One of a Kind - A KathNiel Story

Chapter 33

Teddy shut the door once they were both inside the office. It was obviously Rommel's, Kath knowing that he was a well-respected lawyer before he retired and Karla still worked as a nurse. The walls had built-in bookcases and the couches looked well worn, but they fit perfectly in the dark wood room. The curtains were drawn and the lighting was somewhat dim because of the dark furnishings, but Teddy could still see that his daughter was in tears.

"I can't believe I came in here believing you." Kath choked out.

"I am sober!" He urged, going to take her hands but she took a step away from him.

"I'm not stupid, I know those scars on your arms are new! You're doing drugs! After everything that's fucking happened since before I was even born... Mom dying because she was too high and drunk to even know what the fuck she was doing behind the wheel of a car, and you get arrested once a month for how shitty of a person you are when you're drunk... I was terrified to go on every tour I went on, thinking I'd come back to a father who's finally drunk himself to death or overdosed because you're too tolerant to drugs. Do you really think that's the kind of grandfather I want my kids to have? I work so hard every day to keep my own sobriety, I don't understand why you don't seem to care enough to even try." Kath said, tears streaming down her face and Teddy sank down into one of the armchairs.

"I do care."

"You have a funny way of showing it... I'm done, I want you to leave and if you have any shred of love for me at all, you'll do as I ask." Kath said, going to leave but she yelped when Teddy grabbed hold of her arm and he made her look at him.

"I want to get help, Kath, you have to believe me."

"Why should I believe you now? I've heard it a dozen times before, you're using drugs-"

"I haven't touched drugs for four days!" Teddy said, but he sighed when Kath rolled her eyes. She didn't want to celebrate the fact that her father hadn't used heroin for four days, not when he'd done it before dozens of times and never stuck to it, no matter how much help Kath personally paid for and begged to get for him. "Kath, I... I want to be a good grandfather, I want to be there for you in the pregnancy and for my grandbaby... and for Noah, too! I know how you think of him as your own. I want to be there for you and I can't do that when I'm high and drunk." Teddy urged, his eyes locked on hers and Kath hesitated.

"How did you get the money for drugs and alcohol?"

"M-My friends bought it for me." Teddy mumbled.

"They're not your friends." Kath said simply, pulling her arm free of his grasp. "I'll believe you want to get help when you prove it and you stick to it... because, until then, my kids are coming nowhere near you. They're not growing up like I did, terrified to be home." Kath said, going to open the door but Teddy's voice made her freeze.

"You were terrified to be at home?" Teddy choked out and Kath looked back at him.

"Of course I was... you were both too out of it to look after me, I'd go to bed hungry and get punished for no reason if I just made a noise and you got worse when Mom died... grandma raised me and I miss her so much, she made me the woman I am today - not you, not Mom... and she died just a year before she could see me be the happiest I've ever been, with DJ and with Noah... with a baby on the way and I'm still having to beg you to be a father and I still can't trust a word that comes out of your mouth." Kath said, wiping away tears but more kept falling anyway.

"I want to put that right... I need to put this right, Kath, and I promise you that I'll prove it to you this time - for your sake and Noah... a-and the baby." Teddy breathed.

"I can't take you breaking another promise, Dad." Kath choked out, her eyes locked on him.

"You won't have to." He vowed, locking his arms around her as she threw her arms around his neck. He kissed her shoulder as their tears soaked into each other. "I love you so much, I'm so sorry... I'm so sorry, but I'm going to put it right. I'll be clean, I'll be sober way before this baby arrives. You'll see." Teddy vowed and Kath just held onto him tighter, closing her eyes but more tears kept falling anyway.

"I love you too, Dad." She breathed, the two of them holding onto each other impossibly tighter and even though it was making Kath's shoulder ache painfully, she didn't want to let go of Teddy. It was the first time she ever felt truly safe in his arms.