This Kiss

Chapter 80

The following afternoon Olivia and Natalia picked up Ava and Rafe's vehicles and took them over to the Spaulding Mansion to await Christmas morning. Phillip had suggested that they leave them there and toss the kids the keys when they picked up Emma on Christmas morning so there was no chance they would find out about them. Olivia also asked Phillip if he could get both her and Natalia's cars there and arrange a ride for them to get there on Christmas. She planned to tell Natalia that her car needed to have some work done on Thursday and borrowing a Beacon car so she could do the trade in.

The ladies left work early to prepare for dinner with Doris and Blake and left Ava and Rafe to run the office for the better part of the afternoon. The kids arrived at the same time as the others and Rafe raced into the house to warn his mother's that Doris and Blake were not alone.

He ran into the back door and quickly removed his jacket. "Hey moms, I wanted to let you know that Doris and Blake are here, but uh, they're not alone."

"Oh." Natalia said. "Whose with them?"

"Doris brought Jamanda."

"Oh, well that's nice, I'd like to get to know her better."

"And Blake brought Frank with her."

"Oh." Natalia said at the same time Olivia shouted. "What?"

"Yeah. That's why I wanted to warn you." Rafe said as he headed towards the front door to open it for his sister and their guest.

Natalia took Olivia into her arms. "I thought you were okay with Frank."

"I am, it's just, sometimes I swear I catch him looking at you like he still thinks he has a chance with you."

"Honey, he's with Blake, and he hasn't tried anything with me since before...the summer." She said looking down, suddenly finding the floor very interesting.

Olivia place a finger under her chin and gently lifted her face to meet her eyes. "Hey, none of that. We've moved on from what happened over the summer. We are about to be married. There is nothing for you to feel bad about. Okay?"

Natalia averted her eyes but nodded. "Yeah. Okay."

Olivia heard their guest enter the kitchen but didn't care at the moment. "Hey, I mean it. Stop that. I love you; you are a week and a half away from becoming my wife, I don't want you to ever feel bad about any of that ever again. Got it?"

Natalia looked into those expressive eyes and saw the honesty in them. Her stomach settled and she understood that Olivia was right. The past was the past, they were about to begin a very bright future together. "Got it." She said with a bright smile before closing the small gap between their lips and kissing her. They pulled apart and rested their foreheads together for a moment before finally turning to their friends. "Hey guys. Come in, sit down, dinner is just about ready."

Blake and Frank took a couple of chairs at the table as well as Jamanda, Natalia turned back to the oven leaving Olivia standing next to the sink. Doris slid up next to her, facing out the window. She leaned close and whispered to Olivia. "Everything okay? That looked a little intense."

"Everything is good. She just had a small reminder of the summer. I don't know that she'll ever quit beating herself up over it."

"Maybe not, but I've very happy to see that you have truly forgiven her. I know that wasn't easy for you."

Choosing not to let this conversation continue. Olivia cleared her throat and addressed the room. "Thank you Frank and Jamanda for joining us this evening."

"Thank you for having us." Jamanda said. "I know you all need to talk wedding plans, but I couldn't pass up dinner with Doris, and I really haven't spent much time with you. I think it'd be nice for us to get to know each other better."