AllFreeNovel
Share Us
2
Robert Bennett
Katherine insisted that the siblings all gather for dinner at her house today, so I knew something was up. I wanted to pick up my brother Richard, but he said he had a meeting with some parishioners after mass and he’d meet up with us when he could. I’d learned over the years that there was a good chance he wouldn’t make it at all.
I could see her standing on her front porch, tapping her foot. “Are you going to sit in your Jeep or come inside?” she asked.
It was too late for me to come up with an excuse. I unbuckled my seatbelt and got out of the Jeep. “Sorry, I was…”
“Thinking of how to get out of having dinner with me?” she questioned.
I grinned. “Something like that. But I know if I did, I’d never hear the end of it.”
She glared at me, finding no humor in my response. “Exactly. Let me guess, Richard can’t make it,” she said.
“He will try to come after his meeting,” I replied.
Katherine huffed and headed back inside. I knew the first few minutes would consist of complaints about Richard’s absence. Hell, I had better things to do on a Saturday night too. But Katherine hadn’t seemed herself these last few weeks and I needed to know that everything was okay.
When our parents died unexpectedly a few years ago, Katherine took it the hardest. She’d found them deceased in their bed, victims of carbon monoxide poisoning. If Katherine said she needed me now, I wasn’t about to tell her no.
Was I pissed at Richard for not doing the same? I wanted to be, but his parish was his priority. They were lucky to have someone like him. I could never commit to one person, never mind an entire congregation.
That left me to care for Katherine.
When I entered the house, Katherine was clearing away one of the place settings. She opened the drawer and forcefully placed the silverware back inside. Trying to lighten the mood, I said, “Now I wish Richard was here to witness the sweet, gentle Katherine losing her cool.”
“I wouldn’t push your luck if I were you,” she snapped, not even looking at me. “I’m not in a good mood.”
“Really? I hadn’t noticed,” I continued to tease.
She spun around, and I expected her to be shooting daggers with her eyes, but all I saw was her tear-streaked cheeks. I rushed over to her, pulled her into my arms and stroked her hair as she sobbed, her head buried in my chest, just like she used to do when she was a little girl.
I might have been teasing her, but I knew these tears had nothing to do with me. I didn’t think they had to do with Richard, either.
As her sobs ceased, I asked, “Katherine, what’s wrong? Is it about Mom and Dad? Are you missing them?” That was a dumb question. Of course she was, but surprisingly, she shook her head.
“It’s…about me,” she responded, softly.
“Want to sit and talk about it?” I offered.
“I’m not sure sitting is going to help this situation, but maybe it will be easier for you if you did,” she suggested.
Now I was extremely worried. Obviously, she was about to deliver me a blow. I sat down and waited while she paced the kitchen.
Damn it, just tell me.
“Katherine, if you’re…sick…”
“No. Well, yes, but not cancer or anything like that,” she said, then plopped down in the chair across from me. “I’m…pregnant.”
I felt a weight lift off my shoulders, and said, “That’s all?” You scared the shit out of me.
Her eyes widened. “That’s all? Really? Do you think that’s what Richard will say? And if Mom and Dad were alive, what do you think they’d be saying? They’d be disappointed in me.”
Her eyes were filled with sadness. I couldn’t relate to what she was feeling - I never wanted children, and never had any. Katherine had always wanted a family.
“I don’t know what I’m missing, Katherine. I know Mom and Dad would be thrilled to be grandparents. God knows they weren’t getting any grandchildren from Richard, and I was smart enough to take precautions not to give them any either.”
