Future Mortality Part (6/?)
By Christine Hantzopulos
“Andy.”
For a
moment, all Natalie could do was say his name, immobilized by the utter shock
of a past that had made its way into her present.
Andrew Dillon. Her
brother-in-law.
Steven’s
brother. A lawyer from
“What…what are you doing here?”
she managed, though having spoken the words she knew they must sound cold and
rude.
Andy’s eyes
went from her face to her currently most prominent feature—the unmistakable
mark of her condition. As his eyes met hers again, he replied, “A better
question, Nat, is what are you and the kids doing here?”
She thought
the shame would make her shrink away to nothingness. How must this look? How
could he possibly understand? Her hand went protectively to her womb, as she
said, “Come in, Andy. We’ve got to talk.”
Nick sat
back in the theater, his arm around his daughter, finding himself unexpectedly
and unabashedly engrossed in the phenomenon that was Twilight. Sure, there were
inaccuracies, as there were in most vampire films. But the emotions portrayed,
of Edward’s self-loathing, his guilt over his past, his all-consuming love for
the first human who had ever touched him like this, his desire to protect her
at all costs, even from himself—this could have been Nick’s own story. There
had been no werewolf rival, of course, but there were monsters in the past who
had threatened to take Natalie away from him at one time or another—the
psychopathic Roger, a jealous and tormented LaCroix, and even the innocuous
dead husband Steven, whose memory itself made Nick feel threatened from time to
time. Each parallel that he drew made it difficult to concentrate on what was
going on in the film, and he knew his daughter would expect him to remember
every detail.
“Don’t you
love it?” she whispered in his ear.
“Yes,” he
told her honestly, kissing her hair as she snuggled contentedly next to him.
As
expected, she wanted to know what he thought of every detail as they drove
home. The conversation was light and happy. Nick couldn’t imagine why he had
been so afraid to go out with his family at night. They had not sensed a single
vampire during the entire evening, and despite his tendency towards caution, he
looked forward to doing this again.
“What about
you, Daddy? Don’t you see a lot of Edward in yourself?” she asked suddenly.
“Uh, sure,”
he replied, suddenly uncomfortable. It wasn’t a simple question.
“I mean, in
the way he felt about Bella. The way he said he had been waiting for her for so
long. Is that the way you felt about Mommy when you met her?”
Nick
smiled. That was a much easier question. “Yes, Niki. I
still do feel that way. And I waited a hell of a lot longer than Edward.”
She
grinned, more than content with that answer.
“Are the
kids here?” Andrew asked her, stepping into the living room.
“Richie’s
asleep upstairs,” she told him, sitting on the sofa and motioning for him to
take a seat in
the chair opposite her. “And Niki is
out.”
“Out?” he
asked in surprise. “At this hour?”
Natalie
sighed. “She’s not alone.”
“And
neither are you, I see,” he said, with an edge of bitterness in his voice.
“Steven’s been dead for what—ten months? So I presume he’s not the father of
that baby.”
Natalie
flushed in embarrassment. “No, he’s not. Look, Andy, this isn’t like it seems—“
“Like it
seems? I can’t even begin to imagine what’s going on here. All I know is that
you left, just like that, without a word to anyone. Do you know what that did
to the family?” He looked at her, his eyes filled now with more pain than
anger. “Do you know what that did to me?”
“Andy, I’m
sorry, I really am,” she said, knowing she deserved this. “I didn’t mean to
hurt anyone, especially you. It’s just that we were in danger. Niki was in
danger. I was afraid, especially after Steven’s murder—“
“And you
didn’t think I could protect you?” he responded, more hurt than upset.
She shook
her head. “I can’t tell you all the details. But trust me, there was no other
way—“
The key in
the door turned, and she and Andrew stood as one to face the new variables
about to enter the equation.
“Promise me
we’ll do that again sometime soon, huh? Go to the movies just you and me?”
Nicolette’s eyes were filled with such excitement and happiness that it was
infectious.
“Whenever
you want,” he
told her, pulling her in for a hug. He was still holding his left arm around
her as he turned the key in the door…
And stopped dead in his tracks, his entire body growing cold with dread
as he saw the blond man standing by Natalie.
Was it…?
No, it wasn’t. But the human bore such a striking resemblance to the pictures
he had seen. His protective instinct began to flush through him, even though
Natalie seemed in no danger. But who was this stranger, this intruder in his
home?
He had no
time to ask. Niki ran over to the stranger, throwing her arms around his neck
and herself into his welcome embrace. “Uncle Andy!”
Nick felt a
sudden coldness where his daughter’s warm skin had drawn away from his, and his
heart started beating wildly to see his little girl in the arms of this
stranger. Had he still been able to fly, he would have swooped down on this
interloper and taken his child into the safety of his arms. As a human he
stormed over, stopping from doing the same only as Natalie came to him, laying
a hand on his arm.
“It’s
okay,” she told him, though clearly she had been shaken. “It’s Andrew.” She
paused. “Steven’s brother.”
The answer
only filled his mind with further questions. How had he located them? And why? Would they have to flee yet again? And if a human could find them…
“How are
you, kiddo?” the blond stranger was asking Niki as he nearly picked her up into
the air with a hug. His affection seemed genuine, which only made Nick…jealous.
“Uncle
Andy, come,” Niki said, taking him by the hand and dragging him over to Nick.
“I want you to meet my father. My real father,” she corrected.
Nick and
Andrew scrutinized each other with mutual distrust. The revelation of Nick’s
identity seemed to solidify some suspicion in Andrew’s head.
“Daddy,
this is Uncle Andy,” she explained, and Nick reached out to give him a
perfunctory handshake for his daughter’s sake.
“Nick.
Nicholas de Brabant,” he introduced himself.
“Andrew
Dillon,” the other man responded in kind. “My family has been searching for my
sister-in-law and the kids for the past ten months.”
Nick didn’t
like the way he referred to Natalie, and he put his arm around her shoulders
protectively. “Well, as you can see, my wife and the children are just fine.”
Andrew
seemed to fume at his revelation that he had married Natalie, but Nick didn’t
care about this man’s feelings right now. Something in his gut told him that
Dillon had brought trouble with him.
“Well, I
still haven’t seen my nephew,” Andy told him icily. “My parents have already
hired lawyers—“
“For what?!” Natalie burst out.
“As far as
Richie is concerned, you’re quite welcome to see him when he’s awake, but he
needs his sleep. He’s got school tomorrow,” Nick told Andrew, tightening his
grip on Natalie’s shoulders. He looked at his daughter. “Niki, would you please
leave us alone? I think Mommy and I have some business to discuss with your
uncle.”
Niki nodded
silently, too concerned right now to do anything but comply. But even as she
headed up the stairs, Nick knew very well that she would be listening to every
word.
Natalie was
glad for the support of Nick’s arm on her shoulders. Her head was beginning to
spin, and she thought she would faint. “Can we…sit down?” she asked the men.
“Are you
all right?” Nick asked gently as he sat down with her on the couch, refusing to
let go of her.
“Yeah, I’m
fine. It’s just…the shock.” She looked across at Andy, who had sat awkwardly in
the chair facing them. “Andy, how did you find us? And what’s this about
lawyers?”
“My parents
have had private investigators looking for you and the kids for months,” he
explained. “My God, Nat, you can’t expect to just disappear like that.
Everyone’s been worried sick.”
“It was
necessary,” Nick told him simply. “Natalie was afraid after Steven’s murder
that the person might come after her or the children.”
“And you
just conveniently stepped in to whisk them away,” Andy supplied with barely
contained contempt.
Natalie
felt Nick about to pounce and put her hand on his leg to calm him, saying
quickly, “Nick heard about Steven’s murder and came to the funeral. He had a
private place we could get away to for a while. We were there for four months.”
“How
opportune for you,” he directed at Nick.
“They would
have been dead if they’d stayed in
“Really?
Because the police still don’t know who killed my brother. He had no enemies.
In fact, the only one who stood to benefit from his death was you!” Andrew
accused, standing.
Nick rose
to his feet to face him. “We know who killed Steven. And he nearly got to my
daughter, so don’t make accusations when you have no idea what you’re talking
about!”
“Stop it,
both of you!” Natalie insisted, tugging at Nick’s hand to bring him back to her
side, and motioning to Andy, who grudgingly sat back down. “Andy, Nick had
nothing to do with Steven’s death. We know who the murderer was, and he’s dead
now. And what Nick’s telling you is true—if it weren’t for him, Niki and I
would both be dead too.”
“So who
killed Steven, then?”
Nick noted
her hesitation and said, “He was killed in
Andrew
sighed deeply, obviously not satisfied with that, but moving on. “So then why the need for an alias? ‘de Brabant’—“
“Is my
family name, not an alias,” Nick told him truthfully. “Nat and I were married
six months ago.”
He shook
his head, looking at Nat with clear disapproval in his eyes that filled her
with shame. “Only four months after my brother—your husband—was dead? And you
were obviously pregnant—“
“Two months
before that,” she told him. “Look, Andy, I know it seems…soon. It wasn’t easy
for me to let go of Steven’s memory. I loved him,” she said honestly, though
she knew how much it pained Nick to hear it. She took Nick’s hand, looking into
his eyes as she explained, “But Nick and I…had a very long history…and for our
own reasons, we couldn’t be together when Niki was a baby. But we’ve always
loved each other.” She saw Nick’s eyes glowing with that love, and she forced
herself to turn back to face Andrew. “We didn’t want to waste any more time
being apart. He is Niki’s father, and she loves him. And Richie loves him too.”
Andy
exhaled deeply. Nat knew him well enough to know that he believed her. And why
shouldn’t he? It was the truth. He had seen it on her face. “But he still is
Steven’s son. My parents’ only grandchild. My only nephew. You can’t keep him away from the family.”
Natalie had
not failed to notice the wording Andy had used. Only
grandchild. Steven’s parents had never fully accepted Niki, even though
she knew that Andy had. In a way, the elder Dillons had not fully accepted
Natalie, and she had known that their concern began and ended with Richie.
“We can arrange…for
him to see them, sometime,” she said vaguely, though she could see Nick’s
worried look from the corner of her eye.
“That’s not
good enough,” Andy said, rising. “Nat, they’ve searched the country to find
him. If it weren’t for his kindergarten teacher responding to a missing child
bulletin put out by the FBI, we never would have found him.”
“What do
they want?” Nick asked suspiciously.
Andy
paused. “They’re sueing for custody.”
Natalie
felt her heart go into her throat. “What?! Are you
insane?!? He’s my son!!”
“And you
disappeared with him for ten months after his father died under suspicious
circumstances,” Andy replied. “I’m sorry, Nat, but they’ve hired the best
lawyers, and they think they have a shot. I hoped it wouldn’t come to this, but—“
“You are
not taking my little boy away!” she cried angrily as she jumped to her feet.
She felt
again as if she would collapse, but Nick was on his feet with his arm around
her.
“Get out of
my house,” he nearly growled at Andy. Had he still had fangs, Natalie knew they
would be bared by now. “Unless you come to serve us papers, I don’t want you
anywhere near my wife and children!”
“He’s not
your son,” Andy told him steadily.
“Like hell
he isn’t,” Nick replied. “Now get out of here before you upset my wife more
than you already have!”
The vampire
might have been gone, but the menace in his voice was not. Andrew Dillon left,
slamming the door behind him.
Natalie
just stared at the spot where he had stood, replaying his threats in her mind.
“Nick, could they? Is there any way—“
“Listen to
me,” he said, turning her to face him and grasping her arms in his hands. “No
one will ever take our son away. Just get those fears out of your head right now, because I swear to you, no one will ever take him away
from us!”
She
collapsed against his chest, letting him hold her close. His heart was beating
wildly with an indignation as great as her own. And
she knew more than ever, from the words he had spoken, that he truly did love
Richie as his own son. And he would protect him as he would protect them all. With his dying breath.
End of part 6