Chapter 17: Chapter 17

Nick went back to his room when he was sure Kate was already asleep. He washed up and changed his nightclothes before going to bed. Another sleepless night for Nick. His heart was torn into half of great delight and half of weariness. But there was nothing he could do now to reverse everything that had happened. And maybe if there were any way that he could do so, Nick would still choose to keep them the way they did.

Because it revealed both of their emotions towards each other, Kate also admitted he liked Nick, and likewise, Nick was able to confess his true feeling for Kate. Making her feel more comfortable around him. "Everything must have happened for a reason," Nick uttered. His dad would usually say these words when he was still alive. And it made Nick understand many things easier and faster. It broadens his perspectives on life. It made him passive on things to let go of and be less stressed on minor things.

Now, Nick is praying for the positive consequences of what happened last night.

He might be judged as delusional, but as long as it ends up with Kelly accepting him and his love for Kate, Nick is ready for anything he would be labeled of.

The morning came.

Nick came out of his room well dressed with his things and sling bag on his hands and shoulder. He heard a noise coming from the kitchen. Nick could guess his stepmom was preparing the table for breakfast as she would always do. He took a deep breath and summoned his courage to face the greatest fear he has right now, Kate's mom and his stepmom, who he'd rather she be his mother-in-law if he can ask for any wish to be granted.

"Nicky, come! Join us for breakfast."

Kelly was placing a porcelain pot of cream soup beside a platter of garlic bread. Nick smiled when he saw Kate already at the table, and she looked up at Nick with a shy smile and continued eating.

Just like she would always do.

Nick could not tell for sure if she was doing as he suggested, or she was just really shy because of what happened between them last night.

"Thanks, mom!" Nick replied to Kelly as he walked towards his usual spot at the table.

"Morning, Kate!" Nick greeted as he was taking his seat. Kate looked up again, and with a heated face, she replied a very short "Hey!" then bowed at her bowl of soup again.

Kelly had her back on them, so she did not see Kate's flushed face, but she was happy the two were now starting a conversation. Even though it was just s short and simple kind.

Kelly noticed Nick had always been aloof towards Kate, and she thought it was because Kate had turned Elijah's wishes down more than one time. Nick must have been offended that Kate refuses to bear their last name when his father wished for Kate to be his daughter. Maybe now that Elijah is gone, Nick has moved on with his displeasure towards Kate, and he is starting to be friendlier and warmer.

When Kelly joined the two at the table, they were already having their meals quietly.

"Mom, I can drop Kate at school today. I need to hand some papers to the Principal so, I am heading there before attending my class at the Uni," Nick offered halfway through his meal. He saw Kate was almost to be done, so he casually suggested.

Kate looked up at him with nervousness written all over her worried face. But she did not refuse. Yet, she asked, voicing out her thoughts.

"Is it... okay with you?" Kate looked at her mom then at Nick. Her question was unclear to whom she was trying to ask it.

"Yeah," Nick answered, thinking Kate's question was directed to him.

Nick was trying to organize his moves about revealing her feelings for Kate in front of Kelly little by little. He wanted to know how Kelly would react if he started to get closer to her daughter. Kelly has a traumatic experience that haunts her until now, and Nick is so thankful his dad did not hide those things from him before marrying Kelly. At least, this way, Nick knows how to be cautious with his actions not to hurt any of these two ladies in his life. They are both special to Nick in their respective ways. Kelly is his maternal figure, while Kate is his heart and soul.

To Nick's relief, Kelly answered positively.

"That's great. I won't have to rush leaving home if you can send her to school," Kelly replied with a gentle smile. Her duty starts at ten in the morning and finishes work at six, but when she needs to drop Kate at her school, Kelly will have to leave home before eight o'clock, leaving her so much extra time waiting for her duty to start. "Thank you, Nick!"

"Thank you for the breakfast, mom," replied Nick. "Kate, are you all ready?"

"Yeah. My class starts at eight-forty," Kate replied after wiping her mouth ends with a table napkin.

"We got to go then. It's almost eight. We might get stuck on the road. We better leave now," Nick got up from his seat. "Bye, mom!" He bid his goodbye while Kate went to kiss her mom before hurriedly walking behind Nick.

"Bye, mom! See you tonight!" Kate spoke as she walked out of the kitchen. They all had their bags and things put down in the living room before entering the kitchen to have their breakfast like they always do. There is no place to put the bag in the kitchen, and they will need to pass by the living room going in and out of the kitchen area, so it would always be more convenient to leave their things neatly on the couch or center table.

"Take care, you both!" Kelly did not get up from her seat to send them away. She just said her loving words out loud for them to hear on their way out. She was already dressed as she thought she would need to drive Kate to school today like usual. She doesn't want to bother Nick, but Kelly does not want to turn him down as he offered. He was going in the same direction with kate, anyway. Besides, these two need to build a good connection with each other. She needed someone for Kate to rely on and depend on one day. Aside from Nick, Kelly does not see anyone else to trust her daughter to. She has been praying for this day to come. Maybe, her prayers are starting to get heard, and answers are sent to solve her worries one by one because she has so much she doesn't know how to tell Kate or Nick. Due to her husband's death, Kelly had silently suffered depressions. She did not want to alarm Kate and Nick, so she did not tell them anything about her situation. But it had come to a point where she fainted at work, and her colleagues found her almost half dead. But she begged them not to tell her family when she got her consciousness back.

According to her medical tests, which she agreed to undergo just to make sure of her situation before telling her family, she found out that a tumor in her brain, which she had removed when Kate was only in her grades school years, had reoccurred. She had been in yearly check-up to monitor this disease as it is possible to reappear, but when she got married to Elijah, she got busy with many things and ignored it since it had been years. She had been monitoring it for more than a decade, and it did not show up, but she had only been married to Elijah for three years, which means she neglected only three years to have a check, and it had worsened to its possible worst case. It has become malignant, and even removal is hopeless. She is taking pain meds to get through, and working at the hospital gives her access to quick help without worrying Kate, who is now in her last years of high school. She needs to prepare for college, so Kelly did not want to cause her any distractions.

"Life is one hell of a ride!" Kelly sighed.