A Place In the Sun
30
The sun had already started to rise before Edmund and Maria were able to break away her family to go check on Gillian, who was still asleep, and then go home.
They sat down on the couch, utterly exhausted, yet wide awake.
"What a night," Maria remarked.
"What a night," Edmund echoed.
"I do hope that Anita was able to find Bobby and straighten things out," she said.
"I don't know, those two have been having problems, I think."
"I guess I'll see her later on today."
"We've got to tell your mother and Mateo, why don't we call them and invite them over later on, after we've gotten some rest?"
"Good idea."
"The kids should be up soon."
As if on cue, they heard footsteps coming down the stairs.
Soon enough, Maddie came to the door, her eyes growing big.
"Mommy!" she said, running over to Maria and giving her a hug and kiss. She then ran back out to the hallway. "Sammy! Sammy! Sammyyyyyyyyy!" She ran back over to the couch and slid her way in between her parents. They all heard Sam running down the stairs to see what the commotion was all about.
"Mom!" he said, joining his family on the couch.
"Oh, it is so good to be with all of you this morning," Maria said, putting an arm around each of her children.
Sam looked at his father and then looked down at his hands. Maria noticed the serious look on his face.
"What's wrong, Sammy?" she asked him.
He whispered in her ear, "Does Daddy know that Maddie and me knew that you were here?"
Maria nodded.
"Daddy, are you mad at us?" he asked.
"Mad? Why would I be mad at you?" Edmund asked Sam.
"Cause Maddie and me, we knew that Mom was at Kelsey's and we didn't tell you, and you've always told us it's wrong to keep secrets that are about important stuff."
"You're right, Sam, but it's all okay now. Your Mom's here and she's not going anywhere."
"She's not?"
"Of course not, sweetie," Maria told him, tousling his already messy blonde hair.
Ryan's phone rang, waking him up. Seeing that Katalin was still asleep, he slid out from under her to answer it.
"Hello?"
"Hey, Ryan, it's Jake."
"Hey, anything new with Gillian?"
"She's woken up a few times for a couple of minutes. I told her that Kata is safe, but not that you had her. And she asked where you were."
"Is it okay for us to come see her?"
"Of course."
"As soon as Kata gets up, we'll be over there."
"How'd she do for you last night?"
"When we got home, she was still asleep but then she woke up when I laid her down. Neither of us could fall asleep and she came out and got up on the couch with me and fell asleep almost immediately. She's still out."
"She had a hard day."
"That's for sure. I can't help but think of what could have happened if Ray would have found her."
"I've never met him, but from what I hear I wouldn't put anything past him."
"Well I have, and you're right." There was a knock at the door. "Hey, Jake, someone's here, I've got to go. We'll be over there in a while."
"See you then."
"Thanks, bye," he said, hanging up the phone and going to the door. He looked through the peephole and saw it was Kelsey. He opened the door.
"I'm sorry to bother you this early," she said as he let her in.
"It's okay," he said, checking on Kata and seeing that she was still asleep.
"I thought I should bring over some of Katalin's clothes from Myrtle's," she said, handing him a bag.
"Thanks."
"How is she?"
"Still asleep."
"Ryan, I'm sorry that you had to find out like that."
"It doesn't matter now."
"She really was planning to tell you."
"It's okay, Kelsey, really."
"You're not mad?" she asked, puzzled.
"No, and let's leave at that. Thanks for bringing her stuff."
"You're welcome. Bye, Ryan."
"Bye."
"Daddy?" Katalin said, sitting up and looking over the back of the couch.
"Hey, baby," he said, joining her on the couch. "Did you sleep good?"
She nodded.
"As soon as we eat breakfast and get you dressed, we can go to the hospital, okay?"
She nodded and then followed him into the kitchen where he helped her up onto a barstool. He held up two boxes of cereal and she pointed to the one she wanted.
"So, do you like to be called Katalin or Kata more?" he asked her.
She shrugged her shoulders, "Either."
"What's your favorite color?"
"Pink. What's your's?"
"Umm…I guess, green. So, you're what, three years old? Almost four?"
She nodded, but then her eyes got big. "I'm four! It's my birthday."
"Really? Are you sure?"
"Mommy said one more day."
"Well, then, I guess it is," he said, pulling out a few outfits from the bag Kelsey had brought in. "What do you want to wear?"
"This," she said, picking up her favorite pink dress. "Mommy likes this one."
"Well that's good. Do you need to get a shower or something?"
"Do I have to?"
Ryan laughed, "I guess that means yes."
"I'm finished," she said, handing him her bowl.
"Okay, we've got to get ready."
"So we can go see Mommy?"
"Yup."
She started off towards the bathroom. "Are you coming?"
"What?"
"Mommy always helps me."
"Oh, yeah," he said, laughing to himself at how little he knew about taking care of a preschooler.
After they had both cleaned up and he had dressed her and dried her hair, he took the other clothes that Kelsey had brought into the bedroom and cleared out a drawer for them. As he was folding them and putting them away, Katalin came up to him and gave him a kiss on the cheek.
"What was that for?" he asked.
"I love you," she said, giving him a hug.
"I love you, too," he told her, hugging her back.