Chapter 48: A gift
Chapter 48
Katherine had been doing everything in her power to avoid Aaron.
She couldn’t look him in the eyes—not after what she did. Not after sitting in that bathtub, his hoodie clutched to her chest, picturing him and touching herself like a shameless woman.
Every time she passed him in the hallway or heard his footsteps approaching, her chest would seize as her throat would dry up like a thirsty woman in the desert. And her eyes would dart away in guilt and shame.
She had kept her head down, pretended to be busy, always finding something else to do, somewhere else to be. Anything to keep from meeting his gaze and thinking of him.
Katherine felt like she had used him—his scent, his memory, his presence—as her source of relief, and now the shame hung heavy on her skin like okirika. She’d assaulted him emotionally.
But her avoidance didn’t last long when Jasmine bounced into the kitchen with her usual determined grin on her face while Aaron was busy with his work.
"Mummy, let’s buy a gift for Uncle Piano!"
Katherine blinked, dumbfounded at her daughter. Where did that idea come from? "A gift?" she asked slowly, tilting her head.
Jasmine nodded eagerly, her eyes practically glowing with excitement. "Yes! For always being nice, for playing with us, for buying us gifts, and for loving us also."
Katherine smiled queasily at Jasmine’s reason. She wasn’t yet ready to face Aaron. As her mouth half-opened to protest, Hanith walked in quietly behind his sister, nodding slowly in agreement. Although her mind twisted with resistance, with her babies’ eyes, Katherine found herself smiling—a small, reluctant thing—and saying, "Okay. Let’s go."