The X-men run missions and work together with the NYPD, striving to maintain a peaceful balance between humans and mutants. When it comes to a fight, they won't back down from protecting those who need their help.
Haven presents itself as a humanitarian organization for activists, leaders, and high society, yet mutants are the secret leaders working to protect and serve their kind. Behind the scenes they bring their goals into reality.
From the time when mutants became known to the world, SUPER was founded as a black-ops division of the CIA in an attempt to classify, observe, and learn more about this new and rising threat.
The Syndicate works to help bring mutantkind to the forefront of the world. They work from the shadows, a beacon of hope for mutants, but a bane to mankind. With their guiding hand, humanity will finally find extinction.
Since the existence of mutants was first revealed in the nineties, the world has become a changed place. Whether they're genetic misfits or the next stage in humanity's evolution, there's no denying their growing numbers, especially in hubs like New York City. The NYPD has a division devoted to mutant related crimes. Super-powered vigilantes help to maintain the peace. Those who style themselves as Homo Superior work to tear society apart for rebuilding in their own image.
MRO is an intermediate to advanced writing level original character, original plot X-Men RPG. We've been open and active since October of 2005. You can play as a mutant, human, or Adapted— one of the rare humans who nullify mutant powers by their very existence. Goodies, baddies, and neutrals are all welcome.
Short Term Plots:Are They Coming for You?
There have been whispers on the streets lately of a boogeyman... mutant and humans, young and old, all have been targets of trafficking.
The Fountain of Youth
A chemical serum has been released that's shaving a few years off of the population. In some cases, found to be temporary, and in others...?
MRO MOVES WITH CURRENT TIME: What month and year it is now in real life, it's the same for MRO, too.
Fuegogrande: "Fuegogrande" player of The Ranger, Ion, Rhia, and Null
Neopolitan: "Aly" player of Rebecca Grey, Stephanie Graves, Marisol Cervantes, Vanessa Bookman, Chrysanthemum Van Hart, Sabine Sang, Eupraxia
Ongoing Plots
Magic and Mystics
After the events of the 2020 Harvest Moon and the following Winter Solstice, magic has started manifesting in the MROvere! With the efforts of the Welldrinker Cult, people are being converted into Mystics, a species of people genetically disposed to be great conduits for magical energy.
The Pharoah Dynasty
An ancient sorceress is on a quest to bring her long-lost warrior-king to the modern era in a bid for global domination. Can the heroes of the modern world stop her before all is lost?
Are They Coming for You?
There have been whispers on the streets lately of a boogeyman... mutant and humans, young and old, all have been targets of trafficking.
Adapteds
What if the human race began to adapt to the mutant threat? What if the human race changed ever so subtly... without the x-gene.
Atlanteans
The lost city of Atlantis has been found! Refugees from this undersea mutant dystopia have started to filter in to New York as citizens and businessfolk. You may make one as a player character of run into one on the street.
Got a plot in mind?
MRO plots are player-created the Mods facilitate and organize the big ones, but we get the ideas from you. Do you have a plot in mind, and want to know whether it needs Mod approval? Check out our plot guidelines.
Posted by Natalie Ross on Aug 11, 2017 18:38:56 GMT -6
Delta Mutant
thistle / gainsboro
Straight
Nate
150
135
Jul 15, 2018 16:05:42 GMT -6
Lix
Natalie took in a deep breath as she watched Norah climb onto the bench beside Sam. It was far less than ideal; her plan had backfired far enough to send her reeling in the other direction. She was already talking to strangers, and now she was sitting with them and asking to touch them? At six? Where had she gone so wrong?
In the very least, Sam wasn’t making any moves that she shouldn’t have. In fact, she seemed to be calming Norah down, getting her to take long, deep breaths. The tears had slowed by the time that Natalie was standing in front of the bench with her shoulders slightly slumped. A stance of defeat was not a common one for the woman; she wasn’t used to the experience.
With a sigh, she nodded to Sam as a thank you for not being… well, whatever else she could have been. It felt wrong to sit, so she crouched in front of the two of them. It seemed awkward and strange, but she had no idea how else to interact with the sobbing little girl in that strange situation. It wasn’t as if she was about to join them on the bench, or something.
Quickly, she shot a glance at the bald woman before putting her hands on Norah’s knees. ”Norah, sweetheart, I’m sorry. Let’s go home and we can have some ice cream, alright? Don’t you want to see your shoes light up as we walk home?”
Norah sniffled and wiped under her eyes. ”I want to stay and talk to Sam,” she announced quietly.
With a sigh, Natalie relented. She was done failing for the day, and Sam didn’t seem to be all that harmful. What was the use pulling her away when it wouldn’t hurt to stay for a few more minutes? ”Alright, we can stay for a little bit. Go ahead. Say what you’d like to say.”
The girl brightened a bit and sniffed up the last bit of her tears. ”Okay, um,” she paused. Now that she had the thing that she’d wanted, she didn’t seem to know what to do with it. ”Do you have a family?”
Posted by Natalie Ross on Aug 8, 2017 9:24:11 GMT -6
Delta Mutant
thistle / gainsboro
Straight
Nate
150
135
Jul 15, 2018 16:05:42 GMT -6
Lix
Natalie was an environmentalist. Yes, they had a car and lived in New York city, but she made herself feel a little less bad about it by buying an electric car and only using it when they were going somewhere that would take more than thirty minutes to walk to. Or, they used it on big occasions like that one, where Norah got to feel special about going out.
They backed out of the driveway, Natalie in the driver’s seat, Nate in the passenger’s, and Norah strapped into a car seat in the back. They looked like a little family going for an outing somewhere.
As they pulled out of the parking garage, Nate made conversation with his daughter. Natalie tried her best to keep her face straight and herself out of the situation, but it made her happier than she would have thought it would. Seeing them together, conversing like that… it made her realize that she wanted it to be a very permanent thing. She never wanted Norah to have to go without a father figure again.
”Hannah said that she has a new doll that she’s going to show me!” Norah announced excitedly from the back seat. She’d been talking Natalie’s ear off about it since she’d first heard the news, so she didn’t mind someone else getting the spiel. ”It has pink hair, and it can move!”
Norah chattered for most of short drive, while Natalie remained silent. She was fine taking in the situation while her thoughts travelled. If only she could have made the moments stretch on for forever and replayed them over and over. Unfortunately, everything had to come to an end, and they did eventually drive up to Hannah’s apartment building.
Natalie parked the car in the guest’s parking in the little parking garage and the shut off the engine. ”Now, Norah. Are you absolutely sure that you’re ready? We can still turn around and go home - Hannah will understand, I’m sure,” she said. It might have been more for herself than Norah, but she had to say it.
”I’m ready!”
”Alright,” Natalie nodded, suppressing a sad sigh. Norah was ready, whether she was or not. With that, she stepped out of the car, unbuckled her and set her down on the pavement, then began to gather her things from the trunk.
Natalie couldn’t believe how badly she’d failed at teaching Norah rules about ‘stranger danger’. Had all that talk of what could happen if she approached someone dangerous gone in one ear and out the other? Natalie shook her head at the little girl. There was clearly something that they had to go over when they got home, and she was going to have a chat about her school system and the obvious lack of education that they were giving in that area.
Worse than that, she wasn’t just talking to the stranger. She was asking to touch her. Natalie wanted to pull out her hair.
Thankfully, ‘Sam’ discouraged her. She either had some sort of reason for not wanting to be touched, or, despite everything, she was trying to give Natalie an olive branch. If Norah touched one stranger and ended up alright, then that would be her baseline for all future interactions. “Weird guy wanting me to get into a car with him? Oh, well I touched Sam’s head and was fine, so that must be fine too!” She was going to lose her mind.
Natalie dipped her head at Sam a little as a thank you before turning back to Norah. ”Norah, say thank you to Sam, alright? That was nice of her to let you ask that.”
”Thank you, Sam,” Norah mumbled, clearly a little disappointed that she didn’t get to feel her head. Luckily, she would survive the experience.
Natalie then pulled her along the pavement with another nod toward Sam, trying to get her daughter to a place that was at least out of earshot. Norah complained as they moved along, wanting to go back and talk to her new friend. Natalie ignored her and kept walking, the girl in tow.
Eventually, they made it to a spot a few feet away from the bench, where Natalie could crouch (as much as her heels would let her) in front of her. ”Norah, do you remember anything I taught you about stranger danger?” she probed quickly, holding her daughter’s hands in her own.
Norah shrugged. ”I guess,” she replied.
”So then you should know that we shouldn’t talk to people on benches that we don’t know, right?”
”But Sam’s not a stranger! She’s my friend!” Norah enthused.
Natalie sighed heavily and put her finger and her thumb on the bridge of her nose, trying to pinch away the frustration. When she opened her eyes, Sam would look very different to the little girl. Instead of the smooth head and regular features, she had long oily hair and frightening, almost comical features. It was nothing too horrifying, but it would be enough to put a six-year-old off the idea. Natalie wasn’t a fan of using her powers on Norah, but she felt like the situation called for something a little out of left field.
”Would you still want to talk to her if she looked like this, Norah?” Natalie asked her, trying to remain gentle as she did her best to get her point across. ”Because strangers can come in-”
Natalie stopped her spiel as tears began to pour out of Norah’s eyes. ”Sam doesn’t look like that, mommy! Make her look normal again!”
Natalie sighed and dropped the illusion, watching as Norah ripped away from her and ran back toward the woman on the bench. Norah had grown up knowing about her illusions, so she knew exactly how fake they were. Nothing that she could do would make her scared of the situation; it would only make her sad.
Another perfect experience for the scrapbook.
As the woman stood up and followed behind the girl, she could hear what she was saying to the woman. ”Mommy made you look funny, but you don’t really look funny, do you?”
Posted by Natalie Ross on Aug 5, 2017 22:43:46 GMT -6
Delta Mutant
thistle / gainsboro
Straight
Nate
150
135
Jul 15, 2018 16:05:42 GMT -6
Lix
The minutes were slipping away, and with each passing tick of the clock, they drew closer to when they needed to walk Norah over. Afraid that it would all happen too early and they would arrive unprepared, Natalie had begun to make her way through a mental checklist. She needed to be sure that everything was alright before they went over. Everything.
While she was distracted, her mind running a mile a minute, and her thumb resting gently on her bottom lip, Norah had moved on to a different topic. She was busy making sure that her dad was definitely coming along with them, even though that was something that Natalie had been explaining for most of the evening. She always had to be sure that the information she was being fed was as accurate as possible. That, she’d gotten from her mother.
The brunette had been a little distracted when she was suddenly hugged. Not that she minded, of course - in fact, it was something that she desperately needed in that moment. She scooped the girl up and held her close in her arms. ”You’re welcome, love. You know that I want you two to be close, right? So any time spent together is good for you.”
”Okay, thank you,” Norah nodded, squeezed Natalie quickly, and ignored any deeper meaning that her mother was trying to impress upon her.
With a sigh, Natalie placed Norah back down on the floor and gently put a hand on her back, guiding her toward the door. ”Why don’t you go get your jacket and then we can look into leaving.”
With their daughter gathering her things together, Natalie and Nate could have a moment to really talk. She took the bottle that he handed her and eyed it carefully. It definitely wasn’t a cheap bottle of wine. It reminded her of the one that she’d been drinking from that night in the LIE…
”I’m… getting through,” Natalie admitted, distracting herself. ”It’s strange, and I’m sure it’s only going to get stranger, but thanks for this. I’m sure it’ll help.” With a nod, she turned and set it down on the kitchen counter for later, when it would definitely be opened. It was a nice gesture.
A second later, Norah bounded back toward them with her jacket on and her things gathered. Natalie took the backpack that she’d packed earlier and slung it over her shoulder. ”Are you all set, girly girl?” The moment had come.
Norah had become very attached to her father in the months that she’d known him. Little comments about ‘what daddy would think’ had become commonplace in their lives, and Natalie was still adjusting to how excited she got when she found out that she was visiting him. It was strange to have to share her with another person, and there were definitely parts that she didn’t like, but there were also parts that she loved about it. And, of all the men that could have been Norah’s father, she was glad that it had ended up being Nate. Even if he had shown up six years late.
Things had changed between them, though. That night in the LIE had shown her something that she had been denying since he’d come back in the picture, but still, she buried it. They needed to act like nothing was different and continue the way that they had been going, so that was what she was going to do. Even if she still pictured that night more often than she cared to admit.
”More than a little excited, I would say,” Natalie mused. Norah had been talking about the sleepover nonstop for the past week. Usually, there were things that would distract her from exciting times, but she had her heart set on that evening. There was nothing that Natalie could do to quell the enthusiasm. ”What do you think? Are you excited, Norah?”
The girl nodded with a huge smile from her spot on her father’s leg. ”Can we go now? Can we go now?” There was so much eagerness for one tiny body. Natalie gave her a tight smile and then looked back at Nate with a heavy sigh.
She nodded and hefted the backpack back up from the table. ”Are you sure that you’ve had enough to eat? Do you have everything that you need for tonight?” Natalie’s heart was beating a little too fast as she did a mental check for the things that they needed to do that evening. As far as she could remember, Nate was the last thing that they needed before they left.
”I’m sure! We did it aaaaaall, mum,” Norah said, stretching out the ‘all’ as she hung her head back to exaggerate the concept. Her long brown hair hung almost to the ground. ”Are you going to come with us, daddy?” She looked up at him with hopeful eyes to hear his answer.
Posted by Natalie Ross on Aug 4, 2017 21:26:01 GMT -6
Delta Mutant
thistle / gainsboro
Straight
Nate
150
135
Jul 15, 2018 16:05:42 GMT -6
Lix
Natalie’s hand had wrapped protectively around Norah’s as they stopped in front of the woman. The rule of not talking to strangers had been thrown out the window as Natalie attempted to apologize for Norah’s rash comment. She hadn’t meant anything mean by it, but it had come out nonetheless, and actions had to be accounted for that. Norah needed to learn that, even if it wasn’t the best situation for a teachable moment.
The woman (Natalie wasn’t quite set on that assignment of gender, but she stuck with it), didn’t actually seem to be that offended by the comment. She (the voice gave it away) brushed it off and even made a little show of the fact that she didn’t have eyebrows.
Natalie gave her a small, half smile, and started to make a move to usher Norah along. They have more shopping and walking to do, and a lot less talking to strangers. However, before she could, the woman kept on talking to Norah. She had begun to explain, or rather spin a tale, about how her hair had all fallen out because she refused to shower at a young age.
The brunette narrowed her eyes at the woman on the bench and put her free hand on her hip, moving several bags in order to do so. She didn’t care for the things she was saying, even if she’d just had to apologize to her.
Norah, on the other hand, looked a little terrified and a little grossed out. ”Eeeww,” she wrinkled her face at the idea. It was honesty at its finest. The young girl hadn’t yet learned the ability to lie from either of her parents. Or whisper, for that matter. ”Did you smell really bad?”
”She’s telling a joke, Norah. Haha, funny. Your hair won’t really fall out, and that’s a fact,” Natalie explained as politely as she could manage, her eyes moving slowly away from the woman who was now shrugging. Now she was going to have to deal with the fallout from Norah being afraid to smell or showering constantly for the next few days until something else distracted her. ”Isn’t that right, miss…?” she paused in order to let the woman fill in her name.
Norah was too distracted to listen to reason. Despite her initial apprehension, she took on the new situation like she had taken on Nate’s giant spider, Parker: with blind acceptance. ”Can I touch your head?” she asked innocently, her eyes wide as she looked at the woman’s scalp.
”Norah! No!” Natalie hissed a second time. They were really going to have to go over a few things when they got home.
Posted by Natalie Ross on Aug 1, 2017 23:28:12 GMT -6
Delta Mutant
thistle / gainsboro
Straight
Nate
150
135
Jul 15, 2018 16:05:42 GMT -6
Lix
Hey, Benji! I'm looking to pick up a new thread with any of Astrid Dubois , Charlie Sinclair, or Natalie. PM me if you're interested in setting something up!
Posted by Natalie Ross on Aug 1, 2017 23:26:55 GMT -6
Delta Mutant
thistle / gainsboro
Straight
Nate
150
135
Jul 15, 2018 16:05:42 GMT -6
Lix
Norah’s little hands were wrapped around Natalie’s left hand as she stepped along the pavement. They had just come from the shoe store, where they’d picked up a pair of light-up high tops, complete with glitter, lace, and flowers. The six-year-old was more than mesmerized as she watched her shoes light up with each step.
They were taking a walk through Central Park in the middle of a warm summer day. After working weekends for a few weeks and Norah spending more time with a nanny or with her dad than Natalie would have liked, she felt like it was in both of their best interests for her to take a ‘sick’ day. They had taken the opportunity to shop around a bit and take some mother daughter time. The day had been a good one so far.
Natalie felt strange being out in the middle of the day. She worked insane hours, and when she wasn’t working, she had Haven commitments or social commitments. There was hardly a moment of her life that wasn’t claimed by something else, so to be there, obligation free, felt strange. Too free, almost. She felt very mom-like, too. She had ditched her usual formal attire for a casual pair of (tight) jeans and her most casual blouse.
The girl had been preoccupied for most of their walk, giving Natalie some time to think and get lost in the fresh air. It wasn’t until she saw a little boy run off with a new book that Norah eventually looked up and turned her focus from her new shoes.
”Mommy, she doesn’t have any hair,” Norah stage whispered to her mom, tugging at her arm as she pointed obnoxiously toward the woman sitting on the bench. Leave it to a child to say something completely inappropriate.
”Hmm?” Natalie made a noise of confusion at first, distracted by her own thoughts. She hadn’t caught the comment at all.
”Her hair, mommy. It’s gone.”
”Norah,” Natalie hissed, having finally registered what she was saying. The girl was pointing to a woman sitting alone on a bench. She was completely hairless, probably by choice or medical complications. Either way, it was none of their business. ”I’m sorry. She doesn’t mean anything by it,” she explained, addressing the woman.
”May I bring my blanket. And sure, but just your little one. Hannah’s mom will have blankets, pillows, and a mattress for you to sleep on, remember?” Natalie had busied herself with gathering a day's’ worth of clothes and a night's’ worth of pyjamas for Norah while the little girl went through her various items of significance.
Norah scrunched up her nose and put the larger blanket back down on her bed. ”Oh, okay,” she nodded. Instead, she traded it out for the smaller blanket that she often slept with. It had become something of a security item for her, and she would likely need it in the new situation that she was going to be in.
Norah was going for her first ever sleepover. It was a new experience for both her and her parents, one of whom was having a very difficult time being okay with her daughter growing up. She forced herself to keep folding the articles of clothing that she had picked out rather than obsessing about the little details that scared her.
”Don’t forget your teddy,” Natalie reminded the girl with a nod of her head. Norah made a squee of excitement and hugged her teddy bear close. The worst thing ever would be to forget it at home. Even more than the blanket, the bear was something that she couldn’t sleep without.
There was a knock at the door behind them, which Natalie had told Nate that she would leave open for him, so she didn’t move from her spot on the floor. ”That’s probably your dad. Why don’t you go say hi?”
Norah nodded excitedly and bounded out of the room to greet her father. With the various items packed up in a little backpack, Natalie stood up and followed her out to see Nate in for the momentous occasion. She was far less enthusiastic than her daughter, though. She wanted time to move slowly, and Nate arriving meant that they were getting closer to the inevitable.
”How are you, Nate?” Natalie greeted cordially as she stepped into the room and put the backpack down on the front table. Norah had attached herself to Nate’s leg and was chattering away at him happily, excited to see her father again.
Their situation was anything but conventional. A child born from a drunken college night, raised solely by a woman who had a difficult time making friends, and then forced into a strange, quasi-family arrangement that had all of their heads spinning. All because Nate Holloway had decided to waltz back into her life.
Natalie ran a hand through her hair and stood up from her spot against the couch, stretching out her limbs as she did so. She stepped over Nate to find her clothes, which looked a lot less professional balled up on the floor like that. It was just a good thing that they hadn’t been left overnight.
>>”I would really appreciate that, Nat. If Allison holds up to your lofty standards, I’m sure she’ll take great care of Norah, but I’d love to be there anyway.”
The brunette raised an eyebrow at him as she shook out her dress, trying to get the wrinkles out as best she could. As if she had been trying, she had somehow made things even more domestic. They were discussing a sleepover for their child while she dealt with clothes after sex. It was like fate guiding their actions by that point.
”She holds up, all right. You’ll probably like her,” Natalie mused. It was a strange thing to say. She didn’t really know what he liked at all, and yet she was making assumptions for him. Like she had any sort of claim over him at all. She shook her head at the idea.
She cleared her throat as she redressed, looking at the door that had thankfully stayed closed for the entire time that they had been together. ”Come over tomorrow around six and we can take her together,” she instructed. They could deal with things more the next day, when things were really happening. When her baby was taking a step toward being a grown up.
With her clothes back on, Natalie stood up straight, fixed her hair, put on her heels, and stepped toward the door. ”I’ll see you later, Nate.” No feelings, no weirdness. It had been purely physical.
It was strange to be sitting in the IE meeting room, lacking clothes, and getting very, very real with the father of her child. Back when they had first met, Nate had seemed alluring but a little shallow, (not that she had any place to judge,) but now… he was quickly becoming someone very different to her. He was intelligent and wise. She felt like she could have a conversation with him on a level that was above most and difficult to come by.
She glanced at him and examined him with blue eyes for a long while after he admitted his own feelings toward Norah growing up. She had thought long and hard about the implications that bringing him into her and her daughter’s life would have, but she’d neglected to think much about what it would do to him. Much beyond the obvious, anyway.
He was jealous of the fact that she was closer to the little girl than he was and jealous of the time that he had missed out on. It wasn’t as if she could say anything reassuring about it, or even that she would want to since she would have gladly gone back and changed things if she could have. Being a single mother had not been easy, and having another set of hands would have been a Godsend. That time had passed, though, and all they could do was look forward.
Look forward at their daughter growing up and becoming more and more independent. There had been hard years when the girl was growing up that Natalie had almost wished away, but sitting there, she wanted nothing more than to go back and relive them. She wanted to hold onto that innocence as long as she possibly could.
”You’ll get there,” Natalie promised. It was a big step for her to come out and say something like that. She was telling him that they were, in fact, sharing everything about raising Norah. The good and the bad. Even if she had more of the custody.
His hand had been on her back for a while, but she didn't ask him to remove it. It was a caring touch, one that was very different from anything that had been experienced by them earlier, but she liked it. It was calming and reassuring, and despite the fact that it put her in a weird position and gave him the upper hand, she was okay with it. She just didn't comment on any of it.
Her book club was a place of absolute solace. Once a month, mothers from the school hired a few babysitters, left them in one apartment with the children, and then went to another one to drink wine and talk s*** talk about books. Natalie had begun to let her guard down a bit there and get more comfortable. It was a good feeling.
Few people knew it even existed, though. Her social circle was small, and there were few people to tell that weren’t already in the club. Telling Nate was strange, but it felt right. It felt… oddly domestic. In fact, the whole situation felt very domestic. Sitting there after sex, talking about their child. God, that was a thought to unpack later.
”You’re Norah’s father that’s decided to put in the work to be involved in her life,” Natalie said, partially to distract herself from all those other thoughts. There was no need to complicate things beyond that. ”If you want to meet her, then you can come with me tomorrow night to drop Norah off, if you’d like.”
She hadn’t intended to invite him like that. It just felt natural, like it was something meant for Parents to do as a unit; see their daughter off for her first ever sleepover. She met his eyes with a raised eyebrow, hiding any real emotion deep in the back of her icy gaze. It was up to him whether or not he wanted to take that step.
There was a side to Natalie that very few people got to see. It only came out around Norah, really, or when she was talking about her. To any of the girl’s teachers or babysitters, Natalie was a completely different person - someone who genuinely cared and had a strong sense of compassion. She was careful to keep that side of her and the other one carefully separated, though. The last thing that she wanted was for someone from either area to catch her as her other self.
Nate seemed to be the only exception. It was impossible to keep him from infecting all areas of her life, by that point. He’d entered her personal life first, planted himself there in such a way that she would never be able to really get rid of him, and then very, very slowly worked his way through all the other areas. He had infested her life and there would be no getting rid of him.
Was that why he got under her skin so well? Why she wanted to both impress him and make him angry at the same time? He was impossible and wonderful at the same time, and she didn’t know what the f*** to do with him.
Well, clearly, she did know. For a while, anyway.
Sitting there on the floor, though, she was unable to stop herself from breaking the cold, hard b**** act and talking about Norah. Her face lit up and she revealed something that was uncomfortable and difficult for her. Despite their decision to stay at a comfortable distance, she had decided to open up to Nate. It wasn’t as if they had any distance left between them, anyway.
She sat back against the couch, one of her legs sliding up to a bend as she hung her arm over it. She grabbed her wine in her other hand and delved into the subject. It was strange to be sitting like that and talking about motherhood things.
”It’s a big step,” she said with a sigh, her eyes soft around the edges and her expression heavy. It was clear that she was having a difficult time with the idea. ”It means that she’s growing up, that she doesn’t really need me anymore. I mean, of course she still needs me for things, but… she won’t be in the house for an entire night and I won’t be there.”
She shrugged lightly and met his eyes. ”Allison, her friend’s mother, is actually a friend of mine. We have a monthly book club together.” The idea that Natalie could have an actual friend was probably absurd to anyone that knew the other side of her, but it was true. She needed that image for work, but it wasn’t all that she was. The cold, hard b**** in her had been born to survive, but that wasn’t the only thing in life. There was still some of that friendly party girl from college alive in there.
”I know that she’ll be fine, but… I don’t know, it feels big.” Natalie merely shrugged again and looked away as she took another sip of her wine.
