do so, because the life she knew as Natasha Black, that was the best life she had ever known.
“What if my own mother was actually like Lydia or worse?” she wondered. She would have never met Mitchell. She would have never known or even had Alexis because she would have probably turned out as terrible as her mother. She looked over at Alexis and brushed the curls off her face. She smiled when the baby took her index finger in her own little chubby hand.
“ Are you okay back there?” Mitchell asked, looking at Natasha in the rear view mirror. She smiled and nodded.
“ I’m fine. We both are” she said with a smile. “I love you, Mitchell,” she said, meeting his eyes in the mirror. He smiled as he held her gaze before returning his eyes to the road.
“ I don’t know what it is about you that makes a shiver go down my spine every time you tell me that,” he said.
“ I’m sure you say that to all your wives,” she said laughing.
“ Ouch. That’s just cold,” Mitchell said. “And no, my ex-wife never had this hold you have on me,” he said.
“ Normally flattery would get you nowhere but today, we’ll see how it goes. There might be a little something, something for you when we get back home,” she said with a smile.
“ Mrs. Schmidt, you shouldn’t say that in front of the baby,” Mitchell said with a smile.
“ We can say a lot in front of the baby. That is, until she begins to talk,” she said with a smile.
“ And here I thought you were the world’s best mom not too long ago,” he said. She smiled.
“ I still am,” she said. “Being a good mom simply depends on knowing the right timing,” she added.
“ The right timing? What for?” he asked. She smiled as they pulled into the Pizza Hut.
“ I can’t let you in on everything. Some mystery is vital in our relationship,” she said. “And the Pizza Hut? Really?” she asked.
“ Just chill, woman,” he said as he got out. She smiled as she watched him disappear into the Pizza Hut. Moments later, he emerged with two pizza boxes and a picnic basket. She smiled. He must have planned this. There was no way he just left the house without having all this planned out. “Is your faith in me reaffirmed yet?” he asked as he climbed back into the driver’s seat.
“ I always had faith in you. It’s believing that all this was spontaneous I’m having a problem with,” she said. He smiled and started the car again.
“ Well, get ready, girls. I am about to rock your world,” he said as he drove away.
Chapter 4
Tension was high as Mitchell and Natasha rode to the precinct. It had been a long afternoon for everyone, especially Rita. While they were on their family picnic, Natasha and Mitchell made a decision to talk to Rita and let her know everything they had done to find her mother. For Natasha, that would be the hardest conversation she would ever have if Rita reacted the way she thought she would.
“ So you all decided to keep this from me?” Rita had asked her, looking disappointed.
“ Yes. We had to. You had a lot on your plate and we felt it was for the best,” Natasha said.
“ Okay,” Rita had said, making Natasha surprised.
“ Okay?” Natasha asked her, still shocked at her reaction. Needless to say, she had expected a lot of fireworks and profanity, which was not happening right now.
“ Yeah okay. I can’t be mad at my best friend for trying to help me,” she said. “Right now, I just want to go and see what kind of mess she has got herself into this time,” she said. Natasha nodded and placed a reassuring arm around her shoulders. “Seattle? What the hell was she doing all the way in Seattle?” she asked looking at Natasha.
“ Beats me, Rita,” Natasha replied. She was dying to ask her what happened with Dave but she just didn’t have the heart to ask, at least not now.
When they got to the precinct, Rita was having a hard time getting herself to walk through the front door and Natasha