Kellie and Brad Ch. 08

"Good. I don't like Paul."

"I know, honey. He hurt you..."

"No, Mommy."

"No?"

"No. I don't like Paul 'cause he hurt you, Mommy."

Anita cried again, something she thought she might be doing a lot the next several days. She smiled through her tears and kissed the forehead of Johnathan, her precious little boy.

"I love you, Johnny," she said.

"I love you too, Mommy."

When her tears finally subsided and she felt composed enough to do it safely, Anita drove her and her son away from their sad past and towards their new life.

********

He felt soft breath blowing in his ear.

It made him grunt happily. He slowly opened his eyes to see her there, comfortably lying on top of him.

"Good morning, Brad," Kellie softly sang.

"Good morning, Kellie," Brad replied. "Or, should I say, good morning, Lynne!"

"No, sorry, I don't think so... Joe! But... you did call me something else last night, as I recall. Why don't you try that one on me?"

Brad rolled his eyes. "Good morning, goddess," he obliged her.

"Mmmm, I love the sound of that! Better be careful, honey, or I'll make you call me that all the time!"

"Oh crap, looks like I've created a monster!"

"Well, you'll have no one to blame but yourself!" Kellie punctuated this with a kiss to Brad's nose, which caused him to give an exaggerated sigh of exasperation, and her to giggle in return.

Brad sighed as he held Kellie. Her soft skin felt so good against his body.

"How do you feel, baby?" he asked.

She wriggled on top of him. "A little raw. But a good kind of raw. After all, I was very well loved last night... and very well fucked, too!"

"Mmmm, I know exactly what you mean. I feel the same way."

Kellie slowly disentangled from Brad and stretched.

"I suppose we should get ourselves going."

"Let's not bother," Brad said, smiling cheekily. "We'll just stay here and eat, sleep and have amazing sex for the rest of the week. Jamie and Amber can watch the kids. They won't mind."

"Bradley Galenchuk! You evil man, you!" she squealed and rabbit-punched his chest.

"All right, all right already!" he protested. "I was just joking!"

"You're such a brute!" she teased. "What am I going to do with you?"

"Love me forever?"

"Only if you love me forever."

"Done and done."

Kellie and Brad kissed and sighed in contentment.

"I'm going to shower now," she said.

"May I join you?"

She pretended to consider the offer. "I'll allow it," she said, kissing his cheek as she did so.

Kellie and Brad were too worn out for full-on sex after last night's adventure, but they still took the time and care with each other to make their shared shower a sensual experience. They gently washed each other and traded several soft and loving kisses and caresses. Just as carefully, they dried each other off with the plush hotel towels. They came together in a tender hug, looked at each other and sighed heavily. The sigh wasn't one of sadness or disappointment, but more a realization that it was time to leave the fantasy world behind them and get back to reality.

They got dressed and Kellie sat next to Brad as he dialed their room number on the hotel phone. The sound of their two young kids loudly screaming assaulted his ear, before a tired-sounding Jamie said, "Hello?"

"Jamie, it's Brad. Uh... how are the kids?"

"They want breakfast and their mommy and daddy. Not necessarily in that order. Please hurry!"

Brad held the receiver away from his head and laughed to Kellie. "I think they need our help."

Kellie smiled. "Tell them I'll be right there." She left to relieve Jamie and Amber of their babysitting duties. After ending the call Brad made his way to the Tim Horton's located conveniently next to the hotel. A few minutes later he returned to his own hotel room, where everyone else was gathered. He placed his purchases down on the table just as E.J. and Kaitlyn yelled "Daddy!" and ran to hug his legs.

"Hey kids!" he replied. "I've got a blueberry muffin and chocolate milk for you, E.J., and oatmeal and chocolate milk for you, Kaity! How does that sound?"

"Yay!" E.J. and Kaitlyn cheered.

"And I've got bran muffins and coffees for the adults," Brad said.

"Yay!" Kellie, Amber and Jamie cheered.

"So how were the kids last night?" Kellie asked as she fed little Kaity and watched E.J. make a mess devouring his muffin.

"They were fine, they slept right through," Amber answered. "This morning, though, it was a bit rough. They weren't behaving badly, but they were loud and they cried some because they missed their mommy and daddy. It was tough to handle."

"Has this experience helped you decide at all whether you two will have children of your own?" asked Brad.

Jamie and Amber looked at each other. "I think we need more time to think about it," Jamie said.

Kellie and Brad smiled and nodded in sympathy and understanding.

"It's not always easy looking after other people's children," Kellie said. "We love our kids dearly, but we really needed that night off to ourselves. Thank you two so much, we really do appreciate you helping us, and we owe you big-time."

"No problem, skip," Amber said. Her eyes sparkled in delight and she added, "Did you two enjoy last night?"

"Oh yeah!" Kellie and Brad exclaimed in unison.

Amber giggled and clapped in delight, and Jamie gave Brad a high-five in salute.

Later that day they were all walking downtown, on their way to do some more sight-seeing. A man in an expensive looking business suit and holding a briefcase came into view from around the street corner. Amber and Jamie watched in confusion as the businessman did a double-take looking at Brad, Kellie and their kids, shook his head and mumbled something to himself as he walked away. Their confusion grew as Kellie and Brad laughed enthusiastically once he was out of earshot.

"What was that all about?" Jamie asked.

Once their laughter finally subsided, Brad responded, "We'll tell you later."

********

Someone was loudly knocking on her door.

Colleen Morriss had just finished watching the 11:00pm newscast. One of the lead stories dealt with a missing person's case in eastern Canada. Tears ran down her face as the report brought memories of the missing person in her own life.

Anita was the younger of Colleen's two daughters. Colleen reflected on how Anita was not only a talented curler but also a strong, independent person. However, she was often stubborn and reckless, and despite her parenting efforts a level of arrogance had infected her daughter's behaviour.

It all came to a head in the period of a few awful months, right after her difficult loss in the Canadian curling championships. She got pregnant very soon after. Colleen was shocked to learn how Anita's pregnancy occurred, her daughter having drunken, random sex with an unknown man the night of the loss. She thought she raised Anita better than that.

Things soon got worse. Anita's terrible conduct and attitude continued, and it soon cost her the company of her teammates and her friends. Colleen and her oldest daughter, Jan, tried to help Anita and get their message through; her behaviour had to change. Unfortunately Anita wasn't listening. She accused them of being unsupportive and uncaring. As a result these interventions degenerated into crazy, emotional shouting matches. Then, soon after giving birth, she suddenly disappeared with her baby son for parts unknown, telling no one where she went.

Colleen couldn't help but shake her head at how senseless it all was, and how messed up Anita had to be to just disappear like she did, with a son in tow, and few resources and fewer options to help raise him. She didn't even know her grandson's name, for crying out loud. Colleen wished there was something, anything, she could do to make it right. Most of all, she wished she could hold her youngest daughter again and tell her she loved her.

Colleen heard the knocking on the door begin again in earnest. She shut off the TV and groaned as she got out of her chair. 'Good lord, who could it be at this late hour?' she wondered to herself.

She peeked out the bay window first, even as the knocking continued. She didn't recognize the car in the driveway parked beside hers. It made her uneasy, and she almost turned away and went upstairs to bed.

Instead, she quietly stepped to the door and peered through the peephole. She gasped at the sight. A young, exhausted-looking blonde woman anxiously stood in front of the door, holding a young child in her arms. Even with the small sight-line offered by the peephole, she was sure she did not recognize the child.

But the woman... she looked like...

Could it be?

Colleen unlocked the door and slowly opened it. When her brain registered what she was looking at, she gasped and shook with emotion, tears freely flowing down her face.

"Hi, Mom," Anita said softly. She was openly crying as well.

"Oh, my baby!" Colleen sobbed. She brought Anita and her son inside, closed the door, and hugged them fiercely.

Anita started to speak. "I'm sorry, Mom, I'm so sorry. You must hate me, I've been such a terrible daughter. I..."

"Shhh, Anita," Colleen gently interrupted her daughter. They would talk later. For now, all she wanted to do was hold her precious daughter and grandson and show them the depth of her unconditional love.

"It's OK," she said soothingly. "All is forgiven, Anita. You're home now."

The two continued to embrace and cry for several minutes. It only stopped when Colleen felt a small hand tugging her shirt collar.

"Yes, young man?" she smiled through her tears.

"I'm Johnathan!" the boy said brightly.

"Hello, Johnathan!"

"Are you my grandma?" Johnathan asked.

"Yes, I am," she answered.

The little boy smiled, and Colleen thought she had rarely seen such a sweet smile. He kissed her cheek and said, "I love you, grandma."

"I love you too, sweetheart!" she exclaimed.

Fresh tears spilled down Anita's cheeks as she watched her son speak to her mother for the first time. Finally, she knew things were going to be OK. She was safe.

She was home.