AsCait was not a jealous person. Violent, reckless and selfish? Yes, those things she was, or at least how other people described her. Never in all her life had Cait been called jealous. Never in all her life had Cait been jealous.
Her mentality was simple and she told Frank about it one night when he asked her if she ever wished she had what others did.
"Way I see it, I don't give a flying fook about what other people have. They have it I don't. I don't get jealous about it. If I want it I take it and if I take it then they must not have wanted it too much. Otherwise they never would have let me take it" she had told him, self assuredly leaning back against the hulk of the burnt out car before taking a swig of whiskey.
He accepted her answer. After all he usually did. Arguing with her about anything was hardly worth it, even for him. He didn't say anymore about it and the conversation had drifted from the Irish woman's mind due to the business of the next few months. The institute, Shaun and the inevitable hails of bombs and bullets had kept her mind off of it.
But now, sitting here in Sanctuary Hills as she watched Piper and Frank talk near the burnt out hulk of one of the old houses in the neighborhood the conversation came back to her. She felt the urge to berate herself. 'what the fook are ya thinking? This isn't jealousy. You just don't like the look of her is all. Can't fight her way out of a brown paper bag. Rather stay in that stupid shack of hers and write gossip' she said, logically trying to explain the feelings that were rummaging around in her gut.
She turned away, focusing instead on the settlers who were busy at work erecting a guard tower in the circle at the end of the settlement. She isn't able to focus for long, her eyes inevitably being drawn back to Frank and Piper. The reporter is laughing, undoubtedly at something witty the former vault dweller had just said while he stands there, a contented smile on her face. Her arm stretches out and she places her hand on his shoulder, smiling up at the taller man.
The feelings are back in an instant, with a vengeance even, as Cait's guts seem to twirl upwards and downwards, forming themselves into knots that Cait was sure she would never be able to untangle.
It had all started a few months back.
Cait had been wondering with Frank for a while, having had to go with him after her fight promoter, Tommy, basically sold her to him. He wasn't a bad guy, she knew that from the beginning. At least not like the raiders that frequented the combat zone to place bets and get hammered. All in all she didn't have much of an opinion of him either way. He was a good fighter and he was very fair in divvying up any spoils they got. He made sure she was feeling alright from time to time and even asked her about herself every once in a while. Not in a prying manner but in a "tell me if you want to" kind of way.
She was initially very leery of these questions. Trust didn't come cheap in the wasteland and especially not to Cait. Everyone was out for something and her time with her "family", the slavers and in the combat zone never taught her anything to the contrary.
She rebuffed these questions early on, telling him that it was "none of his business". He accepted that with a shrug and would move on without any further remark on her reluctance to talk. He was the opposite. He would tell her whatever she wanted to know, sometimes without her even asking. Frank was the type of guy who liked to talk.
After about a week she knew all about Shaun, the institute, his wife and him being frozen for all those years.
Cait was a little taken back by all these revelations initially. Sure he hadn't had it as bad as her but she could emphasize with being dealt a shite hand. She never offered any pity but she did listen. Sometimes that's all that's really needed.
After a while she started to feel like they were downright friendly with each other. Not that she would go spilling her guts to the man. They were friendly. Didn't mean he had to know everything about her or anything. But she did open up a bit to him, telling him about her time in the combat zone, how Tommy met her out further east on the cape and offered her a chance to fight for caps. Different things.
A few more weeks and things were incredibly different.
Cait had had a problem. For a long time if she was honest with herself which she always tried to do. Psycho. A beautiful thing. It filled you with rage but that wasn't all. It allowed you to come out on the right side of any fight. It gave you an edge you wouldn't have if you were straight and sober. She needed it in the combat zone and initially she didn't like the junk. She didn't like losing it and coming to with her fists bloodied and some poor lad or lass destroyed on the arena floor.
She kept going with it, the bottle caps jingling in her pants a good indicator of why it was in her best interest to keep taking psycho if she wanted to win.
Before every fight turned into once a day, turning into twice a day before turning into three times a day. It even became a economically failing endeavour as the Psycho began to cost more than anything she was able to bring in with her fights. She used to take the drug to win fights. Now she was winning the fights to get the drugs.
One night, somewhere outside the Beantown brewery, she asked him to stop. "Wait...I...I need your help" she said, hating herself for how broken she felt. How weak she undoubtedly looked. She fully expected him to be angry with her for holding them up, or to laugh at her for even asking for assistance.
Instead he stopped, just like she asked and turned to her. "Are you alright Cait?" He asked, his eyes full of the last thing she expected to see. Concern. If she had seen anything else she doubted she would be able to tell him what was going on or ask him for his help. She looked back on this time and thanked God, someone who she often doubted until then, that Frank was who he was.
She told him everything. The psycho, the fights, the addiction. She almost broke down. She wanted to be free. She told him about the Vault where they had done experiments in relation to addiction. She did one thing she had never done before in her life.
She asked him for help. She was close to begging him. She wanted to be free and she knew she couldn't do it herself. With everything he had going on, with how his world had changed, she was shocked that he had smiled at her and nodded. "Alright Cait, let's get going. We can be there by the morning" he said as he placed his hand on her shoulder and gestured over his own shoulder with a nod of his head before he started walking towards the vault.
She could've kissed him. Thrown herself into his arms, wrapped her own around his neck and kissed him for all she was worth. As it was though, she simply blushed and followed behind him, ecstatic for the first time that she had accompanied him.
They made it a little earlier than he had anticipated and the gunners who were guarding the entrance to the derelict vault were still sleeping, a fortunate mistake for the travelling duo. They were easy to dispatch and the men and women stationed within the vault only slightly less so. Apparently the group had had a party the night before, copiously ingesting not only alcohol but a severe amount of the drugs that the former residents had stored in the vault. This raised a lot of questions. If the vault was meant to house recovered addicts, why were there so many drugs just laying about?
Neither of the two had much time to ponder that question as they advanced through the vault, killing gunners as they made their way to the decontamination chamber. It wasn't long until they got there and they saw what awaited her through the glass window. It was a chair. Like one she had seen in an abandoned hospital once.
Wires were running throughout the entirety of the seat while a scanner sits atop the headrest, waiting to be attached to someone else's head to rewrite their pleasure synapses. She remembered being overtaken by fear. What if the psycho was the only thing keeping her together? What if she fell apart as soon as the poison was out of her system?
She stopped cold in her tracks as she contemplated what her future would be. Frank as quick to notice her inner turmoil and instead of screaming at her to get into that chamber he sat with her, holding her shaking hand as he waited for her to speak. "W...what if the o...o..only thing keeping me going is the psycho? What if I fall apart as soon as it's all gone?" She asked, not expecting an answer. "Then I'll help put you back together again Cait. But if you don't go in there you will die Cait and I'm not gonna let that happen" he said quietly but forcefully. He understood her fears completely but he wasn't going to baby her and allow her not to face them. Instead he was going to confront them with her. After all he understood what it was like to stand on a precipice and wait for your whole life to out into a new world without something that was familiar to her was almost exactly what he had to do when he walked out of that vault. But walk out he did.
Without him Cait knew she never would have went and sat in that chair. She knew she would be dead without his inspiration. So she went through with it. The drugs were out of her system and despite the momentary pain it was worth it. What wasn't was the shaking. The pain that lingered well after the experiment. She had to lean on Frank to keep from falling down and she was incredibly happy that there was nobody left to fight. She doubted they'd survive if more gunners showed up.
Luckily for her she had a friend. Frank basically carried her out, his arms wrapped around her waist and shoulders as he crab walked them out, careful to make sure she didn't fall. When they finally exited the now empty vault he quickly made camp, producing a few blankets from his and her packs before wrapping them about her, keeping her close to the fire he had just started. She was still shivering, and dizzy but the fog! The fog was gone. She could think straight. She had no desire for the drug that had ravaged her system for so long. And it was all thanks to him.
She looked over at him, watching as he sits nearby but not close enough to make her feel as if he was hovering. He just poked the fire and watched it crackle, his mind on her even if he didn't look at her. She wasn't aware of this at the time.
"Th-thank you" she said honestly and simply between shivers and the clattering of teeth while she prepares herself to talk. She didn't know why then and the passage of time hadn't helped her come to a conclusion any better than anything else could. She told him everything. About the abuse she suffered at the hands of her parents. How they sold her to slavers. The abuse she suffered at their hands. She told him everything and without realizing it she started crying. It was only due to her weakened state that she was able to open up like she did and she found herself praying once more to God that he wouldn't hate her for what she told him.
She finished her tale and sat in silence, the tears streaming down her face as she bared her entire soul to him. He didn't say anything. Not for a long while. And that was what got her heart to racing. Did she make a mistake telling him?
It was only then that she realized just how important their friendship was to her. She would've cursed and railed at herself had she been in the right state of mind. Old Cait would have told new Cait that they didn't need anybody. That they were perfect on their own. New Cait would have retorted that they did need somebody. They needed him.
While this internal war was going on, Frank slid from his position on a sofa someone had left out before the war and moved next to her, his arms gently wrapping around her waist and shoulders, (still covered by the blanket), and pulling her close to him. Cait just continued to sob and she buried her face in his neck, her arms freeing themselves from the confines of the covering and wrapping around his shoulders, desperately holding onto him as if she was afraid he'd disappear which was a legitimate fear of hers at the time.
She cried for what felt like hours, her sobs turning into quick intakes of breath sometime after midnight. All through this his arms remained locked tight around her, keeping her secured as if to prevent her from going anywhere. If that was the case the fear was unfounded. At that moment in time Cait didn't want to be anywhere else but in his arms.
The next day came. Too quickly for Cait's liking, and Frank did not say a world to her other than to make gentle and reassuring sounds as he had when she cried through the night. When she awoke he was gone and she panicked for a moment. He must've heard her as he appeared quickly enough, carrying their packs. "Hey" he said simply as he crouched on his knees near her, his eyes making direct contact with hers. "How you feeling?" he asked simply, his hand going to her forehead to check for any temperature.
"I'm fine. Shite. No need to act like a mothering hen" she said roughly before slipping out of the blankets and working on putting her boots on. She ignored the blush that spread quickly across her face and hoped that he wouldn't be able to see it either. It was bad enough he'd seen her so weak. She didn't want to compound the problem by letting him know she was starting to fall head over heels for him.
He just smiled at her back and let out a chuckle. "Fair point. Just wanted to let you know you're all packed and ready to go whenever you feel up to it. I'm thinking we can make it to Diamond City. Nick says he might have a lead on someone who can help us find the institute" he said simply before walking over to the fire, dying as it was, and kicking dirt on top of it, smothering what remained of the dying embers under the earth.
Cait couldn't help but smile then. He knew exactly what to say and exactly what not to say. She didn't want any further pity that day. All she wanted was to forget that the other night had ever happened.
Within fifteen minutes they were off, everything packed and ready to go. Cait knew she would have to tell him. After all he was owed that much anyway? Honesty. But then again, how do you go about telling the man who saved your life and was your all around best mate and drinking buddy that you loved him? Especially when all he probably saw her as was a tough Irish lass who liked to fight?
Plus there was still the Spectre of Nora hanging over her head. True, Frank had seemed to at least accept what had happened but it didn't mean he was completely over her or that he wouldn't compare any other women he met to her. From all she had heard about Nora, Cait knew she was the opposite.
Whereas Nora was studious and hard-working, Cait was a slacker and layabout at heart. Nora was loving and gentle, Cait was coarse and rough. Nora was the mother of Frank's still missing child. Cait couldn't even imagine being a mother. After all who did she have as a role model? Her own mother was a hard drinking whore who sold her to slavers when she was eighteen. Cait was under no illusions that she would be anywhere near as bad but she also didn't have much faith in her being very good at it either.
As much as she hated to admit it she was in competition with a woman who was two hundred years old and dead on top of it.
She watched Frank's back as he walked, the decaying pavement the only path they knew back to Diamond City. She would tell him. She would risk it all again. After all she was a betting lass and when it came to Frank she had been winning a lot of her bets. What was one more?
So she continued to walk with him. The next months brought nothing but pain and death. As much as she didn't want to take a side the Brotherhood of Steel sure we're badass to her. She loved the feeling of being in power armor and blasting away at the synths. Not that she would ever join the organization, too many laws and regulations, but she sure did love fighting alongside of him.
She was happy he chose them over the minutemen. It was dubious at best that they would ever help him destroy the institute. They didn't have the manpower or the technology. She remembered the look on Garvey's face when Frank told him he was going to the Brotherhood to get at the institute. If it wasn't for all his accumulated goodwill the vault dweller would have been kicked out instantly, but he remained the general of the Minutemen who eagerly waited for the whole ordeal to be done with.
With Liberty prime and the brotherhoods troops the institute was broken open like a cracked walnut and all its scheming and planning came to nothing. She was pretty happy despite not really caring about the outcome. The only thing that got to her during all of this, the only thing that made her stop, was seeing Frank hold the hand of his dead son while he laid on the bed. Shaun had nothing but vile vitriol to spew at his father. He couldn't see what the institute was. He was too brainwashed. Too far gone. All Frank did in response was hold his hand, even though it was clear the old man didn't want to see him.
When he finally died, Frank simply used his fingers to close the older man's eyes and smiled sadly. Time and vault Tec had robbed him of everything.
He looked broken and while the sound of gunfire continued around them Cait walked up behind him and placed her hand on his shoulder. "I'm so sorry Frank" she said simply, an urge to gather him up into her arms as he had done for her before strong in her mind. But the institute was going to blow. They needed to leave. "We have to go Frank. The Brotherhood is pulling out and Danse is looking for you" she said simply which prompted the man to slowly rise to his feet.
"Yeah. Let's go" he said, his voice broken.
There was nothing that could be done for it then. They had to go and time was short. So that's what they did. They left and from a position overlooking the already charred remains of the old CIT building a explosion, the size of which has probably not been seen since the great war itself, lights up the sky and sends what is left of the institute to Oblivion. It's gone and so is Shaun. As she stands there, next to Frank of course, she gently intertwines her fingers with his, a bold move that shows clearly her affections for him.
Frank just stood there, numbly, listening to Danse and the other men go on about the great victory they won. To him it didn't feel like a victory. He had lost everything.
He returned to Sanctuary Hills, the Minutemen eager to receive their wayward general back into the fold. He smiled sadly at Preston and the rest, who asked him about what had transpired, before throwing himself into bettering the settlement and growing their ranks.
With the institute gone people started to trust each other more and soon enough more people had joined. So many in fact that most settlements in the Commonwealth were linked to the minutemen in some way. Frank was never sent out on missions after that. After all, he was needed at home base, coordinating the rebuilding of the Commonwealth.
Cait helped, despite her wishes, and quickly found herself a member of the ragtag group. She remembered the smile on his face when she formally joined. It was a light smile, different from the carefree one he had had before when he still nurtured hope of finding his son. War. War changes everything.
So that was how time passed. The settlement grew into a town and before long she knew it would be a metropolis to rival Diamond City. Things were going great and Cait found herself actually happy to not be fighting every second of her life. Of course she still hadn't told him, but there would be time for that. Especially with how close they were getting.
Frank had set up his new home in the ruins of his old one, latching onto Codsworth as one of the last remnants of his old life aside from what way in the destroyed brick and concrete of his old home. He had asked Cait if she wanted to join him, saying he had an extra room open. She had said yes, knowing that he also needed her close. It was blissful for her, secretly of course, to start living with Frank on a level different from battle buddy.
At night they would sit on the old sofa and listen to Diamond City radio, just smiling as they looked at the settlement they helped build just outside the window. Cait was proud of herself for once. She had put a lot of effort into this place as well and it showed nicely. Not bad for an old psycho addict.
Things began to change more and more. Frank would often take her hand in his as they were sitting and Cait, despite her nature, was more than happy to allow it. In fact it made her downright giddy. Not that she would tell him that of course. Not yet anyway.
With the war essentially over and the Commonwealth as peaceful as it could get Cait began to change more and more. Gone was the cursing and gone was the hard drinking. She became friendlier with people and in turn even started making friends. Her hair grew out and she abandoned her old fighting corset and pants for some clothes Frank had given her that were remarkably still preserved from Nora's time. She had had to alter them of course. It was with great disdain that she found she certainly didn't measure up to her in the chest department and she had spent two days with the help of Codsworth altering the clothes.
But it paid off. Frank was beginning to notice her as more than just a junkie he had helped out. She would catch him, staring out of the corner of his eyes while she cooked or helped with something around the settlement. He would pull her closer to him while they sat on the sofa.
So for the first time time in her life, Cait could honestly say she was happy. Ecstatic. So what if things were moving slow? So what if neither one of them knew just how the other felt? It would get there. Just like Sanctuary Hills was becoming more than what it was when he found it coming out of the vault. All it would take was time and effort.
Cait snaps away from her daydreams about how things were and continues to glare once more at Piper. "But then she had to come and fookin ruin it all" she says to herself as she gets up and walks back into the house, not wanting anyone to see that she was getting angry.
She quickly focuses on something else, grabbing the broom and sweeping the floor of their home to avoid thinking about it. She couldn't help it however and with every sweep the broom has more pressure exerted on its handle, her anger growing.
It had started two weeks ago. Piper came into town under the guise of wanting to check on her old friend. That was fine. What wasn't fine is that she stuck around and decided to get handsy with what was rightfully Cait's. The nosy reporter said she wanted to write a few articles on the growth of the Minutemen and what happened during what people were starting to call the Great Institute War. The only one who could rightfully give a lot of those answers was Frank so she went right to the source. They would spend late nights talking over dinner and would sit at the fire afterwards, all the while Piper took notes and sat ever closer to him.
At first Cait wasn't bothered. After all it would only be for a little while. So the first night she sat and listened to the radio by herself, desperately missing the feeling of Frank's hand against her own as she fiddled with her hand in her lap, unsure of what to do with them now.
The second night, while hard, passed just like the first, with Cait sitting there alone, and now fuming and stewing in her own jealousy. Frank didn't even bother coming home that night, falling asleep at the fire with Piper nearby. She knew that because she went to check on him, bringing a blanket and a cup of coffee that she had made from the beans they had growing out back. It was all she could do to not draw a pistol and shoot the reporter right there when she saw her inches away from Frank, also asleep on a sleeping bag. Cait had stormed right back into the house and hadn't spoken to Frank for two days after that.
She had hoped the silent treatment would work and it hadn't leaving her to fume be herself. A few of the settlers had noticed however but gave her a wide berth. Nobody wanted to anger her more than she obviously already was.
"Cait? Are you home?" comes his voice from the doorway and it's enough to make her snap. "Why would you fookin care if I am? You haven't been here enough to even notice" she snapped, her eyes snapping to him and then back to the floor, continuing to sweep as she did so. This was not how she expected things to go. She didn't expect to fall in love with him or want to be a little housewife for him like it was before the war. She didn't expect to get so jealous of any woman that even smiled at him. She didn't expect any of this. And that's what made it all harder. It was not prepared for.
"Woah Cait , what's wrong?" He asks, moving into the ruined house and moving up behind her, his hands landing on her waist as he tries to pull him towards her. She's faster though and in a throwback to her days in the combat zone she feels her fist flying through the air and doubly feels it make contact with his jaw. A almost loud and sickening crack is heard and if hadn't been for the repaired doors and windows she was sure the whole area would know that she just struck him.
"Don't fookin touch me" she screams, watching as he falls back and lands on his rear end, his Minuteman uniform scuffled and dirtied as he braces himself on his palms, trying to shake the stars from his eyes. He hadn't been punched quite like that before. "What was that for? What's wrong with you?" he asks as he wipes a bit of blood from his split lip.
"You. You're what's wrong with me" she says, her hand throbbing and her mind a mess. Sure she wanted to hit him, but there was a difference in wanting to and doing so. Now that she saw how she laid him out onto the floor she didn't feel quite so secure in her desire to inflict pain on him.
"What did I do?" He asked, getting up on his feet and bracing himself against the counter to gain his footing. "Ohh you can figure out all sorts of things eh lad? But you have no idea what you did huh?" She asks, now angrily pacing as she looks at him. "Doing all those sweet things for me. Being the best damn thing that ever happened to me and saving me life. Making me love you when I've never felt that before and then just making doe eyes at that whore like I never even existed. How fookin dare you!?" she practically screeches at the still bleeding man who just stands there, utterly flabbergasted at how things have turned out.
"What, wait are you talking about Piper? She's just been getting my story" he says defensively, now rubbing his jaw which still hurt before his eyes widen and he looks at the woman who is pacing like a caged lioness. "Wait? You love me?" He asks, shocked at the revelation he wasn't quite sure she had !eamt to allow him to have.
"Yes you disgusting piece of.." she isn't able to finish though as he crosses the distance between them easily and she finds herself pinned to the newly repaired wall as his hands go to either side of her face, and his lips press against hers with a passion she had thought only possible during a particularly good fight. At first she stands there, confused and still angry, having been cut off mid rant after all. But at the feel of his lips against hers she can't help but melt and she feels herself sink in against him, her arms moving around his shoulders as his slink to her waist, wrapping around and pulling her in even tighter. Cait was now convinced of God and Heaven. Utterly convinced.
It was a long time, or at least it seemed so to the two, until they release the others lips and even then they were more than content to hold each other close resting their foreheads against each other and occasionally slipping light kisses to one another. "What...what was that?" She asks, unsure and still wary of the change of events. She had been yelling at him moments before. Even hit him . How did it go from that to wanting to make everything alright with one kiss?
"I...I didn't know how to tell you Cait" he says simply, still pinning her to the wall. "Tell me what?" She asks, feeling her smallness reflecting in her voice as she please for those three words. "That I love you. That you're the reason I keep getting up. That you…..well you're my everything" he says simply. Her breath catches and she stares into his eyes, afraid that the slightest change would make everything go away. The last thing she wanted was for this to be a dream. He continued.
"After Shaun...you were the only one who was still with me. Everything had gone to shit and yet you were still there, fighting right alongside me. Then I came here and I just….I wanted to build it all again. Because I wanted you to see that this world, despite everything, isn't all bad. I wanted to create a place without slavers, hunger or war and Sanctuary could be that but it wouldn't mean anything without you. I needed you to believe in me. To believe in what we were doing. You're the most cynical person I've ever known Cait and I knew, just knew that if you believed then it was real. And I thought if I created that place that you should be it's beneficiary. That you should get the break we all need. Because I love you Cait"
He says all this and it's meaning jumbles all over the place to her. 'He loves me? Sanctuary is for me? He continued because of me?' she asked herself and before she can say anything else he smiles at her and laughs. "As for Piper. Yes she did come onto me. But I told her that I considered myself already married. She got the message and were just friends."
"Already married? You were talking about Nora right?" She also, sure that that was what he meant. He blushes brightly and turns away, sure she would be angry again and he was not looking forward to being struck again. "No. Till death do we part. Remember? Nora, as much as I loved her, is gone and so is everything that there was before". He says before looking back at her. "No, I consider myself married to a headstrong irish woman who throws fists when it's needed and sometimes even when it's not. A woman who is the strongest I've ever met and no matter what has always been there when it mattered the most. A woman who I love just being near. Sitting next to and holding her hand. I was talking about you Cait. And Piper wants to write a story about us. That's why she stayed for so long" he said in way of explanation.
Her eyes go wide as she realizes what he's talking about and she feels hope creeping its way back into her very soul. "You consider us married? Why? How?"
She didn't know much about love and nuptials but she was sure that it required more than just considering it.
"Well yeah I already do. After all what is marriage about? Love, loyalty and hard work. I love you. You love me. We've both been by each other's side no matter what and no two people have worked harder on this settlement than us. Why shouldn't we be married? All the pieces are there" he says in way of explanation to which Cait laughs. "Alright I see your point. I'm your Mrs then eh?" She asks teasingly, her hands moving up and down his shoulders causing the man to blush.
"Well if you want to be. That was really me proposing. Although I'm sure I'm supposed to get on one knee and have a ring but it's all just happened so quick and you socked me good" he says finishing as he feels a flash of pain in his jaw forcing him to stop and rub it. She takes his hand away and moves in, kissing him on the spot where she hit him and whispering. "Yes. Yes Frank. I'll marry you. But you and I, we need to get this official you know. You'll have to wait for our wedding night to get anything special out of me. You understand?" She asks poking him in the chest.
He smirks and rolls his eyes, his hands going around her waist. "Yes ma'am. We can head to Diamond City tomorrow. Piper is already on her way there to get it sorted for us. But I have to admit, I don't think I can keep my hands off you for too long. You're awfully cute when you're jealous" he says as his hands move lower and caress her bum through the dress, enjoying the fleshy globes of the toned woman. She bites her lip and moans, telling herself to swat his hand away but enjoying herself too much to do so. "Sod off love" she says before moaning as he hit on a particular spot. "Alright, just a bit of touching. No more than that"
Five years later
"Thomas you better stop running or I will redden your bottom" Cait shouts at her oldest, a carbon copy of her as he runs through Sanctuary's playground. She is sitting on a bench, holding her youngest against her chest, swaddled as she is against the slight nip in the air. She begins to murmur and Cait leans down and coos into her ear, kissing the baby's head as she does before she galres back at Thomas, finally getting the redheaded five year old to calm down.
Cait had aged, but in all the right ways for a mother. While still incredibly fit life off the road had done wonders for her. She had filled out and looked much healthier. Her clothing was much more conservative, consisting of dresses and skirts. In fact most of the other woman in the community seemed to follow her fashion sense and after a while the people began to look more and more respectable. Her hair was still the bright red it was in the combat zone, though her children and husband gave her gray hairs now and again.
Children. Husband. She smiled as she thought of both of those words. Her and Frank had set off for the chapel in Diamond City and were we'd. She became a Mrs just with two words. She never looked back after that throwing herself into her new life. Within the first month of marriage she was pregnant with their first and she was horrified at the thought of her own upbringing haunting her children. But the moment she held Thomas for the first time, following hours of screaming at her husband, with "if you ever bring that thing close to me again I'll fookin rip it off" being the most memorable, she knew that she would never let him get hurt. The feeling was the same for her two daughters, Pamela and Francine, the latter of the two ensconced in her arms as of right now. She looks up again, smiling at the image of Thomas cheerfully playing with another child, when she hears him walk up behind her.
"Hi beautiful" he whispers against her ear before leaning in and kissing her cheek, Pamela making a face at her parents before rushing off to join her older brother. "Hmm hello handsome" she said as he sat down next to her, baby Francine pushing out her arms and opening and closing her fists, wanting to be held by her daddy. Cait smiles and hands her daughter gently to her father, who eagerly takes her into his own arms and nuzzles her close. "How is everything with the settlement" she asks, scooting closer so their thighs touch.
"Ohh it's fine sweetie. Just gonna have a vote tonight on when school begins" he says to which she smiles.
"How about tomorrow? Can't wait until these little ones have something to do other than give me a heart attack every five minutes" she says as Thomas and Pamela come back and sit on the bench next to their mother and father. She smiles and wraps her arms around them while Frank lays her head on his shoulder. "You know I never did thank you for punching me. Would have never known if you didn't" he said with a smile.
Cait just looks out contentedly towards the setting sun, a smile splitting her face. "Anytime love"