Safeguarding Kelly(45)
Author: Zoe Dawson

 

“Yes, I agree. I want a life with you, Jason. It’s all I care about now. What we did in the past can’t be undone, but we can make it right.”

 

“That’s my girl. I love you, Kelly. I should be back in town around four. Dinner? I can cook or we can go out.”

 

It felt so mundane, so domestic, and simply wonderful. “You can cook. Let’s see what I’m getting myself into,” she said wryly.

 

He chuckled. “Hey, you’ve had my pancakes.” Affection filled his voice along with his amusement at her teasing.

 

“Yeah, true, but are you a one-hit wonder?”

 

He told her again how much he loved her and how his parents were so eager to meet them. She promised she would think about that once this week was over. It was going to be a tough one.

 

When he hung up, she went through the process of taking care of her daughter, feeding her and bathing her, then getting her to bed. With a cup of coffee, she went to her patio and sat down, looking over the backyard until fingers of light seeped over the eastern horizon, letting go of the anger, and bitterness, disgusted with herself for the last time. She did her best back in Kodiak. She’d made the right decisions at the time. There was no going back. She was at peace with that.

 

Jason was such an honorable man. And he lived his life by that creed. Kelly considered that quality in Jason. She had always been aware of it, but she had never really thought about it. Now that she had, she realized it was one of the traits in him that she respected most. And she recognized that he measured everything by that. She would strive to be the woman he needed, live up to her own potential, and stand by his side to admit what they had done…together. He’d been right. Everyone made mistakes.

 

She looked at her watch, surprised that Kiko wasn’t up. She went into the house and found her daughter coming down the stairs. “Where’s my breakfast?” she whined.

 

Okay, it was going to be one of those mornings. Kiko wasn’t often cranky, and she rarely whined. Kelly chalked it up to the fact that she missed Jason. “Is that the way you talk to your mom, young lady?”

 

Kiko’s voice rose to a shrill whine. “I’m hungry!” She folded her arms across her little puffed-up chest, her hair in crazy angles, but so adorable in her cute-as-hell face.

 

Kelly realized she didn’t have time to argue with her daughter now about breakfast, but they were going to have a discussion tonight after she got home. It didn’t get any better. She groused about the milk in her cereal being too cold, she complained about the bright sunlight and threw her spoon.

 

At her absolute limit, Kelly bent to pick it up, then slammed it down on the counter, the muscles in her neck tense, her teeth gritted. She washed off the utensil in the sink while her daughter scowled. She went over to Kiko’s side of the counter and placed the spoon back into her bowl. Inches away from her face, her voice was very, very quiet when she said, “You will shape up, and you will do it right now. I’ve raised you better than this, Kiko.”

 

Her bottom lip trembled, but she glared at Kelly. “Mommy, why don’t I have a daddy?”

 

Kelly was caught off guard and her heart accelerated. The day had finally come and she wasn’t quite prepared to talk to Kiko about this right now. It was clear this tantrum was about her emotions over Jason, realizing that he was important in her life. It was most likely what set her off. “We’re late, Kiko, and I don’t have time to discuss this right now. You will finish your breakfast, go and get cleaned up, and get ready to go to daycare. Is that clear?”

 

Kiko knocked her spoon, sending milk all over Kelly. She flounced off her chair, her face crumpling into tears. “You’re so mean. You’re the meanest mommy in the whole world.” Her face pinched white, she stopped and cast her another hateful look. “I wish Jason was my real dad!” she yelled back at her. “He’s never mean.”

 

It was as if she gave Kelly a shot of electricity. Experiencing such a sharp hot-and-cold rush that she had to grasp the back of the chair to steady herself, Kelly stared into space, her expression frozen. Then she picked up her cell phone and called Jenny, the daycare center, and NCIS to let them know they were going to be late.

 

This was too important to put off.

 

She wished Jason was her real dad. Her wish was about to come true.

 

She was apprehensive, worried that Kiko was too young to understand the circumstances surrounding her conception and birth. A thousand sensations sizzled through her, making her so light-headed she was almost dizzy.

 

She considered that Jason should be here when Kelly told Kiko, but she knew he would want her to do this. This was between the two of them. It was Kelly who had made the decision to leave him out of their life, it was her responsibility to make her daughter understand why.

 

Hit with a soaring sensation of joy at Kiko’s response, Kelly paced across the kitchen, then paced back, her heart racing, her thoughts in a crazy tangle, everything spinning around in her head.

 

Spurred on by a crystal-clear surety, she headed for the stairs and sprinted up them, feeling more clear-headed than she had in her entire life.

 

Her heart squeezing, she grasped Kiko’s doorframe, needing to anchor herself. Her tone was sharp–intense. “Did you mean what you said, Kiko? About wishing Jason was your dad?”

 

Kiko was half dressed, working on her matching shorts to the cute peplum elephant top she’d pulled on. She looked up at Kelly, obviously confused.

 

“Well?”

 

Her mouth pulled into a mutinous line, defiance in her eyes. “Yes.” Her chin came up as if she was challenging Kelly.

 

Hit with a giddy weakness, Kelly closed her eyes and held onto the door, forcing air into her lungs. And something hard and tight let go in her chest. She crossed to the bed and patted the place at her side.

 

Kiko was intuitive enough to know that something important was up. She climbed up on her bed with big eyes. She then told her daughter the truth. She glossed over the particulars but told Kiko that she and Jason had met before she was born, had a brief relationship, but circumstances forced them apart, but Jason was her father.

 

Kiko jumped at her, tackling her, knocking her off the bed and onto the floor. Kiko landed on top of her, and grabbed her mother’s face between her hands, making Kelly look at her. “You mean it, Mommy? You really mean it?”

 

Laughing at her response, Kelly hugged her. “Yes, I really mean it.” That’s when she felt how hot Kiko’s face was, and she got immediately concerned. After taking her temperature, she called Dr. Moore’s office. The receptionist told her to bring Kiko immediately.