Imagine Me Darker

Chapter 23

It takes about ten minutes to get to Kate's place. I park out front and walk up to the door. The house looks small, with a short driveway and tiny garage.

As soon as I knock, I see a little head poke out from the curtains next to the door. Lillian smiles and waves. I grin and wave back. Then I hear a click and the door opens.

Kate peeks out from behind the door, Lilly at her feet. Kate's face is red and tears are falling from her face.

"Kate?"

"Hey Sean," she sniffs, opening the door more, "Wanna come in?"

"Yeah," I reply, still watching her expression. She leads me to a comfy-looking living room. There are toys all over the floor, Lilly sitting amongst them. She calmly stacks a few blocks, then moves over to work with some Legos. She seems concentrated, planning out a landscape and I feel my heart melt a little for her.

Kate sits down in a rocking chair. She's wearing a huge t-shirt and leggings, her stomach looking bigger in more comfortable clothing. She wipes her eyes and fans herself.

"Sorry," she mumbles.

"No no, you're fine," I say. I sit down on the couch, on the side closest to Kate. I let her compose herself as I watch Lilly build some more. She now has a tall building of blocks, supported strategically by Legos. A few minutes later Kate shifts, and I turn to look at her.

She smiles and says, "Hey."

"Hey," I chuckle.

"I-I'm sorry that I freaked and made you come over."

"You didn't make me come over. You invited me and I gladly obliged," I assure. Kate shakes her head and she cracks up a little, "Okay"

I pause, "So what's up?"

She takes a deep breath and replies, "Well, we went to the doctor...obviously. And they said Lilly's doing better. I mean her symptoms didn't get worse, so that's good."

"Yeah, that's good," I nod.

"Yeah.." she trails off, "They also said Levi is doing well. He is at the normal size, and is growing at a good rate."

"Okay," I reply, still confused why she's upset.

She absent-mindedly puts a hand to her stomach, takes a shaky breath and tries to continue, "But then I got a text."

"From?"

Suddenly her eyes start to drip with tears, and well-built wall crashing down, "From him. Again. That, that son of a -"

She quickly stops and looks at Lilly, who comes over and snuggles with her mom. Kate shakes her head and wipes her face, "Who does that? Who ruins a person's life, then claim they owe you? He told me he changed! He said he's different, that he learned. And I was stupid. People never change even the ones you...love."

She chokes up on the last word, curling into herself. Lilly wiggles out of her mother's lap and scurries away. Kate gets up and sits next to me on the couch. At first she does nothing, then I feel her head rest on my shoulder.

"I'm sorry," I say trying to help, "I really am."

"Thank you. It's just so hard. He always bothers me about everything, and I just want to move on but it's so hard when he keeps showing up."

Lilly walks back to us, a cup of water in hand. She hands it to Kate, who gives her a smile. Lilly grins consolingly, and climbs into my lap. I wrap my arms around her, and she snuggles into me, as Kate takes a sip and lays against me.

"I guess it could be worse," Kate murmurs, "I mean, I'm doing good, my children are healthy, I have a good friend," she squeezes my arm, "It's just when you're having a kid, you want everything to be perfect."

I nod, agreeing with her.

"Yeah," I reply softly, "At least everyone is doing well."

We sit there in silence, and I try to use my presences as support for Kate, which seems to work. Lillian shifts, and I realize she's fallen asleep. Her head rests on my chest, and a part of my short is tucked tightly into her fist. Blonde curls fall softly over her face. I chuckle and keep my movements to a minimum. Kate looks over and sees Lillian.

"Oh! I'm sorry. Do you want me to take her?"

"No no, it's okay." Kate smiles and puts a hand to my hair.

"Why green?" she asks. I laugh and reply, "It was a charity thing. If we reached a certain amount, Mark and I promised to dye our hair."

"Oh," she says, returning her hand. We sit there for a while longer, watching Lilly. Then, Kate whispers, "Can you help me take her to her room? It's getting late."

We stand up and Kate leads me down the hallway, to the room at the end. She opens the door to a small room. In the corner, a small bed, covered in bright-colored blankets. Kate pulls out the covers, and I gently set her down. She tucks Lilly in, gives a kiss on the forehead, and we both walk out of the room.

As we enter the living room again, I catch a glimpse of the sky outside.

"Holy-! Sorry, I have to go."

"Okay," Kate nods. The she walks over a places a hand on my shoulder, "Thank you."

"No problem," I grin back. She ruffles my hair, messing it as if I was a little boy. Then, she opens the front door, and lets me out.