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“What was with the animal fact earlier?” a man asks, and I assume it is Carter. Nico having mentioned he was who Cat was with now. I look at him for a moment, startled, because he is huge. Like, really big. Someone you would immediately walk in another direction to avoid. His face is not mean, but he seems certainly inquisitive.
“What do you mean?” I say, confused for a moment as Nico comes and sits next to me on the sofa, taking my other hand in his. I feel immediately more comfortable now, even though all eyes are on me.
“In the garage, you saw Ivy and immediately talked about a butterfly,” Carter elaborates.
I feel my breathing quicken, my memories going back to a place I often retreated to as a child and teenager to escape the loud voices, the yelling and thumps I would often hear.
I clear my throat and I start to become a little emotional.
“Well, when I was younger, I would try to stay away from my father and brother as much as possible. Out of sight, out of mind kind of thing,” I say, looking up at everyone. Nico squeezes my hand, so I take a deep breath and continue.
“One of the things I used to do is bury my head in books. As I got older, I read a lot of nonfiction books in relation to animals. I am not sure why, but I gravitated toward them and often found myself repeating weird animal facts all the time to escape the reality of my everyday life,” I say, and both Carter and Cat are a little wide-eyed, so I continue.
“Often there would be people over, men, a lot of men, and I would lock myself away. They got really rowdy after a few drinks. I was scared a lot of the time.” I think back to the few nights when men came looking for me. Those were the scariest nights of all. I feel Nico stiffen a little beside me, and I realize I haven’t opened up like this to anyone. No one knows my history, and while I am not going to relive all of it, I will tell them what I think is relevant for Ivy.
“I would hide and recite animal facts over and over to myself, so I could tune out my fear and help ignore the yelling. I guess it was my survival mechanism. One day, Cat, you were over at the house with Daniel, and you both were fighting. He was being really mean, and Ivy must have been only three or four. It was one of only a few times I was home from college. I found her hiding in one of the upstairs bedrooms, so I sat on the floor with her and told her whenever I get scared, I read animal books, and I gave her one I used to read as a child. Together, we sat there in the room and looked through the book and memorized all the facts until the yelling calmed down and I brought her back downstairs to you. I think that was the last time I saw either of you.” A lone tear runs down my cheek as I finish.
“Ivy, is that what started your weird animal fact obsession? You used it to help you when you got scared?” Carter asks Ivy, and she nods her head.
“Now I just like animals, but yeah, I would lay in bed sometimes, and during storms I would cover my head and repeat them over and over until the storm went away,” Ivy says, and it both warms my heart and breaks it that she took a little piece of me with her.
“Cat, I am not sure of all the details of what my brother and father did to you and Ivy, but please know that if I did, I would have helped. I should have helped.” My poor excuse for an apology falls from my lips.
“Well, you’re here now, and I am sure glad you are okay too,” Cat says, pulling me into another hug. Ivy joins in too, and another tear falls as a feeling of warmth overtakes me. This must be what it’s like to have a family.
“Carter and I are going to go and do some work. Leave you girls to chat for a while. I will come back and get you later,” Nico says, and I look up at the man who, despite my reservations, has done nothing but offer me a glimpse into the life I tried so hard to ignore. Although it is a bitter pill to swallow, I owe him a debt of gratitude for letting me sift through all those boxes and help me heal, even if it is just a little.
“Okay,” I whisper to him and he leans over, kissing me briefing on the lips before walking out with Carter following him.
“Okay, so I need coffee. Ivy, do you want to go upstairs and watch a movie? Aunt Emi and I have a lot of catching up to do, and I am really interested to know why she is here and why Uncle Nico was kissing her just now,” Cat says to Ivy, but looking at me with glee in her eyes, and I blush. This is all new to me. Sharing my life, my thoughts and feelings. But Cat knows a lot of the dirty secrets of my upbringing and has no judgment. I feel safe to talk to her about it all. Almost as safe as I feel telling my mother.
“Yes!” Ivy fist bumps. “I’m going to watch Frozen,” she yells, already halfway down the hall, going to her room. I laugh at her enthusiasm, and it feels good to laugh. I haven’t in a long time, and I really want to do it more.
“So,” Cat says as she pulls me up off the sofa and into the kitchen to get the coffee. “I want to know everything!”
And as I stand watching her in the kitchen, grabbing chocolates and getting the coffee, I feel at peace for the first time ever.
“So, you live here?” I ask, changing the subject while we both wipe the tears from our cheeks.
“Sometimes, or at least we stay here with Carter whenever we come to New York.” I know she is in love from the smile on her face.
“I have so many questions,” I say, feeling overwhelmed.
“We have plenty of time now,” Cat says, handing me a coffee.
“All this time, I wondered where Ivy got these weird animal facts from, and it was you!”
“Sorry!” I can’t help but cringe, not sure if this is something I should have done.
“Oh my God, stop apologizing! We have so much to catch up on.” We both take a seat back on the sofa.
“Perhaps we can start here? What can you tell me about the boys?” I ask, needing all the information, and I see a smile come to her lips.
“Carter saved me. Just like Nico will save you,” she says, tone full of confidence, giving me a wink. My breath gets stuck for a moment, before I release it slowly.
“I work for them. My law firm went down the drain once Dad got caught. So even though I kept my distance, I was still in the firing line of his activities and he pretty much ruined any chance I have of ever practicing again,” I say solemnly.
“I’m sorry that happened to you. I know how hard you have worked all these years in your career. It’s funny, something similar happened to me,” Cat says before she tells me a little about changing her path from Emergency Department Head to now working in Carter’s gym. “So I still put my medical career to good use; I just do it in a different way, and let me tell you, Emi, I am so happy. I never knew life could feel like this.” She sips on her coffee. “Nico has certainly taken a liking to you...”
