💞- A memory about their children
Labor sucked ass. Kipley swore to herself she was never, ever doing this, ever again. It didn’t matter if that meant she was going to be celibate for the rest of her life. Never, would she ever, shove a watermelon sized head through her cooch again, as long as she lived. This had better be worth it.
Everyone kept telling her it was almost over, but she figured they just didn’t get it. It didn’t matter if it was another ten seconds, ten minutes, ten hours, any length of time was too much. She was exhausted. She’d been at this for almost a full day, and she felt defeated. Everything hurt and she just wanted to sleep. But the pain was too much for her to even take a ten minute nap. Sleep was forever a thing of the past for her now, she supposed.
Another contraction hit, and the doctor was yelling at her to push once again. “Stop yelling at me!” She cried, as she bore down, her face turning red, and then suddenly…relief. A cry. And surprisingly, the cry wasn’t coming from her. She looked down and there was this pink, screaming baby. …her baby.
The doctor placed the baby on Kip’s chest and Kip grabbed for her, the tears coming down her own face now. “Hi, baby…” She sniffled, and suddenly, she couldn’t imagine the world without this little girl in it. “Hi Eleanor…it’s okay. It’s okay. Momma’s here…” She kissed Ella’s little head and gave her her finger to hold, knowing from now on, it would be her and Ella against the world.
💛- A memory that makes them feel angry
“Where’s Dad going?” Little six year old Kip stood in the hallway, watching as her dad packed a suitcase in his bedroom. They’d never been a close family. Her parents were never affectionate towards each other, or even her, really. Her mother was more so involved than her dad, but she still craved that love from him. She’d greet him at the door when he came home from work, holding little drawings or holding her arms open for a hug that never came.
Today felt different, though. There was the usual distance between her parents, but as her dad was in the bedroom, she could feel tension. Her mother was just standing there, glaring at him as he packed. “Is he going on another work trip?” Her mother just shrugged, her arms crossed. “Something like that.” She mumbled. Kip realized she wasn’t going to get any answers from her, and wandered into the bedroom.
“Where are you going, Dad?” Her father didn’t answer as she stood there. “Are you going to be back soon?” Looking at the little girl, her father huffed, growing irritated. “Jesus, Kipley. Get out of the way. Always in the damn way.” Tears came to the little girl’s eyes. “I was just asking a question…” She mumbled, stepping aside. Her father just threw his hands up in the air. “I’m going out, Kipley. Does that satisfy you? I’m just going out. I don’t know when I’ll be back. Eventually, okay? Eventually. Now just…get out.” The tears fell harder and the blonde ran to her bedroom and slammed the door shut. It was a few minutes later that she heard the front door slam, and she watched as her father went to his car, and never turned around. He didn’t even say goodbye.
💚- A memory that makes them feel guilty
She was twelve. Facebook was something new to her, something that all the kids at school were getting into. Kip figured she would check it out, just to see what all the fuss was about. So, she made herself a profile, started looking up kids from school that she knew, and then decided hey, why not look up other people she knew. …which somehow landed her looking up her dad. She hadn’t seen or heard from him in six years. Honestly, she didn’t think she’d find him, he was probably too busy for something as silly as Facebook. And yet…there he was. Edward Rowe. Pictures of him, smiling, happy, with a family. Her heart was shattered.
Sure, she knew it was a possibility. He’d left, and his ‘eventually’ for coming back was clearly a lie, she’d realized that a couple years after he’d gone, but still. He was living a life happy as could be. There were pictures of family vacations, pictures on the beach, sitting by a big Christmas tree…and here was Kipley and her mom, eating macaroni and cheese and hot dogs most nights out of the week because her mom could barely pay the bills.
She was so angry, she didn’t even think about what she was doing. All she knew was that she was hurt, so someone else needed to hurt. Luckily for her, his kids were listed. And she wondered…did they know about her? Or was she an unknown? Her parents hadn’t been married…was she a secret love child? Or was it the other way around? Were they ‘they other family’? She clicked on the first kid’s name. Nate. And threw all care to the wind. Friend request sent.
And why not add fuel to the fire? After sending the friend request, she hit ‘message’ and decided to start a family reunion. “Hi there. My name is Kipley Rowe. And I don’t know if dear ol’ dad has ever mentioned me, but I’m your sister!” Message sent. …a week later, Edward’s profile listed him as single. She was glad he was hurting, but she honestly felt pretty bad for his other kids. …she knew that hurt. And it wasn’t a pleasant feeling.
💕- A memory about their significant other
Kip has never really had a significant other. She has too many trust issues that she’s slowly learning to deal with, but in the past, she’s just distanced herself from people as much as possible besides the select few.
