Nathaniel

Nathaniel Nelson sat listening to the radio as he winded his way towards home along the busy intersections of LA. He was finishing his 4th year at U.C.L.A and was driving home for the coming holiday to stay with his brother Samuel, younger sister Leah and his mom Hannah. They had always spent their holidays together only this year would be the first year together without their father Tyler. He sighed heavily and turned up the song playing on the radio, bobbing his head slowly with the beat and lip singing along.

‘Finally,’

he thought as the traffic eased up and he was allowed to drive freely down the roads without the stop and go of La’s traffic.

“I hate LA,”

he muttered under his breath and raked a hand back through his hair. He was glad to be going home to see his family. He adored his sister Leah with everything in him. She was his best friend and confidant. He loved teasing her over her latest crush and pampering her. He felt as though it was his sole purpose in life. She could always make him laugh even when it seemed the hardest to. Nathan was the oldest of the three children. He at age 24, Samuel at age 21 and Leah at age 18, he was the guardian of the family after his father’s death and he prized that position; he loved his brother Samuel dearly. They had always been competitive and would argue over every little thing when they were young boys. They had grown out of that as they grew up and Samuel now looked to Nathan for answers. Samuel looked up to him as a role model and Nathan felt honored. Then there was his mother…Hannah. They had never really had a relationship. He loved her deeply but they had never really had a well founded relationship. They didn’t talk that much, it seemed when they did they argued. He sighed. He wanted to work against it but no matter how hard he tried it seemed he always got pulled back into it. During this holiday vacation Nathan made a promise to himself that he would resist arguing and make it a nice vacation free from the yelling and frustration. He wanted it to be easy on everyone. This first year without their father would be hard…but if he could prevent the arguing, it might be easier. A frustrated sigh crept past his lips as he pulled into the driveway of his parent’s house and got out. One glance told him that kayden was visiting. He smiled. Kayden had always been like a second father to them, and they all loved him. Kayden had been his father’s best friend since his father was 18, a long lasting relationship. When the kids were born they all had grown up together. He smiled as he thought over all his memories of their families. As he looked through the window he saw his sister and kayden’s daughter Marie sitting, talking together on the couch. He smiled watching them. Smiling broadly he opened the door and let himself into the house. Leah was the first to him as he picked her up and swung her around in his arms before setting her back onto her feet and flicking her nose lightly.

“Hey there squirt,”

she smiled.

“I’ve missed you Nathan…”

“I’ve missed you too Leah, where is everybody?” he asked.

Samuel came around the corner and embraced his brother.

“Nathan, good to see you,” he said.

Nathan smiled as Marie rose to her feet and came over to him. She wrapped her arm around his waist and hugged him.

“It’s been a long time Nathan; I haven’t seen you since your father’s funeral; about a year ago.”

He gazed down at her and smiled.

“It has been a long time, too long,”

after everyone had said their hellos Nathan sat at a table with Samuel and challenged his brother to a game of chess. It had been almost a year since he had last been with his family, busy as he was studying to keep his GPA and be able to make something of himself.

“So…how’s it been with you Sam?”

His brother looked up at him from the game and shrugged.

“It’s been…pretty much the same. Not much has happened since you left.”

He said as he gazed back down; studying the pieces on the chessboard. Nathan cast a glance over his shoulder at the sound of the girls giggling and smiled.

‘Dang, when did Marie get so pretty?’

he thought as he perused her. Marie was 19, long dark brown hair with reddish brown streaks, and deep brown eyes and long lashes. She was tall around 5’7, long legs, tan beautiful skin; very curvaceous, he sighed and looked away forcing that thought from his head.. She was more like a sister to him. He thought as he cast one more glance over at her. He told himself it was just because he had been gone so long that he was noticing her, although it was in no way special. Heck he thought of Leah the same way; at least its what he wanted to believe as he glanced over at her. He smiled at her with a brotherly pride as he observed her. Nathan smiled and turned back to the game to see Samuel smiling at him.

“What?” he asked.

Samuel just laughed and shrugged. Nathan smiled at his brother’s sly look and laughed.

* * * *

Marie Kline sat listening to Leah talk and grinned. They had been best friends since birth. She had been there when Leah was born and the girls had automatically bonded as they were young girls growing up together. She glanced over at the boys playing chess and smiled. When she was a younger girl she had had a crush on Nathan, but while he was away she had felt a growing attraction towards Samuel. Yet as she glanced over at him now; she felt her attraction for Nathan coming back. She shook her head as though to break up the thoughts and sighed. She shouldn’t be thinking of them like that. She thought. They had grown up with her; more like a brother/sister relationship is what they had. Leah looked over to her and grinned.

“What?” she asked.

Leah giggled.

“You’ve been staring at my brother for like 5 minutes,” Leah said.

“You like him don’t you?” Leah asked with a wink.

Marie giggled and playfully slapped her arm.

“I do not, your brothers are more like a brother to me…I could never like him like that”

she said trying to sound convincing; as much for herself as for Leah.

* * * *

Hannah sat talking with kayden as tears filled her eyes. The family’s first year without Tyler was harder on her than she could ever have imagined. Just looking at his best friend had brought back so many memories. Kayden had been the best man for Tyler at their wedding and had always been there for Tyler. She just wanted to be left alone so she could cry. As though kayden had read her mind he laid a comforting hand on her shoulder before leaving the room; shutting the door behind him leaving Hannah to the silence of her room. As he left Hannah picked up a picture of her and Tyler off of the nightstand and held it to her heart.

“You promised you would never leave me!!!”

she moaned as she clutched it to her heart.

“You promised,”

she whimpered again as she lowered her body onto the bed and wept. A knock on her door interrupted her cries. She dried her eyes and called for the person to come in. the door creaked open and she caught her breath; forcing back her tears.

“Hey mom,”

Nathan said softly as he walked towards her and sat beside her on the bed. She forced a smile as she laid her hand on his cheek and looked into his eyes.

“You look so much like your father,”

she told him as her voice cracked. Nathan had a deep resemblance of his father Tyler, thick jet black hair, deep, blue eyes, tall and well built. He raked a hand back through his hair before holding his mom in a comforting embrace. He felt her tears fall onto his arm and sighed. He had never known anyone with the kind of relationship his mom and dad had had. He saw the love every time his father looked at his mom, touching her as if she were some fragile porcelain doll. Even after 31 years together, he could feel the love emanating between them. A moment later after Hannah composed herself she looked up at Nathan and smiled.

“It’s good to see you Nathan, I’m glad you’re home.”

“It’s good to be home mom; I have something for you,”

she frowned uncertainly and he smiled as he took her hand and led her to the car. He opened the trunk and pulled the blanket back uncovering a paining of a beautiful beach with a setting sun.

“I had someone pain t the beach where you and father went, where he proposed to you,”

Hannah trembled as she looked at the picture; the memory of that night coming back to her. She wiped the tears from her eyes and embraced Nathan.

“thank you Nathan…you don’t’ know how much this means,”

she told him as tears filled her eyes once more. He lifted it from the trunk and carried it inside,

“I’ll hang it up for you later on tonight after the Kline's go home later this evening.”

Hannah nodded and sighed heavily,

‘how am I going to make it through this without you Ty?’

she wondered and forced herself to press on and force a smile.

* * * *

“Shut up squirt,”

Nathan laughed as his little sister continued to tease him.

Leah laughed at him and sat on his lap, wrapping her arm around his neck she placed her head against his shoulder and sighed.

“I’m glad you’re home Nate,” she sighed.

He placed a loose strand of her hair behind her ear and smiled.

“Me too squirt…me too”

a few moments later he heard her gentle breathing and smiled as he carried her up to her room and tucked her into her bed. He leaned down and kissed her cheek.

“Good night Leah, sweet dreams,”

he whispered to her sleeping form. He smiled and walked from the room bumping into Marie.

* * * * *

Ok…here’s chap one to ff3: the next generation. This chap was t basically introduce you to the new characters and a bit of their personality and what their family is like…if it sucks let me know now so I wont waste my time on itJ read and review!!! Flames accepted. I want to know if I suck..no lies;) only truthJ REVIEW!!!

Love your fellow author,

Katelyn!~*~