Life As We Know It

Chapter 13

TW: This chapter contains a funeral for kids that might be triggering for certain people.  I would like to offer my condolences to any parents who have had to bury their kids. I understand your pain and hope one day you can smile when you think of that lost child/children.

~~ Kat POV ~~

A week later

I lay in my bed staring at the wall, my heart aching at what I have to do later today.  The clock on my nightstand states that it is 6 a.m., meaning I have to get up soon.  I lay in bed for another hour before getting up, walking to the bathroom, and running some bathwater.  While the water is filling the tub, I walk to my closet and grab the black dress I picked out yesterday while Tiffany was here.  I set the dress on the bed before walking to my dresser and grabbing some underwear. I walk back to the closet to grab a pair of black heels.  After setting my clothes out, I walk back to the bathroom and strip before getting in the hot water.  I sit in the tub soaking for about 30 minutes before I wash my body and shave before getting out of the tub.  I wrap my towel around my body and take a seat at my vanity to do something with my hair and makeup.  I decide to do a simple hairdo and a classic smoky eye before throwing on a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt so I can walk downstairs.  When I get downstairs, I’m not surprised to see Troy, Trey, and Tiffany sitting at the bar drinking coffee.

“Hey, how are you doing?”  Trey asks as I make a cup of coffee.

“I’m doing ok, I guess.  Just taking day by day.”  I say before taking a seat next to Tiffany.

“How did you sleep last night?”  Tiffany asks, rubbing her hand up and down my arm in a comforting motion.

“Restlessly.  But I got more sleep last night with the pills Dr. Everson prescribed than I have since they died.”  I say tiredly.

“Well, just know we’re here for you, Kitten,”  Troy says, hugging me.

“Thank you, guys.  I don’t know how I would have made it through all of this without you.”  I say as I swallow past the lump in my throat.

I give each of them a hug before walking upstairs to finish getting ready.  I lotion my body down before slipping my dress on and zipping up.  I sit on the edge of the bed and put my heels on before grabbing my shawl, purse, keys, phone and walking downstairs to head out with Tiffany.  We get into my car and head to the church for the joint funeral of my daughters and my parents.  When we get to the church, I sit in the car and stare at the church for a good ten minutes before Trey knocks on my window, signaling that it’s time to go in.  He helps me out of the car and up the stairs before walking me into the church, where we meet up with Tiffany and Troy.  The four of us walk to the front of the church where the coffins are located.  We stop at each coffin, and I place a rose on top of everyone’s hands before walking to our seats.  By the time we make it to our seats, I am a sobbing mess after seeing my daughters and parents in their coffins.  We sit through the service until it’s time for me to get up and give the eulogies.  I walk up to the podium at the front of the church and clear my throat before starting to speak.

“First, I would like to thank everyone for coming to this celebration of life for my parents, David, and Kathy Graham.  As well as for my daughters, Abigail Paige and Savannah Eliza Jackson.  I know most of you knew my daughters and me personally, while I’m pretty sure everyone here knew my parents.  Those of you who don’t know who I am, my name is Katarina Jackson or Kat as my parents called me.  I am the unofficially adopted daughter of Kathy and David.  I was best friends with their daughter Olivia, and after I got into an argument with my biological parents, Kathy said I could stay with them as long as I needed.  That ended up being until I graduated high school and found a suitable house for my daughters and me.  Kathy and David were the types of parents that many people would call “bad parents.”  When in reality, they were the best parents I could have ever asked for, they supported me in everything I wanted to do.  I remember when I found out I was pregnant, Kathy made sure I got to my doctor’s appointments, made sure I had my medicine, and when faced with an important decision, she told me I had her full support whatever my decision.  She held my hand when I was giving birth to my daughters and was one of the first people to hold her granddaughters after they were born.  And David spoiled me as much as his biological daughter.  He would hold me when I was crying over something as silly as a boy.  He would give me the best advice a father could give his daughter.  The most memorable piece of advice he gave me was ‘No matter who or what gets in your way when you fall, always make sure you get back up stronger and better than ever.”  I have always tried to keep that piece of advice close to my heart.

My daughters were the light of my light.  They came to me when I was going through a very dark period in my life.  Living without them will be challenging, but I know that they wouldn’t want me to be miserable.  I hope one day in the future, I can have more kids who have the same curiousness, excitement, and joy that Savannah had.  And also have the same tenacity, adventurousness, and calmness that Abigail had.  I will never forget the good times I shared with my parents and my daughters.  No matter what I go through, I will never forget them and all the lessons they taught me throughout the time I had with them.”  I finish as I wipe the tears from my face and walk back to my seat and turn into Trey’s arm to let my tears out.

After we finish the service, we head over to the cemetery to bury the bodies in the family plots.  Trey and Tiffany stand on either side of me, holding me up as they lower the bodies into the ground.  Trey walks me back to my car and gets me settled in the passenger seat before telling Tiffany to ride back with Troy.  He gets in the car and grabs my hand as we drive back to my parents’ house, where I have taken up residence.  I end up falling asleep on the ride back to my house and only wake up when I feel Trey walking from the driveway to the front door.

“Hey, Kitten.  You ok?”  Trey asks, looking down at me with a smile.

“Hi, and I’m fine.  Just tired.”  I say, yawning.

“Do you wanna take a nap?”  He asks, looking down at me.

“No.  I really wanna just get out of these clothes.”  I say, taking my heels off.

“Ok, well, we’ll be in the kitchen when you come down.”  He says, kissing me on the forehead before walking off.

I head upstairs to my room and strip from the tear-stained black dress, and put on a pair of sleeping shorts and a tank top.  I head into the bathroom to remove the makeup from my face and comb my hair out before pulling it into a ponytail.  I walk downstairs and hear laughter coming from the kitchen, so I head there as I’m walking to the kitchen, the doorbell ring and head towards the front door instead to see who’s there.  I open the door to see my siblings standing on the other side, standing behind my Aunt Delores.

“Aunt Delores, what are you guys doing here?”  I asked, still a bit shocked.

“Well, your Uncle William gave me your message, and then I heard about the Grahams passing.  So I thought we would show our respects.  How are you doing, Katarina?”  She asks with an evil smile.

“I’m fine, Aunt Delores.  Why don’t you guys come in?”  I say, stepping to the side to let them in.

“Hey, Kitten, who’s at the door?”  Troy asks as he comes out of the kitchen shirtless with a pair of basketball shorts on.

“Um, Trey, this is my Aunt Delores, Uncle William, and my siblings,”  I say as I stare at his profoundly ripped stomach.

“Oh, let me go put a shirt on.  Yeah.”  He says as he walks down the hall to the guest bedroom he’s been staying in.

“Who was that, Katarina?”  Aunt Delores asks with disdain evident in her voice.

“That was my friend Trey, and this is his twin brother Troy and their little sister Tiffany,”  I say as the people in question walk into the room.

“Troy, Tiffany, this is my Aunt Delores, Uncle William, and my siblings,”  I say as a way of introduction.

“Nice to meet you.”  They say, shaking my aunt and uncle's hands.

“You as well.”  My Aunt Delores says, looking them up and down with disgust.

“What are you doing here, Aunt Delores?”  I ask as we stand there staring at each other.

“I came to drop your siblings off with you.  I can’t handle all these kids in my house.”  Aunt Delores says with a flip of her hair.

“I’m sorry, what?” I ask, looking at her confused.

“I told your mom I would try to take care of you and your siblings when she died.  But I don’t have the patience for 12 kids in my tiny house.  I have enough with my son, and I don’t need your siblings.  So you can have them.  We’ll drop their things off tomorrow.”  She says before walking out the door, leaving me with my siblings.

“Uh… hey.  I don’t know what to do here, Bekah.  I’m barely making it myself now.”  I say as tears stream down my face while I hug her.

“Kat, it's fine.  You’re gonna be ok.  I know it’s hard right now, but it gets better.  We’re here for you.”  ReBekahh says as she and my siblings crowd me into a group hug.

“I missed you guys so much,”  I say loud enough for everyone to hear.

“We missed you too.”  They whisper back.

“Oh my god, Sebastian, you got so tall,”  I say as I look up at him.

After I introduce everyone and we catch up on everything, I get everyone settled in bedrooms, and ReBekahh, Harper, Trey, Troy, Tiffany, and I sit in the living room drinking wine and beer and talking.

“What have you guys been up to?”  I ask, looking at Bekah and Harper.

“Not much, really.  After mom kicked you out, she cracked down on all of us, where we were, who we were with, what we were doing, all that.  You were always the favorite, and after what happened to you, she became more overprotective over the rest of us.”  Bekah says, sipping her wine.

“I was not her favorite.  I was just the firstborn.”  I say with a laugh.

“Exactly, favorite.  But anyway, what have you been up to?”  Harper asks as she refills her glass.

“Well, up until recently, I’ve been raising my daughters.  But I buried them and my adoptive parents today.”  I say as a tear slides down my cheek.

“It’s okay, now.  We’re here for you now, and we aren’t going anywhere, anytime soon.”  Harper says as they jump on me, hugging me.

“Thanks,”  I say as I hug them back and wipe my face.

“So, are these your boyfriends, Kit Kat?”  Bekah asks in a teasing manner.

“No, Beks.  They are just some good friends; also, they’re my bosses at the tattoo shop and at the restaurant I work at.  Also, that reminds me, can I come back to work at the restaurant next week, and I can start back at the tattoo shop when it opens back up.”  I say, looking over at the twins.

“If you’re sure you wanna go back to work, ok,”  Trey says, looking at me intensely.

“Yeah, you three will definitely be f*****g before the end of the month,”  Harper says as she and Bekah start cracking up.

“Haha, laugh all you want.  But nothing is going on between the three of us.  Also, how did you know I was poly?”  I ask, confused.

“b***h, we are your sisters; if we don’t know, then who the f**k does.  Also, do you remember Ricky Saldoni from down the street?  He told us about your extracurricular activities in high school.”  Bekah says, looking at me with pursed lips.

“I definitely remember lil’ Ricky from the old neighborhood.  We had some exciting times together.”  I say, smirking into my glass.

“Oh, I bet you did, you whore.”  Harper says, snickering as I throw a pillow at her.

“I am no w***e Ms. I f****d my gym teacher.”  I shoot back.

“Now, what would make you think I f****d my gym teacher?”  She says with a smirk.

“Oh, just Cindy Renaldo.  You’re blabbermouth of a best friend from elementary school.  I ran into her a few years back at the mall, and she told me everything you guys had been up to.”  I say with a giggle.

“Anything she says is a complete and utter lie,”  Harper says as she throws the pillow back at me.

“So, you didn’t f**k your gym teacher, Mr. Salazar?  I wouldn’t blame you if you did because that man is fine.”  I say as I sip my wine.

“I did, but I didn’t know he was the gym teacher until that Monday after I got to school.”  She says with a shameless smile.

“You hussy!!  I can’t say anything, though.”  I say as I giggle into my wine glass.

“Exactly!!”  Bekah giggles.

“Whoops, looks like we’re out of wine.  I’ll go grab some more.”  I say as I grab the empty bottles and head to the kitchen.

As I’m putting the empty wine bottles, I place the corks in a glass bowl I keep on the island.  I turn around towards to the wine fridge beside the dishwasher and grab two more bottles of rosé.  As I’m walking out of the kitchen, I decide to grab two more beers for the twins.  As I walk back into the living room, I see Tiffany running off down the hallway.

“What’s wrong with, Tiff?”  I ask as I set the wine down in front of Harper and hand the guys their beers.

“I don’t know.  One second we’re sitting here laughing at your childhood antics, next she’s running down the hallway like she’s being chased.”  Troy says concern for his sister is evident in his voice.

“Well, I’ll be right back.  I’m gonna go check on her.”  I say as I head down the hallway after Tiffany.

~~ Tiffany POV ~~

I’m sitting on the couch between my brothers, laughing and talking with Kat’s sisters, Bekah and Harper.  We are waiting for Kat to come back with some more wine; when I get a notification, thinking it’s another text from Kyler, I grab my phone to check what he said this time.  I feel the blood rush from my face and instantly feel sick as I read the notification from my period tracking app congratulating me.  I jump up and almost crash into Kat as I rush down the hall to the guest bedroom I have been inhabiting since my brothers, and I have been here.  I slam my door close and flop onto my bed and start sobbing my eyes out.  After a few minutes, I hear someone knocking on the door.

“Leave me alone!!”  I yell out as I wipe my face.

“Tiffany, are you ok?  I’m coming in, sweetie.”  Kat says as she walks in.

“Oh, sweetie, what’s wrong?”  She asks as she takes a seat on my bed next to me.

“My period tracking app sent me a notification saying congratulations.  And I freaked out because I realized my cycle is over two weeks late, and I’m nervous.  Because what if I am pregnant with Kyler’s baby?  I can’t be pregnant right now.”  I say as I break down crying in her arms.

“Oh, Tiff.  I understand how scared you are right now.  But the best thing for you to do is take a pregnancy test and figure out if you are pregnant.  And I am here to stand by your side and support you no matter what the results are.  And I’m sure your brothers will support you no matter what as well.”  She says, hugging me and rubbing her hands up and down my back in a soothing manner.

“Thank you for being here, Kat.  I don’t know what I would do if you weren’t here to help me.”  I say as I sit up, sniffling and wiping my face.

“Of course, Tiff.  So what you’re gonna do is get some rest tonight and tomorrow me and you will go to the pharmacy and get you some pregnancy tests to take.  After that, we’ll figure out your next steps.  Ok?”  She asks as she wipes the tears from my eyes with her thumbs.

“Yeah, ok.  I’m gonna go take a shower, then go to sleep.”  I say as I get up and start gathering my pajamas.

“Of course, I’ll see you in the morning.  Good night, Tiffany.”  She says as she walks out the door.

After I get out of the shower, I put my pajamas on and crawl into bed.  I turn the TV on and try to watch the movie, but my mind keeps wondering what life would be like if I were pregnant and decided to have Kyler’s baby.  After a while, I feel myself drifting off to sleep as Futurama comes on.

~~ Tiffany’s Dream ~~

I wake up to the smell of burning bacon and laughter floating up the stairs.  I get out of bed and follow the noise and smell until I get to the doorway of the kitchen and freeze.  Standing at the kitchen counter giggling is the most beautiful little girl with long brown hair like me and standing next to her is a little boy with black hair cut into a Mohawk with the tips died blue.  But what catches my attention is seeing Kyler standing at the stove fighting with a few pieces of bacon which are fighting back.  I giggle as he censors his mouth, trying to keep from ruining the innocent ears of the two little kids.  The little kids turn towards me, jump down from their stools, and run towards me, yelling, “Mommy.”  I freeze when I see their features.  The little girl looks exactly like me with her crystal blue eye and cupid’s bow mouth.  And the little boy is the spitting image of Kyler with his exotic-looking features, from the olive green color of his eyes to the slight curve of his nose.  As I admire their features, they collide with my legs, making me stumble a little, but I recover before I fall.

“Hey, guys.  What did I tell you about mommy, hmm?  We have to be careful with how we approach her.  We have to take her condition into thought.”  He says as he walks over to peck me on the lips before picking up the two giggling children.

I watch as he sets them at the table before placing two plates of blueberry pancakes and bacon in front of them.  He walks over to me and gathers me in his arms, and gives me a kiss to put the gods to shame.  I feel a small distance between us and look down to see a small baby bump stopping us from being closer.  I feel Kyler smile into my hair as the kids groan at the public display of affection from their parents.  Kyler and I walk over to the table and sit down to eat with our two beautiful children.  After breakfast, Kyler washes the dishes while I help the kids clean themselves up and get ready for school.  After I walk them to the bus stop, I head back into the house to see Kyler coming downstairs in a suit and tie with a briefcase.

“Hey, did the kids get on the bus, ok?”  He asks as he looks around for his keys.

“Yeah, they were excited to see their friends again,”  I say, handing him his keys from the hook on the wall.

“Thank you, babe.  I have a couple of business meetings today, but Sabrina is coming over with Kiana later today.”  He says, kissing my temple as he walks out the door.

I do a few chores around the house before I start feeling a bit tired and decide to take a nap while I wait for Sabrina and Kiana to come over.  I am awoken by Sabrina shaking me, saying she brought food.  Sabrina and I eat and catch up while Kiana plays with a few dolls in the middle of the floor.  After a few hours, the bus pulls up, and the kids come rushing into the house to give me a big hug.  I sit them at the kitchen table to do their homework while I cook dinner.  Just as I’m taking the chicken out of the oven, Kyler walks in, giving the kids kisses before coming over to kiss my cheek.  The four of us sit down to eat dinner and talk about our days.  After dinner, the kids run upstairs to take their baths, and Kyler takes a shower while I wash the dinner dishes.  After everyone comes back downstairs, we cuddle up on the couch and watch Luca on Disney+ before the kids go to bed.  I get into bed wondering if this is what my life will be like. I decide to keep the baby when Kyler gets in behind me and pulls me into his arms.  I sigh and relax into his arms before drifting off to sleep.

~~ End Dream ~~

The next morning Kat wakes me up, and we head to the pharmacy.  We pick up a few different test brands before we check out and head back to the house.  By the time we get back to the house, everyone is up and eating cereal in the kitchen.  I grab the bag containing the pregnancy test and head to my room.  I place the bag in the back of my closet before walking back into the kitchen and grabbing a bowl of cereal.  We all spend the day getting to know one another and relaxing around the house.  Once everyone has gone to bed, I walk into my closet and grab the bag of pregnancy and walk into the bathroom.  I take all the tests out and read the instructions before doing my business.  I set my timer on my phone for the 5 minutes it says on the box and decide to take a shower while I wait for the results.  While I’m in the shower, I hear my alarm for the results go off.  I finish my shower and put on some leggings and a sports bra.  I grab the tests and boxes and head back to my room with everything before sitting on the bed and building the confidence to look at the test results.  After a few minutes, I look down at the pregnancy tests to see that all three of them say positive.  I sit in the middle of the bed for about 20 minutes before placing everything back in the bag and placing it back in my closet.  I lay in the bed thinking about my next step and fall asleep thinking how in the hell I’m going to tell my brothers.