“Attractive, babe,” Grant says, rolling his eyes.
The table fills with laughter as Sadie gets up and grabs the rest of the containers and seven more spoons. We all take our turns dipping our spoons into the different kinds of ice cream my mom had brought over. My friends...my family, I love them and adding Kailey just makes it all fit together.
Chapter 13
Kailey
It’s been two weeks since the graduation party. I can’t believe how fast Jen’s health has diminished. She can barely get in the car to go to her doctors’ appointments, so forget about picking Drew up now. She’s needs me more than ever lately, and I refuse to disappoint her. Taking a chunk of my parents’ life insurance money, which was supposed to be going toward my schooling next year, I quit my job for the summer in order to take care of the kids. Caden has to work to support the family and keep his insurance. Even with his class schedule lighter this summer, he has to be away quite a bit.
I moved out of my apartment and into their house to make it easier. The roles are beginning to shift, and everyone feels it. Chloe and Tara now run into my room in the morning instead of Jen’s. Drew cries out for me more nights than not. It’s terrifying when I think of the future, so every time it creeps into my mind, I push it back as far as it’s willing to go. I’ve caught Caden crying two nights this week in the quiet dark room of the living room with only the flicker of the television lighting the room. Leaving him to his solitude, I tiptoed out of the room before collapsing into my own fit of tears in their guest room. How on earth would we all go on with our lives without her? She is the glue bonding us together.
Trey started his job a week after he graduated and loves it. It’s nice to see him so happy, doing what he loves. The thing I’m not so happy about is the girl, Sara, who’s also working on the building. Yeah, yeah, there’s a team of them, but all I ever hear out of Trey’s mouth is, ‘Sara thought of this awesome thing we could do’ or ‘Sara and I grabbed a bite,’ after I’d prepared him a dinner. He spent his days flitting around with Sara while I changed diapers, fed kids, cleaned floors, looked after Jen, and watch Dora the Explorer five million times. You’d think Swiper would get the hint by now, but he continually gets caught. The threat of Trey and I slipping into different lives lingers over us like a dark cloud reaching its capacity of water. Eventually, it has to release.
Tossing the diaper bag on the table, I whisper shh noises into Drew’s ear, attempting to keep him asleep. The girls had a play date down the street, and I’ve desperately been yearning for a nap myself. Between keeping the house going and continuing to be a girlfriend to Trey, I barely sleep. My normal routine involves taking care of the house and kids during the day. Then when Caden comes home, I go over to Trey’s, or he comes over here. He’s bonded with the kids, and if Caden has to work late, Trey always takes them to the park to give me a break. The guilt that his life has changed course since he met me hits me every time he steps through that door with a pizza in his hand and the kids go running to him. He should be going to the bars, still celebrating his graduation.
Today will be glorious, I think to myself as I lay Drew down, and he immediately turns to his side and sticks his thumb in his mouth. Turning on the monitor, I quietly vacate the room and shut the door behind me. I’m about to open my bedroom door to crawl into my bed when I spot Jen in her room on the floor. I stand in her doorway, watching her frantically placing papers in order here or there. She’s a meticulous organizer. “What’s up?” I say to her, and she barely glances up before her head is back down focusing on the papers and her hands flip through the pages in a frenzy.
“Kailey, oh thank God. I need you. Sit down,” she demands. I sigh, realizing I won’t be getting those few minutes of sleep today. I take a seat next to her and cross my legs. “Caden will be in no shape to deal with this. You have to take charge of the paperwork. Okay?” Her speaking is rambling a mile a minute and I can barely catch every word. “There’s the life insurance, the kids birth certificates and social security cards, all the financial accounts—,”
“It’s okay, Jen. I’ll handle it,” I place my hand on her forearm, and she looks up at me with tears in her eyes. “Oh, Jen. I promise, everything will be handled.” The tears prick behind my own eyes and the thought of escaping this room to allow them to freely fall deepens inside me. But I have to stay strong for her, for the family.
“I know you will. I’m so sorry, Kailey,” she softly says. “You’ve lost your youth to this. We’ve all lost something to this FUCKING disease,” she yells. I have no idea what I should do. Sitting there looking at the piles of paperwork spread across her bedroom floor, anger at the disease begins rising inside of me as well.
“Come with me,” I insist, standing up and holding my hand out for her to take. She gingerly leans her hand on the bed and rises to her feet. “Can you make it downstairs?” I ask.
“Just took my pain go away pills, so I’m good for a little while,” she says.
I hold her hand while we take one cautious step at a time. Escorting her to the garage, I sit her in a folding chair while I grab the white tarp and spread it across the concrete floor. “I’ve been meaning to do this, but time has been slim.” My fingertips grasp for the box, and I slowly lower it and walk it over to her feet.
“Mom and Dad’s old dishes?” she questions confused.
“Yep,” I answer, opening the box, I dig out their white china plates with yellow flowers and lace intricate designs.
“They loved these,” she says. “We can’t.” She shakes her head.
“They’re hideous, and you know it,” I grab a plate and throw it to the ground. Watching it shatter, a little piece of the anger and stress dissipates within me.
“KAILEY!” she screeches.
“Come on, Jen, it feels so damn good,” I say, nudging the plate in front of her.
She sighs a few times before ultimately taking the plate from my hands. “Think of everything you’re mad at, Jen. How unfair this whole thing is. Take it out on this damn china.” She stares up at me, contemplating her decision. Then she winds her arm behind her head and uses the small amount of strength she has to smash the china to the ground allowing it to shatter into thousands of pieces. “Feels good, doesn’t it?” I ask, and she holds her hand out for another plate.
I hand her the pieces one by one and a smile starts creeping across her face with each broken china piece. Every fifth one, or so, I smash one myself. By the end, we’re laughing at how much we hated those plates and how much our parents loved them when they bought them from an estate sale. After we finish, I go over to the outside fridge and hand her a bottle of water. Clinking the plastic bottles together, we sit and relax, both feeling a little more at peace. “Why did you ever keep these?” I ask her.
“I thought we would appreciate them someday. Maybe we needed to age to see their beauty,” she says, laughing at her own statement.
“There’s still nothing beautiful about them. What Mom and Dad saw, I have no idea?” I shake my head, laughing.
Then the garage door shuffles and begins to open. “Crap,” I yelp, springing to my feet to stop Caden. He immediately hits the breaks and puts the car in park. When he sees what we’ve been up to, he shoots us both a knowing smile. I’m reminded of when I first met him; how attractive I thought he was and how lucky Jen was to find him, even if I hated him. Caden to Jen is like Trey to me. Although they are drastically different in appearances, they both hold great regard to family and protect their loved ones fiercely.