Life in Color ✔️

30~ I'm Sorry

"We need to talk."

I suck on my teeth as I sit on the bed. "You may want to sit." I tell him patting the spot next to me. It's gonna be a long story.

He doesn't move, I run my fingers through my hair. Where to start? I study the picture he's holding, it's my parents in front of their first apartment. The beginning, I suppose.

"My parents met when they were fifteen, their names were Katharine and Mateo. My dad moved here from Florida before the start of freshman year and my mom had lived here her entire life. She hated him at first, for all the right reasons of course." I laugh remembering the story as they told it.

"Why was that?" he asks, forgetting about the picture to fully face me.

"He was arrogant. Annoying. Loud. And way to charming. He literally bumped into her for the first time at a football game, he played and she cheered. She assumed he was just a rude jock. He thought she was a rich brat. They both were wrong in the end."

I let out a deep breath, "Freshman year they became friends, the best of friends. Sophomore year my grandfather passed and my mom was the first person he called. Whenever my Mom got into a fight with her parents she went to Dads." They helped each other with everything in life.

"When did they become more than friends?" Ashton questions, resting on the edge of the bed.

I smile, "It depended on who you asked. Dad swears they were a thing by the end of sophomore year. Mom, on the other hand, said it wasn't until Thanksgiving break of their junior year when they went ice skating. That's where they said I love you first."

That was something they always debated. Dad claimed she was oblivious while Mom claimed he overestimated his skills.

Ashton seems deep in thought so I continue, "They stayed together through high school. Sophomore year Uncle John moved in with dad and the three of them did everything together. When college came dad got a baseball scholarship to Stanford and mom's only option for college was Vanderbilt since that's the only school Earl would pay for. They never doubted each other so they stayed together and their junior year dad proposed. Earl and Edna threw a fit and eventually skipped the wedding. Dad got drafted into the Majors his junior year."

Ashton's eyes go wide at this, it's definitely a bit of a shock.

"He made it to the pros as a pitcher, playing six years. We lived in Oak Hill when I was born, my mom staying with dad's mom since he was away so much. When I was five his arm blew out. He had surgery but it wasn't the same so he hung the cleats up. He wasn't sad though, in his mind he had it made. A wife who loved him and two children, another pair on the way. So we moved into this house and he finally got to put his degree to work by partnering with uncle John in his rising development company. He was an environmental engineer, hence our middle names."

Ashton seems completely entranced, for once remaining completely still.

"Mom became an artist like she always dreamed. She did everything from commissioned pieces to murals but her original art was my favorite. She started small but grew over the years. She was creative, always thinking of new concepts and ways to showcase emotions. That park you once asked me to go to was where she would go paint in her free time. That was Sage's favorite thing to do with her. She even painted pictures the way my dad would see them since he was color blind. She worked from home so she was always with us, I was painting before I could walk. It was as natural as breathing."

I smile wistfully before continuing, "The twins showed up and we thought life was complete. I started school and a year later Sage did too. Eventually we found out he was dyslexic and I was advanced so they made the decision to switch us to Riverview. There we met the Mackenzie's and the Hollens. Our families got along wonderfully and life was great. Dads job was successful and Mom was like superwoman, always staying on top of her jobs while doing everything for us."