Chapter 8 - Moving out

The next day, Kelsey woke up at seven in the morning to get ready before Mason came. She took a bath and made sure she had everything she needed when she moves in with him.

Yesterday, when she told her mother that she had to moved out, Hilda almost had a heart attack. It took Kelsey half an hour before fully calming her down. Hilda, of course, was against the idea of it but she knew how important it was for her daughter. She was devastated that her only daughter was leaving home. She really wasn't ready for all of these, but she knew that at one point in her life, her kids will grow up and leave. She was just too scared to let go.

"Are you sure you have everything?" Hilda asked as she watched her daughter from the door frame of her room.

"Yeah, I think I have everything. Besides, I'm only going to be gone for a short period of time, it's not like I'm actually going to go through this marriage." She explained as Hilda helped her close her luggages.

Hilda let out a sighed. "What about Kyle? What am I suppose to tell him if he ask why you haven't visited him for a while?"

"I'll drop by at the hospital today. I'll tell him the same thing I told Ace. I'm sure he'll understand." She said as she played in her head what she was going to tell her little brother. Last night, when she told Ace that she was leaving for a while, he cried and cried. Kelsey was very hesitant and was having second thoughts because she knew she couldn't be away from her family for a long time, but she had to. She was doing it for them anyway.

Hilda nodded and tears started forming in her eyes. "Take care of yourself." She told her.

"Mom, please no more water-works." Kelsey begged as she pulled her mother into a tight hug.

"I'm going to miss you, sweetheart." She said kissing the top of her head.

"I'm going to miss you too, mom." Kelsey replied back and kissed her on the cheek.

"Just promise me that when you return, everything will go back to normal and you'll be all right?" Hilda knew that her daughter was very innocent like a baby. She knew that she had to protect her heart because it was very easy to play with her feelings.

"I promised, mom." She assured her with a smile.

"Okay." She said standing up. "Well, you better get yourself together. I'm sure he'll be here any minute."

As if on queue, the buzzer rang in the living room and Hilda clicked on the 'Open' button allowing the door downstairs to open.

After a few seconds, Mason knocked on the door rhythmically. Kelsey answered the door and let him in. Hilda was already in the living room and Mason eyed the middle-aged woman. She was the complete replica of Kelsey. Both had the same hair colour, chocolate brown eyes, and shaped nose.

"You must be Mrs. Parker." Mason started. "It's a pleasure to meet you." He said extending his hand out.

"Nice to meet you too, Mason King." She said politely with a smile.

Kelsey felt the tension and awkwardness in the room so she decided to break it off and clasped her hands together. "Okay, well, why don't I just gather my bags and we can go?" She said as Mason nodded in reply. She made her way to her bedroom to get her belongings.

"Mason." Hilda called out to him once Kelsey was gone. Mason glanced at her nervously with sweaty palms. He didn't even know why he was nervous. He was a businessman and it was normal to meet other people, but he felt as if he needed to make a good impression to this woman.

"Ma'am?" He answered.

"I'll be honest with you, I really don't like this set up. But my daughter wants to earn the money for her future and the future of her brothers." She started. "I don't think she knows what she's getting herself into." She said as Ricky's words pushed against Mason's head. It was like Kelsey's mother and Ricky were on the same page saying the exact same thing but with different wordings.

"Kelsey has a very a soft and kind heart. It's very easy to manipulate her and play with her feelings. She can be easily taken advantage of without her knowing until she's hurting. And I'm her mother, and a mother never wants to see their daughter hurting. Be sensitive with her and be careful with her heart. I don't know what I'll do if she comes home one day all broken. And you don't want to know what I'm capable of doing." She threatened him as he stood on the spot frozen.

Mason was beyond shocked. His eyes were wide in fright. He didn't know what to say to her. He knew that she was just doing the typical speech of a parent to their daughter's boyfriend. Usually, the father is the one doing all the talking but judging from the point that Mason hadn't seen a father figure in the house and Kelsey never mentioned her dad, he assumed that he was a very touchy subject. Mason didn't really understand what Hilda was blabbering about. It wasn't like Kelsey might fall in love with him and vice versa. Right?

Because Mason didn't know what to say, he just nodded his head and he was so relieved when Kelsey came out with bags and luggages in her hands. "Let me help you with that." He insisted as they went back to her room and bring more bags out. He started carrying them downstairs to his car with the help of Kelsey.

It didn't take long 'til all her bags were in the trunk of the car. They were in the apartment and Mason was carrying the last bag that she had and waited for Kelsey to say her goodbyes.

"Take care of yourself and always be careful." Her mother reminded her and pulled her into a hug. "I love you." She said kissing her temple.

"I will, and I love you too. Don't stress yourself too much and take care of yourself and my brothers for me." Kelsey said kissing her cheek and Hilda nodded.

"Don't go!" A loud cry echoed through the room as a blonde hair little boy ran up to Kelsey and hugged her legs. Mason eyed the little boy with chubby cheeks and bloodshot eyes. Tears were flowing down his cheeks as he continued to cry out loud.

"Aw, Ace. We talked about this last night, remember?" Kelsey asked softly as she bent down to his level. "I'm only going to be gone for a while. I promise I'll be back as soon as I can." She promised him wiping his tears with her hands.

"But I don't want you to leave!" He cried once more as he wrapped his tiny little arms around her neck. "I love you Kelsey!" He said hugging her tighter.

Mason watched them in amusement. He never knew that Kelsey was so good with kids. But he wasn't surprised since she was kind-hearted and very gentle. The scene in front of him touched his heart making him think of having kids with her. Taking himself off guard, he shook his head furiously and snapped out of it. 'What was I thinking?' He thought to himself. 'Kids, with Kelsey? Just plain bizarre.'

"I love you too. I promise I'll visit you!" She said as she stared at him in the eye in all honesty.

"You will?" He sniffed.

"Of course I will." She assured him with a smile. "Now stop crying. Since I'm not going to be here, you have to take care of mom, okay?" She said as he nodded his head. "And you have to behave yourself." He nodded once again. "Good, now I have to go. I love you!" She said hugging him for the last time and kissed him repeatedly on his cheeks.

Ace hugged her back and once they pulled away, he ran to Hilda and spread his arms up. She carried him around his waist and sucked his thumb. "You better go, and don't forget to visit him." She reminded Kelsey making Mason curious on who she was referring to.

"Alright, see you soon." She waved goodbye. Mason nodded his head towards Hilda in respect and closed the door shut an followed Kelsey from behind.

When they were in the car all ready to go, Mason had this urged to ask her if she was fine. "Are you going to be okay?" He asked her as he ignited his car.

"Yeah." She nodded. "But first, I need to visit him in the hospital. Do you mind if we go for a while?" She asked him as he nodded his head in response. He was still bothered not knowing who 'him' was. 'Was it her father?' He thought before driving to the hospital.