One Out of Four

Chapter 9.

Two years had gone by; Kacey is now seventeen years old, accustomed to her new life with her foster mom, Stella. A sweet, lovely lady in her late thirties, Stella could never out-beat Diana.

Kacey is in the kitchen with Stella, seated on the chairs, as their fingers hold the last bite of a pancake. "Mom, I'm done now. Can I go?" Kacey asks her mother politely.

Stella stares at her plate. "Sure, honey, go ahead."

Now, Kacey is sitting down at the graveyard, visiting her mom, and her older brother Kyle.

She stares at the air, talking to the butterflies her mother and brother had become. "It's been two years. I'm seventeen now. My mother Stella is amazing. You would've loved her, Kyle, and her pancakes. I'm going to college early to be a therapist. I want to help people with their mental illnesses. I hope you too are proud of me. Mom is a single mother, but I don't mind. But enough about me, how is heaven?" Kacey slightly smiles. 

Although she wasn't old enough to fully comprehend how her mother tragically died; she's old enough to realize that the only comfort she'll have is to speak to her biological mother and Kyle as they were physically beside her.

Later on, she makes her way to unlock her front door with her keys. As she enters inside a home that truly feels like hers, she spots her mom Stella kissing a man on the couch.

"Mom?" Kacey sounds confused; she was a single mother, after all.

Stella's lips jump from being startled. "Kacey." She lets out.

The mystery man turns around, just to find that he's the same man who abandoned his kids.

Kacey's eyes wide open, and her mouth drops.

"Kacey?" Dylan meets a past he decided to leave behind.

Stella looks at Dylan, confused about how those two possibly know each other. "How do you two know each other?" Stella inquires.

Kacey is not pleased, "how could you not tell me about him?" Her tone rises.

Stella is at a loss for words. "I... I didn't know how to tell you because-"

Dylan takes over. "Shh. Not now, honey."

This makes Kacey more pissed. "What is going on?"

Stella looks at Kacey. No one could've prepared for what she had to say next. "Dylan... is moving in." She lets out the news that was supposed to be good.

Kacey doesn't say a word. She runs upstairs to her bedroom.

"Too soon?" Stella asks Dylan, like an idiot.

Kacey cries into her pillow.

A knock is heard at her door; it appears to be Dylan. "Kacey, it's me. Can we talk?" Dylan asks from the other side of the room.

"No. Go away." Kacey tells him.

This leads to Dylan walking downstairs.

Stella approaches Dylan. "Let me. Can you wait here?"

"Sure." He tells Stella.

At Kacey's bedroom door Stella inquires, "Kacey... can I come in? It's just me."

Kacey rushes to the door and opens it.

Stella walks inside.

"Sit." Kacey says, sounding like an angry demand. Which is exactly what that is.

Stella sits down on the bed.

Kacey puts her fingers together, "Listen, that man who you're dating is not who you think he is." She assures Stella.