This Kiss

Chapter 65

It was the morning of Halloween. Emma's birthday had come and gone and both Olivia and Natalia were grateful. They loved their youngest daughter, and enjoyed seeing her having so much fun, but four nine- and ten-year-old girls squealing for almost twenty-four hours straight was almost too much to take. Luckily, Ava had been there to help. Keeping Olivia from completely going insane.

Natalia had taken Ava and Emma out for some last-minute supplies and Olivia was sitting at the table drinking her coffee when Rafe appeared from the basement. Olivia drained the last of her coffee and smiled at him. "Morning. Your Ma put some breakfast in the oven to keep warm for you."

Rafe wiped the sleep from his eyes and stretched. Feeling a little more awake, he grabbed his plate from the oven, poured himself the last cup of coffee and sat down across from Olivia. "Morning." He finally said yawning. "Where's Ma?"

"She and the girls went to pick up a few things for tonight. Do you have plans this evening?"

"Um, no. Actually, I thought I would tag along with you guys if that's okay."

"Of course. We'd be glad to have your company."

Rafe half smiled and shoved another bite into his mouth. As he finished his meal, he walked his plate to the sink. Olivia had made another pot of coffee and was pouring herself a cup. Rafe leaned against the counter and took a deep breath. It was now or never he supposed. He had been putting off talking to Olivia, trying his best to not end up alone with her. Now the house was empty except for them and since Olivia had given everyone the week off to spend with Ava, he had no excuses to leave. He took another breath and slowly released it, looking over at Olivia, he steeled his nerves and sat down in the chair closer to her.

"Olivia?"

Olivia looked up from the paper she was reading, seeing openness and also a slight bit of fear in his eyes, she set the paper down and gave him her full attention. "What is it Rafe?"

"Um, well, I uh, I wanted to talk to you. If you have a few."

"Of course, Rafe. What's on your mind?"

"Um, I just...I wanted to apologize to you. For everything. You know, the way I treated you when I first found out and while Ma was gone. And for keeping those letters. I shouldn't have done that." He looked down to his feet. Not able to look at Olivia.

"Rafe look at me." She waited for his eyes to meet hers and then continued. "It's okay. It doesn't matter. That was our past. We are moving forward. No more looking back, for any of us. We've all made some pretty big mistakes, now, well now we move on from them."

"How can it be that simple Olivia? I was so mean to you. I took all my anger out on you. I said really hurtful things. I saw you hurting while Ma was gone and I made it worse. I purposely kept those letters from you so that you would think Ma just left. You can't just forget about it all."

Olivia reached for his hand hesitantly. When he didn't pull away, she squeezed it lightly. Keeping it there as she spoke. "No, I can't just forget it Rafe, but I can and have forgiven it. You were just as hurt as I was. But it can be as simple as moving on. We don't forget our past Rafe, but we can forgive it and move forward. We have to. Nothing we do can change it, so, we have two choices. One, we can dwell on it and hate each other for it and be really unhappy, or two, we can let it go. Rafe, in just a couple of months you have grown so much. You are doing great at the hotel, and you are doing even better here, at home. You've really stepped up around here. Helping with whatever is needed, and Emma loves how much time you spend with her."

Rafe smiled at that. He liked having a little sister. "I just, I don't know. You keep saying that I'm your son, and I don't get it. I mean I know you and Ma are together, and I'm good with that now. Ava and Ashley have helped me out with that. But I, I don't know how to be your son."