September 13, 2022

When she finds herself singing in the shower, Nataley pauses to allow the emotion that has taken over her body to sink in. Happiness. How long has it been since she's felt pure joy? The water sluices away her worries, swirling them down the drain. They can do this, right? Two weeks together. Heaven. Bliss. Ecstasy.

Followed by inevitable heartbreak.

Pushing the negative thought away, she resumes her shower, rinsing the conditioner from her hair and turning off the water. Grabbing a towel, Nataley dries her torso and legs before wrapping the towel around her damp hair. Examining herself in the mirror, she spies a few stray eyebrow hairs, and she plucks the grey ones most aggressively, wincing as each is yanked out.

Hearing the front door open and sounds from the entourage of males with whom she lives, Nataley quickly releases her hair and spritzes it with a sea salt spray, scrunching her locks with her fingers to create the effect she prefers. Her makeup is the usual, consisting of a swipe of lip balm and a touch of mascara. Scrambling, she gathers her personal items, slings her towel around her body, tucking it under her armpits, and escapes the steam cloud by jauntily stepping to her room.

"Bathroom's free!" she yells before closing her door. Dropping the towel at her feet, Nataley orders her smart speaker, "Alexa, play 'This One's For the Girls' by Martina McBride," and she shakes her bare ass as the song starts playing with its fast-paced beat. Dancing to her dresser, she withdraws a pair of grey boyshorts and a matching bra. Placing them on the bed, she's caught off guard when Harry appears, his eyes drinking her in as he stands framed in the now-open doorway.

"In or out, H," she remarks, "Cause you can't stand there with the door open like that while I'm in the buff and my son is in the house."

"Definitely in," he swallows, stepping forward and closing them off from the rest of the world. "He's showering first cause he lost the race at the end of our loop."

"Ah," Nataley nods, sliding the boyshorts over her hips with a little wiggle to position them properly. Hooking her bra, she grins at the hungry look on Harry's face. "You already had me this morning. Twice."

"And I would give anything to be buried inside you several more times all day long." Shaking his head, he rubs a hand over his face, sighing. "I'm worried about Noah."

It's a punch in her gut, and she has to consciously take a breath. Shit. That came sooner than she expected. Sadly, she agrees, "I know, and we shouldn't have made this move and raised his hopes." Cringing, she shyly glances at him, "Are you moving out today?"

"What?! No!" His eyes are wide. "Don't be barmy, Nat. Noah loves that I'm staying here, and we get to have all kinds of great conversations. Plus, he's learning the guitar and taking up jogging. Those are positives for him."

Relief makes her knees weak, and she steps to the closet to hide the depth of her emotions at his reassurance. "Oh. Then why are you concerned?" Scrolling through her tops on their hangers, she pauses on a clunky grey sweater to match her underwear.

"He doesn't like his father much."

Nataley's shoulders sag. "That's not new. I mean, I know they're not close, and that's because Duane is a jerk to everyone, including our son. I've looked into changing the custody order, but it would be one hell of an expensive fight because I suspect Duane won't just happily sign over full custody to me." Her laugh balloons with frustration. "Noah's father likes the custody agreement simply because it hurts me. It has nothing to do with his feelings about Noah at all. In fact, I'm fairly confident he doesn't even like Noah. My son is a pawn."

Exasperation is evident in Harry's tone, "Then you have to do something about it, Nat. It's tearing him up having to be with his father for three and a half days every week."

Finding a pair of jeans, she inserts her left foot first and then her right before yanking them to her waist. "You think I haven't investigated this, H? The court won't change the order without a reason, and they expect several criteria to be in place for that. Just saying that Noah doesn't like his father isn't enough to make the switch."

"But it's making him miserable!" Harry's voice is raised, and Nataley recognizes the irritation is unrelated to her. The situation sucks, Nat agrees internally. She's lived with this for years.

"Haven't we had this argument before, H?" her quiet voice inquires.

"YES! But nothing has fucking changed! In fact, it's worse now!" He bellows at her, his arms flapping in his anger.

"Don't curse at me, Harry." Her volume is low; her voice calm. "I am well aware that he's unhappy with his father, and when he's 14, the state of California will allow him to make the decision to live with only one parent, but unless we can prove that Duane is actively damaging Noah, the courts won't care."

Hands on his hips, Harry's breath is unsteady as the anger and fear wafts off him. "Nat," he makes eye contact with her, and the tears she spies there stab at her. "He needs to be out of his father's influence."

"Tell me the answer then, H," she pleads. This has been an ongoing challenge for her, and her heart breaks whenever she has to drop Noah off with his father, but every angle she's examined has left her with the conclusion that the possible solutions are limited. And out of reach.

Shaking his head, his gaze lands on the floor, dejection apparent. "Will you let me help?"

"Help how?" Nat's not opposed to assistance, but she doesn't have a clue how Harry could change anything.

"Let me hire and pay for a lawyer."

Already she's shaking her head at the words. His money and influence have always been a hard line for her. She can't step over that line again. Letting him pay for the couch when they lived together had been enough, and had weakened her argument at other times.

"I'm not buying something for YOU," he asserts, moving closer and placing his hands on her arms, forcing her to connect visually with him. "This isn't about YOU. This is about Noah. I would be hiring a lawyer on Noah's behalf. Not yours. Please, Nat? Let me do this."

His point zings her because he's right. This isn't about Nataley wanting to cut Duane out of their lives (although she would love that result). Rather, the offer is being made in support of her son. Still...

"Let me think about it, H," she pinches the bridge of her nose, a headache already forming as the potential legal maelstrom overtakes her brain.

"That's fair," he comments. Tilting his head, he listens for something, and Nataley follows suit. "Sounds like he's out of the shower. My turn." But rather than striding towards the bathroom, he wraps an arm around her waist and draws her closer. His kiss makes Nat giddy, and she slaps at his chest.

"You haven't shaved yet, you brute," she laughs. "I'm going to end up with a rash if you keep that up."

"Good." His smile is lopsided with plenty of teeth and that dangerous dimple. "I want to put my mark on you so everyone knows I'm your man. That you're taken."

Rolling her eyes, she pushes him away. "You're smelly and grimy. Go shower."

"Fine, but I'm fairly confident that I've already claimed my territory." The wink he throws her way is a marked improvement over the one he'd attempted early in their friendship. He must have been practicing.

He's absolutely right, though. Ownership of her soul has been his for years now. Perhaps it would belong to him forever.

As Harry exits the room, she strips the sheets and remakes the bed with clean ones. How had she forgotten about the massive amounts of laundry she always had to do when they were together? Tidying up the bedroom, she hangs a few more of Harry's clothes, mentally reminding herself to pick up the dry cleaning this afternoon. Maybe she should just splurge and let the cleaners do all of her laundry these next two weeks? But when Nat considers that someone else would touch the sheets where she and Harry had gone at each other like wild pumas mating, taking the laundry to a stranger becomes an impossibility. Stuffing the sheets into a hamper, she knocks on Noah's door gently.

"What do you want for breakfast? We're going to be late to gma's if we eat fancy."

"A smoothie, Mama! Harry says they're healthy!"

"A smoothie?" Shaking her head, Nataley searches the fridge for ingredients for a smoothie of any sort. From the freezer, she pulls out a bag of frozen blueberries, and then she locates a baby kale and spinach mix in the veggie bin. Placing those on the counter, she dives back in, locating a carton of plain yogurt. Does her son even know what's in a smoothie? Or how they taste? Knowing it doesn't matter because as long as Harry drinks his, Noah will too, she rummages in the cabinet to locate the blender she had inherited from her divorce.

Tossing the ingredients inside the container, she adds some ice and a little cinnamon for flavor, plus a banana she locates that's turning more brown every second. As the mixture blends, she's pleased at the purple color which will hide the vegetables from her son. If he knew there was kale and spinach mixed in, she's confident he would turn the same color as the plants' leaves.

"Come on, boys! Hurry up!"

Pouring the smoothie into two plastic cups with lids and straws from Harry's One Night Only at the Forum, Nataley pops an Eggwich into the microwave for herself. When it's done, she wraps it in a paper towel to keep from burning her hands.

"Let's go!" She sounds the call again while stuffing a treat inside Chuck's toy. Calling the dog to her, she crouches down, holding his head in both of her hands as she kisses his forehead. "Love you, Prince Charles! Be a good boy today, and H will take you for another walk tonight."

"I will?" Harry inquires, standing over her as he places his final ring on his pinky finger.

Quickly she covers the dog's ears. "Hush. Let him dream, would you?"

A rich laugh emerges from Harry as he turns to holler for Noah. "Let's go, mate!"

Picking up the laundry basket, Nataley exits the condo, heading for her car. The boys won't be far behind, and she stuffs the dirty clothes in the trunk. One of these days she will own a home with a laundry room and her own washer and dryer. Her bank account for the down payment grew steadily each month. One day, she'd have enough between the sale of her condo and her savings for a real house despite the outrageous housing prices in Los Angeles. For now, she'll continue to wash clothes and sheets at her mom's house.

"Did you throw Chuck's toy into your room?" She asks her son.

"Duh, Mama. I've been doing this long enough."

"Mhm. How about turning off the lights?"

"That was me!" Harry raises his hand in the passenger seat.

"How about locking the door?" Her final question results in silence. Huffing, she places her hands on the steering wheel and pounds her head on it a few times.

"I'll take care of it," Harry insists, setting his smoothie in the cup holder and swiftly exiting the vehicle.

"Hey, buddy," Nat asks Noah, her eyes connecting with his in the mirror. "How was your run?"

"Fine," he mumbles.

"And the smoothie?"

"I like the blueberry. It's kind of like drinking juice as breakfast," he adds.

"Hey, how do you feel about going to your dad's house?" She fishes for feedback to guide her decision.

"Today?" His voice squeaks in a way it shouldn't. "It's not my day, Mama. Do I have to?" The whining is clear, and it doesn't sound fake to her tuned mama-ear.

Twisting in her seat, she faces him. "Not today, sweet boy. I mean in general. How do you feel when you have to go to your dad's?"

"Oh." He lowers his head, examining his hands. "I would rather stay with you and Harry." Raising his eyes to meet hers, he adds, "Or even just you."

"Does he," she swallows, "hurt you?"

Noah's head shakes twice. "He doesn't hurt me, Mama. Mostly he ignores me. Sometimes he yells at me and makes me sad."

"I'm sorry, Noah," she softly offers.

"It's okay," he shrugs as Harry opens the car door again and settles in the passenger seat.

"Locked! Lights out. Puppy happy." The musician announces.

"Thanks, H." Nataley affirms his efforts. Curiously, Harry glances from her to Noah in the back seat where the boy is much more silent than usual.

"Ugh. Your mama is going to play that country music stuff again, isn't she?"

"Yep," Noah grins.

Taking the cue, Nataley cranks up the music as "Most People Are Good" by Luke Bryan starts playing.

"Oh ugh!" Harry covers his ears playfully.

Noah's lighthearted laugh buoys Nataley's spirits, returning her almost to the state she'd experienced during her shower.

"'I believe most people are good, and most mamas oughta qualify for sainthood...'" Nataley loudly belts out in her pathetic singing voice, and joy sweeps through her when Noah joins in.

"You too, Noah? I cannot believe you would betray me like this!" Harry accuses.

"'I believe you love who you love, ain't nothing you should ever be ashamed of...'" Nat sings (however badly), and she smiles at Harry. "'I believe this world ain't half as bad as it looks. I believe most people are good.'"

"It's a good song, Harry!" Her son encourages. "You should try singing it. It's happy."

Harry shakes his head as though disappointed in the boy. "Noah, Noah, Noah. Have I taught you nothing about music?"

"You've taught me a lot about music, H, but I know what I like, and Luke Bryan is good."

Nataley can't stop laughing at the comment, her heart light. Her son, despite the current circumstances, is going to be okay. If he can tell Harry his real opinion, even though he's got a huge dad-crush on the musician, then Noah feels safe with the two of them. Her happy feelings of earlier are even more renewed as she takes in the singing of her two boys as Harry joins in on the next song.