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Chapter 15
Someday We'll Know
2 Months Later...
“So, Olivia had our son today,” Nate sighed, slightly adjusting himself in his seat. “Tom called earlier.”
“Oh, are you okay? What did she name him?”
“Landon, after her dad.” He said. “The funny thing is, Chase flew out to Boston yesterday to be with Olivia. My best friend got to see the birth of my son, and I didn't.” He complained, taking another sip of the beer he was currently drinking. “I can't believe I missed my own son's birth.”
The barmaid smiled sympathetically at him and said, “Well, what are you doing here on a Friday night alone? Why don't you fly to Boston to see her?”
Nate shrugged. “I'm supposed to be meeting Eve here, but I guess she's not coming.”
The barmaid nodded understandingly. “Eve's the one you had an affair with?” Nate nodded. “Do you love her?”
Nate smiled, sipping his beer. “I think I do.” And with that the bell on top of the door rang, signaling someone had opened it, and in walked Eve.
“Nate! I got your message! Sorry I'm late, is everything alright?” She looked at him, worriedly, and even more when she saw a beer in his hand. “Nate! What are you doing? Why are you drinking? Oh my God, come on, let's get you out of here.” She said, pulling him up from his seat, he had clearly been drinking all night, and she wasn't sure what to do. She had never done this before; dealt with an alcoholic.
Her and Nate's relationship was fairly new, and even though they had known each other for almost a year, she had never been the one to put up wit his drinking, it had always been Olivia. “I'm fine Eve. Don't worry about me, I'll be okay.” He said, slurring his words.
She shook her head, as they walked out of the bar together. “Nate, why did you want me to meet you here?” She asked, setting him against the wall, so he would be okay to stand on his own. “I mean, I had to leave work early and-”
“I got a call today from Tom,” He explained. “Olivia had the baby today, and I missed it.” He said, as he slid to the floor. “And I missed it.” He echoed. He was crying now. Even though he was drunk, Eve knew that he was actually really upset about it. Not just about missing his son's birth, but about Olivia leaving him, hurting her ... everything.
She looked at him sympathetically. Ever since Olivia had left the city, Nate had been moping around about how he was going to miss the birth of his first child. She felt sorry for him, but just because Olivia wasn't going to be having the baby in New York didn't mean Nate couldn't have flown out to Boston to be with her. Eve wouldn't have minded it, in fact, she had wanted him to go.
She walked over to him, pulling a strand of loose hair out of her face, and knelt down in front of him. “There's nothing I can tell you, Nate. It's kind of your own fault.” She pointed out. “But there's a lot of things you won't miss in his life. Olivia said she was coming back, didn't she? Just give her a little time to herself.”
“But, God, I miss her so much!” He said, through tears. Eve bit her lip, she didn't know what to say. She was a bit uncomfortable with the whole situation. She cared about Nate, she wanted to be there for him, but she wasn't sure how at this point. He had been saying that he missed Olivia over and over for the past few weeks, drunk or not.
She was necessarily jealous, but how would she know if when Olivia came back, he wouldn't go back to her? She didn't doubt his feelings for her, she had no reason to. But something in the back of her mind told her that when Nate saw his son for the first time, he'd absolutely fall in love with him, and she didn't mind that, really she didn't, but knowing Nate, and knowing how much of a kind and caring person he could be, she couldn't help but feel a little scared that he would want to be with Olivia, just for giving him a child.
“I know you miss her ...” She said, awkwardly. “Why don't we go to my place for the night? You can call Olivia in the morning and see how she is,” She suggested. “I don't think she'd be okay with you drunk calling her ...”
Nate nodded, as Eve helped him up. “Thank-you, Eve.” He said, as he planted a sweet kiss on her lips. She could feel him smile as their mouths flew opened and began a full out making out session right there in the middle of the street. Cupping her face, Nate dug his tongue into Eve's mouth, and she returned the favor.
He tasted like beer, but she didn't mind. She wanted so very much at the moment to take him home and make love to him, but she knew that would be wrong. She didn't want to take advantage of him when he was so vulnerable, and he was moping over his ex-fiancé. She didn't know what to think about it. She liked Nate a lot, maybe even loved him, but she wasn't sure if what they had would last. If it was just a fling, or an actual relationship.
For the past few months all they had been doing was going out on dates, spending the night at each others, and having sex. They had never really done anything romantic, like Nate had done for Olivia. She was jealous of Olivia, not because she thought Nate still loved her, but because she got to be with Nate, she got to have Nate fall in love with her, and treat her like she was the most amazing woman in the world, and to Nate, she was.
When they finally pulled away, Nate slipped his hand into Eve's and squeezed it tightly. He was happy where he was with Eve, no matter how much he missed Olivia. They continued walking hand in hand together to Eve's apartment in Queens, and when the arrived, much to Eve's disappointment, they didn't have sex. They sat in her living-room and talked, for hours and hours.
They talked about how Eve felt about Olivia, how Nate felt about Olivia, about the baby, about the future ... about everything. And it was nice to just sit and talk to someone. Eve had felt like she hadn't been able to do that in months.
She cared for Nate deeply, and was happy that she had someone who actually cared about her.
Olivia heard Chase say. She looked up at him, giving him a sweet angelic smile. He had been her life saver that day. She had arrived at the airport to pick him up, alone since Natalie and Tom both had to be at work, and had gone into labor as soon as his flight landed. She had asked for him, knowing that he was the only person she knew there, and when he was informed, he had immediately rushed to her side.
The two were brought to the hospital by ambulance, and Olivia successfully delivered Landon James Barrett several hours later. He was a beautiful, bouncy baby boy, that looked just like his father. He didn't have enough hair to tell, but Olivia sense that he would have the same light, sandy brown hair Nate did.
Sitting with her on the bed, he began stroking her black hair gently. She reached for his hand, and took it into her own. She would never know how she became so lucky as to have a friend like Chase. Yes, he was a jerk sometimes, but she didn't know what she'd do without him.
Chase shook his head. “I don't know what's going on in his mind, but Nate has absolutely gone insane to let go of you, babe.” He said. “You know you're amazing, don't let that big idiot make you think otherwise.”
She smiled at his “compliment” and squeezed his hand tightly. “Thank-you, Chase,” She said. “I'd be lost without you.”
He smirked. “I know.”
She rolled her eyes and laughed. “Tom and Natalie are still with Landon?” She asked.
Chase nodded. “Nat is in awe. I don't think you should leave her alone with him, she might just steal him away from you,” He said only half-joking. Natalie had wanted a child for so long, but Tom had never wanted children. It was another reason Chase questioned why Natalie was still with him. “Tom is just there.”
Olivia nodded. “I don't know what's up with him lately.”
Chase shrugged. “Ah, you know the British ...” he said, jokingly. “Have you talked to Nate?” Olivia shook her head. “You really should give him a call- let him know you're alright.”
Olivia bit her lip. She knew she should. She knew Nate was worried about her, he had called several times, but she never responded. She wouldn't know what to say. She didn't even want to begin to imagine how awkward it would be when she moved back to the city. Having to see him with Eve would kill her.
“I don't know if I can right now ...” She trailed. “Maybe in a few days.”
“He's really worried about you, babe.” Chase insisted. As mad as Chase was at his best friend for what he had done to Olivia, he thought he at least deserved to know she and his kid were alright.
“I know he is, Chase, but there's nothing to say! I can't talk to him right now, not after what he did to me.” She said, as tears filled her eyes.
“Hey, don't cry on me now, Ollie.” He said, as he scooted closer to her. “You'll be fine, I promise you. I'm always going to be there for you sweetheart, you know that, right?”
Olivia nodded, smiling. “And I'm so grateful for that Chase, but how am I supposed to do this alone? Raise a child? I don't know if I'll be able to with work and everything-”
He chuckled, interrupting her, “We'll figure something out,” He said. “And you're not doing this alone, you have Tom and Natalie, and me, and I know Nate would never bail on you.” He reassured her. “And Nate's mom, God, she's going to go insane when she sees little Landon.”
Olivia smiled. “Thank-you Chase, really, and I'm sorry for crying.” She said, wiping underneath her eyes.
“Don't be babe, you've been going through a lot of shit lately, but it'll turn around, I promise.” She nodded, not sure if she believed him, but she still smiled when he moved in closer to her and placed a small kiss on her forehead, and another one on her cheek. He pushed himself up so he was sitting next to her, and placed an arm around her shoulders, hovering her protectively. He continued stroking her hair until they both slowly fell asleep.
Deciding that today was a good time to call Nate, she had, but was disappointed when Eve answered. “That's great to hear!” Eve said happily over the phone. “I'll pass you to Nate.”
Olivia waited nervously as she heard Eve call Nate to the phone. Everything that she had planned to say had left her memory and she suddenly felt like a high school girl talking to her crush for the first time. “Olivia!”
She smiled at the concern in his tone. “Everything is fine, Nate. I promise.”
“Does he look like me?”
Olivia bit her lip, smiling. Landon was the spitting image of Nate. He looked exactly like him, same hair, same rosy cheeks, and the same electrifying blue eyes that Nate had.
“He does, Nate, he looks exactly like you ... I wish you could have been here.” She heard herself say. That wasn't entirely true. She had been longing for Nate to come to Boston after she left the city to beg for her to take him back but he had never done so and that lead Olivia to believe that he was happy with Eve, and he was. “Do you love her?” She asked, and then immediately regretting it.
“Eve?” He asked, and Olivia replied with a “mhm” and Nate bit his lip. He wasn't sure if he loved Eve. He knew he didn't love her like he had loved Olivia, but maybe it was a different kind of love for Olivia now. He would always love Olivia for giving him a child, whether they were together or not.
But Eve was a different story. They had only been really together for a couple of months, and she was great to him, but he couldn't help himself when he compared her to Olivia. Olivia had been everything Nate ever wanted but he somehow felt himself being attracted to Eve while with Olivia, and now that he thought about it, he wasn't sure if what he had with Eve was even real, if it was just an attraction. But he couldn't tell all of this to Olivia, that would have hurt her even more. He didn't know what to say to her question, because he wasn't even sure himself of the answer.
“It's too early to tell ...” He trailed. “When are you coming back to the city?” He asked her, trying to change the subject but desperately wanting to know what she thought of his answer.
“Uh, I'm not sure about that Nate.” She said. “It could be weeks, months ... I don't know if I'm ready to come back.”
“Oh,” She heard him say. “Do you think it would be okay for me to come visit you there then?”
Olivia smiled. The thought of Nate coming to Boston to see his son made Olivia happy, even if he wasn't coming for her. “Of course! You're welcomed anytime.” Nate heard some background voices, telling Olivia it was time to leave. “I guess I have to go ...” She trailed. “You can call and visit whenever, Nate. It was nice talking to you.”
He smiled as he sat down at the arm of his couch. “It was nice talking to you too, Olivia.” He said. “And even if I haven't met him yet, tell little Landon James Barrett that I love him.”
“Will do.” She said, smiling, hanging up the phone.
“Everything alright?” Eve asked from the kitchen.
Nate stared at her, not believing that she was there but at the same time, having never felt something so right before in his life. “Yes,” he said softly. Nate kissed Eve as he gripped her hand in his, he knew that it could, and would, only get better from then on.
The End.