Is there darkness in your own life? Do you feel trapped in a terrible situation or stuck in a cloudy storm and are you wondering when you are going to see the light? Do you feel hopeless sometimes?
DJ, instead of having dinner with his parents and little brother, went out to lunch with them instead. He was overjoyed for Kath, but he could understand why she was so nervous and scared - she'd waited since she was five years old for this moment, it was a life-changing operation even if it wasn't completely successful. He knew he'd be terrified for her when she was having the surgery, but he'd be right by her side until she woke up.
He walked into the diner, a small smile on his face when he saw his parents already sat at the table and his little brother got up from his seat and ran to him, hugging him tight and DJ hugged him back.
"Hey, Jordan!" DJ greeted, squeezing him for a moment before joining the table, sitting beside his brother and across from his parents and he leaned over the table to give them both a hug.
"This is a nice surprise! I wasn't expecting you until later." Karla said and DJ cracked a small smile, shaking his head.
"I can't come for dinner, so I thought we'd have lunch instead," DJ said simply, thankful that his Mom had already ordered their drinks and he had a coffee in front of him that he took a large gulp from.
"You have a date tonight?" Rommel teased, making Jordan laugh, and DJ chuckled.
"Not exactly... I'm celebrating tonight with Pamu, Marlann, my girlfriend, and her parents." DJ said and Karla's eyes widened.
"You have a girlfriend? Since when?!" Karla exclaimed, but she had a beaming smile on her face, and DJ chuckled.
"We went on a date last night and I guess sometime between then and this morning, it's... official," DJ said with a grin, just thinking about Kath. He didn't care about her disability, he didn't care if the surgery didn't work - even though he knew it would destroy her. He loved her for the person she was, not for any other reason.
"Do you have a picture?" Jordan asked and DJ pulled out his phone, scrolling through his pictures.
He knew that Kath didn't like having her picture taken very much since as she was self-conscious, something that had been ingrained in her because of her parents and how they treated her, but he found a picture he'd taken of her without her knowing about it and he turned his phone around to show his brother and then his parents, who were just as keen to see a picture of the girl who'd obviously stolen DJ's heart away.
"She's really pretty." Jordan complimented.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
"Her name's Kath... she's blind," DJ said, slightly nervous for his parents' reactions and he saw the shock cross their faces.
"She's blind?" Rommel repeated and DJ nodded.
"She was in an accident when she was five, and small bones in the backs of her eyes fell over the nerves and she can't see a thing... Jordan, go order the biggest sundae for us to share - who needs a balanced lunch?" DJ quickly said and Jordan was instantly up from the table, taking DJ's money to go and order but DJ turned back to his parents.
"This group of boys... threw rocks at her guide dog when the dog was in the backyard and Kath was out... he was an old dog, Kath only put him in the backyard so he could enjoy the sun, stretch his legs... and those bastards stoned her dog to death, and now she's at the bottom of a very long waiting list for another dog and I met her because a group of students locked her in the janitors' closet at university, saying they were guiding her to her next class... she broke something in her panic to try and get out, glass embedded in her hand... but I made her laugh even though she was shaking and in a lot of pain... I know we haven't known each other long, but I love her." DJ said and he could see that his parents were still in a state of shock, but it was more from what he'd told them had happened to her instead of the fact he was dating someone with a disability - they didn't care who their sons dated, so long as their boys were treated well and their boys treated them well too.
"And what are you celebrating? You haven't knocked the poor girl up already, have you?" Rommel said a small chuckle as Karla smacked him in the chest and DJ smiled - at that moment knowing they were completely supportive.
"No, she got some good news - she can have the surgery she needs to hopefully lift the bones that have fallen. It could restore her vision for the first time since she was five years old." DJ said, smiling as his parents instantly urged him to meet her, demanding that he tell them how the surgery goes.
=
"You know what I said about thinking they were... embarrassed by me?" Kath asked in a low voice, sitting on her bed in her room with her phone against her ear.
"Yeah." Marlann breathed.
"Let's just say... I dread to think what's going to happen if this surgery doesn't work." Kath choked out and Marlann sighed, completely heartbroken for her. She prayed the surgery worked, but only so she could get away from her parents.
