In all honesty, Natalie didn’t like the idea of Norah calling her own father “Mom’s friend from work”, but there didn’t seem to be many suitable alternatives. She didn’t particularly want her to call him “Mr. Holloway”, since that seemed entirely too formal, but simply “Nate” seemed too disrespectful. Still, it was likely the best of the three.

”We’ll start with Nate, and then you can work your way up from there. Unless you have something else that you’d like her to call you. Something not from the realm of ‘dad’, of course,” she explained. While she did intend to keep the majority of the control in the situation, she felt like it was fair for him to dictate some of the terms. He was meeting his own child for the first time, after all.

They were in the elevator, moving down from one of the top floors to the lobby, where there was a coffee shop. Natalie took up her favourite position near the back middle, with her chest slightly extended. She liked to remind people that she fancied herself the most powerful in most rooms.

She raised her eyebrow at Nate as he asked her about her relationship status. It was a fair question, although a little bit personal. ”No one permanent at the moment,” she informed him. Sure, she saw people, but none of them felt quite right or even good enough to keep around for very long.

”What about you? Are you planning on bringing any woman-shaped baggage into this?” Nat inquired as the elevator opened to their destination. While she couldn’t technically tell him not to date someone, she did feel as though she had the right to a say in who could be potentially helping raise her only daughter. It also didn’t exactly help that she felt a sudden pang of jealousy at the thought of Norah having a second mom to run to.

She stepped out of the elevator and into the lobby, waiting just a second for Nate to follow her. The coffee shop was just to the left of them. There, they could find over-priced drinks and food, as well as a quiet booth to discuss more of the details of their peculiar situation.

Natalie went into the right profession, because discussing the terms of meeting his daughter felt more like litigation than a discussion. Even the position she took in the elevator said something of her confidence of the woman, standing where anyone in the space would be arranged to stand around her. Nate, meanwhile, pressed his back against the wall next to the panel of buttons, where he could slip out most efficiently. He wondered how different the interaction would have been if he had chosen a bar near a School of Architecture all those years ago. He would be chatting with a loving mother rather than meeting the demands of a lawyer.

That was not fair, though; from how it sounded, Nat was incredibly loving when it came to their daughter, even if she was still a prickly person to everyone else. ”Nate works. I can start with just Nate.” Part of him disliked the idea, worrying she would grow used to seeing him as Nate and never find a way to become something else. He never had a reason to picture his life with a daughter, but now that he did, all he could picture was a little girl looking up and calling him dad. There was nothing he wanted to strive for more than that honor.

By the time they reached the ground level and made their way toward the coffee shop, they had reached the topic of significant others. To a nosey ear, it might have sounded like they were probing for availability, but the questions were purely logical to the parents meeting for only the second time. Nate was quietly relieved that he would not be competing in his daughter’s eyes with a man who was filling his role when he was unaware he had been cast. The way she answered, it was clear Nat was not afraid to date, and with how attractive and well-off she was, surely she had suitors. If anything, the strict vetting process she was putting Nate through made him comfortable in his assumption that the mother of his child would not carelessly allow questionable people into Norah’s life.

Appropriately, Natalie asked the same question, and her reasons were just as understandable: she was taking enough of a risk bringing Nate into her family life without accounting for other people who he might trust, but were strangers in her eyes. Nate liked Sarah, and he wanted to give what they had a chance to grow, but they were not in a place where he could tell Natalie she was a definitively permanent part of his life. For all he knew, telling the woman about his previously unknown daughter could be (justifiably) too much drama for his girlfriend to handle after just recently coming to terms with his criminal past.

Nate considered his words carefully while he ordered himself a black coffee and a chicken salad sandwich on a croissant, both of which were unjustly priced in his opinion. ”I am seeing someone. She is great,” he prefaced, not wanting to discredit Sarah, ”But the relationship is new, and meeting me will be jarring enough for Norah. I have no intention or desire to bring someone into your… our daughter’s life when I can’t guarantee she’ll stick around.” Sarah could be the best presence around children, but none of that would matter if Norah had the chance to get attached and things ended.

”To be clear though: I’m sticking around. That’s the one thing I can guarantee.” The days of Nate vanishing and taking the easy path died with his old name.

Natalie's face remained impassive as Nate described Sarah. She assumed that he would be seeing someone, even if it wasn't something longterm. With his looks, she would have been more surprised if he'd announced that he was single. Sure, he was attractive when they'd first met, but prison had been good to him. Very good to him.

However, the fact that it didn't surprise her didn't mean that she was particularly thrilled with the idea. Norah was hers, and she was already making a step to share her with another human when introducing her to Nate. She did not want another woman to claim the position that was rightfully hers just because she had her claws lodged in Nate Holloway's skin. If he ever did intend on introducing a woman to Norah, it would have to go through Natalie first.

"I'm glad we're on the same page, then," Natalie nodded curtly at his response. He would not be bringing the woman around anytime soon. Especially given the fact that the news hadn't even been broken to their daughter yet.

Natalie ordered her usual, a cappuccino and a Greek salad, and then made her way over to a nearby table with Nate. She the seat with her back to the window, and then set her item on the table, not touching them right away. The conversation was decidedly more important than an early lunch.

"I'm glad that you've decided that you're going to stick around, but I also want you to know what you're getting into," she began. While she did want Norah to have a father more than anything, she didn't want her to have a father that resented her. She was going to give Nate the option of an out while he still had one. "This isn't a short term thing. This is a forever kind of thing. If you're going to be there, then you will be there when she turns sixteen. You will be there if she walks down the aisle. You will be there if she has kids. If you're in this, then you're not getting out."

She gave him just one more minute to consider his option as she finally opened the plastic container that housed her salad. If there was one thing that could be said about how she was handling the situation, it was that she wasn't forcing him into anything. 

They were indeed on the same page, though the way Natalie was speaking to him, he could have been forgiven for thinking she was trying to scare him away from the responsibility she was presenting. She mentioned events he would be around for like they were warnings of fatherhood, but truthfully, they only made him more eager to finally be a part of this young girl’s life.

It was surprising to feel so many paternal feelings so quickly, but many of them were similar to the protective instincts he had with his students. The thought of his daughter turning sixteen made him feel unexpectedly sorrowful toward how quickly children grew up, which was an all too familiar feeling when he returned to the Mansion to find the children he once taught were becoming young adults.

Thinking of his daughter walking down the aisle reminded him that he now had not just a child, but a daughter, and one day he would have to deal with the boys who came calling, and who would hurt her, as boys often did. Of course, he could be lucky and one day Norah would play for a different team, and all threatening and intimidating could fall in Natalie’s court. (Lord knows she would excel at the task.)

And then came the realization that his daughter could one day have kids of her own, and he was now partially responsible for setting an example to follow. He had missed a lot already, but Norah was still young, and there was so much he could do for her, and he was going to get the chance.

Of course, he kept these weighty thoughts to himself. ”I get it. Norah isn’t a goldfish,” he replied in the face of Nat’s warnings. ”Really, though, I want to be there. I want to make up for lost time. Thanks, Nat, for giving me this chance.” Nate’s life was becoming a story of second chances, and he had no intention of screwing this one up.

"Well it is your right," Natalie shrugged and dished a mouthful of her salad onto her fork. In a perfect world, Norah would have no use for a father, and Natalie could use that excuse to be selfish, but that wasn't the case. The girl needed a second parent, and there was the man ready to fit the bill.

For years, she'd only imagined herself walking the girl down the aisle, giving her a car when she turned sixteen, holding a grandchild for the first time. However, as she continued to stare at the man across from her, she could finally picture a different future. Whatever happened, she had vowed to make it the best possible future for her daughter.

As she prevented olives from rolling away from her fork, she thought through her next words. "Let's set the first meeting for tonight. Get it out of the way. I assume that you'll clear your schedule." She wasn't asking him. If he was a sane human being, then the meeting would be one of the most important ones in his life. There was no skinny bimbo on earth that was pretty enough to be worth putting it off for.

On Natalie's side of things, she wanted to get the meeting out of the way as soon as possible. The sooner they got the awkwardness out of the way, the sooner they could work toward getting Norah comfortable around Nate. Then, they could move forward in the process. The last thing she wanted to do was prolong the process any more than was necessary.

Pushing aside her lunch, Natalie took out her laptop and set it on the table. With a practiced speed, she pulled up a legal document and readied her fingers to type.

"So. Let's talk legalities."

[End]