Chapter 4: A Soul Kiss With Problems

Chapter 4:

A Soul Kiss With Problems

"This is gonna be pure fun!" Chris exclaimed as he left the headquarters with Rita. "This word, cosmogasm, it's cracking me up, Sam!"

"Fun? It's going to be work, Chris. Undercover work, which means I am not gonna come home for a couple of days." Rita argued.

"Oh, didn't think about Cara. Hmm..." Chris leaned over the roof of his car, staring at Rita who was getting ready to get into the passenger seat.

"What is this 'hmm', partner?"

"Just thinking what you're gonna do with her. How about you ask Jo to sit her for these few days? I know she likes her. And, you trust her."

"Sam, she's a college student."

"And? C'mon, second option would be for you to ask Hudson and his wife to watch her, huh?"

"No way. If Hudson knew I had a child, I would get into big time trouble."

"I would volunteer to sit her, but you know, partner, I am out as well."

"HA!" Rita exclaimed. "I think I just have to ask Jo. Hope she'll do it."

"She will, believe me. Now, hop in. We have a date with the Plasmires!"

"Staying power of a dandelion?" Chris asked almost sulking while Rita pushed the file cabinet close.

"Yeah, I was just making it up as we went along." she replied, smiling. "Did I hit a sensitive area?"

"Oh, I can tell this is gonna be an interesting week! Now, Rita, do you think you could fake a cosmogasm?"

Rita leaned over and whispered, "Wouldn't be the first time."

She started to walk back to her desk, files in her hands.

"Oh, you're bad, you're a bad woman!" Chris called after her, grinning broadly. He followed her back to their desks and sat down on the edge of it.

"I guess one result of those faked cosmogasms is Cara, huh?" Chris said jokingly, but Rita somehow missed it. She looked up at him totally shocked.

"Hey, that should be a joke, Sam!"

"Oh yeah, right! My sex life is none of your business, partner!"

"Than you shouldn't have told me about the orgasms!"

"Give it a rest, Chris! You may like to tell me every little detail of your sexual adventures, but did you ever ask me if I wanted to hear it?"

"Doesn't matter to me, I am always gonna tell you!"

"Oh geez!" Rita chuckled as she tolled her eyes.

It was late at night when Rita snuck into her apartment. The baby sitter was sitting on the couch, watching tv.

"Sorry, I know it's late." she apologized. "Is Cara sleeping?"

Jo nodded, "I put her down around 8. She was really exhausted."

"Uhm, Jo, I really hate to ask this, but I need a sitter for a couple of days."

"I'll be there, no problem, Rita."

"No, I don't think you quite understand what I mean. I have to do undercover work, which means my partner and I will not come home for a couple of days. I need someone to take care of Cara while I am gone."

"You mean over night?"

"Exactly. I have no other person I can ask, Jo. Cara likes you, and I trust you with her."

"How do you think I should do that?" Jo exclaimed, sighing.

"Spend the nights here. I don't have any other person I can ask."

"Okay, but I have a date for Saturday night."

"Thank you, Jo."

Jo gathered her books from the table, said good-bye and left. Rita collected Cara's toys from the ground, carrying them to her room. Silently, she placed them down before she sat down on Cara's bed. The little girl slept peacefully, Rita's teddy Albert in her arm.

Rita gently kissed her on her forehead and was about to leave the room, when Cara called for her, "Mommy!"

"Hey sweetheart, you should sleep." Rita whispered and sat back down on Cara's bed.

"Did you think about my Dopey costume, mommy? I need it Saturday." Cara yawned.

The school play! Rita had totally forgotten about that! Cara was so proud about playing Dopey's part in Snow White and the 7 Dwarfs.

"We're gonna look for it tomorrow after school, sweetie. Now you sleep. It's late."

Cara sat at the coffee table, digging into her cereal, while Rita poured herself a cup of coffee.

"Mommy, can I invite Chris for the play?" Cara asked, her mouth full of cereal.

Rita walked back to the table and sat down, "Sure you can. He's picking me up for work later, you can ask him then."

"Okay. Are you gonna pick me up from school later to get me my costume?"

"Cara, sweetheart, we need to talk about something."

Cara dropped her spoon and looked up at her mother. She had this serious tone in her voice, and Cara just knew she probably wouldn't like what she had to tell her.

"Chris and I were told that we have to work undercover for a couple of days. I won't be coming home, so Jo is staying with you."

"But, mommy, I don't want to stay with Jo, I want you to be here!" Cara pleaded.

"Honey, I know, but this is mommy's work. I would rather be there for you, but I can't. I promise I'll be there Saturday night for the big play. Okay?"

Cara just nodded silently, looking down on the table in front of her. Rita got up and kneeled down next to her daughter, tilting her chin up.

"Cara, I know that it is still new for you living here with me. You know that I can't be there for you the way I want because of my job. The working hours are lousy, but we need the money. I will leave you my cell phone number and you can call me."

"Can I call you every time I want?"

"Yeah, you can call me every time you want. And, I promise I'll call you every night to kiss you good night."

A knock at the door interrupted Rita.

"That's Chris. I have to get up and pack the rest of my stuff. You'll be nice and let him in?"

"Okay, mommy."

Rita headed upstairs, while Cara went to open the door for Chris.

"Hey Chris!" she smiled.

"Hey, sweetheart. You ready for school?"

Chris scooped her from her feet and set her on his back, carrying her through the apartment.

"Sam?" he called upstairs. "You ready?"

"5 minutes. Tell Cara to pack her school bag."

"You heard your mom. Pack your school bag."

"I need to pack my lunch bag. You help me?"

"Sure."

Chris carried Cara to the kitchen and sat her down on the counter.

"Hmmm, peanut butter sandwich!" Cara uttered, grabbing the sandwich lying next to her.

"So, what do we have here? A sandwich, two bananas, an apple... that's your lunch?" Chris asked while placing everything in her lunch bag.

"Yeah. Susanne Polsky always gives me her orange for one of my bananas."

"She does? That's sweet of her."

"She likes bananas better, but her mommy only gives her oranges." Cara paused for a moment, "Chris, can I ask you something?"

"Sure, shoot."

"I am gonna play Dopey in our school play Saturday night. Will you come and watch me?"

"You're gonna play Dopey? Hey, that's great! I'll be there."

Cara just smiled at Chris. He looked down at the girl in front of him, once again thinking about how much she looked like her mother and how much he liked that smile of hers.

Chris closed the box when Rita entered the kitchen, "Are you two ready? It's already late."

"Yeah, we're ready. Go get your school bag, sweetheart."

Cara hopped down from the counter and ran out of the kitchen to get her school bag. Chris grabbed her lunch bag from the counter and walked over to Rita, who absently rubbed her shoulder, like she always did when she was nervous or when something was bothering her.

"What's up, Sam?" he asked her, leading her into the living room.

"Nothing, why should something be wrong?"

"Just by looking at you I can tell that something definitely is wrong. What is it?"

Rita sighed, "I really don't want to do this undercover work. Cara is just getting used to living with me. and I have to leave her again."

"She will be fine, Rita."

"I know, but who says I will be fine? It was never so hard to leave her when she was living with Megan."

"Oh, I think with all this cosmogasm stuff you probably won't have any time to her!"

Chris and Rita sat down on the blanket which was lying on a remote spot in the Plasmire's garden. It was time for the Soul Kiss, which would be one of the most awkward and inntimate exercises of this assignment.

"All right. I decided how we could do this exercise." Rita started. "We'll just pretend to be kissing someone else."

"Someone else... ugh..."

Chris slowly leaned in and began kissing Rita's neck. For a moment, she enjoyed it, but then she pulled back.

"C'mon, Chris, give it a rest." she uttered, taking a hold of his hands.

"What? We have to make it look good." Chris argued, sounding almost hurt.

"Yeah, but we don't have to make it feel so good."

Chris once again leaned in to kiss Rita when he spotted Karen Plasmire watching them.

"She's right there at the window watching us." he whispered into Rita's ear. Suddenly, everything was forgotten, and they began to kiss passionately...

An hour later, they finally broke the embrace. At first none of them spoke, they gazed at each other, thinking about what they just had done.

"You know that I think you're a great friend, right?" Rita broke the silence.

"Yeah, I feel the same way about you." Chris replied.

"And... and, in a lot of the most important ways... you are my best friend."

Chris began to smile, "I never had a better friend in my whole life, Rita."

"You know that I love you, don't you?"

"Yeah, I saw in the soul search. I love you, too."

"But, I... I am not IN love with you."

"Oh, no, I am not in love with you either, I mean, I saw that as well." Chris paused for a moment. "See... maybe some day... we will both look into the right one's eyes."

"I sure hope so."

They were on their way back into the house to spend the rest of their free time talking about the case, when Karen Plasmire walked up to them.

"Rita, your sister called during the exercise." she told them. "There's a phone in the solarium."

"I guess I use the phone in my room. Sweetheart?" Rita said turning to Chris, looking questioningly at him.

"You go right up and see what she wants."

He placed a quick kiss on her lips. Rita turned and headed for her room. She pulled her cell phone out of her bag and dialed her number. The phone was answered immediately.

"Jo, why did you call? Is something wrong with Cara?"

"She has the worst case of home sickness I ever saw, Rita." Jo replied. "I don't know what else I should do with her. She misses you."

"Let me talk to her."

"Hold on."

A moment later, Cara was on the phone.

"Hey sweetheart, what's wrong with you?"

"I miss you, mommy. When do you come home?"

"Tomorrow morning, honey. You just have to spend one more night with Jo and when you wake up, it won't be long until I am there."

"I don't wanna spend another night alone with Jo. I want you, mommy!" Cara pleaded. "Please, mommy, come home!"

"I can't. At least, not right away. I promise I'll be back tomorrow. Just in time for the play. Hey, I'll even take my big girl out to the ice cream parlor after the play."

"I want you back!"

"Cara, please don't make it any harder for me than it already is. The whole weekend is all yours, sweetheart, only you and me. Look, I have to go back to Chris now. I love you, my angel."

"I love you, too."

Morning was dawning when Rita snuck into her apartment. Late last night, the Plasmire case finally was wrapped up. She still felt a bit dizzy because of the drugs she'd been given, but at the moment that didn't matter to her. She needed to see her daughter. Silently, she walked into her daughter's room. Cara slept peacefully with Albert tucked in next to her.

Rita stood in the doorway and watched her for a while. Then she approached the bed and kissed her daughter on her forehead. Cara stirred and rubbed her eyes.

"Mommy? You're back?" she asked sleepily, sitting up in bed.

"Shhh, it's early morning, you should sleep."

Cara lay back down and patted the small empty spot next to her, "Here, you sleep here with me, okay? Albert won't mind."

Rita smiled and kissed her daughter again, "Okay."

Rita kicked her shoes off and lay down next to her daughter, wrapping one arm around her. Cara snuggled close to her, and soon after, mother and daughter had drifted off to sleep.

"Heck, I forgot Cara's costume!" Rita suddenly exclaimed, while on their way home from the headquarters. Paperwork was done, and all that lay ahead of her, was a weekend with Cara.

"Costume, what costume?" Chris inquired, tapping his fingers on the dashboard in front of him.

"She's gonna play Dopey tonight in her school play. I am surprised she didn't tell you about it."

"Oh, she did tell me about the school play."

"And, she has no costume. Heck, the stores are already closed. Where do I get a costume for her now?"

Rita stopped the car in front of Chris' apartment building. He opened the car and was about to get out, but then sat back down, turning to Rita.

"You said Dopey?"

Rita silently nodded, tapping her fingers on the wheel.

"You wait 5 minutes, and I'll be right back, okay?"

"Sam!" Rita called after him, but Chris had already jogged away. Not even 5 minutes later he was back. He hopped into Rita's jeep.

"Okay, drive on."

Rita just gave him a look.

"What? C'mon, Cara is waiting."

Rita shook her head, but sped down the street. About 15 minutes later, they walked into Rita's apartment.

"Chris!" Cara yelled when she saw Chris entering the apartment. She ran over to him, and he plucked her from the ground, whirling her through the air.

"Someone told me tonight's the big play. You ready for it?" he asked, tickling her.

"Yay. I am Dopey, Chris."

Chris giggled as he stood her back down on the ground. Cara immediately went over to her mother, to see her costume.

"Mommy, where's my costume? Where is it?" she asked, her eyes growing bigger and bigger.

Rita kneeled down in front of her daughter, "Sweetheart, I am so..."

"Your costume is in here." Chris suddenly interrupted Rita. He held his bag up. "C'mon, I will help you get dressed, and your mommy will go walk Jo out. What do you think?"

"Yeah!"

Chris and Cara disappeared in Cara's room. The apartment went totally quiet after Rita had walked Jo out. Chris had locked the door to Cara's room from inside.

"Hey you two, won't you let me in?" Rita asked, pounding against the door.

Suddenly, the door swung open and Chris' head appeared, "Where are Cara's tights?"

"In the bureau, second drawer."

"Thanks."

With that, the door got closed right in Rita's face. She shook her head, giggling lightly, when Chris' head peered out of the door again.

"Uhm, Sam, Cara doesn't have a pair of white tennis shoes, does she?"

"In the closet. Would you..."

Rita wasn't able to finish her sentence. The door closed right in her face again.

"This is ridiculous!" she muttered, giggling at the same time.

Not 5 minutes later, Chris walked out of Cara's room. Rita was sitting on the couch when she saw him.

"Are you two ready now? We'll be late if we don't go."

Chris lead her over to the doorway to Cara's room, "Sam, there is your daughter."

Cara stood in the middle of her room, looking adorably cute in what she was wearing. Chris had dressed her in a green shirt - obviously one of his - and had tightened it around her waist with one of her belts. The shirt reached to her knees. She was wearing a pair of red tights along with her white tennis shoes. On her head, she was wearing a pair of dark violet boxers. Chris had tied the ends together, and it indeed looked like Dopey's hat now.

Rita covered her eyes with her hand, laughing out loud, "Sam, what did you do to her?!?"

"What? That was the best I could do in 15 minutes." He leaned closer to Rita, "You wouldn't want her to play Dopey nude, would you?"

"Come here, sweetie."

Cara approached her mother, "It's cute, isn't it, mommy?"

"C'mon, get out of those red tights. I think a pair of purple ones will match better."

Rita dressed Cara in a pair of purple tights as fast as she could. They were running late already.

"You're gonna be a cute Dopey." Rita smiled as she studied her daughter.

Cara returned the same smile. Then she looked over at Chris and gave him a bump with her ellbow.

"Race you to the car, Chris!" she exclaimed, running out of her room.

Chris looked over at Rita.

"Thank you, Sam." she said, placing a gentle kiss on his cheek.

"Chris!" Cara called from the living room.

Chris smiled at Rita, while he answered Cara, "I am coming, honey!"

End Of Chapter 4

Standard Disclaimer: The characters of Chris Lorenzo, Rita Lee Lance and Lt. Hudson belong to Stephen J. Cannell and USA Network. However, the characters of Cara Sue Lance and her baby sitter Jo belong to me.

Thanks go to my evil twin for proofreading this story and correcting my oh so phubby typos and mistakes, and to my taped version of Soul Kiss which some looney tooney in my family hid in their room so that I couldn't find it earlier to finish this story.

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