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Natalie

N atalie paced in the pool house. Her heart was pounding. What the hell was happening? She trusted Sven to deal with this, but, damn, it was a lot. His dad was a real fucking piece of work, and she was just about ready to march in there and let him have it.

She blew out a breath and peered out the window, trying to see if she could see the door. She even messed with the intercom but nothing. What was going on?

After more pacing, she gazed out the window, and Sven was heading out the door. Thank god. She watched as she turned back to say one last thing before making his way to the pool house. She walked over and opened the door.

“Are you okay?” she asked.

He looked shaken up, but at least he didn’t look like he and his father had come to blows, which she was not certain of until that moment.

“Yeah, I’m so sorry,” he said, putting his arms around both her and Winnie.

She took a breath for what felt like the first time since she’d come in.

“Are you okay?”

“We’re fine. What’s going on?”

“My dad is gone. Stacie is still here, and my lawyer is on the way.”

“You left her alone in there?” Natalie said, surprised. “Are you sure that’s smart?”

“No, but she wanted to see Winnie.”

Natalie’s hold on Winnie tightened.

“Sven?” She gave him a questioning look.

His hand slid down her back. “I’ll be right there. Nothing will happen. I promise. Do you want to come in?”

“Yeah,” Natalie said.

This whole situation was fucked up.

“Okay, we’ll both be right there to make sure nothing happens to Winnie.”

Slowly, Natalie nodded, and they made their way back into the house. She wanted to cling to both Sven and Winnie, but she trusted Sven in this situation. If there was anything she’d learned in her time here, he was a good father. He wouldn’t let anything happen to her.

When they entered, Stacie was sitting on one of the tall chairs at the breakfast bar with her hands between her legs. She looked terrible. Natalie could see that she’d been crying, but it went beyond that. Her skin was almost gray, her hair thin, and the bags under her eyes were bad.

“Let’s go sit on the floor,” Sven said, holding tight to Winnie.

Stacie followed them in and sat on the floor.

“Hi, baby,” she said to Winnie, who looked at the woman but wouldn’t leave Sven’s lap.

Tears, once again, filled the woman’s eyes, and while Natalie would never understand how someone could leave their baby, she also knew about addiction and how that could change a person.

The woman picked up a toy and held it out. “Do you want the puppy?”

Winnie reached out and got it but still seemed to be evaluating the woman. Natalie sat on the couch and watched. She wasn’t sure what to do, but she wanted to be here for Sven and Winnie.

Winnie finally left Sven’s lap, crawled over to the basket on the floor, and played with toys.

“She’s changed so much,” said the woman, wiping a tear away. “Thank you for taking such good care of her. I’m so sorry.”

Winnie crawled over to the couch and beat on the cushions, babbling.

Sven just nodded at the woman, and they all sat, watching Winnie.

Before long, there was a knock at the door.

“I’ll be right back.” Sven got up to answer it.

When he came back, he was standing next to a tall man with a big round stomach and a bald head in an impeccable suit.

“We have some things to talk about. Do you want to take Winnie back to the pool house?” he said as she walked over and picked up Winnie.

“Yeah.” Natalie got off the couch, walked over to them, and took Winnie from him.

Before she walked away, he slid an arm around her and kissed the top of her head. “I’ll be right out as soon as we finish up a few things.”

“Okay.”

She slid open the patio door and closed it behind her. The warm sun shone down on them as they crossed the yard to the pool house. What a cluster fuck.

After about an hour, Sven came out to the pool house, where Winnie and Natalie sat on the floor, playing with toys and watching Sesame Street .

“How’d it go?” Natalie asked as she stood and walked over to him.

He just held her for a long moment. She attempted to pull away to look to him, but his arms tightened around her. She stood there, allowing him to hold her, as long as he needed and hold him right back.

Finally, he kissed the top of her head and pulled back, rubbing her arms.

“I’m so sorry about today.” He walked and picked up a toy before he sat on the couch, holding out for Winnie.

“You have nothing to apologize for. Nothing that happened in there was your fault.”

Winnie crawled over to him and took the toy.

He leaned back on the couch and swiped his hands over his face. The pull to go to him was strong, and she needed him to know how much she cared about him and how proud she was of the way he stood up for himself and his little family.

She went over and sat on the couch and pulled him into a hug. They were always a pair when they did this because Natalie barely cleared five feet, and Sven was well over six, but he allowed himself to be pulled into a hug and hugged her right back.

“What happened?”

“She signed over custody.” Sven blew out a breath. “So that’s good. And she is on her way to rehab. Hopefully, she can be in Winnie’s life on some level, but for now, that is up for me to decide. We’ll see if she can get clean and stay clean.”

“You’re a good man,” Natalie said as she rubbed his leg.

“Thank you,” he said quietly. “I wish I could believe you... Everything just feels so fucked right now.”

“It’s a lot.”

He nodded and sat back. “Thank you for being here, Natalie. I’m not sure what I would do without you.”

“Well, I’m here, and I don’t plan on going anywhere,” she said like she had this all figured out.

If she was honest with herself, she hadn’t given much thought to the longevity of what was happening with her and Sven. But when she did think about it, it was something she wanted. She liked the idea of being with Sven and Winnie, but this was all so new, and things did not feel very settled.

“What about your dad?”

His head bumped the back of the couch. “I hit him.”

“What?” Natalie sat up, looking at him. Then she saw the slight bruising on his knuckles as she took his hand. “Are you okay?”

“Fuck. I don’t know. I don’t know if I can ever forgive him for what he pulled today. I mean... On some level, I knew he didn’t care about me, but with the way he was just willing to get rid of Winnie, I don’t think I ever want to see him again.”

Natalie turned to face him and ran her hands through his hair. “That’s your decision to make, and there is no rush in making it.”

He blew out a breath, nodded, lay on the couch, put his head in her lap, and closed his eyes. She wanted to make it better, but there was nothing she could do or say that would help this situation. Sometimes, big problems are out of our control, and we just have to wait and see how they play out.

Sven had done everything he could to protect Winnie. All that was left to do was make sure he made the right decision to keep her safe, and she knew he would do it.

And just like he did the night before, he turned into her stomach and buried himself in her. Only for the exact same thing to happen like yesterday. As he laughed, his face was still buried in her stomach. The vibration made her smile.

He pulled back and looked up at her. “Every time.”

She just ran her hand through his hair and smiled down at him.

He sat up. “Your donuts and coffee are still inside. Probably cold. I don’t know if you still want them.”

“Are you kidding? I’ll always want donuts. Why don’t we move this back inside and reclaim our peaceful bed day?” Natalie said.

“Really?”

“What else are we going to do? Let’s take some toys for Winnie and hole up and watch movies.”

“I don’t deserve you,” Sven said as she cupped Natalie’s cheek.

“Well, deserved or not, you have me.”

He leaned his head down and kissed her, and just like that, her panic subsided, and her soul clicked into place.

“I’m going to make you so happy. That way, I can keep you.”

“Just keep being you. I think you’re pretty incredible.”

Slowly, Sven stood and picked Winnie up off the floor, and the three made their way back into the house.

“You get some toys,” said Natalie. “I’ll get us some snacks, and we resume our bed day.”

And that’s what they did. They stayed in bed, enjoying each other and trying to forget the mess of the morning.