Hearts Align

Chapter 5

Catherine stood on the pathway just looking at my daughter. It took her a second to snap out of it before Katie launched herself at her grandmother. She did the same thing her son did, wrapped her arms around Katie and just held on for dear life.

"She's so damn beautiful, Kiara." he said.

"She really is, she looks so much like you." I told him.

"Why would you think that I would take her away from you?" he asked.

"I know how your mother is and you know why I didn't tell you before."

"That's not gonna happen but I want to see her, be a part of her life. My mother does too."

"Of course, we'll have to work something out." I replied, trying to think of my daughter's best interest.

"Kiara, she's so beautiful." Catherine said when she walked over to us.

"Thank you, she looks like your son." I chuckled.

"Grandma, we share a name." she happily babbled.

"We do, that we do." she replied, looking over at me with tears in her eyes.

"We haven't gotten lunch yet, what do you say we go get something to eat?" I asked them.

"Absolutely." Catherine said.

We ended up at a fast food restaurant with kids play place. There are things that need to be said and although this isn't the best place for it, it'll have to do for now. As soon as we finished eating Katie ran off to the play place and I waited for the onslaught that was about to happen.

"How could you keep her from us?" Catherine asked.

"Jackson knows that and I'm sure he told you already." I replied.

"You should have told us." she argued.

"Why? So you could think and say that I was trying to trap your son into a relationship that he didn't want? Catherine, he didn't want kids back then and I was not going to force him into it. I did what was best for all of us." I said, trying to keep the peace.

"Mom, stop, I already told you all of this." Jackson said.

"Why didn't you mention her before?" she asked.

"I didn't know your son worked here and you didn't say anything either. My plan was to never tell you about her, you yourself told me that you're rarely here so I didn't think you would see her."

"And in the past two weeks?"

"I was trying to figure out the best way to handle all of this. My mom told me to just blurt it out but this isn't just any topic, its a child. I told her all about you and Jackson, I told her that you were both great doctors who saved people. I wanted my daughter to have someone to look up to but I wasn't gonna burden her with the Avery title so she has my last name."

"Burden?" Catherine asked.

"Yes, she's only a child who has no idea of the legacy that her last name entails and I want her to grow up as a normal child. I mean no disrespect but I want her to have a normal childhood, I want her to choose what she wants to be on her own with no expectations. She's a brilliant little girl, takes after her father there."

"What are you talking about? You're smart Kiara, you're super fucking smart." Jackson argued.

"I'm not putting myself down or anything but I worked hard for what I know, it didn't come easily to me. You have this innate intelligence that you just possess, she's like that. She just knows things sometimes, its hard to explain."