Chapter 5

On the trip back home the girls both fell asleep. After all, it had been a very long day for both of them. Looking at Emily, Mark could see that she didn’t have her bikini top on under her light-colored shirt. Mark had a faint smile all the way home as with the girls sleeping, he had some time for serious thinking. He realized that he was head over heels in love with Emily and he knew that he didn’t want to live the rest of his life without her. The thing he worried about was how she would react to his biggest secret. He figured that Kat had given her the same story about his past as he had given her. Problem was that this story wasn’t complete. He had edited out some very important details because he still hadn’t come to terms with the complete truth himself.

Arriving home, he carried both ladies into the house, putting Kat in her bed and Emily in the guest bedroom. He took a shower and went to bed as well; the boat and fish could wait till morning. The next morning Mark was up at his usual time of 5:30 and he started the coffee. By six neither of the girls were up yet so Mark put on one of his favorite pieces of music and started breakfast. As the song neared the end, he cranked up the stereo system to full blast, and the whole house vibrated to the sounds of the 1812 overture. This woke the girls up as he knew it would. Both were blurry-eyed as they walked into the kitchen and Mark greeted them both with a mug of coffee, a plate of bacon, eggs, and toast, and a shit-eating grin.

“Grins like that should be illegal this early in the morning, Dad.”

“I agree,” said Emily.

“Early in the morning! Ha! Half the day is gone already!”

“Shut up,” both girls said in unison.

Upon drinking her coffee Emily sputtered:

“What is this poison?!?!”

“Coffee”

Emily wasn’t sure of that. She had drunk some strong stuff while in Afghanistan but this stuff was lethal.

“Milk is on the bottom shelf of the fridge and the sugar is in the cupboard above the coffee maker,” said Mark.

“Thank you.”

When Kat tried it, her response was:

“What the hell Dad. Why is the coffee so weak? Instant coffee is stronger than this stuff.” Emily just looked at both of them. “So, dad, why did you wake us up at the ass crack of dawn?”

“Well, we have a lot to do today. Not only the regular farm chores but the fish and boat need to be cleaned. I figure all that will take till noon. This afternoon I have something that I want you and Emily to see and no I’m not telling so please don’t ask. I will tell you that comfortable clothes and shoes will be needed.”

Following breakfast and the girls throwing some clothes on, Kat went to do her chores while Emily went with Mark to clean the boat and fish. Mark had made this suggestion so he could talk to Emily without interruption. As they started to clean, Emily could sense something was wrong but couldn’t make sense of it. Finally, as they were almost done, she asked:

“Mark, what’s wrong? I can see that you’re as happy as I am but you also seem nervous.”

“What’s wrong is that I’m falling head over heels in love with you but I’m terrified that once you learn about my past you will leave me. I know that Kat told you about most of my past.”

“Most of your past?” Emily had learned long ago not to question Mark or Kat’s assumptions about people. Neither one was ever wrong, it seemed.

“Yes, there was a couple of key facts I left out of the story I told Kat. Mostly because I couldn’t face them at the time and to this day, I still have a lot of trouble with them.”

“What is it, Mark? I love you and nothing can change that.”

“Save that thought until after our trip this afternoon.”

Now Emily was deeply concerned. What secret did Mark hide from everyone? How could it be worse than killing two people even though they deserved it?

After the chores were done, lunch ate, and everyone showered they climbed back into Mark’s truck. Nobody said a word as the tension was so thick that it would have taken a torch to cut through and the look on Mark’s face said that he didn’t want to talk anyway. They traveled for hours, finally arriving at a cemetery. After helping Kat and Emily out, all he said was:

“Follow me please.”

The trio walked past row after row of graves finally coming to a stop in front of a stone with two names on it: Charles and Martha Schneider. Mark didn’t say anything to the girls, instead, all of his attention was focused on the stone.

“Hi, sorry I haven’t been able to visit you two for a while. I was burned badly and lost a leg in an industrial accident. But I’m glad that happened even though I lost many friends from work. Because if I hadn’t gotten burned pulling guys out then I would have never met the goddess standing behind me. Yep, her name is Dr. Emily O’Neal, she’s a trauma surgeon, and yes, I’m head over heels in love with her. Kat is doing well in school as always and much to my terror she’s about to start driving legally. Ya I know, God help me. Right? I love both of you and I miss you more. I wish that you could have met Kat and Emily for they are both very special people and they mean more to me than anybody else in the world. I would gladly kill or be killed to protect them. I’m sorry I can’t stay longer but I need to stop and say hi to the other special person and then I need to get home so I can get some sleep. I get to go back to work tomorrow. I promise that I’ll be able to stop by and see you two more often now.”

At this Mark kissed his fingertips, ran them across the names that were carved in the stone, and quietly walked off.

“Yes ladies, they’re my real parents,” he said without turning around.

Emily and Kat were both stunned. Neither had even seen this side of Mark. Kat started after Mark but Emily kneeled next to the stone and whispered:

“Don’t worry, I’ll take the best care of him I can because I feel the same way about him.”

Emily stood up and feeling at peace with the world turned to follow Mark and Kat. Mark walked and walked, finally coming to a stop in front of a simple stone with a single name on it. He didn’t say a word but fell to his knees and started crying hard. For the second time during this visit Emily and Kat were stunned. Then they read the stone and they understood:

Susan C. Schneider

Born 6, January 1987

Died 20, October 2005

It took the girls a minute to figure out what was going on and when they did, they gasped. This was Mark’s big sister and the girl that he was forced to rape and impregnate. Moving as one Emily and Kat kneeled on either side of Mark. Emily put an arm around him, hugged him, and started to cry as well while Kat rubbed his back. It was no wonder he hid this from her for so long. For one of the few times in her life, Kat was at a total loss of words. Nothing she could think of sounded right or even good. Finally, Mark quietly stood up, helped the girls up, and started back toward the truck. As they were walking back a very cold wind blew through the cemetery causing both girls to shiver. It was late July after all. Mark gave a sad smile and said so quietly that Emily could just barely make it out: “Yep they’re great ain’t they.” Again, Emily didn’t know who Mark was talking to but she knew better than to ask. The trip there was like a party when compared to the trip back. Emily and Kat didn’t know what if anything to say and Mark wasn’t talking. Getting back to the house, Mark shut the truck off and just sat there.

“Do you hate me, Emily?”

Emily just got out of the truck, walked around, opened Mark’s door, grabbed his head, and pulled his face to where it was right in front of hers. By this time Mark was in tears, and Emily was pissed off more than she had even been in her life.

“Don’t you dare even think that again Mark Schneider!” Emily hissed “I love you with ALL my heart and mind. Nothing can change that. Hell, I started falling in love with you that first time I walked into your room at the hospital. You are the best man I have ever met and for the first time, I understand why my fiancé was ripped away from me. It was so I could meet and fall in love with you. You are the best man I have ever met. Your strong both physically and mentally, although I never realized just how strong you are mentally. Not many people could keep going after the hell that you have been through. You do and say the right things out of habit, not out of trying to impress people. I truly hope that we can grow old together while watching our kids and grandkids grow up. You are truly the best of the best and you’re mine. I mean if you still want me.”

Mark didn’t say a thing. He did give Emily a small smile as he gently picked her up and carried her toward the house. The couple was so involved with each other that they didn’t notice the tears of joy on Kat’s face. Not only had her dad finally open up to her, but Emily and Mark had finally confessed their true feelings for each other. Kat finally had a whole family again. Sure, it wasn’t official but still, they had just become a family and that was what Kat had always wanted, a complete family. Kat did the evening chores and went inside. There was no sign of Emily or her dad, but his door was closed and she thought that she could hear talking and giggling. At this, she smiled, ate, took a shower, and went to bed. It had been another long and draining day.