Lin was in shock how Karen could be even more gorgeous now. He knew he shouldn't be thinking like that, he was married with two kids. But he couldn't keep his eyes off them. "Bro, close your mouth." Chris said, elbowing the shorter man.
"Sorry." Lin muttered, turning to him. "Did you know Karen had a kid? I didn't. I haven't heard from her..."
"Them. Karen uses they/them pronouns now." Chris corrected.
"Oh. Anyway, I haven't heard from them since...well, you know when."
"Yeah. Just about everyone here knows." Chris said.
Across the room, Karen sat with Gracie. "Mom! The Lin-Manuel Miranda is here! Why can't I go say hi?"
"Because, Gracie, I said so."
"You're no fair." Gracie grumbled.
"You can think that all you want, the answer is still no. And you, young lady, still need to unpack. So take your suitcase upstairs."
"But mom!" Gracie whined.
"Maybe Mandy will help you. Go ask. You haven't seen your god mother since 2020."
"Fine." Gracie got up and wandered over to Mandy. "Tía? Will you help me unpack my suitcases? Mom's making me and told me to ask."
"Sure. We can play catch-up." Mandy said, wrapping her arm around the 14 year old. "Now, I wanna hear all about Wisconsin."
Karen watched their daughter head upstairs and headed toward Lin. "I was told to try to mend a friendship." They said bluntly.
"Really? By who?" Lin asked, eager to talk to his ex.
"Andréa. But also...never mind. All you need to know is I will try."
"Thank you, Karen." Lin smiled.
"Let's go to the kitchen." Karen said, leading the way.
When they got there, Karen sat down, motioning Lin to do the same. They hated how comfortable they felt sitting next to their ex. "What have you been up to?" Lin asked.
"Nothing much."
"Come on, I haven't seen you in nearly 15 years Karen! I wanna hear everything!"
"Well, I've been through two divorces, I have a daughter, she's a Freshman this year. And that's pretty much it. Other than I ended up joining West Side Story 6 months late."
"So you didn't join in February of 2009?"
"No. I was depressed after our breakup. But I'm fine now. Have been for years."
"I'm sorry Karen. I should've just said yes and we would've just moved in together."
"We can't change the past." Karen said, shrugging. "Anyway, what have you been up to?"
"Well I've been married for 12 years and I have two kids, two boys, Sebastian and Frankie. Vanessa's amazing. But she's never been you."
YOU ARE READING
Unfolding Truths: KO x LMM
FanfictionKaren Olivo didn't plan on going back to New York. But when they got a job at NYU teaching theater, they packed up their belongings, their 14 year old daughter and moved back to city. Gracie always loved her Mom's work in In The Heights and Moulin...
