Worth It

Chapter Ten

Katarina

Tinkerbell moved around my parent's house as if she owned it. She loved my parents, probably more than me sometimes. My mother bought her new toys and played with her in our backyard while my father barbecued steak and wings.

The weather was beautiful and sunny, but not too much heat that it had me getting a migraine. I arrived a few hours ago, and after an hour of them hugging and my mother crying in my ear, they finally pulled away. I took my suitcase to my room, washed my face and brushed my teeth, then returned to sit with them.

Natasha and Boris Pavlin were not your usual Slavic parents. They were more Americanized than me. My parents went hard on every American holiday and attended the local church, where they volunteered their spare time on the weekends to help with the food drives.

My mother was a giver; always has been. From the moment we moved to San Francisco, she made it her mission to get to know all our neighbors and always have something baking and cooking to hand out and share with everyone.

My father was a very handy man. He could fix everything, build you a dresser if you ask him, and as burly as he looked on the outside, he had a big smile and a bigger heart that made up for it.

My father had hooded honey-colored eyes, and light brown hair that he always had brushed back into a side part, and his best friend was the suspenders my mom bought for him, which he always wore with a massive smile on his face.

I looked like my mother, which showed as she twirled around in her sun dress with Tinkerbell following her.
Her vanilla blonde hair was up in a perfected bun with no strands falling out, and her azure eyes shined and smiled as the cat jumped to catch the toy mouse in her hand.

I set my lemonade down and went over to stand by my father. He flipped over the steaks and waved through the smoke forming so he could look at me. He pulled me to his side and kissed the top of my head.

"I miss you." He said.

"I know. I miss you guys, too." I clung to him tighter. "I'm sorry I haven't been coming over as much as I should be."

"It's okay, kokhanyy. It's okay. We love you very much. You know that, right?"

"Of course." Feeling emotional, I kissed his cheek and stepped out of his embrace. "I'm going to get a drink," I told them and headed to the kitchen.

I leaned over the counter and worked on my breathing. I wasn't going to cry right now. I wanted to, but I'd wait until I was alone. I rewashed my face and sipped some sparkling water when my phone vibrated in my pocket. I pulled it out to see a message from Gabriel.

'You land safely?'

My heart fluttered piteously. God, this man. 'I did a few hours ago. How's the road trip?'

He replied with a photo of the three of them in the car. Xavier was in the back with a can of cola, smiling widely. Opal was in the front snacking on chips, while Gabriel was the one that snapped the photo.

He sat in a grey sweater and matching sweats and had a thumbs up in the photo and a glorious smile painted across his face. I ran my fingers over his face and let out a sigh. I zoomed out of the photo and saw that he had sent a message with the photo.

'Missing you.'

I missed all my friends, but I missed Gabriel the most.

I hearted his message, then replied, 'Miss you all so much. Drive safely. Text me when you reach home.'

'I will. Have a good weekend. If you're feeling down or want to cry, call me, yeah?'

This man was after my heart, and it hurt. Damn you, Gabriel Castro.