.
“We can do that.”
He let Olivia take his hand and he smiled sadly at her. “I guess we better finish up then.”
************
Olivia and Natalia barely made it through the massive doors of the Spaulding mansion before Emma came racing through the foyer, tackling both of them as they knelt down to hug her. Olivia jokingly let out an overemphatic “ompfh” and Natalia giggled, pulling the little girl in as close as possible.
Phillip sauntered slowly up to them, looking remarkably good for a man on his death bed. “Welcome home!” He threw his hands out wide and smiled.
Natalia stood and walked over to hug him, surprise crossing his face as he looked sideways at his ex-wife making sure she wasn’t going to hurt him for touching Natalia. Instead, Olivia stood and wrapped an arm protectively around Emma’s shoulders and smiled at the exchange, and Phillip’s obvious fear.
She wanted to talk to Phillip privately so she asked Emma to go get her bag. When her daughter was out of earshot, she looked at Phillip.
“How are you?”
He shrugged his broad shoulders. “Hopefully, in a few days, I’ll be back to excellent.”
Natalia scrunched her eyebrows. “What do you mean?”
“It seems that Ed Bauer has found a possible cure for me.”
The two women looked at each other and then back to him. Olivia, in spite of it all, couldn’t stop herself from giving him a sincere hug. “Oh my God, Phillip! That’s wonderful. So, what has to be done and when?”
He stuffed his hands in his pockets. “Tomorrow actually, and it’s a bone marrow transplant.”
“Don’t you need a match for that?” Natalia questioned.
“Yep, and we have one…Alan.”
“Alan?” They said in unison.
Phillip laughed at the chorus and the looks. “Yeah, Alan.”
Olivia shook her head, disbelieving. “But you’re adopted, right?”
He looked pointedly at Natalia. “Hey, you believe in miracles?” She nodded. He gestured with her head to Olivia. “Explain to her how it works.” When both women were too speechless to respond, he continued on, giving the full explanation. “It’s really rare to find non-biological matches, but that’s the case here. The down side is that this is a very dangerous procedure, for both of us. There’s a chance that I may not make it or neither one of us could make it. But if I don’t try, I’ll definitely die. And, just so you know, I told Emma.”
“You did?” Olivia asked, not looking upset but concerned at how Emma took it.
“Don’t worry. She took it very well, and she’s had a lot of time to talk to me and ask me questions. I think it’s been good for both of us, no matter what happens.”
As if on cue, the precocious little girl came bounding down the stairs with her bag in hand. She dropped it at her mom’s feet and ran back to her dad and leapt into his arms. They hugged for long moments as he whispered into her ear and she nodded her understanding. Both women brushed away the tears in their eyes and Natalia said a quick prayer for Phillip, but mostly for Emma. The little girl had come so close far too many times at her young age to losing everyone she loved. She couldn’t lose her father now. It would just be too cruel, and her God didn’t work that way.
************
Rafe looked around as he stood in the doorway of Frank’s apartment. He wasn’t sure how to feel about being here after what happened in San Cristobel. A part of him fought the tears that threatened to fall. Another part of him wanted to trash everything he saw. He was angry and lost and hurt. It felt like Gus all over again. It seemed like every time he got close to someone, he lost them. He barely knew his father and then he died. He started hanging out with Frank and liking him, thinking he’d have plenty of time to get to know Frank once he and his mom got married.
But then everything changed again. He got close and then found out his mom had been lying to all of them. If he was honest with himself, that’s what bothered him so much about the wedding being called off. He had gotten close to Frank and thought for once he’d have someone he could trust and depend on besides his mother. That wasn’t to be either. He wanted his mom to be happy, that was true, but he wanted some happiness too. It felt like everything was conspiring against him in that goal. He just wanted to have a normal life, maybe a girlfriend and college or a job, but nothing had been working out for him since they had come to Springfield.
He sighed as he stepped further into the apartment. He ran his hands over the counter separating the almost non-existent kitchen from the living room and brushed the blue and white Greek flag with his fingers. The last several weeks had been crazy. He was raging at everyone and things felt so out of control. Hanging out with Frank had become a constant in his life and it seemed like the older man needed that steadiness as much as he did.
He looked at the pictures on the refrigerator. Most were of Frank and the rest of the Cooper family, but several were of Frank and his mom. He stepped closer and looked at one in particular. He pulled it off and held it close, his eyes really taking in the expressions on everyone’s face. It was the picture that Emma took of Olivia, Frank, and Natalia at the engagement party.
If he had just looked a little closer, he would have seen it. Olivia, beautiful and sad, with a look of longing on her face. She was bravely facing the loss coming, fighting the tears in her eyes. He could finally see it. Then there was Frank totally oblivious to the undercurrents of emotions and desire on either side of him. And finally, his mom. The smile wasn’t real. It didn’t reach her eyes or light up her face. She was heartbroken. He saw it now. It took him long enough. The tears that had been shimmering on the edge fell, and he brushed them away.
“Even then, huh?” He asked the rhetorical question into the empty apartment. He looked back at the woman in red. “I didn’t really hate you, Olivia. You were just an easy target.” He put the picture back on the refrigerator and ran a finger over all three images in it, then walked back to the small bedroom slash office reserved for him.
He opened one of the drawers and pulled out several pairs of t-shirts. Then he went to the next and found a pair of jeans and a button down shirt. From the cramped closet, he pulled out the dark jacket and tie his mom had bought him for his parole hearing. Running a hand through his dark curls, he looked around again and then sat on the bed. The corner of a manila envelope was sticking out of the desk in the corner, and it caught his attention. Even though it was an office, Frank had rarely used it for that purpose and as far as he knew never kept anything in the desk.
We walked over and pulled the drawer open. Lifting the envelope from the drawer, he noticed it was a large envelope, heavy with papers and documents. He reached in and pulled out the top piece of paper just enough to see the header. It was addressed to the landlord and was dated for a couple of days before they took off to San Cristobel. Attached to the corner of the envelope was a copy of a check written out to the landlord for six months of rent.
It wasn’t until he read the first paragraph of the letter that he kicked blindly with his foot to move the desk chair out. He then flopped down in it and continued reading, his breath coming in short pants. He laid the letter down and scrubbed a hand over his face.
“Damn, Frank.”
He wondered what else was in the envelope so he reached back in and pulled out the next document. He was glad he was sitting down for this one. A knock at the front door made him jump. He stood quickly, knowing it was his mom and Olivia coming by to get him after picking up Emma.
When Natalia saw his red and tear-stained face, she reached for him. “Baby, are you okay?”
Emma stepped forward, and when she saw he was crying, she ran to him and wrapped her arms around his waist. “What’s wrong, Rafe?”
“Nothing, Munchkin. I’m okay, really.” He was still holding the piece of paper he had pulled out of the envelope. He saw Olivia’s eyes take notice of it so he simply gave it to her.
As she read, her hand came up to cover her mouth and soon she had tears in her eyes too. “Oh, my God.”
Natalia reached for her too while still keeping a gentle hand on Rafe. The looks on their faces was really starting to worry her. “Olivia, what’s wrong?”
She looked up at her partner. “Nothing, but it seems that Frank’s left a $50,000 life insurance policy to Rafe.”
“What? You’re kidding.”
She pushed the paper towards Natalia. “See for yourself.”
Natalia could see that Marina and Henry were also listed as beneficiaries at $100,000 each, but the fact that Frank had thought enough of Rafe to do this was what overwhelmed her. “Oh, my God, baby.”
Rafe looked at Olivia, smiling knowingly. “I guess that means I don’t have to go in the Army now.”
Natalia’s head jerked up from the paper to look at her son. “The what?”
“I was going to.” He looked back at a beaming Olivia. “But I don’t have to now. This will pay for college.”
The brunette noticed that Rafe kept looking at Olivia, and a sudden burst of anger rushed through her. “And you knew about this?”
Olivia raised her hands. “Not until we came for you, I swear.”
Natalia quirked her mouth to the side and looked at the two of them. “Seriously?”
“Seriously, Ma.” He looked back and forth between them and rocked on his heels. “That’s not all though.” When he turned to go into the bedroom, they all followed him. He handed the letter he had first taken out of the envelope to his mother.
“Oh wow.” She looked at Olivia. “He prepaid six months rent to his landlord in the event that anything should happen to him in the line of duty and requests that Rafe be allowed to stay during those months.”
Olivia looked at Rafe. “So what are you going to do?”
He shrugged. “I guess I’ll go put my clothes back. I can’t believe he did this. I never had a friend do something like this for me.”
Olivia tilted her head and regarded him with a sly smile. She understood exactly why Frank did what he did. It was the same reason she asked Doris to pull strings with the parole board for Rafe. “That’s because he wasn’t treating you like a friend, but like a son.”