The Summer of Kayleigh Cohen
Chapter 23
Summer huffed as Anna left out the front door.
"How could you not see right through her!" She shouted angrily at Seth.
"How could you be so mean to her? She said her mom is at a conference and she's tagging along. What's up with you?" He looked at her oddly. Why was she so wacko today?
"Nothings up with me. It's her! She's the weird one here. She suddenly pops up a year later and we're all supposed to be friends? Even after the whole wedding disaster?" Summer seethed. Sometimes Seth was just so stubborn.
"Don't be the pessimist. You have to give people more credit. People change." He calmed.
Summer sighed in distress, "And some people don't. I'm trying to save our family from another downfall because of your welcome-ness of everyone. I'm not the one who is going to be receiving a big 'I told you so' after it all blows up in your face." Summer told him in a bitter matter. Seth was irrational; why couldn't he just listen to her for once.
Before Seth had a chance to respond Summer returned and walked out the front door. Seth followed. "Where are you going?" He shouted.
"To pick up my daughter." She yelled back at him, got into his car, and drove to the hospital.
She was mad at him and he knew it. Summer turned on the radio full blast and changed the station so she didn't have to hear any of Seth's emo music while she let loose and let the wind blow through her hair. She never was a good driver since she never paid that much attention; she blew past some stop signs and red lights without even noticing. The other driver's on the road made sure to stay clear of her car as her hard rock music filtered through the air.
Her cell rang and she reached down to pluck it out of her purse.
"Hello?" She asked, as she balanced the phone on her shoulder.
"Hey Sum, it's Coop. Kayleigh won't stop crying. I tried everything. I think she wants you." Marissa voice was nervous-sounding and Summer knew she was worried about Kayleigh.
"I'm on the way. You're still at the hospital right?" Summer's voice was edgy but she managed not to sound too irritated.
"Yeah, my mom won't stop looking at Savanna so I'm stuck here." She paused. "Did you know Kayleigh can say dada?"
"Yeah, she said it today. I was surprised." Summer softened as she remembered that her baby had said her first word.
"She's so cute." Marissa said. "Well, I will see you soon. And by the way, are you totally pissed or something because that song is really heavy metal."
"YEP. Talk later, bye." Summer shut her flip and drove the rest of the way to the hospital with her mind reeling of the events with Anna and Seth.
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The next morning, Seth awoke in the bed of pillows on the living room couch. Summer was still pissed at him for the way he treated her with Anna the day before and now he had an indefinite sleeping place on the couch.
Kirsten was going to come home tonight and Sandy had directed him to clean the house before she came home. Seth was still unclear about his plans with Summer and the mural and the puppy hunting.
He heard Kayleigh crying in the pool house and he walked out of the living room and to the crying child. Summer was still in a waking sleep and Seth moved to take Kayleigh out of the room before she woke completely.
"Hey Kali baby. What's the matter, princess." He grabbed her out of her crib and grabbed her blanket and Duchess Giggles. He walked out of the pool house and back into the house where he sat on the couch and held her on his lap.
"Dada." She announced in a tearful tone and she clasped her little fist on his ear.
"Yeah, I'm your daddy. Did you miss me last night?" He bounced her slightly and she giggled forgetting she was crying a few seconds ago.
"I bet you were wondering where I went." He smiled at his little girl; her dark little ringlets of chocolate hair framing her face.
"I was in the house. Your mommy's a little mad at me. She thinks I don't understand what's going on."
He looked at her and realized that that conversation was going nowhere. He grabbed the little horse from under the blanket and showed it to Kayleigh.
"Duchess Giggles says hi." He paraded the horse in the air and Seth's daughter giggled.
He loved the way her eyes enlightened in excitement at the horse; the way her eyes danced at the pretty sight. This made everything worth it; no matter how many fights Summer and him had, the fact that life had been turned upside down, or the fact that nothing would ever be like it used to be. This sight of his daughter made life bearable again and made the next day even better.
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Kirsten sat staring in complete joy at her baby in her arms. Sandy had left with Julie to find Caleb after he had disappeared in the hospital. Marissa was left with Sierra and Kayleigh but she didn't seem to mind. She took everything in stride for the first time in her life. Kirsten was proud of her family- every single one of them. They all seemed to met every single challenge that came their way and did above and beyond what they were expected to do. Now she had a baby girl and her son was getting married and moving away. Life was revolving so fast that she couldn't help but shed tears.
Her delicate finger traced the outline of the blanket surrounding Savanna's face. Her small little eyes remained shut and her little nose stuck out like a beautiful little button.
The door opened softly but made a creek as it fully opened. Kirsten looked up to her husband and smiled.
"Hey honey. Feeling okay?" He went over to her side and pressed a small kiss against her forehead.
"Yeah, I was just thinking about how lucky I am to be in such a great family." She smiled at him with her eyes twinkling.
"Well," Sandy began laughing, "You might not think so once you find out where they found your dad."
"What happened?" Her eyebrows furrowed slightly. "is everything okay?"
"He's fine but we found him on the roof. Don't ask me why but that's where one of the nurses found him."
Kirsten sighed embarrassedly. "Good ol' dad." She chuckled.
"So how's my daughter?" Sandy asked, looking down at his new baby.
"She's a perfect example of perfection." Sandy smiled contently.
"Just what a dad wants to hear."
Kirsten looked up at him and shifted her weight. "Wanna hold her?"
"I'd love too." Kirsten sat up and settled their daughter into Sandy's arms carefully.
"I agree with you. We have the best family in the whole world." He cooed to Savanna Faith Cohen as he rocked her softly to the hum of silence.
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Summer woke up later then normal and scrambled to get up as she realized Kayleigh would be grumpy if she got up too late. She went to the crib and momentarily panicked as she saw her baby wasn't in there.
Seth must have got her since Duchess Giggles was gone and so was her favorite blanket.
Yawning, Summer walked into the Cohen house and saw Seth and Kayleigh sleeping on the floor with their daughter in his stomach. Kayleigh's small little head rested by his neck in a darling fashion that Summer smiled.
Even though she was still upset with him, the sight of this father-daughter bonding melted her heart and she picked up the blanket on the sofa and laid it against the two.
"Sweet dreams." She whispered as she went back into the pool house to get ready for the day ahead.
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Later in the day, Summer still was avoiding Seth. She had silently given him the directions for the pattern of the mural and he was supposed to be doing it at that present moment.
Seth stood back to admire his work on the art and smiled. The flower garden was finished with its bright vivid colors and gorgeous flowers budding through the grass. Seth was almost finished with painting the butterflies but he wanted to make a special touch to the room- something that wouldn't have Summer furious at him.
His mind reeling from all the ideas flowing through it, he finally came to the conclusion of what his 'touch' on the mural would be.
He grabbed his brush and paint and started painting in the garden some magical figures.
3 hours later, Seth was finished with his masterpiece and walked into the Cohen living room where Summer was on the floor playing with Kali.
"Hey Sum, I'm done." He announced happily. Summer eyed him.
"Good." She replied in monotone.
"Well, are we going to the dog shelter today?" He asked.
"Nope, tomorrow. We're too busy today with Kirsten and the baby coming home."
Seth nodded. "Okay..." He replied dejectedly.
"Thanks for the mural, Cohen." She finally let up.
"No prob. Wanna see?" He asked looking at her. She met his eyes and she knew he wanted her too.
"Sure."
She placed Kayleigh on her hip and followed Seth outside.
"I made one little touch that I hope you will like." Seth rambled as they reached their house.
"We'll see." Summer chuckled slightly. She was getting nervous about what surprise he had.
"Okay. Close your eyes." They reached the steps and he guided her up them carefully. He was careful to make sure she didn't drop Kayleigh as she closed her eyes.
"Are we almost there?" Summer held her arm out to protect herself from any corners, Seth might accidentally might miss and let her bump into.
"Almost." He responded lightly. Seth stopped and she bumped into him.
"Ouch." She groaned.
"Sorry."
"Not as sorry as I am." She responded, rolling her eyes.
Summer smelled the overpowering scent of paint and knew it was any moment she would see it.
"Open them." He announced and she did. Summer gasped at the beautiful sight.
"Seth Cohen, you've outdone yourself once again." She shook her head at the wall.
The whole wall was covered with different sizes, shapes, and colors of flowers. It looked like a forest of the most gorgeous nature ever. The small butterflies seemed to dance off the wall. In the middle of the flower garden, three small horses were tucked behind different flowers with little fairies on the saddle of each horse.
"Aww, the horses." She cooed. "Hey Kali. Look there's you." She sat on the floor and pointed to the little fairy on the smallest pony.
Kayleigh giggled excitedly and clapped her fists together.
"You like?" Seth smiled.
"We love." She returned the smile. "We definitely love it."
TBC
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