As always a mil thanks for the reviews and without further adieu here's the next instalment.
(Earlier tonight)
"C'mon Kat, how much do you still hate her?" Kelly, Kathy's best friend and bridesmaid asked.
"As long as Jimmy keeps her away from Jack then I'm okay." Kathy stated, proposing to join Jack but Kelly interrogated the situation a bit further.
"And what about Jack? Is he okay with that?"
"He loves me Kelly, that's enough for me." Kathy replied, walking away from a still not convinced Kelly. Not when she could see Jack having a hard time keeping his eyes off of Kate.
Something had to be done to stop it once and for all.
Despite a tension filled start, the rest of the evening as a whole exceeded Kathy's expectations, specifically Jimmy and Kate.
She'd be lying in saying she didn't have initial doubts that her plan would work, but it did and she couldn't be happier. More importantly relieved at the notion that there was nothing standing in the way now of her and Jack being together.
"Speaking of, what's taking him so long?"
She was fully aware of the measures being taken here and with the reason in mind bore no second thoughts in carrying it out.
"Kelly, have you seen Jack?" a voice suddenly asked, startling her no doubt and nearly exposing what she'd just done in the process.
"I'm sorry I haven't." Kelly replied opting to cover up her tracks by re-settling he table she was at.
"What are you doing?" Kathy inquired, noticing Kelly quickly shoving something into her purse.
"Oh, just taking care of things." Kelly explained before excusing herself. Arousing Kathy's suspicion at first but with no evidential reason in sight, she resumed with her search for Jack.
After visiting Claire, Kate called her Mother in Iowa and she was more than thrilled to have her daughter over. With Wayne out of the picture and Dillon away at College, it got quite lonely round the house and she hadn't seen Kate in over two years. Not since what happened to Lily.
So with that confirmed she said her goodbyes to Charlie and Claire and made her way home to pack.
She didn't want to jump to conclusions but the signs were there to suggest it.
"Just taking care of things"
At the time she assumed Kelly meant the table settings but perhaps it was something else altogether. To add even more suspicion to assumption Kelly was nowhere to be found at that moment.
So Kathy was still left with the reigning question, "Did Kelly have something to do with Claire's collapse?"
(The following morning)
It was September 24th and Jack and Kate knew what this day signified.
Out of respect for Lily and Kate, Jack had decided to postpone his wedding to a few weeks after. A decision Kathy wasn't happy with but relented for Jack's sake.
With her packing done, she paid Claire a quick visit at the Hospital. Delighted to see that Claire was awake and in the okay along with the baby. Whom they'd found out was a girl, just as Claire predicted, much to the pricy expense of Charlie's betting defeat, yet he was elated none the less to have his family intact. So was Kate.
In some ways Kate saw Claire and Charlie's life as a fantasy in regards to what she and Jack could have been if Lily had survived. A life Kate still wanted but couldn't have now that Jack was unattainable.
So she resorted to focus on the good memories instead. That being Lily today and Kate spared no restrictions in indulging in on what would have been her daughter's 1st birthday.
Lily's grave was bordered with four fresh white lily bouquets flowing out of their vases. A balloon bouquet rested on the side of her gravestone whilst a Teddy Bear, holding a pink heart labelled with the engraved words, "Baby Girl's 1st", lay on the right.
It looked like nothing short of a shrine as Jack gazed from his car.
After making sure everything was perfectly laid out, Kate spread a blanket out next to the grave and sat herself on it. Retrieving hold of the same story book her own Mother would read to her when she was little.
Opening it to her favourite story, Alice in Wonderland, she proceeded to read it out loud. Completely unaware that Jack was observing the entire scene with a swelling heart.
"I wonder if I've been changed in the night, let me think was I the same when I got up this morning.
Though if I'm not the same then the next question is, who in the world am I?
Ah, that's the great puzzle." Jack approached, finishing the phrase for her.
"Hey." Kate wished, more startled than surprised to see him here.
"Hey." He replied. "Mind if I….." Jack asked, waving the extravagant bouquet of flowers he'd bought too.
"Of course not" Kate assured, watching him place the bouquet on top of the headstone and say, "Happy Birthday sweetheart."
Smiling through her tears she watched as he hunched down beside the gravestone. Tracing his fingers around the writing of his daughter's name and then focusing on an emotionally stricken Kate who was trying hard to hide it, but Jack knew better and wordlessly pulled her into his arms. Rocking them from side to side as she let out every ounce of hurt and distress over the situation.
Lily, Jack, they were the two people who'd mattered the most to her and she lost them both, having no one but herself to blame. If not solely for Lily then for what happened between her and Jack as a result.
"Shh it's okay, it's okay." Jack soothed, achieving an unexpected yet what Kate saw as an honest reply, "no it's not."
With saying that she pulled away to elaborate on her feelings. "Things haven't been okay for me for a long time Jack."
Naturally he assumed blame for not picking up on this and as if sensing it, judging by his silence, Kate quickly spoke up.
"And it's not your fault, it's just…" she assured, struggling with her emotions again. "I just haven't moved on from us."
"Kate…"
"Which is why I'm leaving." She revealed, confusing him more than anything yet at the same time he understood why she was doing this. Still he didn't feel it was the best cause of action.
"Kate…" he tried again to convince her otherwise but she appeared to be adamant about this decision.
"I need to do this." She firmly stated, silencing any further argument from Jack. His silence however didn't make him feel any different towards this.
"I'm going to see my Mom and well I'll see where things take me from there."
"You don't have to do this Kate. I can be there for you and help you through this." Jack pleaded, placing his hands on her shoulders in a gesture of comfort but it was nothing but temptation for her.
"That's what I'm worried about Jack. Being around you just…." She explained, breaking off to shake off the feeling of his still existent touch. Jack only worsening things when he leaned in to still try and convince her. Kate mustering the courage to look up at him, bewildered and confused by her own emotions yet coherent to absorb his assurance.
"It's okay, it'll be okay." Jack assured and before he could continue any longer he was silenced by her lips.
Next chapter: The aftermath.
I'm gonna be away on holiday next weekend so I will try and get the next chapter up before then. Maybe even sooner if you guys really, really want it ;)