Never Alone
“Here’s to the happy couple!” says the maid of honor as the wedding party raises their glasses to the newly weds. New to each other that is, this Rogers second marriage. His first wife passed away leaving him alone to raise two teenagers, a rebel son and a daughter following in her brother’s footsteps. The two are not very fond of Kate, their father’s new “hot” young wife. As Roger plants a big wet kiss on Kate’s cheek, his kids cringe and dramatically gag in disgust. Then they look at each other simultaneously and realize this is their new life, Kate will be moved in and playing the mother role in less than a week. Not only do they feel that their birth mother is irreplaceable, but the fact that Kate is almost half their father’s age creeps them out, lets just say they will not be well behaved step children.

Within a week Kate was a new wife and suddenly new mom, she did not know what she was in for. Blinded by her bliss failed to see the children’s hate for her. Marcus, Rogers’s first child, was a 19 year old college drop out druggy with no plans for the future. Bethany, Rogers’s second child, was a 17 year old who longed for her mother and resented Kate for marrying her father. Between Marcus’s rude comments, addiction and careless actions and Bethany’s refusal to accept Kate, or even talk to her, the family fell apart. Marcus is unlike Bethany because he did not care, but you can tell he was not fond of Kate and his fathers’ marriage, but his way of coping with it, or any problem at that, was smoking his multiple daily joints. Bethany on the other hand, built walls, shut her self away from the world and dealt with all her problems alone.
Kate had a feeling it would be hard but she started to wonder if marriage with Roger was a mistake, she noticed a change in his behavior since the honeymoon bliss wore off. He hadn’t been coming home a lot and when he does he showed no interest in the family tribulations. Kate felt alone. It’s not supposed to be like this? Where’s the newly wed happiness? Where’s my happy family? Did I make a mistake? She questioned it all.
Kate recognized that something was wrong, but when she woke up the next day in an empty bed and a note on the kitchen counter from Roger saying he left, and won’t be coming back her world crashed down on her. She was trapped in a house with two teenagers who despised her and hade absolutely no respect for her, yet she knew she couldn’t leave them. Why me? Kate questioned why all her friends were happily married with babies on the way and she found herself alone with Marcus and Bethany, who might as well just run away too.
She was sitting alone in the unpacked kitchen of her new house, but something was missing? Oh yeah, the perfect family she envisioned having, husband, gone, children, physically there, but mentally and emotionally gone. Kate put on the coffee, started to pour a bowl of cereal, and then it hit her. Marcus crept down the stairs to find his new step-mom head down on the kitchen island crying every tear left inside of her. But to Kate’s surprise, Marcus didn’t say a word, and just hugged her. A moment of kindness from the person she least expected it from in all of the chaos and sadness allows Kate to pull herself together.
Days went on, then weeks, soon months. Still no word from Roger, Marcus and Bethany had trouble coping with the fact that their own father could just walk out on them. But maybe that’s what brought Kate and the kids together, the pain and confusion of Rogers’s absence. Kate was down a husband, but up two kids that she started to have a strong, fun, and healthy relationship. Marcus eased up on his drug usage because he saw that he was setting a bad example for his little sister, and since their dad vanished, he was the only male role left in her life. Kate’s relationship with her step-children had blossomed into something she never expected, Bethany, the girl who locked herself in her room never saying a word, even started to come to Kate for advice. She still felt alone, wondered if Roger will ever return, not only to her, but to his own children. It’s funny how the loss of someone or something can bring people together and strengthen relationships.