Page 46 of The Only Shot that Mattered

“Mommy’s in the guest room. I told her I wanted to be in here with you tonight, if that’s okay?” Damien looked at Kenna, who immediately moved to get off the bed, her heart aching. When Skylar realized Kenna was trying to get out of the bed, sheheld her hands up. “No… Kenna, please… I mean.” She cleared her throat and averted her red eyes. “I meant I wanted to be in here… withyou.”

Kenna’s eyes grew wide, and an unexpected tear fell from her eye. Wordlessly, Kenna held her arms out. Skylar climbed onto the bed and fell into Kenna’s arms before a sob rocked them both. Kenna didn’t even know who it came from because at that moment, they were one. Never in a million years did Kenna want Skylar to understand her trauma, but now she did, and she always would.

Damien wrapped them both in his arms, and together, they laid down. Sandwiched between them, Kenna felt safe. Damien held her tightly, kissing her temple repeatedly while he reached for Skylar’s hand and squeezed it. Kenna let Skylar cry in her arms. It was an intimate family moment.Family.Kenna had found a family. No matter how rocky her and Skylar’s relationship had been up until now, that day officially made them family, and Kenna knew no matter what happened with Damien, she would forever love them.

After their tears died down, the sleep that had been tugging on her for the past couple of hours finally claimed her.

When Kenna foundout Skylar never watchedFamily Matters, she knew she had to remedy that immediately. Over the past couple of weeks, that was pretty much all they did. Kenna made sure Skylar did all her schoolwork. It helped that she was home schooled, but the rest of their days were spent lounging in bed and watching old sitcoms.

They didn’t talk much, but their bond had grown to be rock solid. A therapist might say it was an unhealthy attachment built on trauma, but Kenna didn’t look at it that way. All she saw was herself when she looked at Skylar, and she knew she was the only person that could help her come out of this trauma better. Better than she had. She wouldn’t allow Skylar to wallow indoors for much longer. That pattern was the one Kenna fell into, and since meeting Damien, she realized how unhealthy that was. No, Skylar would be better than her.

Now, she had to mentally prepare for that because if she was going to force Skylar to start living life again, then she knew she would need to too.

Her thoughts were interrupted when Skylar spoke just above the low volume of the TV. “Mommy said you survived a school shooting.” Like Kenna said, she and Skylar hadn’t done much talking, so her statement rendered Kenna speechless. “Is that how you knew what to do?”

Skylar turned to face Kenna. They typically bounced around between Skylar’s room and Damien’s room. That day, they were in Damien’s room lying on their backs with their heads propped up by pillows.

When Kenna finally tilted her head to look at her, she felt a lump form in her throat. “I guess,” she muttered.

Skylar nodded. “I never apologized.”

Kenna’s brows pulled in and she sat up while muting the TV. “What do you have to apologize for?”

Skylar fidgeted with her hands, and Kenna’s heart sank. She recognized that tick. It was one she developed long ago. Of course, many people did that when they had uncomfortable conversations, but something about Skylar doing it made Kenna’s heart ache.

Skylar sighed. “I was trying to get you in trouble with my dad. I mean, I liked Big Len…” Kenna watched patiently as Skylar’s eyes misted over while she struggled to continue, but she finally did. “I really did like him, so I thought I could kill two birds with one stone. I thought if my dad found out you brought me to that theater to meet a boy…”

“He might break up with me,” Kenna finished for her before letting out a long sigh. “Skylar?—”

“Thank you,” Skylar interrupted, “and I’m sorry. It was my fault we were even there…”

Kenna surprised them both when she laughed. “I’m sorry.” She covered her mouth, but another laugh escaped her. “It’s not funny. I’m sorry. I just…” Another giggle fell from her lips, and it didn’t take long for the funny bug to infect Skylar too.

Before long, they were both rolling around on the bed laughing, and then their laughing turned into pained cries. The switch happened so suddenly for them both, but their tears felt therapeutic as they released from their souls.

Finally, Kenna was able to pull herself together enough to put her arm around Skylar, who easily found comfort in laying her head on Kenna’s lap.

“It wasn’t your fault.” Kenna’s voice sounded hoarse after laughing and crying so hard. “Sometimes, God uses shitty situations to teach us lessons. I don’t know what yours is, and you may not know yet either, but one day you will.”

Skylar was silent for a moment before she asked, “What was your lesson?”

Kenna stilled. Her mind went straight to her brother. She envisioned his smile. His laugh. The way he used to act like he was the older sibling. Anger filled her first, but then a small smile played on her lips as a couple of fat tears fell from her eyes.

She had a lot of time to think about why her trauma had to be hers. Even with this new level of trauma, she knew the lesson was an extension to the first one.

“My brother died in the school shooting, and I was never the same after.”

Skylar shifted and looked up at Kenna. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know. How old was he?”

“Fourteen.”

“Not that much older than me,” Skylar commented sadly.

“No,” Kenna agreed in a whisper.

“I was angry for a long time. I think that’s okay—to be angry. I messed up when I allowed my depression and anger to takeover my life. That day all those years ago was a lesson for me, but I didn’t understand it until I met your father.” Kenna softly smiled down at Skylar. “It took too many years to understand that I should have been cherishing life, Skylar, and loving the people who loved me extra hard because life is short. I know people always say that and it doesn’t truly resonate with a person unless they’ve lost someone, especially when they were young, but it’s true all the same. I wasted a lot of my life not understanding that lesson, but your dad woke me up. This time—at the theater—I learned the lesson a lot quicker.”

Skylar looked completely invested in what Kenna had to say. “What is it? What’s the lesson?”

---