One of a Kind - A KathNiel Story

Chapter 78

Kath held onto Dylan a little tighter, having to remind herself how to breathe. "And, what... you're asking my permission to date this woman two weeks after we break up?" Kath asked and DJ sighed.

"No! Not permission, I just... wanted to tell you myself, so we didn't have a repeat of what happened before." DJ said softly, his eyes on his clasped hands that were on the table in front of him and Kath blinked back tears.

"Right... I'm happy for you, DJ. I-I hope you're all happy together." Kath said, standing up and DJ followed her lead.

"Hey, where are you going?" DJ asked and Kath shook her head.

"I'm going home."

"No! Don't go. Kath, please... I want us to spend more time together, I know you do too." He urged.

"I do, but I'm just... I don't feel great, I need to lie down." Kath mumbled and DJ's eyebrows creased together.

"You're looking pale... Kathryn, don't drive home. You've barely eaten anything either." DJ said, his tone serious.

"I'm fine, I'm just tired. Can you ask your parents to watch Dylan for tonight as well as Noah? I-I need to catch up on sleep." Kath pleaded and DJ nodded.

"Of course, but-" DJ cradled his daughter as Kath carefully handed her over to him, the baby girl instantly starting to whine and she pulled away from the bottle - she missed the contact with her Mom and could sense the change in the atmosphere around her.

"There should be a few bottles in the bag for her, I-I'll come and pick her up first thing in the morning and I'll call them later." Kath breathed, DJ grabbing her arm as she swayed slightly.

"Kath, I'm being serious right now. Sit your ass in that chair and have something to eat - you're ridiculously pale and you're swaying." DJ's voice was firm, going to force her to sit down but she pushed his hand off of her.

"Noah! Come say goodbye! I'm going home!" Kath called and Noah instantly jumped off of the swing that Jasmine had been pushing and he raced to Kath, hugging her tightly around her middle.

"No! Mommy, don't go home! Stay!" Noah pouted.

"I'm not feeling too good, monster, Mommy just has to go home and lie down for a little while. But you'll have fun tonight at Nana and Papi's house and Dylan will be there now too! I'll call you later, okay?" Kath promised and Noah nodded his head, pecking her lips as she leaned down to hug him.

"Feel better, Mommy." He whispered.

"Thank you, baby boy." She whispered back, kissing his hair and she stood up straight. DJ glared at her when he noticed her sway slightly at the movement, but she ignored him as she said goodbye to Karla and Rommel, shaking Jasmine's hand.

"Listen, before you go... I don't want things to be awkward between us." Jasmine said and Kath shook her head.

"Don't worry about it, it isn't." She breathed. "I'm happy for you."

"Thank you... I hope you feel better." Jasmine said and Kath just blew a final kiss to Noah, kissing Dylan goodbye before she walked back the way they had come.

She made it to the car, shutting the door and she couldn't stop herself from bursting into tears, burying her head in her hands. She had never felt so overwhelmed - the man she once thought she'd be marrying had cheated on her and was going on a date with the woman he cheated on her with and who also happened to be Noah's mother, she felt worse and worse every day in terms of her health and her mental state and she felt so alone. On top of all of that, she was a new mother to a tiny baby girl and that didn't help her get any rest. Her life just seemed to be stuck at high speed and she had no idea what to do to make it slow down. She just wanted it all to slow down, to give herself time to breathe.

Instead, she turned the key in the ignition and started to drive back to the hotel, taking the drive slowly because of how dizzy she was. She fell asleep on the bed almost instantly when she made it to her room and into bed, crying herself to sleep.

=

DJ looked down at Dylan, seeing nothing but Kath's features in their little girl who was close to tears in his arms.

"Is Kath okay?" Karla asked in a quiet voice so Noah wouldn't overhear and DJ hesitated before shrugging his shoulders.

"She won't talk to me and be honest," DJ said and Karla sighed.

"Then that's something you need to fix, Daniel, because that girl is suffering. It doesn't take a genius to figure that out - she's lost a lot of weight since I last saw her and that was only last week." Karla said in a low voice before walking away with Noah and DJ sighed, looking down at Dylan again - it terrified him that he knew that his Mom was right. Kath was suffering more than she'd ever tell him, more than she'd ever admit to herself.

"Is everything okay?" Jasmine asked, caressing Dylan's cheek but it just made the baby burst into tears.

"No... but I'm going to put it right tomorrow." DJ vowed.