Almost Paradise
Second part in the "Colors of the Past" series. I'm doing some major rewriting for this fic.
dracos_girl: The slave island was a different one than Pirate Island.
Brianna: the 'pudding club' is an old term for "we're having a baby" :D
***
October 1948
Kit sat on the dock near the SeaDuck, dangling his legs above the water. They had arrived in Cape Suzette only an hour before. Everyone had been overjoyed that Baloo and Rebecca were alive and home safely. Though Kit wasn't much for showing his excitement at the moment. Guinna spied him from the front window of Higher for Hire, and walked out to join him. Kit looked back at the sound of her footsteps. He gave her a small smile then turned back to the water.
"Kit, are you okay?" Guinna asked, sitting down and grasping his hand.
"Of course I'm okay" he started, trying to smile brighter for her. It fell flat on his face.
Guinna shook her head, knowing him awfully well. She caressed his cheek and made him look at her. "What is wrong?" She punctuated every word.
He didn't want to say anything, not wanting to spoil everyone's happiness. But, the words of his counselor surfaced in his mind. "So much has changed in one day. It's not for the worse this time, it's for the better. I am ecstatic that Baloo and Rebecca is alive. I just can't show it right now. Then there's the fact that you're carrying our baby." His eyes shifted to Guinna's stomach, his hand gently touching her there then drawing back quickly.
"Kit, what is it?"
"I'm afraid I'll hurt our baby" he mumbled.
Guinna was almost in tears, hoping it wasn't starting again. She threw her arms around him. "No, no, no. You can't let what happened years ago rule your life. Remember, we worked through that together. You'd never hurt our baby or me or anyone again. You will be a wonderful father, because you have so much love to give." She made eye contact with him and held it. "You hear me?" Kit heaved then nodded. She pecked him on the cheek. "Feel better?"
Kit smiled again. Even though it was small, this time it was genuine. "I love you."
"I know."
"I can't wait for our baby to comes in seven months."
"Now that's more like it."
***
Baloo and Rebecca were given a tour of the 'fixed up' Higher for Hire. After they were done, Baloo trudged outside to find Kit. He hadn't seen his son since they landed. He found Kit outside, still on the dock staring out at the water.
"Hey Kit" Baloo greeted, slapping him on the back. "Molly gave us the grand tour of the place. You kids have done a lot since we been gone. Even runnin' the business all by yourselves! I'm awfully proud of you."
"Thanks Baloo. It feels good hearing that from you. It wasn't an easy start, but we somehow got back to living."
"Well, you and the girls did good fixing up the place; delivering the cargo…"
"You don't know the half of what happen after you… you know…disappeared" Kit said, forlorn. He'd hate to bring it up, but…"I had to go to war."
There was an awkward silence. "Yikes…I had no idea. We had heard of a war, but didn't think Usland would be involved."
"Those several months were the hardest and ugliest time in my whole life. And, I've seen some bad things in my life."
"I'm sorry you had to go through that." Baloo rubbed his neck, thinking of something beside that awful subject. "How about that, you're gonna be a daddy too!"
"Yeah. It's weird, Guinna and I have been married for five years now and we're finally having a baby. It's for the better, now that you're back."
"I can't believe I'm gonna be a grandpaw, and you're gonna be a dad! I don't know if I can imagine my tough little orphaned cub as a father. Heck, I couldn't imagine myself a father. But, I became one without even thinking. I bet you'll be a way better dad than me."
"No, I hope I'm as good a father as you. Though, I think I'll be a little more responsible."
"Just don't let the little tike fly your plane while you take a nap."
Kit laughed at the memory of when that happen so many years ago. "Don't worry, I'm not as lazy as you."
Baloo dramatically slapped a hand to his forehead. "Ow…low blow, Kitboy."
"What? Can't take the truth?" He laughed again when Baloo mockingly tried to hit him. "Okay, I'll stop! Say, what's going on with you and Rebecca?"
"Nothin'. Why?"
"You two were kind of close in that hut."
Baloo rolled his eyes. "She would keep after me at the camp. Since we didn't have to argue 'bout our job, we became good friends. Besides, I wouldn't wanna be with Becky." He semi-shivered. "She still has a torch for O'Malley anyway. Y'know, that Molly has turned out to be a beautiful girl. She has a lotta courage."
"She does. She has so much going for her. Did she tell you about Shawn?"
"That's almost all she talked about in-between the information about what has happened since we been gone. She must really like him."
"She adores him. But, she's punished right now. She can't see him for a week."
"What did Molly do?"
"She disobeyed me by inviting Shawn over when H&H was a dangerous place. I set rules and she disobeyed them so I had no choice."
"Sounds like you already got that parenting thing down."
Kit snorted. "Yeah, right! I'm not even close."
****
Molly sat with her mother on the blue and white striped couch in the living room Kit and Wildcat built on two years ago. Rebecca shook her head at all the changes that Molly had told her about in just an hour. She was becoming more overwhelmed just thinking about it. The kids had done better than she ever imagined…and she was glad for that.
"Know what?" Molly said, breaking Rebecca's train of thought. "I'm graduating school this year."
Rebecca's eyes widened. "You are?! You're suppose to be in eleventh grade."
"Suppose too…but I was skipped a grade up when I was thirteen."
"But how?"
"Well," Molly started, fingering her cheek and feeling awkward saying it. "After …we thought you were gone and after Kit came home from war, I became very depressed. I had to get my mind off everything, so, all I did was study. My grades shot up so high they skipped me a grade. That's how I met Shawn because he's a year older than me."
"Wow! My little girl has grown up too fast." Rebecca felt the need to mourn for all the time she missed especially with Molly going through the crucial ages of her early teens when a girl needs her mother the most. She made note to give Guinna and Kit tons of acclaim for raising Molly well. "What are your plans after high school?"
"I plan to go to Usland University, and major in psychology."
Rebecca blinked. "Psychology? What do you plan to do with that?"
"I want to be a counselor, helping people through their problems especially people with emotional disorders and mental illness." Molly cracked an uneasy smile.
"May I ask why?" Rebecca said with a slight edge to her voice.
Molly sighed, knowing this was going to be hard for her mother to comprehend. "For a few years I have wondered what causes people to do bad things or have emotional problems. I want to understand why so maybe I could help them. I engrossed myself in books written by Sigmar Fraud, the greatest psychologist in the world. It is quite an interesting subject."
Rebecca smiled half-heartedly, happy her daughter knew what she wanted to do in life but totally perplexed at her decision. "That's great that you know what you want to do. You're still so young. Last time I saw you, you were shorter than me and only interested in Danger Woman. Now, you're in love and want to work with crazy people."
"Mom…" Molly heaved. She felt that was coming.
Rebecca gasped. "I didn't mean it like that. I'm sorry."
"It's all right. You been gone for a long time."
"That's true." Rebecca looked around for a change of subject. "You should invite Shawn over for dinner so I can meet him."
"That'd be great!" Molly smiled brightly. "It'll have to wait until next week though. I'm 'punished' from seeing him for a week."
"Why is that?"
"Disobeying Kit. He is one to enforce the rules especially after he came back from war. It's all right. Shawn is going to be really confused when he meets you."
Second part in the "Colors of the Past" series. I'm doing some major rewriting for this fic.
dracos_girl: The slave island was a different one than Pirate Island.
Brianna: the 'pudding club' is an old term for "we're having a baby" :D
***
October 1948
Kit sat on the dock near the SeaDuck, dangling his legs above the water. They had arrived in Cape Suzette only an hour before. Everyone had been overjoyed that Baloo and Rebecca were alive and home safely. Though Kit wasn't much for showing his excitement at the moment. Guinna spied him from the front window of Higher for Hire, and walked out to join him. Kit looked back at the sound of her footsteps. He gave her a small smile then turned back to the water.
"Kit, are you okay?" Guinna asked, sitting down and grasping his hand.
"Of course I'm okay" he started, trying to smile brighter for her. It fell flat on his face.
Guinna shook her head, knowing him awfully well. She caressed his cheek and made him look at her. "What is wrong?" She punctuated every word.
He didn't want to say anything, not wanting to spoil everyone's happiness. But, the words of his counselor surfaced in his mind. "So much has changed in one day. It's not for the worse this time, it's for the better. I am ecstatic that Baloo and Rebecca is alive. I just can't show it right now. Then there's the fact that you're carrying our baby." His eyes shifted to Guinna's stomach, his hand gently touching her there then drawing back quickly.
"Kit, what is it?"
"I'm afraid I'll hurt our baby" he mumbled.
Guinna was almost in tears, hoping it wasn't starting again. She threw her arms around him. "No, no, no. You can't let what happened years ago rule your life. Remember, we worked through that together. You'd never hurt our baby or me or anyone again. You will be a wonderful father, because you have so much love to give." She made eye contact with him and held it. "You hear me?" Kit heaved then nodded. She pecked him on the cheek. "Feel better?"
Kit smiled again. Even though it was small, this time it was genuine. "I love you."
"I know."
"I can't wait for our baby to comes in seven months."
"Now that's more like it."
***
Baloo and Rebecca were given a tour of the 'fixed up' Higher for Hire. After they were done, Baloo trudged outside to find Kit. He hadn't seen his son since they landed. He found Kit outside, still on the dock staring out at the water.
"Hey Kit" Baloo greeted, slapping him on the back. "Molly gave us the grand tour of the place. You kids have done a lot since we been gone. Even runnin' the business all by yourselves! I'm awfully proud of you."
"Thanks Baloo. It feels good hearing that from you. It wasn't an easy start, but we somehow got back to living."
"Well, you and the girls did good fixing up the place; delivering the cargo…"
"You don't know the half of what happen after you… you know…disappeared" Kit said, forlorn. He'd hate to bring it up, but…"I had to go to war."
There was an awkward silence. "Yikes…I had no idea. We had heard of a war, but didn't think Usland would be involved."
"Those several months were the hardest and ugliest time in my whole life. And, I've seen some bad things in my life."
"I'm sorry you had to go through that." Baloo rubbed his neck, thinking of something beside that awful subject. "How about that, you're gonna be a daddy too!"
"Yeah. It's weird, Guinna and I have been married for five years now and we're finally having a baby. It's for the better, now that you're back."
"I can't believe I'm gonna be a grandpaw, and you're gonna be a dad! I don't know if I can imagine my tough little orphaned cub as a father. Heck, I couldn't imagine myself a father. But, I became one without even thinking. I bet you'll be a way better dad than me."
"No, I hope I'm as good a father as you. Though, I think I'll be a little more responsible."
"Just don't let the little tike fly your plane while you take a nap."
Kit laughed at the memory of when that happen so many years ago. "Don't worry, I'm not as lazy as you."
Baloo dramatically slapped a hand to his forehead. "Ow…low blow, Kitboy."
"What? Can't take the truth?" He laughed again when Baloo mockingly tried to hit him. "Okay, I'll stop! Say, what's going on with you and Rebecca?"
"Nothin'. Why?"
"You two were kind of close in that hut."
Baloo rolled his eyes. "She would keep after me at the camp. Since we didn't have to argue 'bout our job, we became good friends. Besides, I wouldn't wanna be with Becky." He semi-shivered. "She still has a torch for O'Malley anyway. Y'know, that Molly has turned out to be a beautiful girl. She has a lotta courage."
"She does. She has so much going for her. Did she tell you about Shawn?"
"That's almost all she talked about in-between the information about what has happened since we been gone. She must really like him."
"She adores him. But, she's punished right now. She can't see him for a week."
"What did Molly do?"
"She disobeyed me by inviting Shawn over when H&H was a dangerous place. I set rules and she disobeyed them so I had no choice."
"Sounds like you already got that parenting thing down."
Kit snorted. "Yeah, right! I'm not even close."
****
Molly sat with her mother on the blue and white striped couch in the living room Kit and Wildcat built on two years ago. Rebecca shook her head at all the changes that Molly had told her about in just an hour. She was becoming more overwhelmed just thinking about it. The kids had done better than she ever imagined…and she was glad for that.
"Know what?" Molly said, breaking Rebecca's train of thought. "I'm graduating school this year."
Rebecca's eyes widened. "You are?! You're suppose to be in eleventh grade."
"Suppose too…but I was skipped a grade up when I was thirteen."
"But how?"
"Well," Molly started, fingering her cheek and feeling awkward saying it. "After …we thought you were gone and after Kit came home from war, I became very depressed. I had to get my mind off everything, so, all I did was study. My grades shot up so high they skipped me a grade. That's how I met Shawn because he's a year older than me."
"Wow! My little girl has grown up too fast." Rebecca felt the need to mourn for all the time she missed especially with Molly going through the crucial ages of her early teens when a girl needs her mother the most. She made note to give Guinna and Kit tons of acclaim for raising Molly well. "What are your plans after high school?"
"I plan to go to Usland University, and major in psychology."
Rebecca blinked. "Psychology? What do you plan to do with that?"
"I want to be a counselor, helping people through their problems especially people with emotional disorders and mental illness." Molly cracked an uneasy smile.
"May I ask why?" Rebecca said with a slight edge to her voice.
Molly sighed, knowing this was going to be hard for her mother to comprehend. "For a few years I have wondered what causes people to do bad things or have emotional problems. I want to understand why so maybe I could help them. I engrossed myself in books written by Sigmar Fraud, the greatest psychologist in the world. It is quite an interesting subject."
Rebecca smiled half-heartedly, happy her daughter knew what she wanted to do in life but totally perplexed at her decision. "That's great that you know what you want to do. You're still so young. Last time I saw you, you were shorter than me and only interested in Danger Woman. Now, you're in love and want to work with crazy people."
"Mom…" Molly heaved. She felt that was coming.
Rebecca gasped. "I didn't mean it like that. I'm sorry."
"It's all right. You been gone for a long time."
"That's true." Rebecca looked around for a change of subject. "You should invite Shawn over for dinner so I can meet him."
"That'd be great!" Molly smiled brightly. "It'll have to wait until next week though. I'm 'punished' from seeing him for a week."
"Why is that?"
"Disobeying Kit. He is one to enforce the rules especially after he came back from war. It's all right. Shawn is going to be really confused when he meets you."