-1"Kris sweetie I have to leave mommy doesn't want me here anymore."
"Take me with you daddy please," a 3 year old Kris asks beginning to cry. Her father just looks at her, gets in his car and drives off without looking back.
This is a memory that Kris will never forget although over the years faces and bits of time spent with her dad faded away. The memory seems to resurface with a vengeance around this time. It was 4th of July weekend the same weekend her dad left sixteen years ago.
When Kris woke up on the morning of the anniversary of the day her dad left she felt different almost anxious and she wasn't sure why. Things had been going great for her lately she had a great family in the Ritter's and a wonderful boyfriend named Jr. She still felt anxious on that day and that had never happened before, but she put the feeling behind her and went to go get Wildfire.
When she opened the door to go out of her trailer a letter fell on her. She grabbed the letter off the ground and opened it curiously. In the letter she read that her father wanted to see her and that he would be in the stables waiting for her with her horse. After she put the letter away she practically ran to the stables. When she arrived the only person she saw with wildfire was Pablo.
"Pablo, you're my father?" Kris asks in shock and surprise.
"Yea I am," Pablo said walking over to Kris. She just looks at him shocked.
"How come you didn't tell me," Kris asks as she starts to cry.
"I wanted to wait until you were old enough to understand why I left," Pablo says as he stops a few feet in front of her. Kris ponders this for a few minutes and then comes up with the question to answer all questions.
"Why did you leave then," She asks as she lets her tears roll down her face.
"Well I had to go your mom didn't want me around anymore and we hadn't been getting along very well after you were born so I just took off," Pablo said looking down at his hands.
"Looking back now it was the biggest mistake of my life to leave you with your mom when she could barely take care of herself," He adds beginning to tear up himself. When he looked up he saw Kris trying to process all of this.
Kris was trying to think through all of this new information that her father had given her. She realized though that none of that matter the wish she had wished on every birthday since she could remember had finally come true she had her father back.
"Well the important thing is that you're here now and stay in my life forever," Kris said looking over at him. With that said she ran to him and wrapped her arms around him. They just stood there for a while and let tears fall.
"I think we should tell everyone at the party tonight," Kris says as she pulls away from Pablo.
"Ok anything for my little princess," Pablo says smiling. With there plan made on how to tell everyone that Pablo was her father, Kris walked over to Wildfire and took him out for a run.
As the day carried on she became more and more excited for the party. She wanted to see the look on everyone's faces when she gave her news. About an hour before the party she met Pablo in the stables one more time to just finalize their plan.
"Hey dad," Kris said surprised at how good and comfortable it felt to say those words.
"Hey princess are you ready for the party tonight," Pablo asks as he helps her with putting some of the horses away. Kris shakes her head yes and then says, "I just want to go over the plan one more time." So they sit down on a bail of hay and discuss it.
"This is how it will happen you will go to the party first and gather everyone in the living room and tell them you have a big surprise waiting for them," Pablo said while waiting for Kris to add on to what he was saying.
"Then I will say everyone meet my father and that's when you walk in," Kris said laying her head down on her fathers shoulder. After they go over the plan one more time they go off in their different directions to get ready.
One hour later-------
When Kris arrives at the party she gathers everyone up just like it was planned out.
"Kris what's going on," Jr. asks sitting down next to Matt and Dani.
"Well I have a surprise for everyone," Kris says smiling a wide grin. She turns and walks to the door and gets ready to open it.
"Everyone meet my father," Kris says as she opens the door. When everyone sees Pablo walk in they are shocked and a little confused.
"Pablo your Kris's father," Jean asks looking between them and wondering why she had never seen it before.
"Yea I am," Pablo says wrapping one arm around Kris's shoulders. After everyone overcame their shock they said there congratulations. Soon the party came to an end and before people started to leave she decided there needed to be on last dance.
"Everyone this dance is for Kris and Pablo so they can have something to start becoming a family again," Jean said as she pushed play on her next cd.
As the two began dancing Kris whispered a quiet thank you to him. Slowly the two became wrapped up in focusing on dancing that they didn't even realize that Jean had taken a picture of Kris looking up into her fathers eyes smiling. Until she got the film developed and gave each a picture that year for Christmas. Pablo place the picture on his mantle next to all the others he had taken with him before he left Kris all those years ago.