Gen. 4 Chapter 5: Part 2- Meant To Be?

 Have you read the previous chapter, part 1? If not, you may want to go read it really quick before reading this one. 


I never got myself dressed so fast in my life. I jumped in the car and sped over to Carol’s house. The whole car ride, I couldn’t help the anger boiling up in me towards Seiko. I had just about had enough of him standing in the way of Carol and I.

I walked up to the door Carol greeted me and led me inside. I made up my mind right then and there that I was going to do something Carol couldn’t. I was going to take care of Seiko once and for all. I would tell him that she and I were together, and I was going to make sure he knew to stay away from her or else.

But first things first, I needed to comfort my love. She needed me, and I wanted nothing more than to take her in my arms and let her know I’d be there for her.

The first thing I did was wipe the tears from her eyes, and held her close.

She kissed me, and then whispered in my ear, “Can we go to my room to talk? I’d feel better if we had more privacy.”

I knew what that meant, it meant, ‘I don’t want Seiko to see us.’

“Sure, go on up, I’ll meet you there, I’m going to stop off at the restroom first.”

And with that she headed upstairs to her bed. I followed her upstairs, and turned down the opposite way, pretending to head to the bathroom, but as soon as Carol was out of sight, I passed the bathroom door, and headed straight for where I was pretty sure Seiko’s room was. I hesitated before knocking on the door. I asked myself one more time if I was doing the right thing. I decided that I didn’t really see any other way. *knock knock*

“Come in.”

“Hey there, Seiko-” I could feel the anger boiling up inside of me just looking at him. And then, well, I realized I was no longer in control of what came out of my mouth. My anger was in charge.

He cut me off. “What the hell are you doing in here?”

“Well, I just came to let you in on a little something. Carol and I, we are together. A couple. I’m her BOYFRIEND and she’s my Girlfriend.” I couldn’t help but exaggerate those two words. “And for some reason Carol thinks you will have a problem with that. Is that true?”

“When did this happen? How dare Carol-”

That was the wrong thing for him to say.

“Now, you listen to me. Carol is not your property, and she’s a grown woman and can do what she wants. And if she wants to see me, she can, and if you do anything to stop her-”

“You idiot, I don’t care if Carol wants to be with you or not. I’m not holding her back. That’s her mistake to make if she wants.”

“Mistake. Ha. Yeah right. Well, I’m staying the night here with Carol. She needs me. And I don’t want you to give us any trouble about it. You hear me?”

“Go do whatever you want, just get the hell out of my room. NOW!” He screamed at me.

I walked over to the door to leave, and just before I shut the door, I stuck my head in and said, “Don’t tell Carol about this conversation. You’ve been warned.” He just gave me a look of pure hatred, and I shut the door.

Whew. Well, that didn’t really go very well, but at least it was done. The jerk knew the truth, and I had let him know, he WAS NOT going to get in our way. I wasn’t sure what I thought I was going to do if he did, that was the part where the anger was talking and not me, but at least I did it. Now, to find Carol and hope she didn’t hear any of that.

Carol let me in her room, and I could tell by her body language she had no idea what just happened in there, which was fine by me. I planned on keeping it that way. I plopped down on her bed.

“Hey, if it’s ok with you, I could stay the night here with you. I don’t want to leave you tonight, not when I know what it’s like here for you. Can I stay?”

“Well. I guess you could. I mean, Seiko doesn’t know you are here, and as long as you don’t leave my room until later in the morning, he’ll never see you.”

“Well, I don’t care what Seiko thinks. You need me, and I miss you terribly, and I want to be here to comfort you.”

“Oh Kenny, I have missed you so much too. I need you to be here for me too.”

“Carol, you do realize that you are free now, right? You don’t have to worry about Seiko. Gammy is in a better place, and you don’t have to stay here anymore.”

“I know. It’s just that there are a few more things that need tended to before I leave.  But I’ve started thinking about where I should go once those things are taken care of.”

“Really? Well,  just so you know that the offer is out there, you are welcome to come live with me if you want. I would love that.”

“You’re sweet. That might be nice. But I don’t know. I don’t know if I want to move in with someone else or just live on my own for a little while. I’ve never done that you know.”

“Yeah. Well, just so you know, you always have a place with me.”

“I know.”

We sat in silence for just a few seconds, my arm around her, kissing her forehead and snuggling closer to her. I could feel her whole being relax into my arms. She felt safe and peaceful again, I could feel it. There was no better feeling in the world than to know that I had that effect on her.

“Kenny?”

“Yes, sweetheart?”

“I love you.”

“I love you too, Carol, with everything that I am.”

Not much talking happened after that, we both got lost in each other, our own little world, and we stayed there until morning.

Her and I both woke up at about the same time, and we spent some time relaxing on the bed, mainly me letting Carol talk out all of her grief and sharing her favorite memories of Gammy. I think it helped a lot. I know it helped me when I shared the things I loved about my mom with someone.

“So, should we go downstairs and get breakfast? I’m starving!”

I headed towards the door, but before I could get there, Carol jumped in front of me and cut me off. “Not so fast, you know I have to go out there first and see if the coast is clear.”

“Carol, we didn’t do anything wrong, by me staying here, and you don’t have to hide it. Seiko will get over it.”

“Nice try. But you know I’m not letting you out of this room until I’ve checked. I'll be right back, ok? I promise.”

I sighed. She obviously had her mind made up. “OK, fine.”

She gave me a quick kiss, then slipped out of the door.

*Carol’s point of view*

I hurried off  down the hallway to Seiko’s room. I figured if I listened at his door, I'd know if he was still here or not. I put my ear up to the door. Nothing. Then, the movement of his bed. Crap. That meant he was still here, he must have slept in today. Well, that was just great. I knew Kenny wasn’t going to let me keep him locked up in my room forever. Think, Carol, think! What can I do? All the sudden, a wave of nausea hit me. This was just too much for me to handle. Thankfully, there was a bathroom right next to Seiko’s room, and I made it in there just in time before I threw up. I guess all of this stress, mourning, everything was starting to take it’s toll on me. I never got physically sick from it before though.

I knew this couldn’t go on forever. I was going to have to face Seiko, tell him about me and Kenny, and get up the nerve to leave this house for good. I just wasn’t sure that day was today.

I guess I was a little too loud in the bathroom, because I nearly jumped out of my skin when I heard Seiko behind me saying, “Carol, we need to talk NOW.”

*back to Kenny’s point of view.*

I waited in her bedroom until I couldn’t stand it any more. I needed food, and I didn’t really care if Seiko saw me or not. I decided I’d venture out to the kitchen. I didn’t encounter a single soul on my way. So far, so good. I spied waffles on the counter. Yes! I was starving!

I ate my waffles, no I guess the proper word would be inhaled  them. Just then Rory came in to eat. She looked at me in shock.

“KENNY!?! What are you doing here? And, in your pajamas?”

“Good Morning Rory, I spent the night here last night. I was just grabbing a quick breakfast.”

“I didn’t mean what were you doing in the kitchen, I meant, how in the world did you get away with spending the night here? Carol let you stay?”

“Well, yes. I promised to stay out of Seiko’s sight. But, there’s something she doesn’t know.”

“What. What did you do Kenny?”

“Well, let’s just say, I had a little talk with Seiko for Carol last night.”

“You didn't!? Oh, Kenny, this can’t be good.”

“Well, I won’t say it was a pleasant conversation, but let’s just say, he knows about Carol and I now, so we don’t have to go hiding it anymore.”

“Oh no. Oh, Kenny, you have know idea what- wait, Carol doesn’t know you told him?”

“Well, no.”

“This is worse than I thought. Carol is going to be furious with you when she finds out.”

“She’s not going to find out, at least not right away. I'll tell her as soon as she’s moved out of here.”

“And what makes you think Seiko won’t tell her?”

“I told him not to.”

“Oh, well, you told him not to. Sure. I’m sure that’s all it will take to keep him quiet,” she said as she rolled her eyes.

Just then, Carol came down the stairs. She was dressed. She didn’t say a single word. I walked up to her. “Sorry, I was just too hungry to stay in the room. Since I’ve eaten, I'll go get changed. Do you want to come with me today? Maybe I can help you house hunt?”

I was waiting for the smile to appear on her face. The one that was always there when her and I were speaking. It never came. Uh oh.

“I will absolutely not be going anywhere with you, Kenny Song. How could You?”

“What?”

“Seiko told me about what you did last night. How dare you!?! You went behind my back and handled something that was my business. Did you even care to think that I wasn’t the only one who lost someone close to me when Gammy died? Did you ever think that Seiko might be grieving too, and that's why I wanted to wait?”

“Carol, I was just trying to help you. I knew this was something you were struggling with, and I wanted to make it easier on you, come to your rescue.”

“I didn’t ask you to rescue me, Kenny. I can’t believe you would do this, without even asking me. I want you to get out. Now.”

‘Carol, please, I just-”

“I don’t want to hear it! Get out! GO!”

I didn’t know what else to do but leave. She was obviously furious with me, and I probably wouldn’t be able to talk her down anyways.  I felt completely numb the whole way home.

As I stepped in the door, it all hit me. I made a huge mistake, by confronting Seiko. Although I thought I was helping, I did betray Carol by hiding it from her, and trying to purposefully handle it for her without asking her. I knew I messed up big time. Would Carol forgive me? What have I done?

I did my very best to give Carol as much space as I could. I vowed not to call her, to let her call me. I didn’t want to seem pushy, or controlling. I knew that when she was mad, it was best to leave her alone. I just wasn’t used to her being mad at ME. It was always someone else, something else, and I was the one helping her calm down, think things through, cheering her up. This time, I couldn’t do that because I was the one that caused it.

Eventually I gave in, and I tried to give her a call. As soon as she heard my voice, she started crying and hung up on me. It tore my heart in two to hear her so upset on the other line, and know I was the one who did this to her. And who knew how Seiko was treating her. He obviously didn’t care about any threat I made to him because as soon as he could he told Carol what I said, probably even exaggerated what I said.

Since it seemed she wasn’t going to let me talk to her, I decided to try something else. An e-mail. I sat down to the computer and did my best at conveying my apologies, and how much I cared about her and wanted to fix it.

It went something like this:

Dear Carol,
I thought maybe I could try writing you an e-mail since I know you are too upset with me to talk in person or on the phone right now. That’s ok. I get that. I understand. But I’m not going to lie. My heart is tearing in two at the fact that I’ve hurt you. I am so, so sorry for what I did. You are right, I should have never even attempted a conversation with Seiko without consulting you first.  I realize my attempt at helping you was the worst possible choice I could have made. I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me. I don’t want this to be the end of us. I love you dearly, you are my whole world. I promise I won’t pressure you into talking to me until you are ready to. I’ll be here waiting, ready to do whatever it takes to make it right. I’ll be waiting for your e-mail back, or a phone call, I leave the ball in your court.

I love  you more than you’ll ever know,
Kenny

To my surprise, Carol called me the next day.

“We’ll be at the gym for a few hours after lunch,do you want to meet us there?”

“Yeah, I can do that.”

“Ok, see you there.”

So, she was giving me the opportunity to see her, that was good. But she also said, “we”. Did that mean her and Rory? Seiko too? The four of them? I guess I’d find out.  I hurried off to the Bistro for a quick lunch, I figured I should eat something to keep my stomach settled. While I was there, surprise, surprise, I ran into Mikinna.

“Hey sis! What are you up to? Is that what I think it is in your belly?”

“Haha, Kenny, you goof. Who says that to a girl? And yes, it is. Baby number 3!”

“Woah! Number three! I heard about your new little girl, how are all your kiddos doing?”

“They are great. We’re hoping that this one is a boy.”

“Wow! Contratulations, sis!” I patted her belly, and felt the baby kicking. It was so cool.

“So, Kenny, you are getting closer to adulthood, when are you gonna settle down and start a family?”

“Uh. Well, I’m not sure. By the looks of it, not for a while.”

“Oh. Well I’m sure it will happen soon. Well, I better be going, Cody and I are going to see a movie later.”

“Yeah, I gotta go too. Tell the family I said Hi! Take care!”

“I will. Love ya little bro.”

“Love you too sis.”

Seeing my sister, so happy in love, with her budding family did not exactly put me in a happy mood to go see Carol. If anything, it reminded me of how far off I was from having that. I wanted a family. I wanted to watch my own baby grow inside the one I love. By the time I pulled up to the gym, I was close to becoming an emotional wreck. As I stepped in the door, I was overwhelmed, and actually had to stifle a sob.  I quickly pulled myself together, wiped an escaped tear from my face and took a deep breath. It was time to try to set things right.

I headed upstairs to where all the workout equipment was, and sure enough, there was all of Carol’s foster siblings, but no Carol.

Seiko happened to turn back from the treadmill and saw me, and when he did, his face turned to a scowl, and he stopped the treadmill.

"If you've come here to start something with me again, you can forget it."

“Oh, you’d like that wouldn’t you, Seiko. No, I'm here to talk to Carol. ”

Just then I heard Carol's voice from beside us. "Alright, alright, just calm down. Seiko, go back to what you were doing, we were leaving anyways."
 "Fine. Whatever." Seiko walked passed me and went back to the treadmill, to my surprise. No complaints, nothing. I was expecting at least something. After all, wasn't Seiko supposed to explode after he found out Carol and I were a couple?

I walked over to Carol. I couldn’t hardly look her in the eyes. I felt so bad.

“Thanks for meeting me Kenny. I read your e-mail.”

“I figured you did. I meant every word. I really am sorry.”

She looked very serious, and folded her fingers together. I hadn’t seen her like this before.

“I know. I know you didn’t mean any harm. It was just not good timing. Under different circumstances, maybe it wouldn’t have made me so mad, but-”

“No, you don’t have to explain at all. I was still wrong, no matter what. And I’m so-”

“Sorry. I know. And for that, I forgive you.”

“You do? Oh, Carol, you have no idea. Thank you. I promise, I’ll make it up to you, somehow.”

I went in for a hug, and she hugged me back. I was so relieved!

“Well, we have bigger things to talk about. I need to fill you in on what’s been going on since, you know, the day of the incident.”

“Oh.” She looked almost scared. This couldn’t be good.

“Do you want to go somewhere? Maybe get some dessert at the Bistro or something?”

“Sure, that would be great!”

“Ok, well, let me go get changed out of my work out clothes, and we’ll go.”

“Ok.”

On the car ride to the Bistro, Carol explained to me that her and Seiko had a big talk, and come to find out, Seiko wasn't as upset about us dating as she thought he would be. He was actually more mad at her for making him into such a bad guy. I guess Gammy's death affected him more than we knew, and he didn't want to be a jerk to Carol.

The Bistro was pretty crowded tonight, so we had to wait outside just for a little bit until our table was ready.

When we finally sat down to our table, we both realized we were hungrier than we thought. I guess I didn’t eat as much lunch as I thought I did. We ended up ordering meals instead of dessert. As for our conversation, well:

“Kenny, there was more than one reason why I was avoiding talking to you the past couple of days.”

“Oh. Really? Why?”

“Well, yes, I was mad at you for the thing with Seiko, but I also wasn’t feeling well. I thought it was all the stress of Gammy’s death, and my fight with you, but every morning of not being able to keep anything down, and I started to realize something else was going on.”

“Oh my god. I’m so sorry. I didn’t know you were physically sick!”

“Well, of course you didn’t. Silly.”

“Right. Well, go on.”

“Right. So, I went to the doctor. And…”

My heart stopped. What if the stress I added to her caused some kind of serious sickness!

“Oh no, please don’t tell me I’m partly responsible for your illness…”

“Oh no, you aren’t partly responsible, you are fully responsible.”

She smiled at me. I was to blame and she was happy?

“Oh gosh Kenny, come on, you are smart and you should be able to pick up on these things! I’m pregnant, Kenny!”

Well, if I thought my heart had stopped before, it was completely dead now. I had to remind myself to breathe.

“I know this is a complete surprise. And I was so emotional and not feeling well, and I didn’t know how to tell you, especially after our fight. I wasn’t even sure if you’d be happy, or mad, or whatever.”

“Mad, Carol, are you kidding! I’m so happy right now, you’ve just made me the happiest man in the entire world!”

I scooped her up and hugged her right there in the middle of the restaurant. Which, naturally caused everyone to stare. I was so stoked, I looked around at the staring faces, and announced, “I’m gonna be a father, everyone!”

Naturally, everyone started clapping, cheering, even a few whistles. I turned back to Carol, and tears were streaming down her face. I couldn’t help but join her.

As we left the restaurant, something struck me. I was about to get back in that car, and drive Carol home. Something I didn’t want to do. Not after knowing that a minute away from her was also a minute away from my son or daughter-to-be.  And from the way Carol was clinging to me, I had a feeling she felt the same way.

“I love you, Carol, and I never want to be apart from you again, not even for a minute.”

She smiled, wiped the tears from her cheeks and said, “Me too, Kenny.”

That’s when I did it. “Carol, I’m so glad we’re back to where we were. I’ve missed you so much, I don’t want to leave you tonight.”

“I’ve missed you too, more than I can even express. I could stay the night, if you like.”

“Nah, I have a better idea…” And that’s when I got down on one knee.

“Carol, I feel like I’ve been made the luckiest man in the world tonight. Not only do I have you back in my arms, you are carrying my child. There has never been anyone else for me but you. Please, please, make my life complete, and marry me.”

The look of shock on Carol’s face had me worried for a second. I realized that it might not be good to surprise a pregnant woman in this way. But I knew this is what I’ve wanted for a long time.

“YES! Of course I’ll marry you!”

I heard a few 'awwws' from those around us.

“I don’t want to wait, Kenny. I want to get married, tonight!”

“Tonight!?! Are you sure? You don’t want a fancy wedding and all that?”

“No. I don’t. I’m pregnant, and you are the one I’ve always wanted to be with. We’ve had to waste so much time apart because of life's twists and turns, and my unfounded fears. But not any more. Let's get married, right now.”

“Well, you don’t have to ask me twice!”

And with that, we stood right there in the courtyard of the Bistro and exchanged our vows and rings, and became husband and wife.

I was going to get to take Carol, my new bride home, and we’d never have to be apart again. I felt like every star aligned that night, and FINALLY, things were as they were meant to be.

*buckey's notes- Whew, long chapter!  I swear, this was the hardest couple in the world to get together! So as far as wishes go, Kenny had a wish to hang out with Carol, and when I sent him to her house, as soon as he stepped foot on her lot, he rolled 2 wishes, #1- Be Mean to Seiko, and #2- Woohoo with Carol. And, this was their 2nd woohoo, so I used the "Substitute 'Try for Baby'" rule to insure a next gen. Then, Kenny had the wish to group up with Carol, or something like that, and when he asked her, she flipped out on him! I still am not sure about that. But anyways, later he rolled a wish to see her again, they met at the gym, and he was hungry, so they went to eat. As soon as he came out of the bistro, he wished to marry Carol. So YES! I was so happy with Kenny for finally pulling it together a day or two before his adult birthday. LOL