by S Lee

Disclaimers: See Part 1.

Your feedback is very welcome and appreciated. You can contact me at: s.lee@e-scribblers.com

Copyright © 2004 by S Lee. All Rights Reserved.

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Two weeks after her last show, Kat stepped off her label's private plane and waved at Beth and her daughters who waited for her. Scout ran to her mother, who dropped her bags and wrapped the little girl tightly in her arms.

"Hey there, baby girl."

"Hi, Mom. Welcome home."

Kat laughed. "Thank you, sweetheart."

Presley walked up and hugged her mother as well. "Hey, Mom."

"Hey there, squirt."

Even Beth had a smile for her. She put her arms around the singer in a friendly hug. Kat nearly began to cry as she felt the woman she loved in her arms. They held one another for an extra few seconds. Kat noticed a change in Beth's breathing as they embraced.

Beth, filled with conflicting emotions, stepped out of the singer's arms and without facing her. "Come on guys. Kat, I'll show you the house. It's nearly done. The builder said they would be finished in a month. I think you'll like it."

The family walked toward Beth's SUV. Kat turned to Beth. "What about the soundproof room for the recording studio?"

"They were given strict instructions about it. It's one of the things they're finishing now. How have you been, Kat?"

The singer smiled. "I'm good. I'm excited about being home. I've missed this town. We were happy here."

The foursome climbed into the large vehicle. Kat turned to her ex-wife. "How about you? How is the semester so far?"

"I'm doing well. The semester starts this week, and I'm teaching a course on American women writers. You know how much I love that topic."

The singer smiled, "Yes, I do." Kat turned to her girls in the back. "How's school going for you two? Do you still like this new school?"

Presley answered. "Yeah. We're getting ready for UIL competition this spring in Choir and the spring musical. We're doing Oklahoma. Could you help with that?"

The singer grinned. "I'd love to. I was in that one many years ago in high school; I played Aunt Eller."

The family laughed in response.

The teenager smiled back at her mother. "Thanks."

Kat asked her younger daughter, "What about you, Miss Scout? How do you like school?"

"It's fun. I'm writing for the school newspaper this semester. I've been studying for the Spelling Bee. If I win in my class, I go up against the other fourth grade class winners at my school. If I win that, I go up against all the fourth grade winners in the city."

Kat grinned at her enthusiastic daughter. "Well, honey, I think you're going to do great and I'll even help you study."

"Will you come watch me?"

The singer nodded. "Yep. I will be at everything."

Beth smiled. "Have you been going to your meetings?"

"Yes. Twice a week and more if I need it. There's one tonight."

The professor looked at Kat. "I'm glad to hear that. So what do you plan to do now that you're retired?"

"I plan on staying sober and being a mom. I've been writing like crazy. I'm going to work on getting the recording studio together."

"That sounds good. I have some pictures for us to go through. After we see your place, you can come over and have dinner and you can pick out the photos you want. Plus, I'm sure you want to spend some time with the girls. Are you staying at your parents' place?"

Kat nodded. "Tonight only. I'm going to get a hotel suite until the house is finished. Dinner sounds nice, but I need to leave around eight. I have a meeting I want to go to."

They pulled up to the expansive ranch and Beth used her remote control to open the gates. Beth drove down the gravel road between her house and Kat's. She stopped in front of the nearly finished structure. Kat stepped out of the truck and assessed the large house. Beth came up behind her.

"So what do you think?"

Kat felt sad when she realized she would be living in this big house all alone. "It's great. I have no idea how I'm going to decorate. You've been decorating our homes for the last twenty years."

"I can help you if you want."

"I'd appreciate it."

Kat walked around the rest of the house and spoke to the builder and the men and women working on her house. After inspecting the structure in progress, she and her family went to Beth's house. The teacher opened the door and started walking up the stairs to her room. "Kat, would you start a fire in the fireplace? It's chilly in here. I'll get the pictures so we can start looking through them. Would you like some hot chocolate?"

"That sounds perfect. Hey, Presley, go get your guitar and mandolin. We'll play a little."

The teenager walked up the stairs. "'Kay."

Kat started a fire and Presley brought her guitar and mandolin from upstairs. The singer took the mandolin. "Is your guitar in tune?"

Presley nodded. "It should be. I tuned it to the piano this morning." She strummed the strings and heard that they were in tune.

"Good. Give me an E." The girl played the string and her mother tuned the mandolin. "Alright. Let's do "Love Like This." You wanna sing the harmony or melody?"

"I'll do melody."

The teenager started playing and her mother joined in. The girl began to sing the upbeat tune.

The mother and daughter looked up when they heard clapping. Beth and Scout were applauding and smiling.

Beth spoke, "I love hearing the two of you play together like that."

Presley smiled. "Yeah, but I'll never be able to play as good as she does."

The singer laughed. "Honey, I think you're going to be better than your old Mom. Give it time."

Beth spoke to her daughters, "I have hot chocolate in the kitchen for you two. Presley, take your mandolin and guitar back to your room." She handed a steaming cup of cocoa to Kat, who was sitting on the floor in front of the fireplace with her back against the couch.

Kat looked up at the blonde and smiled. "Thanks."

Beth returned the smile and set her cup down. She went to pick up a large Tupperware container and some photo albums. "We have a ton of pictures to go through. We won't have time to go through them all today, but we're not in a hurry. I thought you'd like to have some to start with."

"I would, thanks."

The women didn't see the two girls watching them and whispering. The older girl leaned down to her sister. "Look, they're smiling and getting along. Let's leave them alone and go upstairs."

The Scout nodded. When they reached the upstairs, the young blonde looked up at her sister. "Do you think they'll ever get back together?"

Presley shrugged her shoulders. "I don't know. But I hope so. I think they still love each other."

"I hope so too."

The girls made themselves scarce while their mothers went through the old photos. The former couple laughed and shared old memories.

Kat pointed at the wedding photo. "Oh, my God! Were we ever that young?"

Beth laughed. "Yes. We were only twenty. All of our friends helped us fix up the back yard. You looked like Elvis with your black suit with that gold lame` jacket. You were breathtaking."

"Your mother nearly had a fit because you were barefoot. You were the most beautiful woman I had ever seen." Kat brushed her hand through Beth's hair. "You still are."

Beth shook her head and gently removed the singer's hand. "Please, don't."

"I'm sorry 'Scilla. It's hard for me. You've been my lover for twenty-three years. We've been separated for seven months. It's hard for me to sit here with you and not touch you. I still love you baby."

"Kat, we can't do this. It's over. We aren't together anymore. This is hard for me too. I'm so proud of you, getting yourself together and moving here to be with the girls. You look wonderful and I will always love you. It's taken us seven months to establish a friendship. Honestly, I need you in my life. You are the person who knows me better than anyone and you are the other mother of my children. But I can't go there again. It was too hard and the hurt is still there, although it's not nearly as bad. I need you in my life but I can't be your lover anymore."

Kat began sobbing. "I don't think I can do this. I feel like I'm dying inside."

Beth rocked her, holding her tightly. "I know. I was dying for two years."

"I'm sorry baby. I'm so, so sorry. Today in my house, I realized that I haven't lived alone since I was nineteen. I can't believe I ruined our relationship. Can you ever forgive me?"

The blonde looked in her eyes. "I forgive you Kat. Be my best friend for the rest of my life?"

Kat held her hands. "If you'll be mine?"

Beth smiled sympathetically. "I will."

Kat tried to smile through her tears. "So will I."

They continued going through the rest of the pictures. Beth held up a photo of Kat and Presley onstage when their daughter was four. The little tyke was up on stage standing next to her mother, singing and playing a small guitar. Both wore black leather jackets. "Oh, look how cute you two were. She was and is the spitting image of you."

Kat laughed. "You took that one. That was in Montreal when you were pregnant with Scout, right before we moved to Nashville. Can I have this one?"

Beth smiled. "Of course."

The two women spent the afternoon laughing, crying and reliving old memories. Kat looked at a picture of Beth in their bed, holding a newborn Scout. "I love this picture. She's such a beautiful little girl. I was so afraid I would miss her being born. There I was, backstage at the Opry, and you went into labor."

Beth laughed. "My mother and I watched you on TV as I was doing my breathing, waiting for the midwife and nurse. You had the strangest expression on your face. I think you played your songs twice as fast as normal."

Kat shook her head. "But, I got there. I think I was more nervous when she was born. When Presley was born, we were at least in a hospital. Scout was so little and sweet. She had strawberry-blonde hair just like yours. She's had me wrapped around her finger ever since."

Beth smiled. "I was sometimes a little jealous. I would wake up at night and you weren't in bed. I'd get up to look for you and find you slow dancing with her in your arms. You were usually singing Van Morrison or the Beatles."

Kat grinned softly at the memory. "'Blackbird.' I used to sing 'Blackbird' to her. Occasionally, you'd come join us and the three of us would slow dance in her room in the middle of the night."

They talked for hours, purging themselves of some of the pain that had been building for so long. They even made dinner, sharing more memories and laughter. Afterward, Kat grabbed her bag of photos. "So what kind of visitation do I get?"

Beth smiled. "Let's start with dinner once a week, and every other weekend they can stay with you. You're doing such a great job maintaining your sobriety and if this works, then you can start picking the girls up from school soon. That is, if they would like that." Beth turned to her daughters, who were clearing the dishes. Both girls grinned and nodded their heads. "I'll walk you out." Kat hugged and kissed her two daughters.

Beth faced the singer. "I think it's great that you're going to these meetings. It was nice spending today with you. It's been a long time since we've had so much fun together."

Kat nodded. "Yes, it has. Thanks for everything. Would you and the girls like to go do something tomorrow afternoon?"

"Sure. It's supposed to be cold, so why don't we go to a movie or bowling?"

The singer grinned. "I'd like that, friend."

Beth reached up to kiss her on the cheek. "Have a good night, friend."

Kat arrived at the meeting, poured a cup of coffee and sat down. The meeting began and she listened to other people speak and tell their stories. She stood up and introduced herself. "Hi. My name is Kat and I'm an alcoholic. I've been sober for seven months, one week, and three days. Alcohol cost me my partner and nearly cost me my children. When I was drunk, my wife caught me with another woman. My thirteen-year old daughter wouldn't speak to me. I broke my nine-year old daughter's heart. I think that's what led me to seek help. I was afraid of hurting my daughters even more than I already had. So, I checked into a rehab center. I'm spending every minute of every day focused on my sobriety."

Late that night on her parents' back porch, Kat played her guitar and thought about all the pictures and her past with Beth. She began to write.

As she was finishing her song, writing out some final touches, her father walked out the sliding glass doors. Kat smiled at her father. "Hi, Dad. I'm not keeping you up, am I?"

The older man returned the smile. "No, sweetheart. Your mother and I were watching Leno. You know, it's not the same since Carson left."

Kat chuckled. "I guess not."

"Do you mind if I join you?"

"No, go right ahead. I was just out here thinking."

"About Beth and the girls?"

"Yeah. I really messed things up. I'll tell ya, I never thought this would be my life."

"I understand where you're coming from. I want to tell you something. When you were little, about three I guess, your mother left me and took you with her."

Shocked, Kat said, "What? Why?"

"I'm an alcoholic. One night, I was drunk and raging and knocking things over. You got out of bed and looked at me and your mother with such fear. You wrapped your arms around your mother's legs. You trembled. I tried to comfort you and you wouldn't let me touch you. That was a hard thing for me to take. Your mother took you and went to your grandparents that night. I got help and I've been sober ever since."

Kat looked at her father with tears in her eyes. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"I was so grateful that you forgot. I didn't want to remind you of something that horrible. Maybe if I had, you wouldn't have taken the path you did. I did you an injustice."

Kat shook her head. "I guess that makes sense. Why did you let me play in all those bars then?"

"You had a gift. At that time, it was the only way for you to really start your career. Besides, you were a very determined child. If I had told you not to, you would have snuck out and done it anyway. Parents make mistakes. I was in denial about what you would be doing in those bars. I was afraid to go because I was worried about my own sobriety. Your cousin, Jeff was in your band. He was an adult, and I trusted him to know better. I thought he'd watch over you."

"It's alright. What's done is done. I only hope I can make it up to my kids."

"You've taken responsibility for your actions and your family. I'm proud of you."

"Thanks, Dad."

Kat's father nodded and stood to go back in the house. "Goodnight, Kat."

"'Night. I appreciate the talk."

"You're welcome."

Kat exhaled deeply as she considered her father's words.

Continued in Part 4

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