Ella woke up slowly and instinctively reached out for Nate. When she found his side of the bed empty, her eyes snapped open, and she instantly sat up in bed. She was surprised to find the room in darkness, and there was no sign of Nate anywhere.

She sat in the darkness of the room for a moment, but the quietness of the house offered no clue as to where Nate was gone. Ella looked over at the clock on her nightstand and saw that it was a little after three a.m. She pushed back the bedclothes and climbed from the bed. Grabbing her nightgown from the stool at the end of her bed, she pulled it on as she made her way down along the hallway, then down the stairs.

She hoped that maybe Nate had come down for a drink or something, but when she found the kitchen empty, she sighed and wondered where the hell he was gone. She stood in the dark kitchen and listened, but there wasn’t a sound to be heard.

Ella walked to the living room, but she found that empty also. She had no idea where he would have gone.

She made her way back up the stairs, as her mind raced with thoughts of where Nate could be. As she passed Max’s room, she stopped and reached for the handle. She was going to check in on him as she always did whenever she passed his room.

When she opened the door, she froze when she saw Nate fast asleep in the armchair in the corner of Max’s room. Her heart ached inside her the moment she saw him. He looked so sad, and she knew there was nothing she could do to make this better for him.

She walked across the room and crouched down next to him. She watched him for a moment before she reached up and softly touched his face.

Nate woke with a start and looked a little confused for a few seconds before his eyes found Ella’s. The moment their eyes met, tears pooled in his eyes.

“I just needed to know that he was okay,” Nate whispered as the tears trickled down his face.

Ella instantly leaned forward and wrapped her arms around him, as Nate buried his face into her neck and sobbed softly as his heart broke.

Finally, she released him from her embrace as she leaned back and took his face in her hands.

“Come back to bed,” she whispered and gave him a warm smile. She then held out her hand, and Nate took it as she climbed from the floor and led him back to her bedroom.

Once they were both back in bed, Ella wrapped her arms around Nate and drew him close to her, as once more he softly cried. She wished that she could say something to make it alright.

“Everything will be okay,” she whispered to him, but she knew her words offered little comfort. Until he found his girls, things would never be okay. Still, she had to try and offer him some hope.

“Promise me,” he pleaded as he lifted his head and looked down at Ella. “Promise me you will never take Max from me. If I lost him too…”

“You’re Max’s dad,” Ella reassured him. “Nothing will ever change that. But I give you my word; I will never take him from you. He belongs with you, we both do.”

“Thank you, Ella,” Nate breathed out as his lips found hers. “I love you so much.”

Before Ella could answer, Nate was above her, staring down into her eyes. He didn’t say a word, but he didn’t need to. He dropped his lips to hers once more, before he pushed his legs in between hers.

Ella tried to cry out as Nate pushed into her with one sudden movement, but Nate swallowed her cries as his kiss deepened. She could feel the need in him as he devoured her lips, sending her whole body into a spin. She knew that at that moment, he needed her, so she gave herself to him completely.

His mouth never left hers as he slowly rocked into her, over and over, and Ella felt overcome with the pain that was pouring from this man that she loved with every fiber of her being.

She cried as he made love to her, knowing that his heart was breaking in two. She held him to her as close as she could, hoping that he might find some comfort in her arms.

Nate cried out when he found his release; then he collapsed down on top of her. Ella just held him tighter, knowing he was falling apart.

“I have you,” she whispered against his head, as he sobbed uncontrollably. “I will always be here for you, Nate. I love you so much.”

“I’m scared,” he whispered through his tears.

“So am I,” Ella replied. “But we will get through this together. We will find your girls, and we will bring them home.”

Nate didn’t reply. Instead he just held onto Ella like she was the only thing that could keep him alive and cried till there were no tears left.

Finally, his breathing slowed. It became steadier and deeper, and Ella knew that he was finally asleep.

She held him as he slept, wishing there was something she could do to help him. She had promised him that everything would be okay, but in the back of her mind, she knew that Nina was capable of anything, and that thought scared her.

She got rid of their baby to hurt Nate. Ella was so afraid of what else she was capable of. She knew Nate was worried she would hurt the girls too. As a mother, Ella refused to believe that she would ever do anything to harm her daughters. Still there was a tiny part in the back of her mind that wondered if she really could.

Ella drifted off into a restless sleep, her head filled with so many, what ifs.

When Ella arrived at her parent’s house the next day, her father was sitting in the kitchen. He had been out the day before when she came to collect Max, much to Ella’s relief. However, she knew that by now, her mom would have brought him up to speed on what was going on with Nate, and what had happened with his girls and she had no idea how he was going to react.

“Hi, Dad,” Ella said as she made her way into the kitchen. She took off Max’s backpack before he made his way to his box of toys. “Where’s Mom?”

“She had some errands to run,” Henry said as he looked up from his morning paper. “She said she wouldn’t be long.”

“Cool,” Ella said as she sat Max’s bag down on the table and walked to her dad to give him a kiss. “Well, I am only going in to the shop for a couple of hours today, so I will be here to collect him early.”

“That’s fine, Sweetie,” Henry said as he folded his paper and sat it down.

“Is everything okay, Dad?” Ella asked, but she was pretty sure she already knew the answer.

“Can we have a little chat?” Henry asked as he looked up at his daughter.

“Sure,” she replied, as she slipped into a seat across from her father. Her heart started to hammer so hard in her chest; she was sure that her father could hear it too. “What’s up?”

“Your mom told me about what’s happening with Nathan,” Henry said as he clasped his hands in front of him and set them on the table.

Ella instantly braced herself for what was coming next.

“Is there anything your brother’s or I can do to help?” Henry continued, completely stunning Ella. This was not how she saw this conversation going.

“You…you wanna help Nate?” Ella asked her father in disbelief.

“Ella, maybe I wasn’t thrilled about Nathan coming into Max’s life,” Henry explained. “And maybe I have handled things badly in the past. But he is Max’s father, and he is a good father. I know, as a father that he must be beside himself with worry.”

“He really is,” Ella replied as tears suddenly filled her eyes. “And I don’t know how to help him.”

“I remember when you were four years old,” Henry continued. “We all went to visit your mom’s folks in Ohio that summer. While we were there, we took you all to a local county fair. You were so excited to go; you didn’t sleep for almost two days before we went. Your two brothers wanted to go and do their own thing as most young boys would, but you were still so little, Mom insisted you stayed with us. You were mad as hell. While your Mom and I were talking to a woman she had gone to high school with, you decided you were going to go look for your brothers.”

“Why don’t I remember any of this,” Ella asked.

“You were probably too young to remember,” Henry smiled. “Anyway, you couldn’t find your brothers, and you started to cry I guess. You climbed under one of the tables and fell asleep. Your mom and I searched for you for over an hour. I swear to God, it was the longest hour of my entire life. I think I held my breath for the entire hour. Your mom cried like her heart was about to burst, and I didn’t know how to make it right. I just didn’t know where you were.”

“But you found me,” Ella said as she wiped away the tears from her eyes.

“I did,” Henry smiled as he too blinked back the tears. “But I have never forgotten the fear I felt for that hour; I think I will remember that feeling till the day I die. That’s what Nathan is feeling right now. Okay, his girls are with their mother, but from what I have heard that isn’t necessarily a good thing. But even if she were a good mom like you, he has a right to know his girls are okay. No father should ever have to know that fear.”

“Dad,” Ella said as a sob escaped from deep inside her. “I don’t know how to help him.”

“You are already doing all you can, sweetheart,” Henry said as he reached out his hand and took hold of Ella’s. “You’re there for him when he needs it the most. But I need to know is there anything we can do?”

“I honestly don’t know,” Ella shrugged, wishing she knew what to do. “It’s like they have vanished, and no one knows where they are.”

“Has he talked to the police,” Henry asked. “Surely they can track down her phone or her credit cards.”

“He is going back down to the station today,” Ella explained. “Because she is their mom, Nate had to wait twenty-four hours to file a missing person’s report.”

“Well that’s bullshit,” Henry sighed. “I have a friend that’s a detective downtown. Our paths have crossed a few times while I was still working, and he seems like a good guy. Let me give him a call, and see if there is anything he can do to move this along.”

“Would you do that, Daddy?” Ella asked as she watched her father stand up and walk around the table. He stopped in front of her and kissed her on the forehead.

“For you, Sweetheart,” he said with a smile. “I would do anything. Besides Nathan is a good man, and he needs to know his girls are alright.”

“Thanks, Dad,” Ella said as she stood up and hugged her father.

“I won’t be long,” he said before he disappeared out of the kitchen.

Ella sat down at her parent’s kitchen table and watched Max sort out his little animals that were in his big toy box. She smiled to herself and thanked God that her son was safe.

She pulled her phone out from her pocket and brought up Nate’s number. She wished more than anything that he would call and say he found his girls, but she knew that things weren’t going to be that easy.

She selected the message icon and began to tap in a message to Nate.

I love you. E x.

She smiled as she hit send. She hoped that knowing he was loved would give him some strength to face whatever he needed to do today.

A couple of moments later her phone pinged with a response from Nate.

Love you too, N x

Ella smiled as she slipped her phone back into her pocket.

About ten minutes later, Henry appeared in the doorway of the kitchen and gave Ella a smile.

“I talked to Pete, the detective I mentioned,” Henry said as he walked back to the table and took his seat. “He said he is going to make it his personal business to contact Nate and see what they can do to find his girls.”

“I don’t know how to thank you, Dad,” Ella said as she jumped up and hurried around the table to her father. When she reached where he was sitting, she hugged him tightly, grateful to have such an awesome father.

“Just promise me that you will stay safe, and you will keep Max safe,” Henry said as he looked up at his daughter. “There is something about this woman, something that scares me. She is angry enough to do anything, and that might mean coming after you or Max. I just need to know that you will be careful.”

“I promise you that I will do whatever it takes to keep Max safe from harm,” Ella promised her father. She noticed the time as she released him from her embrace. “I should be going; I told Carly I would be there ages ago.”

“Okay, Sweetheart,” Henry said as he kissed her on the forehead once more. “Just be careful out there.”

“I will,” Ella promised her father. “I give you my word.”

She kissed Max goodbye before she headed out to her car.

As she drove to the flower shop, she thought about what her father had said. From what Nate had told her, and from the few encounters she had with Nina, the one thing Ella knew was that this woman was unpredictable, and that scared her.

She wasn’t worried about herself so much. She knew she could stand up to her if she had to. She was just scared for Max. If this woman was crazy enough to get rid of her baby just to punish her husband, what would she do to the child that took her husband away from her?