Page 68 of Perfect Chemistry

She walked over and swatted him on the butt before laughing, and running a lap around the car to get away. I loved watching him rile her up. She might cuss and carry on, but I knew she loved it.

Maybe one day, I’ll get a second chance at love.

“Alright, Katiedid! Let’s get this party started!!” Andie cheered, breaking me from my thoughts.

I climbed into the passenger seat, and let Andie drive to the hotel she and Jonas had been staying in. Andie’s niece had driven down with them to keep an eye on the kids while they were helping me to pack up my vehicle and clear camp. Now we needed to go check them out of the hotel and then get on the road.

Just like old times, there was a list of hot spots to stop in and sites to see. The added benefit this time was that Andie and Jonas’s kids were going with us. Andie’s niece had her own car, and decided to spend a week on the beaches of Virginia before going home. That left three adults and two kids trading between two cars.

Our first stop was a day’s drive so that I could visit Tyson. Andie and Jonas let me sit at the cemetery, while they took the kids for a walk around Tyson’s hometown.

“I miss you, Ty,” I whispered. “I don’t know if I have any faith left in me. I feel like everything died with you.”

I caressed my hand over the engravings in the gravestone. “I tried to stop in and visit your folks, but they wouldn’t even give me the time of day,” I choked back my tears, as my voice cracked. “I wish I could have met them before you died. Maybe they wouldn’t hate me so much now.

“I am so lost without you, Tyson. I-I let you in, and made you my whole world and- hic-” I covered my face to stop myself from sobbing. “I forgot how to do this without you. I forgot what living was like without you. It’s so hard, Ty. So fucking hard.”

I sat there for another hour, crying and telling Ty about everything that had happened in the two and a half years since his death. I told him about Intrepid, and getting accepted to a trade school up north.

“I have to go soon. It may be a while before I get back, but I wanted you to know why I wasn’t here. I didn’t want you to think that I had forgotten about you. You took half my heart and soul, Tyson Johnson. If you have any pull whereever you are, I’d really appreciate it if you could put in a good word.

“I promise, I will try. I will try to move on with you in my heart, even if I can’t have you in my life. I loved you more than I loved myself, babe. But,” my voice broke again.

“I have to move forward and learn how to love myself the most again. You wanted the world for me, and now I have to go and grab it. Look after our Angel. Tell them I am so sorry I never got to meet them, but I loved them fiercely and mourned them as much as I mourned their daddy. Thank you for loving me, Tyson Johnson.”

I stood up from where I had been sitting, and leaned over to place a gentle kiss on his name. “Let me be strong enough to live on,” I whispered to myself like a mantra as I walked out of the cemetery.

Andie was standing by my SUV as Jonas strapped Aiden and Avery into their seats in their car. Originally the kids had been in my vehicle.

“You didn’t have to do that,” I whispered, as she pulled me into a hug.

“We got a hotel room for the night. Jonas is going to take the kids to grab food, and I am going to take you back and get you situated. They have a gym with a treadmill, a stair stepper, and a rock wall,” she told me.

I snorted and then we both started laughing. “Why the fuck would I want to climb the walls?” I asked her.

“Hey! I was giving you options! You don’t have to do it!” She huffed at me while still laughing.

Jonas waved as he drove off, and I went to the hotel with Andie. They had rented a suite with two rooms so that I wouldn’t be left alone. It made me smile that they always thought this shit out. Andie shoved me into the bathroom and told me to take a shower.

By the time I got out, Jonas was back with the kids and dinner. I wasn’t that hungry, and just picked at the burger and fries. “Can you just put this up for me? I’ll probably eat it in a couple of hours, but I just want to sleep for now,” I told them as a wave of exhaustion rolled over me.

Andie told me not to worry about anything, and shuffled me to bed. I was asleep before my head hit the pillow.

I woke up around two in the morning when little Aiden’s toes went up my nose. I was confused at first but then I felt Aiden and Avery both snuggled up against me. I turned Aiden so his head was up on a pillow, and stepped away to find my uneaten burger.

Jonas crept out of his room to use the bathroom and damn near came out of his skin when I stood up to throw away my trash.

“OH JESUS! You scared the shit out of me, Katie!” He screamed, patting his chest.

It started as a small giggle seeing him jump like he did, but the high pitched scream put me over the top. The giggle grew, and before I knew it I was bent over laughing so hard I couldn’t breathe. Jonas hadn’t seen me laugh like that, ever, and started laughing at me laughing at him.

Andie came out to see what the hell we were caterwauling about and couldn’t stop herself from laughing at us. The three of us sat there laughing and crying for nearly thirty minutes. Once we calmed down enough to speak without wheezing, I thanked Jones for the food, and tiptoed back to bed giggling.

I snuggled in with Avery and Aiden, and whispered a quiet thanks to Ty. I hadn’t laughed like that in years.

Chapter 23

Katie’s Point of View

---