Home

"Hello Patrick"she said opening the door.

"Mrs. MacCauley" I said stepping aside and letting them in.

"Uh, please, sit" I said moving the piles of papers sitting on top of the kitchen stools.

She sat down on the stool, we sat in silence for a few moments.

"I understand this must be awkward for you." she said, I laughed disbelief. Yes it was awkward to be sitting in the kitchen with my wife's mother.

"Just a little."

"Daddy" Emily came into the kitchen, "Who is that?" She whispered to me.

"This is your other Grandma, " I said picking her up, "This is Mommy's Mom."

She looked almost clear white, "You have children?" she gasped.

"Yes." I said "Three, this is Emily she's four, in there is Cody and Shayne they're seven." I said pointing to the living room.

She was speechless.

"You know Kylie called you, she called you on our wedding day, she called you when we got pregnant, she called you when we miscarried, she called you when we moved, she called you everyday for months, she emailed, she wrote, and after months, when nobody would answer she stopped calling, she stopped writing, her own parents weren't at her wedding, and above all that none of you came to her funeral, not one. All because she didn't take some stupid job. So excuse me for my lack of sympathy for you and your family right now because i'm still a little irritated that for ten years,you ignored the woman I love because she wouldn't liver her life the way you wanted." I hadn't even realized that I said it out loud, but her face reminded me that I had.

"Patrick, I was wrong, I should not have ignored my daughter." was all she said.

"That's it?" I said, "After ten years of ignoring your own daughter and your grandchildren all you can say is 'I was wrong' not even 'I'm sorry?'"

"I won't apologize had she come back to Boston she would still be alive today." she showed zero emotion, but talked about her daughters death like it was nothing, and that hurt me.


"She would be alive and miserable." I said under my breath.

"What did you say?" she looked offended.

"She would be alive and she would be miserable!" I yelled. "I didn't make her stay! She wanted to!" I had no idea how angry I had been at Kylie's family, until I had to encounter her mother face to face after so long, "Kylie lived and breathed for our kids,they were everything to her and they are still everything to me." I said looking at Emily, who was still in my arms. "And you wouldn't know that because you didn't want to put your own issues aside long enough to talk to Kylie."

"Well, if thats how you feel then I guess I should go." she got up and left just like that.

I slammed the door behind her.

Emily was still perched on the kitchen counter where I had set her down.

"UGH!" I yelled. I was mad,pissed actually.Why did she come here? What point was she trying to make?

"Don't be mad Daddy" Emily said as I stood in front of her in the kitchen. "I'm not." I said, angrier than I had intended.

"I'm sorry, just- go back and watch t.v. okay?" She nodded and I lifted her off the counter.

I was way too angry to be around the kids so instead I went into the bedroom and lied face down on my pillow.

The first road trip of the season was approaching and with all my family back in Buffalo, I was going to have to find someone to stay with the kids. I had some great friends in Chicago, but not the kind you leave your kids with for three days.

Sharpy and Abby came up with the idea to interview nannies.I was pretty hesitant at first, it seemed weird to me. I wanted to make sure we chose the perfect person.

Abby, Sharpy, and I sat behind the a table in a small coffee shop awaiting the first nanny.

"Hi" a orange-tanned girl with huge boobs, too much cleavage, fake blonde and a tight mini dress came sat across from us.

Abby would be asking the questions since Sharpy and I could not stop laughing at each candidate who came in.

"So," Abby said, "What is you're experience with children?"
"They're okay." she said, chewing a wad of gum. "I've almost had them a few times, scary right?" she laughed. Sharpy and I could not stop laughing like children, sitting next to Abby.

"Yea, okay you'll get a call." Abby dismissed her. "Stop laughing!" she said smiling hitting Sharpy on the shoulder.

The candidates were only getting worse and worse, until a short, sweet, brunette girl came in. "Hi" she said, "I'm Rachel."

She had worked as a preschool teacher, and had nannied a family with five children, she had grown up around hockey and had pictures and references to prove it all. She was perfect.
...
"Daddy I don't want you to go." Emily was bawling her eyes out as I held her, her head laying on my shoulder. "I know Em, it's only three days, hon." I couldn't stand to see her crying like that, but I didn't have a choice, I had to go. "No Daddy!" She yelled, it killed me to shut the door. I could hear her crying from all the way down the hall and I felt tears forming in my eyes as I pulled out of the parking garage.

The road trip wasn't long, but I still didn't like being away from the kids for days at a time. Alls I could think about was Emily and the boys.
...
We fought hard in both our games and managed to return home with two wins over the Flyers and Penguins.

I couldn't wait to get home to the kids. I hadn't had time to call them the whole road trip. I drove straight to the condo complex it was pretty early in the morning so I figured the kids wouldn't be up yet.

"Hi" I said, Rachel was waiting in the kitchen when I got home. "They were great!" she said, "Emily was pretty upset, but we got her calmed down."

"Great" I was relieved. Emily came around the corner a few minutes after Rachel left. "Daddy!" She screamed as she ran into my arms. It made me smile to see her so excited. This was what life was really about I thought.

This was my life now, it revolved around my kids. My heart would always ache for Kylie, but I had to believe I would see her again someday. And as I sat on the couch with my sweet daughter in my lap, I finally felt like I was home.


The End

Notes

Tell me what you think! If I wrote Jonathan and Mackenna's story who would read it?