One Heart

Nathalie’s POV

None of us said anything as we listened to McKenna greet her older brother, giggling as she arrived on his back, accounting for the reason why we only heard one set of footsteps return. He playfully shoved her in reply to the slap she gave him after he dropped her a lot harder than he anticipated back onto the floor. She scowled as he took her seat at the table without a second thought, merely grinning as she muttered darkly about how he should have gotten his own seat, and begrudgingly had to get herself one.

“Hey B, how you been?” Zacky asked after ending up sitting next to him due to the recent game of Musical Chairs.

“You know the usual. Working hard to keep the wife happy,” he replied casually, offering a smile. “How about you man? Finally popped the question yet?”

Zacky turned red as he glanced at Chloe, who seemed just as interested in his answer as Brent was. You couldn’t help but feel sorry for the guy just then. Sure there is pushing the kid into the water so it learns how to swim, but you do that in shallow water. Not in miles deep water like Brent had just done. “I haven’t got round to it yet. Perfect moment, you know?”

“Well don’t keep the woman waiting too long.”

Chloe narrowed her eyes at her boyfriend. “Yes, we don’t want to wait too long, do we?”

Zacky shifted uncomfortable on his chair, looking almost as if he had just been made to sit on broken glass. “Erm. I. Think. I’m going to go...” Zacky looked around, hoping for some inspiration. Feeling the need to help his friend out of his rut, Brian gestured smoking to him with his fingers and then looked to the door. “To... go for a smoke! Yes, that’s what I’m going to do.” He pecked Chloe on the forehead before quickly excusing himself from the table and swiftly left through the front door.

Brent merely shrugged at Zacky’s theatrics. “I thought he would lose all that extra energy as he got older. I was wrong.” Then he shifted his gaze to me, only just having realised I was part of the group he thought he knew. Of course he had the four years I was gone to see the girls, but I was living in Phoenix then. “Who are you?”

At least it was to the point. “I should have introduced myself. I’m Nathalie-“

I didn’t have the time to add on the ‘Haner’ part of my name as their Dad walked back in with a sleepy Rae on his shoulders, her head slumped against the back of his. It was quite sweet to look at, but my smile instantly disappeared as she coughed, relented for a few moments then coughed again. Hardly any time had passed before I took her from Brian Sr. and held her myself, checking her over for any bad signs. Her forehead was already beginning to burn up and I turned to Brian. He must have seen the concern in my eyes for my daughter since he immediately got up and was at my side in an instant.

“How is she?” He copied me by feeling the temperature of her forehead and frowned.
“She’s burning up. Do you think she’s coming down with something?”

“Yeah, and I wonder why,” I spat, remembering clearly who it was that said I couldn't take her to the doctor. “I’m taking Rae home. Give me the keys.”

I snatched the keys from Brian just as he took them out from his pocket, not paying attention as he uttered, “Nathalie, you know it’s not my fault Rae got sick-“

“I don’t want to hear it Brian,” I barked, shifting Rae’s weight onto one arm so I could reach out and pick up my bag from the back of my chair and slung it on my arm. “I’ll see you later.”

--

Brian’s POV

“I’ll see you later.”

Nathalie turned on her heel and marched out of the house, saying a quick thanks to Dad for the meal and a swift goodbye to everyone, at least everyone that wasn’t me. Sure I was the one who said we should bring Rae today, but it isn’t like keeping her at home would have stopped her from getting sick. She was a kid after all, and kids got sick.

“Geez, what a bitch,” Brent commented, looking after where Nathalie had stormed off. He then suddenly looked guiltily at Johnny, who for most of the night had been making stupid bets with Jimmy such as ‘Who can eat the fastest’ and ‘See how many peas you can get on Matt’s plate before he noticed’. Surprisingly Johnny won most of these contests, with the score at something like 8-5. “Shit, she wasn’t your girl was she? Aw fuck, me and my big mouth.”

Johnny just looked confused. “I’m still with Sarah man.”

“Oh.” He looked around. “Where is she then?”

The bathroom door opened and Sarah reappeared, greeting Brent as she sat back down next to Johnny before making a funny look. “Did I miss something?”

“No babe,” he said kissing her on the cheek, “just Nathalie left to take Rae home. She wasn’t feeling well.”

“I hope she’s alright. I’ll have to ring her in the morning.”

Brent was still perplexed by the whole situation, still in the dark about who Nathalie was.

“So who was she then? Was the kid hers?” He turned to me. “How do you know her?”

I sighed. “I’m married to her, that’s how.”

“Oh.” Clearly he wasn’t expecting me to say that. “How long?”

“About a week; if that. I forget the day.”

He looked at me incredulously. “How could you forget the day if it was only a week ago?!”

I cracked a weak smile, my voice quiet. “A lot has happened since then.”

Everyone apart from my direct family fell silent along with me, all of them remembering how Nathalie couldn’t even finish our first dance as a wedded couple, falling in my arms to the closing lines of the song. My heart almost stopped as I held her close to my chest, willing her eyes to open as I thought I might have lost her. Since that night I just keep counting each hour as it passes, hoping that the number keeps steadily increasing before I have to feel like that again. It was clear Nathalie was getting weaker quickly; it was just by sheer will that she had not yet succumbed to the disease, or to allow it to take her spirit from her. For now, she was still with us, but for how long, I couldn’t say.

“So her kid-“

“I am Rae’s father, yes.”

“How old is... Rae, is it?”

“Just turned five a few months ago,” I replied.

“And when did you say you got married?”

“About a week ago,” I repeated.

“So for those five years... what exactly were you guys doing?”

I laughed quietly. “Nathalie and I weren’t together then.”

“But how...?”

“I met Nathalie around six years ago, in the parking lot of the mall. I broke two of her ribs.” Brent wasn’t the only one shocked at that revelation. McKenna and Dad equally shared in his horror. “When she was in the hospital, I stayed with her, checking to see if she was alright. Then one thing led to another, and I invited her to join me on tour. Everything was great, and after we had got back home I was ready to propose to her. A part of me always wanted to be a single man with no connections, but being with Nathalie just seemed to be right; better even.” McKenna ‘awhed’ at that part. “For reasons I know now, she didn’t accept back then.”

“Because of Rae?” McKenna interjected.

“Exactly,” I confirmed. “For four years, I heard nothing of Nathalie. She had moved to Phoenix, and brought Rae up as a single mother. It was a little over a year ago that she came back, and a few months after that I realised I had a daughter.”

McKenna smiled. “I thought I saw your eyes in little Rae.”

“But she has her mother’s curls, and certainly her stubborn attitude,” I chuckled. Even though they had been gone perhaps half an hour at the most, my heart ached. I sighed, missing them already. Missing Nathalie. Losing precious hours with her. “I love them with all my heart. So Brent, please don’t call my wife a bitch or I am going to have to take your ass outside and kick it.”

He raised an eyebrow at me. “That’s quite a shit insult, even for you.”

“I know.” I laughed, glancing at the clock on the wall. “I think I better get home, I don’t want Nathalie to go to sleep before I can apologise.”

“Shit.”

“What?”

“That girl has turned you soft!” Brent roared with laughter. “Whipped!”

I scowled. “I am not whipped.”

“Sure you’re not,” he replied with a roll of his eyes. “Anyway, how are you planning on getting home? You haven’t got a car have you?”

Damnit. I forgot I gave Nathalie the keys.

“Don’t worry Brian, I’ve got you covered.” He swung his own keys on his finger. “Just give tell us the street and I’ll get you there.”

“You sure?” I frowned. “You did only just get here.”

When he laughed, I knew what he was going to say next was going to be bad. “Who said we were going alone?”

--

“Holy shit!” Brent exclaimed as we drove up the winding path to the house, peering out of the windscreen at the home I now shared with Nathalie. “What the fuck does Nathalie do? Is she like some mafia queen or something?!”

I shrugged. “Close.”

“Well, at least I can safely guess she’s not after your money.” He pulled up beside the house and turned off the ignition. “Hell, I think by the looks of it you are after hers.”

“Shut up Brent,” I said as I walked up the steps to the front door, having left the car door open for McKenna and Dad to climb out from the back. “Nathalie?” I called, but I didn’t get an answer as I walked in. “Babe?”

Something shuffled in the kitchen so I instinctively went to it, gently pushing open the door and seeing Nathalie hunching over a steaming cup, her hand pressing against her forehead.

“Nat?” She looked up at me and coughed. The person looking back at me seemed completely different to the defiant woman that held herself against me only half an hour before. “Are you alright?” I approached her and sniffed; something smelled weird. “What are you drinking?”

“Hot lemon drink,” she replied. “My mom always used to say it was the best way to cure a cold.” She looked surprised as everyone grouped together behind me, then frowned down at herself. “If I knew the party was coming back here I wouldn't have changed.”

She was wearing just a grey lace cami top with a pair of pink shorts and her hair had been put up in a messy ponytail. It was probably weird to think it since I've seen her in a full blown strippers outfit, but to me, right now, she couldn't look any better.

“Don't worry about it,” I said as I walked over to her, standing behind as I wrapped my arms around her and murmured in her ear, “You look great.”

“Nathalie, we can go if you want, I didn't realise you were just wanting a night in,” Dad said, clapping Brent on the shoulder to get his attention. “Come on Brent, there's some cake at home for you.”

“No, no stay,” Nathalie said. “It's no problem at all. I didn't want to leave earlier but I just had to get Rae to bed and-”

“Don't worry, I understand completely,” Dad replied warmly. “I did have to look after children once myself. Just that they are all big now.”

“That's all we want to see out children do,” Nathalie said. Her voice dropped slightly after, something I think only I caught on, “grow up.” She said it with an underlying sense of mourning, knowing full well she would never get to my Dad's age and see Rae as an adult. Then her voice reverted back to its cheerful peals. “Why don't you all go into the front room? I'll bring some drinks out. What is everyone after?” She placed a hand on her hip when everyone in the band looked away, not really wanting to ask for alcohol in front of my family. “I'm guessing beer and cocktails for the band, and...?” She looked expectantly to Dad, McKenna and Brent.

Brent just shrugged. “A beer sounds good to be. Does a soul good after a long trip.”

“I'll have one as well Nathalie,” Dad said. “Thanks.”

“I think I'll have to see what your cocktail skills are like,” McKenna said with a grin. “It better be good.”

I laughed. None of them had been clued into exactly how Chloe got possession of Deviate, therefore not knowing that Nathalie had a fair knowledge of the club scene- including experience behind the bar. “McKenna, I don't think you will be disappointed.”