Chapter Fifty One.

* Hey guys, this is the Author's Note, I just have to say that I am genuinely sorry for the previous chapter, if you are still reading this book, I owe you a lot of gratitude, I know you really want to strangle me for my lack of common sense, as you should, but please, forgive me for the error, that one was NOT light reader's fault, it was due to my careless acts, and I will correct it, as well as the typographical errors that are giving me heart attacks lately, but apart from that, I think you still love me and my story, Thanks a friggin lot guys for understanding, Xoxo ♥️.*

Elena's Pov.

 I had not brought any spare clothes to wear for today, how stupid of me, so I had to wear one of Katie's old clothes, since I was taller than her and slimmer, I chose to wear one of her shorts and large T shirts, with a nice fez cap that I was not planning on giving back, this morning, we had woken up feeling refreshed, Katie's eyes glistening when she remembered what had transpired during dinner yesterday, the whole saga was still clear in mind, Marie might not have been cool with her coming out, but Katie had her father and her brother by her side, majority carried the vote,they would in time make Marie to understand and change her views regarding the issue, if only I had such a father, but I was not about to go down that lane just yet.

Katie came out of the bathroom, rubbing at her wet hair with her towel, she looked at my choice of dressing and smiled.

"That was my favorite shorts back in the day" she said, stopping midway to admire the shorts.

"Yeah I can tell, judging from the way it is so faded, you probably wore it like over a million times" I smiled.

"Yeah, you are not wrong there, it has gone through some tough times in my hands" She resumed her stride, rubbing at her hair continuously.

 I jumped on the bed, bobbing up and down in the process," You know, I think you should start playing again, it looks like you were really into music, before you were... stopped, and if I can clearly remember, Peter said yesterday that he supports you in all your endeavors, including music, and I personally think that you should put the past behind you, including yesterday, just know that your loved ones have your back, the longing in your eye when you look at the instrument over there" I pointed at the guitar," that is passion, you do not have to take music as a career, you can just play and sing for enjoyment, peace, and I want to hear you sing too, I did sing at some point in my life, but I think it was not for me, we can do those karaoke nights that besties do together, so please, start playing again, I can put in a good word for you with Marie, what do you think" I finished.

" Do not, say anything to her, I might start playing again though, I have been longing to do so for a long time, I guess I just needed a little encouragement" She rubbed her neck. 

" Yasssss! Thank you so much, I will not say anything to Marie, get dressed, we have six hours ahead of us" I punched the air in excitement, then hurriedly left the room to give her privacy, to change her clothes, but that was not the reason I left, I had to talk to Marie.

I know I said I would not say anything to Marie, but then, I had to, I needed to, to tell Marie not to give up on her daughter, that would be the gravest mistake. I found the woman in question in the kitchen, humming a sad tune to the bustling kettle on the cooker.

" Good morning Marie" I hugged her shoulders, she sighed and gave me a sweet side kiss on the forehead, which I had to stoop for her to be able to.

"Good morning my dear, you are up early" she said when I let go of her.

"Yes, we have to drive back so I had to get up early" I explained, she answered with a little 'oh'.

"Uhm.. Marie?" I called.

"Hmmmm" she replied.

"You promised to give me the recipes remember?" I wanted to start up with a light conversion before I entered the heavier topics.

"Oh yes, well for the dessert you have to..." she rattled off the different recipes and I listened intently,or pretended to do so, I was not really interested in the recipes, I had just said that to be polite, I used to work at a restaurant, I knew most of the recipes I needed, but I still listened to what she was saying.

"and that is all you have to do, Voila! you have a tongue sizzling meal before you" she snapped her fingers when she said 'Voila' and I giggled at that.

"Thanks, I promise to make that for Katie when we go back" I said tactically, looking at her when I mentioned Katie's name, her expression was pained, that was my cue to hit the nail on the head, but she beat me to it.

"Talking about Katie, how is she" She whispered, almost as if she was afraid of getting caught.

"She is... well she is hurt Marie, I will not lie to you, you have hurt her with your words, but I think I understand where you come from, you just have to understand her more, you are the best host, I can attest to that, but then I am also sure that you are the world's best mom, you just need to show her that" I smiled lovingly, touched by my own words.

"she probably hates me to the ends of the earth and back, I am a terrible mother" She covered her face with her hands, I was pleased at what I was seeing, this would make my job much more easier than expected.  

"No no no, do not get it twisted, she would NEVER hate her own mother, in fact, she holds you on the highest esteem, that is the reason she was so agitated for you to accept her, in fact, she is hurt so badly right now, not because she hates you, but because she loves you and wants you to support her, which I am sure you will in the appointed time, I am only asking, no begging you, to just give her a sliver of hope, show her that she should wait for you to digest all the undigested information, just show her that you love her, that she should keep that big wide space in her heart reserved for you, I can see the anticipation in her eyes for you to accept her for who she is, and I can see in you now that you want so desperately to hug her and tell her that it is okay, but you just can not bring yourself to do it, hurting the both of you in the process." I spoke and she nodded, her eyes were now glistening with unshed tears. 

"I love her so much, my darling little girl, since her I lost her sister and almost lost her too, I love her and do not want her to go down the wrong path, I just did not realize that I was depriving her of her much deserved happiness. I received a lot of schooling from Peter yesterday night and he made me realize, she deserves to be happy, no matter what makes her happy, I will learn to accept it, I just want to gather my darling little girl in my arms and tell her that I love her. " she was now sobbing profusely and hanging on to me, I hugged her, I sympathized with her, she loved her daughter,  she did not just know how to show it in the right way.

"It is okay, she loves you too, I am sure you know that already, but she never told me about having a sister" I said.

"She will not, because she does not remember, just the way she will tell you that she does not remember ever seeing her father walk, because she was barely eight months old when it happened, her twin sister Katherine and she were with me in the backseat of the car, her father was driving when a drunk driver came towards us with top speed, the accident costed him his legs and Katherine, she was always having breathing problems, then getting knocked against the window during the collision took her away from us, I love her to this day but I am resigned to my fate, but Kate, I love Kate so much that I cannot bear to see her like this, sure it will take a bit of time for me to be accustomed to this new her, but I will do my best, because I want to be a better mother, I said all those things yesterday in a fit of rage, I meant none of them and I am going to make her know that" she hiccuped wiping her face with her sleeve.

We had completely forgotten about the kettle whose content had been dried up due to our neglect.

"Thank you Marie, you are truly the world's best, it feels so good to see how well you want to bond with your daughter, I support you, she has been far too distant for the past years, it is time for some mother daughter catch up, maybe you could visit her when we get back, have a good few days to yourselves and get to bond more" I smiled kindly.

" No, Thank YOU, for interceding, I really do not think that I would have come to this realization without you, I mean peter played his part, but thanks for playing your part perfectly, your parents must be so lucky to have you" She commented, giving me another forehead kiss that I had to bend to get.

 My parent, without the 's', I wanted to correct her but instead I said, "I will be off now" and waved to her, leaving her to the kitchen chores and going back to Katie's room, glad that I had recorded the whole convo.

When I arrived at Katie's room, I was shocked to see Josette, sitting on the bed, fiddling with her fingers, obviously trying to say something to Katie, the protective side of me took over and I let out a loud 'AHEM' accompanied with a ground breaking, human murdering glare, it was so intense that Katie had to eye me with the expression that said 'please calm down'. Josette herself looked intimidated and that was just what I wanted, to intimidate her out of Katie's life.

"So? you were saying?" Katie asked.

"Uh..uhm I was saying that I am sorry" she apologized.

"For what exactly, I do not think there is anything to apologize for, you did not do anything worth apologizing for you only just stated your opinion, what you think of me" Katie folded her arms and leaned on the shelf, I was still at the doorway, arms akimbo.

"Oh uh, sorry, I.. yesterday, I did not support you, I rejected you in front of everyone at the table, it and I am  sorry for that" She stuttered. 

"Do you.. hate me now" She said.

" No, if that is what you want to ask me, then I do not hate you, in fact I do not hate my enemies, then  to talk of hating you, but I am going to try as much as possible to stop my feelings for you, they are not valid  and will never be treasured, there is someone out there for everybody, so I guess I will find the one for me at the right time, I needed an answer, I got it, you have made it very clear to me, and now, if you would excuse me, I have a six hour long drive waiting for me, make sure to lock the door in your way out, you know where to keep the key. See you around. Elena let's go" she said and made our way towards me, I was ever ready, we held hands and went downstairs without a look back at the woman sitting on the bed in Katie's room.

 Downstairs, I found Peter at the table, sipping coffee, perusing through the day's newspaper, a bunch of other lay next to him, Derrick was on his phone, and Matt, well he was of no importance.

" Dad, I will be off now, I will come visit soon" Katie hugged her father and he patted her on the back, not really sure what to do, I could tell that he was not the type to show his love all the time, he was more reserved and observant, I wondered what my father would have been like, then I shook the thought off my mind, he did not matter to me, nor did I to him.

"Yeah, take care" he muttered and went back to his coffee and newspaper.

"Bye Derrick" she waved at him, and he replied with a grunt from over the couch, seemingly engrossed in his phone, whatever he was doing.

"see you around Matt" she said unsmiling, He nodded, not knowing what to do either.

Now there was only one person left, Katie hesitated, but knowing if to go for it.

She was still standing at the position I had left her earlier, Katie looked at me, I nodded, but before she could say anything,

"No hug for me? Not even a wave? Not even good bye?" Marie appeared hurt, I do not know if she was faking it or if it was real, but judging from the heart to heart we had earlier, I was betting that it was real.

Katie practically ran to the where she was standing and gave her a swooping hug, almost lifting her off the ground.

"I love you ma" she said and I awwned at the cuteness of it all.

" I love you too, Kate, you don't even know, and, I am sorry, for yesterday, for all those six years, would you please forgive me?" she asked and I was sure there was tears in her eyes as Katie stooped to clean then.

" Mom, you need not apologize, just hearing you say that you love me is enough for me, I will be going now, I will make sure to come visit next time".

" Make sure you bring Elena, hold her tight, your friendship is gold" she smiled at me and I gave her the thumbs up, turns out the daughter got the courage from the mother.

 We made our way out of the house straight to Katie's car, everything was okay, I knew from the sweet sigh that escaped Katie's lips.

"So" She started making small talk, not able to wipe the smile on her lips off her face.

"I can see that  you are very happy and excited, you owe me your gratitude you know that right?" I said.

" I do, I am just really happy, this turned out, superb, I feel...free, from the shackles of hiding in the closet" She sighed again.

" Feels good huh?" I said more like a statement.

" Yeah, feels good, where should we stop, at the bar or at a restaurant?" she asked.

"Stop at the hospital where Amelie is currently being nursed" I said and she whipped her head to look at me, but did not say anything.

A/N: So I decided not to be so wicked 😁, Katie deserves to be happy and I strived to make her that, hope you enjoyed this one, bye♥️.