overseas and serve his country in Vietnam. Then I found out I was pregnant and my life changed. We were married almost immediately. Both our parents were rather conservative and didn’t want to listen to any backlash about my ‘condition’, as it was referred to back then.
Thomas was in flight school during this time and missed everything. He never got to come with me to a doctor’s appointment. He never got to hear the heartbeat. He never got to feel our baby kick in my stomach. He didn’t get to hold my hand when I gave birth.
I felt alone the entire time. I watched as all of my friends went away to college and I remained behind, my stomach growing bigger with every passing day. Some days, I woke up wondering if I would ever see Thomas again. I kept convincing myself he wasn’t going to come home to me, that he would disappear into the night and find a new girl, one without a baby. I was so stubborn and desperate to prove to myself and everyone else that I could do this alone, that I didn’t need my parents’ or anyone else’s help.
But the truth is, I did.
I needed them to sit with me at the doctor’s office and tell me everything was going to be okay. I needed them to squeal with joy when they placed their hand on my stomach and felt her kick. And, above anything else, I needed them to stay with me while I pushed all seven pounds, six ounces of human out of me. If I didn’t admit I couldn’t do it alone, I don’t think Carol would have had the wonderful childhood she did.
Don’t look at any of this as you accepting a handout. That’s not what it is. This is simply an old woman with too many zeros in her bank account providing for her family. Regardless of what happens in the future, your baby has my DNA running through him or her, and I will always make sure he or she has every opportunity available. I will do everything to ensure you have everything you need, whether it be a car suitable for a child, the best medical treatment available, or no longer having to stress about repaying your mortgage or the loan on your restaurant. Those are also taken care of, by the way.
Please accept what I can give you and don’t think twice about it. Pay it forward if and when you can.
Most importantly, take care of yourself and that beautiful baby.
With all my love,
Colleen
I wiped at the tears streaming down my cheeks, my shoulders visibly relaxing.
“What did it say?” Paul asked, eyeing me.
“She bought me a car,” I whispered, my heart feeling fuller than I ever thought possible. I wanted to stop time and remember this exact feeling. I wanted to drink in this moment to remind myself that good things did happen. “And she’s paying my medical bills, and she paid off my mortgage and the loan on the restaurant.”
“Who?”
“Tyler’s mom,” I choked out through my tears.
“Oh, Kenzie…” He wrapped his arms around me, planting a soft kiss on my temple. “I’m so happy for you. It’s about time something went right. You deserve this. Now you can finally take a break from working so hard and take care of yourself for once.”
Shaking my head, still in shock, I replied listlessly, “Earlier today, I was happy to find out she covered my medical bills, but this… I don’t even know what to think.”
He placed his hands on my arms and looked deep into my eyes. “I’ll tell you exactly what you should think. You should think that you worked your ass off and you deserve this. You should think that someone upstairs finally listened to your prayers, sweetie. That’s all. Now, go up and get some much-needed rest. I love you, but you look like hell.” He winked.
Concern washing over my face, I protested. “I need to get changed and go to the restaurant.”
“I’m sure they can handle it,” he said, his voice soothing. “And if I know Jenna, she’ll make you leave the second she sees you anyway. So go. I don’t want to see you back down here until tomorrow, got it? And I’m leaving strict orders with the night shift to drag you back to your condo if they see you.”
I opened my mouth at his mention of the night shift, tempted to ask him if he knew who Wyatt was really