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Graduation night...
Katrina has officially graduated with a Phd in Psychology. Even though she has to do a certain amount of hours on a permit before getting her license, Katrina is more than willing to do the work needed in order to achieve that goal. She went out to dinner with Roman, and her family to celebrate the milestone.
"I'd like to make a toast." Said Anna when she stood up. All of them had stopped eating and talking to pay attention to what was going to be said. "To my little sister, Katrina. You don't know how proud I am of you. There's been times where you thought it would take forever to get here and times where you wanted to give up because of how hard it got. You stuck it out and you accomplished a dream of yours that you've had since we were in middle school."
Anna began to choke up, causing Katrina to feel a lump in her throat. "It's been a hard few years for us, but together we've stuck it out and we made it. You made and you did it and all by the age of twenty-three. Through it all, we've become the best of friends and we're closer than ever before. I love you so much and I'm so proud of you, Katrina."
Katrina stood up and quickly made her way over to Anna. They shared a big and long hug as they both tried to fight more tears from falling. After a few moments, she made her way back to her seat, next to Roman. Everyone had all made their toasts except for Roman. Katrina didn't really notice until they were getting ready for desert.
"You alright?" She asked him in his ear.
Roman looked at her and nodded, smiling softly as he kissed her forehead. "I'm okay, Baby."
Her grandfather looked at Roman without Katrina realizing and signaled something to him. Roman waited a few more minutes before clearing his throat and getting everyone's attention as he stood up.
"First of all, I'd like to get congratulate Katrina on graduating today." He started off saying, with his hands in his pockets. "I'm really proud of you sweetheart and I'm glad that I was able to be a part of your final year in reaching this milestone."
Roman began to fidget a bit and Katrina knew him well enough to know that he was nervous about something. She looked up at him curiously wondering why, because he stood up in front of a classroom everyday, talking to hundreds of students.
"Um...I also wanted to say that I uh..." Said Roman, trying to get his words together. "I wanted to be a part of every major thing that happens in your life. I want to be right by your side, supporting you every step of the way. I say this because when I gave you the promise ring, one of the promises that I made to you was the promise of forever."
Katrina looked up at him again and then around the table, wondering what was going to happen. "I remember the promise." She told him softly.
He smiled softly and looked down as he let out a breath that he didn't realize that he was holding in until that moment and looked around. "I've been through so much as far as love goes and I thought that I would never be able to love again because of my previous experience. I was heartbroken and when I met Katrina, I just thought we'd be good friends until I started having feelings for her."
"It was hard because when we started dating, we had to be careful about who knew about our relationship." Roman continued. "But I knew that I couldn't stay away from her. I know that I'm probably not making much sense right now and it's probably because I'm nervous, but what I'm trying to say is..."
Katrina saw Roman get down on one knee when he took out a small black box from his pocket. She gasped and covered her mouth as her eyes started to fill with tears.
"I know I'm not the most perfect guy in the world because I make mistakes. I don't own a mansion, I'm not a millionare and I don't own the most expensive and the most luxurious car that money can buy. I'm just a college professor and a coach for the school's football team. But I love you with all my heart and I don't want to live the rest of my life without you in it. I don't want to remember what it's like to be without you because it'll drive me crazy to ever be without you again. Will you marry me, Katrina?" He asked with hope in his voice.
The ring was a 2 carat, princess cut diamind ring set in platinum and surrounded with 70 diamonds by Neil Lane. Katrina's favorite jeweler. Tears fell from her eyes as she looked back and forth between Roman and the ring, before quickly nodding.
"Yes, I'd love to." She replied, and watched as a big grin broke out on Roman's face. Placing the ring on her slender finger, and hugged her tightly when she jumped into his arms. Spinning her around, Katrina squeled in excitement and pulled back only to be met by his lips for a soft kiss. "I love you."
"I love you, too." Replied Roman with a big grin still on his face. Katrina captured his lips for another kiss and they forgot where they were and that people were still around. This was Katrina's favorite day in her whole life. Not only had she graduated with a PhD, but the man that she was madly in love with had just proposed to her. Katrina was going to spend the rest of her life with this man and she was excited about it.
Three weeks later...
Katrina and Roman were walking around the mall, hand in hand, enjoying the sunny day that laid ahead of them. They have been in total bliss for the last three weeks and they couldn't be happier. They were now engaged and they no longer had to hide their relationships from anybody. Now that Katrina had graduated, they didn't have to worry about Roman getting into trouble for having relations with a student. It was now less stress that was involved in the relationship, making it better and making them more happier.
Roman had become a bit more protective of Katrina, but she loved it. She knew that his love for her was stronger than ever and he wasn't afraid to show it in front of everybody when they were out in public. Roman showered her with kisses and held her hand, while he also held her, but knew his limit and to not overdue it in public.
"Katrina?" Asked a voice from behind them as they looked at some clothes.
She turned around, only to see her mother standing behind her. "What do you want from me?"
Emily thought for a moment. "I just wanted to talk. I owe you an explanation and no matter how much you don't want to talk to me right now, you deserve an explanation. I'm sure that you heard that I spoke to Anna yesterday."
Katrina just nodded and stayed quiet, not wanting to say anything else. Roman cleared his throat after gently squeezing her hand.
"My name is Roman, I'm her fiancee." He said, sticking out his hand. Emily shook his hand and greeted him, introducing herself.
"Fiancee?" She asked.
Katrina stook out her hand, showing her engagement ring. "He proposed three weeks ago...on the night that I graduated."
"You finally got your bachelors?" Emily asked, excitedly.
"A PhD, mom." Katrina replied. "I'm going to be a clinical psychologist. I have to work on a permit for now to get a certain amount of hours before officially getting my license. I graduted high school at sixteen, remember?"
She shook her head as her mother tried to remember. "Yeah, I remember. Congratulations on the graduation and on the engagement. Is it okay if we talk?"
They walked to the food court and found an empty table to sit at. Roman sat by her side and rested a hand on her thigh. He felt Katrina relax a bit as she placed her purse on the table. "So what is it that you wanted to say?"
"Do you know what happened between your father and I?" She asked.
Katrina thought for a moment. "As far as I know, you were having an affair and then you claimed that you were no longer happy when you were confonted about it. You filed for divorce and when everything was finalized I was left in dad's full custody. What does any of that have to do with why you left Anna and myself?"
"It's true that I was having an extra-marital affair with another man." Emily said. "It wasn't that I was unhappy with your father because I was. He was a good man and he always treated me right. But I resented him because when we started dating, I was a student and he was a professor. I'm sure he told you the story, but nonetheless, I resented him because I wanted him to fight for me when my parents tried to force us to break it off for a while and I felt like he didn't fight at all or as hard as I felt he should for us to stay together."
"Mom, that's seriously no excuse to cheat on the person you're married to." Said Katrina. "So please give me a better excuse." .
Emily sighed. "I filed for divorce because I didn't feel like I was in love with your father anymore. And with my affair, I was starting to have feelings for the other guy. I believed that it wasn't fair to continue to put your father through that and so I let him know what was going on when I filed for divorce. I moved out, little by little, and let things take their course."
"Mom, I just want to know why you left us." Katrina said. "Just because you and Dad got divorced, that doesn't mean that you had to leave when everything was finalized."
"I felt like I couldn't do it anymore." Emily replied. "I felt like I couldn't be a good mother to you and Anna anymore."
Katrina scoffed. "That's bullshit, mom and you know it. I cried myself to sleep everynight after you left because I needed you! I needed you and you weren't there for me, mom. I was only sixteen when you left! Anna and I felt like you didn't want us anymore because when everything was said and done, you didn't fight dad on the whole custody thing. You allowed the court to put me under his care because I was still a minor and not once did you do anything to make sure that you got a good bargain out of it! You had visitation rights, and you didn't even take advantage of that!"
"I love you and Anna and I thought about the two of you every day that I was gone." Emily said.
"No, you didn't, mom!" Katrina exclaimed. "You didn't because if you did, then you should have came back for us! You should have at least stayed in contact so that we could know where you were! Not once did you write us and I know that for a fact because Anna and I had the key to the mailbox. We always got home before dad did and when we checked the mailbox, there was never anything there from you. Not even a phonecall so don't tell me that you love us because a mother should never leave her child the way that you left us! A mother should never leave their child, period! You took advantage of the fact that I was in dad's full custody and with Anna being eighteen at the time, you up and left because you didn't have to worry about her."
Katrina got up and started pacing around. "I hated you so much when I realized that you weren't coming back. I hated you because you were supposed to be our mother! You leaving us and putting dad through the pain and heartache that you put him through hurt us and made me hate you so much more. Dad had to sacrifice so much more than what he already had to do so that he could take care of us and make sure that we stayed in school. He was literally a single father to two teenagers but he was an amazing father. For those seven years that you were gone, he remained the one constant for Anna and I."
"Do you still hate me?" Asked Emily, barely above a whisper.
She hook her head. "No, I don't hate you anymore. I stopped hating you a long time ago because I realized that I couldn't live my life with so much hatred in my heart towards somebody. But I will never forget what you did. Because of you, I was scared to love anyone. I thought that somebody would do to me what you did to us and that terrified me. I almost missed out on the most amazing guy that I've ever met because of the fear that was instilled inside of me after what you did. You've missed out on so much, mom and I don't know if you'll ever be able to make up for that and the pain that you left behind. The good thing that came out of this is that we're all closer now than we ever were. The bad thing is that, Anna and I had to lose our mother for that to happen. Anna and I have accomplished so much in our lives. We're both engaged and set to be married to the men of our dreams. You were never a part of any of those things that a mother is supposed to be a part of. Things that a mother should want to be there for, especially for her little girls."
Katrina walked away before Emily could say anything else. Roman gave her a polite smile and went after his fiancee. He gently grabbed Katrina's waist and pulled her into a hug. Roman felt her quietly sobbing and pulled her to a more private place to let her cry. She gripped on to his grey shirt and cried for what seemed like an eternity before she stopped.
"It's going to be okay." Roman whispered in her ear. He soothed her and calmed her down just enough for Katrina to show her face while still in Roman's arms.
That night...
Katrina picked up her hair as she walked into the kitchen to check on dinner. She wore a blue dress that made her eyes pop out more. Roman walked up behind her and hugged her while giving her soft little kisses.
"You feeling better?" He asked her quietly.
She shrugged as she turned off the flames and uncovered the pots allowing the aroma of the food to fill the kitchen. "A little bit. It's just all giving me a headache and I don't understand why she cares all of a sudden."
"Try to relax." Roman told her against the skin of her neck. "I know how you get when you stress out on something."
Katrina groaned and leaned back against Roman's hard chest. "This is supposed to be a happy time for me right now. I'm engaged and she's just killing my mood right now."
Roman chuckled softly. "We're going to take a shower later."
"Together?" Katrina asked with a small smile. She felt him nodding against her shoulder and smiled again.
"I'm gonna take care of you tonight." Roman told her. "I want to make you feel better and I want to see you happy."
Katrina's heart swelled with happiness, hearing those words from Roman. She knew him well enough to know when he meant something and knew that he always kept his word with her. Katrina truly felt like the luckiest girl in the world right now when it came to romance because she found her Prince Charming and she wasn't going to let him go.