Run, Girl (If You Can)

Chapter 226: I'm So Glad You're Still Here

The muffins were just coming out of the oven when Aaron came down the stairs, rubbing his eyes.

"What on earth are you doing baking at six in the morning?" he asked with a yawn.

"Couldn't sleep," Keeley said casually. "Why are you up?"

"Considering how early I fell asleep, I've already gotten about ten hours of rest. I feel much better now. Can I have one of those?"

"I made them for my dad but yeah. Wait a few minutes though, they're still hot."

He walked behind her and started the coffeemaker before sitting down and waiting for it. "I thought you were seeing him tomorrow."

She spread butter over the tops of the muffins while they were still hot so it would melt in. Nothing was better than a warm buttery muffin. Unfortunately, her dad would have to accept cold buttery muffins because they will have cooled considerably by the time she got to Brooklyn. Oh well.

"He's not doing so well these days," she admitted, refusing to say the reason why. "I'm going to spend the night over there so he doesn't have to be alone today or tomorrow. Can you feed Molly for me?"

"Yeah, I can do that." Aaron paused before speaking again. "You're a really good daughter."

Keeley was surprised. He had never told her anything like that before. Though it fit with what he had been doing lately, saying anything that came to mind.

"Thanks. I try but I'm not sure it's enough. I'm all he has left and I'm so busy all the time…"

"I'm sure he understands. I bet he's really proud of you."

She smiled. That was exactly what she needed to hear. He had gotten so much better at relating to people.

She handed him a muffin. "Here, they're best when they're warm."

He bit into it gratefully as the coffee machine dinged. He asked her if she wanted some too and got out another mug when she nodded. As she took a sip of her coffee, she noticed something that nearly made her spit it out.

Aaron was using the dumb Sharpie mug she made for him for Christmas. Now that she thought about it…she had seen him use it two other times this week as well. It must be his favorite.

Keeley's heart skipped a beat as she remembered how happy he had been to receive it. And the under the mistletoe kiss that came afterward. She gave it to him because she thought he might find it funny but had no idea he would treasure it so much.

The guilt she felt earlier came creeping back. What was she going to do about him?

===

"Keeley, what are you doing here?" Robert asked in surprise as he sat on the couch watching baseball with his pajamas on.

"Bringing you muffins," she said cheerfully as she set them down on the table. "I'm going to stay here tonight so we'll be ready to go to the cemetery first thing in the morning."

He gave her a wry smile. "You're worried about your old man, aren't you? Really, I'm fine."

She sat down next to him and clasped his hands in hers. "I know you're not. When was the last time you got together with anyone from work or hung out with the neighbors? You're spending too much time by yourself."

Robert sighed. Either his daughter was omniscient or he had been too much of an open book. He had been distancing himself from everyone but it was only because he didn't want to burden them with his sadness.

"You're too smart for your own good. I've just…really been missing your mother lately. It would have been our 30th wedding anniversary this year but she's been gone nearly half that time."

Keeley wrapped her arms around him. He had loved Monica more than anything. Of course he would miss her.

She knew about her parents' love story: they had been next-door neighbors growing up. Robert was three years older but they were the closest in age in their entire building, which mostly consisted of senior citizens, so they spent a lot of time together.

They played together nearly every day from the time Robert was eight and Monica was five. She had been devastated when he went off to college in Pennsylvania and called and wrote him all the time. He proposed over Christmas break his senior year and they got married two weeks after he graduated.

He didn't just lose his wife; he lost his oldest friend. It wasn't terribly surprising he refused to date anyone.

"I'm sorry, Dad. I know it's not the same but I miss her too," Keeley said as she squeezed him tighter.

"No, it's not the same. You lost your mother. That's a whole other kind of pain. I know I could never make up for her not being there but I did my best."

"Don't talk like that! I never felt a lack of love at all. You're the best dad in the whole world," she said fiercely.

She felt a few of his tears fall onto her shoulder and her heart broke a little more. Wife and son. Mother and brother.

They had both lost so much but after all that Keeley went through later on she found it easier to accept. Her dad hadn't healed the same way she had. Living twice really put your problems in perspective.

"I don't know what I would do without you, honeybun," he said in a shaky voice as the tears continued to fall. "I'm so glad you're still here."

It crossed her mind that Aaron had lived through what would have been their 30th wedding anniversary alone too. He probably experienced something very similar to what her dad was feeling now. But her dad had her; he wasn't completely alone.

Aaron had nobody. How had he even been able to stand it?

"I'm not going anywhere," she reassured him. "I love you, Dad."

"I love you too."

Keeley patted him on the back and wiped away a few stray tears of her own. "Come on, let's get you some muffins. I did wake up early to make them after all."

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