Your Everyday Hero

Chapter 8

16 years later
   As I'm sitting in the passenger seat appreciating the quiet, that we never get, I get the urge to pray, "Thank you, God. Thank you for my three healthy and beautiful children and thank you for my husband. Continue to watch over us and give us the strength to push through any of the obstacles life throws our way."
   When I open my eyes, I turn my head and admire my husband. He doesn't have his shaggy hair anymore, he started shaving it shortly after Krystalyn turned one when he started working at Orlando Waste Paper. Now he's slowly losing his hair, he likes to say it's because of the kids, but everyone knows the truth.
   "What? Why are you looking at me like that?" Hw says with a hint of a smile on his face.
   "I love you."
   "I love you too, babe." He reaches for my dainty child like hand and engulfs it with his big callused hand. I look back behind me to see the kids and it's hard to believe that we made them. We made these three gorgeous children. Krystalyn sits behind Kai, reading her newest book, transported into a new world. Beside her is our seven year old, Adam, staring intently at his iPad while playing Angry Birds. Then behind them is our thirteen year old, Daniel, with his headphones blaring music and staring out the window. To actually think that these three human beings were made by me and Kai, blows my mind every day.
   "Are you ready to see Aunt Kelsey and Aunt Annie, Adam?"
   Adam yells, "Yeah! I can't wait to see Travis and Connor and Max and Penelope! I missed them sooooo much, Mommy!"
   I laugh at Adam's goofy little grin, he gets when he gets really excited. I could stare at his goofy little grin all day long.
  Travis and Connor are Annie's two handsome little boys. Travis is 5 years old and Connor is 3 years old. Then Kelsey's children, Max is a month older than Connor and Penelope is only 5 months old.
   Me and the girls have come a long way since Daddy passed away. The girls dealt with a lot as children, especially with their mother being an alcoholic and a drug addict. Popping pills to numb the pain she felt after my dad passed away and drinking to forget the memories.
   During those years, she wasn't a mother. Me and Kai took care of Krystalyn, Kelsey, and Annie when we were only 17 years old. We were forced to be adults, whether we were ready or not.
   Then, Kai's dad passed away a few months after my dad. We both had anger in our hearts and didn't know what to do with it. Since we didn't know what to do with it, we took it out on each other. We argued constantly and I was terribly afraid this was going to be the end for us. I knew I had to move on and so did he, if we wanted to be happy.
   Before I truly accepted my dad's death, I always asked God, "Why did you take him? You took him from me and gave me this baby, why?" At the time I thought that was God's way of punishing me. He took away the one person I loved most in the world and replaced it with a baby. Then I realized, he replaced him with a baby who I love more than life itself.
   Once we got through the deaths of both of our fathers, we had to deal with my mom. She was out of control. She brought random men into my dad's house around the girls that even she barely knew. All she worried about at that time was when she was going to get high or drunk again. She didn't care about the safety of the two most precious beings in this world.
   During those years of that wild behavior, she was baker acted several times and was even in hospice at one point. She was near death and still craved the taste of alcohol and the feeling of a high. Now 16 years later, she's still an addict and she always will be, but she takes much pride in her grand babies.
   When we pull into the driveway of Annie's house, a smile appears on my mother's face and love fills her cool green eyes as she sits on the porch with a cigarette between her fingers and see three of her grandchildren exiting the car. I use to have a lot of hate for her in my heart and I thought I could never forgive her, but then I quickly realized the hatred in my heart did no good for me or her. If anything it hurt us more.
   Kai on the other hand is another story. The only reason he even engages in anything involving my mom is because of me. After he saw first hand how my mother was towards me, he lost any and all respect he had for her. He becomes livid anytime the topic gets brought up.
   As I walk up to the porch, I hear my mom talking to Krystalyn about school and I can hear just how proud she is to hear about another semester of straight As. It shines in her just how proud she is of Krystalyn's hard work.
   Her attention quickly turns to me and Kai as she sees us walking up the driveway "Hey, guys! How have ya been?"
   Kai just grunts a hello and quickly walks inside to join the others.
   As I bend down to hug her I reply with a smile on my face, "Hey mama. I've been good. I started my diet again."
   "Aw that's good, baby! You look great!"
   "Thanks, mom! I'm going to go in here and say hi to Kelsey and Annie. I'll talk to you later."
   "Okay, baby." She gives me a soft smile and turns back to enjoy the view.
   After I got pregnant with Krystalyn, I gained a lot of weight and lost a lot of self esteem. I wasn't happy with myself and because of it I questioned Kai's love for me. I always worried he'd decide one day he wouldn't want me anymore and leave me. It was something that plagued my mind all the time. I tried diets and exercises multiple times and I never stuck to them, but this time I am. I want to lose the weight to be happy and live a long life with my family.
  "Aunt Cora!" Travis yells as he runs at me from the leaving room.
  "Hey, little man! What's up?" I scoop him up in my arms and give him a big squeeze.
   "Come look at my legos!"
   "Hold on, baby. I'm going to see your mommy and Aunt Kelsey real quick," he takes me by the hand and leads me through the living room to the kitchen. As I pass through I get grunts from Annie's husband, Roger and Kelsey's husband, Randy, they're too distracted by the football game occurring to say hello.
   As always when the girls see me they both simultaneously say, "Cora!"
   "Hey! What are you two doing?"
   "Kelsey is showing me her homemade Oreo balls."
   I give Kelsey an amusing look and say, "Oh, yummy. They look like diabetes in a ball."
   Me and Annie laughed as Kelsey got upset, "Well since you want to talk shit about them, then don't eat them. Won't hurt my feelings none!" She snatches the container of the counter and tosses them into the refrigerator.
   "We're messing with you Kelsey, lighten up!" I push her lightly on the shoulder and give her my best smile.
   "Oh be qu-" Kelsey starts to reply and is rudely interrupted by one very impatient 5-year-old.
   "Aunt Coraaaaaaaaa! Come on!" Travis starts pulling roughly on my arm.
   "Okay, okay, okay! I'm coming," I turn to my sisters, "I'll be right back. He wants me to see his legos."
   Annie starts laughing, "He has been waiting all day to show you his legos. He kept asking me when you would get here."
•••
   After I could finally escape from the multiple different figurines Travis built with his legos, I return back to the kitchen.
   As I walk into the kitchen, I see Krystalyn sitting at the kitchen table reading her book, more engulfed in it than ever. I decide to go join my sisters' conversation, rather than disturb Krystalyn's reading.
  "Look at that bookworm over there. She is always reading!" Annie states.
   "Yeah, that's probably her second book in the last three days."
   "Wow. I wish I could read like that. I just get sleepy when I read." Kelsey chimes in.
   As if she knew we were talking about her, she looks up at us and gives us a small smile while shaking her head at us, obviously amused. We all couldn't stop laughing when we realized we got caught.
   Then as Krystalyn returns to her book, I went to help finish the potatoe salad for the Fourth of July barbecue as the girls ogled over the new ring Kai got me for our wedding anniversary.
   "Oh my lord! Cora, that's gorgeous!" Annie says with her chubby fingers wrapped around my hand.
   I replied with a proud smile on my face, "Thank you! I wasn't expecting it at all."
   "I still can't believe you guys got married 15 years ago today," Kelsey says.
   "I know! It still feels like just yesterday Krystalyn was just a little toddler learning how to walk." I say in disbelief.
   "Remember that time when she was still holding onto stuff while walking and she accidentally grabbed a cup and it was full? She dumped the entire thing all over her head!" Kelsey and I couldn't help the laugh that ripped from our throats, as Annie recalled the story.
   "Oh man! She was so upset and scared. She was crying so hard and screaming so loud!" Kelsey says through the tears of laughter. I was laughing so hard it was hard to breathe. Once, I finally caught my breath, I stood there just staring at my sisters admiring their gorgeous faces.
•••
   Once the food was done, everyone was gathered in the kitchen trying to get food as fast as they could. The kids weren't concerned with eating, they just wanted to play.
   After everyone was seated outside in their lawn chair, I took a minute to appreciate each of my sisters' little family they made. Annie feeding Penelope while Roger was trying to convince Max to at least eat a bite of his potato salad, but it didn't seem like he was going to budge. Kelsey sitting next to Randy enjoying their meal while their kids sit in front of them, mesmerized by the colorful fireworks lighting up the sky. Then there's me with my wonderfully handsome husband and my three gorgeous children.
   After I get comfortable in my chair and place my hand inside Kai's warm hand, out of the corner of my eye I catch my daughter staring at me with a certain look in her eye that I can't quite describe. I turn my head slightly and smile at her. I give my attention back to the fireworks and push the nagging question into the back of my mind. Why was she staring at me?