Ch 11
A/N: Hey guys I'm so sorry it's taken me this long to update. I promise I'm not going to give up on this story though. There will be two more chapters to go, that I will hopefully be able to get you soon.
….
Later that evening Cal, Gillian, Emily and Pete were sitting in the living room watching a movie. Gillian and Cal were cuddling on the couch, while Pete was curled up in a chair with Emily sitting on the floor in front of him. Emily had a bowl of popcorn on her lap which Pete periodically took from, never taking his eyes off of the TV.
A knock on the door interrupted the quiet atmosphere of the evening, causing Emily to almost spill the popcorn in an attempt to get up. Opening the door she saw Kat and Loker with a woman she didn't recognize. "Dad," she called, walking back into the living room, "Gillian, I think it's for you two."
Disentangling themselves from one another, they rose from the couch and made their way to the door. Seeing the fear and excitement on Kat and Loker's face, Gillian and Cal walked outside closing the door behind them. Kat was the first to break the awkward silence, "Gillian, Cal, I would like you to meet Donna Sigurd. She's Pete's mother."
Looking quickly at each other than back at Donna, Cal asked, "And how exactly do we know that she's really his mum?"
"This is a picture of Brian, his father," Loker handed a photo to Cal. "Their son was stolen from their home when he was two."
Cal looked down at the photo, and then handed it to Gillian. She looked at it for a second then nodded, "Please come in, I'm sure you'd like to meet your son."
Walking back through the door all five of them stood in the living room. Looking up from the TV Emily could tell something was going on. "Um, I'm just going to go… finish some homework," she said turning off the TV and going to the stairs.
Kat went over to the chair that Pete was sitting in and gently perched on the arm, "Pete we need to talk to you."
"Ok," he said happily.
Squatting down on the other side Gillian said, "Pete, we'd like you to meet Donna."
"Hi," she said unsure of what to say.
Extending his hand he walked over to her, "Hi Donna, I'm Pete. Nice to meet you." She grinned, accepting his hand. Then sitting back down between Kat and Gillian he looked to both of them, waiting for them to start.
"Pete," Kat said, still unsure of how she was going to do what she knew had to be done, "Your mom and dad, the people who took care of you, they weren't nice people were they?" She said more as a statement than a question.
Pete shook his head and his eyes got big, "No, they're mean!"
"Well Donna here really wants you to come and live with her." Kat said brightly.
Pete seemed to think hard about this for a moment, "But I don't want to live with her. I want to live with you."
Closing her eyes for a second and taking a steadying breath, on the verge of tears Kat continued, "I know Buddy, but you can't." Kat swallowed hard, forcing her emotions back down, "See Donna is really lonely and she has this great big house all to herself. She's always wanted someone to share it with and I thought that you would be the perfect person to help her out."
Pete stayed quiet for another moment, then looking up to Donna asked, "Are you going to hurt me?"
"I promise I will never hurt you." She said kneeling down in front of him.
He thought for another minute, "Are you going to yell at me?"
"I won't yell at you."
Pete seemed to study her, and then leaning forward asked in a whisper, "Can I have chocolate milk?"
All five of the adults burst out laughing, finally regaining her composure, Donna said, "You can have chocolate milk every day if you want it."
Pete shrugged, "Ok, when can we go home?"
….
Later that night after Kat had taken Donna and Pete back to her place to pick up his things she was sitting on the couch crying. Suddenly she heard a knock on her door; wiping her eyes quickly she crossed over to it. Opening it she saw Gillian standing in front of her with a container in her hand. "Hey," Kat said, her voice still thick with tears, "come on in."
"How are you holding up?" Gillian asked walking through the door.
"I'm ok." Kat said closing the door and motioning for Gillian to sit. Gillian chose a place on the couch and Kat sat on the other end.
"Here," Gillian handed her the container, "I know you and Loker were on the road for supper and with everything that happened I didn't think you would've had a chance to get anything."
"Thanks." Kat said smiling and setting it down on the coffee table.
Gillian gently put a hand on Kat's arm, forcing her to look up. "Kat, I know it's really hard but you have to remember, Pete is where he's supposed to be. He's back with his mom who hasn't seen him in eight years. That little boy was ripped away from her, and now she has a chance to be with him again. It's a great thing you did for both of them."
"I know, I should be really happy for them but I'm going to miss that little guy so much. I know I didn't know him very long but he really got to me, you know. He gets under your skin and you can't help but protect him." Kat shrugged, tears starting to spill over her cheeks again.
"I know," Gillian said pulling her into a hug, "but you did protect him. You protected him better than anyone else has in eight years. You saved him when his supposed family walked out on him. You took him in without question. Then you even found the one person who has been waiting for him to come back into their life. Kat, you did exactly what you needed to do."
"I know, but it still hurts." Kat said now openly sobbing.
"I know," Gillian whispered holding her in her arms, "I know.