Love and Mistakes Ch. 06

CHAPTER SIX

"Hello?" Dex said into the phone.

"Hey grandpa," Netalia murmured, glancing up at Cory who looked like he had just conquered the world.

"Grandpa? You had the baby?" Dex asked.

"A boy," Netalia confirmed.

"How are you feeling?" Dex wanted to know.

"Tired but good," Netalia answered. "We named him Sebastian Matthew," Netalia told her father.

"Oh sweetie," Dex didn't know what else to say. He looked up as Shella walked into his study and held out the phone. "It's Neta," he mouthed.

"Netalia, is everything okay?" Shella asked.

"Everything's fine Mom. I had the baby," Netalia told her mother.

"We'll be there soon," Shella promised before hanging up the phone. Netalia hit end and looked at Cory and sighed.

"Let me guess, your mother is on her way?" he asked dryly. She nodded.

"Where is she?" Shella demanded, three hours later.

"Resting," Cory answered, glancing past his mother in law to Dex and the kids.

"I want to see her," Shella said. Dex rolled his eyes and grinned.

"Let her rest Shel," Dex told her quietly. Shella whirled around and opened her mouth to speak but the look on his face caused her to close her mouth again.

"Uncle Cory!" Sara exclaimed. Cory laughed as Sara launched herself at him.

"He's your brother in law, not your uncle," Paul told Sara, rolling his eyes.

"He's right kid, but that's no reason for you to be so damn rude," Cory murmured, turning his glance towards Paul when he said the final half of his statement.

"Can we see the baby?" Sara asked. This time, it was Samuel and Aaron's turn to roll their eyes.

"Don't mind Sara, she's been completely baby crazed for the last month," Aaron said with a grin.

"That's okay Aaron, as long as she waits another thirty years before she has one of her own," Cory joked. Dex laughed loudly. "I will agree with you on that," Dex said with a grin. Shella chuckled.

~~~~~~~~~~~

"Are you up for a visitor?" Aimee asked, opening the door a little. Netalia gave a tired smile but nodded before her sister in law and her niece walked into the room.

"Is my mom here yet?" Netalia asked.

"Yes. She's driving Cory and your father crazy," Aimee answered.

"He's pretty," Lizzie said, peering down at the baby. "Can he talk?" she asked. Netalia and Aimee laughed.

"He's too little sweetie, he won't be able to talk for a long time yet," Aimee told her daughter. Lizzie pouted and poked at the baby's forehead; Aimee quickly grabbed the young girl's hand. "You can't do that Liz, you could hurt him," she cautioned gently. Lizzy pouted again and waited impatiently for her mother to say it was time to leave. At six and her father's only child, she was just a little bit spoiled. Everyone looked up as Cory peeked his head into the room.

"Your mom is about to tear my head off out here," he told Netalia. She giggled and rolled her eyes. "I'm not kidding," he added.

"I'll let you and your mom visit," Aimee told Netalia. She nodded and waved to Lizzie as they walked out of the room. Not even thirty seconds later, her mother was walking into the bedroom, an excited smile on her face.

"Oh Neta, he's beautiful," Shella murmured, her eyes tearing up.

"Mom, don't cry," Netalia pleaded, beginning to panic.

"Was it as bad as you thought?" Shella asked her daughter.

"Only until I had the epidural," Netalia admitted. Shella chuckled and scooped her newborn grandson into her arms. He stared at her with crystal clear blue eyes.

"Hello precious boy," Shella crooned, running her index finger down the boy's tiny nose.

"How are you doing?" Netalia asked.

"I'm fine Netalia. Besides, this isn't about me, this is about you," Shella answered.

"Mom, I'm not a child, you don't have to protect me," Netalia stopped talking when she saw the look her mother was giving her. Both women looked up when Dex walked into the room. "Hi daddy," she murmured. Dex grinned and pushed Cory in front of him. "I don't know if should shoot you Cory or give you a cigar," Dex said.

"Neither," Shella and Netalia said at the same time. They looked at each other and laughed.

"Why shoot me?" Cory asked.

"Because I was with her mother when she had Paul and the trio of trouble. You hurt my daughter," Dex answered.

"But it's a good hurt. Stop being an ass," Netalia told her father. He turned to her, an eye brow raised.

"When did you think you could start sassing me?" he asked, a small smile on his face.

"Dexter David, knock it off," Shella said, rolling her eyes. He chuckled and patted Cory on the back of his shoulder.

"I'm kidding. Just do everyone a favor and wait about ten years before you have the next one," Dex advised. Netalia rolled her eyes and Cory grinned. Dex peered over at his grandson who was beginning to fidget and fuss in his grandmother's arms.

"I think someone's hungry," Shella said, passing the small boy into his mother's arms.

"We'll come back and see you later," Dex told Netalia, pressing a kiss to the top of her head. He followed Shella out; only Cory remained in the room.

"Do you want to be alone?" Cory asked. Netalia shook her head and he smiled as he sat down on the edge of the bed. "I love you," he whispered as Netalia began feeding their son. She smiled and leaned her head onto his shoulder.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I can't believe you're here!" Stacey exclaimed as Netalia walked into the apartment. She gave her friend a hug. "Oh look at him!" she squealed. Netalia laughed and passed her three month old son to Stacey. "He's beautiful Neta!" Stacey gushed. The baby gurgled and slapped his hands making Netalia giggle. "How are you feeling?" Stacey wanted to know.

"Pretty good. Cory helps by getting up with him at night," Netalia answered.

"Aww," Stacey murmured, tickling Sebastian's belly. He made a silly face which had his mother laughing again.

"Hey Neta." She looked up to see Carter walking into the living room, Calla walking behind him on unsteady legs.

"Hi Carter. Oh my Gosh, she's so big! You didn't tell me she was walking!" Netalia exclaimed. Calla looked at Netalia with interest until Sebastian began to fuss in Stacey's arms.

"My mommy!" Calla announced with a pout. Stacey laughed and passed Sebastian back to his mother before she knelt down in front of her daughter.

"It's okay for me to hold other babies Calla, I'll always love you," Stacey murmured. The little girl pouted but giggled when Carter lifted her up and tickled her.

"So where's the rest of the group?" Netalia asked.

"They'll be at the rehearsal tomorrow. Where's Cory?" Carter answered.

"At the hotel on a phone conference with someone important but I can't remember his name," Netalia admitted. Carter laughed.

"I have to run to a meeting myself. I'll be back by four. If you and Cory are agreeable to it, Stace and I would like to take you guys out to dinner," Carter told her.

"I'll call Cory in about an hour and talk with him, but it should be fine," Netalia answered. Carter nodded, kissed Stacey on the cheek and walked out the door.

"Why are we meeting your ex for dinner?" Cory asked as he changed out of his business suit and into a pair of tan khaki pants and a clean button down tee-shirt.

"Because Carter and Stacey are my friends," Netalia answered, running a brush through her hair.

"Why can't we just stay in? Have some alone time," Cory wanted to know, wrapping his arms around her waist and pulling her to him.

"Cory," she moaned, pulling away slightly.

"It's been so long," he murmured huskily.

"We have to be there in an hour," Netalia reminded him as he slid his hands up her legs and under her dress.

"Plenty of time," Cory said, slipping her panties down her legs. Before Netalia could protest, Cory pushed his own pants and his boxers down, letting them fall around his ankles as he turned her so that she faced him and thrust into her.

"Cory," she groaned, closed her eyes as her body readjusted to the feeling of being full. He chuckled and thrust hard and fast before reaching up to gently tweak a nipple. She shivered as he pressed her against the bathroom counter. "Cory," she whispered, her hips met his thrust for thrust as he slid his hands behind her butt, pushing her closer to him. She gave a small scream as she came, her orgasm sparked his and he came deep inside her.

"Shit," he groaned. Netalia giggled and pushed him away gently.

"Now I have to shower again," she joked. Cory gave her a pointed look and grabbed some toilet paper.

"What if ..." he looked up and saw a flat, plastic medication container. "What is that?" he asked.

"Birth control. Billy wrote the prescription when he was visiting last month," she answered. Cory gave a small sigh of relief but his eyes narrowed slightly.

"Does that mean you don't want more children?" he wanted to know.

"I want more children, just not right way," Netalia said, pulling her dress over her shoulder. She stepped into the tub and turned the shower on and washed quickly.

"Nice of you to join us," Carter teased as Cory and Netalia finally made it to the restaurant.

"It was my fault. I got distracted," Cory said. Carter glanced at Netalia who blushed.

"I'm sure you did," he said with a grin.

"Where's the baby?" Stacey asked.

"With Jason, Tina, Tommy and Kara. They wanted to have a baby around," Netalia answered.

"That's understandable, they're adorable," Stacey said. Netalia nodded and took a sip of the cola that the waitress had sat in front of her.

"Exhausting though," she muttered.

"Let's not talk about the kids right now," Cory suggested. Carter nodded his agreement as the waitress poised to take their orders.

~~~~~~~~~~~

"Netalia, what is this?" Cory asked as he walked into the kitchen. She looked up from her bread dough and he had to smile as he saw the flour smudges on her face.

"What is what?" she wanted to know, punching down the dough in front of her. He waited for her to place the dough back into the bowl, cover the bowl and wash her hands before handing her the letter. She opened it, read it and shrieked. "I got in!" she exclaimed, throwing her arms around Cory's neck.

"Got in to where?" Cory wanted to know.

"To the CIA!"

"The Central Intelligence Agency?" Cory asked, raising an eyebrow. Netalia laughed and shook her head.

"The Culinary Institute of America," she answered. "It's one of the top culinary arts schools in the world," she added.

"What in the world made you apply?" Cory wanted to know.

"I love cooking Cory and I know I can be a great chef," Netalia answered.

"Netalia, you don't have to work, in fact, it's generally frowned upon when royalty works," Cory reminded her.

"Why? Why is it frowned upon? I would think that it would help non-royals to see that just because someone is a king or queen or a prince doesn't mean that they don't see the value in working hard!" Netalia exclaimed.

"Neta, I'm not saying that. You should spend time with Bastian and with your parents, not working," Cory murmured. Netalia glared at him and left the room, steaming.

"What are you doing?" Cory asked, walking into their bedroom. It had been two weeks since their argument and they had hardly spoken; Netalia had avoided him like the plague.

"I'm packing, what does it look like?" Netalia answered.

"Where are you going?" Cory wanted to know.

"New York to look at the CIA," Netalia said.

"Why?" Cory asked.

"Because I want to look at the school before I decide if I am going to enroll or defer to your suggestions," Netalia told him.

"Leave Sebastian here," Cory said.

"I'm going to be gone for nearly a week Cory, I can't leave him here," Netalia said. Cory crossed the room and leaned against the dresser as she pulled clothes out of the drawers.

"You will not take my son away from me Netalia," he warned.

"I'm only going to be gone for a week Cory. Don't you threaten me," Netalia said, closing the bag and walking away.

~~~~~~~~~~~

"I don't believe this!" Cory shouted, three days later.

"What's wrong Core?" Devin asked, walking into his brother's office with a stack of mail.

"Netalia. She fucking enrolled in culinary school," Cory answered. He picked up a bottle of Johnny Walker Blue and poured himself a generous glass.

"So? She's young Cory, let her do this. She gave up all of her hopes and dreams to be with you, to marry you and to start a life with you," Devin said.

"Netalia is going to take my son away from me again!" Cory snapped.

"Cory, will you listen to yourself? You're acting like an insane man! This is why she left you the first time! You're almost twenty two years old Cory and you went to Harvard and got a business degree. You've grown up in a palace, but dad made damn sure that you could do anything you wanted. He wanted you to stay in Europe but you had to go to Harvard. He let you go, let you live in the dorms, hid your identity, made you like a regular kid. You had girlfriends and only when mom got sick did you come home for good. Netalia lived a regular civilian life for the first ten years of her life and Dex and Shella let her do what she pleased within reason. You're trying to keep her contained, locked up and she's going to fight you tooth and nail," Devon warned. "What are you so afraid of?" he wanted to know.

"I don't know," Cory admitted.

"Then maybe you and Netalia do need some time apart until you know the answer to that question. She isn't going to take Sebastian from you, she isn't like that. She just wants the chance to live her own life," Devon told his brother. Cory nodded and took a long drink of his scotch. "Go easy on the spirits little brother," Devon warned.

Cory watched his brother walk out of the office before he picked up the phone. "Morgan, this is Cory. I need for you to keep an eye on someone for me. Her name is Netalia. She just enrolled at the CIA in New York. Make sure she's safe, and that guys don't get too close."