Otalia fic - Heroes & Friends, 24a/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.
A/N: Forewarning...this is the longest chapter of this I've written so far, over 6,000 words and 14 pages...WHOOHOO! So, grab a 'tini, don't skimp on the olives, and settle in.
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 - Chapter 23
Chapter 24
A path of brilliant white sunshine cut across the bed like a golden sword catching Natalia directly in the face. She groaned and curled in closer to the body next to her, the scent of lavender from Olivia’s shampoo tickled her nose, calming her. With the bright light blocked by warm skin, she hovered between sleep and waking. Her mind rebuilt the images in her head just before waking, scraping together the lost pieces of her dream.
She sighed in contentment as Olivia’s arm curled around her. On auto pilot, she wrapped her leg around a thigh, an arm around a waist, and smiled into the warm skin that her lips brushed against. She thought back to the last time she had a dream that provocative and sensual. She rarely had dreams about sex, but this wasn’t even that. It was more. It was so reminiscent of that night they had shared in the hotel just a few days ago, but even that didn’t measure up to the dream.
Her heart still raced at the way it made her feel. Everything was perfect and beautiful, the scene as she looked out over a balcony, the view of the beach ethereal in its whiteness. Crystal clear blue waves that lapped at the shore. White seagulls soared overhead and called to each other. Warm, soft hands on her shoulders, gently dropping the straps on her dress as it pooled around her feet in an ocean of white lace and satin. She sighed and leaned back into the body behind her, strong and solid.
She was drifting back into the memory, picking up where it left off, when she was jostled awake by a chuckling Olivia. She rubbed at her eyes and looked up at the amused green eyes above her.
“What are you laughing at?”
“Do you always make those kind of noises when you sleep?”
Natalia huffed and propped herself up on an elbow. “I don’t make noises in my sleep.”
Olivia nodded. “Oh, yes you do. Very, um, interesting noises too.”
She could feel the blush start already and even though she stuttered, she couldn’t help but question. She was curious after all. “Like what? What did they sound like?”
The older woman closed her eyes and bit her bottom lip, a low moan slowly rising from her lips. She did the moan again, alternating between slower and faster, and once at a slightly higher pitch, and when her body got into it, Natalia put her hand over Olivia’s mouth to stop her. Natalia could only think of one word for the way Olivia looked when she did that…erotic. But, right now, and today of all days, she couldn’t go there, no matter how much she wanted to, and oh, how she wanted to.
“I don’t do that.” Natalia’s hand was still over her mouth so Olivia simply nodded her head. She glared at the green-eyed monster in her bed and refused to show any embarrassment over this. “Fine, so what if I did?”
She sat up and Olivia rolled over towards her, smiling. “Oh, believe me, I don’t mind at all. I quite enjoyed it in fact, but I am terribly curious about what you were dreaming about.”
Natalia turned back to her and smiled. She loved this part of Olivia so much. She never made her feel bad about herself, what she felt or thought or even believed. Though that last one took a little while to get past. Olivia always made her feel good and even now, Natalia felt completely loved by the simple fact that Olivia loved that she moaned in her sleep.
She ran her fingers up Olivia’s arm and marveled at the spattering of goosebumps that rose under her hand. “I’ll tell you one day, but not today. This is going to be a very long day, so we need to get up and get moving.”
Olivia rolled her eyes and flopped back on the bed. “Do we hafta?”
“Unfortunately, staying in bed all day and being lazy aren’t optional today.”
“I know! I just don’t want to do it. We got in so late from the hospital last night.”
Natalia crawled out of bed and looked down at her partner. She loved that adorable pout she always seemed to have in the morning. She couldn’t resist giving in to it. “Okay, I tell you what. Emma wants to take the cookies we made to Phillip, so you can sleep and I’ll take care of that. We don’t have to leave for the memorial until almost noon. I need to run an errand anyway, so that’ll give you plenty of time to sleep. Sound good?”
Olivia was already cuddling back into her pillow. She smiled at Natalia. “That sounds heavenly. Wait, an errand? For what?”
Natalia waved it off. “Just something for the house. Nothing big.” She stretched across the bed and gave Olivia a light kiss on the cheek. “I’ll set the alarm for 10:30 and leave you some breakfast so you’ll have it when you get up.”
“Okay.” Natalia shook her head. She was so much like a kid when it came to sleep.
************
She laughed as she watched the little girl go bounding up the steps with a container of cookies in her hand. They had already gotten dressed for the memorial later that day. Natalia had chosen a simple navy skirt suit with a conservative white button down that opened at the collar. She didn’t pick out her best shoes or even her highest heels because she knew the memorial would be in the park and walking in grass in heels was never one of her favorite pastimes. Because of the heat of the late summer day, she decided to pull her long, curly hair - thanks to the humidity - up loosely in a barrette. She took pity on Emma too and put her in a cool black cotton dress with spaghetti straps and pink flowers on the left hip, and finished it off with some well-worn black, patent leather shoes. She braided Emma’s hair so she wouldn’t be hot, pulling a few tendrils down the sides to give her a little more grown-up look.
She shook her head as Emma skipped to the door on one foot and realized she liked her exactly like this. She didn’t want her to grow up, and she didn’t want her to have to face any more hardships in life. All she really wanted was to give Emma a quiet life in the country where she could be a regular kid that liked to play with ducks and eat banana pancakes on Saturday mornings. Natalia sighed and looked down into Emma’s bright face as the little girl rang the doorbell to her dad’s house. She ran a hand over Emma’s hair. I just want her to have the life Rafe should have had, she thought.
The door swung open wide and Beth smiled as she let them in. “I have cookies for Daddy.” She smiled up at Beth.
“That’s wonderful, Emma. Let’s go take them to him. He’s outside on the veranda.”
Emma skipped ahead as Beth stayed back to walk beside Natalia. “I heard you had a harrowing ordeal.”
Natalia chuckled, “I think that’s an understatement.”
“I’m really glad you’re okay. That both of you are.” She tilted her head towards Emma who leapt into her father’s lap as he sat in the sun. “She adores you, you know? All she talked about while she was here was all of the things she wanted to do when her mom brought you back home.”
Unexpectantly, the younger woman felt tears spring to her eyes. She looked at Beth and the blonde had matching tears in her own eyes. They laughed awkwardly at both of them getting overemotional. Then Natalia spoke, “Thank you.”
“For what?”
The brunette shook her head. “Oh, just for being okay, with everything.”
Beth looked at her incredulous. “And why wouldn’t I be? Emma’s happy. Phillip’s happy because he gets to see his little girl, which I understand was very much your doing, and Olivia finally meets her match in you. As far as I’m concerned, it’s all good.”
They watched silently as Emma talked her father’s ear off about two of the ducks that like each other and how she hoped they had little baby ducks. Natalia’s eyes got big as saucers. They’d have that talk with her soon enough, but hopefully, it would be when Olivia was around to help her out. Both Phillip and Beth caught the panicked look on Natalia’s face and snickered.
Phillip distracted the path of that conversation by asking her about school, and she happily moved on. Beth looked at Natalia suddenly. “Speaking of Olivia, where is she?”
“Bed.” Phillip looked up at her, amusement on his face. “You know how much she likes her sleep.”
With Emma still rambling on he couldn’t do more than smirk and nod, and even though nothing was said, Natalia could feel her face burning. She shifted on her feet and looked suddenly at her watch. “Oh, wow Em, we need to go.”
“Oh, please, Ma. Can I stay? Just a little longer.” Natalia’s heart melted at hearing the endearment. It was the first time she had used it since their talk, and she wasn’t ready for the flood of emotion it brought. She didn’t miss the curious looks that Beth and Phillip were giving her either.
“I tell you what, if it’s okay with your dad and Beth, you can stay while I run my errands and then I’ll pick you up after I swing by to get Rafe.” She looked at the two other adults, and they both nodded their heads in agreement. She walked over and gave Emma a kiss on the head. “Be good. I’ll see you in a little bit.”
She looked up into the blue eyes of the older man, then leaned forward and hugged him, whispering in his ear. “I’ll say a prayer.”
Phillip pulled Emma close to him in a hug and mouthed over her head. “Thank you.”
Beth followed Natalia to the door. “This evening, right?”
The blonde looked down, crossed her arms, and nodded her head. “Yeah, we’re just going to spend the day, enjoying being alone and letting him conserve his energy.”
Natalia knitted her brow in worry. She did recall how Phillip was sitting the whole time and he wasn’t as exuberant as usual. Then, another thought came to her. “If this is too much, I can take Emma with me. I don’t want it to be too much.”
Beth held up a hand to stop the protest. “Every moment they can get together is precious now. Don’t worry about it.”
Natalia nodded. “Okay, if you’re sure. I won’t be long.”
“Take your time. Really.”
“Thanks.”
************
Exactly two hours later, Natalia was pulling up to the Spaulding Mansion with Rafe shifting uncomfortably in the seat next to her. She went back over her mental list. She made several stops including the Mini Mart for groceries, leaving what wouldn’t keep in a hot car at Frank’s…um, Rafe’s apartment. She knew it was going to take some time to get used to thinking that it was Rafe’s place now, but glancing sideways at her son, she knew it was time, even if he still acted like a kid on too much caffeine at times. Especially now as he tugged first on the sleeve and then at the pants and then shifted in his seat again.
“What’s wrong?” She laughed at him.
“It’s not me. It’s this monkey suit!”
She ran a hand through his unruly dark hair. “You look handsome. Just like your father. Besides, you better get used to one. You’re going to be the big man on campus. You’re going to have to dress to impress the college girls now.”
He laughed at her goofy smile. She still hadn’t gotten over how happy he was to tell her that he had already filled out a college application and even talked to an admissions representative at the school. She was so excited for him that she insisted they swing by the post office to drop his application off, even if it did make them late for the memorial. To her, this was far more important and something she had waited her whole life to see. For the longest time, once he shot Jeffrey, she didn’t think he’d ever have a chance like this. But here they were, and she couldn’t be prouder.
He kept shifting in the seat and she rolled her eyes. “Keep trying, hot shot, maybe you’ll get there. I’ll just get Em while you wrestle that monkey in the suit.”
“Oh, haha!”
Before Natalia was halfway up the steps, Emma ran out the door and down to the car with barely a backwards glance. She squealed when she saw Rafe and jumped in the back seat, then wrapped her arms around his neck from behind, effectively choking him.
He fake coughed and joked with her good-naturedly. “Oh, I’ll get you for that!” He tried one-handed to ruffle her hair but she jumped back laughing.
Natalia climbed back in the car. “Buckle up, Em!”
A few minutes down the road and a steady thump-thump was heard from the back seat. Natalia looked over at her son who was being slightly propelled forward by a small foot kicking at his seat. She tried to hold back her laughter at the look on Rafe’s face. “First the monkey suit. Now the munchkin. What did I ever do to deserve this?”
“Emma.” Natalia corrected in her perfect, don’t-mess-with-momma tone. The little girl giggled but gave in…for now.
**************
Natalia left the car running when she pulled up to the farmhouse.
“I’ll just be a minute.” She looked at her watch and started walking a little bit faster. They were cutting it really close on being late so she picked up her pace up the sidewalk.
“Hi, honey, I’m…,” she abruptly stopped the joking entry to the house when she saw Olivia look up from the peanut butter sandwich she was making.
She smirked at the stunned look on Natalia’s face. “Hi, baby. You’re late. I knew we wouldn’t have time for lunch, and I didn’t want your blood sugar getting too low, so I made us all sandwiches.”
The brunette looked down and saw several more matching sandwiches on the table with little bottles of juice by them. All of the sandwiches were neatly wrapped and ready to go. “That’s so sweet, Olivia.”
She shrugged. “It’s just a peanut butter sandwich.”
“But it’s so you.” She walked over to Olivia and pulled her into a kiss. It was slow and sweet and felt like home. “I love you.”
Olivia pulled back and rested their foreheads together, her hands coming to rest lightly on Natalia’s hips. “Mmm, I love you too.” She so wanted to kiss her again, over and over again, but she sighed instead. “I guess we need to get going, huh?”
“Unfortunately.”
“Get a bag and we’ll pack all of this up.” Working together, they got everything together and were out the door in record time. They all ate on the way to the memorial and finished moments before finding a parking space.
Continued in 24b...