Chapter 21
Keith
Two girls. I was hoping for a boy and a girl, or maybe two boys. But just the reality of having two girls is amazing. Just seeing the two small figures on that screen and hearing their growing healthy heart beats made me overjoyed. I kind of feel really stupid for acting the way I acted. I should have been in that room with Cara, holding her hand. I just stood there are stared at the screen. She was crying and I couldn't even touch her. In that moment I couldn't even say sorry. This was supposed to be one of the most important dates of our lives.
The doctor printed out a lot of pictures and told Cara and I some helpful tips. Cara got up, thanked the doctor and walked out of the office. I followed her and kept calling her name. She continued to ignore me and walked towards my car.
"See how it feel to be ignored? How's your precious baby?" She yells. I know she's talking about the car. It was stupid of me, but I just can't sell it.
"Cara, just please don't make me sell this car. I'm sorry, I was dumb." She kept trying to open the door but it was locked. I unlocked it and she glared at me.
"It's funny how after all of that you still don't want to sell your car. You know, I dont even want to get in your stupid car!" She started to walk out of the parking lot towards the exit. I ran after her and grabed her arm to stop her. She jerked away and turned around to stare at me.
"If you didn't show up to this sonogram, I would have hated you so much. One more second and that would have been it for us Keith!" She started to walk away again.
"Cara, I'm sorry! I just have a lot going on right now."
"No excuse Keith! I do too! And I'm the one who's pushing two baby's out of a very small area!" She yelled. People in the parking lot were staring at us with confused and empathetic faces.
"Cara, please just come in the car so we can talk." She stopped and turned around. She waddled to my car and gets in and slams the door. I wince at the sound and sigh. I get in and start the car. The drive back to my house was very quiet. I drove slower and I didn't put any music on.
When we got there she got out of the car and went inside. I saw that my mom wasn't home and shut the car off. I went inside to find her on the sofa holding her stomach.
"Cara! What's wrong!? I rushed to her side and held her.
"Cara say something, please!" She looked at me, got up slowly and smiled.
"They kicked Keith." I let out a sigh of relief. She took my hand suddenly and placed it on her stomach. I felt a little nudge and then another. I smiled at the feeling and looked at her.
"My baby girls." I smiled and felt the love and connection that made everything a reality. I looked at Cara's glowing face and saw how much more I loved her. I placed my ear on her stomach and listened. I heard noises and felt another kick. I smiled and chuckled.
"My baby girls!" I repeated more happily. Her smile grew wider and I realized then, that I would do anything for my baby girls. Even if I had to give up my car. I felt my eyes tear up and realized I was about to cry. I hugged her belly and just stayed there for a moment and cried. Real actuall tears of joy and happiness. I just couldn't stop repeating, 'My baby girls.' Cara kept giggling and she took my head in her hands.
"Keith, I'm not punishing you. I love you. And our girls will love you no matter what, as will I. What matters the most right now is that you were there in that office with me. You might have showed up late, but you were there. And you're here now, with me and sharing this beautiful moment. If you never showed up, you wouldn't be here to witness this miraculous moment. I thank you for that." She was crying and I sat up to hold her in my arms. I kissed her forehead and wipped the tears falling down her cheeks. She kissed me then, hard and happily. I felt the smile on her lips and smiled myself. It was a family moment so I decided to take a picture of the two of us, red eyes and smiling. Happier than ever.
We both lay on my bed staring at the ceiling. Occasionaly Cara would giggle when she felt them kick. I just layed there rubbing her belly. Smiling to myself and realizing what a lucky man I was. I heard a door close and looked and Cara. She told me that it must be Ava and Chris. So we got up and went downstairs. To my surprise, it was my dad. He hasn't been home for weeks.
"What are you doing here?" I ask when I open the door. Cara was looking at me with a confused look.
"I live here you know Keith." I frowned.
"Cara can you go upstairs please I need to talk to my dad." She kissed my cheek and did what I asked.
"Are you going to move so I can come in son?" He laughed and pushed past me, struggling with some empty suitcases."Cara's getting real big! She looks like she's 8 months pregnant! What is that baby big foot or somethin'? I was starting to get angry. He hasn't been home some he doesn't know about the twins.
"Dad, where have you been?" I folded my arms and he went over to the sofa in the living room and sat down.
"I've been staying with a friend while I was on a business trip." He turned the TV on and put his feet on the coffee table. He was a terrible liar.
"Yah right! You can't just leave home like that without telling me anything." I said.
"Your mom and I just got into a little disagreement alright?"
"You cheated on her dad." He got really quiet and stared at me.
"How did you know that?"
"I was the one who told her! Kay told me at that BBQ and I told mom. She's been in her room all this time watching every volume of Kill Bill we have! You've probably been at Desire's house this entire time. I know what's going on with her family. Alicia told me that her mom and dad got a divorce last year because she cheated on him with you! And you go over her house every weekend and sleep with her. Alicia told me and I told mom. You're just disgusting!"
"And you're not!? My only son got a girl pregnant at 17! Your kid is gonna be screwed up just like you! Throwing your future away! Your a disgrace to me! I dont even want to look at you! It's going to be an ugly, stupid rotten dissgrace like you! I'm leaving this screwed up family. You know I never loved your mom!? I married her for her money and because she was pregnant with your sister! You are a pathetic moron and a waste of time space and energy! Both of you were mistakes. I'm prefect without you. And your kid is going to be a disgusting little piece of crap like you and Cara! You'll be nothing! You'll never amount to anything! I wont be surprised if Cara died giving birth to the devils spawn!"
With that I threw a bowl that was sitting on the cofee table at him. He punched me and pushed me to the ground. I got back up and we got into a full on fist fight. I hit him in the gut and kicked his shin to get him on the ground. He grabed my ankle and pulled me to the floor. He got up and punched my right jaw. It stunned me and I fell to the ground. He eventually had me pinned down and punched my face repeatedly. With every punch he was saying something hurtfull and with every punch I got weaker and weaker. I heard Cara screaming in the back round. I strugled to get him off of me. I didn't want to lose. I wanted to show Cara that I could defend, protect and take care of her and the girls. I weakly lifted my arms toward his neck and began to strangle him.
After all the years of him teaching how to fight by play boxing and wrestling, it finally payed off. But it backfired on him. I squeezed as hard as I could. He struggled to get my hands off of him by wraping his fingers around my hand. Gnawing at them with his finger nails. I felt my hands bleed, but that didn't stop me. I soon saw Cara's face behind my fathers head. She was yelling stop. She didn't want me to kill him. I got distracted by Cara and loosened my grip. He took his chance and ripped my hands off. He continued to punch me and hit my jaw hard. Then he punched my eye and my nose repeatedly. I noticed Cara trying to pull his arm. She was yanking his shirt and grabing his arm fiercly. Then he elbowed Cara in the face and she fell on to the coffee table and onto the floor. I jumped up and saw that her arms and legs were bleeding. If that was any old accident I would have rushed to her side. But because my father did this out of anger, I punched him as hard as I could. He fell over and I pinned him down. I felt his nose break under my knuckles. I felt my hands bleed from the pressure. I knew he damaged my face but I wanted him to never be able to see again. He would never be able to cheat after this. I started to strangle him again and squeezed as hard as I could. Everything around me seemed to vanish. Cara was still screaming and crying. The more Cara cried, the tighter I squeezed. His face started to change from red to purple to blue and I wanted him dead.
I heard the door burst open and two more girls screaming. I heard Chris yell my name and he was soon trying to pry me off of my father. I gave him one last punch and I was finished. Chris finally got me off of him and took my shoulders in his hands.
"Keith! Stop man! Calm down! Look at Cara!" I gtried to collect myself to see if Cara was okay, but my vision was getting very blurry and my knees were giving out on me. I fell to the ground and saw cara on the floor with glass all over her. I tried to lunge at my father again but Chris stopped me. He stared me in the face and shook his head. then he glanced back at Cara and I saw the furry in his eye. He let me go and threw himself at my dad. He jumped on him and kept punching him. Cara continued to scream. The other girls were Ava and Rebecka. I heard Rebecka scream and she ran over to try to get Chris to stop. I stopped her and she kicked and sreamed for me to let her go. Chris finished and got up. He kicked him one last time and then spits in his face.
"Get out! I yell at my dad. He struggles to get up and I start to get frustrated. I drag him by the arm and throw him out the door. Chris grabs his suitcases and throws it at him. I kick him one last time and then I see my mom speed up and pull into the driveway. The car comes to a conplete stop and she jumps out the car leaving the engine running. She see's my dad on the ground bloody and bruised. Then she looks at me.
"What in God's name is going on!?" She runs up to me and holds my head in her hands.
"Keith!" She lightly touches the wounds on my face and kisses my cheek. She notices the bruises on my and when she let go, I saw a lot of blood on her hands. I saw her begin to cry and she looked down at my dad.
"What happened?" She whispers. She looks at Chris while shes says that.
"I just came back from getting Ava's things and we hear Cara screaming in the house. So we run inside and Keith is strangling Mr. Remmingway and Cara on the ground bleeding and crying-" When Chris said that my mom ran into the house. I forgot about Cara because I was so angry. I ran after her and saw Cara bleeding a lot. I ran to her side and hugged her.
"Oh my God baby, I'm so sorry! I'm so so sorry!" She continued to sob and my mother was trying to whipe the tears from her face. Ava came with wet paper towels an Rebecka came with band-aids. Chris came back with bandages to wrap me and his wrists up. My mom got the first aid kit and starting tending to Cara first. Then when she finished, she put alcohol whipes on my wounds and neosporin. After we were all clean we all sat there quietly and stared at eachother. My mother spoke first.
"What happened Keith." I sighed and Cara continued sniffling. Ava went outside to see if my dad was still there and she said he was gone.
"Cara and I came back from the ultrasound and found out the genders of the babies." Everyone's face lit up. I knew It was a good idea to start with that.
"What are they!?" They all asked. Cara answered for me.
"They're both girls." Everyone cheered and laughed and started talking about clothes and the baby shower and names. Cara and I just stared at eachother. She smiled wearily and I shrugged my shoulders.
"And..." They all got quiet again and all eyes were on me.
"And, the babies kicked for the first time." Everyone sighed and 'awed' and congratulated us.
"And then..." They refocused again. "And then my dad shows up. Itold him I knew about what he did. he cheated on my mom with her bestfriend. And he's been staying at her house every weekend. So I told him how I felt. He decided to do the same and said some horrible thing about me and you mom. Then he said terrible things about Cara and the babies. So I threw a bowl at him and we got into a huge fight." Everyone stared at me. My mom began to cry and I went over to her to hug her.