Searching for my Identity

Chapter 29 Worries

Since I finished the current chapter earlier than I thought, I thought I'd give you a treat and post the chapter today. Thanks for your support and most of all thanks to my beta reader  amys99999 

Mitchum watched as Nathalie stared at the phone. Rory watched her daughter intently, unsure of her response. She watched a myriad of emotions flash across Nathalie's face."Oh my God. It's really her Mom," Nathalie whispered.

"Yes, it really is," Rory said moving closer to Nathalie. She held one daughter while gazing at the other on the phone.

The women continued to look at the photo on the screen, then at each other. Almost simultaneously, they burst into tears. Unsure of what to do, Mitchum reached for a box of tissues and passed it to the crying females. He figured this was a family moment and gave them time.

Rory accepted the box without even looking at Mitchum. She dabbed tears off Nathalie's cheek gently. Nathalie looked at her mother and asked, "But, now what, Mom?"

Rory sighed and leaned back in her seat. Quietly, through her own tears, she said, "I don't know, baby. I don't know."

Meanwhile in Vienna:

"Dad, Uncle Logan, it is so great to have both of you here and what do you think of Emma so far?" Liam asked his father as they entered the hotel lobby.

"Well, son, I must say Emma is one of a kind and not like the other Sheilas you have dated. I really enjoyed meeting her and having dinner with you guys tonight," Finn assured his son and gave him a warm smile, although he was fairly exhausted.

This evening was anything but easy for him and especially for Logan. It must have cost Logan an enormous amount of strength not to say anything to Emma. He couldn't imagine the restraint it must have taken as he had reached his emotional limits too.
 None of them ever thought that they would meet Norah here in Vienna, certainly not as the love interest of his eldest son.

"Em and I enjoyed dinner with you too. You can't imagine how happy I've been since I had met her. Emma is really incredible and really different than the other girls at Chilton prep school," Liam looked at his godfather anxiously.
He had never seen Logan so calm and introverted. Liam assumed maybe he just had had a really stressful day. His godfather was a very important and busy businessman after all.

"How about you go ahead into the suite. I'll join you later. Uncle Logan and I are going to the hotel bar to discuss business," Finn said to persuade the boy into giving him and Logan some time alone.

"Well, I guess I'll call Emma via Facetime. I can use your MacBook Air, right? I left mine at boarding school..." Liam finally gave in and shrugged his shoulders.

"Of course. We'll see you soon. Please tell her that I said hi," Finn replied and hugged his son briefly, giving him a pat on the shoulders.

"Thanks, Dad, and Uncle Logan? I hope Nat will come with you next time. I think Emma and Nathalie would become best friends. They have a lot in common," he nodded to his father and then turned to Logan.

Logan felt the color drain from his face at the mere thought of the girls together. He pulled himself together quickly.
"Yeah sure, sounds good, Liam. I'm glad you've settled in here so well. I'm proud of you, and I'm sorry that I wasn't so talkative today. You are a lucky man to have found such a pretty and smart girlfriend, Liam," Logan said and tried to avoid his thoughts about Norah.

It wasn't an easy task though because how could he just banish his daughter's smiling face from his mind? She was so gorgeous and innocent. He wanted to stare at her and take in every detail, perhaps somehow make up for lost time.
Immediately, he had recognized that Norah was more like Rory. She was cautious, friendly and quite shy. Yet, when he spoke to her, he also identified himself in her. The girl could be brazen. He noticed a spark of himself there.

She didn't divulge that much about her life. But for him, it was evidence enough that they had a lot in common. 

Emma was attending music classes and enjoyed different kinds of rock music like he had done when he was a teenager, and still did. Although his parents were a little biased about it at that time. To an outsider, it might sound strange, but the connection was there immediately.

Logan knew his silence and restraint from prying too much was best. It would have turned her life upside down and caused her great emotional pain.
He needed to dig deeper and talk with Katherine and Max. He debated the thought of calling Katherine right then. But he decided it would be better to wait until tomorrow morning to tell her the news.

"Thanks, Uncle Logan, we'll see you tomorrow. Dad, I see you later," Liam said and then made his way to the suite.

"So I think we both need something strong.", Logan cleared his throat nodding towards the nearly empty hotel bar area.

"Yeah, I'm definitely longing for a good glass of scotch or whiskey." Finn agreed when they went into the hotel bar.Finn and Logan entered the whiskey bar. The interior of the bar reminded them of their favorite bar in Hartford. It was a comforting feeling on such a chaotic evening. Comfortable chairs, sofas, dark wood, and an open bar with some bar stools formed the atmosphere for confidential conversations as well as entertaining meetings.

They took a seat in a cozy corner booth. After their single malt whiskeys were standing in front of them, Finn cleared his throat. He looked seriously at his friend and said, "Logan what are you going to do? I assume you already called Rory?"

"Yeah, I'm so overwhelmed Finn. It almost drove me insane tonight to be so close to my daughter and still not be able to hold her in my arms. Finn, I wish Rory could be here with me right now.But as I know Rory, she immediately told our parents about it and is hopefully on her way to Vienna. She probably also informed Nathalie that I found Norah. Maybe I should tell Dad... speaking of the devil... Dad's just calling... " Logan explained whispering in a tired voice to Finn and took the call.

"Hey, Dad," Logan said wearily.

"Logan, I'm so glad I reached you. Rory told me you found her. In a few hours, we'll be arriving at the Vienna airport," Mitchum began to talk as he looked anxiously at his sleeping daughter-in-law and granddaughter.
Dried tears were on their pale cheeks, and both of them seemed quite restless in their sleep. It was no wonder after these lengthy conversations about Norah.

"That's good to hear. Should I pick you guys up? And is there any chance that Rory is still awake? To be honest, I'm still pretty... pretty... well, I can't even find the right word to describe my emotional state right now. On the one hand, I am overjoyed. And on the other hand, there are so many worries," Logan said sounding exhausted.

Mitchum closed his eyes for a moment and took a deep breath before he continued, "Rory finally fell asleep. I don't think I should wake her. She needs rest. Hang in there, son. I can imagine you are pretty conflicted right now, but you're not alone. We're all in your corner. I saw the photo of Norah and. It still breaks my heart that we didn't search harder for her after the..."

"Dad, trust me, I know. But despite everything we should stay calm. We have to figure out what to do. I should call Norah's adoptive mother, though I'm going to see her tomorrow.
But I could call now. Well, I don't know. What would you do if you were in my place?" Logan said with his thoughts obviously scattered.

"I would call Norah's adoptive mother now, Logan, but it is up to you. I guess I should get some sleep. I just want to know how you're holding up," Mitchum answered."Yeah, this is just so messed up. I have no idea what to do!" Logan said exasperatedly. "Do you know when the plane is arriving at the airport?"

"At 8:30 in the morning. And Logan?"

"Yeah, dad?"

"I'm really proud of you what man you became, Logan. I love you.." Mitchum said bluntly. Logan was a little bit surprised because his father rarely showed his feelings towards him. It meant a lot to him, especially at this challenging time.
He replied, "Thanks, I love you too. I'll pick you guys up in the morning dad, have a good sleep. See you tomorrow!"

"You too," Mitchum yawned and ended the call.

"So..." Finn looked at his pal with a worried gaze.

"I guess it's time to give Kate a call," Logan sighed, and Finn wrinkled his forehead.

"You're serious? You really think that's a good idea?" Finn said skeptically.

"Yeah, better now than tomorrow. I have to do something, Finn," Logan shrugged his shoulders. He scrolled on his iPhone searching for Kate's number. Focusing on it, he hit the green phone button with a strange feeling in his gut.