Chapter 10
"Let me get a bottle ready for Abby. It's almost time for her to eat. We can talk while I feed her," said Kitty as she walked into the kitchen.
Kitty prepared Abby's bottle and sat down with her in the rocking chair and began to feed her. "Alright, what is it that you want to tell me?" Kitty asked.
"Kitty, I'm Abby's father," Matt admitted.
Kitty looked at Matt as if he had just sprouted a third eye. This man has gone off the deep end. "Well of course you're her father. You were at the adoption proceedings. You signed the adoption papers agreeing you would be her father. Do you mind explaining what you're talking about?"
"I'm Abby's biological father," Matt said. He finally said the words he had been keeping to himself for weeks.
Kitty looked down at Abby and then at Matt. "I don't understand. What the hell are you saying? Matt, have you seriously lost your mind? When in the last ten or so months would you have conceived a child?" As soon as those words came out of Kitty's mouth, her mind went back to Matt's stay in Arizona with Mike Yardner. "Start explaining." Kitty demanded.
"It all starts with the letter from that deputy in Tucson. Only, it wasn't a letter from a deputy. It was a letter from Mike Yardner. She told me she was coming to Dodge City to see me. She didn't say why. The only thing she said was that her reason was of great concern to me," said Matt.
"Why didn't you tell me she was coming?" KItty asked. Her anger was increasing, but she was mindful of the baby in her arms. As soon as Abby finished and was burped, Kitty walked in the bedroom and put her in her crib.
"Answer me. Why didn't you tell me?" Kitty repeated.
"I don't know. I guess I thought if you knew she was coming it would bring back painful memories, and I wanted to spare you from that," Matt answered.
"Matt, I appreciate you wanting to spare me from the pain, but you should've told me. What does that letter from Mike Yardner have to do with you being Abby's biological father? Miss Melinda Yates gave birth to her, not Mike Yardner."
"In her letter, Mike said she was coming to Dodge as Melinda Yates. She said she didn't know what I told my woman or my friends about her. She didn't want to come as Mike Yardner and have the rumor mill start churning. That stage was late and she wasn't on it. Jim had said the stage was late because Melinda Yates had given birth and died shortly afterwards. When I saw Mrs. Pritchard with that baby, I knew that had to be the reason Mike was coming to Dodge. She had to be coming to tell me she was carrying my child."
Kitty was trying to process everything Matt just told her. This couldn't be happening. For years Matt told her a lawman couldn't have a family, so she made sure that didn't happen. Now he was telling her he had a biological child, a child that was a part of him and another woman. That was enough to almost make her physically ill.
"What would you have done if she didn't go into labor and came to Dodge pregnant or if she survived the birth and came with the baby? Would you have thrown away the last twenty years we had together to be with them? Would you have gone back to Arizona to be a family with them? You're a responsible man. I can't see you letting them be on their own," said Kitty. By now she was furious, her fiery temper flaring.
"I would not have thrown away what we have with each other. You're right. I would have done the responsible thing, but for the baby. I would have talked things over with Mike to make sure that the baby was taken care of. Kitty, you're the woman I love with all my heart," Matt said looking into Kitty's eyes and seeing the tears starting to pool.
Kitty didn't even try to stop the tears from falling. She was completely hurt. Matt saw the tears and it tore him apart. He was the one who had caused them. He knew it wasn't just because he was Abby's biological father, but because he had kept her in the dark about it. That was the stupidest thing he could have done. Matt knew that things that were kept in the dark usually came out in the light.
Kitty had been silent for several minutes. "Did you ever plan on telling me about Abby?" she asked.
"I wanted to, but I didn't know how to do it. I had kept this secret for so long, that I couldn't gather the courage to say anything," Matt sighed.
"It's too bad you made that choice. I feel like you didn't trust me with this information," Kitty quietly said.
"Kitty, you know that I trust you. I trust you with my life. We can get through this," Matt frantically said.
"Can we? I need time to think about this. I'm riding into town," said Kitty. She grabbed her sun bonnet and walked to the door.
"When will you be back?" Matt asked. His heart was beating a mile a minute. He couldn't lose her.
"I don't know. Like I said, I need time to think, time to ponder all of this," said Kitty, opening the door and walking out to the barn.
She mounted her mare and headed back to Doc's office. Before she reached town, she stopped the mare and dismounted. Once she was off the horse, she slowly sank to the ground and started crying. She felt as though her whole world was falling apart. After having a good cry, Kitty continued on to Doc's office. She hoped the evidence of her crying would be gone by then. To give her face and eyes time to recover, she rode more slowly than she normally would.
When Kitty reached Doc's office, he was walking down the steps. He was surprised to see her back in town. Looking at her face, he could see that she had been crying. He immediately went to her.
"Kitty, let's go up to my office," he said. Kitty nodded and followed him up the steps.
The two of them walked into the office and Doc turned towards Kitty. "Now tell me what's wrong."
"Oh Doc, my whole world is falling apart," Kitty cried.
"What are you talking about? Please talk to me," Doc told her.
Kitty took a deep breath, "Matt is Abby's father."
TBC
