Nothing Is Ever Certain

Chapter 15: Epilogue

My things were packed and I drove to San Francisco for university, far enough from any drama. It was hard for me to get over Blake. Even though we had never officially dated, it felt as though a piece of me was missing. Constant night terrors and flashbacks from my father’s accident kept me awake for weeks.

After the move, my life carried on as though nothing ever happened. High school was over and university was soon added to the list of accomplishments. I made some great friends and a boyfriend, Kyle, who I really loved. We met in our first year of university and had been inseparable ever since.

He graduated and became a doctor as I pursued my dreams of being an editor. It was the perfect life I had always wanted. My future was on the right path and everything had fallen into place. My thoughts often brought me back to memories of Blake, but I never let them get too far.

When I was 26, Kyle proposed. We had been living together in a little loft for five years and he didn’t think there was any other girl to have a future with. My first thought was Blake. I shouldn’t have been thinking of him at that moment, but I couldn’t seem to push him out of my mind. I hadn’t seen him in years, yet he still found a way to creep into my mind once in a while. Pushing aside my childish thoughts, I agreed to marry Kyle. Our beautiful beach wedding and incredible honeymoon were just as I had planned.

Everything was picture perfect and I soon became pregnant. Later, an ultrasound showed my beautiful and healthy baby girl. I went home that day and hung up the pictures of her in her room.

Kyle had arrived home early from his long hospital shift. He had felt sick all day and he didn’t pay much attention to it, thinking it was a common cold.

Weeks passed and he was getting worse. He missed work and I stayed home to help him. He finally decided to get some tests done, but it was too late. The doctors diagnosed him with Leukemia. He was sent to the hospital and grew weaker everyday. I stayed by his side any chance I had. Things weren’t supposed to end this way. He was too young. 30 hadn’t even hit him yet and he was already dying. He would never see his daughter grow.

My belly kept growing, and mid October as I sat by his bed side reading, I went into labour. Six hours later I returned to visit him with our daughter. He held her gently and kissed her forehead. He looked me in the eyes and whispered he loved me. Tears escaped my eyes as I replied the same. His breath slowed and soon stopped. He died holding our newborn daughter, Cali.

The first five years were difficult as a single mother. My mom helped a lot since I had to continue working. I moved back in with her in California, so it would be easier. When Cali learned to speak she often asked me where her Daddy was and I had to explain how sick he was.

When she was six years old and starting school, I decided I needed a vacation. She would be busy with school and my mom would be there to watch her.

It was the perfect time to visit one of my favourite places, Italy. I rented a little house in Tuscany. The mountains were beautiful. Farm lands were filled with grape vines and large sunflowers. It was perfect.

One night as I walked into a local restaurants I sat at a bar enjoying a glass of wine and a familiar man sat beside me to order a beer. Our eyes met and the world stopped spinning.

“Blake?”

He gasped in shock and smiled.

“Hi, Kat.”

All of the memories and love I had for him came flooding in. We talked the rest of the night about the past years and how I was a single mother.

He had had a couple girlfriends here and there, but never found the one. He told me he still couldn’t get me out of his mind. I told him I had forgiven him and I’ve learned that in life you meet amazing people, who make you see the world differently. My father was in a better place, and the accident was exactly that, an accident.

He escorted me back to my house and said we would catch up again when we both get back to California. We didn’t know what would happen next because nothing is ever certain.