Chapter 153

Karen made it to work and was putting her things in her locker when Diane was coming through the doors.

"How come you're so late today?" she asked. Karen looked at her with her red, teary eyes and Diane got concerned "what happened?"

"It's nothing too major, I just took Sid to the airport this morning before coming in" she said blotting her eyes. "I thought I could handle this but I don't know how I am going to last for a whole month and a half."

"I know it's not the same, but you do have us."

Karen cracked a smile "you're right...it's not the same."

"Stating the obvious Kiki. You know your girls will keep you preoccupied and make the time go by fast."

"I know."

"Maybe we can all get together this weekend for dinner. I bet Nat will be feeling as down as you are right about now."

"Yeah probably. I forgot about Max leaving her. Getting together sounds great."

"Good, I will make all the arrangements and just let you know then, ok?"

"Ok, thanks Di. Well I better go salvage about 4 hours of work. Talk to you later." The two friends parted and Karen headed to get some work done with hopes of forgetting her sadness for a few hours.

As time did indeed fly by and Karen had about two weeks before she would go see Sidney. During the nights and weekends, she got pretty much everything packed up from the house she was taking with her to the new house. The only stuff left was her parents things in the attic. Karen kept putting off going through all the memories until the very last moments. She was having the girls over for dinner and had everything ready, just waiting on them to show up.

An hour later, all four of them were sitting around the living room eating pizza.

"So, what's the deal with all the boxes?" Sheril asked.

"Yeah, I was going to ask the same thing" Natalie added.

"Did I forget to mention that Sidney bought us a house?"

"YES!" all three of them screamed in unison.

"Oh, well then, Sidney bought us a house and we'll move into it before the season starts."

"When did this happen?"

"During the playoffs after we got married. We went to Dana Heinze's house for a party he had thrown and the guys were there waiting for us. Dana was looking for another house and had his for sale. After I got the tour, I fell in love with it and come to realize Sidney had already bought it for us."

"So what's going to happen to this house?"

"I'm going to rent it out to Coach Dan and his family."

"So that's it? All the memories we've had here are going down in history?"

"Not like we can't make new memories at the new house. It's bigger and by the time I fix it up, it'll have the feel of this place."

"When do we get to see it?"

"Probably not until I get back from Nova Scotia. Dana and his family are in the process of moving out and I won't get to move anything in until after I get back."

"You better have one hell of a party woman" Sheril said.

"When have you ever known me not to?" They all smiled and finished eating before finding a movie to watch on tv.

A couple hours later, the girls left and Karen grabbed a small box, taking it to bed with her. She opened it and found a whole bunch of pictures sitting on top. They were random pictures of her and her parents from Ocean City, MD and Florida. Karen smiled when she vividly remembered those summer vacations. She picked up one that she was on her dad's shoulders and her mom was obviously taking the picture since she wasn't in it. A few tears escaped when she knew how happy they were back then, realizing it would never happen again. Karen put the picture down and dug a little deeper into the box. She found a velvet box and looked at it weirdly before opening it.

"Oh my god" she said to herself. Pulling out the jewelry one piece at a time. "I thought all this was gone. Mom said she sold it at one time to pay off a few bills when they were struggling. How is this still here?" Karen found an envelope and opened the letter inside.

My darling baby girl,

If you found this jewelry and letter first then that means something has happened and I am no longer with you. I had every intention to give you all this when the time was right, but I guess that time never came. I remember you asking about all my jewelry and I told you I had sold it to pay for the back mortgage we owed. I didn't think you would have understood back then and I didn't want you to know the ugly side of giving up things you love to survive. The truth was, your dad and I had pawned it and he surprised me one day a few months later giving it all back to me. He knew this would eventually go to you and he saw how it broke my heart to give up your future. You could have it appraised again, but the value of it all is $275,000.

"OH...MY....GOD" Karen said in disbelief.

I know what you're thinking baby girl. I did love my jewelry and your dad did know how to spoil me. Maybe that's why we lapsed on the mortgage. Karen couldn't stop the giggle that she let out. Anyway, it was just a few hard months and we didn't want to touch your inheritance that was in the bank unless we absolutely had to. It was just easier this way. In the end, you have what I wanted to give you, I just wish I could have been the one to give it to you. I hope you have found a life to make you happy again Karen. Seeing what Rick did to you was not what I wanted for my baby girl. I hope as you are reading this that you have someone to love and that they love you. I always wanted the best for my baby. I love you with all my heart.
Love,
Mom

Karen let the letter fall to the bed and put her head into her hands. She didn't stop the tears that came so easily because she missed her parents so much. She needed her mom to talk to about Sidney and how everything happened between them from when they met until now. How they are getting married in a few weeks and her parents won't be there to share it all with her. She wiped her eyes and grabbed her cell phone when she heard it ring.

"Hello" she said with a sniffle.

"Baby? What's wrong?" Sidney said concerned on the other end.

"Nothing's wrong, I just started going through some of mom and dad's boxes."

"I thought you were going to wait and go through it after we moved so I could be there with you?"

"I was and am, but there was this small box that I guess curiousity just got the best of me."

"What was in it?"

"A lot of pictures from some vacations we took back when I was 9 or 10 to the beach."

"I bet you were a little cutie?" he said trying to make her feel better.

"I believe I was but I am impartial to judge myself."

"Well since you are so beautiful now, you had to be a gorgeous child."

"So I went from gorgeous to beautiful....isn't that a step down?"

"Not what I meant baby."

"I know. I miss you stud."

"I miss you too. The days are winding down and you'll be here soon."

"Not soon enough though."

"Don't make this any harder than it is baby."

"So, was there a reason you called?"

"I just wanted to hear your voice. It's been a few days since we last talked and the days aren't moving fast enough for me either."

"So just call to make us both realize how many days are left....nice work there Crosby."

"Well we could make each other feel better?"

"I'm listening..."

"How about" just then they both heard a beep "damn it, baby hold on for a minute ok?"

"I'm not going anywhere stud." Karen heard him click over and she moved the box, laying down on the bed. She was already in one of his t-shirts and a pair of shorts, so it was easy access for what she knew he wanted to happen.

Sidney clicked back over to Karen after 5 minutes had gone by "don't hate me baby" he started "it's my dad and I can't get rid of him."

"I don't hate you stud and it's ok. There's always another night. Go take care of what you need to."

"Yeah that and then I will definitely have to take care of something else when I'm done."

"Just think of me when you do."

"Always. I love you baby."

"I love you too stud. Talk to you soon." They hung up and Karen laid there feeling a little anxious. She always had a back up plan for when Sidney was gone and went to her goodie bag to relieve what he riled up within her, thinking of nothing but him the whole time.