Verge of collapse

Chapter 24

Katherine 

I still can't believe what's going on. I always wanted to know my parents. I wanted to know myself, where I'm from and what kind of people they were. It's already very hard to accept being alone without a real family in the world, but not knowing or remembering them at all is much worse. I never saw pictures of them, I don't remember their voices. My only piece of information was my dad's letter. That's how I knew that my mom had an amazing voice, that she had green eyes and blonde hair. That's how I knew that their names were Vivienne and James. But other than that, I don't know anything about them. I created a picture of a perfect family in my head, hoping that it's true. Obviously I'm just in denial. There is a reason why I'm so paranoid and angry all the time and there is sure as hell a reason why I don't have any family left.

I brought this crazy to Chris's life, but somehow it's his life too. He wouldn't probably care about his mother's best friend's daughter, if that wasn't me. When he tries to cut her off from his life I'm bringing her back. I hate this. I hate that there is a connection between that woman and my mother. Obviously now I have a new source of information, but why did it have to be the person that Chris hates the most.

I may not want to admit this, but I liked the idea of having parent figures through my boyfriend. He has both parents, a mother and a father. He knows his grandparents and cousins. When I don't know anyone at all.

Today we are supposed to be going to his grandmother's house and as he drives there, he tells me a little bit about her. Like the fact that she was a nurse and her husband was an engineer, he died five years ago but Chris says that he enjoyed spending summer with them. He also tells me that his grandmother is a very good cook and she taught him how to cook several family recipes. He used to stay at their house for a month in summer and he also had a friend there that he's not in touch with anymore. The small, two story brick house is just outside London and the driveway is filled with trees and flowers. I assume that they love nature, because it looks like this place is somewhere in the middle of a forest.

When we climb out of the car an elderly woman opens the door and walks towards us.

"Chrissy!" She says and hugs Christopher. She looks like your usual sweet granny and if she hates me then I'm totally screwed.

"And you must be Katherine." The woman with grey curly hair says lovingly.

"Yes, it's very nice to meet you." I say and hand her my hand but she pulls me into a hug.

"Oh we don't shake hands with family." She tells me and my heart swells. "I made your favorite dishes with potatoes." She tells him and grabs his arm. "Look at you. So tall and handsome. God bless you two look great together." She informs us, making both of us blush.

She leads us into the house and we walk down the squeaky hallway to get into the kitchen. The kitchen window is looking at the backyard and it looks like a botanical garden. Some of the thickets cover the window from the sides. There is a corner couch with a square table where the plates are set. We take a seat at the couch and Chris takes the pitcher to fill our glasses.

"So that's where you learned to make lemonade?" I ask him as he fills my glass with yellow liquid. His smile gives it away the fact that it is the truth. I take a sip from the drink and remember our first date and how incredible it was. Chris places his arm around my waist and pulls me closer to him. I kiss his cheek as his grandmother places, what else, hash browns on the table, next to the other dishes.

"These were always his favorite." She informs us, taking a seat next to us.

"Katherine is a very good cook too." He tells her while stacking his plate with food.