GL - Movie Night - Part 60 A
Title: Movie Night
Author: critic2000
Pairing: Olivia/Natalia
Rating: PG-13 to start, for violence (non-sexual) and language. I am not any kind of a medical expert so if there are some glaring errors, please forgive me.
Disclaimer: I don’t own the Guiding Light characters, they belong to CBS and Proctor and Gamble.
Summary: This is set in the spring of 2009. I’ve taking some liberties with the storyline, mainly Natalia never slept with Frank, hence no engagement etc. So our girls have been just continuing forward raising Emma and getting closer to each other though they are still technically just friends, but that will change… This is a hurt/comfort story so they are headed on a rough ride.
Author’s Note: This is my first fan fiction so please be gentle. This would not have been possible if not for the persistent nudging and awesome editing of my beta/great friend croftlara. Comments are welcome.
Note: This Part is too big to be posted as 1 so there will be Part 60 A and Part 60 B
( Part 1 ) ( Parts 2 & 3 ) ( Part 4 ) ( Parts 5 & 6 ) ( Part 7 ) ( Part 8 ) ( Part 9 ) ( Part 10 ) ( Part 11 ) ( Part 12 ) ( Part 13 ) ( Parts 14 & 15 ) ( Part 16 ) ( Part 17 ) ( Part 18 ) ( Part 19 ) ( Part 20 ) ( Part 21 ) ( Part 22 ) ( Part 23 ) ( Part 24 ) ( Part 25 ) ( Part 26 ) ( Part 27 ) ( Part 28 ) ( Part 29 ) ( Part 30 ) ( Part 31 ) ( Part 32 ) ( Part 33 ) ( Chapter 34 ) ( Part 35 ) ( Part 36 ) ( Part 37 ) ( Part 38 ) ( Part 39 ) ( Part 40 ) ( Part 41 ) ( Part 42 ) ( Part 43 ) ( Part 44 ) ( Part 45 ) ( Part 46 ) ( Part 47 ) ( Part 48 ) ( Part 49 ) ( Part 50 ) ( Chapter51)( Chapter52) ( Part 53 ) ( Chapter 54 ) ( Part 55 )( Part 56 )( Part 57 ) ( Part 58 ) ( Part 59 )
Chapter 60
“Natalia!” Emma hopped onto the bed and pushed on Natalia’s shoulder completely ignoring her mother occupying the other shoulder. “Get up, we have to make sandwiches.”
“Mmm, oh honey.” Natalia blinked her eyes open, “what time is it?”
Emma looked over at the clock, “Five.”
The groan was low but both Natalia and Emma heard it and the only three words that followed, “Too early, sleep.”
“You heard your mom; we can sleep another hour or so sweetie. Lay down.” Natalia extended her unencumbered arm and pulled Emma toward her, pleased the little girl’s weight didn’t hurt her injured shoulder at all. The child gladly cuddled up to Natalia’s side.
Already yawning, Emma worried, “Will we have time to make sandwiches?”
“Yes honey, close your eyes.”
Emma did as she was told and it wasn’t long before all three ladies were sleeping peacefully again.
***
The blaring of the alarm woke Natalia up immediately, she let go of Emma and despite the weight of both her girls on her was able to reach the clock just enough to hit snooze. Dreading the next few minutes of trying to wake both the notoriously non-morning person Olivia and her sometimes prodigy Emma.
“Okay girls, up and at ‘em.”
She was rewarded with two groans and Emma moved in tighter to her side.
“Come on now, we have sandwiches to make.” Natalia tried in her best sing-song voice but to no avail. Guess I’ll have to get tougher. “Okay, we don’t want Emma to be late to school.” Natalia tried to move but a firm hand on her stomach and gravelly voice stilled her.
“Just wait for the snooze to go over… just nine more minutes.”
Natalia opened her mouth to object but she didn’t really want to move anyway so instead she relaxed, closed her eyes and drank in every feel of laying here surrounded… pinned down… by love.
Natalia could almost feel herself drifting back toward her dreams when the alarm started blaring again. She reached over and hit it again but this time Emma sat up, her hair sticking to the right side of her head. “Sandwiches?”
“Yes sweetie,” Natalia reached up and ran her fingers through Emma’s unruly hair, “You go get dressed and comb your hair, I’ll get ready and we’ll go to the kitchen.”
Emma bounced happily toward her bedroom while Natalia’s next challenge faced her. “Olivia sweetheart,” Natalia kissed the top of Olivia’s head, “Time to get up. We have to get Emma ready for school and you need to go to work.”
That last bit made Olivia move, if only to lift her head and narrow her eyes toward Natalia. “Work? You want me to work today?”
Natalia pressed her lips together trying not to smile at the incredulous look on Olivia’s face and raised eyebrow. She seemed to be trying to give one of her looks but the impact of it was diminished by the hair sticking straight up and the smeared eye make up she had not taken the time to remove last night. Natalia put both hands on her hair to try to pat it down. “Yes, I think it’s good for you to work.”
Olivia opened her mouth to object but Natalia placed one of her delicate fingers over those full lips. “I’ll be fine by myself this morning and then this afternoon you’re going to drive me to see Rafe, I know. But just think of the number of employees you can terrify in the meantime.”
That drew out the expected grin and acquiescence Natalia had been hoping for. Olivia leaned over and kissed Natalia before jumping from the bed, then with her hands on her hips shook her head, “Come on Natalia, you can’t lay in bed all day!”
As Natalia sat open mouthed beneath the blankets, Olivia chuckled and made her way to the bathroom.
***
The kitchen was a hub of activity at this early hour of the morning, breakfast orders overwhelmed the staff, to the outside observer it was chaos but to anyone who had ever worked in a kitchen it was an organized ballet of taking orders, preparing the food and sending it out for delivery. Natalia had been around kitchens plenty with all of her years waiting tables and growing up in a hotel, Emma wasn’t fazed by the chaos either. As they walked through the kitchen, everyone said hello to the little girl while Natalia received many looks, a cross between admiration and desire. Natalia couldn’t help but recall the scene the day before between their recovering chef and his kitchen staff. I think we got off lucky considering our great chef appears to be a bit of a klutz with his tools.
The pair found a little patch of unused counter and Natalia left Emma to go and find the ingredients and utensils they would require. When she returned she found someone had given Emma an apron to wear.
“What’s this?” Natalia pointed to the large white apron.
“Annie gave it to me.” The little girl exclaimed as she pointed to the blonde sous-chef who was currently arranging a variety of fruits onto a plate.
“Well that was very thoughtful of her, now you don’t have to worry about getting peanut butter on your top.”
Emma clasped her hands together, “Can I make mommy’s sandwich first?”
“Sure honey.”
Natalia pulled out six slices of bread and arranged them on the counter. “Honey can you reach okay?”
Emma reached up to the bread, “Yep, I can reach them. I’m going to put lots of peanut butter on mommy’s.”
Natalia handed over the jar of peanut butter and carefully handed Emma a butter knife and watched as the child smeared a huge amount of the spread on both sides of the bread. After three applications, Emma put the knife down and asked, “Can I put a whole banana on the sandwich?”
“That might be a lot of banana, why don’t we see how many slices it can fit?”
Emma agreed and watched Natalia cut the banana into thin slices, when the fruit was cut she started applying it in layers to the sandwich. Natalia could only watch as Olivia’s lunch seemed to grow in thickness.
“Look! I got all of the banana on!” Emma exclaimed as she put the two pieces of bread together.
“Wow yes you did, that’s quite a sandwich.”
“I hope mommy loves it.”
“Oh I’m sure she will.”
The other two sandwiches were put together in the same way and Emma had to squish each down to put it in the plastic lunch bag. They quickly cleaned up their counter space then said goodbye to everyone as they left to go back to the room, knowing that Jane would be there any minute to take Emma to school.
When they got back to the room, they found Olivia on the phone, so Natalia stashed their lunches away in the fridge and put Emma’s in her lunch bag along with the milk and other snacks she picked up for the little girl. She found a note from Olivia already in the bag so Natalia wrote her own and placed it in next to the sandwich just as there was a knock on the door.
As Olivia stood and walked toward the door she called out to Emma, “Em, hurry up, Jane’s here!” Olivia opened the door to find Jane leaning against the doorframe.
“Hi Jane, come on in, Emma’s almost ready.” Olivia stepped further into the room to allow the nanny to come in.
“Hi Olivia. Oh, Natalia, how are you feeling?”
Natalia stood up with Emma’s lunch bag in hand, “I’m doing very well actually, thank you for asking. Did you enjoy your weekend?”
“Oh yeah, my friends and I went to a movie, hung out, that kind of thing.”
“Sounds fun.”
“Emma! Hurry up!” Olivia yelled startling the women and interrupting their small talk. The act earned Olivia a firm glare from Natalia.
“What? She’ll be late.” Olivia said, looking properly chastised.
“She’s just in the other room.”
“Jane!” Emma came running from her room with one shoe on and one in her hand. She jumped into her nanny’s arms and gave her a big hug, accidentally slapping Jane in the back with her shoe.
The nanny didn’t care about the shoe, she returned the child’s hug gratefully, “I’ve missed you too Emma.”
Olivia put her hand on Emma’s back, “Okay Jellybean, put your other shoe on.”
Emma let go of Jane and dropped to the floor to put on her shoe while Natalia packed the lunch bag into the backpack, “Your lunch is in the bag and you’ve got all your books?”
“Yep.”
“You have your homework?” Natalia asked knowing if she wasn’t specific Emma might miss something.
“Yes Natalia.” Emma groaned as she stood up and let Natalia help her on with her coat and backpack while her mommy pulled her hat on then down over her eyes before fixing it.
Natalia bent down and gave her kisses all over her face and a big hug then Olivia came over and did the same, to Emma it seemed like a million more kisses than she was used to. “Okay baby, you have a great day.”
Emma blinked and took Jane’s hand, as they were walking toward the elevator the little girl used her free hand to wipe all of the mommy slobber from her face and wondered if having two mommies would be all it was cracked up to be.
Olivia closed the door behind them remembering just a moment too late she was going to ask Jane to stay with Emma in case she and Natalia weren’t back from the prison before school was over for the day. She made a mental note to call Jane later before her mind was completely overloaded by the sensations in her body. She felt strong arms encircle her from behind, firm breasts press against her back and lips kiss the back of her neck. Olivia leaned her head forward to give Natalia better access to her neck, she rested her hands on the arms around her, holding tight so she wouldn’t just float away.
“Mmmm… that feels so good.” Olivia purred. A moment later she felt breath against her ear.
“Yes it does.” Natalia whispered before kissing Olivia’s ear lobe. “You smell so good… taste so good.” The kiss on the ear lobe became a suck when Natalia closed her eyes and took the delicate flesh between her lips.
Olivia clung tighter to Natalia, afraid she might topple over as her knees became weak. “Oh Natalia.”
Natalia heard her name and she opened her eyes a little shocked with herself. Olivia immediately felt the change as Natalia let go of her ear lobe and loosened her arms.
“What’s wrong?” Olivia delicately questioned.
Natalia stepped back, “I’m sorry… I think I just got a little ahead of myself.” She turned away and took a deep breath. I’ve never made a move like that… woah.
Olivia put her hands on Natalia’s shoulders and insisted she turn around. “Honey, talk to me. Was that too much?”
When Natalia was facing Olivia she kept her head down as she tried to explain feelings she didn’t understand. “Yes… No… I don’t know…” Natalia shook her head in frustration and brought her hands up to cover her face.
Olivia cautiously pulled Natalia’s hands down and held them, “Talk to me.”
Natalia shook her head, “I don’t know.” Though she tried to evade Olivia’s burrowing eyes, “I don’t know.” She repeated, “You were just standing there and I wanted… I wanted to touch you.”
“Well that’s not a bad thing.” Olivia tested the proverbial waters.
“But why?” Natalia pulled free of Olivia’s hands so she could pace as she got more worked up. “I’ve never felt this way about a woman before. I don’t…”
“Wait,” Olivia walked over to Natalia and put her hands on her shoulders. “But you have felt this way before… with Gus. Right? You wanted to touch him and to be touched by him, I don’t expect you to feel the same way about me that you did for him but ultimately what’s the difference?”
“Oh but I do. I love you Olivia and more each day. I’ve just never had those feelings for a woman and I’m surprised at how strong they are and how easily they come to me.”
Olivia took that last step toward Natalia and pulled her into her arms. “I don’t want you to feel like I’m rushing you, I’m happy for us to just take our time getting used to each other.”
Natalia rested her head over Olivia’s breast and soaked in the warmth from her partners’ body. “This just feels so right and yet when I go and think about what’s happening… I just have trouble wrapping my head around it.” Natalia lifted her head and looked into Olivia’s eyes. “Aren’t you questioning any of this?”
Olivia thought for a moment, had she really taking the time to consider what this meant? “Honestly, I don’t want to question it. I know I love you, I want to be with you and I’ve never really felt this way before so I guess I’m not analyzing anything, I’m just going by feel.”
“You know I love that about you? How you know when something is right just by how you feel. You don’t always have to worry about consequences or what anyone else might think… it’s refreshing.”
Olivia winked, “What can I say, it’s how I roll.”
Natalia smiled and pulled Olivia in closer, “Well I like how you roll.”
“But do you like how I kiss?”
“I think you know the answer to that question.” Natalia leaned up and pressed her lips to Olivia’s fuller pair and let her feelings flow through the contact. When it ended the women merely stood in each other’s arms and reveled in the feel of the moment.
Several minutes later Natalia groaned, “You’re supposed to go to work, aren’t you?” And why did I suggest you work today?
“Nope, I wanna stay here in your arms, the hotel can run itself.”
Natalia smiled against Olivia’s body, “While I’d love that to be true, I think we have to let you go and be all responsible.”
“Darn it.” Olivia leaned in for another quick kiss before reluctantly letting go. “Okay, I’ll go to work but I’ll be back for lunch and you know where you can find me if you need me?”
“Of course honey. Go finish getting ready, I’ll call room service and have a coffee waiting for you in your office.”
“Thank you.” Olivia leaned in for one last kiss before heading to the bathroom to finish preparing for the day.
***
“Okay so peanut butter and banana at noon?” Natalia asked as she helped Olivia on with her suit jacket.
“Sounds good, then we’ll drive up to the prison to see Rafe.” Olivia responded as she wiped off an invisible piece of lint from her shoulder.
“Thank you.” Natalia smiled before taking a deep breath. I hate saying goodbye even if it’s just for a few hours… but I have things I need to do.
“Okay, call if you need anything, I’ll see you soon.” Olivia stole two quick kisses before she slipped out of the bedroom leaving Natalia standing at the door missing her already.
Okay snap out of it, she’ll be back soon and you have things to do. Natalia quickly cleaned up and casually dressed for the day in a pair of jeans and light blue v-neck sweater and settled on the side of the bed. She reached for the phone and dialed.
It wasn’t long before she heard a deep voice answer, “Detective Cooper.”
“Hello Frank.”
Frank sat up at his desk as his heart skipped a beat, “Ah… hi Natalia. How are you?”
“I’m good actually… first I want to apologize for the other day, I know I was rude.”
“Oh Natalia it’s okay, I know you’re under a lot of stress.”
“Well just the same, I’m sorry.”
“Thank you Natalia.”
“Umm…” she hesitated to ask the question behind the reason for her call.
“What can I do for you?”
Natalia closed her eyes, dreading the answer, “Frank have you heard anything about Danny?”
“Oh… ah…” Frank moved the phone from his right ear to his left and played with some papers on his desk. He expected a call about Danny and he expected it from Natalia rather than Olivia but now it was happening he was suddenly nervous.
“Frank?”
“He’s awake but still in the hospital. His memory was affected. The doctors say he’s still got some healing to do so things may yet change but he may have a long term medical condition.”
“Oh.” Natalia looked down. She hated the invasion and would have shot the man if she could at the time but Natalia believed in mercy and forgiveness, hearing his injuries could plague him for the rest of his life saddened her.
Frank sensed Natalia’s emotion but knew there was nothing he could do to fix it.
“Umm… I’m going to go Frank. Thanks for the information.”
“I’m sorry Natalia.”
Natalia shook her head though he couldn’t see it, “No… it’s fine. I’d just been wondering. I’ll talk to you soon.”
Before Frank could say ‘goodbye’, Natalia had hung up, leaving him feeling terrible for having to be the one to give her that news.
***
Natalia looked up at the door to the church. These would be the first stairs to climb after her injury, though she was feeling so much better, she wasn’t sure how she would fair on stairs by herself but it was important enough to her to go into the church so she held onto the railing and took each step slowly.
At the top of the staircase she was breathing a little heavier than she liked but overall was comfortable with her pace. Placing her hand on the door handle, she paused, so much had happened since she was here last. Did she still deserve to enter God’s house?
Natalia shook her head. Of course, I deserve to enter the church, God is love, God forgives. She pulled open the door to the little white church and walked inside. It felt like an eternity since she had been here and yet it felt like home.
Natalia walked down the aisle to the stand of candles. She picked up a long matchstick and used one of the lit candles to light hers. She watched it burst into flame and stared at it while she remembered her conversation with Frank. Long term medical condition. His memory was affected. Could she have done something differently that night? Something that would have ‘saved’ both of the men? “No… no don’t have doubts now.” Natalia spoke the words out loud to the empty church as she lit a candle. “Lord. Please bless Danny, heal his body and his soul.” Natalia lit three more candles, for Rafe, for Emma and the last for Olivia. Natalia blew out the match and disposed of it before she walked over to the first pew and sat, bowing her head in silent prayer. Her eyes flew open and she turned to look when she felt a weight on the wooden bench next to her.
“Natalia, it’s good to see you.”
“Oh, Father Ray.” Natalia put her hand over her heart in reaction to the shock.
“I’m sorry did I frighten you?”
“I didn’t hear you coming.”
The priest turned toward her, “We missed you at mass yesterday. How are you feeling?”
“I’m feeling much better; I’m getting stronger every day.”
“I’m glad to hear it, how are Emma and Olivia?”
Natalia’s mouth quirked into a smile, “Emma is starting therapy tomorrow.”
The priest nodded his head, his patented perma-grin on his face as she spoke. “And Olivia?”
“Olivia… she’s working things out. It’s been hard for her but I think things are finally starting to improve.”
“That’s good to hear. So what brings you in today?”
“Well, it’s the first day I’ve felt strong enough to come over by myself and I guess I just missed the church and the feeling of being so close to God.”
“Well I’m glad you could make it.”
“Me too.”
***
Natalia and Father Ray sat and chatted for some time, about the invasion but also about lighter topics. It did not take long for the Priest to notice a trend, every time Natalia mentioned Olivia’s name a little smile appeared on her face until finally he had to ask, “So you and Olivia are getting along well?”
Natalia’s face quirked into a grin, “Yes, we’re doing fine. We’ve had a couple of rough patches but ultimately this experience has brought us closer.” I’m not sure how ready I am to tell you just how close…
“Have you told her?”
Natalia paused, the grin faded. Natalia shook her head, “No.”
Father Ray’s bushy eyebrows knitted, “But why? If you’re getting closer…”
“I’m not ready… She’s not ready.”
“If you say she’s improving…”
“Father,” Suddenly uncomfortable, Natalia interrupted, “thank you but I’ll handle it in my own time.”
Standing, Natalia thanked her Priest for the talk and promised to come back to the church soon then without waiting for a response walked down the aisle and out in to the fresh air. I’m sorry Father; I wasn’t looking for a lecture today.
Natalia also wasn’t ready to go back to the hotel. She felt strong so she went for a walk by the lake to think. It was the most ‘alone’ she had been since this ordeal began and it didn’t take long for her to start wishing Olivia was beside her. When did that happen? When did I start feeling this way about Olivia?
Natalia reflected, somewhere between taking care of Olivia after her heart transplant and moving into the farmhouse, their lives had become so intertwined and if she were honest with herself, Natalia could admit she had fallen in love a long time ago. Somehow she had managed to hide it from Olivia and everyone… Managed to hide it from myself more than anyone. But now things were different, she and Olivia were, ‘together’ for whatever that meant. Natalia only knew it felt right. Being with Olivia, touching, kissing, loving her… it was just right. “So what am I doing wandering around out here by myself?” Natalia turned around and headed back toward the Beacon, “I’m coming home Olivia.”
***
To Be continued in Part 60 B