Everything Has Changed

Regret and Remembrance

The morning sunlight spills through the floor-to-ceiling windows of the mansion, illuminating the mess left from the night before. Valentina’s staff is already cleaning up, moving swiftly like they’ve done this a thousand times. But up in the quieter corners of the house, the real messes aren’t so easily fixed.

***Henry and Kate’s Room***

Henry Hayes sits on the edge of the king-sized bed, his hands running through his hair, eyes heavy with memories. Kate is across the room, brushing her hair in front of the vanity mirror. She looks like she’s preparing for battle, steeling herself against the day.

“Kate,” Henry murmurs, his voice barely audible.

“Don’t,” Kate replies, her tone sharp. “I don’t want to have this conversation.”

“We can’t keep avoiding it,” Henry says, his voice breaking slightly. He hates how this conversation always feels like pulling teeth, how the past never really stays buried. “We fucked up, Kate.”

Kate sets the brush down with more force than necessary, turning to face him. “Don’t you think I know that? You think I don’t regret it every single day?”

Henry winces, his shoulders slumping. He knows how much pain there is between them, how it all started with a single reckless night. He was just a teenager, and so was Kate—a bright, carefree girl with piercing green eyes he couldn’t look away from. Those same eyes are staring at him now, but they’re not filled with the warmth he remembers. They’re cold, hardened by the years and the weight of their choices.

“Emerald,” he whispers, using the nickname he gave her back then when things were simple, when they were just two kids in love. “I never meant for any of this to happen.”

Kate scoffs, crossing her arms. “Well, it did. You made me pregnant with twins before we even knew what the hell we were doing. And then Kolby came along like some cosmic joke, and we still didn’t get our shit together.”

“We were just kids, Kate. How were we supposed to know—” Henry starts, but Kate cuts him off.

“That’s the problem, Henry! We were kids having kids! And now look at us. We’re strangers to them, and we’re strangers to each other.”

Henry feels the sting of her words, but he can’t argue. The distance between them is a canyon now, and he doesn’t know how to cross it. He wonders if it’s too late for them, or if they’re doomed to keep reliving their mistakes through their children.

***M’s Room***

In a smaller, more secluded part of the mansion, Maya—known as M to the grandkids—sits in her rocking chair, lost in thought. Her room is filled with old photographs and mementos of a life long lived. But there’s one picture she keeps closest—a framed photo of her and Mr. Hayes from when they were young, back when they still believed in forever.

She traces a finger over the glass, her mind drifting back in time to a different era, when she was just Maya, and he was Kolbster, the name she playfully called him. He had this way of making her feel like they could take on the world together, even when they were too young to know what that really meant.

“I miss you, Kolbster,” she whispers, her voice cracking with age and heartache. “You were my first love. My only love.”

She can still remember the day she met him, both of them just kids with stars in their eyes. He was the boy who made her laugh, who made her feel like life was more than just surviving. They had Crystal first, a whirlwind of sleepless nights and figuring out how to be parents when they were barely more than children themselves. Then came Henry, and life didn’t get any easier.

M remembers the day Kolbster died like it was yesterday. He was coming home after a long time, eager to see her and the kids. But a drunk driver took him away in an instant, leaving her alone to raise two teenagers who were already struggling to navigate parenthood themselves. Crystal and Henry were both just kids when they had their own kids, and the weight of it all nearly broke them.

She closes her eyes, the pain of losing him still as sharp as it was back then. The history of their family is written in blood and loss, and it feels like the past is always just beneath the surface, ready to drag them back under.

“Kolby would’ve been so proud of his namesake,” she murmurs, thinking of her youngest grandson. “But I can’t help but wonder if he’d be disappointed in the rest of us.”

She opens her eyes, staring at the picture of her and Mr Hayes. She knows he’d want her to be strong, to hold the family together, but it’s hard when everything seems to be falling apart. She used to think love was enough to keep them all together, but now she isn’t so sure.

***Henry and Kate’s Regret***

Downstairs, Kate and Henry’s argument has shifted into a heavy silence. Kate is sitting on the edge of the bed now, her head in her hands. Henry watches her, feeling like he’s looking at a stranger instead of the girl he once fell in love with.

“Do you ever think about what it would’ve been like if we hadn’t…” Henry starts, but he trails off, unable to finish the sentence.

“If we hadn’t had the twins?” Kate finishes for him, her voice bitter. “Every damn day.”

Henry feels a pang of guilt, but he knows he’s not the only one to blame. They were both reckless, both naïve enough to think they could handle anything. But they were just kids, trying to play grown-up in a world that wasn’t ready to wait for them to catch up.

“I miss who we used to be,” Henry admits, his voice barely above a whisper.

“Me too,” Kate says, her voice thick with emotion. “But we can’t go back, Henry. We made our choices, and now we have to live with them.”

Henry nods, knowing she’s right. But it doesn’t make the regret any easier to bear. He wishes he could go back to those days when they were just two teenagers in love, dreaming about a future that didn’t involve the weight of their mistakes.

***M's Reflection***

M rocks back and forth in her chair, lost in her memories. The darkness feels overwhelming. M feels like history is repeating itself in the worst possible way. She had been so young when she had Crystal, and then Henry came along, and she thought she could handle it all because she had Mr Hayes by her side.

But when she lost him, everything fell apart. And now, watching her grandchildren struggle with the same mistakes she made, she feels like she’s failing them all over again.

“I’m sorry, Kolbster,” she whispers, tears slipping down her wrinkled cheeks. “I tried to be strong, but I don’t know if I can keep doing this.”

She wipes her tears, forcing herself to take a deep breath. She knows she can’t give up, not when her family still needs her. But the weight of the past is heavy, and the future feels uncertain.

To be continued...