He smiles weakly, and just nods his head, finding words now hard to process. He leans into her, though, shutting his eyes and mumbles as the hand on her stomach shifts to her side, just holding onto her.
What an odd place to have an emotional break down… Denny’s… but at least the people had been kind enough to leave them alone. If he had to explain himself, like this, right now…? He’d be a mess. A worse mess than before.
He thought of Gail, quietly, sitting here with Katelynn. Her little hands, how they’d grasped at his blue ones. How the doctors said she couldn’t really see, but he had sworn she could. She had smiled, but they called it gas. Pain. But she’d smiled at him so many times in those four days when he would be able to hold her, whilst his father would hold his mother instead.
Jack wondered if, maybe, if this is a baby Katelynn has or in the far, distant future… if just maybe if it’s a girl they have, if they could name her Gail.
When the waitress finally came over, Katelynn smiled at her, ordering pancakes for Jack and some drinks for them. She still wasn’t hungry but perhaps she could share off his plate. She was probably eating for two after all.
She sat there, holding his hands and stroking them, still offering comfort and trying to show him without words that things were okay. That they’d get through this together. Somehow. Words didn’t need to be exchanged if he wasn’t ready to talk. She was content to simply be if it meant him being there with her as well.
The waitress returned, giving them their food and Katelynn smiled at him this time, urging him to eat softly.
It took him a while but soon Jack was using a fork to cut the pancakes, and taking small bites out of them. The food was good enough, not the best, but decent. He smiled at Katelynn with a wordless ‘thank you’ on his lips before taking a sip ofthe drink that the waitress had brought.
Katelynn already knew how he liked his tea. That made his heart swell.
His hand found hers again, and gently squeezed, and continued to silently eat. No matter what it was that life had in store for them now, they would face it together. Just as they said they would.
Jack Maple 