The CEO's Wife

Chapter 26

Found

Melody Young

There were so many pictures of her. Mother had boxes and boxes of pictures and clothes from my mom and for me when I was a baby. We sat there and mother told me stories about her and what her life was like. She grew up in a small town. Mother, who was born a man and lived the majority of his young life as Dorian Kim, was made a single father at the young age of 17 when his then-girlfriend dropped a baby at his doorstep and skipped town. He said he never saw her again but raised his daughter the best way that he could. His family didn't support his lifestyle choices, but after his mother died he was left alone and he could live his life and raise his daughter how he wanted.

He talked about Katie and uncle's family and everything that happened around the time that I was born. After Katie died my mom was sad, so sad that everyone thought that the amount of weight that she'd lost in that short time after I was born was just a combination of breastfeeding and the grief of losing her friend, but it wasn't. When I was about seven months old she went to the doctor and they found out that she had cancer. They don't know how it happened or where it came from, but she had it and it was taking over her body faster than a doctor could treat it.

Mother said that right before my first birthday my dad moved us to the city to be close to some specialists and the doctors that my mother needed to see, but even with everything that they tried. With the treatments, experimental drugs, and even natural remedies my mom died a year and a half after I was born.

I sat there looking into mother's eyes as she struggled not to cry. She was telling me that the mother I'd longed for my entire life died and all I could focus on was the two tears welling up in the corners of her eyes, and why hearing such news didn't make me want to cry the same way she was.

"Lyrical was my life, my everything, and so were you; but after she died I couldn't take care of you." mother held my hands in hers. "you stayed here until you were two, and then your father took over, but I don't think he ever really recovered either. He loved the two of you more than anything but lyrical was his glue. She held him together and kept his head on straight. Without her, he's like dust in the wind."

"I don't know what to say right now," I said. I pulled my hands away from mother and stood up from the table we had relocated to for us to talk.

"I'm sorry if you're upset with me, with any of us. I thought it would be best to let your father raise you and not do too much to interfere. If I would have known-"

"no," I said shaking my head. "you're blaming yourself."

"Right, because I-"

"you lost your daughter, and my dad lost the love of his life, and I lost my mom, but if it wouldn't have been for all that I would have met-"

"Melody!"

That voice was so familiar, but I was miles away from home and I never told anyone where I was going so there was no way that he could be here.

"Melody!" the voice called again.

"Who is that?" uncle asked.

I stood up from the table and before I could turn around but before I could make a move and the ballroom door swung open wildly. It slammed against the wall behind it and I watched as my husband stormed into the room looking around like he was playing hide-and-seek with someone.

"My goodness, that's a nice piece of man right there," I heard mother say. "Who is that?"

"The husband that I would have never met if it weren't for my crazy father," I told him. My father walked in right behind him with his hand up as if he was trying to stop Kirsnick.

"Boy! You don't even know where you are, you can just walk around in here slamming door and shit like you own shit in here." my father told him.

"Man, shut up," Kirsnick turned around to face my father. "I told you in the car I'm not doing shit your way no more 'cause we been burning gas for days and still ain't found her yet."

"You act like that's my fault-"

"It is, you sat there and let her leave like the shit was cool," he shot back.

They started arguing in the doorway like they'd forgotten that they were looking for someone.

"Do they always argue like that?" mother asked me. She was standing behind me now watching them.

"All the time," I said.

"Wow, I don't see how you live with that," she placed her hand on my shoulder and laughed.

"We have a big house," I replied. "Guys!"

They stopped and looked in my direction and from where I was standing, I could see the relief wash over Kirsnick's face. He ran over and scooped me up off my feet. He set me down on my feet and held my face in his hands. "What the hell is wrong with you?" he asked me.

"I'm sorry, I just-"

"don't," was all that he said.

"don't what?"

"Leave, you crazy? Something could have happened to you man." he said.

"She won't," mother said. Kirsnick looked away from me and over at her. I could tell by the look on his face that he was thinking about what to say next.

"Really," I asked her.

"What? You had a husband like that, and you left without saying anything. You're crazy." she said.

"Thank you," Kirsnick said to her. "Uh, who are you?"

"They call me mother, and imma forgive you for disrespecting my establishment, but don't let it happen again." she warned.

"That's my in-law." my father said.

"Okay," he said looking mother up and down again, and then turned his attention back to me. "So, you found them, your family?"

"Some of them," mother said. "There are more people for her to meet but they won't be in town until the morning."

"I have cousins, and two uncles and an aunt-"

"And some extended family too, and they are very excited to meet you." mother said.

"But before we do that, there's somewhere I gotta take you." My father stepped over to me with his hands in his pockets. "Should have done this a long time ago but late is better than never."