When Kat Came Back

Chapter 33

"Do I have to go?" Ashlynn asked Patricia.

"It's your dad's weekend. Why?"

"He doesn't talk to me. When he does it's all awkward and weird. We just wind up at the movies or just watching TV. It's boring," Ashlynn whined.

"Go this weekend. I'll talk to him. If he doesn't change, we'll revisit, okay?" Patricia said.

Ashlynn crossed her arms and frowned.

"He doesn't even like me. Why do I have to go? I'm 15. Can't I decide I don't want to go?"

"Ashlynn, your father loves you. Just remember, he's also dealing with this."

Ashlynn deepened her frown.

Patricia sighed.

"Fine. Tell you what. Go wait in your room, okay?  I'll talk to your father when he comes to pick you up and we'll see if we can figure something out."

"Fine," Ashlynn snarked, assuming she had lost the argument. She stomped up to her room.

Laying on her bed, Ashlynn listened for the sound of the doorbell signalling David's arrival. She still called him David.

A little while later, she heard the bell and quietly left her room to listen at the top of the stairs.

"Is she ready?" David asked Patricia.

"She is. But I have to talk to you first."

"What about, Patricia? I haven't got all night," David said, sounding exasperated.

"What have you got planned with Ashlynn this weekend?"

"What does it matter?"

"Because, David, if she's just going to stay at your place and watch TV, she may as well stay home. She says that's all you do with her and that you don't even talk to her. She's your daughter. You got your daughter back and you don't even know her."

David lowered his voice, and Ashlynn had to strain to listen.

"I don't know how to talk to her. I don't know what to say. I don't want to know if they... they... you know."

"They didn't," Patricia said.

He didn't want to talk to her because he was afraid she'd been sexually abused? Why should that even matter?

"David, she's your daughter. She's not Kat though. Kat is gone. Kat is dead. Ashlynn is here and alive. She needs to know you love her, too."

"I - I honestly don't know," David said. "I can't do this right now. Tell Ashlynn I'll see her on our next weekend."

And with that, David left the house.

Ashlynn sat at the top of the stairs, stunned. She wasn't sure how to feel.

Patricia appeared at the bottom of the stairs.

"Oh!  Ashlynn," she said, looking up at her daughter sitting at the top of the stairs, her arms around herself.

"Does he hate me?" Ashlynn asked, her eyes filling with tears. Patricia ran up the stairs and sat beside Ashlynn, pulling her into her arms.

"No, baby. He doesn't hate you. He's also coming to terms with all of this. And he doesn't see you as often as he should. And that's on him, not you. I think he's also waiting for Kat to come home. He needs to get used to the fact that you aren't Kat. Like I did."

Ashlynn nodded. But she still felt terrible.

"Do you want to do something special tonight? Go to a movie and dinner with your old mom?"

Ashlynn shook her head.

"I'm just going to my room for a bit," Ashlynn said, getting up. "Might as well unpack."

Patricia watched as Ashlynn walked back to her bedroom and closed the door. She sat outside the room for a little and heard Ashlynn's sniffles as she cried. Her heart broke.

She had an idea that might cheer her daughter up and texted her three older children to see what they were up to.

They were all free, so Patricia invited them for dinner and ordered in. Kevin said he'd pick up the pizzas.

They were going to have a pizza and pyjama party. Ashlynn would see that her family loves and accepts her and that David would come around. Hopefully.

Once everyone had arrived, Patricia went upstairs to Ashlynn's room and knocked on the door.

"Leave me alone," Ashlynn said.

"Ash? I have something to show you. And I ordered pizza for us. Come on sweetheart," she said.

"I'm not hungry," Ashlynn mumbled. Patricia opened the door to find Ashlynn curled up on her bed.

"Oh, baby. What's the matter?"

"Why did he leave? He doesn't want me this weekend."

Patricia sighed.

"I can't explain him beyond him still coming to terms with all this.  Won't make excuses for him though. He'll have to answer to you in his own time."

Patricia noticed Ashlynn hadn't unpacked her bag for the weekend.

"Get into your PJs," Patricia smiled.

"Why? It's, like, five o'clock."

"Will you just trust me for once?" Patricia smiled.

"You're not in pyjamas," Ashlynn noted.

"You're right. I'll go change while you do."

Ashlynn shrugged and got off the bed, moving towards her dresser, where she had warm pyjamas. Well, track pants and t-shirts.

Patricia returned to Ashlynn's room in her pyjamas and a robe and put her hand out for her daughter.

"Come on. We'll have fun. I promise."

Ashlynn wasn't sure, but pizza sounded pretty good, and she was getting hungry. Since coming home, Ashlynn had tried all sorts of new foods. Pizza, pasta, tacos, chicken fingers, French fries. Stuff most people took for granted. But all she'd eaten as a kid was bread, water, salad, soup occasionally, and cheese. And not even the good kind.

She followed Patricia downstairs.

"Come on, Ash! Come have some pizza!" Kevin said, grinning in a pair of flannel pyjamas.

Megan put her arms out for Ashlynn to come and sit with her. Megan and Ashlynn had forged a strong relationship. They texted all the time and, since the concert, had bonded over their mutual love for the band. Ashlynn grinned and sat with her sister, who hugged her.

"Hey there little sister," Megan said.

"Hey there, big sister," Ashlynn grinned. "Thanks, Mom."

"You're welcome, Ash," Patricia smiled.