“Sorry I’m late,” Ella called out as she walked into her parent’s house. She had been dreading getting to the house because she knew that she would have to tell her parents about Nate.

“You’re just in time for a bit of lunch,” Nora said as Ella made her way into the kitchen. “I thought maybe you had gone into the shop.”

“No,” Ella said as she walked to the table, to where Max was sitting eating a sandwich and drawing a picture. She kissed him on the top of the head, but he didn’t even flinch. “Hey, Baby, were you a good boy for Mimi?”

“Of course he was,” Nora said as she walked over and set a plate of food down in front of Ella. “How was the date?”

“Okay,” Ella shrugged as she realised she hadn’t even thought about Xander. She still had his jacket, and she knew that she would eventually have to talk to him and tell him that things had changed. “He was a nice guy, but I don’t think anything will come of it.”

“Oh?” Nora said questioningly as she sat down across from Ella. “And that wouldn’t have anything to do with Nathan, would it?”

“Well,” Ella said as she swallowed hard before she continued. “Funny you should say that.”

Ella told her mother what had happened the night before, and also what had happened that morning.

 “That poor man. I can’t even imagine what he is going through,” Nora sighed, and Ella could see the worry in her mother’s eyes. “What is he going to do?”

“He has called everyone he could think of,” Ella replied. “But no one seems to know where they are. He has gone to speak to his lawyer, but she is their mother, so I have no idea what’s going to happen.”

“And what about you and him?” Nora asked Ella.

“We are going to try to make it work,” Ella said though even as she said the words, she couldn’t ignore the doubt in the back of her mind. She couldn’t help but worry that Nate would regret his decision now that Nina had taken the girls.

“Do you think he will still move in with you?” Nora asked, and Ella was unable to read her mother’s face.

“I have no idea,” Ella replied. “Right now, he is beyond freaked out; he just wants to find Nina and the girls.”

“I understand that,” Nora sighed, but Ella knew there was something bothering her mother.

“What is it?” Ella asked giving her mother a questioning look. “There is something you’re not saying.”

“I’m just worried about how all this will affect Max,” Nora said, and Ella knew her mother hated saying anything to her. “I mean, I think Nathan is a lovely man, but he is going to be stressed out with everything that is happening with his girls, and I just worry that Max will pick up on it.”

“I know, and I’m worried about that too…” Ella sighed. “But he is his dad, and Nate has already lost so much, how can I take a step back now?”

“I know,” Nora smiled as she reached over and gave her daughter’s hand a squeeze. “I know you will figure this out, and if there is anything I can do to help, you know I am here.”

“I know,” Ella said, giving her mom a grateful smile.

“Where’s Daddy?” Max asked as Ella put him into bed.

“He will come and see you soon,” Ella replied, not really sure of what else she should say to her little boy. She had called Nate several times during the day, but each time it just went to his voice mail, and despite leaving several voice messages, she still hadn’t heard from him. She honestly didn’t know what to think.

“Okay,” Max said as he pulled his little, stuffed dog to his face, and began to rub its ear. Ella knew he was tired. She bent forward and kissed him softly on the forehead, as he closed his eyes.

“Goodnight, Baby,” Ella whispered before she switched off his lamp and walked towards the door of his bedroom. She reached for the handle of the door but hesitated as she watched Max drift off to sleep.

She felt confused by Nate’s behaviour. Part of her couldn’t imagine what it must have felt like for Nate to have no idea where his girls were. If someone took Max away from her, she knew she would move heaven and earth to find him. But part of her was hurt that he seemed to have forgotten about her and Max. He just vanished, and she had no idea what to think.

Ella knew she was being a little selfish, but it was what she had feared the most since Nate came crashing into their lives again. She had tried to keep him at arm’s length because she had been afraid he would hurt her, just like he had all those years before.

She had tried to reason that what happened in the past was not really Nate’s fault, but this time he knew what he was doing, and she was angry with him for just casting her and Max aside and leaving her to pick up the pieces once more.

Releasing a deep sigh, she pulled the door closed and made her way back down to the kitchen to clean up before she called it a night herself.

As she made her way down the stairs, she spotted her phone on the hall table. She considered if she should call him one more time, but she knew if he didn’t take her call, it would just hurt her more.

She made her way into the kitchen and began to clean up the dinner dishes. As she scraped her uneaten dinner into the garbage disposal, she looked at the plate of food she had left for Nate on the counter, and a sudden sob escaped from deep inside her. She quickly set her plate down and buried her face in her hands, as the tears she had been fighting all day finally won the battle and broke free.

Why hadn’t he called her? He had promised he would never let her or Max down again, and she believed him. Yet, here they were, their first hurdle, and he was gone.

But then she pictured the look on his face that morning when he came back from the house and told her that Nina had taken the girls. He was beyond broken, and Ella couldn’t help but feel responsible. She had so many questions, but she didn’t know where to find the answers. Had he changed his mind? Had he decided the price of being with her and Max was just too great? Was she alone once more?

Ella sobbed harder as she could feel her heart smash into a million pieces.

She was so lost in her grief, that she didn’t hear Nate walk into the kitchen behind her. It wasn’t until he wrapped her in his arms that she realised he was even there.

“Please don’t cry,” he whispered as he held her close to him. “I will make this all better.”

“You’re…you’re here!” She exclaimed as she turned and looked up at him, stunned to see him actually standing there. He looked so tired and sad that it just broke Ella’s heart more.

“Where else would I be?” Nate asked as he looked down into her eyes.

“I thought you had left us,” Ella sobbed as she searched Nate’s face for answers. “I thought you had changed your mind.”

“Why would I ever do that?” Nate asked, surprised by Ella’s response. “You and Max are the only good thing in my life right now. Why the hell would I ever leave you? I meant it when I said that this was forever.”

“But I called and called,” Ella continued, feeling angry and relieved in equal measures. “I left you messages, but you just seemed to disappear. I didn’t know what to think.”

“My phone died,” Nate explained. “I would have called from a pay phone, but I didn’t have your number. I was just searching everywhere I could think that Nina might go. I never meant to make you worry.”

“I was just so scared I’d lost you,” Ella whispered as she wrapped her arms around his neck and held him tightly. “I thought you didn’t want us anymore.”

“Why the hell would I not want you?” Nate asked as he wrapped her in his arms once more and held her tightly. “How could you even think that?”

“But this is all my fault,” Ella cried. “If I hadn’t have moved in here… If you hadn’t had to choose.”

“None of this is your fault!” Nate said, holding her at arm’s length. “You are the one person that hasn’t let me down. You had every reason in the world to tell me to go to hell, but you didn’t. Despite everything, you gave me a chance; you let me get to know my son…”

“But what about your girls?” Ella asked as she looked up into his eyes. “How can I not blame myself for what has happened?”

“I am going to find my girls, Ella,” Nate said and Ella could hear the determination in his voice. “I will not rest till I know where they are, and I know they’re safe.”

“Do you have no clue where she might have taken them?” Ella asked, wishing once more she could make all this right for Nate.

“No one has heard from her,” Nate sighed as he stepped back from Ella and scrubbed his face with his hands, before he blew out a deep breath. “Or if they have, they aren’t telling me about it.”

“I can’t believe that she would do this to you,” Ella said reaching out and taking hold of his hand once more. She didn’t know why, but she needed to have that closeness with him. She needed to touch him and reassure herself that he was really there. “I can’t believe she would do that to her daughters.”

“I can,” Nate sighed, as he fought back the tears in his eyes. “Nina doesn’t care about the girls, she cares about winning. About hurting me as much as she can. It’s why she took the girls, just as it was why she got rid of our baby.”

Ella looked at Nate, but she didn’t know what she should say to him. She remembered the night Nina was drunk and she had to put her to bed. She had mentioned something about the baby then, but Ella didn’t know what she was talking about. She hadn’t wanted to pry, but clearly this was something big that had happened.

“Surely, she wouldn’t kill her baby just to get back at you,” Ella asked stunned that Nate would even believe that.

“She did it to punish me for being in love with you,” Nate said, surprising Ella.

“She knew about me?” Ella asked, surprised by what he had said.

“Nina knew there was someone,” Nate admitted. “But she didn’t know who. When we agreed to try again, she knew I did it for the girls. They were so unhappy, and so was I. I thought maybe if we could make it work, then I would be able to let you go.”

“I see,” Ella said, unsure of what else she should say.

“We decided to try for another baby,” Nate continued. “I thought it would be the answer to everything, but I was wrong. No matter how much I tried to put you out of my mind, you never left. You were always there, always in my thoughts.”

Nate stopped, and Ella held her breath. She felt so angry at herself for running that morning. For not giving him a chance to explain. Maybe if she had, things would have been very different.

“One night we were out,” Nate continued. “We had just found out we were having a boy, and Nina wanted to celebrate. Having a son was everything to me, but I couldn’t help but wish that I was having him with you. That night in the restaurant, we saw him, the guy she had cheated on me with. She expected me to be jealous, or angry…something, but all I felt was sadness. All I wanted was you. That’s when she asked me if there was someone else.”

“What did you tell her?” Ella asked a little taken back that Nate had felt this strongly about her all this time.

“I told her that I loved someone else, but that they didn’t feel the same way,” Nate admitted honestly. “I told her that coming back had been a mistake, but it was one I would have to learn to live with. I said I would do what was best for the girls and our son.”

Nate stopped once more, and Ella knew these memories were hard for him to talk about.

“A week later I got a call while I was in work,” Nate continued. “It was from Nina’s sister, Jess. She and Nina had gone away for a few days. She said Nina had a fall, and that she had lost the baby. I was devastated. I drove three hours to get to where she was. I knew no matter what had happened between us, I needed to be there for her, but the moment I saw her, I knew. I don’t know why, but something in the pit of my stomach told me there was no accident.”

“What happened?” Ella asked as she brushed away the tears from her eyes once more.

“A week after I brought Nina home,” Nate explained. “I got a phone call. Someone at the clinic got mixed up and called me, instead of her doctor looking for some information for the forms that Nina had missed. I guess they saw Doctor Regan and thought I was her doctor.”

“Nate, I am so sorry,” Ella said as she stepped closer to Nate and pressed her hand to his chest. “I wish there was something I could do to take all this pain away from you.”

“There is,” he said as he slipped his arms around her and drew her closer to him. “Make love to me.”

Ella looked up into his eyes but didn’t reply.

“I know it’s not the answer,” Nate said as if he was reading her thoughts. “I know my life is spinning out of control. I need to feel grounded somehow and you are the one thing that is keeping me from falling apart. I just want to forget about everything else, just for tonight.”

Ella stared at him for a moment, before she leaned in and kissed him softly on the lips. Then she reached for his hand and headed for the door.

If this were the only way she could make this somehow easier for him, then she would do whatever it took. She loved him, and she needed to show him just how much.