THE RETURN

Chapter 40

Olivia was sitting on the edge of her and Elliot's bed watching Kathleen dig through her side of the closet. When they arrived home after lunch, Elliot informed her that he had to leave for a few hours to prepare for their date. She had asked him what he was planning but he simply kissed her and told her to be ready by five. It didn't take long after he left for Kathleen to ask her if she could help her get ready. Olivia was going to tell the young woman that her help wasn't necessary, however she decided to take the opportunity to bond with the young woman. She never had anyone help her get ready for a date before, so she wasn't exactly certain what it consisted of but she was going with the flow. After setting the kids up with toys and TV, they migrated to their room.

Kathleen sighed lowly, "Tell me why we didn't go buy you a new dress?"

Olivia laughed, "Because, your father hasn't seen me in any of those dresses hanging in the closet. And he's the one who brought them over here."

"Which means, he'd like to see you in them."

"That's what I'm thinking."

Kathleen rummaged through her selections once more before taking hold of a total of three dresses. She glanced down at the shoes available and bent down to grab the only pair of high heals her dad had grabbed for Olivia. "At least he picked a pair of heels that would match with everything."

Olivia eyed the heels as Kathleen walked towards her. The young woman was right. He had chosen a simple pair of black heels that had a horizontal stripe of fabric across the base of her toes and a strap around her ankle. She found it amazing that he had chosen her favorite heels without even knowing. "Those are my favorite."

"They're a great style, I think I have them in like three different colors. Not that I ever go anywhere that requires me to wear heels." Kathleen said as she put the heels down and spread the dresses at the foot of the bed.

As she looked down at the ones she chose, Olivia said, "You know, just because your a mom, that doesn't mean you're not allowed to go out honey. Your father and I would love to watch Hailey so you can have some time and act your age sometimes."

Kathleen smiled slightly, "Thanks Liv. I just don't really have friends anymore and guys my age don't want to date someone with a child already." When she looked up at Kathleen sympathetically, the girl shrugged her shoulders, "It's okay. I need to focus on Hailey anyways."

Olivia shoulders dropped slightly. According to Elliot, his daughter had completely given up on a social life. She put her focus in school and being the best mom she could be. However, being a mom now herself, Olivia couldn't imagine not having a little time to breathe. Although becoming a mom was the best thing that had ever happened to her, it was also one of the hardest. She patted the bed next to her, which Kathleen didn't waste anytime moving to. Once they were situated next to one another, Olivia spoke again, "When I was younger, I always had an excuse as to why I couldn't become serious with anyone. I was busy with school or work or life and every time a man would try to get deeper than my bedroom, I would run. The first time I had a solid conversation with your father, I knew that I needed to stop doing that. He had everything I always dreamed of having. A family that he could go home to. So I tried, I really tried to let people in. But instead of letting others in, I let your father in. The only man I have, still to this day, let fully in. Trust is the hardest thing to learn in life. How do you trust one person, when so many others have let you down? That's probably the problem I had with relationships after he left." She paused for a second to take hold of Kathleen's hand, "My point is that your fear of going out and meeting someone, stems deeper than your need to focus on Hailey."

Kathleen nodded, "I guess I just don't want to make the same mistake again. My siblings see me as the sister who got drunk and had unprotected sex with some guy that I didn't know. I can't even preach the importance of protection because they tell me I'm not the one to talk."