Logan

161. She Doesn't Know Us

*Ember's POV*

May 2014

I stood around, watching the graduates line up against the high school. Jax walked up beside me and Bruno Mars played over the loudspeaker.

"Where is she?" He asks, taking a bite of an apple Uncle Tom handed to him.

I immediately spotted her in the lineup, especially since it was alphabetical order, "Over there in the shade, wearing the purple converse. In the middle," I tilted his head a little bit and he nodded.

"I see!" Jax started to walk toward the line, then Uncle Tom put his arm out.

"Wait, what are you doing?" He blurted. Jax looked confused.

"Going through and saying congratulations, because that's what we came here for, right?"

"She doesn't know us," I said, "Or she'd wave. She's looked over here twice already."

Jax shrugs, "Okay, and?" he looks at us, "I flew three extra hours, plus a layover, and you're saying I can't even say congratulations? What's the point of all of this? Why do we have to watch her life at a distance, we're her family." He wrenched out of Uncle Tom's grasp and walked away, so I followed.

I looked over and I saw my Aunt Betty standing behind Natalie, I still remember how it stung when she slammed the door in my face. "It didn't stop you from going to the volleyball games, the science fairs, you're a pillar of the community." I grabbed his elbow an pulled him along with me.

"You know, kid, when I want your advice I'll ask." Uncle Tom snapped. He tried to shake me off but my grip was stronger in this moment.

"Jax is right and you know it," I said. I'd held onto the big gift he handed me when we got out of the truck. "Besides, you're going to give this to her, a 'prize' she 'won', that way you get to talk to her a few extra minutes and there's nothing anyone can say about it. Betty won't say anything otherwise she'll risk telling the truth."

"She's 18 now, there's nothing Aunt Betty can do to keep you away," Jax says, handing us some lemonade they'd grabbed at a table.

"I'm violating it right now just being here," Uncle Tom says, "the date ends in June."

"Yeah, well some of your best friends are cops and I haven't seen them tackle you yet." I mumble.

We get in line and start shaking hands quickly, moving fast in the line. Apparently 30 kids is a big graduating class here, whereas when I graduated it was 100. One of the people behind me starts talking to another graduate, so we move through the line pretty fast. Most of the graduates have a two-feet gap to allow for other people to stand and talk. I can see the sun's getting to her, she looks kind of flushed, or is it anxiety? Her mother and 'father' are standing behind her, with her brother standing amongst them.

"Natalie, congratulations!" I see Uncle Tom shake her hand and Natalie quickly tucks him into a hug. I had my camera out, so I catch the interaction.

"Yes, Captain Ripley, hello!" Natalie looks happy to have someone talking to her, a few people pass us and I can see her shoulders relax.

Jax snatches the phone from my hand, "Give her the thing."

I'm holding the bag when she looks over at me, "Hello."

I nod and I open the bag slightly, "Uncle Tom."

"Oh," he starts to stammer, "Uh, on behalf of the Newton Fire Department I'd like to present you with this tool kit, there were a few names in a raffle and you won!" He poses for a photo and she smiles, leaning in. "I'm not sure if you made your decision on a college yet but we at Station 113 hope this will help."

Natalie smiles up at him, then looks at me, "I'm taking a couple of courses," she holds the tool kit then opens it up and looks at the different pieces, "Oh, I love this one, it has a bunch of compartments. My dad didn't get me one of these, he doesn't think it's practical for 'young ladies' to be working on vehicles."

All three of us look at each other in disbelief and Jax just shakes his head, and Uncle Tom clears his throat, and uncomfortably chuckles, making awkward eye contact with Craig, Natalie's 'dad', "In my professional opinion, I think it's incredibly important for all genders to have proper tools for every precaution."

Natalie closes it back up, smirking, then hands it to Alex, "Thank you, I love it. I will really put it to use, it was really lovely to see you again," she looked at him, then back at her mother, "Actually I'm having a graduation reception at my house, sometime around 4:00 pm if you and your sons would like to stop by. I know you were probably invited to a bunch," Natalie looked down and then smiled at a couple people passing by.

Then she turned to me, "You must be so lucky to have such a proud father," The comment caught me off guard, all I could really do was nod. If she only knew. Her face paled as she froze in place and looked behind her, then back at us. "It's really hot outside today," she said, seemingly distracting us.

I look over at Betty and we make direct eye contact, then she leans forward and says, "Natalie, dear, keep the line moving. I hold my breath as they stare daggers at each other, and Natalie rolls her eyes.

"Mom don't be rude, it's not polite. Captain Ripley I'm so sorry for my mother's rude behavior, ignore her."

Natalie pulls Captain Ripley into another hug, "Really, thank you for my tool kit, I hope to see you at the party." He's quiet and I notice how long the hug becomes, "Don't worry about me, I won't need to call 911 as long as I have these tools."

He laughs but I can hear he's almost crying, "No really, call any time, I'd much rather know you're safe."

"Congratulations, we'll see you again today." I say.

"Thank you," she smiles, waiting a full moment to greet the people behind us as we walk away, out of the line and back to the car. A few people look irritated as the L-Z section watch Uncle Tom walk away.

We're back in the truck and Jax is the first to speak.

"See, that wasn't so bad was it? Plus we're going to that party."

"I should've brought her flowers," Uncle Tom says, his voice shaky, eyes welled with tears. "What kind of father doesn't bring his daughter flowers."

"You can bring her flowers at the party, she loved your gift," Jax says, "I saw it in her face," He's smiling and unbuttoning the dress shirt Uncle Tom made him put on before this, "You could've given her diamonds and it wouldn't have made her any more happy than when you handed her the tool set." Jax hugs him from the side, "One day you'll be able to explain all of this, it's not your fault her mother never told her."

"Yes, but what's stopping ME? We live in the same town!" Uncle Tom says, running a hand through his hair, slapping the wheel, "I live in the same town and she can't know. It will destroy her."

"What if she finds out from someone else? Or she finds out when she takes biology in college? Or how do you know that she doesn't already suspect her father isn't really her father? He has blue eyes, hers are brown. Natalie's ears are not even the same shape as her brothers, or her moms, that's from us." Jax says, pointing at himself, "you will find a way. You will find a way to tell her, no matter how long it takes. Once she knows, she will understand why you kept it from her. It will take time, we all know that, but...uncle, we just want our family back. All of them."

"The moment will come when it's supposed to," I say, "it has to."