by 
STORY DESCRIPTION:
Discovering another woman with her fiancé when Kaleigh arrives home a day early, Kaleigh hurries from the apartment. Shocked and hurt, Kaleigh soon finds a stranger’s kindness helping her through the ordeal. With the courage the woman named Gwen has given her, Kaleigh is able to quickly face her unfaithful fiancé as well as the other woman, who is still in the apartment. In doing so, with Gwen having encouraged Kaleigh to believe that the matter might have a different explanation, Kaleigh learns the harsh truth of just how wrong Gwen is regarding the pain Kaleigh faces.
STORY BEGINS HERE:
The first thing Kaleigh noticed when she entered her apartment was a coat draped over her couch, a woman’s coat. Kaleigh wasn’t that woman. Setting her suitcase and overnight bag down near the door, she slowly moved toward the noise she heard coming from her bedroom. She watched as a woman who Kaleigh didn’t know, dressed only in a T-shirt of Kaleigh’s fiancé Michael, walked from the bedroom. Taking a few steps down the hallway, the unknown woman called to the person in the bathroom.
“Michael?” The woman paused a second waiting for a response, but the running shower apparently drowned out her intent of being heard. It was then that the woman caught sight of Kaleigh now anchored by the front door. Looking into her own bedroom through the now-open door to the bed, Kaleigh knew this woman had shared that bed with Kaleigh’s soon to be ex-fiancé, Michael. The stunned look on the woman’s face matched the stunned feeling residing in Kaleigh’s heart.
“Um, uh…. you must…. you must be Kaleigh,” the woman awkwardly stammered out. These were words that deepened the wound for Kaleigh, for the woman was obviously aware that Michael was involved with Kaleigh. Yet, the woman was still here. As the shock had not lessened for Kaleigh, she remained motionless. “Kaleigh, I had asked Michael to tell you about me, and…..and he was going to when you got back. He said you wouldn’t be here until tomorrow.” Kaleigh finally found her voice, a determined, sarcastic voice.
“Yes, I can see how this is my fault. I’m totally sorry for putting you in such an embarrassing situation. How thoughtless of me.” The woman cringed and replied, “I can imagine what’s going through your mind, Kaleigh. Let me get Michael out of the shower, so we can talk about this.” Realizing that the discovery that Michael was being unfaithful explained how distant he’d been toward Kaleigh lately. The cryptic nature of the phone call she received from him yesterday caused her to cut her work trip short so they could talk. She was resolute in not wanting to talk now.
“Don’t bother. He is one of two people I have no interest in talking to at the moment, if ever. Can you guess the other person? Just give him this message for me.” With that said, Kaleigh tried to remove her engagement ring. After a third, strenuous attempt failed, she surrendered to not being able to throw the ring at the other woman in a rage. Now more distraught than she already was, Kaleigh began to cry.
Struggling to talk, “I hope you two are very happy together,” was all that came out. She turned and was through the door, slamming it behind her to the other woman beseeching Kaleigh to not leave. At that point, Michael rushed out of the bathroom. “Was that Kaleigh?” came his worried question. “Yes. Michael, you should have told her about me before this.” “I know, Sara. I just didn’t know how to bring it up to her. I don’t want to hurt her.” Sara seemed to be the only one of the two aware they were far past hurting Kaleigh.
—– 1 —–_____________________________________________________________________________________
“Well, she is hurt and at this point, nothing either one of us says to her is going to matter much.” She said this as he picked up his cell and called Kaleigh. Both Michael and Sara realized at matching moments he wouldn’t reach Kaleigh as her ring tone sounded in her purse that she had left with her suitcase and overnight bag.
Kaleigh hurried the three stories down the stairs to the outside and onto the sidewalk, the warming day breathing into her as she emerged into the daylight. She paced back and forth for half a minute, with her arms folded in constraint to keep her from punching the wall of the apartment building. Finally leaning back against that wall, she forced herself to not slump to the ground. Her distressed appearance had been noticed by the few people walking by, which caused them to hurry their pace to be past her. Humanity at its most self-concerned. As she began to cry in earnest, the next passer-by didn’t keep walking.
The woman had been shopping. Expertly maneuvering the thin-handled bags of three department stores into her one hand, she extended her free hand to touch Kaleigh on the arm. “Can I help?” she calmly asked. Her tone was sincere and just being asked helped Kaleigh already. “I’m fine. I’ve just had a bit of a shock. I’ll be okay.” The woman studied Kaleigh, finding a vague familiarity that quickly lost the label of vague.
“You’ll be okay? Well, you’re a horrible liar, which I’ve always found comforting in a person. So, here’s the deal. I’m a psychologist, so I react hands-on to people who are emotionally upset. Why don’t we sit down for a few minutes somewhere and let me help you sort through whatever it is you’re dealing with?” Kaleigh was touched by this stranger’s generosity and also was able to admit she needed someone to talk to.
She had planned on going to her sister’s the moment she left the apartment, but the logistics of that possibility immediately put that plan on hold. Once out to the street, she realized she had left everything that would be useful to that purpose in the apartment. “Well, we can’t go to what will soon be my ex-apartment because that is where my ex-fiancé is with her. God, she was wearing the Lake City Lancers T-shirt I bought him. Unfortunately, the apartment is where my purse is, with my cell phone and wallet. And so that I don’t seem too self-involved, thank you for your concern. You’re very kind and….. I find that comforting in a person.”
The other woman seemed uneasy hearing this and moved quickly past it. “I’m Gwen, by the way.” Kaleigh smiled and held out her hand. “Kaleigh. And unless I can remove this damn engagement ring from my finger and pawn it, I am currently penniless.” Not seeing Kaleigh’s current lack of buying power as an issue, Gwen surveyed the area.
To the near cross street was where she found the solution to a location. “I see a coffee shop on the one corner and a bar on the opposite corner. Pick your magic potion, caffeine or alcohol.” After Gwen sent a quick text to inform someone that she would be a little late, the women put themselves in motion in the direction of which location Kaleigh chose.
—– 2 —–_____________________________________________________________________________________
Kaleigh verbalized her decision as they walked. “I really want to have a drink, but I’ll tell myself one won’t be enough, plus it’s only 10 A.M. I also have to face them soon to get my stuff and I want a clear mind, so coffee it is. Nothing like caffeine to keep the rage fueled.” They found a table near the window after getting their orders at the counter. Gwen was a modernish mocha latte and Kaleigh an old-soul black with two sugars. Kaleigh felt more composed now, her mind shifting to solution mode. She’d let her mind run the show for the time-being to avoid the coming deluge of pain once the anger was burned away.
If the woman was still there when Kaleigh returned, Kaleigh would simply get her purse and bags where she left them and leave. If Michael was alone, she promised herself he would not see her angry or how hurt she was. He didn’t get to alleviate his guilt by trying to make Kaleigh feel better. Perhaps still in shock, Kaleigh hoped to be at her sister Kara’s by the time it all sunk in. As kind as Gwen was being, Kaleigh knew she was fast approaching needing her big sis. My god, Kara will castrate him! Kaleigh realized/thought.
“Thank you for this, Gwen. And I don’t just mean you buying me coffee. It’s important to me that I’m not perceived as this needy mess, so I will now shift the focus onto you while my subconscious deals with my situation. How long have you been married?” Kaleigh had seen the subtle wedding band and the understated engagement ring on Gwen’s left hand. With Gwen approximately in her mid-to late thirties, Kaleigh anticipated an answer perhaps in years, but was mistaken.
“Six months just last week,” Gwen happily replied, with her training insisting that the focus needed to remain on Kaleigh. But Kaleigh persisted in not being regarded as a victim. “So, are you planning on kids?” The question was a difficult one for Kaleigh to ask. What surprised her was that it seemed to be a difficult one for Gwen to answer. Not in a ‘Yes’ or ‘No’ way, but that the question made Gwen uncomfortable.
“Gwen, I’m so sorry. It’s just a connection I make when I get around people that just got married. I should know, better than most, how much an intrusion that is. Again, I’m sorry.” To say why the question made Gwen uncomfortable wasn’t something Gwen could reveal to Kaleigh, but it provided Gwen with her desired change of direction. “Kaleigh, it’s okay. We’re actually trying now for a baby. There’s a significant factor that needs to be discussed, something connected from the past, but if I may ask, why would you know better than most?”
A reluctant Kaleigh sipped her coffee and sighed before answering. “I… I can’t conceive. I had some medical issues when I was younger. But I love children. We planned on adopting, but now…….” Gwen carefully wanted Kaleigh to understand that she needed to hold out for hope. “Maybe there’s a….. I don’t know….” Gwen unconvincingly began, paused and began again. “Maybe there’s a reason why that woman was there that has nothing to do with Michael being unfaithful and that he is still the man you believe him to be.”
If nothing else, this left Kaleigh curious. At least, she could finally smile. “I think I have to accept what you’ve just said was as someone being a friend. I don’t think such an unrealistic scenario is something you’re allowed to convey as a psychologist.” Gwen smiled, happy and inspired how Kaleigh was coping with this situation. It showed an emotional strength that so many others lacked, a general lack in the populace that did, however, keep Gwen safely successful in her therapy practice back home.
—– 3 —–_____________________________________________________________________________________
“You’re right, Kaleigh. It is unrealistic, so it was said as a friend. And as new a friend as I am, and judging by how you seem to be at the moment, why don’t we go to your apartment and get your stuff. I’d feel better knowing that you got what you needed and got out of there, at least for now. You don’t owe them anything as far as talking to them. Then you can figure out what you want to do.” Kaleigh liked the plan and was again reminded by Gwen’s generous offer that there were excellent people in the world.
“I really would prefer not going back to the apartment alone. But don’t you have to be somewhere? Who did you text?” Gwen smiled her reply. “The ball and chain. We’re in town meeting some more new in-laws for me. It…can…wait.” Kaleigh giggled lightly, ignoring the sudden distant thought in her mind that she missed something about what Gwen had said to this point. “Okay, then. We’ll go get my stuff and get out of there. If you want, I’ll go with you to meet the in-laws. We’ll tell them I’m a patient out on a field trip. And I offer going with you to make me appreciate that I’ll never have to deal with any in-laws of my own.”
Gwen’s smile was half from sympathy for Kaleigh. As they departed the coffee shop, Gwen realized what needed to be discussed from a clinical standpoint. “So, you’re certain this is over?” Gwen let Kaleigh’s hesitation in answering take root in her own mind. “Yeah. I mean, I don’t know that even if it’s something I can forgive him for if it’s something I can forget. I thought we were immune to the things that keep other people from being together for the rest of their lives.” Even as she said this, Kaleigh again felt the pull of having missed something that Gwen had said.
As they reached the building, they paused. Gwen needed to adjust her shopping bags and Kaleigh needed to adjust her waning courage. Going to the apartment seemed much easier at the coffee shop. Gwen would give Kaleigh all the time she needed. In the few, silent moments, what emerged seemed as far away from what was occurring yet still remained connected. It was Kaleigh speaking. Hearing what she said aloud brought her closer to what she was trying to draw together in her mind regarding something Gwen had said that Kaleigh had missed.
“Michael was actually married once. It was a long time ago, twelve years. They were only 20 and they realized they wanted different things. I guess he still wants different things.” Gwen watched Kaleigh’s eyes glass over then, her divided mind only partly there now. For Gwen, she interpreted Kaleigh’s distracted mind as a natural expectation, unaware of what Kaleigh was actually trying to resolve in her mind.
They entered the building and then the elevator. Kaleigh watched Gwen reach for the buttons, strangely anticipating the floor number that Gwen would push, but Gwen’s hand stopped and hovered next to the panel, looking back to Kaleigh, who supplied the floor number. “Oh, um, three.” The doors shut and the short journey was made in silence. Stepping out of the elevator first, Gwen pivoted to wait for Kaleigh to lead the way.
—– 4 —–_____________________________________________________________________________________
It was left and then a quick right and down to 327. Kaleigh remained preoccupied and reluctant to knock. Assuming it was because Kaleigh was concerned about seeing Michael and the other woman again, Gwen patiently waited once more. It was then that Gwen learned more than the obvious was troubling Kaleigh.
“I don’t remember telling you his name is Michael before you used it. You said his name in the coffee shop and I didn’t say it until we got back here,” Kaleigh said in a tone equally accusing as curious. Gwen’s reaction wasn’t one of guilt, but regret. She did not try to dance around being caught. “I’m so sorry I didn’t tell you who I am right away. I’m not sure if you would have talked to me if I did. I just can’t emphasize enough that Michael is not cheating on you. He loves you so much and I can say that after only meeting him last night. I know I’m asking you a lot to trust me, but you need to go into the apartment and not just to get your things.”
Kaleigh, still dealing with the shock of less than an hour ago, realized the added shock seemed to be keeping her upright. “So, you’ve known who I am the whole time, which means it wasn’t a random act of kindness when you stopped.” Gwen was distraught, her deception one of necessity, but not Gwen’s first impulse. “If I have any honor in this, it’s that I didn’t know who you were at first. I stopped because I saw how upset you were, and then I recognized you from your pictures……..in the apartment.” Christ, Gwen had been in the apartment!
“I want to believe you, Gwen. I need to believe you. I need something to not be a lie today.” An unwanted possibility entered Kaleigh’s awareness. “Oh, god. Is your name really Gwen? Are you really a psychologist?” Gwen heard the desire in Kaleigh’s voice to hear those questions answered in the affirmative, which Gwen did with a smile to punctuate her reply. “Yes, and Yes.”
“So, you obviously know the other woman. How?” Gwen held up her left hand and wiggled her ring finger. Shocked once more, but in a way that was not destructive, Kaleigh asked with a lifted tone, “She’s your ball and chain?” That Gwen and the unnamed woman were married started to form that ‘unrealistic reason’ for Kaleigh that she had dismissed as non-existent. It would explain how she found a barely-dressed woman in her apartment and it somehow didn’t mean that her fiancé was unfaithful.
“Yes. And we are in town for me to meet her family, although it’s not the biggest reason. We live on the West Coast, so the ceremony was very small. It also gave a few people a little time to accept the idea. But, since it’s obvious that it’s Sara that knows Michael, I would rather have them explain to you why Sara and I spent last night here.” Kaleigh caught the slight inflection in Gwen’s voice when she said ‘Sara’ out loud.
“Sara? Her name is Sara? I’m guessing it’s not just a coincidence that Sara is the name of Michael’s first wife.” Gwen hoped that Kaleigh would not connect that here in the hallway, but it confirmed that one of the many fine qualities of Kaleigh’s that Michael spoke glowingly of last night was Kaleigh’s keen mind. “Yes, that Sara. Kaleigh, I truly meant you no harm. It was Sara I texted before we went to the coffee shop.”
Gwen pulled out her phone and retrieved the text. Handing the phone to Kaleigh, Kaleigh read the screen. I’m with Kaleigh. You two are buttheads! We’ll see you soon, I hope. Luv you! Gwen found Kaleigh’s giggle encouraging. “Big freaking buttheads,” amended Kaleigh. She took a deep breath and walked through a door she believed she would be walking through in anger and pain and confusion. It seemed that only the confusion still accompanied her.
—– 5 —–_____________________________________________________________________________________
Michael immediately lifted from the couch when seeing Kaleigh. Sara slipped from the chair at the small bar, still only dressed in Michael’s t-shirt, tasking herself to not say a word until she was dressed. Luckily, this same sight of Sara did not elicit the same reaction in Kaleigh. Gwen walked past a stationary Kaleigh and then smiled to Michael as she passed him, as well. Michael offered a smiled, ‘Thank you, Gwen’ as Gwen walked by. Reaching Sara, they shared a quick kiss as Sara took the bags from Gwen and went into the guest bedroom. Kaleigh sensed an obvious sort of explanation, which Gwen supplied.
“We flew in late last night. Guess whose luggage got lost. We’re the same height, but Sara’s too thin to fit in my clothes. You and Sara are about the same size, but we’d never think about her wearing your clothes without asking you. Anyway….” Gwen’s words trailed off as she trailed off to the guest room to rate how well she shopped for her spouse. It left Michael and Kaleigh alone.
“Michael….why didn’t you tell me they were coming to stay? What did you think I would say? That they couldn’t? I thought you knew me better than that.” Although certainly relieved, enough anguish remained for Michael to provide a misaligned response. “I don’t know why I didn’t tell you. I know you’d be alright with it. And…..and they would still be here tomorrow when you got home, so you would have met them. I just figured I’d pick you up at the airport tomorrow and tell you on the way home.”
Although his words were transparent and without finesse, Kaleigh once more sensed there was something more involved than an unannounced visit from an ex-spouse. She was now confident that Michael knew her well enough that having Michael’s ex-wife alone visiting them would be something Kaleigh would consent to. That Sara was gay and recently married should have eliminated any threat that Michael would perceive Sara’s presence meant to Kaleigh. So, just as Kaleigh felt that Gwen was holding something back earlier, she realized that now Michael was, as well.
“Michael, I never want to feel what I felt when I saw Sara this morning in your T-shirt. In fact, she should probably keep it.” That she chuckled slightly when she said this, with a weak smile that lingered, it gave Michael the needed brave desire to go to Kaleigh and throw his arms around her. “I’m so sorry, Honey,” he whispered. “Tighter, please,” Kaleigh whispered back as Michael added the desired measure of ‘squeeze’ to his hug.
Sara and Gwen emerged from the guest room then, Sara now in blue jeans and pullover sweater. She walked right over to the just hug-released Kaleigh, who took Sara’s extended hand and shook. “Hi, I’m Sara the Butthead. It’s really wonderful to meet you, Kaleigh.” The four were able to laugh at this, a good sign. “It’s great to meet you, too, Sara. By the way, we’re totally blaming Michael for this.” As a deeper group laugh emanated, Gwen confirmed her concurrence. Finally, Michael made it unanimous.
“I completely agree, ladies. It’s why I try to never multi-task. It just means I’m screwing up more than one thing at a time.” The ease with what he said this, with Michael’s capability in life quite known by Kaleigh and Sara, put the element of Kaleigh walking in to see Sara in the T-shirt behind them. The other three noticed how Kaleigh seemed to realize that there was something she didn’t know that Gwen, Sara and Michael knew regarding Gwen’s and Sara’s visit.
—– 6 —–_____________________________________________________________________________________
Kaleigh separated from them and sat on the one chair in the living area, looking out the large window. Gwen and Sara took seats next to each other on the couch across from Kaleigh and Michael remained standing in place. A solemn air filled the apartment. With her eyes then shifted to the ground, Kaleigh said. “I think…. because of something Gwen told me, I think I know what this is about. I think it has something to do with Sara having a…..child and Michael being the father.”
The other three strangely felt uneasy by how relieved they were, for Kaleigh was correct and it removed a difficult obstacle. It once more came to Gwen the gift of insightful intellect that Kaleigh possessed. Gwen explained to Sara and Michael what Kaleigh referred to. “I told Kaleigh in the coffee shop that we were trying to start a family. Michael, I think you may have underestimated just how intelligent Kaleigh is and how special she is. The fact that she pieced together that it would be Sara carrying the child, if, and that’s still a big if, that if you do become the father, and she seems willing to consider it, it tells me…..we have hope.”
The three looked at Kaleigh then, the blank expression they saw on her face insisting that hope was something they should not count on having. A shocked sensation once more filled Kaleigh, but she managed to talk, with the tone of her words as blank as her expression. “Gwen, I’m afraid you’ll have to re-evaluate your high opinion of me,” she said, speaking then to each of the other three.
“I was, uh…….actually talking about how Gwen said that meeting her new in-laws wasn’t the biggest reason for Sara and her coming here. I knew there was something beyond just the two of you visiting. You said there was a significant factor from the past regarding starting a family now. When I understood the situation, I thought it meant you needed to tell me about a child who…. um, Sara and Michael had when they were married.”
Her eyes then shifted again, to once more look out the window. To look at any of the other three would be too painful as she continued. “So, you can imagine with the way I just found out that you’ve come here because you want Michael to be a sperm donor, a man that I can’t have a child with, how cruel I think the three of you are.” Kaleigh felt the disingenuous manner that Gwen had acted in.
“My god, Gwen, you knew I couldn’t conceive when you asked me how I knew better than most. You weren’t being kind. You were doing damage control.” Kaleigh stood, finally directing her line of sight to Michael. “I think I preferred it better when I thought you were cheating on me. It hurt less.” All the other three could wisely do, very wisely, was wordlessly watch Kaleigh walk to her bedroom and close the door.
At least Kaleigh didn’t leave the apartment, which was the only positive to be taken. It seemed to be short-lived, however, as perhaps a half-minute passed before Kaleigh, with angry resolve, swung the bedroom door open and walked toward the front door without looking at any of them. The other three watched as Kaleigh picked up her purse, suitcase and overnight bag, causing Michael to declare, “Please don’t leave, Kaleigh. Please stay and talk.”
—– 7 —–_____________________________________________________________________________________
She didn’t leave, for it was never her intent. “I’m not leaving. I already did that once today. You and your friends are leaving, though. I suggest you do that soon.” With this said, she marched back to the bedroom with her belongings, pivoting to face them. “By the way, just think how nice it will be that since Michael’s no longer engaged, you can save all that time and money on medical procedures and he can get Sara pregnant the old-fashioned way. Hell, Gwen, you can join in and get knocked up, too.” These were words unworthy of her, so deep was her anguish that allowed them to be said.
Despite the anger the words were carried in, Kaleigh was on the verge of tears. Turning quickly into the bedroom, she closed the door again behind her. Michael took the chair that Kaleigh had been in, slumping down in defeat. “We should pack, Gwen,” Sara dejectedly said. Michael was beside himself, the matter so butchered that all that would come of it was four people in prolonged pain. “I’ve got to talk to her,” he announced. To his feet and moving, he stopped with Gwen’s response.
“Michael, don’t. I doubt she’ll let you in the room and talking through a door to someone is not effective. We agreed that Kaleigh had to agree to this and that we would not try to persuade her if she was against this, which she clearly is. We need to respect how difficult this is for her. It would be enough if she could have children, but what we’ve asked her to be a part of is ten times more difficult knowing she can’t have children. We all knew this was a possibility and it is so obvious now that we should never have asked. So, Sara and I are going to get out of here and get a hotel room.”
For Sara, the disappointment of Michael not being the biological father of her child carried an extra layer of sadness, something Gwen was aware of as she stood and took Sara’s hand and got her to her feet. “Come on, Sweetie. Hopefully, Kaleigh and Michael can get back to the way they were before this morning. We’d never forgive ourselves if they lost that.”
Before Gwen and Sara went to the guest room, Michael offered a lodging solution. “You guys don’t have to get a hotel room. I’m going to my parents for a length of time still to be determined and they’ve got plenty of room. I know my parents would love to see you again, Sara.” This left Gwen a bit apprehensive, which showed on her face and influenced Sara to help.
“It’ll be fine, Gwen. I told you that Matt and Kathy know why Michael and I aren’t together. In fact, I guarantee you’ll have a stomach ache from laughing with them, too. When we broke up, Matt said that Michael should figure out what all the dumb things he did were to turn me into a lesbian and turn it into pill form because it seems like the nicest way for the guy to get his wife to leave him, to which Kathy replied she’d take that pill……..as many times as necessary.”
Absorbing the context that would be said in, Gwen chuckled as much as the moment permitted, aware that Michael’s parents had tried to put a raucous, humorous sense of the ridiculous to a complex situation. With Sara wanting to stay with Michael’s parents and Gwen always interested in meeting interesting people, it was easy to agree that her and Sara would join Michael at his parents. They then returned to the guest room to pack, although Sara was basically packed with most of what Gwen bought her still in the shopping bags.
—– 8 —–_____________________________________________________________________________________
They moved quickly to tidy the room, as well, and re-joined Michael in the kitchen. He was nursing a beer, which Sara took a sip from while Gwen grabbed a ginger ale from the fridge, asking, “What do you think she’s doing, Michael? Do you think she fell asleep?” He shook his head. “No. I’m sure she’s talking to her sister, Kara, and she’s not sparing any detail.” A nervous Sara needed to know. “Is Kara a friend or foe?” Michael’s sigh was a partial reply.
“She’s been both. It’s not like she’s always taking Kaleigh’s side against me. Kara is very good at seeing both sides of a situation and coming to a rational conclusion, which she expresses quite convincingly. But given what this is, I believe we need to accept that Kara is going to put that ability aside knowing how hurt her little sister is. God, this is all my fault. When you called me last month, I should have been up front with Kaleigh right away.”
Gwen responded first. “Michael, don’t do that to yourself. If anyone should have seen how wrong this could go, it should have been me, especially after you told us Kaleigh can’t conceive. We didn’t want to use an anonymous donor if we could avoid it, so when Sara and I talked about who we wanted to be our baby’s father, it was a short list that only had one name on it.” Sara then chimed in.
“You need to listen to what Gwen said. As far as my guilt goes, I knew you’d say ‘yes’. I guess besides always being our first and only choice, I knew how you used to talk about being a father and what it meant to you. I know you don’t think that you can’t be a parent with Kaleigh and you plan to adopt, that being a parent is not just DNA and biology. You knew that this would upset Kaleigh, but you had such faith in her to understand what it is that Gwen and I are asking of you and her. I think we all can now agree this was too much to ask of anyone. That we have damaged your relationship with her is something neither Gwen nor I will ever forgive ourselves for.”
Sara began to softly cry, as Gwen pulled her to her. As a sullen Michael took a long swallow of beer, he caught a slight movement of shadow on the wall outside the kitchen. “Kaleigh?” Kaleigh then stepped fully into view. It was obvious she’d been crying. Michael immediately replayed the conversation of the past few minutes in his head, hoping that more damage wasn’t done with what Kaleigh might have overheard.
The other three waited for Kaleigh to say something, anything. Kaleigh studied each of the three for a moment. “None of you have to leave. I….” But Michael interjected. “No. You shouldn’t have to go to your sister’s. We’ll go. You can have the apartment to yourself for as long as you want and if that means forever, I’ll accept that.” Kaleigh appeared ambivalent to hearing this, as if Michael was already removed from her life. She was simply dismissing Michael’s belief they might be over.
“I’m not going to Kara’s. No one needs to leave. I didn’t fall asleep and just so you know, Michael, you need to check off the ‘Friend’ box for Kara this time. In permanent marker.” Hearing this told the other three that Kaleigh had heard the entire conversation and that Michael was correct in surmising that Kaleigh had called her older sister. With Gwen closest to the fridge in the smallish kitchen, Kaleigh remarked, “Gwen, I’m past caffeine helping me and I’m moving on to alcohol. Could you hand me a beer, please?”
—– 9 —–_____________________________________________________________________________________
“Sure,” a receptive Gwen replied, happy that there was only one kind in the fridge that eliminated a follow-up question. As she stepped and reached to hand it to Kaleigh, Michael intercepted the hand-off, twisting off the top with the nearby opener he had recently employed. Handing it to Kaleigh, her soft ‘Thanks’ was accompanied by a small smile when their gazes met. It was only a beginning to the thaw, but still a beginning, whose duration was entirely in Kaleigh’s hands. After a quick sip, Kaleigh spoke. It stood to reason she would be the one to speak, for hers was the only mind whose thoughts on the matter were fully unknown.
“Before I say anything else, I want to apologize to Sara and Gwen for what I said about…about the whole getting pregnant / knocked up thing. It was rude and very uncalled for. There was no reason for me to say that. By the way, I’m not apologizing to Michael because he’s a guy and I’m sure he was visualizing.” The droll way the last sentence was said drew a laugh from Gwen and Sara. Michael basically admitted his ‘guilt’ by the way he looked directly at the floor, mouthing ‘Wow’ at his gender being so accurately pegged.
With this said, with the thaw gaining speed and direction, Kaleigh went and stood next to Michael, leaning slightly against him. “And although he’s a guy, with all the limitations his gender is born into, he’s a very special guy. If I was in your position, I can honestly say he would be the only one on my list.” It was a great comfort to Michael to be able to wrap his arm around Kaleigh, although it occurred to him that she may not still be his fiancée.
“Kaleigh,” Sara cautiously began, “I hope you realize how sorry I am about all this, how sorry the three of us are, but mostly me. I was very selfish. It would be a tragedy, though, if this came between you and Michael. I hope it hasn’t.” Recalling her initial reaction this morning when finding Sara here, Kaleigh clarified where Michael and she stood, with everyone in the room aware that because she was standing next to Michael at the moment, it did not mean that she would be standing next to him on an altar three months from now.
“I don’t know if Sara told either of you, but when I saw her this morning, I tried to take my engagement ring off, and all that that implied. I couldn’t get it off. I did remove it when I went in the bedroom, but I put it back on after I talked to my sister. She told me that she knows Michael well enough that this isn’t about him not understanding what this means to me.” Pausing, Kaleigh looked at Michael until he looked at her before she continued.
“Kara said it was about me needing to understand what this means to the three of you despite what it means to me. So, I plan on being at the church the day he and I agreed on and I hope Michael will be, too. I’m just sorry my reaction was so classless and rude and I heard you say that I wouldn’t be persuaded to change my mind, which I appreciate.”
The relief of Michael’s and Kaleigh’s relationship staying whole mixed with the dejection the others felt with hearing what they already knew. It was a bittersweet deepening of the sense of regret the three felt, which Michael placed into context. “Kaleigh, you shouldn’t apologize for what you feel. We put you in a horrible position and you not wanting me to do this…then that’s the end of it. I just hope you don’t think that me wanting to do this has you doubt how much I want us to adopt kids. That would always be more than perfect for me because we’d do it together. What it meant otherwise just would make it much more than enough. It is what it is. Sara and Gwen will still have their baby somehow.”
—– 10 —–_____________________________________________________________________________________
Kaleigh took in the expressions that Gwen and Sara had, how they not only fought their disappointment but saw past it already. Kaleigh’s bright smile then seemed out of place, with her happiness that the matter was settled only to her liking straddling the line of being insensitive. But the smile was merely a prelude to other smiles.
“Michael, I was specifically apologizing for my reaction, not my answer. And in appreciating that you wouldn’t try to change my mind, know that Kara already did that. I want you to do this. I really do. I’m not sure what happens when the baby is born with you guys living on the West Coast, but we can figure that all out, right? I’m assuming that you want Michael involved.” The subtle elation that burst upon Gwen’s and Sara’s faces was a gratifying reward for Kaleigh. Feeling Michael lean down and gently kiss her on her cheek sealed it as the right decision.
“Yes, we want Michael and you involved. Thank you, Kaleigh,” Sara said, the future mother-to-be seemingly glowing already. Gwen then gave insight to the ‘Figure-it-all-out’ element. “We didn’t want to say anything to Michael until we were sure about the baby, but Sara and I will be moving back east within the year. Both my parents are retiring in less than six months and are moving to North Carolina. They’re my only family in California and all of Sara’s family is here. As much as or as little that you two are involved is totally up to the both of you.”
Kaleigh knew Michael would be fully involved and how unique the blended families would be once Michael and she adopted. “I think that’s wonderful,” Kaleigh offered, adding quickly, “Just to warn you, the baby will have an additional two lunatics for grandparents. Sara, I’m sure you remember how crazy Kathy and Matt are.” Gwen remarked, “Yeah, that’s what I hear. Crazy grandparents are always good for a child.”
Sara appeared to be overwhelmed by the happy talk. “Kaleigh, truly, thank you,” she said, barely getting the words out before tears of joy captured her. “There’s no need to thank me, Sara. By the way, I told Kara to add two to the guest list for the wedding. I hope you can make it.” She paused in reflection and then remarked, “Part of this for me, thinking about if I didn’t agree to this and you used an anonymous donor, was that someday the baby will be old enough to ask about his or her father and I can’t be the one that causes you to tell the child that their father is just a file number.”
Michael was so proud of his wife to be. To that end, he needed to give her something that was her own. “Technically, you’ll be a stepmom since we’ll be married.” Gwen seconded the notion and extended it. “That’s right, which means double duty as the godmother.” Kaleigh reveled in the notions. “That sounds so wonderful,” she softly said, her own emotions lifting higher then, as she mischievously said, “Of course, I’ll be an evil stepmom in one regard. When the baby’s old enough, someone will have to tell him or her what a butthead their Dad is.”
—– 11 —–_____________________________________________________________________________________
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