Hello, it is Wednesday, and I am back with a new chapter! Sometimes I write stories that would really please younger Amy and this is one of them. For this chapter, I revisited the scenario of Justin and Katie - or rather, their break up - with the added layer of Katie's relationship with her Auntie Daisy as well as the things I've been coming up with Daisy's character for the better part of 2024. Daisy is no stranger to heartbreak - and she is certainly no stranger to the ways members of their family make things difficult! But Daisy believes in Katie the way she doesn't a lot of other people. And together, aunt and niece turn a loss of a romance into a lovely moment for them both :3 I hope you enjoy!
Ages:
Katie: 18
Jayden: 21
Daisy: 43
Justin (Mentioned): 25
Katie had sensed the disappointment in her Auntie Daisy's voice when she had spoken to her on the phone a couple of days prior. Though she had continued their conversation airily enough, asking all the right questions and answering Katie's own ones in a way that told of no awkwardness between the two, Katie knew that she had sensed disappointment.
She knew that she was right.
Hearing Daisy's tone that even more than unusual was about as flat as the wood flooring of The Valentine, made Katie's heart sink faster than if her beloved ship was being dragged down to the depths by a horrifically tentacled sea creature. Even if she had told herself that that was silly.
Her heart slowly thumping slowly in her chest gradually joining the hollow pits of her stomach, her ribcage surrounding it felt compressed like she was wearing a corset that would go along with the original era of her grandfather's dear ship.
She felt as if she could cry when she got off the phone. But she did not. And even now a couple of days later as she anticipated her aunt's arrival on The Valentine, Katie still did not cry but both her heart and her throat felt terribly empty.
Katie was sure that if she tried to open her mouth to speak, all her words would run away with her just like she had done. She did not know how she would handle Daisy's questions face to face. If they were like the ones during their phone conversation, then they would not have been all that bad.
But Katie still squirmed at the thought of even the simplest of questions.
So, you're back to travelling again, are you?
Yes, she would simply have to find her voice from somewhere.
And you're back with Jayden.
Yes.
So, that of course means you're no longer with...
From waiting for her aunt to board the huge vessel, Katie's mouth clamped even further shut. But she shook her head to herself. She acted as if she was able to keep busy rather than finishing any conversations. Even if they were only in her head.
She did not know how she would face her Auntie Daisy's questions. Her questions filled with the kind of affection that she felt within Misty's intrigue as well. A mother's love.
Fortunately for Katie, she had a little while longer to soothe herself, let alone venture out of her private cabin at the bottom of the ship. Jayden was waiting to greet her aunt on the top deck, leaning against the railing and enjoying the view of the real world rather than what he had been learning how to create in a different cabin.
A smile tugging his lips as the wind tousled his dual toned locks as well as the vast sails looming above, he noticed new colors of the dockyard which he made a note to capture with his camera later – or he would try and mix with his new paints and create a special something.
Perhaps a gift for Daisy to mark the occasion of her visit.
Though his heart did not belt out a tune and yet calmed in the same way that Katie's did as they anchored, he did notice that it was a very peaceful occasion. His head turned to their collection of Pokémon on the deck, his eyes squinting due to the sunshine inside rather than up above as he saw that they were enjoying some time off from taking control of the ship.
He was particularly impressed with how quickly his Leavanny had gotten back into life on deck. She had not really wanted to leave Hitch Town and that had once irked him so. But now he could see that his dearest Pokémon was more herself again. No longer sullied by the things that both he and Katie had left behind and glad to be embarking on their venture with them.
It would impress even the keenest of Pokémon Professor's to see the way a grass Pokémon had taken to the water, even though Leavanny did not exactly like to swim! Her spindly arms had grown stronger every day with tugging on masts and throwing the anchor overboard when need be.
Yes, Jayden's heart thudded with pride for her. But the loudest pulse ringing in his ears was for Katie.
She too had left whatever she needed to behind and it was just the two of them once more. As it was meant to be.
Jayden, however, learned that it would not be the two of them for much longer. But at least the person interrupting their travels was a welcome one.
His mouth could not help but stretch apart in a grin when he saw Daisy tottering up the pontoon in her high heels, noticing for yet another occasion that she had not dressed all that appropriately for boat life!
But he couldn't help but also notice that she looked very becoming in her blue denim jumpsuit, and he did not hesitate to move away from the railings when he saw Daisy pausing with her heels and her suitcase planted on the pontoon, lifting her sunglasses away from her face as she realized that murky clouds were up ahead.
Jayden hopped down the ladder to help Daisy with her things and inevitably her balance. He would have been mortified if her small heel got caught between the planks of the pontoon and slipped off her foot!
"Daisy, it's so wonderful to see you." The grin disappeared from his face, and he painted a charming smile across his lips, not waiting for permission to take hold of Daisy's luggage. But he spoke to her once more, offering her his arm. "Please, allow me."
Though after Daisy tucked her round, black sunglasses into her jumpsuit pocket she managed to stifle the chuckle that threatened to ripple through the pits of her stomach, she could not fight her own smile across her face.
She still saw Jayden as that funny little boy who she used to see James take to that old cafe in Cerulean City along with his other two brothers to give Jessie a bit of peace and quiet. At one year old, he had tried to charm her then and was still doing that now.
But sometimes, in a consistently changeable world, it was quite nice that some things stayed the same.
Daisy took Jayden's arm and allowed him to lead her towards the ladder of The Valentine.
"I'm so excited to be here." she admitted, her amused smile being replaced by a genuine, white toothed grin which still did not falter as she realized that she needed to take off her heels to be able to scale the ladder towards the top deck. "I'm looking forward to see how you run things here."
Jayden could not help but experience a frown slicing his brow in half as Daisy insisted on carrying her own shoes in her hold and that she did not need any help climbing up the ladder. But he had to admit to himself as he watched her efforts that she seemed to take to sailor life naturally.
But then again, that was hardly a surprise, was it? It was in her blood as much as it was in Misty's. As much as it was in Katie's. Though she had a difficult relationship with that DNA threading them all together, it was clear that Daisy could make herself at home on The Valentine.
With a grateful sigh, she took her luggage back off Jayden when they made it to the top deck, much to his dismay.
What was it with Williams' women and wanting to do everything for themselves?
Daisy's empty hands as she rested her suitcase on the flooring of the top deck then fell to her hips, looking around. Her expression was already brightening so the sun did not need to in the sky as she saw all the Pokémon that her niece and Jayden had.
"We run a pretty tight ship here." Jayden announced proudly, running both of his hands through his hair as he stood on the top deck although it was not that windy. And his straightened locks had not unraveled back into their natural curls.
Daisy squinted for a different reason at Jayden's words – or his dedication to taking pride in his appearance – but then her attention was garnered by the Pokémon all over again. In particular, she felt the top of her nose scrunching up as she watched a Smeargle. It waved its paint covered tail in the face of a Whiscash who seemed delighted by his friend's antics, his naturally jolly face brightening up even more at the play time.
Tearing her eyes away from the two Pokémon playing near where the quarter deck concealed one of the biggest cabins on the ship, Daisy laughed openly, her hand resting over her heart and not because she was checking that she had not misplaced her expensive sunglasses in her breast pocket.
"It looks like you run quite a loose ship here." Daisy commented, giggling even more as the Smeargle heard her appreciative words, saw her friendly gaze, and decided to leave Whiscash alone for a minute, coming to amuse her as well. She looked up at Jayden in between patting the Pokémon's beret. "How fun!"
Not saying anything for a moment, Jayden looked up after he felt a gentle breeze blowing through his hair and expected to look up to see storm clouds gathering ahead. But the storm was inside instead.
He was hoping that Daisy would go home and tell Misty that he was a competent co-owner of the ship along with Katie. And that he took the best care of her. Took the best care of everything.
No one could do a job like he could.
Jayden looked back at Daisy who was still crouching, one hand on Smeargle's head and waving at Whiscash. She had always liked that dopey face of the Pokémon belonging to her niece. But she was hurried along by a paint crusted hand of Jayden's and him picking back up her luggage for her.
"Let's help you find Katie, shall we?" he suggested. But even Smeargle heard it more of a demand than an idea. He did not need to look at the watch clinging to his pale wrist to make it clear that he had other things that he needed to get back to. "I need to get back to my online lesson in a minute."
Though Daisy's expression was restrained, the hollowing of her collarbones beneath the collar of her denim jumpsuit spoke of the fact that she sensed Jayden's disinterest in her if she was going to be humorous rather than filled with praise.
But she hardly held this against him. He just wanted Katie's closest relatives to know that she was well cared for. And that if it was what she wanted, then he would take care of her for life.
Daisy stood back to her full height, her shoes still in her hold as she realized it would be sensible to keep them off until she reached more even ground. She felt like she was the opposite of her niece; she lacked sea legs even while the ship was docked.
The haphazard waving of Daisy's hand spoke to Jayden before her words did.
"I don't mean to keep you." she began. The wave of Jayden's own hand spoke that it was okay but they both knew that this was not strictly true. He would not have made those comments otherwise. "Look, why don't you get back to what you need to do? I'm sure I can find Katie somewhere on her grandfather's ship."
Jayden noticed that Daisy referred to The Valentine as Jordan's ship. It was. But it had been given to Katie. And Katie was a part of him. So, The Valentine was as well.
Would Jayden have to work that hard for Katie's free-spirited aunt to see him as her niece's equal?
He may have been a chip off the old block when it came to his family's Morgan genes, but he was not afraid of arduous work, and he was determined for Daisy to sing his praises when he returned home.
A smile swiped across his lips. He pointed to the large oak door leading to the inside of the ship, gesturing that Daisy should go first. But he kept hold of her luggage, speaking of the reason with words.
"Please, don't hesitate to find me if you can't work your way around the ship." Jayden said with a smile. Silently, Daisy's eyebrow quirked upwards on her face before she led the way inside. "Allow me to take your luggage. I'll drop them in your room before heading to my art room."
And with that, because Jayden gestured with his head for Daisy to help herself and walk on ahead, Daisy had no choice but to leave her luggage with him and to let go the comment that she took as her not knowing her way around The Valentine like Misty and Katie did.
While it was true that it was Jordan's dear vessel and that was one of the main reasons why it was less hers than anybody else, she had still spent time on it. Even the coldest of souls could not help but open their hearts to The Valentine. It was an incredible ship. And Daisy saw even more of its beauty as Jayden followed her inside – and when he left her to find her own way.
As she embarked on locating her niece – how bizarre that she had not been there to greet her, but Jayden had been – she moved along hallways made of wood and spied the artwork clinging to the walls. Though she had seen it before on her last visit, Daisy still found herself smiling at the movie posters belonging to Katie that she had hung up there.
But what surprised her far more so – Katie's memorabilia were to be expected – was the way that Daisy's hand carefully crept out as she walked, her fingers feeling her way along the wood as if she were memorizing every smooth patch and every bump that could give her a splinter.
She would have welcomed taking a piece of The Valentine with her if she could not be a part of it.
Daisy did not often feel particularly close to her father, Jordan, but on board here she felt that she could be. This ship had been restored when he was a much younger man and before either her or her three other sisters had been born.
This image of Jordan was someone she felt easier to think of with fondness. Though his mind was still murky with the demons that troubled him to that day, he had not yet made any of the grave mistakes that Daisy silently cursed him over.
She paused as she came across a portrait of him, black and white to look at and him donning his sailing uniform from when he had been called to fight the battles of other regions.
Unlike how her hand had brushed lingeringly along the wood, it then went back to herself as she saw the younger face of her father, her other hand still holding her shoes.
Her mouth silently pressed together. There he was. The man of their family. Rather than wanting to stew in the words and the feelings that she really felt about Jordan having that title, Daisy decided that she would call out to her niece.
Where, oh where, had she got to? Lost in the embrace of the pages of a new book, no doubt.
"Katie?" Daisy called, gently at first to not frighten her before deciding to speak in a louder voice. If she really was enthralled by words on a page, then she needed to make herself known. Katie tended to favor characters in books rather than family members! "Katie, where are you?"
Unbeknownst to Daisy, the portrait of Jordan on the right-hand side was purposeful. She would learn of why in the next couple of moments. She did not know it, but from behind another wall right next to her, Katie gasped as she heard her aunt's voice, and she stood up off the bed.
She knew that she had not been mistaken when she heard her gentle footsteps, paired with the subtle scraping of her finger against the wood. But she had hoped that she was going to walk straight past so she could sneak out on her own accord.
Katie had not anticipated that Daisy would take the time to look at the image of Jordan, growing lost in reverie.
She could only mutter out one sound of her own behind her lips as she tried to figure out what to do, surprised when she heard her own voice tumbling out of her mouth.
"Damn..." Katie muttered. If she crawled out of this private space on the ship, then her secret would be over. Her sanctuary would be tainted.
Memories of...
Ironically, Katie forced herself not to remember the memories of a time that she was desperate to keep alive.
As quietly as she could and her face resembling a scrunched-up piece of paper as she begged her block heeled boots to not betray her and clunk too loudly against the wooden floor of her private room, she moved towards the door.
Neither of them knew it, but both Katie and Daisy's hands were brushing against the same chunk of wood, both from different sides.
"Katie, are you in your room?" Daisy wondered. She knew that her and Jayden's shared cabin was further down the hall. What she did not know was why she was lingering with her hand against this piece of wall.
It was not particularly interesting; it was even less intriguing. The young face of her father had been looking at a wooden carved anchor hanging on the wall and that is why Daisy supposed that her attention was found to be roaming there.
Dropping her shoes down to the floor, one hand of Daisy's continued tracing the disinteresting wooden wall while the other rubbed against the sandpapered wood of the fashioned anchor.
No doubt yet another of her father's creation. Daisy had yet to crack how that man was so full of creation and yet she still saw the embers of destruction he had left in his wake.
It was this notion that caused her next words to escape from her.
"Katie, if you're hiding, can you please just let me know so I can give you space?" Daisy asked. She was not aware that Katie's expression unclenched from behind the wall that was actually a door. Then, Daisy's voice rose once more, speaking because she was sure that nobody was even listening. "Can you answer me? Or I'm going to have to make a fool out of myself and burst into Jayden's online lesson."
A scoff suddenly erupting from Katie's throat that was not exactly a petulant one, her irises revolved in her sockets, and she knew that she would have to answer her aunt – and hurriedly. And it was not because of her joking threat as she would have found it quite funny that Daisy was willing to make a fool out of herself for Katie's sake.
Jawline privately clenching as Katie knew she must invite someone else into an incredibly special secret, she suddenly yanked the door from her end open.
Daisy let out a yelp as she tumbled forward, her heart missing a step inside of her chest as the wall suddenly was a door.
"Will you stop being so loud and just get in here?!" Katie hissed. But her tone was laced with authority as well as trying to keep quiet rather than annoyance towards her aunt.
Though her expression did not give her feelings away, she was affectionately touched by Daisy's bewilderment. And she was privately appreciative of the way that she regained her balance to hide with Katie in this cupboard simply because it was what her niece was asking of her.
And yet, as moments passed and out of habit, Daisy smoothed down her bangs though she had not exactly had a proper fall, it became glaringly obvious that behind the door was not just a mere cupboard. A broom one or any other kind.
The whites of Daisy's eyes glistened in the mysteriously lit room, knowing that she had travelled all over and seen views through the eyes of so many people on various film sets, but she had not seen anything like this before.
She could not help but speak out though Katie had told her to be quiet.
"Where the hell are we...?" Daisy breathed out, looking at her niece only once before, for a rare occasion, needing to look at things other than the person growing so quickly into a young woman.
She wanted to take a step forward to explore this space, but she felt as if her bare feet had been glued to the flooring. She had indeed been captured by awe.
Daisy really had never seen anything like this before, much less suspected that The Valentine held secrets. She presumed that this stage of Jordan's life and this project of his youth was crystal clear. It was simple. Nothing lurked around the corner. Nothing begged to be hidden.
Daisy was wrong. But she did not grieve this.
Daisy's irises shimmied from side to side, mirroring the way that the water lapped at the window of a low cabin of the ship and caused beautiful patterns to reveal themselves on the ceiling. This room – whatever it was because Katie still had not answered her aunt – was a haven.
It had Jordan written all over it. And that made Daisy wonder how it could still be a beautiful place.
"It's my private room." Katie began abruptly. Sharply. She had not exactly meant to. But she had been so sure that her words would go silent on her and now she realized that it was her tone that was betraying her. "Please don't tell..."
She trailed off before she could say any names. Daisy spoke to her before she could try again, spelling out any.
She was undeterred by her niece's previously unintentionally hardened tone. She read the subtle squint of her left eye as she tried to say her other words.
"I don't think anybody would believe me, Katie." Daisy let escape a gentle, short laugh from her belly as her eyes wandered towards more that was begging to be looked at. But then she could sense her niece's face looking right at her too. "I won't." She reassured her.
Katie breathed out a sigh of relief that she knew would come straight out of her unlike words that had taken her by surprise. She did not speak in return just yet. She just nodded gratefully. She figured her aunt wanted to have more time looking around. Figured her aunt deserved to have more time looking around.
Though she was not her mother, she still felt there would be no her having The Valentine without her. The ship was as much Daisy's as it was hers. Even if to her it represented total freedom and adventure. And spoke of other things to Daisy.
Katie, quite the master of saying things with gestures as much as words if not more, nodded her head just once, encouragingly, before her fingers fell to her own plait hanging over her shoulder like a pirate and its parrot.
Daisy did not hesitate to move on ahead, her feet becoming unstuck with her niece's permission, and she moved to the center of the room to see the rest of it. Though she was quite enthralled by the ever-changing pattern that the water painted across the ceiling, she took in every little detail that was on over.
The futon resting against the widest of the walls. It how she had imagined as a child it would be to sleep on a cloud. So, inviting. Her niece had clambered into it recently from the way it was dented by peaceful slumber.
A tiny window seat sat next to the glass. A perfect window for hours of viewing, smiling at the sea creatures that were brave enough to reveal themselves swimming along the vessel. Or, on days of a much lower tide, watching the top of the water lick against the glass.
Daisy took one more step forward, spying a particularly small corner of the room which held a desk containing maps that Jordan had given to Katie as well as stationary, some of it empty of words from Katie and some of it brimming with her perfectly neat writing. There were postcards too. Her most precious ones had been stamped to the wood with drawing pins.
But what was most precious of all was the pocket watch dangled by its chain and clinging to the two adjacent beams that hung above the desk. Daisy was intrigued by that treasure. But she did not know where it came from.
However, instead of asking Katie, probing as she wondered its story, she spoke more words to her niece since Katie could not find them anymore.
But the truth was, she found them unnecessary. She was far more focused on the sensation of her heart filling up like a cup brimming with water as she saw the beauty of her beloved space through another pair of eyes.
"Does nobody know that this is here?" Daisy wondered, turning back towards Katie and her quiet footsteps receding closer to her niece. She added, though the more that she spoke, the more she ran the risk of them being heard. "Is that why you want me to keep it quiet?"
Katie's head did not hesitate to shake in response. She moved backwards herself, deciding to perch at the end of her futon, inviting Daisy to sit with her. But her own head shook. She preferred to stay standing. And she preferred to continue looking around the secret cabin.
They were both united in the way that this made it easier for them both to converse.
"No. Nanny Lynne knows too." Daisy noticed that Katie possessed an expression like a blank piece of paper, but she went back to looking out the window, the shake of her head turning into a nod. "And Granddad, of course." Katie did not know how Daisy would react to this. "This is his private room. He knows that I know about it. They both do."
Daisy would have liked to keep looking ahead as her nodding motion of the head only continued, slowing down in pace. But Katie misread situations as much as she was on the nose about them. The last thing she wanted was to sense the complicated emotions within her heart. For her to feel them and experience them so intuitively that they became her feelings as well.
Pressing her lips together in a wan sort of way, her eyebrows moving closer to her hairline underneath her bangs spoke of the fact that she was listening to this information. Daisy did not hide what she wished her words to be.
Katie understood and respected that she did not have the easiest of relationships with her parents.
"This has your grandfather written all over it." Daisy's lips painted themselves into the smallest of smiles. Katie's response was that of quietly shrugging, pulling her legs closer to her chest as her heels rested on the very edge of the futon. She did not know how her aunt felt about knowing Jordan so well and yet, not much at all. "When I heard him whispering about a hiding place, I thought he meant that trap door on the top deck that he hides stuff in."
Katie's shoulders stopped moving closer to her ears after noticing that, despite seeing each other increasingly compared to recent years, Daisy was still loath to refer to Jordan as my dad. Still, at least it was better than hearing him be called Misty's dad.
She respected that their relationship was not the easiest. But it still gave her a tummy ache sometimes!
Her feet falling back to the ground below as it was not comfortable enough to keep her heels balancing against the edge of the futon, Katie set free more than just her feet.
Her attention was captured by the movement of the water outside of the window as she spoke.
"He liked to hide stuff in the trapdoor upstairs. But he liked to hide himself away here." Though her mind was half filled with the views of the ocean as much as the other half was filled with her own words, she noticed Daisy growing disinterested with the sight, tilting her head on one side towards her niece. "I-I think."
Katie stammered. And oh, how she loathed how she stammered. Apart from being something which she deemed a fatal flaw that she had worked hard to overcome during her younger years, she knew that it gave so much about her away.
Gave away so much of her words.
Fortunately, though Daisy turned to look at her with a slope in her neck, her eyes were filled with fondness and she decided to invite herself down on the futon with Katie after all.
She did not have a daughter of her own. So, she lived for the possibility of a girly chat with her eldest niece.
"So, you were hiding in here, Katie?" Daisy asked with kindness in her voice. She listened and she watched for her response, unsurprised when her immediate reaction was to shake her head, even if it was done half-heartedly.
Though Katie's of all people's locks did not exactly need neatening, for something to do, Daisy's fingers found themselves undoing her plait and loosening the last few strands to redo them for her.
Perhaps it was the gesture, the care shared between niece and aunt. Or Katie merely had words to say and so she said them.
Nevertheless, she spoke to Daisy, her words filling her in as much as her gesture of a head shake had done.
"No. I wasn't hiding." Katie insisted in a voice perfect for reading a book aloud. Usually, she would have loved nothing more. But she did enjoy chatting with her aunt. She had never understood why other girls her age when she was younger had thought it embarrassing to like your relatives. "I was just thinking." Daisy's neck was still sloped as she listened, her fingers occupied. "This is the greatest place for thinking."
Daisy's head nodded from her angle, her delicate fingers still taking their time in neatening up Katie's plait before she secured it by the same hair tie all over again. She had no idea that Katie was lying.
She was not, however, bending the truth to be malicious. She had been thinking. But she had been thinking hard about how sure she was that she would be unable to find her voice. And how resistant she was surely going to be towards any questions that would come from Daisy.
But now they were sitting there, all Katie's worries seemed so small. In the same way that you can make a mountain out of a mole hill over something or other, worrying into the dead of the night, only to find that by morning you are welcomed by a serene sensation of calm.
The things that had occupied Katie's mind as she had ruminated alone to herself seemed unimportant. And besides, Daisy was not going to ask too many tough questions after all. She seemed more interested in their shared family history for once instead of Katie's recent adventures.
"So, this room is a family secret, is it?" Daisy wondered. She was clued in to a hint of the truth, but she did not yet know the whole truth from the way that Katie's head did not leap into nodding up and down – or shaking from side to side. "Only the four of us know?"
This would have been a suitable time to lie. An understandable time to lie. Unbeknownst to Daisy, she was encouraging her niece to think about things that she spent a great deal of energy making sure these thoughts stayed where they belonged.
The past.
But like the tide belonging to the sea creeping closer and closer, lapping at the sand, Daisy's question encouraged different images to make their way into Katie's mind. Various feelings made their way into her heart.
They were equally as pleasant as they were sore.
In the end, the truth won out like it often did with Katie. As skilled as she was at keeping quiet, she also knew when was vital to send honesty out of her like a bird that longed to fly.
"No." For yet another occasion, Katie began her sentence with this word. Though Daisy did not have intuitive words echoing around her mind, she had that knowing feeling in her head. Inadvertently, the time for her to have answers to all her questions was just around the corner. "Justin knows too." Katie's voice quietened down until it was just above a whisper. "We spent a lot of time here last month."
She was not whispering because this was a secret, and Daisy gathered that. You see, any tales surrounding the deep purple haired male seemed to ask for a quietened tone, Katie felt.
He lived between hushed words. He lived within the pages of books. Within the melodies of songs. He existed very vibrantly in the quietest corner of her heart and even the loudest spaces in her mind.
Katie could not help but soften as far as he was concerned. Though she had once been so soft for him she felt as though she could crumble.
Daisy, who had been so certain that she would be the one to nosily mention his name, let Katie's plait drop from her fingers. Her digits were soon occupied by her own bangs, but they needed organizing even less than her niece's.
"Justin...? Right." Daisy copied Katie's tone. It was not particularly difficult for her. They were some of the Williams girls that had a honeyed voice like Lynne rather than booming inflections like Jordan.
Thank goodness for it. No way would the private cabin remain a secret otherwise!
Katie had a bout of impatience for her aunt. Her feet twitching on the floor below her, she gave her a specific look, half wishing she had bangs of her own to conceal the frown she felt latching itself onto her forehead.
"Oh, come on. We were going to start talking about him eventually." Katie's whisper transformed into a mutter. But then, as Daisy did not fight the fire that was Katie guarding her wounded heart with fire, a sigh escaped from her lungs and her tone resumed much more to normal. "I... It's fine."
Katie lied again. But it was the sort of lie that's sole purpose was because it wanted it to become the truth. Katie wanted to be fine. Wanted to be settled in her decision and know that she had made the right one. She wanted the lovely memories to haunt her no more. And yet, in the same fluttering breath, she wanted nothing more than to curl up on the futon that she and Justin had once rolled around on together and live within those sweet moments of time gone by.
Her mind was a graveyard. She both wanted memories of Justin to haunt her forever, and to leave her alone so she could move forward with her own decision.
Daisy smiled understandingly. Katie never believed that she would feel this about her aunt, but she was suddenly so glad that she had taken her time to settle down, had made mistakes on her quest to find one person to spend the rest of her life with.
Daisy knew of grave heartache. Of great loss. And after being so sure that Katie would not find any words to produce against her questions, she suddenly realized that she did not wish to be speaking to anyone else about all this.
At least she would understand.
At least she was unlikely to hate Justin.
"I wanted very much to know how you're getting on." Daisy told her niece. Katie believed her. What was great about her aunt is that she often told the truth. And when she did so, it was hard to run away from – but at least you knew where you stood. "But I know you're trying to move on."
Katie winced at the appearance of the word trying. She could not help but think, was she really doing a that bad job of it?
She had made the ultimate sacrifice to move on. She had left her home in the dead of the night to resume her travels with Jayden and to fall in love with him all over again. Not that she had stopped. He had not wanted her for a moment in time. Not the other way around.
Unfortunately, she had wanted his brother too. Always had done. The title of her first love had always been reserved for him and his dimpled smile.
The word trying left a bitter taste in Katie's mouth. But, in the end, she could not help but swallow that vinegary taste. It was unimportant.
Daisy had answers to questions she was too scared to ask. The private elevated pulse of her heart accompanied her words by throbbing in her throat.
"How is he getting on?" Katie questioned. Though it was a risky move, she spoke of his name to settle her heart rate. "Is Justin, okay?"
And just like that, not that you would think it, the name that Jessie and James had chosen for their son all those years ago was like a breath of fresh air into Katie's lungs. The kind that indeed settled heart rates.
Katie relinquished in that feeling and yet, her empty palm rests up to rest over the center of her chest as if she could feel her heart pumping along to the same rhythm as Justin's from the distance that was then between them, just like had occurred when they had breathlessly lain side by side.
Daisy's mouth opened and closed and Katie watched this acutely. Her main goal had to make sure that her niece was okay, even though she had been curious to find out what had happened after thinking Justin and Katie seemed so good together.
The last thing she wanted to do was upset her. But then she realized that she was not like Jordan. Perhaps she was not like even her. Katie, for all her deep sensitivity, could stand sturdily in the face of complex emotions.
They became part of her story. She did not always like them. But she knew they were necessary to drive the story forward.
Daisy knew she had to drive this story forward.
"I... I haven't seen much of him to be honest with you." Daisy began. The words I'm sorry echoed out of her like walls of a cave begging to reassure cave dwellers with its sound. But they did not properly come. She instead added: "I think he's been writing a lot."
You would have thought that Daisy's update would dishearten Katie. But instead, her hands reached behind her on the mattress to support herself and she leaned slightly backwards.
Daisy's words had settled her heart rate along with Justin's name. And as she spoke these words, they were not lies wanting to be the truth.
"Good." Katie breathed out. She managed to keep her balance as one hand of hers moved from behind her to switch her plait to sit on her other shoulder for a change of scenery. "I'm glad he's got things to say."
Katie meant, I'm glad he's not keeping everything to himself.
She knew more so than anybody that, just like herself in some ways, he grew silent in the face of the most tumultuous of situations and emotions. Though he was able to keep chatting and keep the conversation coming, the ink of any pen that he put to paper dried up and the melodies would stop ringing in his head.
Justin needed to write music as much as he needed to breathe. He had written the most beautiful music with Katie. And even if it were over, she hoped that their own, secret symphonies would make their way into whatever was to creatively come from him next.
The last thing she was going to be was somebody standing in the way of his greatest gift. He had always elevated every single part of her. She did not know if she could be the same for him. But she wanted to try.
"Have you got things to say, Katie?" Daisy suddenly asked, surprising them both equally as much and ending whatever reverie they were both separately experiencing. Her lower lip fell into her mouth but soon slipped as free as her words. "I mean... You seemed so promising together when I saw you at Charlie's place for lunch." Daisy could not mask her shimmery gaze at the memory for the sake of Katie. "I was surprised to hear that you're back with Jayden."
Katie had to confront something at this moment. And not the reality of the fact that her and Justin were destined to only be a sweet weeklong adventure during the time of year where the leaves changed to being as red as her cheeks as she watched him smile before blowing away to the breeze just like they both had done.
Katie hated disappointing people.
She had been sure she had done this to Daisy based on the phone call that they had had. Now Katie believed that she had to confront this reality.
Her aunt had been right. They had been promising together. But a delightful story does not always mean the ending that you are hoping for.
Katie had read enough books to know that this is indeed true.
"Are you disappointed?" she wondered. She did not dare add the words in me at the end of her sentence. Apart from being unable to paint such a lowly image of her aunt, she was not sure she had the guts to see Daisy nod her head.
Fortunately, Daisy was not going to, whether she uttered her full sentence or not.
She could sense the child-like weight behind her words anyway. Daisy turned more so towards Katie on the futon, unable to resist reaching out and feeling the location on her cheek where a dimple appeared when she smiled in a motherly sort of way.
The last thing Daisy wanted was for Katie to believe that she was disappointed by her. She knew how that felt. To feel people were disappointed by you. No wound was more uncomfortable.
"I... No. No, Katie. I'm not disappointed. I'm not anything." After starting off so truthfully, a rare dishonest streak made its way through Daisy, and it caused her to lightly drop her touch away from her niece. She wondered if it was inevitable that mothers lied to her children even if Katie was Misty's and not hers. "I..." Daisy bought herself time, distracted by the glossy look in her niece's gaze. "I want you to be happy. I thought you were happy with Justin. I guess I was wrong."
The glossy gaze on Katie's face disappeared and quite the serious one took over, her collarbones sticking out beneath her white, ironed shirt and her nostrils flaring briefly with the vehemence of the inhale that she took.
She did not have it in her to shake her head. She did not have it in her to face the fact that her aunt had been right. But it still was not Justin that she ended up with anyway.
Though she knew that she had chosen to flee from him, thinking that choosing Jayden would make everybody happy and eventually herself, the weight of her decision did not weigh her down any less.
To tell you the truth, Justin had been everything she had wished for and more. Everything that she had been waiting for. Had longed for. Had hoped. Dreamed of. He made her laugh even during the moments that his body was entwined with hers and his beautifully full upper lip glistened with sweat.
He listened to her during these moments too equally as much as he did afterwards – or as they sat in their hotel room, and she told him behind the scenes facts about the film that they were watching.
Justin saw her. And not the kind of her that was cultivated for the pleasure of others. The real her. Stammering, sometimes shy and with the coldest hands as if she never warmed up even if her cheeks were scarlet because of something that he had said. Had remembered.
She did not know if Justin loved that version of her. At least not in love with her. But she trusted that he saw such real beauty in her that the addition of love could make him see only more clearly.
This was never given the chance to grow. Because of her. Begrudgingly, she admitted, sometimes because of him. Mostly because of others.
It had been so simple in their hotel room. Their little bubble. It had been labelled our city. And within our city was our duck pond. Our guitar shop. Our florists. That city might as well have been the entire world, or it could have been a room far smaller than the private room that Katie had without hesitation let Justin be a part of.
All they needed was each other. Such a lovely moment in time. A beautiful chapter in a book.
But sadly, not the whole story.
"Justin was my happiness." Katie ended her reverie, beginning with words that caused Daisy's eyes to grow glossy with understanding as she listened. "But for all the wonderful times we shared, I must remind myself that he is not my future." Both Katie and Daisy swallowed as if they were both so linked to Justin that they were feeling the hurt that could be caused by him hearing these words. "Jayden is."
Though Daisy was not connected to Justin with the same depth that Katie was, and her countenance of a head tilted on the one side as she listened did not vanish, her lips pressed tighter together as she heard all this.
A dimple like the dent of a thumbnail appearing above the corner of her mouth portrayed very real hurt for Justin. But then she could not stop something else from washing over her features.
Her words joined her expression in the same meaning.
"I see." she said. Part of her hoped that Katie was wrong. She did not really like to interfere with the matters of other people's hearts and did not try to do this. But she had seen how happy her niece was.
It was hard for her to swallow that her romantic excursion had been a brief moment in time, the kind you look back on with fondness rather than keep forever. Daisy wanted neither party to get hurt but certainly not Katie.
She wondered if she was jumping too quickly back into things with Jayden.
However, her worries were eliminated by Katie's chest deeply rising and falling underneath her white shirt before words of her own came. Her aunt's simple response allowed her to paint a fuller picture.
Things were not all as they seemed.
"I'm not back together with Jayden." Katie informed her. Though Daisy had reassured her that this was not the case, she could not swallow the acidic feeling in her mouth that told her that she was disappointed with her. "At the moment we're just... talking. Talking things through. Enjoying being near each other without having to figure everything out immediately."
Daisy hid her desire to breathe in and out as deeply as her niece by reaching to twiddle with her bangs instead, hoping that this would satisfy her lungs enough. Katie was mistaken by thinking that her aunt was disappointed, but she sensed with crystal clear intuition that she was relieved over this fact.
Her eyebrows could not help but plait together in response, wondering why. But then she had to listen to what Daisy had to say. Her reasonings would follow with the sound of her voice.
"That's good." Daisy did not try to conceal her thoughts in the same way that her heavy bangs concealed her softening eyebrows. "Does this mean that you might be able to pick things back up with Justin?"
Katie continually felt something on her shoulder from the way that Daisy seemed pleased that she was not fully back with Jayden, even though she had to admit to herself that it was probably only because she did not want too much happening to her heart at once.
Because of this, a sharp sigh exited her lungs as she heard her aunt's question. But as soon as the gust of wind had escaped from her, she felt lighter, felt less irate. She was able to take a moment or two before setting her answer free.
In the time that she had, she realized that a dull ache made its way to her rib cage when she knew the words that she needed to put forth.
She had ended things with Justin in quite a passive yet altering way when she had upped and left with Jayden in the middle of the night, thinking that she could not get back on track with all those peering eyes on them both. Eyes on her and whoever she chose to be with.
Katie did not expect that he would come crawling back to her. She would be lucky and was incredibly lucky that he was still her friend after all that. But then again, she felt in her heart that he would be. She knew that she would always want to be friends with him.
If she had not been able to have the opportunity of their relationship turning into something new, something different, then she would have been content to just be friends with him.
She merely liked having him around.
"I... No." Katie began at last, realizing as her aunt waited patiently for her answer that time was not going to make the truth hurt any less so she might as well get on with it. "Justin's..." she tried to say but she could not finish that sentence. It was not so simple as Justin identifying as a certain way. That was not the reason that they could not work out together. "It's just not possible. Nanny Lynne would never let it happen."
Daisy's eyes were mellowing as she attentively listened to Katie and then when she heard two particular words, she found her matte lipstick adorned lips merging with seriousness.
Her niece hated even hinting the word impossible. Nothing was ever as it seemed. Never as permanent. There was always a way.
In this scenario, Katie did not think so. And Daisy's back could not help but straighten with protectiveness for her niece when she heard a particular name, even if she were standing up to the idea of her mother.
But, then again, Lynne had not protected her from an awful lot, so she found herself acting like a canine with gnarly teeth when this wound was activated.
"Is that why you stopped being together?" Daisy questioned. Katie's head tried to immediately shake in a no, but she could only manage a twitching motion. Another question came from her aunt's quietly heaving chest. "All her unwelcomed glances?"
Daisy forwent bringing up the unwanted comments too, but this point surely rang out between the two of them. Though this was a bit of a lie, in time, Katie's head began to shake from side to side in a proper motion.
It was not just that. It was not merely that.
Normally (and certainly if Justin had been the one to bravely make a joke about it) then Katie would have smirked to herself at her grandmother's hypocritical ways. But she could see Daisy's disappointed half as much as she could feel it in her own bones.
Even if she were not disappointed at her, she could tell she was disappointed, and it made the dull ache in her ribcage leave there and set up a home in her stomach.
Words of her own poured out of her. They were equally as telling as Daisy trying to remain silent.
"I think she thinks less of me now." Katie began prosaically which made her aunt's narrow shoulders drop down nearer to the futon that they were both perched on. "I can tolerate her being surprised by me somehow." she swallowed, inwardly willing her eyes not to sting, let alone leak. "But not Justin."
Katie's last sentence was uttered in an even more gentle tone than normal, and it made Daisy want to inhale the biggest cloud of air in the world to soothe her feelings. But she could not do that. Could not make consoling herself a priority.
This was about Katie and her feelings.
Without a moment of hesitation, Daisy reached for one of her niece's hands now that they were both planted on her skirted lap, and she entwined her fingers caringly with hers. After brushing her shoulder against hers, she looked at Katie in the way that she normally did when she was about to be honest.
In time, a tone like a welcomingly level road sounded.
"She'll get over it." Daisy offered with certainty. Using her hand that was not filled with Katie's own one, she traced down her niece's nose with her pointer finger for half a heartbeat. "Your grandmother needs her perfect world shaken up by reality occasionally."
Although Katie would have liked nothing more than to feel the motherly touch of her aunt encapsulating her whole hand, for some reason she released her hold from her and needed to lean to the side, not laughing at her blunt words but her face scrunching up, nevertheless.
The creases at the bridge of her nose and the corners of her eyes told of fondness towards the older woman. Then she could not help but reassume her previous position without holding her hand again, taking her turn to tilt her head.
"I thought it was Granddad that you had a problem with. Not Nanny Lynne." Katie told her. A shake of her head from Daisy, her bangs shimmying from side to side but only lightly, informed her that pointed words of her own were certain to come.
She was surprised with how quickly they had arrived. She hoped that she had not struck a nerve because she had only wanted to point out that she felt as close with Daisy as she did with her.
"I have a problem with neither." Daisy told Katie in a non-committal way. The tap of her finger against the round of her nose after her small sentence was said and done told Katie everything that she needed to know.
It allowed her to drop it, dropping her head along with it, her cheek resting down on Daisy's shoulder. But then it lifted in the next couple of seconds as she still could not rid herself of that uneasy knot that was twisting all kinds of shapes in her gut.
Daisy had seemed to be really invested in the prospect of her and Justin. The last thing she wanted was to let her down by not fulfilling her vision.
Katie's expression was crumpled up in a different way – like a screwed-up piece of paper containing private musings of the heart – as she needed reassurance from the older woman all over again. The last thing she wanted was her heart ache being extended to more people that she loved.
She knew how that felt closer than she knew anything else.
"Are you sure you're not disappointed by all of this, Daisy?" Katie wondered, her lips pressing together in a line to stop them from unnoticeably trembling like a leaf that knew autumn was just around the corner and its time was growing short.
This, however, stopped her being able to open her mouth in time. Daisy got there first. She was used to feeling like she had not done right by her parents. The last thing she intended was for Katie to feel the same way.
She was not her daughter. But she may as well have been for the giant space she took up inside her heart.
"You never disappoint me, Katie. Please don't forget that." Katie was caught off guard by the promptness in her aunt's words and actions. Both her hands planted on either side of her face, and she felt feathery bangs on her own forehead as she needed to listen. Daisy bookended her insistence with a sigh. "It's just... I've seen more than enough women in our family putting what's in their heart last and I really don't want to see it again."
As Daisy slowly drew her forehead back away from pressing affectionately against her niece's, Katie could see the seriousness in her eyes, and it made her swallow. Her lips still pressing together, for a brief moment, her eye contact dipped as she wondered what Daisy meant. Wondered what she was referring to.
But then as her gaze lifted back up again, she felt something bigger than herself and realized that within Daisy's words, she remembered that she was part of something bigger than herself. Aside from being a part of the whole machine that was life, she was a branch on a tree that had spread for generations.
The many generations had meant that there had been certain curses. And not the kind that had infected her Uncle Eli and turned him into the man with cold blood running through his veins.
Sometimes, in some families, you kept facing the same issues until they were resolved. Daisy hoped that it would stop with Katie. She herself had never been able to put an end to it. But she did not want that pressure to befall on her.
She knew what it was like to lose yourself in the muddy responsibility of those who should have been looking after you instead.
"You really want Justin to remain in my heart, don't you...?" Katie almost teased, the determined line of her mouth altering so that the corner of it was edging towards her ear lobe. Her cheek then pressed back against Daisy's shoulder.
She needed to rest. But Daisy needed to tell her things.
Her hand was cupping back around her niece's cheek in the next two seconds filled with four heartbeats and it caused Katie to lift away from her after only just residing there. Her face felt a touch on either side of her aunt.
Daisy's gaze did not leave Katie's once. There were things that she needed to know.
It was not just about Justin. It was not just about this.
Though Katie had already shown her that she was sturdier than most because his name kept tumbling out of her lips without shame.
"I just really don't want you to spend your life doing what you think would please others." she told her. For a rare occasion, Katie could see her eyebrows moving underneath her bangs and they were trembling softly with the passion of her words.
Both this fact along with her words and the gentle touch on either side of her cheek caused Katie's own expression to grow serious, the knot that had been in her stomach easing but moving to put a pesky lump in her throat.
This annoying lump, however, she embraced because she knew that her and Daisy were having a moment of connection. She was sharing with her things that were important to her. Lessons that she had taken a long time to learn. Ones that she hoped her niece would figure out a lot sooner.
The show that Katie had previously been putting on suddenly faltered. Not that it had been a show. It had been more like a mask belonging to a masquerade ball. She had told herself that it was fine that she was on The Valentine with Jayden, and they were realistically going to fall back into a relationship soon enough.
Had told herself that leaving Justin behind had been the right thing to do. For her heart. For his. For the peace and mind of others. It was okay. It was okay that their union had been brief. That their hotel bubble was the only place that they had actually been able to breathe together.
Katie had told herself a lot of things. She had kidded herself that it had gone in. But it had not. Daisy saw right through her without making her feel as though she was trembling under a spotlight.
Sometimes she felt as confused as a little kid and wanted someone to make her decisions for her. She felt at ease, she felt powerful commanding the wheel of The Valentine. But that was about all. She had left behind the greatest feeling of bravery she had ever known because she never believed that she would experience what she had.
Now she felt like she did not know what to do at all.
Her lower lip momentarily falling into her mouth before her words came, she let her aunt into her vulnerability.
"But what if I don't know how to know what I want...?" Katie asked. Her head swung from side to side with the slowness of a baby opening their eyes for the first time. She added as glossiness met her eyes the color of the world seen from above. "What doing the right thing for me means...?"
Daisy's gaze had never left her niece's. Because of this, she was able to stare right at the roots of her – the roots of the tree that connected them both – and tell her the words that she needed to hear. Words that a version of herself even younger than Katie had needed to hear.
But no one had been around for her.
Bangs were pressed back against Katie's forehead all over with such caring love that they could have become a part of her. Daisy reached for her niece's hand, squeezed her digits, and told her:
"Wait..." she murmured but she murmured without hesitation. "Just wait..." she repeated, a wise smile gracing her matte lips and she pulled away from the contact but not from the moment.
Because Katie's hand was still tucked inside hers, she felt her squeezing her own one in return in the second before she needed more answers from her, making sure that she was right.
The thing about Katie, she was never hesitant to ask for advice. But she often did not take it! Not because she was a stubborn girl who liked to do things purposely opposite like her mother. But because she needed to do things her own way. She was very much her own person.
Katie needed to find things out for herself. As the quote goes, she needed to take a bite out of a bicycle and try and ride on an apple to figure out the difference.
"Wait...?" she questioned her aunt. Not to be petulant. Certainly not to be condescending or mocking.
Katie trusted her aunt. Trusted her story and the lessons that had come along with it. She wanted to make sure that she got things right before absorbing the words and wisdom onto her skin like a refreshing rainstorm after a muggy summer's day.
Daisy nodded. That smile was still written over her face and could be seen twinkling from behind her eyes. Both of her hands held Katie's right one.
"Yes. Wait." Another repetition of this sentiment came before more words were added. One of Daisy's hands broke away from Katie's to brush over her forehead, tracing over bare skin that bangs did not conceal. "Whatever is meant for you, whether it's answers or things, will always make its way right to you, Katie."
And with that, Katie could not hold on anymore. Following the conversation that had been heavy for Katie even though it had been needed, she decided that it was not enough to be held by the hands of her aunt and collapsed against her, her whole body turning into her as her cheek nuzzled against her shoulder.
That is how Daisy knew that she was exhausted. Relieved. Relieved of words she had not been able to say and of the burden of worry that she had disappointed others. It was the same for her. They both showed their vulnerability in the same way.
But for the time being, Katie was the only one who sleepily nuzzled against her aunt's shoulders, nodding along to her words. Daisy's arms wrapped around her, pulling her closer than she ever had before because they were indeed part of something so massive.
Perhaps things were meant to not be stopped before. Things were meant to happen that way. But Daisy could not be gladder that she had every faith that things would end with her niece. Sometimes she hated it about herself, but she was unique for a reason. She was a trail blazer. She would change mindsets, change lives, all by being herself.
Like many women, she would become unstoppable by seeing herself as something precious and someone who could do magical things – do whatever she felt called to do by the song of the heart.
Daisy held her niece against her slowly beating heart, knowing that it was important for her to rest. She had done so well and done so much. Experienced such happiness and said goodbye to it when the time felt right. She would still go on to do so much. Displease so many people by doing what was right for her! And good for her.
Though Daisy was mostly present with Katie as they continued to silently embrace, her eyes could not help but wander as they looked around the ship, watching the miraculous patterns form themselves on the ceiling and one thought made its way into her mind and one thought alone:
Her father had been so full of destruction. Mostly towards himself but it had ricocheted off his being and splintered others more than once. But this ship was proof that he could be a healer. That he could turn something unwanted to something full of purpose. And that he could create. He did not have to ruin.
Daisy could not help but feel as though all of that could be left in the past now that the ship had changed captains now that it belonged to Katie. She was always full of such creation. Always full of the kind of goodness and peace that seemed unlikely for any Williams' family member at one time or another.
And so, as the ship creaked in a melodious way and bobbed up and down, forming its own union with the waves just like Justin and Kate had done, a part of Daisy had healed as well.
For you see, it is not just in times of hardship that we plaster up our wounds. It is during candid conversations. It is within four walls that make us feel secure. And it is next to those who bring out the best in us.
Justin and Katie certainly brought out wonderful things in each other. And it was that kind of laughter and that kind of sharing and that kind of intimacy that that cabin on The Valentine so needed.
No longer was it a place of brooding. It was a place where memories came and they were welcomed, not shunned along with the ache in your heart. It was a place of peace. It was a place of momentous change.
Those few months changed everything. The next few months even more so.
During the next autumn, a new member of the Williams' line would be born. And boy, let me tell you, she undid so many things weighing the family down – and paved the way for an even more healed tomorrow.
But that is for another day.
Like Daisy told Katie – we must wait.
The End.
There you go, thanks so much for reading and I hope you enjoyed :) It sounds a bit cheesy but getting to revisit Justin and Katie and especially this story taking place on the sailing ship The Valentine felt a bit like going home. It was so much fun to revisit that scenario years later but like I said, with the added layers of not only Daisy's relationship with Katie but Daisy in general - and certainly her feelings towards Jordan. While Misty worships their father, the added age gap between her and Daisy mean that Daisy had a different version of their father growing up. They say that, don't they? That even siblings raised by the same parents get completely different versions depending on the timeline. It's no mean feat for Katie to undo all of this trauma and she doesn't have to do it all. But by being herself and being candid about the love she has for Justin and the mistakes they both made together, she sets in motion a lot of healing for them all. Particularly Misty. I'll have to write more about that. I love stories like that :) Thanks again for reading and I will be back on the 28th to update the final chapter of Rocket Daze so maybe see you there if you read that one too! If not, I'll update this on another Wednesday soon ;)
Amy signing out!