Chapter Eleven

Kim was nervous. Beyond nervous. On the verge of hyperventilating nervous.

Okay, so probably not that last one. At least not quite yet. It was only Thursday evening, after all. She still had roughly twenty-two hours before she was going out with Jared and therefore roughly twenty-one hours before she began hyperventilating.

That's right. In less than twenty-four hours Kim would be going on a date with Jared Cameron, the boy of her dreams since at least seventh grade.

"Are you alright, sweetheart?" Kim was broken out of her daze by her mother's voice, only to see that they were currently parked in the driveway of their small house. Huh. When had that happened? Had she really been so consumed with thoughts of Jared that she had completely missed the hour-long car ride from her grandma's house?

"Kim?" Katie pressed. "You've been awfully quiet since we left grandma's. You haven't changed your mind about what you're doing this summer, have you?"

Kim shook her head immediately.

"I was just thinking about…things?" Kim finished lamely.

Kate rose a single questioning eyebrow. "Things?" She repeated. "Is that teenager code for something? Is there anything you wanted to talk about?"

Kim bit her lip nervously. It wasn't as if she had never planned to tell her mom, because she had been planning on it. It was just…Katie was also so busy and she never seemed to have time for Kim and Kylie, and maybe Kim's recently vindictive side had come out when she decided not to tell her mom anything about what was going on in her life in unless Katie brought it up first. Except…she was asking now, wasn't she?

"I have a date tomorrow night!" Kim blurted out swiftly, before she could overthink things more than she'd already done. And although she could feel the blush rising on her cheeks, Kim refused to break eye contact with Katie. This was just her mom, she really had nothing to be embarrassed about.

An unreadable expression crossed over Katie's face. "It's not…who are you going out with, dear?"

"Jared," Kim replied, then frowned slightly at her mom's too-pleasant tone. What was up with her mom lately?

"Oh, Jared," Katie's expression immediately cleared. "I've been wondering what that boy was waiting for to ask you out; he looks at you like you're the sun."

But Kim's frown deepened. There was something going on with her mom, and she wanted to know what it was.

"Mom," Kim began slowly, "What were you going to say before?"

"It's nothing, Kim," Katie responded immediately, looking away from her daughter. "Don't worry about it."

Kim sighed. "Mom, you were worried I was going to say it was someone other than Jared—though I have no idea why, since it's not as if I really socialize with anyone, let alone numerous boys. Who did you think I was going to say?"

Now it was Katie's turn to sigh, and Kim could see her mom steeling her resolve ash she turned back to face Kim.

"Paul Lahote."

Kim would have laughed. She really wanted to laugh, in fact. Because just the idea of Kim and Paul dating was laughable, and Kim was pretty sure Paul would agree. But she didn't laugh because the events of the previous day in the diner suddenly came rushing back to Kim. She had noticed her mom was uncomfortable—even bordering on hostile—with Paul at the time, but it had been completely driven from her mind after the afternoon spent with Jared that had followed.

"Mom, what is it that you've got against Paul?" Kim questioned.

Katie sighed again, more heavily now and, not for the first time in her life, Kim noted how weary her mother constantly seemed to look.

"Yesterday was the first time I ever met Paul," Katie began slowly. "I was surprised to see him with you and your sister; I didn't think the two of you had ever interacted. Of course, I know you've gone to school together for years, but you've never so much as mentioned him in passing to me. Not like…well, the point stands: you've never mentioned him before."

"Paul is a friend of Jared's," Kim felt the need to speak up here. "Honestly, I think it's kind of a recent thing because they work together."

Katie merely nodded, her gaze unfocused. "The thing is, I know who Paul is because I know his father."

Kim was confused. So what if her mom knew Paul's dad? She worked at the diner—she was bound to know just about everyone in La Push. What made Paul's dad so different? And what about him made her react that way around Paul?

"Gene Lahote and I used to date," Katie answered Kim's unspoken question.

Kim frowned slightly at this. Her mom had dated sporadically throughout her life and she rarely introduced the various men to either of her daughters because the relationships tended not to last very long. But Kim felt like it would have been worth mentioning that her mother was dating the father of one of her classmates.

"Well," Katie corrected herself with a small snort and a shake of her head, "I suppose I should use the term 'date' rather loosely in this case. It was just after he and Paul's mom were divorced when he and Paul moved to La Push; he wasn't looking for anything serious at the time."

Things were starting to make sense to Kim now. She knew where this was headed.

"You fell for him anyway, didn't you?" Kim questioned softly.

"I fell hard," Katie agreed with a wry grin. "And then he ended things after a few months and I was devastated. You probably don't remember just how upset I was back then; you were only seven and I tried to hide it from you because I knew you wouldn't understand. It wouldn't have been right to burden you with my problems then anyway, not that it's okay now…but I've held it in for so long, it's about time I told someone."

"I remember being seven…" Kim said slowly, her brow furrowing. There was definitely one major thing that stood out in Kim's life at that age... "That was when—"

"When I was pregnant with Kylie," Katie cut in. "Yes."

Kim's eyes widened suddenly and she looked at her mother in shock. No…it couldn't be. Katie merely gave her daughter a self-deprecating grimace.

"Mom," Kim said slowly. "Is Mr. Lahote Kylie's dad?"

There was a brief pause and then Katie nodded.

"Did he not want anything to do with her?" Kim asked hesitantly. Like my dad wanted nothing to do with me? The unasked question.

Katie closed her eyes, refusing to meet Kim's as she spoke next, "I never told him."

There was silence in the car after that. Kim had no idea what to say. What could she say to that? She had a feeling she knew exactly why her mom hadn't told Mr. Lahote anything.

"I was scared," Katie continued softly after more than a minute of silence. "I was afraid he would react exactly how your dad did and I couldn't go through that again. It was an accident that I even ended up pregnant; he always made it clear that we weren't in a serious relationship, after all. And beyond being scared, when I first found out I was pregnant he had already broken up with me and I was so angry I didn't want to tell him. And then by the time I realized keeping it from him was a mistake, Kylie was already born and he had a new girlfriend. It seemed too late and he had moved on and, as far as I could tell, he was happy; I didn't want to barge in an ruin everything. And Kylie has been just fine without him; we've all gotten by and I always had my mom to help out until she moved a few years ago. I know I've relied on you a lot since then, and I don't tell you enough how proud of you I am, Kim."

Katie stopped abruptly then and Kim knew there was nothing more her mom could say. And Kim understood. She might not necessarily agree with her mom's decision, but she understood. Katie had always said that she had made a lot of mistakes in her life, but the only two she had never regretted were her two daughters. And Kim knew just how hard her mom had always worked to provide the best she could for Kim and her sister. This was all just very unexpected. Kylie and Paul were siblings.

Kylie. And Paul.

Which reminded Kim…

"Kylie was very attached to Paul yesterday," Kim said softly. "You know how friendly she can be. I guess it's only fitting that he's technically her brother."

Katie sighed again. "It's not fair of me—especially after burdening you with my secret—to ask you to stay away from him. And now that you're going to be dating his friend—"

"Mom!" Kim protested, her face darkening to a deep red immediately. Hadn't they just been talking about something serious? Now her mom was going around saying embarrassing stuff like that? "It's only one date!"

"Don't you make that face at me!" Katie shot right back, a smirk crossing her face now. "I may not be around that much, but I've seen the way that boy looks at you and the way you look right back at him—it's not just one date to either of you and you know it."

Kim bit her lip but did not otherwise reply. Of course she had liked Jared for a long time and ever since that day in History he had worn that special look he reserved just for her whenever he looked at her. Kim would be lying if she said she didn't love it. Tomorrow night really couldn't come quickly enough.

"Anyway," Katie said, "Now that you and Jared are dating, I'm sure you'll see a lot more of Paul. And I know this is a lot to ask of you, Kim, but please don't say anything about this to, well, anyone, really. I've been thinking ever since I saw Paul with the two of you yesterday, and I'm slowly realizing that Gene deserves to know about his daughter and it really has been wrong of me to keep her from him. It's better late than never, right?"

"I won't say anything, Mom," Kim promised. "Just please make sure you do say something to him because…maybe he will want to know her, and I know I wish my dad wanted to know me."

"Oh Kim…" Katie sighed softly, reaching across the car and pulling her daughter into a hug, which Kim gladly returned. No matter what, mom hugs were always the best.

"Now," Katie said, attempting to brighten the atmosphere in the car as she released her grip on Kim. "What do you say we finally get out of this car, go inside and have a girls night? We can watch a movie and eat ice cream…ooh! And we can pick an outfit for your date tomorrow with Jared!"

Kim smiled widely at her. "That sounds great, Mom."