A Different Class - 24

Chapter 24

Nate sat bolt upright, and immediately Rebecca could see how devastated he was, his shoulders were raised and he was as taught as a bow string.

"Baby?" the gasped word suddenly became anger as he turned to glare at her. "Were you going to tell me? Or was that your plan? To run off and never tell me?"

"It wasn't like that." As he jumped out of bed and reached for his clothes, she sat up, holding the duvet close to her naked body. "Nate, please..."

When he turned to look at her she almost quaked at the anger in his eyes, "No Becca, you had no intention of finding me and it's been hell on Earth trying to find you, I can't believe that you left, didn't speak to me. You would have stayed away forever with MY baby and never told me! That is inexcusable." he'd buckled his jeans and was reaching for his shoes when she called out.

"So that's it, now you run away?"

"I learnt it from you!" he shouted back, "how could you not tell me? Even if we hated each other that child is MY son or daughter. I thought I meant something to you, I thought you trusted me! I can't stand to even discuss it Becca, I really can't."

"Ours...Our child," she sobbed, the emotions of the moment suddenly catching up with her.

"Yes," he snarled, "OUR child. And you've deliberately run away without telling me! When did you become so selfish? Lies, deceit, manipulation...my father really DID rub off on you, didn't he?"

He was almost dressed and suddenly the shoe really was on the other foot, and she was devastated at the though of him leaving, even more scared than answering the barrage of accusations and questions he was throwing at her. 

"I WAS SCARED!" She finally shouted. "Scared of what would happen."

That stopped him, dead in his tracks, turning slowly he looked at her, sobbing in bed, her still damp hair hanging around her shoulders, looking all of sixteen. "You KNOW I'd not let anything happen to you. You know that I love you, and I'll love that baby as much. If only you could trust me then you'd KNOW that I'll always put you first. Have you any idea how much this hurts? to know that you can't trust me, can't confide in me, and can't rely on me to look after you. You have NOTHING to be scared of! "

She shook her head, "I have EVERYTHING to be scared of! The amount I love you, need you, rely on you it scares me! I worried that I'd love you more than the baby..."

Suddenly Nate could see where she was coming from, and he rushed to pull her into his arms, she'd dealt with this torment alone, unnecessarily. "Becca darling, you are NOT your mother, there's no way you're going to abandon your...our baby that way. You'll be the greatest mother there is, you'll love it to distraction, I doubt I'd even get a look in any more! And you don't need to prove that to anyone."

Continuing once she'd regained her composure, she added, “it wasn't just that fear, though that was huge, the Olivia story did upset me, because YOU should’ve told me. I felt betrayed.”

He groaned, “My father organised that as a business deal, behind my back. I was bullied into it once the announcements had been made.” He propped himself up on an elbow and looked down at her. “I found her in bed with my cousin a few weeks later, so it all ended. My cousin Sarah!”

She chuckled, “really?”

He nodded, “thanks for the sympathy! Her father, my boss, was hoping to use me as a smokescreen, to hide her sexuality from the world, but he's come to terms with it now. It was such a non event that I barely recollect it any more. Especially not since I've met you!” He reached down to kiss her. “So if that isn’t enough then what was it?”

She took a very deep breath, “after your sister and father had visited, there was an answer phone message for you on the phone....

“Michael Burford-Mills, I was in school with him, he’s offered to stable Sovereign for a while. Part of my plans to leave Wiseworth once and for all!”

She took another deep breath, “I don’t want him knowing about me...” 

Puzzled Nate stared at her, “Michael? Why not?”

She felt tears well at her eyes and she furiously blinked them back, “his father...”

“Gerald?” he offered.

She nodded, “Gerald is my uncle, my father and he were brothers...”

His jaw dropped, “your father was Peter Burford-Mills?” his voice was incredulous.

Nodding again, she swiped at a tear, “Gerald was apparently the one who wanted him ousted.”

“He stood to take over as the next oldest.....typical.” he was shaking his head in wonder, “I can’t believe that! I knew that Peter had disappeared, it’s almost a mythical story amongst some people. I can’t believe he’s your father!”

She smiled nervously, “was my father!”

Sighing he attempted a weak smile, “Sorry. Why are you so scared though Becca? He can hurt you even less than my family.”

Why did she fear them? She groaned, ever ounce of her life outside of her studies in University had involved researchign the family, finding out all that happened. And the more she read, the more she hated them, just for being alive when her parents weren't, “I have lived my life hating them, never wanting to see them. And I was strong, I could cope. But now....

“When I found out I was pregnant, it was completely out of the blue, I just worried that your family or mine if they find out will try and take this baby away from me, or us.”

“Don’t be stupid! How could they? On what grounds?” He smiled, "no one can take it darling, you know that."

Those tearful eyes stared up at him, and he could see the genuine fear, concern. “Your father said he would...”

Nate jumped to halt the conversation, his anger knew no bounds, the more he discovered, the more he despised his family and they would feel his wrath. He'd swear to that. “He KNOWS?" It was hard to form the words. "My father knows about the baby?”

She nodded, “he tipped over my bag when he was at the house, and the test fell out. He told me to leave, and get rid of the baby or he’d take it from me. He offered me more money.”

There was a pounding in Nate's head that he was beginning to become familiar with, rage. It was building with every word she uttered, and at the moment he couldn't imagine his actions when he got his hands on on his beloved father. Looking at her he saw her concern and smiled, “and then you heard Michael on the phone and you immediately thought his family would try and do the same?”

She nodded, “I remember reading that Michael's wife had cancer, if she can't have children...well I thought the worst. Does that sound stupid now?”

He pulled her into his arms, and they lay back on the bed, nose to nose, “my father is very persuasive, and he seems to have skewed normal here. He used his money and his position to threaten and terrify you. Why wouldn't the Burford-Mills family be the same?" Groaning, he tilted her chin, "Mike's a great guy, he's been through so much...he wouldn't be like that. I promise." He could tell by her grim expression, lips pulled tight over her teeth that she didn't really believe him. Kissing her nose he smiled, "I hear these hormones are a little wild when you’re having a baby, that doesn't help!” 

"Are you saying I'm over reacting?"

He grinned from ear to ear, “I'm saying that we...us! Having a baby! How wild is that? Tell me all about it.”

“Are you pleased?”

He nodded enthusiastically, amazed to think she would doubt that “I am over the moon, though I want to kill my father, and I don’t think I can ever forgive him for this. If I hadn’t managed to find out where you were then I’d not know. And I can never forget that!”

As she explained about doing that test, how far along she was, all that the doctor had said, Nate's hand slid down to her stomach and he possessively placed it there, next to his baby, amazed that he hadn't noticed the small rounding to her belly when he'd first set eyes on her.

There was so much ahead of them, he didn't believe his father would take all this calmly, but for the first time in his life he didn't care, really didn't. He'd been blackmailed and manipulated by his father since the day his mother died, and nothing would change that. But he'd done it for the last time. Every time he closed his eyes he could see his mother lying on her deathbed, pale and emaciated begging him to keep the family together, to look after the twins, to diffuse his father's anger. 

It had been a promise he'd kept until that moment, but as he lay there with the emotionally fragile love of his life wrapped around him, he knew that it was over, that he had to put his mother to rest. And if she was half the woman he remembered then she'd be angry if he didn't put her and their baby first. 

Suddenly Nate jumped up and slid out of bed, much to Rebecca's annoyance, the bed was cold without him and she frowned. He reached for his jacket, and then still naked knelt by the bed and opened the extravagant ring box, “Rebecca Taylor, will you please, please marry me?” At the initial silence he added, “make me the happiest man alive. I only need and want you, you and our baby, nothing else is important.”

She smiled, “I have a funny feeling that no matter what I say you’ll only accept a yes!”

He nodded, “you guessed right....I think we can organise a small service, Patrick and your friends. Then we can wait for this little one to arrive.”

She smiled and the weight of the world lifted off his shoulders, “how can I refuse that?”

Raising an eyebrow he waited patiently for the word "yes" to escape her lips before jumping back into bed and pulling her into his arms.

"You've made me the happiest man alive, I am really, really happy!” He punctuated each word with kisses on her body.

Much later they dressed and headed out for a proper meal, Nate the excited child making plan after plan for their future. The feelings of dread and fear were still pulsing through her, but she smiled and ate her food, untasting.

“You’re not happy Bec,” he laid down his knife and fork. “We need for this to be okay. I need you to be happy with everything.”

She shrugged, “I’m just scared, of everything.....and nothing. Your family hate me....”

“You’ve got this far without any family, together we can do anything. We can have this baby and have a nice life with our friends and the family we are going to make. Don’t you see? This just makes us more equal. Your father and mother are a tragic story, but they were young, naive and silly. There’s no need to worry that this is going to be our downfall. I can’t think of anything nicer than the three of us in a nice little house somewhere suitable to bring up a child.”

She held up her hand to slow him down “whoa!” but she was smiling. “I do want what you want, I just feel very protective of this baby....and you.”

He was beaming, “and I don’t think I’ve ever felt happier.”

Later that night as Rebecca slept, deeply, Nate found his phone and called Patrick, there was still more he needed from the man who was more than a friend.