Gen. 5.11-Matthew

 
When I woke up to let Klutz out in the morning, Kia was sitting at the table eating. I didn’t see any pots or pans out, and the house didn’t smell like she’d cooked anything, yet there was a plate of pancakes on the counter.

“Good morning,” I said grabbing a plate and taking a seat.

“Morning,” she replied barely looking up at me.

We sat in silence with the only the sounds of our utensils hitting our plates, and Klutz’s barking outside filling the silence between us.

“These are good,” I said trying to make small talk.

“Your dad brought them over,” she replied, getting up to carry her empty plate to the sink.

Whatever pissed her off last night seemed to still be upsetting her this morning. After feeding Klutz, I jumped in the shower trying to figure out what could be wrong. Kia was still closed up in the room when I came out.

“Kia?” I called knocking softly. No answer. Turning the knob, I slowly opened the door and heard her getting sick. I hated that sound. “Ar…are you okay?”

The toilet was flushed, then I heard the water in sink be cut on. A few moments later Kia emerged looking very pale.

“Is…is there anything I can get you? Ginger ale maybe? Or I can see if Mom has that stuff GG Wind sent her to drink. It seemed to help her be less sick.”

Kia crossed her arms and frowned at me. “I’m surprised you care!”

“What?!” I exclaimed, surprised by her accusation. “Of course I care. Why would you think I wouldn’t?”

She shrugged. “Just forget about it.”

I looked at her dumbfounded. Was there some sort of universal dictionary that decoded female moods? I didn’t recall Mom ever talking in riddles with Dad. They had clear understandable conversations. On the rare occasion she was upset, she would say why. No guessing, no round about clues, just said it. Yet here I stood, clearly feeling like I was missing out on something. I knew I’d done something, but the what was a mystery.

One…two…three…four…I slowly counted to ten in my head and took a deep breath. She wanted to forget it, I’d forget it. “So…um…I was going to head to Riverview. I need to check on the store and get to working. But…um I was thinking while I was at work, you could house hunt to find us a place.”

“So, something else we’re not doing together?” she snapped.

“I give up!” I yelled throwing my hands in the air. “A minute ago you wanted to forget it, whatever it is and now you’re still pissy. I don’t speak girl, Kia! So please, for the sake of my sanity tell me what I did!”

She opened her mouth to say something, but dropped down onto the bed and started crying. Shit! I sat down on the bed beside her and as soon as I did, Kia turned and buried her face in my shoulder. I started counting again.

“I’m sorry for yelling,” I said, putting my arm around her. “I shouldn’t have done that, especially with you going through…changes. I’ll try to remember to be more understanding.”

Kia didn’t respond, but at least her crying was slowing down to just sniffles. There was a knock at the front door and I found myself relived for the interruption. She pulled away and wiped her face with the back of her hand and I went to answer.

“Good morning son,” Mom said. “I came to see…” her words faded out as Kia walked out of the room. “Everything okay? Kia, dear, are you feeling alright?” Mom’s face and voice showed concern.

Kia nodded in response.

“I…I upset her,” I said, feeling like I was about to be in trouble again.

Mom started to speak, but Kia spoke up first. “No, it’s me, with everything that’s happened…” she didn’t finish the sentence as she shot a quick look over at me then back at Mom.

Mom frowned at me as she walked over to give Kia a motherly hug. “This is a very emotional time. Your body is going through lots of changes. Too much stress is a bad thing,” she said looking directly at me.

“I didn’t…I wasn’t…” I stopped and let out a forced exhale.

This morning was going downhill quickly. My routine was already thrown off from the move. On top of that I’d made Kia cry, I still didn’t know why she was upset to begin with and now Mom was indirectly lecturing me. That tight feeling knotted in my stomach. Closing my eyes, I took faster breaths, counting as I did so trying to find my center.

   

“Matt!” I heard Mom yell. I opened my eyes to find her standing in front of me, her hands on my cheeks and a very worried look on her face. “I’ve called your name three times…you told us you were doing better, that things had been better,” she whispered. She looked so scared, like the day she found me scrubbing the counters.

 “They were, are. I’m feeling little out of sorts, but no need to worry. I promise,” I smiled and gave her a quick kiss on the cheek. She looked unconvinced so I knew I’d been getting a call or visit from Dad sometime today. They always seemed to tag team when it came to my ‘episodes’. “I’m fine I promise,” I said again hoping to reassure her. I still had the anxious feeling and could really use a long run, but I just have to hope it would go away on its own. “I need to get ready to go to work.”

Mom nodded. “Okay I’ll get out of your hair then.”

“Mom,” I said as she turned to leave. “What brought you over?”

“Well, I came over to tell you I spoke with your aunt and she thinks a party is in order. But things are too hectic right now so I’ll tell her to hold off.”

“A party?” Kia asked.

“Well, yes. Jonas and I talked some last night. We were already planning on doing a graduation party for Matt, but Hope suggested we make it a wedding reception as well. To welcome you to the family.”

I looked over at Kia whose eyes lit up at that news, but then tears started again. “I’m sorry,” she said wiping them away. “It’s just…since my aunt died I haven’t really had a family.”

Hearing her say that made me dislike her father even more. I couldn’t wrap my head around how he could abandon her so easily. Being married wasn’t my first choice, but this would be good for Kia. Mom walked over and gave her a hug and did all the motherly things she’s so great at.

Kia decided to stay home and talk to Mom about the party and such which was a relief. I looked forward to the quiet car ride to Riverview. As expected, Dad called me a while later and I assured him I was fine. I just had too many things going at once, but after Kia and I were settled and a routine had been established things wouldn’t be rocky. I did tell him about the argument Kia and I had, including how she’d gotten mad at me the night before, in hopes that he’d be able to give me some insight. Instead he laughed, but then he told me I had to stop thinking of Kia as my friend and start seeing her as my wife. 

When I got home, we had dinner with Mom and Dad. They were both more than happy to let me use my sisters as guinea pigs when they needed to be fed or changed.

 They were older now so I wasn’t as nervous about holding them as I was when they first came home.

“We’re going to be parents,” I said to Kia as I put Lola down.

“I’m scared. What if I get worse? If I forget or do something?”

I looked over at her and saw she was truly scared at that thought. Mom and Dad both knew about her condition and they were going to talk to Grams. She was a doctor, so she had to know someone that could give us more answers. Think of her as your wife…Dad’s words replayed in my head. Seeing how upset she was I did what I’d seen Dad do on the rare occasions Mom was upset over something.

I walked over and embraced Kia and told her everything would be okay. She had a family now and we’d take care of her, that I’d take care of her. That night she hoped I’d sleep in the same room, but I couldn’t. She seemed to take it better when I told her it wasn’t about her, but more the room. Adult or not, I saw that as my parent’s room and bed and it would be too odd to sleep in there.