“I figured that you were with him, so I decided to come here and wait.”
“Thank you.”
Kaiya and her sister walked to the couch. Kaiya carried the baby and sat while her sister curled her body beside her.
“How could they have done such a thing to me, Lah?”
Her sister sighed loudly. “Sometimes, I wonder what planet they’re from because they’re so heartless.”
“You can say that again.”
She and Kalilah talked at length about everything involving their parents.
“I am never going to speak to him again,” Kaiya said furiously.
“Me either. Finn gave it to Dad fiercely.”
“The gall of it all is that he feels justified with what he did. He feels no remorse whatsoever. He never even apologized.”
“Let’s not talk about him anymore because it’s getting me upset all over again. I’ll like to talk about my niece. After my anger passed, I was so excited that I had a niece. I’m so glad that your child is alive.”
“Me too. Even though I spent years mourning a nonexistent son, I’m so glad that Lili is my daughter.”
Kaiya spent the next thirty minutes talking about her daughter and everything Tyler told her about the little girl. Kalilah listened with tears in her eyes. It was obvious that she was very happy for her sister.
“Speaking about Tyler, do you know he’s dating someone?”
“No way!”
Kaiya sadly nodded. “Yes, he is. I met her. She came over to the house. I think they’re going out on a date or something.”
Kalilah reached out and caressed her hand.
“It’s okay. I don’t expect that we’ll get back together because we have a daughter.”
“Everything will be fine, Kaiya. Work on your relationship with your daughter first, then see how things go with Tyler,” Kalilah added quietly.
Smiling with tears in her eyes, Kaiya said, “Thanks, Lah.”
***
Tyler trudged down the stairs to kitchen where his mom was seated at the counter with two cups of hot chocolate before her. He had just finished putting his daughter to bed.
“Thanks for taking very good care of her, Mom. She told me she had a nice time with you and Aunt Beth,” Tyler said as he positioned himself on the stool opposite her.
Smiling, she slid his beverage across the counter to him and said, “How was your date with Erin?”
“I broke things off with her.”
“Oh. I’m sorry about that. She seems like a nice person.”
Tyler shrugged. “She is.”
Eyeing her son with inquisitive eyes, she said, “Are you okay? You look like you’re in pain?”
Sighing, he said, “Mom, she didn’t betray me all those years ago.”
His mom placed her cup on the counter. “What do you mean?”
