Smiling at the thought, she sat in her favorite comfortable chair, opposite the two. Her hip ached. It had started doing that since the weather had turned chilly, but she ignored it, and didn’t let the slight pain show in her features. All she let show was the concern she had for Kai. Scrunching her brows, she leaned over and placed a hand on his knee. “Are you sure you’re all right, dear?”
Millie watched his teal eyes shift over to Jessica before returning to her. He smiled, but Millie could see the weariness behind it. He might have come to some sort of terms with the new facts of his life, but they’d been hard-earned and had left their marks. “I’m fine, Gran.” He frowned and shook his head. “Do I still call you that?”
She swatted his knee just as she would have swatted his bottom when he was a toddler. “Of course you do. Who fathered you doesn’t change the fact that we’re family.” Millie’s eyes shifted from Kai to take in Jessica as well. “We’re all still family.”
Jessica bit her lip, and she and Kai locked gazes. As Millie watched their odd, silent conversation, she wondered what was not verbally being said in the room. Millie couldn’t be sure, but she suddenly felt like there was a piece of the puzzle that she wasn’t seeing. Just as she was going to ask what was going on, Kai cleared his throat and twisted to look at her.
“Um…Gran.” He worried his lip for a moment, and Millie thought he looked a little…perplexed as to how to put his thoughts into words. “I…well, we…” his free hand swished to indicate Jessica while their clutched together hand lifted. “We’ve sort of decided…not to be family.”
Millie bunched her brows, deeply confused. Why would two people who only had warm things to say about the other, choose to sever their family ties? Not that she would let them. If Kai was staying in Denver, then Millie would make it her life’s mission to see them closely bonded again. Regardless of whether or not they were family by blood or family by association, family didn’t abandon family. “You can’t just…decide something like that. You are family, Kai, regardless of what your blood says. You can’t just choose to not be connected anymore.”
Kai smiled at her, then ran his hand through his hair. “Well, um, we actually are still going to be connected, Gran, just not in a cousin sort of way.”
Millie shook her head, still not understanding, then Jessica Marie laughed and looped her arms around Kai’s body. Snuggling into his side, she looked over at Mille. “What he’s trying to say, is that we’re dating. We’re boyfriend and girlfriend.” She shrugged. “We’re in love with each other.”
Jessica Marie and Kai smiled at each other, and Millie saw a look pass between them that suddenly filled in all the pieces for her. The puzzle now clear, she could easily see the love shifting between the young couple before her. They were in love, and from the looks of things, they loved each other on a level that rivaled her and her late husband’s. As Millie watched them kiss, she wondered when exactly that had happened.
“Oh…I see,” she whispered.
Kai and Jessica pulled their love-filled gazes from each other, and brought their attention back to her. Millie wasn’t sure if her face was pale, but she certainly felt that way. She wasn’t a prudish woman by any means, but it was a little difficult to go from seeing them as loving cousins, to seeing them as a loving couple.
While she struggled with something profound to say, Kai’s eyes narrowed in concern. “Are you…okay with this?” His eyes flicked over her body, like she might instantly have a heart attack that would send her off in a body bag to match poor Betty’s.
Irritated that they thought she was that weak, Millie snorted. They both satisfactorily raised their eyebrows. “Well, of course I’m fine with it. Love is always a good thing.” She raised her own eyebrow. “The world could use more of it.” They both smiled at each other, and Millie was amazed she’d completely missed seeing the feelings between them. Shaking her head, she said, “I will need a minute to adjust to the idea…but Kai isn’t blood, so, I guess I’ll get there.”
Kai looked back at her and placed his hand on her knee. “Thank you, for understanding.”
She sighed and rested against the pillows. Jessica relaxed even more into Kai’s side. Her granddaughter appeared to be happier than Millie had ever seen her. Kai too, for that matter. And wasn’t that what she’d always wanted for them? Happiness? Smiling, she patted Kai’s hand on her knee.
Wondering if Kai’s acceptance of his father’s identity had more to do with his love for Jessica than anything else, she tilted her head at him. “Do you understand, Kai?” He looked confused, so she added, “Why I could never tell you? Why I never wanted you to know…about your real father?”
Kai’s smile dropped as his gaze lowered to the carpet. “No, not really.” He peeked back up at her. “Why would you hide the truth from me?”