Chapter 36

I couldn't believe that Kristin had actually hit me. I never expected one of our fights to become physical. The more I thought about it, the angrier I became and the more I began to hate her. I wanted her out of my house and out of my life. Everything was just perfect with my dad and me. We didn't need anyone else.

Kevin brought his suitcases in from his 4-Runner and carried them up the stairs. Once he reached the top of the stairs he noticed that both his door and Lily's door was shut. He stood there puzzled. As he listened, he realized that their radios were no longer playing. The only thing he could hear was a muffled noise, coming from his room or Lily's, he wasn't quite sure.

He opened his door to see Kristin sitting on their bed crying.

"Kris, what's wrong?" Kevin asked worriedly as he dropped his suitcases and rushed over to her, to wrap his arms around her.

Kristin quickly wiped away her tears as she felt Kevin's arms surround her.

She was debating whether or not to make up a story, or tell him what really happened. She knew that if she didn't tell Kevin, she would feel guilty. There was also the chance that Lily would tell Kevin what happened, and that would only make things worse.

"Baby, what's wrong?" Kevin asked again as he pulled Kris away from him to look at her.

She wiped her eyes so that she could look at him.

"Kevin…I have to tell you something," Kristin said quietly.

"It's okay. Go ahead," Kevin said.

She sighed. "Before you say anything, let me finish, okay?"

Kevin looked at her puzzled. "What is it?"

"Well, Lily and I got into a fight…" Kristin began.

Kevin sighed. "What happened this time?"

"We were just arguing and then, well…I uh, I accidentally hit Lily," Kristin mumbled.

"What did you just say?!" Kevin yelled as he stood up.

Kristin cringed, afraid of his temper.

"It was accident Kevin! I didn't mean it," Kristin said, looking up at him.

"What the fuck do you think you were doing?" Kevin roared.

"It was just a reaction to what she said," Kristin said. "I'm sorry Kevin."

"You damn well better be," Kevin said angrily.

Then he stormed out of his room with Kristin following close behind.

I sat in front of my mirror, still crying, while I gently brushed my red cheek. I winced as I tried to wipe away my tears.

Kevin lightly knocked on his daughter's door.

"Lily, it's me, Daddy," he said. "Can I come in?"

"Yeah," I said quietly, as I turned and faced the door.

Kevin quickly walked in Lily's room, to see her still crying. His anger began to rise, as he looked her over. Her eyes were red and puffy, and her cheek was a light red where Kristin had hit her.

He rushed over to her and wrapped his arms around her protectively.

"Are you okay?" my dad asked as he kissed the top of my head.

He then took my face into his hands. He gently wiped away my tears, but I pulled away from him.

"It stings," I replied.

"Oh, I'm sorry sweetheart," he said as he kissed my forehead. "Does anything else hurt? Did she hit you anywhere else?"

"I didn't beat her!" exclaimed Kristin.

"Did she hit you anywhere else?" my dad repeated, ignoring Kristin's outburst.

"No," I said.

"How did this happen?" my dad asked angrily, looking back and forth between Kristin and I.

"I asked her where you were and then she started yelling at me," I said.

"Whatever," Kristin said as she glared at me.

"No! Not whatever! I want to know why you hit my daughter!" my dad yelled angrily.

"We were arguing Kevin! Things happen when tempers flare!" Kristin yelled at him.

"Yes. But you never ever touch Lily," my dad stated.

"You know this would have never happened if you hadn't brought her here in the first place," Kristin said.

"But he did!" I yelled. "And this is my house now. I'm not leaving my dad," I said as I protectively wrapped my arm around his.

"We'll see about that," Kristin said, under her breath.

Both her and I were glaring at each other as I stood next to my dad.

My dad looked between Kristin and I, then he turned to her and said, "I want you to leave."

"What!?" Kristin exclaimed.

"You heard me," my dad said.

"What the hell? Are you kicking me out?" she questioned.

"I think you should stay somewhere else tonight," he said firmly.

"Fine Kevin. If that's what you really want," she said while giving him the coldest glare I had ever seen.

Then she turned on her heel and walked out, flinging the door shut behind her.

I smiled to myself as I watched her leave. Once my dad heard her slam the front door, he sighed, and then he walked me over to the bed where we sat down.

"Lily, are you sure you're okay?" my dad asked.

"Yeah, now that you're home," I said.

"What were you and Kristin arguing about?" my dad asked.

"Umm…nothing, it's not important," I said.

"Yes it is. What did you two say to each other to make yourselves so upset?" my dad asked.

"I don't want to talk about it," I said.

"Lily, what did you guys say to each other?" my dad asked again.

"Just stuff," I said as I got up and began folding my clothes and placing them into my suitcase.

Kevin sighed. "You can continue packing for now, but we'll talk about this stuff that you two said later."

Kristin was fuming as she slammed the door to Kevin's 4-Runner. She didn't care whether or not she was supposed to take it; she just wanted to get away. She backed out of the driveway and then floored the gas.

After a while of driving around, Kristin stopped to take notice of her surroundings. Once she did, she realized that she was in front of Brian and Leighanne's house. She got down and knocked on the door.

Leighanne opened the door to see Kristin in tears. She immediately hugged her.

"What's wrong, Kris?" she questioned.

"Can we talk?" Kristin asked.

"Sure, come on in," Leighanne said.

"Is Brian here?" Kristin asked.

"No. Him and Nick are playing basketball, they'll be gone for a while, since they just left," Leighanne replied.

"Oh, okay," Kristin said.

"Here let me get you some tissue," Leighanne said as she led Kristin to the couch.

"Thanks," Kristin said.

Leighanne handed her a tissue, so that she could wipe her tears away.

"What happened, sweetie?" Leighanne asked. "Did you and Kev get in a fight?"

"Even better, Lily and I got into it," Kristin replied.

"With Kevin right there?" Leighanne asked.

"No, he was at A.J.'s getting his suitcases for the upcoming family reunion," Kristin said.

"So you left Lily there alone?" Leighanne asked.

"Unfortunately no, Kevin came back and then all three of us started arguing," Kristin explained.

"What happened? What were you and Lily fighting about?" Leighanne asked.

"Kevin. And her staying at our house," Kristin said. "I hate it that she's there. I want her to leave so that it can go back how it's supposed to be, Kevin and me."

"What about her? Don't you think she wants to stay with Kevin, since he is her dad?" Leighanne questioned.

"I don't care what she wants," Kristin replied. "I just want Kevin to myself. Do you know what she said? She told me that Kevin was going to call off the engagement."

"Why did she say that?" Leighanne asked.

"So that she could get rid of me," Kristin said, angrily.

"Did Kevin hear this?" Leighanne asked.

"No, he was still gone," Kristin said.

"So how did he find out that you two were fighting? Unless you told him or she did," Leighanne said.

"Well…while we were arguing, I sort of slapped Lily," Kristin said.

"You what?!" Leighanne asked, shocked.

"She deserved it!" exclaimed Kristin.

"Kris, I can't believe you'd do something like that," Leighanne said. "She's just a young girl."

"I know, I try to tell myself that, but she just makes me so angry," Kristin said.

"So that's why you're here? Kevin was furious, right?" Leighanne asked.

"Yeah, he was really upset with me," Kristin said. "He told me that I needed to stay somewhere else for the night, and here is where I ended up."

Kristin then began to cry again. "I can't lose him."

Leighanne hugged her again. "Don't worry, you won't."

"But how do I get Kevin and get rid of Lily?" Kristin questioned.

"Kris, I hate to tell you this, but I don't think you can do both," Leighanne said. "If you get Kevin then you get both of them, and if you get rid of Lily, I think you'll lose Kevin too."

Kristin sighed as she wiped away her tears. "But I love Kevin so much."

"And he loves you too, but he also loves that little girl, who's his daughter," Leighanne said. "I'm sure he didn't want to tell you to leave, but for right now, it's the best thing he can do. Just so that maybe he can talk to Lily alone."

"I guess," Kristin said. "I'm just scared that she'll convince him to get him to leave me."

"Don't worry about her, Kris. Kevin's a grown man and he can think for himself. He knows what's right," Leighanne said.

"I hope so," replied Kristin.

"It'll be okay," Leighanne assured her.

"Things better change before the reunion," Kristin said. "Because I don't know if we'll be able to pull off the happy little family. You're going with Brian, aren't you?"

"Yeah," Leighanne answered.

"Good. Maybe then you can see what she's like and maybe you can help me," Kristin said.

"Everything will be fine. I'm sure she won't be a problem there," Leighanne said.

"Of course she will," Kristin said. "If she's with Kevin and I, then she's a problem."

"You don't mean that, Kris," Leighanne said.

"Yes, I do. I want her out of our lives," Kristin said.

"But you haven't even given her a chance," Leighanne said, trying to reason with Kristin. "She has a right to be there with Kevin, just like you do."

"I don't care," Kristin said stubbornly.

Once Kevin had finished helping Lily pack he decided to take her out to a movie. He knew that since things were kind of tense right now, this would help to get their mind off of things. Plus, he was tired of thinking about Kristin, and how he told her that she should stay somewhere else. He just needed to escape, even if it was only for a couple of hours.

Kevin couldn't believe how terrible he felt because he had told Kristin to leave, even though it was only for a night. Although he was still furious with her for hitting Lily, she should have never touched his daughter. But he wanted to try and work all this out. Instead of having her stay and them talking, he told her to leave and at the same time, he was again avoiding the problem. However, he wouldn't have been able to listen to them reasonably when he was so furious, so in a way, it was better that Kristin had left for the night. But he still needed to talk to them, since Lily and Kristin had decided that they didn't need to solve their problem; they just figured that they would somehow be able to get rid of each other. But little did they know, that he wasn't going to get rid of either of them. He wasn't going to do what they wanted; he was going to do what he wanted.

Kevin was convinced this was going to work, but it would just take some time. He didn't care that they disliked each other. He knew if they would just try, then they would see that everything would be fine. They were making things so difficult, when all they had to do was just give each other a chance. Why couldn't they see that he needed both of them to make him happy? His heart wouldn't be complete if he didn't have the two of them in his life.

"Dad," I said as I nudged him with my elbow.

"Huh?" he asked as he looked down at me.

"It's our turn," I said, pointing towards the guy who was standing behind the counter waiting to take our order.

"Oh, sorry," my dad said. "Umm…one large bag of popcorn and two cherry cokes."

He paid and then we grabbed napkins and straws. Afterwards, we went to our theater and took our seats.

As we waited for the preview to begin, I asked, "Dad, what were you thinking about earlier?"

"Oh, I was just thinking about what else we have to do before we leave for Kentucky," he replied.

"Are you sure?" I asked.

"Yep, that's about it," my dad said.

"Oh, okay," I said.

Ever since we Kristin had left, he had been very quiet. As he helped me to finish packing, we spent almost the entire time in silence. The only sound heard was the songs that played from my radio. Afterwards, he decided that it would be a good thing to see a movie, since he hadn't been to the movies in a while. But I knew that he only wanted to go so that he didn't think about what happened earlier.

As my dad and I pulled into the driveway we noticed Nick and Brian just getting ready to leave. But as they saw us, they stopped and got out.

"Hey guys!" my Uncle Brian said as he walked over to us.

"Hi Uncle Brian," I said as I hugged him. Then I hugged my Uncle Nick.

"What's up?" Nick asked.

"Not much," my dad said as he continued to walk up towards the house.

"Where's Kris?" Brian asked.

"Not here," replied my dad.

Both Brian and Nick looked at each other and then at me.

"Umm…what were you two doing?" I asked as we walked into the house.

"I was kickin' Nick's butt on the basketball court," my Uncle Brian said.

I smiled as I watched Nick make a face and begin to pout.

"It's okay Uncle Nicky, you can still beat me," I said.

"Thanks Lily," Nick said.

"What are you guys doing here?" my dad asked.

"Just stopped by to see our favorite niece, and see what you and Kris were up to," Brian said.

"Oh," replied my dad.

"Is something wrong, Kev?" Brian asked.

My dad looked at me and smiled. "Lily, sweetheart, can you please go upstairs? I need to talk with your Uncles."

"Yeah, I guess," I said as I slowly headed up the stairs.

Nick noticed the sad look on her face and decided to follow her.

"We'll talk later," Nick whispered to Kevin.

Kevin just nodded his head, knowing that Nick was going to talk to Lily instead.

"Hey! Wait up!" Nick said as he came up the stairs behind me.

"Doesn't my dad have to talk to you?" I questioned as we walked in my room.

"We can talk later. Right now, I want to be with you," he said.

I smiled. "Thank you."

"No problemo!" he said, smiling.

Then we just sat there on my bed, letting our thoughts run through our head. After a while, Nick couldn't sit there any longer with out knowing what happened between Kevin, Kristin, and Lily. He had to ask questions, since it seemed that Lily wasn't going to say anything.

"So what happened with Kristin?" Nick asked, quietly.

"We got into a fight," I said.

"A bad fight?" he asked.

I shook my head yes.

"Who was the argument between?" he asked.

"It started out with Kristin and I," I replied. "My dad wasn't here at the time, he went to Uncle Alex's for his suitcases."

"Who started it?" he asked.

"She did. I just asked her where my dad was and she began yelling at me," I said.

"And then your dad came home?" Nick asked.

I shook my head no. "No, he came home after we had stopped arguing."

"What? Then why does your dad seem so upset? If he didn't come home until after you two had stopped fighting, he shouldn't be so mad, right?" Nick questioned.

"He came home after Kristin had slapped me," I said, quietly.

"She did what?" Nick exclaimed. "She hit you?"

"Yeah," I said.

"Your dad knows this, right?" Nick asked. "Cause if he doesn't, I'm going to go down there right now and tell him."

"It's okay Uncle Nick, he knows," I said.

"Good," Nick said. Then he scooted next to me and gave me a hug. "I'm so sorry, Lily. Are you okay?"

"Yes, as long as she doesn't come back," I said.

"What did your dad say to her?" Nick asked.

"He told her to stay somewhere else," I said.

"Good, I don't want Kristin around you if she's going to treat you like that," Nick said, angrily. "What did she say to you?"

"She told me that it was my fault that her and my dad weren't getting along. She also told me that the only reason I was here, was because my dad just felt sorry for me since I had no where else to really stay," I said. "That's not true…is it? My dad really wants me here, right? Or am I just here because I'm his responsibility?"

Nick wiped away the few tears that had escaped from Lily's eyes.

"Of course your dad wants you! Don't ever doubt that Lily," Nick said. "Ever since that day that he saw you, he's been so much happier. I can see it in the way he does everything, he's just so happy…and it's because you've come back into his life."

"Really?" I asked.

"Yeah, and I have proof," Nick said.

"You do?" I asked.

"I don't have it with me, it's at my house," Nick said. "I wasn't going to give it to you just yet, but now's a good time. Come on, let's tell your dad that we're going to my house."

Brian and Kevin sat down once Nick and Lily had gone upstairs.

"So where's Kristin?" Brian asked.

"I don't know," replied Kevin. "And right at this moment, I really don't care."

"Why?" Brian asked, surprised. "What happened?"

"Her and Lily got into a fight," Kevin said.

"Again?" Brian asked.

"Yes, again. But this time it was worse," Kevin said.

"How?" Brian questioned.

"Because this time it got physical. Kristin ended up hitting Lily," Kevin said, angrily. "So I told her that she better stay somewhere else tonight."

"Are you serious? Kristin actually hit Lily?" Brian asked in disbelief.

"Yes. I came home right after it happened," Kevin said.

"So you weren't here when she did that?" Brian asked.

"No, of course not. I wouldn't have let her do that to my daughter," Kevin stated.

"But how do you know it happened for sure? I mean, Lily could have just said that," Brian said.

"So you're saying that my daughter is a lair?" Kevin questioned, angrily.

"No, I just wanted to make sure that you didn't tell Kristin to leave for no reason," Brian said. "I didn't mean anything by it."

"Don't worry, I told to leave Kristin for the right reason. She was the one who told me she had hit Lily, and then I checked on Lily, to see her crying," Kevin said.

"Oh," Brian said. "So Lily is okay, right?"

"She says she is," Kevin said. "But I don't know what was said between them that made Kristin react that way. Lily won't tell me. And I don't know what Kristin told Lily."

"So what are you going to do?" Brian asked.

"I don't know. I can't even think right now, I'm so angry with Kristin and this situation that I've seem to have got myself into," Kevin said.

"You're not thinking about calling off the engagement or anything like that, are you?" Brian asked worriedly.

"I don't know Bri. I just need some time to think. I can't just act like nothing's wrong and then have them get into fights every time I'm gone or every time they look at each other," Kevin said.

"Hey Kev!" Nick called as we walked downstairs.

Both Kevin and Brian became quiet, ending their conversation for now.

"Yeah?" my dad asked.

"I have to show Lily something, so I'm going to take her over to my place. Is that okay?" Nick asked.

"But we came here in my car," Brian said.

"Kev can give you a ride home," Nick said. "It's important, I need to show Lily."

"Yeah, that's fine," my dad said.

"Okay, just as long as Kev gives me a ride," Brian said.

"Thanks Uncle Brian," I said as I hugged him.

"You're welcome sweetie," he said.

"Just come pick up Lily whenever," Nick said as we headed out the door.

"Okay!" my dad yelled.

Nick and I hoped into my Uncle Brian's car and then sped off.

"Do you want anything to eat or drink?" Nick asked as we walked into his house.

"No, I'm fine, thank you," I said.

"Okay," he said. "Just sit here, while I run upstairs and get something real quick."

"All right," I said.

Nick searched through his desk, trying to remember where he had put it. He was going through his last drawer, hoping that it was here hidden underneath all his paper work. Once he found it, he smiled and then quickly went back downstairs to where Lily was waiting.

"Did you find it?" I asked as I saw Nick come downstairs.

"Yep," he said happily.

"What is it?" I asked curiously.

He sat down next to me and then handed me a folder. "This is yours, you can keep it."

"I can?" I asked.

"Yep, it's all yours," he said.

I opened it up. One the first page, there was a picture of my dad and me as we lay laughing in the pit of balls.

I looked up at Nick and smiled.

"See how happy you make him," Nick said. "He would have never done any of that stuff if he was just with us. But because you were there he did, and he had a wonderful time, just being with you."

I continued flipping through the photo album that Nick had created.

"When did you take these pictures?" I asked, curiously. "I never saw you take these."

"I just kind of stayed in the background, so that way your dad could have his moment with you, and then you guys would have these pictures, to remember these moments forever," Nick said.

I turned and hugged Nick. "Thank you so much."

"You're welcome," he said. "But you haven't seen all of them."

"I know," I said as I continued to turn through the pages.

Then I stopped as I came across a drawing. It was a drawing of my dad and me. We were in his hotel room, sitting on the couch, with me wrapped in his arms. Both of us were sleeping as I rested my head on his chest.

"You drew this?" I asked surprised.

"Yeah. You two looked so cute sleeping, so I got my pad and began to draw," Nick said.

"Thank you! I love it," I said as I hugged him again.

"I'm glad," Nick said. "Now do you understand how much your dad loves you?"

"Yeah," I said.

"Good. Cause it's written all over his face," Nick said.

"Thank you Uncle Nicky," I said.

Once Kevin and Brian had finished talking, he drove Brian home. He pulled up into Brian's driveway and noticed his 4-Runner.

"So this is where she is," Kevin said.

"Are you going to get down?" Brian asked.

"No. Kristin and I will talk later. I have to get Lily right now," Kevin said.

"Okay," Brian said. "I'll see you later, Kev."

"Bye cuz," Kevin said as Brian got out.

Kevin then drove to Nick's house to pick up his daughter. He got down and rang the doorbell. Nick opened the door and greeted Kevin.

"Come on in," he said.

"Thanks," Kevin said. "So where is she?"

"On the couch," Nick said as he pointed to where Lily lay.

Kevin smiled as he saw that Lily was sleeping, with her arms tightly clutching a photo album.

"What's that?" Kevin asked.

"Something I gave her," Nick said.

"Is that what you had to show her?" Kevin asked.

"Yeah," Nick said. "Kev, I want to talk to you. Can we go into the kitchen so we don't wake Lily?"

"Sure," Kevin said.

The two of them walked into the dining room and sat down at Nick's large table.

"What do you want to talk about?" Kevin asked.

"Kristin," Nick replied.

Kevin frowned. "I really don't want to talk about that right now."

"But I have something to say," Nick replied.

"Okay, go ahead then," Kevin said as he sat back.

"You know that I love Kris, I think you and her are perfect together, but I can't accept what she's doing to Lily," Nick said.

"I know," Kevin said.

"No, you don't," Nick said. "Do you know why I brought her over here?"

"So that Brian and I could talk privately," Kevin replied. "Right?"

"No, so that I could convince her that you loved her. Lily may say that she's okay, but what Kristin is saying to her is really hurting her and making her doubt a lot of things," Nick said.

"You had to convince her?" Kevin asked worriedly.

"Yeah, she was telling herself that you loved her, but she wasn't completely convinced," Nick said.

Kevin sighed.

"And I can't believe that Kristin would actually hit her. I don't care what was said, she should have never hit Lily," Nick said. "You can't let her continue to hurt Lily."

"I know," Kevin said. "It will stop. I will not tolerate this anymore. When Kristin comes back we'll have a good talk."

"Thank you," Nick said.

"No, thank you Nick for watching out for her," Kevin said. "I guess I didn't realize how much she confides in you. I thought I was doing pretty good talking to her."

"You are Kev," Nick said. "But there are just certain things that she finds easier to tell me."

"Anything else I should know?" Kevin asked.

"Nope," Nick said. "That's it."

"Okay, thank you," Kevin said.

Then Kevin got up and walked over to Lily.

"Pumpkin, Daddy is here," Kevin said as he gently rubbed Lily's back.

I woke up to see my dad leaning down next to me. He then smiled at me.

"Time to go home," my dad said.

"Okay," I said as I sat up.

Just before we walked out the door, I said, "Thank you again Uncle Nick."

"You're welcome," he said as he waved to my dad and I.

"Are you okay?" my dad asked as we drove off.

"Yeah," I said. "I'm fine."

"Good," my dad said as he kissed the top of my head.

Once we got home, I went upstairs and changed. Then my dad came in, tucked me in, and kissed me good night.

"Night my girl. Sleep tight, and I love you," he said.

"I love you too," I said as I closed my eyes.

Kevin stayed and made sure that Lily was sleeping soundly; then he went to his room.