It's All Relative(167)
Mason seemed to relax with that statement, but it was obvious to Millie he was going to go over there, that he was going to go speak with his son. Millie wanted to speak with Kai too, but she decided to let the man say his peace first. She supposed there were quite a few words the father and son needed to have with each other.
Not having been able to get back to sleep after his phone call, Millie had tinkered around her home before shuffling out to her garden. On the way back indoors, her kindly neighbor had spotted Millie and invited herself over for tea. Millie was used to the curious woman, and she didn’t mind the intrusion or the company. Besides, Betty had been the one to call an ambulance for Millie when she’d had her little tumble, so Millie felt that a little generosity was in order. And it gave her another opportunity to brag about her grandchildren anyway.
She’d been reminiscing about Kai, hoping that his heart wasn’t too broken, when the woman had dropped her teacup mid-sip and fallen out of her chair. Millie had rushed to her side and done all she could think of to help, but once poor Betty’s heart had stopped beating, it had refused to start again.
Twisting around, Millie tore her attention away from the large window framing an empty bird feeder. While she felt sad that her nosey neighbor wouldn’t be commenting on the beauty of the various birds anymore, she did hope that Kai took her up on her offer. She’d love to have him closer.
Jessica Marie and Kai were sitting close together on the couch, holding hands. Millie was warmed to see that the revelation of Kai’s paternity had made the pair even closer, instead of driving a wedge between them. Indeed, they seemed quite cozy as they watched her with awe on their faces; Kai was even stroking the back of Jessica’s hand with his thumb. For just a second, it reminded Millie of how her husband used to touch her.
Millie had repeated the story of what had happened to Betty about three times, but both her grandchildren still seemed to be reeling from the incident. Millie tried to not be offended that they both thought her so old and frail that the idea of her randomly keeling over for no good reason wasn’t an outlandish one. She didn’t feel like she was walking around with one foot in the grave. But she supposed that all youth looked upon the elderly like they were time bombs, waiting to go off at any given moment.
Smiling at the thought, she sat in her favorite comfortable chair, opposite the two. Her hip ached. It had started doing that since the weather had turned chilly, but she ignored it, and didn’t let the slight pain show in her features. All she let show was the concern she had for Kai. Scrunching her brows, she leaned over and placed a hand on his knee. “Are you sure you’re all right, dear?”
Millie watched his teal eyes shift over to Jessica before returning to her. He smiled, but Millie could see the weariness behind it. He might have come to some sort of terms with the new facts of his life, but they’d been hard-earned and had left their marks. “I’m fine, Gran.” He frowned and shook his head. “Do I still call you that?”
She swatted his knee just as she would have swatted his bottom when he was a toddler. “Of course you do. Who fathered you doesn’t change the fact that we’re family.” Millie’s eyes shifted from Kai to take in Jessica as well. “We’re all still family.”
Jessica bit her lip, and she and Kai locked gazes. As Millie watched their odd, silent conversation, she wondered what was not verbally being said in the room. Millie couldn’t be sure, but she suddenly felt like there was a piece of the puzzle that she wasn’t seeing. Just as she was going to ask what was going on, Kai cleared his throat and twisted to look at her.
“Um…Gran.” He worried his lip for a moment, and Millie thought he looked a little…perplexed as to how to put his thoughts into words. “I…well, we…” his free hand swished to indicate Jessica while their clutched together hand lifted. “We’ve sort of decided…not to be family.”
Millie bunched her brows, deeply confused. Why would two people who only had warm things to say about the other, choose to sever their family ties? Not that she would let them. If Kai was staying in Denver, then Millie would make it her life’s mission to see them closely bonded again. Regardless of whether or not they were family by blood or family by association, family didn’t abandon family. “You can’t just…decide something like that. You are family, Kai, regardless of what your blood says. You can’t just choose to not be connected anymore.”
Kai smiled at her, then ran his hand through his hair. “Well, um, we actually are still going to be connected, Gran, just not in a cousin sort of way.”
Millie shook her head, still not understanding, then Jessica Marie laughed and looped her arms around Kai’s body. Snuggling into his side, she looked over at Mille. “What he’s trying to say, is that we’re dating. We’re boyfriend and girlfriend.” She shrugged. “We’re in love with each other.”
Jessica Marie and Kai smiled at each other, and Millie saw a look pass between them that suddenly filled in all the pieces for her. The puzzle now clear, she could easily see the love shifting between the young couple before her. They were in love, and from the looks of things, they loved each other on a level that rivaled her and her late husband’s. As Millie watched them kiss, she wondered when exactly that had happened.
“Oh…I see,” she whispered.
Kai and Jessica pulled their love-filled gazes from each other, and brought their attention back to her. Millie wasn’t sure if her face was pale, but she certainly felt that way. She wasn’t a prudish woman by any means, but it was a little difficult to go from seeing them as loving cousins, to seeing them as a loving couple.