A Dangerous Game •Jon Moxley•

34; Irony About Love & A Woman Scorned

"Kathie hated me the first time we met! Anytime she'd get the opportunity to embarrass me, oh she'd do it!" Mom laughed as we all sat around the table, reliving some of our favorite memories of Kathie.

"Our first double date, she spilled hot coffee all over me, and paid the waiter $100 to act like he was my ex..so you can imagine the argument your father and I had that night." She shook her head, a hint of amusement in her voice.

"I remember in the annual Christmas photo, she cut you out of all them, and posted them on Facebook." Jacob snorted.

"That definitely sounds like Kathie." Grace giggled, grabbing ahold of his hand. Seems they worked out a few things, I was glad.

"Well, I'm stuffed." Mom blew out a breath, standing up and grabbing our plates. "Dessert?"

"Me and Jake can drive to the diner and get some pies?" Jon suggested, and we all agreed.

"Tell Libby I'll be calling her soon." I say, kissing Jon on his way out.

"Hon you wanna help me with the dishes? I wash and you dry." Mom beckoned me over into the kitchen.

"I better call Olivia anyways, she's been blowing my phone up all day." Grace groaned, digging her phone out from her pocket.

"So I see you and Jon resolved things." Mom winked, handing me a wet plate.

"Yeah, we did. It's so weird, after we broke up, I really thought that it was over." I frown, reminiscing about the time I'm glad I got through.

"That's the ironic thing about love, sweetheart." Mom said, turning to me with a grin. "It can make you wanna quit, throw your hands in the air and scream so loud the whole world will hear, but it can also make everything worth it. And make you realize your soulmate is the one who can push your buttons and make you smile bigger than anyone else."

"That's true alright," I shake my head at her words and how correct they were.

"I always knew that it'd be him. I didn't have to meet him during Christmas to know that. As soon as he called and sent a plane ticket to me, I knew that he was the right one for my girl." Mom reminded me.

"Do you think dad would be proud of me?" I quivered, setting the dish I was holding down.

"Of course he would be honey." She assured, "He'd approve of Jon, I know it. He'd want someone to take care of you, support you, and love you unconditionally, and I believe Jon is the perfect man."

"Thank you, mama." I sniffled, pulling her into a hug. That's all I ever wanted after my dad passed. Was for him to be proud of me.

"Now let's get the rest of these dishes!" She says, handing me a few more plates to dry.

"Uhhh hey guys..I just got off the phone with Olivia.." Grace trailed, jumping up to sit on the counter. "And she sounded pretty upset."

"What for? She didn't really know Kathie," I noted, furrowing my eyebrows slightly. And Kathie hated her.

"About the Jon and you getting back together thing.." Grace corrected, and my face fell. I didn't even think about what her reaction would be.

Quite honestly I don't care. I tried to be her friend. I tried changing her, making her a better person, but sometimes you can't convince everyone to not be a bitch.

"Whatever She said it's just mindless insults, she'll get over it eventually." I waved my hand.

"Mhm, you don't know Olivia then." Grace chuckled.

"Well I'd love to see her mess with my daughter, I have no problem kicking some brat's ass." My mom snapped, throwing the dishcloth in the sink.

"Damn I see where Astrid gets her sass from!" Grace whistled.