One of a Kind - A KathNiel Story

Chapter 76

Kath tucked Noah in later on that night, after having given him a bath and read him a story. "Dylan might wake you up here, monster, so I'm sorry if she does," Kath said, running her fingers through his hair.

"I don't mind, she's only a baby," Noah said and Kath smiled, leaning down and kissing his head.

"You're the best big brother in the world, Noah Padilla." She breathed. "I'll just be in the living room if you need anything, okay? You know where my bedroom is if I'm not there." She said and Noah nodded, hugging Leo to his chest as he closed his eyes, getting comfortable in the bed that was brand new to him - he'd never slept in a double bed before but Kath had used the extra bedding that the hotel provided to act as padding on the floor if he were to roll out.

"Love you, Mommy."

"I love you too, monster." Kath kissed him again before walking out of the room, shutting the door but he had a lamp on in the bedroom to act as a nightlight. She smiled when she saw that Dylan was wide awake in her bouncer chair, cooing to herself. "Hey, gorgeous girl... you having fun entertaining yourself?" Kath cooed, using her foot as she sat on the couch to make the chair bounce and she laughed at the look of shock that came over Dylan's face. "Oh my goodness, baby girl! The chair moves!" She played along, using her foot still to make the chair bounce but she made sure not to be too rough or fast and it was clear that Dylan liked the movement, her cooing slowing down as she started to drift off to sleep, not even stirring as Kath's phone rang and she answered it when she saw it was Liza. "Hey." She answered.

"Hey! So, you're going out with DJ's family and his ex to the zoo on Saturday?" Liza questioned and Kath groaned, running her fingers through her hair.

"I'm crazy, I know." She mumbled.

"This is the woman he cheated on you with, K... it's only been just over a week since you broke up! Are you sure you're ready for this?" Liza asked and Kath sighed, keeping her eyes on her sleeping daughter but she kept the chair gently bouncing to soothe her baby girl.

"I don't have much of a choice... Noah needs more than just DJ there when he meets Jasmine and... and he's my son, I'll do anything for him. I just... I need to move on." Kath said simply and Liza took in a deep breath.

"As long as you're sure. Enrique's son is so cute, he's been flooding the group chat with pictures of him - did you see?" Liza asked and Kath let out a laugh, shaking her head.

"No, I was spending time with the kids, but I'll look later. Did he tell you what happened with Alex's Mom?"

"The car accident? Yeah, he told me - it's pretty harsh. But hey, maybe if you stay friends with Enrique for that long, you can relate to Alex on some level? You lost your Mom through a car accident."

"Yeah, but my Mom was high and drunk when she smashed into a tree. An idiot driver didn't run a stop sign and hit her like what happened to him." Kath said, running her fingers through her hair. "I don't know, I guess I'm just... tired of being everybody's support system."

"I'm sorry, K, that was a dumb thing for me to say anyway. You need anything?" Liza offered and Kath shook her head.

"I'm fine, just tired. Love you."

"Love you too," Liza said, the two of them saying their goodbyes to each other before they hung up with each other and Kath turned off the TV.

"Come on, baby girl, Mommy needs to go to bed," Kath whispered, carefully lifting Dylan out of the bouncer chair and the baby girl whined but curled into Kath but she stayed sound asleep which let Kath swaddle her and place her in the crib at the side of her bed before she changed into an oversized shirt and some shorts for bed. It didn't take long for her to fall asleep, it happened almost instantly as her head hit the pillow.

"Mommy." A little voice made her startle awake and she fumbled on the nightstand, turning on the lamp and she winced at the light but saw Noah stood beside her between the bed and the crib. She could see that Dylan was still sleeping, so it couldn't have been too long since she fell asleep herself.

"Noah... sweetie, are you okay?" She asked and Noah shrugged his shoulders, clutching Leo to his chest.

"Can I sleep with you?" He asked quietly and Kath nodded her head, letting him climb up into the bed beside her and she wrapped her arms around him as he cuddled up with her.

"You wanna talk about why you're upset, monster?" Kath asked softly, kissing his head.

"I'm scared to meet Jasmine again." He whispered and Kath held him closer, giving him a gentle squeeze.

"You don't have to be scared, Noah, ever... you'll have all of us with you this time, we'll have fun." Kath promised and Noah nodded, the two of them falling asleep together.