Growing Love

27

Everyone cane back in and sat down, but we sat in silence. Hearing about how Katherina became the person she became made us see her in a whole new light. She made a lot of mistakes, and really fucked up choices. But not all those choices were hers. And to find out her own parents blackmailed her into doing some of them, only made hearing it that much more fucked up.

"The last order they had for me, was to get pregnant by either Francis or Michael." Freddy, Izzy, and James were pissed the hell off. But Michael? he seemed hurt.

"I-i-is th-th-that why, y-y-you g-g-got close t-t-to me?" She slowly nodded her head. He looked down for a moment, before looking back up.

"At first that is." He looked at her, and she gave him a sad smile. "You were the first person besides my brother and Carter I actually talked to like that. You didn't see me as easy, just some random girl to talk to. You were so nice and sweet, I couldn't bring myself to hurt you."

"A-a-and my b-br-brother?" She turned to Freddy and Izzy, and she looked at Izzy's stomach. She shook her head, and looked back at him.

"I knew he and Isabella were expecting. Plus, I knew he wouldn't  fall for any of my tricks. He doesn't seem like the type. So I didn't even try."

"Should I feel praised or insulted?" He was looking at Izzy, who simply patted his hand.

"Today, I hit my breaking point. And in the middle of that break down, I took a pair of scissors and cut my hair." She touched her now short hair.

"Like Britney, just not as bad." She laughed at Jenny's lame joke. I think she needed that, we all did. The mood was just too tense in here.

"I guess. It's the first time I talked back to my parents. Had my brother not been there, one of the guards might have restrained me. I don't know what would be happening to me right at this very moment. He took me to fix my hair before bringing me here."

We didn't say anything. No one really knew what to say. The only sound was the ticking of the grandfather clock. I looked up just as Michael stood up and walked to stand in front of Katherina. He stuck his hand out to her, and she took it. They made their way to me, and I just stared at them confused.

"Th-th-there's a l-l-lot that n-ne-needs to b-be f-f-fixed. B-b-but you should s-s-still apo-p-p-pologize." I saw everyone give Michael a smile. He is still a little kid at heart, but that is a good thing sometimes. Apologizing isn't going to fix everything that has happened so far. But I guess it's a good place to start.

"Carter, Ethan, everyone. I'm really truly sorry for all the horrible things I have done to you all. If possible, I want to help you take down my parents."
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"I can't take this anymore." Marcus handed me a beer. All the guys were currently in the bar room, drinking all our worries away. Izzy was fast asleep, Jenny was reading in her room. Dad took Nick to his room to sleep, and Val and Alastor had called it a night too.

"To think parents would do that to their own children." Freddy took a big drink of his beer. Ethan and Mickey were the only ones just drinking soda. Mickey can't legally drink, and Ethan doesn't really like to. "Not even our birth parents would do something that fucked up. And you could see just how fucked up they were." He looked to Mickey, and Mickey nodded his head in agreement.

"Carter?" I felt Ethan place a hand on my shoulder. I took it, and kissed his hand. He held me from behind, and I enjoyed the warmth that started spreading over me. "Are you okay with all of this?" I turned to face my husband and my brothers. I have so much support, I'm not alone in this.

"Katherina and I have a lot of history, and not all of it is actually bad. The past few years, weren't the best between us. But I guess I can't rule everything out."

"I almost forgot she went to school with us." James had Mickey on his lap as he took a drink of his beer. I saw Mickey reach for it, and James push it further away. He pouted, and James kissed it away. I saw Freddy smile at them before taking another sip. "She was popular back then too, but she wasn't bitchy or stuck up."

"Thinking about it, she never really hung out with many people. She was either by herself, talking to me, or missing." We didn't say anything for a minute, and just sat there drinking in silence. I am learning more and more about the people around me. I'm discovering traits about them, that even they didn't know about themselves.

We called it a night, and all went to our rooms. Ethan knocked out the second we got to the room. He still has a bit of a hard time staying up so late at times. Looking at his peaceful face reminds me of the night my feelings for him came to the surface. And how I stole his first kiss while he was asleep. I smiled as I pushed some strands of hair away from his eyes. I walked out to the balcony in our room, and stared at the night sky. I could see the garden, the trees, stars, and a clear crescent moon. I did something I haven't done in a long time. I spoke to my mother. I pulled out the photo of her I keep in my wallet. Our matching blue eyes staring back at me, her smile the thing that made her even more beautiful.

"Mom. How I wish you were here. You would know what to do. I'm so tired mom, so freaking tired. I don't want anymore people hurting, I'm done with all this drama. My son, your grandson is trying to be taken away from me. His birth mother, who I thought was the devil in human skin, turned out to be trapped in her own hell this whole time. Mom, she hurt so many people, and did so many bad things. But the reason this is so hard, is because I see myself when I look at her. That's what made me go to her when we were younger. I guess that's why I find it so hard. In a way, we're the same." Hearing myself say that, didn't make this any easier. I have always felt this, I just didn't really want to admit it. I turned to look at my sleeping husband. I held the photo of my mother up, and smiled at the similar warmth I got looking at both of them. I need to finish this, and I'm gonna make sure no one else has to deal with this ever again.