Remember Me

Chapter 7

Brian walked in the door that night after work yet again being greeted by the smell of something amazing being cooked by Rachel. He smiled to himself as he kicked off his shoes. He could definitely get used to this.

"Hey!" Rachel smiled when she saw Brian enter the kitchen.

"Hey!" He answered going into the fridge and pulling out a beer only to have it immediately ripped out of his hand by Rachel.

"Still no drinking." She reminded and put it back in the fridge. Brian frowned and settled for a bottle of water instead. "So how was your day?" Rachel asked standing back over at the stove to check on dinner.

"It was good, nothing special." He shrugged leaning back against the counter. "How 'bout you?"

"Nothing special." She mocked with a smirk.

Brian playfully rolled his eyes as he took a sip from his water.

"Where's Kas?" He questioned noticing she wasn't in the same spot she was last night.

"In the living room watching tv with the cats." Rachel told him.

"My kid, cats, and tv? Sounds like my kinda party." He abandoned the kitchen and walked into the living room where he found Kassi and the three cats curled up on the couch watching cartoons. "Hey Kassi." He greeted kissing the top of her head before coming around and sitting next to her on the couch.

"Daddy guess what I did today!" She asked excitedly.

"What did you do today?" He asked meeting her excitement.

"I made a paper airplane and it flew all the way across the room!" She exclaimed, sitting up on her knees from excitement.

"You did!?" He said slightly exaggerating his excitement.

Truth was, he could watch her face light up like that all day long. He sat there smiling as she proceeded to tell him about the her day and all the things she did in school. His heart swelled as he watched her laugh and smile at her own stories. He forgot what it as like to be so young and innocent, finding everything to be so amazing.

"Guys! Dinner's ready!" They heard Rachel call out.

"Come on sweetie." Brian instructed as he grabbed Kassi's hand and led her off the couch and into the kitchen. "Wow." Brian exclaimed. "This looks amazing." He commented taking a seat at the table.

"Thanks." Rachel winked making him smile.

They all dug into their food and as they did Brian couldn't help but smile. This was not a family that had quiet, awkward dinners. They all shared stories from their days and talked about random things, stopping to share a few laughs every once in a while. He didn't know having a family could be so fun and relaxed. Had he known that then maybe he wouldn't have gone pretty much his entire life thinking this was something he never wanted.

Brian sat smiling at Kassi while she attempted to tell a joke she had learned when Rachel glanced over at him. She noticed the look of love on his face as he looked at his daughter. He always used to look at her that way, from the moment she was born. Things may have been different but the love Brian has for his little girl would never change. And no memory loss will ever make a difference.

***

"Can daddy read me a bedtime story?" Kassi asked, giving her mom her best puppy dog eyes.

The same puppy dog eyes that mimicked Brian's.

"Course I can." Brian interrupted as he came out of the guest bedroom.

"Good luck in there. She takes 20 minutes just to pick a fucking book." Rachel laughed as she brushed past Brian in the hallway.