Rightfully Mine

Chapter 16

"You're just the cutest boy there ever was. Yes, you are!"

I walked into the sitting room to find Julia holding Thomas in her lap. He was still much too young to laugh, but he always gave her the biggest smiles and would just squeal with glee when she played with him. I stopped and watched them, smiling.

Julia glanced up at me. "He looks just like you did, Kat."

"Really?" I asked.

"Mm hm. Same temperament too." She looked back at the baby. "Yes, you do!" She made a goofy face, causing him to squeal.

"All but the eyes, of course," she said, facing me again.

My smile faded.

"He has his father's eyes. But you already knew that, didn't you?" she asked, serious now.

I couldn't hold her gaze. "How long have you known?"

The day that I'd publicly claimed Thomas was almost two weeks ago. Julia was now the second person to tell me she knew the truth and I wondered who would tell me next.

"I suspected it all along," she said.

Alarmed, I looked back at her. "Is it that obvious?" If it was, what hope did I have of Jenny not finding out?

"It is to me," she said. "But probably not to everyone."

I prayed that was true.

"I'm your mother, Kathryn. I know you better than most people. I know how long and how much you loved John, and that you wouldn't throw everything away for just anybody. I saw the way John was looking at you when you claimed this baby, and the way he looks at you every time he sees you now." She sighed. "And then there's the way he looks at Thomas, as only a proud father would. There's the eyes, and the fact that you were pretty eager to get out of that house."

Her words made me feel foolish for thinking I'd ever be able to hide the truth. I bit my lip and didn't know what to say.

"You didn't need to lie to me, Kat. But I know why you did."

"I'm sorry," I said pathetically.

"This is all over now, right?" she asked. "It needs to be over."

"It is." I nodded. "I promise. It was a really big mistake."

"I knew it was a bad idea for you to live there," Julia said after a minute. She said it more to herself, as if she felt that she shared some of the blame in this.

I was attempting to figure out how to make her understand that she wasn't responsible in any way for my poor choices, when there was a knock at the door. Grateful for the distraction from this conversation, I went to see who it was.

When I opened the door, Andrew was waiting outside. I hadn't seen or heard from him since that day at church two weeks ago. I assumed that any further contact I had with him would have been accidental and brief. A visit like this was just about the last thing I would have expected.

"Hi." I said after a few seconds of staring at him in stunned silence.

"Can I talk to you?" He stiffly gestured for me to come outside. Understandably he didn't seem anything like his usual cheerful self, but I almost didnt recognize this grim, serious man.

"Um..." I swallowed nervously, wondering what he wanted. I doubted that he came all the way over here to tell me he never wanted to see me again. "Sure," I said quietly before peeking at Julia to make sure she didn't mind watching Thomas.

She nodded with a sympathetic cringe, and I turned to follow Andrew outside.

We walked for what felt like a very long time. Andrew didn't utter a word or even look at me. It was absolutely torturous. I was tempted to apologize, even just to break the deafening silence or to have something to do other than pathetically and blindly follow him, but I didn't dare. Andrew hadn't sought me out on a whim. He had a definite purpose in mind and I couldn't interfere with that to make myself feel better. Even if all he wanted was to yell at me and tell me what a terrible person I was. He deserved to be able to react to this however he wanted. He deserve closure.