Broken Lantern

Chapter Seven

When Kevin returns, he has both of my parents trailing behind him. My mom steps through the door with a huge "happy Grandma" smile plastered to her face. Daddy comes over and hugs me, telling me how happy he is for me. Mom and Elaine immediately start talking about pink dresses and ballet classes.

Kevin is standing beside my dad, a big grin on his face. He sees me looking and gives me a double thumbs up, and I can literally see the relief in his expression. He's ecstatic over being free of his burden of keeping such a big, unfair secret.

Brittany and Matt are talking about a baby shower when Britt suddenly stops and turns to me to ask, "What's her name?"

I look down and then back up at Kevin and smile. I turn to look at Brittany and Matt, telling her, "Dallas. Her name is Dallas." She smiles at me and nods, understanding why. "That's beautiful, Alice. I'm glad you decided to keep it for a girl too. Darry would have loved it."

Mom and Elaine excuse themselves after many hugs and kisses on the cheek. "We have so much to talk about, we're gonna go over to our house and talk over a hot cup of tea." Mom tells me as they're leaving.

Daddy kisses my forehead, whispering in my ear, "Another baby girl to spoil", and he follows them out the door.

Matt and Brittany stand up to take their food trash into the kitchen and tell us they're heading over to the hospital to see if they can do anything to help Jessica and they want to tell her about the baby if it's ok with me. Of course, I'm fine with them telling her. She shouldn't be the only one to not know now. And she could probably use some good news, something to lighten the mood a little.

When everyone is gone, and it's just Kevin and me, we sit down and turn the tv on, as usual for our evenings lately. But tonight, he doesn't sit across the couch from me, he scoots up close and puts his arm around me, pulling me into him. I pull my legs in and lean toward him, dropping my head on his shoulder. "I'm really sorry for letting it out like that, Alice. I honestly didn't mean to." He tells me and I can hear the regret in his voice.

"It's ok, really. I'm kind of glad I know actually", I reassure him. "And honestly, it doesn't hurt like I thought it would."

"Good, I'm so relieved to hear you say that because I feel like a heavy weight has been lifted off my chest. I hated knowing when your parents didn't even know."

We sit watching some comedy show that Kevin stopped on for a few minutes and I ask, "I wonder if Darry knows it's a girl?"

"Darry knows everything now, Alley. He's watching over you two, you can bet on it. He wouldn't let anyone stop him from getting to you, even in death." He says, and I know he believes it.

I snuggle up to him more and he leans in to smell my hair, trying to be smooth about it but I hear him.

I pull back and look at him, trying not to laugh. "Did you just smell my hair?" He looks horrified. "Um..." I can't help but laugh. And before I know what's happening, Kevin pulls me into him and kisses me, parting my lips with his, he moves his tongue around mine and his hands go to the back of my head, as he kisses me deeper.

It feels so nice. I let myself melt into him, kissing him back, and Darry's face flashes into my mind.

I pull away and jump up off the couch. Moving to the recliner, I sit down and put my face in my hands.

"Oh, God! Alice, I'm so sorry. Alley, please..." He's in front of me, kneeling down, both hands on my knees. "Alice, please, I'm so sorry. Say something, please."

"I think you need to go, Kev. I'm sorry. Please don't be angry." I tell him, barely loud enough for him to hear me, but he does. He stands up straight. He nods, understanding and turns to leave the house. But before he walks out the door, he turns to me, and I look up at him. His eyes are watery, his face is red and he's shaking a bit. "I'm really sorry, Alley. I would never hurt you on purpose."