Love Survives (37 page)

I watched the woman that raised me smile while tears still ran down her cheeks. “Well, okay. Let’s go see if we can find some of that.” She looked up at Kat. “Is it okay? I can change her if it helps?”

Kat handed her the diaper bag. “Sure. Thank you.”

It was nice to see my dad walk over and pull Kat into a hug. I could tell they were both so happy to see her, with or without our huge surprise. “Welcome home, Katy.”

Kat was still a mess as she clung to the man. “I miss you. I missed you so much.”

When I knew she wasn’t going to let go, I took it upon myself to remind her that we had plenty of time. “Let’s go up and get settled.”

One thing I hadn’t pegged on was my dad tearing up. I couldn’t remember ever seeing it happen. “We really missed you. Both of you.”

I shook his hand out of respect. “I’m sorry it’s been so long, Dad. We just needed time.”

By the time we reached the steps I could tell Kat was a little relieved. I took her hand in mine and smiled. “Yours or mine?”

She shrugged. “Yours?”

While she sat down on my bed, I crouched in front of her. “How are you doing?”

“They don’t hate me.”

I put my hands on her knees. “I know you’re freaking out. Close your eyes and breathe, Kat.”

She did as she was told, taking a few deep breaths.

“Is it better?”

I didn’t stand up until I knew she was okay. “We should probably put B in your room. I bet Dad even has some of those things in the attic so she won’t fall out of bed.”

“How can you be so calm about this?” She acted as if I had super powers. Didn’t she know that this was like a dream to me? I had everyone I loved in the same house. My life was damn near perfect. Nothing could take that away from me.

“Because they can’t change anything. We’re here and B’s here. It is what it is. It’s also the same reason that I came after you that first night. I couldn’t change what’s happened, but I sure as hell could change the future.”

“You told me that we’d never be together.”

I laughed and shook my head. “I said that so you’d push me away. If you were happy then I wasn’t going to ruin it for you.”

“You’re unbelievable.”

“I’d like to think I’m generous.”

“Not fighting for me is stupid, plain and simple.”

“It’s a good thing I didn’t have to. You came to your senses faster than I thought you would.”

One kiss turned into a heated moment. Before I could stop her, Kat’s hand was running up inside of my shirt. My desire to toss her down on the bed and have my way was leading me to forget we weren’t alone. I pulled away. “We need to go downstairs.”

She cupped me between the legs. “Are you sure?”

I had to readjust my shorts, so it wasn’t noticeable that I’d gotten turned on.

Kat teased me by licking over her lips. I pointed right at her. “Stop it. You can have your way with me later. Right now we need to go downstairs and clear the air. You’re clearly stalling.”

We shared one more kiss, a slow and passion-filled one at that. “I love you, Brooks,” She said as she opened her eyes.

“Not as much as I love you, Kat.”

Stepping into the kitchen was like being back in time, with the exception of little B, sitting on a chair with a phonebook underneath her butt. She had turkey in her hand and continued swinging her legs when we came into the room. “Grab the mayonnaise when you walk by the refrigerator, will ya?” Once we were all sitting at the table, I could tell they were waiting for answers.

All of a sudden, out of left field, Kat just started explaining how Brooklyn was my child. “She’s Brooks’ daughter. When I found out I was pregnant I had them check on the date of conception several times. I wasn’t with Branch at all the whole month of December. Brooklyn was born September 11
^th
if you need to check on the math.”

I placed my hand on her knee to try to calm her. “Now that you know, can we talk about something else?”

It was obvious Kat realized she was a little nervous. She reiterated again. “Sorry. I know you were going to ask and I also know that Brooks and Branch have identical DNA. Anyone would want to know.”

My mom reached over the table and smiled. “Katy, we weren’t going to ask.”

“I don’t understand. You’d just believe me?” She had a point. Why wouldn’t they question the paternity? We were about to find out.

My dad cut in. “We assumed Branch told you. When he proposed to you, we told him to tell you.”

“Tell her what?” I wanted to know what the big secret was.

“Branch can’t have kids. He was born with a tumor on his testicle and they had to go in and cut out part of the tube that sends the semen into the penis. He’s sterile,” my mom explained.

Kat seemed like she’d seen a ghost. “He knew I wanted children.”

I could tell she felt betrayed, but we both knew he would have done anything he could to keep us apart. In that moment I began laughing uncontrollably. “That bastard. I can’t believe the levels he stooped to keep us apart. You’re telling us that he knew he couldn’t have kids?”

“That’s exactly what we’re telling you, son,” My dad reassured us.

I started making my plate while smiling huge. “This day just keeps getting better.”

Kat kicked me under the table, only making the whole moment more funny. Didn’t she understand that we won anyway? We were together, and nothing was going to change that, especially not my brother.

“Sorry, we were just worried that you’d think we were lying to keep Branch from B.”

My dad folded his hands and looked toward Kat as he spoke. “I’m feeling a bit disturbed myself, Katy. It seems there’s a lot of things that Branch did that we weren’t aware of. If we would have known, we never would have let you accept his proposal.”

Then my mother cut in. “Of course not. Katy, we knew how Brooks felt about you. I never could understand what made you pick Branch. I mean, I love both of my sons, but they’re very different. I should have said something back then, I suppose.”

Kat remained as calm as she could. “Brooks and I have decided that we’re not going to dwell on what’s already been done. We can’t change any of it. We just want to move forward, with our daughter and our future.” When she looked at me I knew we were on the same page, finally, after so long.

It only took me a second to give all my attention to little B. I shoved food in my mouth and opened it to show her. She mocked me and began giggling.

“I can see that some things haven’t changed.” My mother joined in.

“How about we start over?” Kat added.

“Katy, you’re home. As much as I would have loved to be a part of your life for the past two and half years, I understand why you felt like you had to leave. I’m not going to lie. That morning you left was a day I don’t like thinking about, but aside from sending everyone home with their gifts, it wasn’t so bad. Walt and I were worried what would happen when you finally saw Brooks again. My mother used to tell me that absence makes the heart grow fonder. You two grew up in the same house. It wasn’t hard to believe at all.”

“I didn’t want to hurt anyone. I left because I couldn’t bear to see your faces. I thought you’d hate me.”

“We were angry that we let it go as far as it did. Branch hasn’t always been forthcoming, but he made it a point to shove everything about the two of you in his brother’s face. We accept blame for allowing it to happen. The fact that you two found each other again, just proves that it’s right.”

I squeezed her leg as I spoke. “She thought you were going to make her sleep in the tree house.”

“We might make you sleep there, but not Katy, and certainly not little Brooklyn, who’s obviously named after her father.” My mom was in heaven. When I saw her peer over at my beautiful daughter I knew why. It wasn’t just my dreams coming true, but also her own. She had her family back, and I felt overwhelmed with comfort.

Chapter 43

The rest of
our first day consisted of a bunch of catching up. My parents were captivated by their granddaughter, and I had to admit that she was pretty crazy about them too. For me, it was surreal. I felt so at home, being there with them. It was as if I could picture our lives there with them, and B knowing she'd always have them to turn to. That’s when I really started thinking about the future. I knew Kat had just built a house, and as much as I didn’t want to take her away from it, I wondered if she’d ever be willing to move again?

My life now revolved around them. I wanted us both to be comfortable without worry. Since I’d never settled down since joining the military, I had a pretty big savings. I also had money that was supposed to go to my college that I’d never used. With all that sitting in a bank drawing interest I knew I’d be able to buy a larger home, possibly closer to my parents.

It wasn’t until I walked outside to grab something out of my truck when I noticed the for sale sign on Kat’s old house. It was obvious what I wanted to do. I just needed to make sure she’d be okay with it.

A little later my dad and I went up in the attic to try to find bed rails. Once we were up there, in the intense heat, I started looking around. My dad sat down as if it wasn’t blistering hot. “Do you want to talk about it?”

“About what?” I asked.

“Well, the girls for one. The fact that you have a daughter. Any of it?”

“I’m happy, dad. That’s all I care about. I want to spend the rest of my life providing for my girls.”

“Did you really know about Brooklyn this whole time?”

I couldn’t lie to my dad, not when he knew me so well. I sat down on a bin across from him, and prepared to tell him the truth, until I noticed the bedrails in plain sight. “Look, there they are.”

“Brooks, I need to know you’re okay. I mean, I know you’re happy. You obviously have everything you’ve ever wanted. I’m worried about how it came to be.”

I turned and looked the man right in the eyes. “Dad, it’s hot as hell up here. When I tell you I’m fine, I mean it. Kat and B are my life. I’m not just happy, I’m ecstatic, I’m elated, I’m overjoyed.”

He patted my shoulder. “I’m glad to hear it. I know your mom is going to be gone half the time from now on.”

“What do you mean?” I asked as we started to pull the bedrails out.

“She’s not going to want to be so far away from her granddaughter.”

I smiled. “Yeah. I hate going to work and leaving them. If I could stay at home and live in a bubble I would. Hey, do you know anything about the house next door?”

“Why? Are you in the market?”

“I might be.”

“I’ll get you the information.”

“Just do me a favor and don’t mention it to Kat.”

“Why, are you afraid she won’t want to move. You know your mother and I don’t blame her for leaving.”

“It’s not that, dad. I want it to be a surprise.”

“Wow, you’re going all out.”

“I’ve got a family to consider now. I’m pretty sure I’m not going to be returning to full duty. My hand is too messed up. If things go as I suspect, I might be looking for a job outside of the military. Since I have security clearance, I’d be better searching for something around this area. It’s still too soon to be sure, but I’m just trying to stay on top of it.”

“Whatever you need us to do, we’ll be there. Even if you need to stay here for a while. This house has been so quiet. It would be great to have it full of people again.”

After we got the railings put in Kat’s old room, we joined the women downstairs. I caught them in mid conversation and stood in the other room to eavesdrop.

I heard my mom’s voice first. “Don’t let that get to you. I think you both needed the time apart. I don’t mean that like you’re assuming. What I mean is that you needed the time to figure out your feelings. Between the two of us, I think you probably always knew. You’ve favored Brooks since the three of you were babies.”

Kat sounded like she laughed. “I never really thought about it. When we were kids we all three loved each other. It was so innocent back then.”

“Honey, we all grow up. We make mistakes and we learn from them. I wish that you all didn’t have to hurt each other so much, but everyone’s happy now. Even Branch seems content with his life.”

“He won’t be happy to know I’m here. I’m sure I’m the last person he and Melissa ever want to see again.” That may have been true, but we were going to have to face them. My parents wouldn’t take no for answer, not if they thought they could have us all back together again.

“Katy, it’s none of my business, but maybe it would do you all some good to work things out.”

“I don’t know. I can’t make a decision like that without Brooks.”

I thought about joining in on the conversation, but decided to let it go. I didn’t want Kat getting mad at me if I agreed with my mom.

A while later, right after B’s bath, my dad I started removing the plastic on the rails so we could put them on the bed. My mom helped get B dressed while Kat reached in her bag and grabbed a book. “B, do you want Mama or Daddy to read it?”

“Daddy and Mama.”

It made me so happy to hear her call me that. I almost forgot that she needed me to read the story.