Learning to Live Again
Chapter 20
Mike loved Hannah back, but it brought back a lot of bad memories and brought the grief for Kate and Lucas back to the surface. It made him feel terrible for Kate. She had been a typical teenage girl, and she and Mike rarely saw eye to eye. In hindsight, knowing what Hannah had said, she was trying to reach out to Mike, but Christine always blocked it. Now he knew why.
He had gotten Hannah enrolled into school on Monday morning, and she started classes immediately, so Mike found himself on his own by the afternoon. Instead of working on any of his projects, he found himself sitting in the living room, looking at a photo album. He focused on a picture of Kate, and the tiny scar on her lip. He remembered coming home from a deployment and asking Christine about it.
"Christine, what happened to Kate's lip? That scar wasn't there before, and she got defensive when I asked." Mike asked as Christine cooked dinner.
"She fell against a rock. Clumsy girl." Christine said. Mike noticed that she had hesitated for a second, but it was a believable story. Kate was tall for her age, and a little on the clumsy side.
Later that night, Mike tucked Hannah and Lucas in, and stuck his head into Kate's room to wish her a good night. She was sitting on her bed, studying.
"Hey; Kate, its bedtime. Do you have much more studying to do?" Mike asked.
"No. I just have a test tomorrow and needed to look back over my notes." Kate said as she shut her notebook.
"Mom said you were having trouble with math. I can help you with it. She said you were in tutoring." Mike suggested.
"Maybe. Its trig." Kate said as she smiled at him. It made the scar that much more obvious.
"Yeah, I can help you with it. Does that scar hurt? Mom said you fell against rock." Mike asked. He noticed immediately that Kate hesitated.
"Yeah. The school nurse said I needed a stitch in it, but Mom didn't have time to take me to the doctor." Kate said.
"I see. What was she busy with?" Mike asked, not understanding how Christine could have not had time to take their daughter to the doctor for a few stitches. It wasn't a money factor, because Christine didn't work, the younger kids were in school and insurance would have covered the doctor's visit.
"I don't know. She just didn't take me. Now, she wants me to wear concealer on it all the time, but I don't want to because of my sports. I sweat it off." Kate admitted quietly. Something about her demeanor made Mike worry.
"Kate, is something going on when I'm not home? You know, you can tell me anything?" Mike leaned forward and asked her quietly. He could see the hesitation in her eyes, but then Christine appeared at the bedroom door.
"Mike; can you take the garbage out? Kate, you need to go to bed." Christine said, rather forcefully. Mike noticed that Kate let out a frustrated sigh, but he didn't want a fight with Christine on his first night back home.
"Yeah." Mike answered before kissing Kate on the forehead. "Sleep tight, sweet pea. Remember what I said. Love you." Mike told her before leaving the room.
Mike remembered the conversation well. He had asked Christine about not taking Kate to the doctor and Christine claimed that Kate was exaggerating and grounded the young girl, which only made things worse with Kate. She and Mike fought continuously. In hindsight, Mike realized that Christine was constantly stirring the pot, between Mike and their three kids. The only one that was immune to it was Lucas, but he was a lot like Mike. And Mike had been to blind to see it. He loved his wife and hated the fights they had.
Remembering the fights made him realize that he didn't have the constant conflict with Libby. They just seemed to get each other. Their biggest fight was over the remote. Hannah and Bobby adored her and Mike was beginning to see a future with her.
Their marriage was one of convenience, but Mike and Libby had screwed that up within a few weeks, simply by sleeping together. It wasn't all about sex, and there were times that they simply talked all night.
Libby was Christine's polar opposite. Christine had been obsessed with her looks and very vain. Libby honestly didn't care. Sure, she wore make-up to work, and dressed nicely, but as soon as she got home, the make-up was washed off and she put a pair of yoga pants and a sweatshirt on. Half the time she wore one of his t-shirts to bed, not the expensive lingerie that Christine had preferred. And he loved it, but did he love her?
He heard Libby pull in, so he put the photo album away and walked out onto the porch. Bobby made a run for Mike, while Libby and Hannah pulled groceries out of the trunk of Libby's car. He hadn't even been in the mood to go grocery shopping, but Libby just seemed to get it. He met her halfway down the walk to grab a bag and greeted her with a kiss.
"How was school?" Mike asked.
"I loved it. SO much better then the school in Florida!" Hannah exclaimed.
"I'm glad. Do you care to get Bobby his after-school snack? I have some peanut butter and Nutella." Mike asked.
"Yep!" Hannah said happily. She ran into the house and Mike leaned down and gave Libby a kiss.
"How was your day?" Libby asked.
"Quiet." Mike admitted.
"Is that a good thing?" Libby asked.
"I needed a quiet day. Spent a lot of the day looking at picture albums." Mike admitted. He didn't have to worry about scaring Libby away with his grief for his kids or his anger towards Christine. She was in; hook, line and sinker. Mike suspected that she was in love with him. He just didn't want to disappoint or hurt her.
"Mike, I am certain that Kate knew how much you loved her. You can't do this to yourself. Kate was old enough to make the decision to protect Hannah and she knew there were ramifications and accepted them. To me, it seems that she got her bravery from her dad. I can only pray for her sake, that there was little pain for her in the end." Libby said.
"I just hate myself for allowing Christine to treat them like that. Kate and Hannah were just little girls…course, Kate was fourteen, but still my little girl. I just never wanted to believe that Christine would be like that to innocent children." Mike admitted.
"It is a hard pill to swallow; but remember; you loved her. Maybe more then she loved you, but you still loved her. Anger is alright, but she is still the mother of your children, even if she was a terrible wife and mother. Now, let's go inside so Hannah can tell you all about her day. She had a great first day." Libby said. She started for the house, but Mike stopped her with passionate kiss. "That's nice." Libby remarked against his lips before returning the kiss.
"I really loved Bobby's nine o'clock bedtime, but Hannah stays up longer. Its harder to enjoy adult-time." Mike complained.
"But you still love having her here. Besides, she mentioned something about an early night. I think she is wanting to try out for soccer or something." Libby explained.
"Good. I was hoping she would adjust well." Mike said.
"I'm sure you do, but you were also hoping for adult time." Libby teased.
"Guilty." Mike admitted.
"Men!" Libby remarked before giving Mike a kiss on the cheek before they walked into the house.
Libby began working with both kids on their homework assignments as Mike started supper. It was a routine he enjoyed thoroughly. It was normal and not something he had ever achieved with Christine.
He knew he shouldn't compare the two women. They were as different as night and day. Initially, he hadn't been attracted to Libby, at least not like he had been with Christine, but now, he was putty in Libby's hands. The difference was, Christine would have used that against him, while Libby just went on about her life, worming more and more into his heart.
He had invited Tom and Sasha to visit to get their opinion on Libby. They adored her, even more so after she had arranged for Hannah to be brought to Mike. Tom had known Christine and had told Mike to just move on. He was being given a second chance, who cared how it happened?
