Finding Paradise

CHAPTER 4: SHATTERED DREAMS

Kai pulls her truck into the garage and unloads the cooler and beach bag from the back. She empties the water from the cooler and leaves the drinks in it for their road trip tomorrow. She unpacks the beach bag and notices Harry's shirt at the bottom and picks it up. *"I wonder what he smells like. No, that would be weird... but I bet he smells so good."* She lifts his shirt up to her nose and inhales his scent. *"A little musky, and a hint of sweetness. Gosh he even smells good. I can't believe I'm smelling his shirt."* She folds it and places it back into her beach bag.

She walks into her house and Dom greets her, purring and rubbing against her legs. She places the beach bag on the kitchen stool and bends down to scoop him up. "Hi Dom", she says, scratching him under his chin. "Did you enjoy your lazy day?" He responds by purring and licking her fingers. "Yeah, I had a pretty good day too", she says. Dom jumps down from her embrace and makes himself comfortable, obviously uninterested.

She hears her phone beep and fishes it out of the bag.

**Text from Leia: So... How was your day? Just saw Harry talking to Jus, he had a pretty big 😊 on his face!**
**Text to Leia: It was fun. We hung out and walked around town. Had lunch, went for a swim, then drove out to the bay. Gonna have dinner, wanna join us?**
**Text from Leia: Pulling a double, but I got tomorrow off. I'm down for road to Hana.**
**Text to Leia: Sweet! U bringing Jake? I think Jus said Brandy is coming.**
**Text from Leia: I'll ask him, he mentioned working on our deck, but I bet he'd want to do Hana instead.**
**Text to Leia: Cool, see u!**

Kai steps under the shower, letting the warm water wash away the sand and salt. She squirts some shampoo into the palm of her hand to wash the salt out of her scalp. As she conditions her hair she contemplates shaving and figures she might as well since she'll be in shorts again tomorrow.

Kai gets dressed in jeans and a comfortable t-shirt for dinner and sits at her kitchen island. She picks up her phone and dials a number. After two rings her call is answered. "Hi Mom", Kai says. "Are we ready for Sunday?"

"Yes, church first and then lunch at the beach. You're in charge of the drinks and cake."

"Okay, how's Nalu?"

"He's doing good, he can't wait to see you." Tears spring into Kai's eyes as she thinks of him.

"I can't wait to see him too. I'm going to Hana tomorrow with some of my work friends. But I'll call you when I get back."

"Okay, be safe. I love you."

"I love you too, Mom." Kai hangs up the phone and wipes away the tears from her eyes.

Three years ago, Kai's world came to a halt in a blink of an eye. Her memories take her back to that rainy night, the sounds of screeching tires and metal crunching against metal as the drunk driver slammed into their car. When she regained consciousness, Kai was in an operating room, with doctors and nurses shouting orders.

A few hours later she woke up in a recovery room. "Where's my husband?", she asked out loud. She heard quiet footsteps coming towards her. "Can you tell me what happened? Why am I in the hospital?" Her hands rested on her stomach and panic took over her mind. "Where's my baby?", she screamed. The footsteps she heard hurried over and she felt herself slipping into drowsiness as sleep took hold.

Kai woke up from her dream and collected herself. She reached for the call button and a few minutes later a nurse entered her room. "How are you feeling Mrs. Bryan?", the nurse asked.

"Sore", Kai said grimacing as she tried to get up. "Can you tell me what happened and why I'm in the hospital?"

The nurse finished checking her vitals and patted her on the leg. "I'll get you a pain pill and the doctor will be in to see you shortly. You also have a visitor who's been waiting to see you." She left the room and returned a few minutes later with a tiny white pill and a cup of water. Kai took both and settled in to get comfortable as another nurse wheeled in a basinette.

Kai immediately released a flood of tears as the nurse picked up the little bundle and brought it over to her. "Meet your son Mrs. Bryan", the nurse said as she placed him in her arms.

"Nalu", Kai breathed as she accepted him into her arms and smiled down at him. He immediately grasped her finger and her heart melted with his touch. "Has my husband seen him?", Kai asked as she looked up at the nurses. Before they could answer the doctor walked in.

"Mrs. Bryan", he said with a smile. "Good to see you awake. Your family will be happy to see you, and I'm glad you are bonding well with your little gentleman. He's been waiting all night and day for you."

"He's beautiful", Kai said as she smiled down at him. A knock at the door caught her attention and she looked up to see her mom and dad. She could tell that they had been here all night and that her mom had been crying. Another doctor entered the room and from the look on his face she knew the news wasn't good. The tears started to fall as she held her baby close to her chest.

They delivered the news as best as they could. The drunk driver hit them head on, when the EMTs arrived she had already gone into labor. Her husband was pinned in the car. They did everything they could to save him, and he fought as long as he could, he died shortly after their son was born. As their words sunk in she felt the room starting to spin. One of the nurses stepped forward and picked up the bundle from her arms. She tried to scream but nothing came out. She felt numb as she realized that her entire world had been shattered.

Kai brought herself back into the present. She buried her husband a year after they had been wed. She fell into a depression and granted her parents legal guardianship over their son. She spent every weekend with him and this Sunday they would be celebrating his third birthday, and his homecoming. Kai was ready to build the world that she and her husband dreamt of for their son. He was going to have a life filled with laughter and love.

Kai stood up and walked over to her husband's photo on the mantle. "I'll raise him to be the gentleman you were." She kissed her fingertips and placed it onto his photo.

Her phone beeped and she glanced down to see a text from Harry.
**Text from Harry: Ready for dinner?**

**Text to Harry: All set, pick u up in 15 minutes.**

**Text from Harry: Great! Can't wait to see u!**

*"I wonder what he would say if he knew the truth?"*

Kai grabbed her purse and keys and jumped into her truck. She shook her head as she started it up, *"He doesn't need to know. We're not dating, I'm just a tour guide for him."*