Surprises

Chapter 20

"Is it appropriate for me to keep anything?" Mike asked Maddie as they looked at Christine's few belongings, sitting on their bed.

"You can keep whatever you'd like." Maddie said.

"But…I'm married to you now." Mike remarked.

"And Christine was the love of your life." Maddie added. She picked Gia up and walked back into the living room. Mike looked at the wedding band on his finger—the one Maddie had put on his finger, and the one laying on the bed—the one Christine had placed on his finger. One meant love to him, one meant…he wasn't sure. He cared about Maddie and could build a future but he had a past with Christine. He hated feeling like he was replacing Christine with Maddie. Both women were worth far more to Mike.

He gathered the items and carried them into the bedroom the girls were sharing. Hannah was reading on the bed and Katie was staring out the window.

"I was going through some things and thought you girls might like some of your mom's belongings. Its just some jewelry and a few photos." Mike said. It struck him odd that five pieces of jewelry and three photos was all that was left of Christine, besides their two daughters.

"What's it from?" Katie asked as she looked at the items that Mike had sit on the bed.

"This…is actually mine but its my wedding band from your mom. This necklace; I gave to your mom when she had you, Katie. This bracelet was from when you were born, Hannah. Her mother's ring and a pair of earrings from when she had Lucas." Mike explained as he pointed at the items. Katie gave Hannah the bracelet, and took the necklace, leaving Mike's ring, the mother's ring and the earrings from Lucas.

"Dad, why don't Katie and I split the rings and you take the earrings since you gave them to her when Lucas was born? You probably don't have a lot of his things either." Hannah suggested.

"No. Just a few photos and his dinosaur and ball glove, but if you girls want those things…" Mike offered. Not that he wouldn't give the girls a kidney, but it felt like that's what he was giving.

"No, Dad. You should have Lucas' things. He was your son." Katie said.

"And your brother?" Mike remarked.

"Its okay, Dad. Now, tell us about these photos?" Hannah asked.

"This was when you were born, Katie. This was when we had you, Hannah and this is our wedding photo." Mike answered as he pointed out the photos. Katie separated the three photos and gave Mike the wedding photo.

"Can you make us copies of that?" Katie asked, pointing at the wedding photo.

"Of course." Mike said.

"Thank you, Dad." Hannah answered before giving him a long hug. It felt good but he didn't expect one from Katie. Instead, he bent down and kissed the top of her head as she looked over the items.

"Do you girls need anything else right now?" Mike asked.

"We're okay." Katie answered.

"Okay." Mike said. He walked out of the room, but paused before walking into the living room with Maddie, Oliver and Gia. He had to pause to wipe his eyes. Giving Christine's items to the girls didn't bother him. Katie's reaction bothered him. He put the wedding picture and the earrings in his keepsake box and walked back into the living room.

"You okay?" Maddie asked.

"I'm fine! Quit asking!" Mike raged.

"What is going on with you?" Maddie asked.

"I think I'm going to step out for a bit." Mike told her, not answering her. He kissed the top of Oliver's head and left, only stopping to grab his keys and wallet.

He wasn't even sure where he was headed. He just needed to clear his head and go back in a better frame of mind. He had driven for about a half hour and was just going through an intersection when he felt intense pain and heard metal crunching. His last thought before losing consciousness was that he had raised his voice to Maddie and wondering what would happen to his older girls. They had already lost one parent.