Loving Kate (Acceptance #3) (27 page)

“How are you doing?” I’m not a
complete
dick; I’m worried about her.

“I’m okay. It’s hard but we knew it was coming and had time to plan, but it still hurts,” she says tearfully.

She slides a box over to my feet. “This is for you to look at. You can borrow it and take it home, make copies, whatever you want.”

“What is all of this?” I think I know but I want to hear her say it.

“It’s every documented memory I have from the time I found out I was pregnant until now. Pictures, videos, ultrasounds, it’s all in there.”

“Misty, why didn’t you ever
tell
me you were pregnant?” My voice is pained; this is killing me.

She takes a deep breath and wrings her hands together. “I called you for two weeks and you never once returned a call or even a text. I realized I’d been played and it hurt so badly because I was already in love with you by then. So my grandma told me to move on, that I deserved someone better who would not only return my phone calls but love me back. And I agreed with her because it was the truth.”

“Makes sense so far.” Because, really, what else am I going to say? It does… I was an ass. Still am, depending on who you ask.

“When I found out I was pregnant, I flipped. I knew there was no way I could be a good mom, especially since I had to work and go to school, too. But my grandma did it. She was a single mom at a young age and then when my mom got knocked up and took off. She raised me, too. She told me she was in this with me for the long haul as long as I never went looking for you. She said you had to come and find me and it would prove you loved me.”

Okay, that is
not
what I was expecting. “Misty, I came back months ago, though.”

Her hands are now squeezing the couch cushions to death. “I know, but my grandma was so sick and I knew she didn’t have much time left. I thought if I told her she would be angry and there would be nothing she could do about it and it would just make her condition worse.”

She pauses and takes a deep breath. “The night she died, I told her and she was happy, Mike. She said she could go home to God because you were here to take care of us now. She died peacefully a few hours later.” She’s crying hysterically now. “I didn’t have the heart to tell her that it wasn’t true. That you were so mad at me you were probably going to take my little girl away from me.”

“Oh God. I’m so sorry, excuse me,” she sobs and flees from the room, leaving me to wonder how the tables just completely turned on me in a way that I just want to comfort her and make things okay.

After a few minutes pass and she still isn’t back, I go looking for her. There are only three doors down this hall and the first one is the bathroom. Following the sounds of her sobs, I end up in the back bedroom. She shares this room with Hailey. It’s nice and neat but it’s really small. Misty is lying on her bed, facing the wall and sobbing.

“Misty, it’s okay,” I tell her, rubbing her back. “As much as I hate to say it, I get it now. I forgive you, if you can forgive me, too.”

She doesn’t say anything for a long time but eventually her sobs slow down and she quits hiccupping. “I forgave you the second I had Hailey. She is everything right in my world and I wouldn’t have had her had it not been for you.”

“We have to have a serious talk.” She sits up and nods her head. “I’ve missed too much. I’ve missed two years of memories and milestones I can never get back. I understand why, and I can admit my faults and even admit it probably worked out better this way. If you had come to me then, I would have never tried to connect with Kate again. I wouldn’t know about Lila Hope, and I would still be moping around, pining for her, but I would have blamed you for causing the rift.”

“Damn,” she whispers.

“Yeah, damn. Thank my friends for that epiphany. They pulled my head out of my ass the night Kate was with you at the hospital.”

“Regardless, I’ve missed a lot and I’m not going to miss any more. So I want Hailey to live with me…” Her eyes fill with tears. “…and you, Misty, I want you
both
to move in with me.”

“I don’t…I’m not sure. You what?” That definitely threw her off course.

“Move in with me. We’ll buy a house wherever you want to settle down. We can stay close to school and our friends but somewhere other than this house.” Her eyes are shooting daggers at me. “There’s nothing wrong with your house, Misty, but it’s small and eventually we’ll need more space for Hailey’s brothers and sisters. It’s not in the best of neighborhoods, even though it’s cute, and you’ve spent the last year taking care of your grandma here. That has to have tainted some of the good memories. Keep the house and rent it out, but I want to make new memories somewhere else. Can you agree to that?”

“You’re forgiving me?” she asks incredulously “After everything and all the time you’ve lost, you’re really forgiving me?”

“Do you remember the first night we met for coffee?” She smiles and nods. “I asked you if the door was closed and you shocked the hell out of me when you said it never
had
been, you were just waiting for me to walk back through it. I told you I was the king of fuckups but I realized last night one of the biggest mistakes I ever made was not walking back through that door and finding my family sooner.”

She pulls me in for a kiss but I have one more confession to make. “Wait, Misty, I need you to forgive me for one more thing. Last night, I was drinking a lot and I haven’t had that much to drink in a really long time. There were strippers and…”

She pulls away from me angrily. “Do
not
tell me you fucked a stripper!”

“No I did
not
have sex with a stripper but I did suck on one’s tits, in front of Kate, who was completely mortified, by the way.”

Then she does the unexpected and giggles. “Kate saw you sucking on a stripper’s titties? How did Daniel take that?”

“Oh, he was there, too.” And now she’s rolling in laughter.

“I think I can forgive you for that.”

She leans in again to kiss me and I decide to use the moment to my advantage. “Wait, there’s one more thing and it’s non-negotiable.”

She sighs loudly but doesn’t pull away this time. “What now?”

“You have to quit the diner, immediately. Let me take care of you, Misty. Hailey can stay in school, you can go to school, and at night we can be a family.”

“You want to be a family with us?” she asks tearfully.

“There’s nothing I want more in this world, except maybe to fuck you senseless because I’ve really missed you.”

“And there’s the Mike I know and love.”

That’s all she gets to say before I lower my lips to hers.

The following week, Misty and I found a house and put in an offer. It’s right down the street from Connor’s house which is a much better neighborhood
and
it’s a much bigger house. We also took Hailey Mae to meet my mom and Joseph. Since I had to talk to Joseph about something important, we were able to get both things done at the same time.

My meeting with Joseph went much smoother than I ever thought it could and we came to an easy agreement. I’m still not sure I like the guy, but my mom seems really happy with him. My mom cried and cried when she met Hailey and then she hugged her and Misty so much that Joseph took them outside to give us some time to talk. It’s still a little bit strange with us but I think it will get better with time. Hopefully, she’ll stop thinking I will end up with Kate, too. Our conversation was a little strange.

“I’m sorry, Michael. I get a little over emotional when it comes to you. Whenever I see you, I see your dad, and I miss him every single day. Just like Joseph misses Lila, and perhaps like you miss Kate.”

“Mom, no, please don’t start this. Kate and I are over.”

And then she smiles this knowing smile at me and says, “You and Kate will never be over. Your journey started long ago as friends and you are still friends, thankfully. The love you two shared, even if it’s over now, was the purest kind of love two people can have. And with that love you created an angel that now watches over us all. You can’t tell me, Michael, that you don’t miss that love because it makes up a lot of who you are and who you always will be.”

I understand what she’s saying but she doesn’t really know me anymore and she doesn’t know what I just talked to Joseph about, either. It’s time I make her understand.

“Mom, I don’t miss the love I had with Kate because it’s with me every single day. She’s with me every single day. You’re right, we had a pure love and the thought that it created something celestial makes me smile. Kate and I are stronger now than we ever were before because of that love. We’re with the people we are now because they make us happy and they make us whole. Even with all that we had together, as happy as we were, we were never two halves of the same heart. Our hearts are bonded in eternal friendship, but Misty and Daniel are our forevers.”

I didn’t tell Misty because she would just think my mom hates her, but when I told Kate about it she laughed and congratulated me for not giving in and telling her what she wanted to hear. It made me realize how much I really caved in to her as a teenager. It also made me realize that as I hit my teenage years, she and I didn’t have as close of a relationship as I thought we did. She spent most of her time with Kate and I spent mine with Dad. I’m hoping we can fix that one day.

It’s strange the things you think of as you’re passing the time. All this buildup to Jake and April’s wedding and the day is finally here. We hired a friend of Misty’s to watch Lucas and Hailey in the hotel room for the weekend so we could celebrate the wedding with minimal distractions.

“Are you nervous?” Connor asks Jake for about the hundredth time but Jake might just be the calmest I’ve ever seen him. He doesn’t even talk shit back to Connor.

“Nope, not at all. I’ve been waiting for this day for years.”

“You’ll be back in two weeks, right?” Daniel asks casually, just trying to pass the time. The waves crash against the shore down below. It’s a beautiful day for a wedding.

“Yes, in time for the graduation party. Mom scheduled it perfectly so we would all be there.”

All the chairs have been filled in by friends and family who are anxiously awaiting the bride. April wasn’t kidding when she asked Kate to sing at the wedding. In fact, they decided to forgo the traditional song you walk down the aisle to and are having Kate sing
Marry Me
by Train instead. I think Kate is more nervous than April.

Suddenly, people start bustling around and Kate takes her place by the piano. Daniel smiles at her and her face lights up. God, those two are almost too perfect for each other. The pianist begins playing and Kate starts singing softly but beautifully. April’s sisters make their way down the aisle and as the last one takes her place opposite of me, April appears. She’s breathtaking and when I look at Jake he’s crying. We didn’t even place bets like we usually do; we all knew he would cry. Jake wears his heart on his sleeve and he loves April with his entire being.

Like I love Misty, and like Daniel loves Kate. The verdict is still out on Jess and Connor but we’ll have to wait and see on that one. Kate finishes singing exactly when April makes it to the altar. Her performance was flawless. Kate takes her seat next to Jess, Misty, and Ben and Callie and after April’s dad gives her away, the ceremony begins.

Less than twenty minutes later, it’s all over. They are now Mr. and Mrs. Houston. It’s time to celebrate and I’m so glad it’s an open bar. After walking April’s sister up the aisle, we’re met by the photographer. This is the worst part of weddings, all the damn pictures. It’s another hour before I can finally get a drink and see my girl. But I don’t complain because I’ve never seen my friends happier than they are right now. Even though the kids were staying up in the room, Linda had the babysitter bring them down for all the family photos. I didn’t know anything about it but the girls must have because Lucas and Hailey are dressed to the nines.

The photographer takes shot after shot and then does individual families. When Kate whispers in his ear and asks him for something, he gives her the thumbs up. A few minutes later Kate, Daniel, and Lucas are in a family picture with Me, Misty, and Hailey. The moment is surreal. My family and Kate’s family aren’t the same family like we always imagined. And yet, we’re still family and the reality is so much better than I could have ever pictured it.

The rest of the wedding is a typical wedding—photos, drinks, appetizers, drinks, flirting, drinks, dinner, and then the best man speech. I have been waiting for this all day long. Connor hates public speaking even though he’s really good at it. He taps his glass to get everyone’s attention and then clears his throat before speaking.

“My brother told me, when he was fifteen years old, he had met the girl he was going to marry. I’ve kept that secret ever since because I know my brother and I knew when he said those words he meant them. This wedding has been a long time in the making and over the years, April has become a sister to me. She’s the only one who is ever willing to go hunting rabbits when we’re drinking.” He smiles at her and she blushes through her tears. “We’ve made amazing friends together and unfortunately, this past year we lost one too soon. Weddings are a time for reflection, a time to appreciate your friends and the people around you that you love. Jake and April, your love pours over onto all of us. We’ve watched it grow over time to be this beautiful thing that we all hope to someday have. Thank you for showing all of us late bloomers what real love should be. Everyone, raise your glasses. Oh wait, one last thing. April, give this man some babies! To Jake and April!”