Chapter 35

Kevin raced down the stairs following Kristin.

"Kristin!" he called.

She ignored him and continued on her way into the kitchen.

"Kristin!" he yelled as he entered the kitchen.

"What?" she screamed as she turned around and faced him.

"I do not want you talking to Lily like that," Kevin said angrily.

"Why not? She's not being the nicest little girl to me," Kristin said.

"Okay, first of all you're a grown woman, you should act more mature about it," Kevin said. "And I will take care of her attitude, not you."

"Whatever," Kristin said as she rolled her eyes.

Then she grabbed Kevin's keys and headed out the door.

"Where are you going?" he demanded.

"Out," she stated, just before she slammed the door.

Kevin sighed and then kicked the cabinet. He was so frustrated with the way Kristin was acting. He couldn't believe that she had the audacity to tell Lily that she was not apart of his family. Kristin just acted like she had always been in his life, not remembering that Lily was apart of his life along time before she was.

Then Kevin decided to go upstairs to check on Lily.

Knock! Knock!

"Lily, it's me," Kevin said.

There was no answer.

"Can I come in?" he asked.

Again there was no answer.

Kevin decided to just open the door. When he opened it, he didn't see her in there. "Lily?"

He walked over to her window to see it open. "Lily!"

He immediately began to panic. "Where would she go?" he asked himself frantically.

He grabbed her phone and dialed Nick's number.

"Hello?"

"Hey Nick! Have you heard from Lily?"

"No. Why?"

"Cause I think she ran away."

"What happened?"

"Kristin and her got into a fight. And I need you to let me know if you see her or hear from her, okay?"

"Yeah, I sure will. I'll call Brian for you too."

"Thanks. I'm going to start searching for her."

"Okay, bye."

Kevin threw the phone back on the receiver and then raced downstairs. His mind was reeling with the thought of her out there by herself. He was so afraid that she would get lost or get hurt. The more he thought about what could happen to her, the faster his heart began to beat.

He went to grab his other set of keys from the on top of the TV when something caught his eye. He looked outside to see Lily lying on the patio with her journal in front of her, furiously writing away.

He instantly breathed a sigh of relief. Then rushed out the back door.

"Lily!" he exclaimed.

I immediately shut my journal and then turned around to see my dad. He looked like he was furious with me. I stood up and slowly walked over to him. As soon as I was close enough he enveloped me into a hug.

"I was so worried," my dad said.

"About what?" I asked, confused.

"About you, of course. I thought you had run away," he said as he placed a kiss on the top of my head.

"Why did you think that?" I asked.

"Because you weren't in your room, your window was open, and because of what Kristin said to you," my dad said.

"Oh," I replied. "I just wanted to get some fresh air."

"Look, I'm really sorry for what Kristin told you," my dad said.

"Don't be," I said. "I don't want you to have to apologize for her."

"But I want you to know that what she said isn't true," my dad said.

"It's fine, don't worry about it," I said.

My dad looked at me suspiciously.

"I'm fine," I said.

"Okay, but if you need to talk, I'm always here to listen," my dad said. "Understand?"

"Yeah," I replied. "I'm just going to go up to my room now."

"All right," my dad said as I walked passed him.

Once Lily had gone in, Kevin sat down on the chair in the patio. He was surprised that Lily seemed to be taking it so well because he knew that she had been hurt by Kristin's words. But now, she almost acted as though nothing had happened.

I went up to my room and continued writing in my journal.

There was no way that I was going to let Kristin get rid of me that easily. I wasn't going to let her tell me what to do. I figured that the best way to do that was to just ignore. Act like she wasn't even there. People had done that so much to me, I figured I could do that just as well as they had.

Kristin started the 4-Runner and took off. She didn't know exactly where she was going, but after about 15 minutes of driving it looked as though she was headed for the mall. She smiled to herself. Where else would she go to relieve her anger?

She walked into the mall and noticed all the families with their children. She sighed. She didn't want to be like everyone else, having a child. She wanted to be that cute couple walking hand-in-hand only thinking about each other. But instead she was stuck with Lily.

As Kristin walked around the mall, she continued to think about how she could get rid of Lily. Yes, Kevin had full custody of her now, which made things a little more difficult, but not impossible. Kristin knew that if she was going to try and get Kevin to change his mind about Lily, she wasn't going to insult her in front of Kevin. That would only get Kevin on Lily's side, not hers.

Kristin figured that the best way to try and get rid of her would be to just ignore Lily. That way Kevin would be able to see that she wouldn't accept Lily, and their family wouldn't work with Lily in it. Then Kevin would have to make his decision about how to make things better and that would be to give Lily back to Social Services.

"Baby! I'm home!" yelled Kristin as she entered the house carrying bags in both of her hands.

"Where did you go?" Kevin asked, as he looked at all the bags that Kristin had in hand.

"Shopping," Kristin replied, happily.

"Your way of trying to forget what happened earlier?" Kevin asked as he took a couple of the bags from her.

"What about earlier?" she asked.

Kevin looked at her puzzled. "You know, what happened before you left."

"Oh yeah, that," Kristin said, as though she had forgotten what happened. "Anyways, do you want to go out for dinner?"

"Now?" Kevin asked.

"Yeah, let's go," she said.

"Hold on," he said. "I have to get Lily."

"Whatever," Kristin replied.

Kevin went upstairs to Lily's room.

"Hey sweetheart," my dad said as he walked into my room.

I looked up and smiled at him.

"Want to go out for dinner?" he asked.

"Sure," I said.

"Okay then, let's go," he said.

I got up and followed him downstairs to see Kristin waiting. She handed my dad the keys and we walked out.

Two weeks later

Kevin was about ready to scream at Lily and Kristin. The both of them were playing the silent game with each other, and it was driving him insane. They were doing an excellent job at acting like they couldn't see each other. He was amazed at how much effort they put into ignoring each other. He just couldn't understand why they couldn't put that much effort into trying to get a long, or at least acknowledge one another.

Lately though, they had been tattle tailing on each other. Kristin would complain about Lily stealing her make-up and clothes. While Lily would complain that Kristin had gone through her stuff, claiming that her journal was not in the same place as she had left it. He was so tired of being in the middle; he wished they would just stop acting so immature. Why didn't they understand that he loved them both? Couldn't they see that if they tried they could be a family, all three of them?

He had tried many times to talk to them. He tried talking to both of them at one time, but they just acted like he wasn't even there, just glaring at each other. And then when he tried to talk to them separately all they did was complain about how much they didn't like each other, and that he didn't really need both of them. Why didn't understand that they were being selfish? What about him and his wants? How come they didn't understand that he couldn't live without either of them? He needed his daughter more than anything, but he also needed his soul mate, Kristin.

Kevin prayed that they would be able to act somewhat mature at the family reunion, which was coming up in a few days.

"Kris, I'm going over to A.J.'s to pick up my suitcases that he borrowed," Kevin said as he began to walk out of his room, while Kristin continued to pack.

"Okay," she replied.

Kevin grabbed his keys and got into his 4-Runner, just to make a quick trip to A.J.'s.

"Dad…dad, do I need to take a sweater or anything like that?" I asked as I walked into my dad's room.

Kristin looked up at me and then continued folding clothes.

"Dad?" I asked as I looked around his room. "Where is he?"

She just ignored me, pretending as though I had not said a word.

"Where is he?" I repeated.

"Excuse me, did you say something to me?" she questioned rudely.

I glared at her. "Where did he go?"

"To A.J.'s," she replied quickly.

"What for?" I asked.

"To get his suitcases for our trip, which you shouldn't even be going on," she said angrily.

"What?!" I exclaimed.

"It's a family reunion," she said, making sure to emphasize the word family.

"I realize that. And you're the one who shouldn't be going, you're not even related!" I yelled. "I'm his daughter, I have every right to be there."

"So? You're not apart of this family. I never asked for you to be here," Kristin said.

"And I didn't ask for you to come back either!" I yelled.

"You know, if it weren't for you, Kevin and I would be perfectly happy right now!" Kristin exclaimed.

"I doubt it," I said.

"We would, and you're the one who is causing us problems," she said.

"I am not. How can I be causing problems when all I want to do is be with my dad because I love him?" I questioned.

"Kevin doesn't love you. He just feels sorry that you didn't have a place to stay at the time," Kristin replied. "I am here because Kevin truly loves me."

"It's so obvious that he doesn't love you. It's me that he loves. The only reason that you're still here is because my dad hasn't found a way to tell you that he no longer loves you," I said. "He's going to call the engagement off."

"Don't you dare say that," Kristin said as she stood in front of me.

"Why not? You can't handle the truth?" I questioned. "Face it, he doesn't love you!"

The next thing I knew, she reached back and slapped me across the face.

I stood there stunned as I held my cheek. Soon tears were cascading down my cheek.

"I hate you! I wish you'd die!" I shouted.

Then I ran from my dad's room into my room. I collapsed onto my bed, bawling as I buried my face into my hands.

Kristin stood there shocked as she watched Lily flee from their room. She couldn't believe that she had actually struck Lily. She slowly sat down on the bed as a feeling of nausea swept over her. Tears began to stream down her face as she realized what she had done. Although she disliked Lily and didn't want her around, she never ever wanted to hurt her.

Her heart began beating faster as she thought about Kevin. What he would say…no, what he would do if and when he found out that she had hit his little girl?