Hey everyone,
I'm back already! Did you miss me? Haha
Originally it was a toss up between publishing this one or "Fine", I didn't have ending for either of them and I thought that posting one of them would make me think harder haha, it didn't, I was still lost and I haven't learned my lesson with this one either so we'll see how long this on takes!
But anyway, can I just say you guys are amazing, like 140 reviews for "Fine"! You guys sure do know how to make a gal feel special. I've tried to reply to all of you, but some of you I can't cos you're guests, please join!
So, I'm not going to give much background into this, you will probs have questions from the get go but I may have some flashback scenes in upcoming chapters to attempt to explain. I all know how much you like to be confused by my past and present scenes lol!
Anyway, are you ready for the ride?
Love at First Lie.
Chapter 1.
"Mummy?"
Kate's eyes darted up to the rear view mirror focusing on her daughter who's face was firmly pressed against the window watching the cars go by.
"Mmm?"
"When's Daddy gonna be home?"
"Tonight, sweetie..."
The little girl bounced up and down in her seat clapping her hands.
"Yay!"
Kate smiled as she glanced back and forth from her to the road.
"I bet he's going to be excited to see you..."
She nodded enthusiastically.
"I am! I miss him lots..."
"I know, hopefully he'll be home for a week this time, we can do lots of things together, I promise!"
Later that evening Kate stood in the kitchen preparing dinner, Lia run up to her and pulled on her pant leg.
"How long now?"
At that moment the front door swung open, Lia squealed and ran towards the man entering.
"Daddy, you're home!"
Dylan smiled as she ran into his embrace, he swung her up on to his hip and gave her a kiss.
"Lia?! How's my little princess?"
She placed her hand on her hip and scrunched up her face.
"Daddy! I'm not a princess, remember!"
He laughed and tickled her belly causing her frown to disappear.
"Oh, that's right."
He gave her a salute as he put her down on the floor, she smiled and saluted back.
"Captain Lia, I am at your service!"
She giggled and ran in to her room, Dylan walked up behind Kate and wrapped his arms around her.
"Hello, beautiful..."
She turned and wrapped her arms around his neck.
"I missed you!"
He kissed her on the forehead.
"Missed you more..."
He sat at the kitchen bench and grabbed an apple out of the fruit basket and took a big bite.
"So, I've gotta talk to you about something..."
Kate turned to face him momentarily then turned back to the stove and continued to stir dinner.
"Sounds serious..."
"Well yeah, umm Commander White called today..."
"White? Never heard of him?"
"Ah, he's a she, and she has requested my services, well, our services, in Cairns."
"What?!"
Kate spun round forgetting she was holding the spoon and flung spaghetti sauce all over the kitchen.
Dylan laughed and got up and took the spoon from her hand.
"Maybe we put the weapon down..."
Kate shook her head at herself and grabbed the paper towel and started to wipe the bench, Dylan grabbed another piece and assisted her.
"Yeah, apparently we're a good package, with my mission background and your knowledge of procedures and policy we make a great team, they were her words. She would like to know if we'd be interested in relocating..."
Kate paused for a minute and glanced over to him.
"Dylan, we've created a life here..."
He took the dirty paper towel from her hand and placed it in the bin.
"I know, but Cairns, sun, warm, weekends at Cable Beach! Aren't you sick of being cold?"
She scoffed and picked up the spoon and stirred the bubbling sauce.
"How long have we got to decide?"
"Till the end of my shore leave, if we go I'll have one more rotation and then we'll be off... but, there's a chance that you would have to go back out there..."
Kate hesitated, she did miss the sea, but she had become accustomed to being on shore, especially with Lia.
"This is a lot!"
Dylan nodded and stepped towards her and wrapped his arms around her waist.
"Maybe a honey moon on Hamilton Island?"
She rolled her eyes at his growing grin and held the spoon up to his mouth.
"Is that you trying to propose again?"
His eyes focused on the spoon.
"Is that you threatening to sauce me if it is?"
She shook her head placed the spoon back in the pot, he spun her round to face him.
"I wouldn't have to try if you just said yes..."
She exhaled loudly, he knew where she stood on this subject.
"Dylan, it's just, it feels silly, we have a child. Why do we need to..."
He rolled his eyes and playfully gripped her by the shoulders.
"I know, it's just a piece of paper..."
He pulled her in for a hug and kissed her head, he headed upstairs to get changed. Lia came running out of her room with multiple pieces of paper.
"Where's Daddy?"
"He's just getting changed..."
She picked up her little girl and gave her a kiss.
"Now, more importantly, do you want a bath or a shower tonight?"
Lia's eyes lit up.
"Bath, please!"
Kate groaned, it was always a bath, it would be fine if it didn't take double the time to get her out.
"Daddy should have never bought you those boats!"
"But they're the best..."
Kate sighed and carried her into the bathroom.
"They sure are..."
The next morning Kate stood on their balcony looking out into the bay, she held her cup of coffee in the palm of her hands trying to warm her fingers. Dylan walked out on to the balcony and laughed.
"You know if we were in Cairns it'd be so warm we could this naked!"
Kate scoffed at the thought and rolled her eyes, she gave him a friendly nudge with her hip as he stood next to her.
"We'd still have neighbours you know, so why do you want to leave this place?"
"I dunno, a new adventure for us, don't you want to impart as much of Kate McGregor on the Navy world as possible?"
She smiled and gave him a peck on the cheek.
"You know me too well..."
"Did I mention the pay rise and they'll come pack all our stuff and move it too, and I'll make sure they get us a house with a view, and no neighbours..."
He placed her cup of coffee down and kissed her passionately, Lia's loud groan interrupted them.
"Ewwww..."
Kate laughed and knelt down and picked her up.
"So, we need to talk to you about something..."
2 months later
Kate stood out on the balcony of their new home in Cairns, Dylan had done as promised, negotiated a beautiful house looking or over the water, but unfortunately for him they had neighbours. Dylan walked out on to the balcony in his whites.
"Oh, I didn't think I'd be nervous..."
Kate giggled as she took another sip of her coffee.
"Yeah, I know..."
"I think cos they have an expectation if us..."
Kate turned to face him and straightened his collar.
"I don't think I've ever seen you so nervous..."
"Ah, what about when you told me you were pregnant?"
She laughed.
"No, that was me! C'mon, let's show these guys how we do things!"
Kate, Dylan and Lia walked up the stairs of NAVCOM, Dylan could see that Kate was anxious and he squeezed her hand trying to reassure her. Lia bolted in front of them, zooming past officers and into the building. Dylan ran after and scooped her up just as she got to the security screening. He laughed nervously seeing the unimpressed look on the security guard's face.
"Ah, sorry, we have an appointment to see Commander White, Petty Officer Dylan Mulholland and Lieutenant Kate McGregor."
The guard checked the list and gave them a nod. Dylan put Lia back on the ground and knelt next to her.
"You need to be on your best behaviour, okay? We're going to meet our new Boss."
She nodded and put on her best convincing smile.
"I promise Daddy..."
Kate took her hand and lead her into the main office, she let out a shriek of excitement making everyone in the office turn and stare at them. Kate's cheeks turned bright red, she immediately picked her up and whispered in her ear.
"What was that for?"
Lia's eyes darted around the office.
"It's massive! Heaps bigger than the one at home!"
They heard a laugh behind them and turned to see Maxine White, she smiled and shook their hands.
"Dylan, Kate, good to meet you..."
She turned her attention to Lia.
"And who do we have here?"
Lia formed her little hand into a salute and smiled.
"Captain Cordelia Mulholland..."
They all let out a giggle, Maxine saluted her back.
"Well, Captain, you must tell me your secret to looking so young and having such a high ranking."
She giggled and leaned in.
"It's a secret!"
Maxine ushered them into her office, she took out some pencils and paper and pulled Lia up a chair against the desk.
"Do you enjoy colouring?"
She nodded excitedly and hopped up on to the chair and grabbed the pencils. Kate smiled at the gesture, she already felt more at ease seeing Maxine comfortable having children in the office.
"So, Cordelia is an unusual name..."
Before either of them could answer Lia looked up and interrupted.
"It means daughter of the sea..."
She put her head back down and concentrated on her colouring.
"How fitting then..."
She nodded turning her attention back to the colouring book.
"Mummy and Daddy love the sea..."
Dylan laughed and gave Kate a nudge.
"Yeah, if it was up to Kate her name probably would have been Ariel..."
Kate laughed and playfully hit him on the arm, Maxine cleared her throat.
"So, umm, there's been a bit of change in plans..."
Kate held her breath for a second, she didn't like surprises.
"Change?"
Maxine nodded trying to think of a way to break the news.
"So, Dylan, you'll be going out on the Hammersley… and you will be too, Kate."
Kate froze, she didn't know what to say, she didn't want to refuse, this was the Navy and went where she was told, but she was sent here under different circumstances.
"Ah, I thought that was against the rules, and did the Brass forget that we have a daughter?"
Kate broke eye contact realising her tone, and that she was directing it to her new Boss.
"Ah, sorry, Ma'am, I guess it's just a surprise."
Maxine nodded agreeing with Kate's concerned tone.
"Well, to put it bluntly were desperate, no, that sounds wrong. We actually want you both out there anyway, but we know that one of you requested a shore posting. Unfortunately, we've had a spate of bad luck recently and a few of the crew from multiple ships are out of action. We thought about sending you out on separate ships but we knew that wouldn't be good for home life, plus all crews are down right now so mixing around the crews didn't seem like a good idea, so, this is what the powers that be came up with. We can task the Hammersley to stay close as possible, hopefully they'll just be standard day trips... umm, but otherwise we have hired a nanny for you..."
Kate sighed, she knew that they were in a tough position and it sounded like Maxine had done all she could but she needed to speak her mind.
"Ma'am, I don't want to sound ungrateful but I don't know how comfortable I feel with a stranger looking after my child.
Maxine could sympathise, she had a child herself.
"Well, umm, I can do it if that makes you feel more comfortable..."
It didn't, she was still a stranger, but she didn't really have a choice. Maxine could see that Kate was still unhappy with the decision. Lia jumped down from her chair and climbed on to her lap.
"I'll be fine Mum!"
"Look Kate, she'll be as school most of the day anyway, and I have a son, he's 14. It's not like I don't have any experience in raising a child in the Navy..."
Kate laughed nervously.
"Are you going to tell the crew we're together?"
"Ah, no so that's the other thing we need you two keep it professional. I know you can, by all reports from your other superiors you guys are great at separating work from home."
Kate glanced over to Dutchy with an uneasy look on her face, he reached over and squeezed her hand.
"Hey, we can do this. You love bossing me around!"
Maxine could help but laugh.
"I've arranged a meet and greet over at the pub tonight, unfortunately the CO can't attend, he'll be flying back from a conference tomorrow before you sail the day after."
"We sail in 2 days?!"
"Oh yeah, did I leave that part out? Look hopefully this is for a month, tops!"
Lia pulled on Maxine's arm and smiled.
"Do you like Disney?"
"Well, as it so happens, I have a very large collection… Why don't you drop Lia over before you go to the pub and we'll go from there..."
Later that evening Dylan and Kate walked to the local pub to meet the crew. They were both tense, they knew that the Navy had ignored some protocols for them to be on the ship and they had no idea what the crew would be like.
Their eyes scanned the room, in the corner were a group that you could only assume were sailors. Kate and Dylan made sure they stood a good distance apart to warn of any assumptions.
One of the sailor's split of from the group and approached them.
"Dutchy?"
Dylan didn't know whether to nod, he looked a little confused.
"Ah, it's Dylan..."
He smirked and shook Dylan's hand.
"I'm Charge, and nah, its gotta be Dutchy! You're last name's Mulholland right?"
Dutchy nodded.
"Yeah, but..."
Before he could answer Charge dragged him over to the table, Kate followed behind intrigued if they would notice her. Dylan looked back at her and grabbed her hand and pulled her along, they suddenly realised they were touching, he immediately dropped her hand. Charge cleared his throat to announce Dutchy's arrival to the other crew members.
"Guys, our new Buffer is here..."
Kate cleared her throat announcing herself, Charge turned and peered behind Dutchy seeing where the noise was coming from.
"Oh sorry, you must be Dutchy's girl, huh?"
She raised an eyebrow and gave him a steel-eyed look.
"Ah no, I'm Lieutenant McGregor..."
They stopped and stared back at her wondering if it was a joke, Dylan could see their reaction isn't what Kate was expecting.
"Ah yeah, Lieutenant McGregor, will be your new XO..."
Charge took a sip of his beer and glanced back and forth from them.
"So, you guys know each other?"
Dylan nodded and Kate shook her head, they froze looking at each other. Kate cleared her throat taking charge.
"Ah, well, a little, Dylan, I mean PO Mulholland and I were posted together in Adelaide for a while, but we didn't really work together that much."
The crew didn't really understand her explanation, Adelaide wasn't that big. Charge ignored the awkwardness and proceeded to introduce everyone.
"Okay, So we have RO, Robert Dixon, Swain, Chris Blake, ET, Leo Kosov-Meyer, Chefo, Jessica Bird."
Charge laughed as he watched their eyes glaze over.
"Ah, I suppose it'll take some time, but anyway... Guava Mojo!?"
Kate frowned and looked over to Dylan unsure if that was code for something.
"What is that?"
A large grin came over Charge's face.
"Ah, Ma'am, you have not lived till you've had a Guava Mojo!"
2Dads placed one in both of their hands and winked at them.
"It's Charges specialty!"
Kate glanced over to Dutchy with an uneasy look on her face and handed him the glass.
"Ah, might just stick to the Sav Blanc tonight…"
Dutchy shrugged and took a sip of the cocktail and nodded.
"That's pretty good!"
They sat and joined the crew, for most of the night Kate sat there in silence, she was afraid that she would say something that would give away their secret, Dylan, on the other hand, was full of anecdotes and stories.
It was getting late and Dylan and Kate had made separate excuses to leave. 2Dads and Charge exited the pub as Kate and Dylan were getting into a cab. 2Dads nudged Charge in the ribs and pointed towards them.
"They don't know each other, hey?"
Charge rolled his eyes and walked in the opposite direction.
"2Dads, don't start, they're probably staying at the same hotel..."
2Dads nodded in agreement and laughed.
"Yeah, can you imagine those two anyway, they're complete opposites!"
Back at Dylan's and Kate's house, Dylan took out his keys and opened the door.
"Well, I think that went okay?"
Kate barged in and chucked her bag onto the kitchen counter.
"Are you joking? We need to get our stories straight!"
Dylan could see Kate was getting working up, he let out an all knowing laugh, typical Kate, she hated not being prepared or in control. He wrapped his arms around her and ran his hand over her cheek.
"It'll be fine!"
He kissed her gently on the lips and gave her a slight squeeze, Kate exhaled and smiled, he could always calm her.
"Plus, we can always pretend we hate each other?!"
She let out a scoff and shook her head.
"I just don't know how we're supposed to explain this to Lia, she's not going to be able to understand this. I don't think if fair to expect her to lie too."
"Maybe we'll just have to tell them..."
"Dylan, we can't do that?"
"Why not? I mean not straight away but they seem like a fairly tight knit group, like they'd look out for one another... look let's give it a week and we'll go from there..."
The next day 2Dads and Charge knocked on Dutchy's door. Dutchy swung open the door still half asleep.
"Dutchy!"
His eyes widened, how did they know where he lived? Shit, Kate and Lia! He made sure to announce their presence so Kate would get the hint to stay upstairs.
"Oh, hi guys?! What are you doing here? How did you know where I live?"
Kate stood on top of the landing holding Lia. She wriggled out of Kate's embrace and ran down the stairs.
"Daddy! Who's at the door?!"
2Dads and Charge stared at the little girl standing in front of them like she was a ghost. They both glanced back at Dutchy, Dutchy smiled nervously and bent down and picked her up.
"Ah guys, this is my daughter Cordelia, sweetie, this is 2Dads and Charge, Daddy's new work friends!"
She waived and smiled sweetly.
"Hi!"
2Dads and Charge were speechless, it was the last thing they were expecting.
"Ah, sorry guys I gotta get her ready, something I can help you with?"
Charge snapped back to reality.
"Yeah, we were just wanting to see if you wanted to check out the ship?"
"Oh yeah, you want me to call the X?"
They looked at each other wondering why he would suggest to invite her.
"Ah, we were just thinking making it the plebs, you know, no one judging us..."
Kate was the top of the stairs, Dutchy glanced up half expecting Kate to storm down the stairs and give them a serve.
"Ah yeah okay, meet you there in an hour?"
They nodded and Dylan closed the door, 2Dads and Charge turned and walked to the car. 2Dads shook his head still not believe what he had seen.
"He has a kid?"
"I think we're gonna have to keep our eye on this one, he's full of surprises!"
End of Chapter 1.
A note for GuestUK
I think the last guest review on "Fine" was from you, wasn't sure but it sounded like you. I just wanna say thanks for your kind words. Sometimes I think the concept of fanfic is silly, and I don't mean to insult anyone's stories, by that I mean I think its silly cos I get so worked up about a fictional story line or character. I have to remind myself that it's not real but on the other hand sometimes the themes in my stories are serious and I guess I don't realise how serious because I'm writing them about fictional characters, but when people point out that they recogise a theme or undertone of a story and they appreciate the way I have handled it it makes me feel super satisfied as a writer, like, on some level I do feel that writing these fics can be therapeutic and kind of like and outlet. But anyway, that was way too deep for the drama that I usually write! But the point is, thank you and please join so I can PM you!