Finding Home

Chapter Four

         Deborah knocked on the Kapshaw door.  Though the stress had lifted, she felt the undercurrent of nerves running along every inch of her.  She was going to meet her family.  After twenty-eight years, she would finally meet a large piece of the genetic puzzle.  She was done wondering if it mattered, meeting Gabe and Laney had meant more to her than she might have imagined starting out.  The Kapshaws mattered to her, one way or another.
         “There you are!” Laney greeted, her face lit with happiness and excitement.  “We’re so glad you could come.”
         “Oh, thanks.”
         “Come in, come in.  Let me take your coat.”  As Deborah pulled off her coat and gloves, she heard loud, boisterous conversation drifting from the hallway.
         Laney reached for Deborah’s hand and gave it a squeeze.  “I know it’s overwhelming at first, but you’ll get used to it.”
         “Uhuh.”
         As Mrs. Kapshaw led her back toward the living room, Deborah felt as if she was being lead to the lion’s den.  At the entrance, she felt herself hesitate, but Laney didn’t.
         “Here she is, everyone!”
         The room was full of people.  Fuller than she expected.  There was a toddler running around and an infant in a playpen, groups and couples of various ages scattered about the room.
         Deborah hadn’t any idea what she should do, but Laney took care of it all.
         “All right, we’ll do our best at introducing everyone, but I know you won’t catch it all on the first go around.”          
         Deborah swallowed and nodded hoping she didn’t look as frightened as she felt.
         “You’ve met Logan and that’s my youngest Evie.  Then we’ve got my niece and nephew-in-law Ella and Paul and their two children, Peach and Teddy is the one in the playpen.”
         Paul offered a hand to shake and Deborah obediently shook it, moving down the line.  Pretty soon she felt like she was on a conveyer belt of Kapshaws.
         “These are my two daughters Becca and Kayla.  Becca lives in town and Kayla is off at college.  Unfortunately, Doug couldn’t make it down, but you’ll meet him soon.  And this is my daughter Georgia and her fiancée-”
         “Josh McCalister?”
         Josh grinned.  “Nice to meet you Deborah.”
         “You play for the White Sox.”
         He chuckled.  “God, I love it when people say that.”
         Georgia rolled her eyes.  “Please do not add to his already inflated ego. One Gold Glove and the guy thinks he’s… really good or something.”
         Deborah smiled politely.  She couldn’t believe she was shaking the hand of a professional baseball player.  Hell, she was practically related to one.
         “I’ll forgive you for padding his ego if you promise to come to the wedding in February.  I am dead-set on having the whole family there.”
         Just a little shaken at being called family by everyone already, Deborah tried to keep her voice steady.  “Um… I’ll try.”
         “Good.  Now, Mom, can we eat?  I’m starving.”
         Laney rolled her eyes, patting Deborah on the shoulder.  “Sometimes I swear they were raised in the barn, not the house.  Come on everyone, let’s feed the herd.”
         Dinner was just as loud and boisterous as the living room had been.  It seemed a million conversations went on at once.  Evie and Logan giggled together, Paul and Ella worked together to keep their two children taken care of, Georgia and Josh teased, and Becca and Kayla seemed in charge of keeping Deborah in the conversation.
         After dinner, dessert was eaten in the living room with a fire crackling in the fireplace.  It seemed to be Georgia and Josh’s turn to keep Deborah involved and Josh told stories about baseball while Georgia largely made fun of him.  It wasn’t until Georgia got up to go the bathroom that Deborah noticed the cane and the very evident limp.
         “She was in an accident last year,” Josh offered, watching her walk out of the room.  “It was fairly serious, ended her playing career.”
         “What did she play?”
         “Soccer.”  His face was a mixture of love and sadness.  “She was the star player.  When we first met people were more likely to recognize her than me.”
         “What kind of accident.”
         “Hit by a truck on an icy night.  A freak accident no one could have predicted.  It’s been a hard year for us.  A really hard year.  That’s why she’s so deadest on having a big wedding.  We’re ready to do some celebrating and having some fun.”
         “I can imagine.”
         “You’ll soon find out that whether you want to be there or not, you will be.  Georgia doesn’t take no for an answer, and even though Mrs. Kapshaws a lot softer, she’s very crafty in not taking it for an answer either.”
         “I’ll be very glad to be there.”
         “Thanks.”
         “All right, everyone, we need to head out.  I have two very cranky babies on my hands,” Ella announced, gathering her small brood.
         “It was so nice to meet you, Deborah.  I hope you’ll stay so we can get to know you better.”
         “Thanks.”
         The young family left and soon it seemed as if everyone was ready to retire to their respective homes.  As much fun as Deborah had had, she was also glad to for it to be over.  It had been an exhausting day.
         Laney led her out to the hallway to get her coat. 
         “I’m so glad you came, Deborah.  I’m so…” Tearing up, Mrs. Kapshaw gave a watery laugh.  “I’m sorry for getting so emotional, it’s just that Gabe and I’ve been talking about you a lot lately and…”  She sniffled, offering Deborah her coat.  “You see, your father did a lot of rotten things to this family, things it hardly matters to get into, but not so good nonetheless.  Gabe did everything, everything to help Roger. So did your Grandmother and… it never mattered.”
         Mrs. Kapshaw took a deep breath.  “You mean so much to Gabe.  Seeing what a wonderful young woman you’ve become—so poised and accomplished, it eases some of the pain of losing Roger.  I don’t know if you can make sense out of it, but it means something good came out of Roger’s life.  And we’re so glad you came into ours to show us that.”
         Feeling herself near tears, Deborah shrugged on her coat.  “That means a lot to me too.”
         Mrs. Kapshaw smiled and pulled Deborah into a warm hug.  “I hope you’ll stay Deborah, we want to make up for the years we missed with you if that’s even possible.”
         Deborah nodded.  “Honestly, I don’t know what I plan on doing, Laney.  Things have been… turned so turned upside down I don’t know which was is up.”
         “Of course it is, dear.”
         “Thank you for tonight.  It scared me to death, but I needed it.”
         Laney smiled.  “I’m glad to hear that.”
         “I was thinking I could come over tomorrow whenever you’ve got time and you could… tell me some about the family.”
         Mrs. Kapshaws whole face lit up.  “Oh, we’d love it.  How about lunch?  It won’t be so overwhelming then.  Logan will be around because of the suspension, but we should be able to find something for him to do.”
         “All right.  Noon then?”
         “Noon it is.”  Mrs. Kapshaw gave her one last hearty hug.  “We’ll see you tomorrow.”
         “Good night.”
         As Deborah walked out to her car, she couldn’t help thinking it was the most at home she’d felt since she’d been a teenager.  She had a feeling that meant a lot more turning upside down than she was completely ready for, but… her optimism was beginning to grow.