chapter 25

It was late on a Friday afternoon; Jess had finished work, and was lying by the pool at her apartment, watching Katie play near by. It had been 7 weeks since Kris had left, and in her heart, she knew that the dream of them being a family would forever remain that way, a dream. Whilst that thought broke her heart, she realised for her and Katie’s sake she would have to accept that, and move on. She had made a vow that tomorrow was a new day, and a new start, that she would put behind her any dreams and hopes she had that her and Kris would work out, and that from tomorrow, her birthday, she would concentrate on her and Katie’s future, just the two of them. She had no idea what she would tell Katie as she grew up, but Jess decided she would deal with that when the time came.

“Katie, come on sweetie, time to go in,” She called to her daughter as she picked up her belonging she had bought down with them, and hand in hand the two climbed the two flights of stairs to the apartment. Jess cooked the two of them some dinner, and then bathed her daughter. Katie loved to play in the bath, and from how wet Jess had gotten, you could be excused for thinking that Jess was the one that had the bath, not Katie. Jess loved these times, when it was just her and Katie playing carefree, and listening to Katie’s giggles made Jess feel complete, a feeling that was often absent in Jess’s life.

Once Jess put Katie into bed, she decided to open a bottle of wine, and decided that since she made the vow that from tomorrow she would put the past well and truly behind her, she allowed herself an indulgence, she opened a box of chocolates, a bottle of wine, and her old photo albums, before she put them away once and for all.

Jess had been flicking through the albums for over an hour, some of her growing up, with her family and friends, some of Katie when she was born, but one album caught her attention, the ones of her and her friends from HCC. The memories came flooding back to her, of RAG weeks, of the balls, of nights in watching the telly with the gang, to the silly spin the bottle games of truth or dare, her attention drawn to one photo in particular, of her and Kris, it had been from a ball they had gone to together, one of the first times they went as an “official” couple, she could not help but think how amazing they looked together. Kris had his arms around her protectively, and the look in her eyes was indescribable. Kris was wearing “normal” clothes a tailored “monkey suit” as he nicknamed it, not that it bothered Jess what he wore, as no matter what, she thought he was attractive, and Jess was in a bright red long ball dress, with her hair curling up around her face.

She had been staring at the photo for half an hour or so, Jess was lost in the memories of the past; she did not register the knocking at the door. Whoever it was had been knocking for at least 5 minutes before she had realised. Wiping away the single tear that had trickled down her face, she stood up and went to the door; curious as to who it would be at this time of the evening.

Jess was speechless when she opened the door, and was not sure if she was imagining what she was seeing. In front of her was the most handsome man she had ever seen, with a big cuddly teddy bear in one arm and a huge bunch of roses in the other.

chapter 26

They stood at the door staring at one another for a few moments, neither knowing what to say, Jess opened and closed her mouth a few times but nothing came out, so Kris could not resist commenting “turned into a fish whilst I was away” he joked with a grin on his face, suddenly the ice had melted between them, and both burst into laughter, at what neither could say.

Jess invited Kris into the apartment; he gave the roses to Jess, and then explained the teddy bear was for Katie. Jess was touched with his gesture; she kissed him on the cheek and went to the kitchen to put the roses into a vase. Kris took his chance whilst he was alone in her lounge to have a look around the room, his eye caught several photographs lined up along a shelf, one of Jess and Katie caught his eye, and looking at the photograph he could understand why Jess had said in the letter she had reminded her of him, even from a small photo, Kris could tell she had his smile and facial features.

“Scary isn’t it” she asked as she walked back into the room, with a nervous, shy smile on her face,
“What do you mean?”
“How much she resembles you, when she was first born, I thought I was imagining it, but the older she has got, the more she reminds me of you, from her smile, to her eyes, to her cheeky grin, and her mischievousness”

Jess offered Kris a glass of wine, and he put the photo back on the shelf. “You do know, you don’t just have to look at the photos you know, she is in the room down the hall, you can go and see her if you like.”
“You sure Jess,”
“Of course, she is your daughter, just try not to wake her, she is a nightmare to get to sleep at night, she will have you reading to her for hours”

Kris smiled, as Jess took his hand and led her to Katie’s bedroom. Jess opened the door quietly, and Kris got his first close up glimpse of his little girl. Kris walked towards Katie’s bed and knelt down on the floor, he just stared at her, for what seemed like hours, but in reality was merely a few minutes. As the little girl moved in her sleep, her hair fell over her face, Kris could not resist gently moving it back behind her tiny ear. He leant over and kissed the sleeping child on her cheek, all the while taking care not to wake her.

All the while, Jess was watching this, leaning on the doorframe, with a tear trickling down her face, but unlike the tears she had shed earlier, this was a tear of happiness and joy, as the moment she had dreamed of had just come true. She had witnessed the two people she loved most in the world, finally be in the same room together. Jess’s heart surged with a new hope, that maybe things would work out in the end.

Kris and Jess spent the next few hours talking, about Katie, about Jess leaving, and their lives now. The only subject that both were to frightened to raise, was their feelings for one another, as both were afraid of rocking the boat, or of being rejected by the other.

It was 2am before Kris eventually left the flat to return to the hotel he was staying that, just as Kris was leaving, the two of them hugged goodbye, not wanting to let go, but knowing that they had to.