Kat was in the bad books. After her Christmas experience the whole family was mad at her. But she felt hurt too. Didn’t they realise she was disappointed with her Christmas gift too? It’s like they didn’t know her at all. She felt like she was speaking a different language and she didn’t know how to make them understand.
Bill was in the garage, fixing something for Kylie. Honestly, he was always doing something for someone. Kat took his absence from the house as her chance to Google “best marriage books for couples”. At the top of the list popped up “The Five Love Languages” by Gary Chapman. She’d heard about that one. In fact, she was pretty sure she may even have a copy lying somewhere in the house but couldn’t think where.
Well, she didn’t have time to go hunting high and low. She grabbed her keys and drove to the bookshop. As soon as she got home, she sat down to read. Bill saw what she was doing and offered to make her a cup of tea, a small peace offering, which she accepted.
It didn’t take long for Kat to discover the reason for her loving to collect things. Her love language is Receiving Gifts. Well, Bill would just have to understand that and cut her some slack. She took her new book out to the garage where he’d returned and decided to have it out with him.
“Bill, my love language is Receiving Gifts. It’s not my fault I like to have stuff. And it even explains why I like to give gifts as well. That’s just the way it is, and you’ll just have to accept it.”
Bill took a deep breath and hoped he could express himself kindly. “Kat, your love language has filled our house and a storage locker. Your love language is getting in the way of our love. Besides, I’ve given you plenty of gifts that you don’t even use. How many candles have I given you and you never light them? How many bottles of lotion have you not even opened? How many perfumes are still sitting in their boxes?”
Kat replied, “If I used them, they’d be gone! Then I wouldn’t have them anymore.”
“Come on, Kat. If stuff was love, then we’d have it in abundance. Instead, we have a house I hate living in and a crying granddaughter at Christmas. That’s the way it is, and you’ll just have to accept that.”
Kat huffed and went back to her reading chair. She would just have to read more so she could come back with a convincing argument. Bill was so immovable sometimes.
Bill was in bed by the time Kat finished the whole book. She’d made notes about each of the love languages and tried to figure out which applied to each of the members of her family. She was pretty sure Bill was all about Acts of Service and Tiffany was heavily into Quality Time. But the chapter that struck her most was chapter 10 – Love is a Choice. The final paragraph in that chapter was “Love is a choice. And either partner can start the process today.”
Ok. She knew what to do. In fact, her chance would come the very next day. Bill had bought tickets for him and Tiffany to go to see Harry Potter and the Cursed Child… alone. She could understand why she was wasn’t invited but that didn’t mean she couldn’t be involved.
After Bill left the house early to make the long trip to pick up Tiffany and take her back to the city for the show, Kat put her plans into action. She would surprise them at the end of the show with a special treat – ice cream at a fancy city ice cream parlour. That would make some nice Quality Time with Tiffany and show her she cared.
Kat was so excited. She got to the theatre before the end of the show, so she didn’t miss them. She was the only one in the foyer and she could hear the gasps and cheers from the audience inside. The merchandise shop was open and gearing up for the post show rush. Kat wandered over to take a look.
There were scarves and wands and cups and t-shirts. There were pens and keyrings and notebooks and tote bags. Her eyes were drawn to it all. She could hear the audience cheering and clapping longer now and realised it must be the end of the show. Soon the doors would fling open, and the crowd would pour out and fill the foyer. If she was going to buy a souvenir for Tiffany, she better be quick. She got toy owl, a notebook and a hoodie, as well as a tote bag to carry them all in.
As the crowd spilled out, she kept an eye out for her favourite people. She stood near the door and waved her tote bag furiously when she spotted them. And yes, they were surprised to see her. Kat was thrilled.
PREVIOUSLY
Catch up on all the past Adventures of Kat here.
