Magic of Love
A/N: Last part of my now Trilogy. Haha! Please read I Never Knew It Was You and Faith and Fate before this!
Chapter 1: An Anniversary to Remember
Five years later
Casey Cartwright was rummaging through her old photos which were kept in a shoe box. Tonight, they would be celebrating their fourth wedding anniversary, and she had made a scrapbook for him. She had also planned a romantic dinner for two. She wasn't quite the chef, but she was secretly attending cooking lessons when Cappie was away on business trips which were more often than you'd think.
In the time they had spent together since they found each other again six years ago, they had both been very successful, even more successful than before. Casey had published another novel two years into their marriage. And for over two years, Cappie's business had burst throughout the world. He started funding school and helping the less fortunate all over the world. Apparently, he also had the passion for philanthropy just like his parents.
Casey had barely seen him the past few months, but she had understood how important his job was to him and how excited he was to start a project of his own.
In her hand was a picture of a blond, blue- eyed little girl who looked about twelve. She was standing in front of a huge house arms stretched out wide, and she had a huge smile on her face. It was their only child, Catlin. Casey remembered that day. It was the day they moved into their Bel-Air mansion four years ago. She sighed at the thought of how things changed too fast. I seemed just like yesterday that Catlin had no idea who her real father was, and mother and daughter were living with Casey's former husband, Jack. Of course, this was all before Cappie had again showed up into their lives.
Casey was suddenly startled when she heard the front door slam shut.
"Mom?" came sixteen- year old, Catlin's voice.
"In hear, honey" Casey shouted from their den
Catlin stood by the door with arms crossed. The girl looked almost exactly like Casey except for her eyes, the eyes that were remarkably exactly like her father's. Her hair was blond hair had recently been bleached by the California sun and she was sporting a tan at the moment. One other difference between Catlin and her mother is that she acted nothing like Casey. She was a free- spirit, but at the same time, had a good head on her shoulders. She was grinning sardonically at her mother.
"Really mother. You're not that old, are you?" Catlin laughed at the sight.
"No, no. I was just looking for more photos for the scrapbook"
"Mom, it already looks great! He's going to love it. I know dad and it doesn't take too much to make him happy" Catlin walked over to Casey and hugged her.
"I know, I know. I just want everything to be perfect" Casey smiled.
Casey was happy that she had Catlin. In a way, they were best friends. Her daughter somehow understood most of the things she had to go through so Casey didn't mind letting out her feelings and sometimes her situations. There was this certain bond between them maybe because for the first few years of Catlin's life, it was just the two of them.
Then again, for the past few months, it had mostly been the two of them again anyway.
"Aren't you sleeping over at Tricia's tonight?" Casey inquired
"Don't worry I'll be out of your hair before dinner. I just have to pack my stuff and be out of your hair in no time!"
Casey laughed.
That night, the table was all set, the food was almost done and she was right on time. The only thing missing was her date.
She was in the midst of spreading the lemon sauce of the lemon chicken that she had spent a good two hours making when her heart jumped at the sight of Cappie standing by the kitchen door.
"So, this is what my beautiful wife's been up to. Bored already?" he mused
"Oh my god Cap! You scared me!" she was clutching her chest as if her heart was going to pop out
He laughed, "I'm sorry, Case. I couldn't resist" he leaned in for a kiss, Casey deepened it.
"My, my, aren't we a little feisty. Does this mean we're all alone?" he looked own at her questioningly
"Yes, we are." She kissed him again, longer this time. Suddenly, she heard the song in a different language play. Cappie broke the kiss and looked at her apologetically.
"I'm sorry Case" he muttered before reaching into his pocket for his phone.
Casey sighed as he walked out and took the call, thinking that she might as well blow out the candles and pack the food.
True enough, when Cappie walked in, he had a morose look on his face.
"What's wrong, Cap?" she asked genuinely concerned
"It's the company. They have this problem about the feeding in Cambodia. We have to pull an all-nighter at the office if we want to feed a five thousand people tomorrow."
"Oh. But you just got back from Mozambique tonight. Can't you at least stay for dinner?"
The look Cappie gave her made her want to cry, but she understood.
"Rain check on dinner?" she said forcing a smile
"Definitely, Case. I'm so sorry. I love you" with a kiss, Cappie was out of the door.
After contemplating her situation, Casey took out all the coffee and biscuits they had in storage, packed up her car and left to go to C Corporations.
When she finally got there, she found about fifteen men and five women seated around a long rectangular table, all of them looking worn out, at the same time worried. Her husband was sitting at the end of the table discussing something. He was pointing to a chart with graphs and numbers.
Cappie saw her from where she was standing, and a smile suddenly spread across his face. Her briefly said something to the people in the room that looked like: Let's take a break; from where Casey was standing. She had a handful of goodies and Cappie went out to help her.
"What are you doing here?" he asked taking one of the big coffee packages. He couldn't suppress his happiness
"I thought I'd help" she smiled
What else was she supposed to do? It was their fourth anniversary she wasn't going to spend it alone. As Casey made coffee and Cappie gave everyone treats, Casey couldn't help but think about the times again. Everything was changing right before her eyes. This was the first year that Cappie didn't take time out of everything to spend a special occasion with her.
"Funny way to spend our four- year anniversary, huh?" Casey smiled as she poured coffee into separate cups.
Cappie's eyes widened.
"That's today!"
Casey's eyes met his. He couldn't read her expression. This was probably because she had no idea what she felt either.
"Well, it was yesterday now" she finally said, looking at the clock. Indeed, it was five minutes past midnight.
"Casey, I am so sorry" Cappie said pulling her into a tight hug. "I'm going to make it up to you"
Casey hugged him back
"Cap, I know you're really excited and busy with this project and I'm happy for you. Don't worry about it. You do what you have to do"
It's the wrong kind of magic
Now you see him, now you don't
Used to be he'd drop anything for me
But not lately, he won't