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I gave him a sympathetic look. “Sorry about that. We probably should have told him sooner, but when? ‘Hey, Pops, can you pass me the potatoes? And oh, by the way, my illusions can now take a physical form.’”
The guys laughed at me as we started walking up the steps. I was surprised to see Kade coming out of the house. He was barefoot, and his hands were shoved in to his pocket. I can tell from his expression that he had been waiting on me. I immediately felt guilty for leaving him behind when he clearly was struggling with all of this, too.
“You okay?” Kade asked hesitantly.
I nodded. “You?”
He wavered before nodding. “It’s different for me. This is all new. I just found out about her, so never had a chance to set any expectations.”
Remy gently guided me into the house as Jaxson and Noah threw an arm around Kade’s shoulder and took him in the house. The warmth of the fire place engulfed me in its warmth, and I had to refrain from sighing aloud.
I took a seat on the armrest of the couch. “I still shouldn’t have left you here by yourself. There’s a reason you wanted to accompany us up here as well.”
Kade took a seat on the ottoman across from me. I noticed the guys wandered into the kitchen as if they were giving us an opportunity and privacy to talk.
“I guess I was hoping when I met her she would have a really good reason for giving me up, but on the other hand, I’m glad she did,” Kade said. “I loved my parents and sister. My parents never acted like I wasn’t theirs, and there’s no way Katie wasn’t theirs. They never treated me any differently, though. They loved me unconditionally and gave me opportunities Micah and Alex never had.”
I nodded in understanding. “I know for a brief time she wanted to keep me. I know that if CPS didn’t step in she would have kept me, but for how long? My uncle, her brother, showed me a lot of love. He tried to protect me. When I found out about her, I think I had the same expectations. Maybe I hoped she tried to get me back eventually but couldn’t find me. When I found about Alex and Micah, though, I realized maybe she was never deserved to have any of us. It wasn’t fair. Especially knowing now that she been out there with another child. Is she going to abandon them too?”
“I think we need to forgive her,” Kade said resolutely. I gave him a look of surprise, and he quickly added, “My mom would quote Jonathon Huie when Katie and I were fighting. She would tell us ‘Forgive others not because they deserve forgiveness, but because you deserve peace.’”
I thought about his words for a moment. It was almost what I had been thinking, minus the forgiveness part. I could see the wisdom in the words, though. I stood up and embraced him. “When did you get so smart?” I asked as I kissed his head. “I can’t promise you I will, but I’m definitely going to try.”
He squeezed back, and I was glad he was such a great brother.
Jemmy, Sierra, Rachel, Sam, Dawn, Ford, and Marcel returned earlier than expected. I was shocked to see Terrance with them. I hadn’t seen him since we arrived. He actually seemed to be in good spirits.
“Did you go skiing?” I asked in shock as I rolled out the dumplings on the island. Drake preferred the thin noodles over the biscuit like dumplings, so I was just doing as he told me to do. In the past, my chicken and dumplings came out of a can or the dumplings were from a biscuit can in the refrigerated section.
Terrance smiled with a shrug. “If my man can read Nicholas Sparks, I can learn how to ski.”
I looked over at Marcel in exasperation. “You are not reading Nicholas Sparks.”
“I think he started to read it to spite us,” Sam smirked, “but he has been engrossed in A Walk to Remember.”
We all laughed, and Marcel did seem particularly smug as he withdrew the worn paperback from his coat pocket and sat down in one of the recliners. He even had a bookmarker in the book approximately half way through it.
“What’d you think about skiing?” Jaxson asked as he snatched a carrot from the veggie tray we had out.
“I think it sucks,” Terrance said bluntly. “However, tubing is a blast.”
We all laughed once more. Kade sidled next to me and leaned in. I started for a moment, and he gave me an apologetic smile.
“Can I invite Faith over to hang out?”
I smiled, realizing he didn’t want to ask in front of all the wolves. They would tease him mercilessly. That’s all they could do last night when he returned from skiing. They had given me a play by play. Faith and Kade had hung out all day, and although I didn’t think he necessarily had a crush on her, I think they genuinely clicked.
“Sure,” I replied as I set the cut pieces of dumpling off to the side.
“When’s dinner?” Jemmy asked as she came bounding back down the stairs.
“When you get done making it,” Drake teased as he continued to shred the chicken.
“Do you need a hand?” Sierra asked as she came into the kitchen dressed in yoga pants and an oversized chunky sweater.
“I think I’m set,” I smiled my thanks. “Drake?”
Drake gave her a grateful smile. “If you want to help me pull this chicken apart that would be great.”
