When 20-year-old Kara Bennett moves to Boston to escape her post-high school drama with her daughter, she didn't expect to fall straight into it in the form of Austin Mayer.
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All Kara Bennett...
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KARA FINALLY BLOSSOMED AROUND ME.
I remembered the times I wished she would smile at me as she smiled at others, but her smile at me was a masterpiece. The lazy grin on her lips when I hummed alongside the song streaming on the radio was a new thing I learned about her. She listened to the radio while cooking, one of the things she remembered of her mother.
I went a bit earlier to help her out with dinner. Our relationship was going slow but strong — she was an entirely different person after the secrets were out. She laughed, she was talkative. God, could she become more beautiful?
After dinner, I offered to make microwave popcorn as they decided on a movie to watch. Her kitchen was relatively smaller than mine but much neater. I gazed at the magnets and photographs on the fridge as I waited. There were photos of her, Ace, and Sophie together. Lucas was Sophie's father. This sudden thought busied my mind more than it should. Didn't Mila mention his name before? She said there were things she didn't know — and the guy was right. Damn, what if he learned about Sophie?
No matter what, Mila shouldn't have known about Kara's presence. I noted to text her to find out if she had any upcoming plans to come over. We wouldn't see each other while Mila was around, so she wouldn't find out about Kara.
"How's it going?"
I turned around in surprise, seeing Kara standing by the door. I pushed my thoughts aside and focused on the moment. I was in her house, as her boyfriend — wait, was it who I was now? — and we were about to watch a movie together. I didn't want anything to ruin this, including my own mind.
As I parted my mouth to answer her, the microwave dinged. "Ready." I took the bowl out of it and walked down to her. "Let's go. Which movie did you girls pick?"
"Surprise."
"Austin," Sophie yelled from the couch, "look! I picked Koofoo Panda!"
"Yay," I replied, sitting beside her as Kara sat on the other side of her. "Love that one, Soph." I extended out the popcorn bowl for them, but Kara warned Sophie about eating only five — the number Sophie could count up to — and Sophie accepted after a session of pouting. Kara had the stamina for her protests, I would give up after a second. However, she was the best parent I'd ever known.
We tried to answer Sophie's countless questions during the movie and laughed whenever she raised a burst of laughter. The girl was full of sunshine and great ideas. It was one of the reasons why I loved kids: they were creative. Besides that, Sophie was bright.
I looked at Kara, thinking about how she mentioned her strong will to get admitted to Harvard. Did she ever tell me about the result? "Did you get accepted by Harvard?" I asked out of the blue.
Her look was surprised. She must have wondered how I came from Kung Fu Panda to her Harvard dream. The thing was, I thought of her more than I'd ever cared about anyone.
