7. What Do We Want?

          Monday had come around faster than I had hoped, and I was dreading it for two reasons. The first reason was that today, we were going to have Uncle Phil's memorial. And secondly, I had decided that I wanted to stay with Steve, but I wasn't sure if he felt the same way. Uncle Nick came in his car to pick me up. I smiled at him as he walked around the car to help me put my bag in the backseat. I gave Steve a hug goodbye,

"Thank you for this weekend. I loved it."

"Me too, Katie. I had lots of fun," he smiled down at me. I climbed into the backseat of the car and put my seatbelt on. Patiently, I waited for Uncle Nick and Steve to finish talking.

STEVE'S POV

"Thank you for this weekend, Nick," I said, shaking his hand firmly.

"It was my pleasure. I want Katie to be happy, and if that means being with her dad, then so be it," Nick stated with a serious expression, "Have you made a decision? The Council wants an answer by tomorrow. Otherwise, she stays with me."

I nodded in understanding,

"I truly loved spending time with Katie this weekend, but I feel like I have missed out on so many of the important things that I don't know if I should take on the responsibility." I didn't know if I was ready for this, but I did know that I cared very much about Katie. It was a lot to take in and consider. And most importantly, I had to think about how Katie felt. What did she want?

"Well, we can fix that. I will have a package dropped by your apartment in one hour."

"Thank you, Nick. Would you mind letting me know how Katie feels about this as well?"

"Of course, Cap," Nick smiled at me gratefully and shook my hand again. As the car drove away, I looked at Katie through the backseat window and gave her a wave. I walked back inside to wait for whatever package Nick was going to send me.

Uncle Nick and I drove off, and I gave Steve one last wave as he waved back.

"How did it go, Katie?" Uncle Nick inquired, looking at me through the rearview mirror.

"It was awesome!" I said, getting excited, "We talked about a whole bunch of stuff and did so many cool things!"

"I'm glad you had a good time," Uncle Nick chuckled.

"Uncle Nick? Do you think he would want me to stay with him? As his daughter?" I asked, terrified of the possible answer.

"Katie, I'm sure that everything will work out the way it should."

I sighed to myself. Uncle Nick never talked to me like that, beating around the bush, and I knew that it probably meant Steve still wasn't sure. I tried not to think about it for the rest of the day and focused on remembering the best of Uncle Phil.

The memorial was sad but happy at the same time. I wore a black dress with a frilly skirt and had my brown hair down with a black bow. I smiled while everyone talked about the amazing things my uncle had done in his life and tried not to cry. Unsuccessful, I let a few tears roll down my cheek when Aunt Maria read her speech. At the end of the memorial, I said my final goodbye to Uncle Phil and then went home with Uncle Nick. At home, I did some school work and went to bed early since I had to get up for training in the morning.