ALWAYS AND FOREVER

Kathy Pov

“Oh my God, Katherine, it is so good to have you here,”

My sister Nora screamed coming to hug me, all the awkwardness I thought I would feel vanished and a warm feeling took over my body, I didn’t know just how much I missed my family until I got to our mansion and the first person to welcome me was Nora, the others started coming out too and we exchanged hugs, I looked around for the one I haven’t seen in a while.

“Where is Nathan?”

I asked when I didn’t see him.

“He went out, said he will back soon, he left about ten minutes ago,”

Nelly explained.

“I hope he is not trying to hide from me? He has a lot to answer for,”

I said as we all entered the house.

“Nanny isn’t here anymore so where is Dad? And mom?

“They are in a meeting, and will be out soon,”

Jenn my brother’s wife to be said, she looked pregnant to me but I didn’t ask because we weren’t really close, Cross looked like he wanted to be anywhere but here, he looked lost.

“Are you okay?”

I whisper asked him.

“Yeah, just that I am practically a stranger here,”

“Tish, come on it’s just my siblings, they won’t bite, what more, you are my husband,”

I replied touching his face and smiling, he smiled back.

“Ohhhh, I see love in the air,”

My sisters echoed, and I smiled at them shyly,

“Who was the one that didn’t want to get married a little while ago? Is she the same person I see right now?’

Nora asked teasing me.

“Yes, she is okay, marriage is hard, I can’t deal with this moron sometimes, but I admit it’s also fun too,”

I replied.

“That’s the thing girl, it is like that, there are ups and downs but at the end of the day it is enjoyable, no marriage is perfect, the both of us can’t deal with our own morons at times,”

She added to which both Nelly and Jenn agreed, the men in the room begged to differ saying that the women were harder to manage and slowly the conversations started going into different areas, it was fun and there was no awkwardness like I had expected.

“Baby girl?

There was only one person who addressed me like that, well except my husband who was sitting by me, I looked up at the entrance and there stood my brother, he looked so different from the last time I saw him, he looked more mature and overall more handsome, he didn’t look bad at all, I got up from where I sat and walked up to him.

“Kitty cat,”

“You traitor,”

I said hitting him when I got close to him.

“You betrayed me,”

“I am sorry Kitty,” he replied hugging me, I hit him even more,

“I missed you so much, why didn’t you come around?”

“I am here now Kitty,”

“I am not Kitty cat, my husband will beat you up if you call me that,”

I threatened pointing at Cross who stood up and walked to me.

“You are my Kitty cat and your husband can’t do anything about that,”

He replied laughing, God I missed him so much, I hugged him again telling him just how much I missed his presence, and he said the same, ignored Cross, and sat with him as the conversations started over again.

My parents came out a little later and we all sat and talked, my mom and I still had some bad blood between us but at least we could tolerate each other, it was so nice to be with my family again in the home I grew up in, I actually hoped Cross and I could spend the night here but the possibility of that happening became none existence when Cross phone rang and he went out to answer it, when he came back he apologized to everyone in the room and said he had to leave.

“Where are you going to?”

I questioned.

“Anna went into labor and is asking for me, you can stay with your family and I will come pick you up tomorrow,”

He said.

“No,”

“What do you mean no?”

“I am coming with you,”

“But you just met your family after a while, don’t worry, you can be with them a little longer,”

“I can always come back, not to mention I am coming again for Nelson’s wedding, Anna needs us so let’s go,”

“Kathy,”

“Don’t argue young man,”

I warned as I went to grab my bag and bid my siblings and my parents goodbye and walked past him to the car.

“You are a stubborn woman,”

He said when we were in the car.

“Yeah, we have been knew,”

I replied and we drove towards the hospital in silence.

We went straight to the hospital, we got there just in time, Anna was about to be moved to the delivery ward and she looked scared and so young.

“Anna, you will be fine okay,”

Cross said hugging her hands, even he looked scared too.

“I don’t know Crossie, can’t we go home, I wanna go home,”

She said crying, Cross looked from me to his mom but I didn’t have anything to say, I was scared too.

“Anna, we will go home soon but we have to go home with two shining babies, and to do that you have to work hard, don’t worry we will all be here,”

His mom said patting her back as the nurse in charge came in, they placed Anna in a wheelchair and we followed as they drove towards the delivery room.

“Can you come with me Crossie?”

Anna requested, I didn’t think that would be possible but the nurse or probably the doctor in charge asked Cross if he could cope to which he said yes and he was directed to an area where he changed.

“Are you sure you won’t collapse in there?”

I asked out of concern, dude looked scared but he was trying to be brave.

“I have to, Anna needs me there,”

“Wow, I must say, I am jealous of how much you care for Anna,”

I said and I meant it, it’s was so endearing to watch at the same time it made me jealous, he stopped what he was doing and held my hands, I let him, his hands were cold and shaking, man the dude was scared.

“You don’t need to be jealous Kathy, I care about Anna, and I care about you too, I love you, okay?”

“Yeah,”

I answered.

“Be fast they are waiting, I added walking away, but he drew me back.

“Wh…”

Whatever I was going to say was stopped by his mouth on my mine, I hadn’t expected the kiss so it came as a huge shock to me, at the same time it just reminded me just how much I missed his touch.

“Okay, enough, Anna is waiting,”

I said pulling off and licking my lips, he smiled and quickly wore the hospital gown and pulled me along with him, I watched him follow Anna into the wards, in a little over eight or seven months he will have to walk into those wards again, but that time it will be with me and touched my tummy as Ellen came to stand close to me, Max who had snubbed her giving birth and traveled to South Africa was on the phone even though it was the middle of the night there, his mom ignored him completely and I had to keep him informed, the dude was almost losing his mind all the way in Africa and kept cursing himself for leaving, I wanted to laugh in his face but was too scared to, my father-in-law came in a little later and together we waited to hear good news.

Anna gave birth an hour later, I told Max who had been on the phone all this while, he let out a heavy sigh and I told him I had to hang up to attend to my husband, he thanked me and said he will call back soon, I told him he shouldn’t have left in the first place and he agreed that he had been a fool, well I guess both brothers were, a few moments after I ended the call, the door to the delivery room opened and a traumatized looking Cross was first to leave the wards, he looked like he had seen death and had fought to survive I ran to his side and held him in an embrace.

“They are so beautiful,”

He said and began to cry, his mom joined him too.

“You did a good job,”

“No, Anna did, she was so brave, she deserves the best,”

“Yes, she does,”

The doctors came out a little later after both Anna and the babies had been cleaned, we were told Anna was resting as she had been exhausted from the delivery, both babies, a beautiful boy, and girl were healthy and that we can see them when Anna wakes up.

The rest of the week went by really fast, Anna was discharged two days later and she brought home with her two of the cutest humans I have had the privilege of meeting, it was joy all through the house, Cross being the proudest, well that was after he got through the trauma of witnessing her delivery, Max cut short his trip and was scheduled to arrive later tomorrow, he couldn’t stay away anymore and wanted to meet the new addition in the family.

“What are you doing here alone?”

Cross asked coming to seat with me on the balcony of our room.

“Nothing, I just wanted fresh air, there is too much chaos going on inside the house,”

I replied, there were a lot of relatives as Anna’s kids were going to be named the day after tomorrow, it didn’t look as if Anna wasn’t part of the family as a lot of close relatives of the Salvadors were already in the house, in fact, they have been coming and going since she gave birth and the media even carried the news of her giving birth, Anna, of course, was showered with lots of attention and she has been all smile since she got out of the delivery room, a proud little mommy as Cross called her.

“What are you thinking about?”

Cross asked and I shook my head.

“Nothing, just marveling at how accepting your family are,”

“Yeah, I know right,”Copyright Nôv/el/Dra/ma.Org.

“Uh-huh,”

“So,”

He said in a more serious tone.

“So what?”

I asked when he didn’t say anything further.

“You said we were going to talk about us when we get back from seeing your parents but we haven’t been able to, seeing how busy everyone has been and honestly the suspense is killing me, I can’t bear it anymore,”

He replied.

“I have nothing to say,”

“What? Why? I thought you said you needed time to sort the questions you had for me out, I promise you that I will answer them without leaving out any part, please?”

He pleaded I haven’t had much time to think about what was going on with Cross and me, in fact in my mind and head, we were cool, I couldn’t even remember much how and why I was mad at him, oh I remembered he almost cheated on me but, I had forgiven him already and the thoughts were no longer there and the image of him kissing Ginna even though I still cringe at the thought of it, they didn’t hurt anymore.

“Kathy,”

“I don’t know okay, I don’t know if I should ask or If I should just let the past be in the past and move on to the future,”

“But you will always be curious, won’t you be? It’s better to ask and know it all now, hit me with it all Kathy and I promise I won’t give anything, I don’t want to hide anything from you.”

“Alright, did you and Ginna almost have a child together?”

I asked and he froze…