Chapter 13

AFTER

2016

Was this what he thought it was? Was this the feeling he had forgotten- been searching for but forgotten- for so long now?

Was this happiness?

He wasn’t too sure as his eyes roamed over his child, Harvey, named after his mother’s father. Katherine's father.

He was impatiently trying to crawl and he wasn’t too successful in his task.

Jenarius was in no mood to help the boy, not because he didn’t care but because he wanted to cherish every second he had with him.

This was his second chance at a life, at a future that he could look forward to. He was far away from Massachusetts, far away from the past that had haunted him too powerfully before, and now he was far away from that fear- too. So far, he knew he would be safe even though it was October 12th.

Jenarius knew nothing would harm him and his son, not now when he had just been found.

It had only been a year since he accidentally met with the most unforgettable one-night stand. He had never got that intimate with a woman since his wife’s death but Katherine had been different.

They had spent a year together and they loved each other. Not the way people do when they convince themselves that they want to spend the rest of their life with somebody, but the way friends would love one another.

They had been co-parenting Harvey but they lived in the same house and sometimes slept in the same bed.

Katherine was the only person who knew the truth about his past and hadn’t looked at him like he was a monster (even after they googled him).

He trusted her and cared for her more than he wanted to allow himself to and every time he would wake up- hoping to god that everything in his reality was real- he would turn to his left and find his Katherine and his Harvey in his bed, right beside him, and know that everything was perfect.

Everything was well.

“Look at him go!” Katherine said as she walked through the front door.

She still worked night and day shifts at the diner they had reunited at even though Jenarius had been working for a delivery company since he had decided to stay for Harvey.

Katherine wanted the extra cash to save up for when it was time to take Harvey to school but Jen didn’t know that.

She had cut her long hair and it reached her shoulder blades. Jenarius watched it bounced as she waltzed over to her son; he was calling for her.

“Mama,” he said and Katherine would respond in an animated tone a cartoon character might use.

They went on that way because it made Harvey laugh and Jenarius loved his laugh, and so did Katherine.

Katherine sat down on the carpet of their tiny but comfortable sitting room and continued to play with Harvey. Jenarius watched with a small smile playing on his lips and joy in his heart he had wished for-for 10 long years.

It was here, happiness.

And it was real. It was his to hold and to keep, so long as he said ‘I do’.

He laughed when Harvey burped and Jenarius watched them play like a euphoric spectator and mumbled lowly to himself:

“I do.”

∆∆∆

How would she ask him, how would she say it?

He had been doing so well.

What was he going to say? No? Yes? Maybe?

An hour after playing with her son, her beautiful son, Katherine Wanders changed into her work uniform to get ready for her next shift at the diner. She combed her blond hair back, just one last brush, and pinched her cheeks.

She thought she looked pretty descent.

Every night, as an employee, she was allowed to bring her family for dinner. Now, after such a short time, Harvey and Jenarius were just that word to her; family.

She loved them both more than words could or would ever describe.

They were her sun, her moon and every single one of her stars- something she had never even wished for. They had come into her life and changed her for the better.

Katherine loved being a mother, she loved the thrill of waking up to the sound of a crying baby and she loved the man who had gifted her with one- even though he assumed it was friendly love- innocent love- she had harbored her true feelings for him for so long now.

Yeah, alright. It was cliché and it was wrong.

Jen had been through so much, lost so many loved ones, so how could she just decide to invade his lifestyle? The perfect one they had made together.

But sometimes she couldn’t stand it.

Jen would walk into her room after work and stumble into her bed, right beside her and Katherine would fight her hardest not to reach out to touch him, to hold onto him, and every time he would mumble that he loved her- with all the truth in the world behind his words- her heart would skip a beat but when she said it back, it wasn’t the same.

It was destined from the first day, you see; Katherine had always loved Jen.

From the minute she had met him in the diner she worked in four years ago, even as she noticed how broken he had been, she loved him.

Those green eyes on that first night, drunk as hell, could barely see her throughout the night, they had shone with an emotion she hadn’t identified yet- but she still loved him.

She had known they would meet again, cried for it once, and when she had finally forced herself to move on with a new baby and a new life- there he was, broken and battered- having, finally, a reason to stay.

And she still loved him for it.

Katherine called out for her two boys and they hollered back from the kitchen. She smiled to herself as she put her white sneakers on. She met them in the kitchen doorway.

Harvey was dressed in his warmest clothes, Jen too, and she stood under his arm as he unlocked their front door.

It was cold, really cold, but it always was in October.

She held onto his hand as she fished around her bag for the truck car keys. Once located, she handed them to Jen.

Katherine and Jenarius walked down the rusted staircase of their apartment building, hand in hand, and then out the stained double glass doors leading outside.

A few parked cars were scattered around the lot. Katherine counted four, including their own dull, faded blue, double doored truck.

Harvey made gibberish sounds and then started to hum deep in his throat. When he said “mama”, they began their usual game again and the laughter from their mouths echoed throughout the air.

The car was parked a few feet away but they were in no rush. They glided over the lot and reached the front door of the car.

The trucks face was parked in the direction of their building, its backside facing the gaping fenceless exit of the parking lot.

Katherine decided it would be the perfect moment to ask Jen, to confess her love; the simple words 'let us be together'. The words would come out. They had been threatening to for months.

Let us be a real family.

That’s all she wanted, then, more than anything. More than gold and diamonds and-

“Jen, stop!”