"It's already Hallowe'en," Ned commented, folding his newspaper up again.
Katherine laughed, popping the toast up. "You haven't been paying attention to Henry's conversations, that's all he's been talking about."
"I know," Ned said. "But the day itself creeped up on me." He smiled at her, carefully getting to his feet.
She quietly admired the breadth of his shoulders in that dark orange sweater over his white dress shirt, watching as he put his plate into the sink.
"You're leaving early for the office?" She asked.
"Like I told you last night," he nodded, moving to slide his arms around her and place a kiss on her neck. "So that I can leave early and take Henry trick or treating."
"Well, I can do that," Katherine said, leaning into him; she loved just being with him, staying in his arms as long as possible.
"We can both do it," Ned said, and Katherine laughed.
"It's his first year going," she said. "He'll be in for a treat."
"And some tricks, I don't want it to be boring," Ned whispered, just as their three year old son dashed into the kitchen.
"It's Hallowe'en!" He cried, eyes wide with excitement and delight. "Trick and treating!"
"Or," Katherine began.
"It'll be and," Ned grinned; she could feel his smile against her neck and he pressed another warm kiss there before pulling away. "Henry, come give me a hug, I have to go to work so that I can come home early tonight to take you out."
Henry ran forward, throwing himself into his father's arms; Ned had crouched down as much as he was able with his prosthetic and he pulled Henry up and away, backing away from Katherine so he could spin his son around, both parents grinning to see and hear the joy bubbling from their son.
"I can't wait," Henry said, throwing his arms around Ned's neck once they'd finished spinning. "I'm going to be a ghost!"
"A ghost? I thought you wanted to be a scarecrow," Katherine said, as Ned lowered Henry to the floor.
"I heard a ghost last night," Henry said.
Katherine met Ned's gaze; both were startled.
"It was moaning," Henry said. "Your name, daddy."
An awkward moment settled over the kitchen and then both Katherine and Ned burst out laughing, faces bright red, realizing that they needed to learn to be quieter; their son wasn't oblivious anymore.
"I think we can stick with the scarecrow," Katherine said. "We have your costume all ready."
Ned grinned at her over Henry's head. "I'll just go kiss Danielle goodbye," he said. "See you around four."
"Alright," Katherine answered, as he leaned in to press one more kiss to her cheek, and left the room.
She sighed a little, knowing how ridiculous it was, but she missed him already. She would have a lovely day over at her parents' house, though, that she knew, children in tow.
Her mother answered the door looking tired, still dressed in a bathrobe, a little surprised to see Katherine.
"Hello!" She greeted, hugging her daughter and a huge smile appeared on her face when she saw Danielle and Henry standing behind her. "I keep forgetting that Danielle is already walking," she exclaimed, crouching to pick her granddaughter up.
"Sleeping in this morning?" Katherine wondered.
"No, I've been up since five," Melinda said, brow furrowing. "But Micah's sick."
"Is it serious?" Katherine said, a panic seizing her heart.
"No, he's just been throwing up," Melinda said. "I think he picked up something at school; it's been passing around."
"Oh, then should we be here?" Katherine worried, and Melinda chuckled.
"Probably not," she said. "I shouldn't have hugged Danielle, I wasn't thinking."
"I should have called first," Katherine said, but Melinda smiled.
"I was glad to see you," she said. "And I think Danielle and Henry will be fine. It's a mild virus and I don't have it, and this is a new bathrobe." She smiled tiredly. "The other one got soiled."
"I'm sorry, mom," Katherine said but Melinda shook her head.
"Don't apologize, this is what motherhood includes, and I wouldn't trade a second of it," she said. "Sometimes I still can't believe I got a second chance."
"I'm so happy you did, you're such a wonderful mother and deserved a whole houseful of children to raise to prove it," Katherine said wistfully. "Micah is lucky."
"So are Henry and Danielle," Melinda returned the favor. "And we don't have to stand here all day complimenting each other; we do have better things to do."
Katherine laughed, gathering her children back up.
"Will Micah go trick and treating?" Henry asked hopefully, and Melinda shook her head.
"I'm sorry, Henry, but he's sick," Melinda answered.
"I'll get candy for him," he resolved. "Tell him I'll get it."
"I will," Melinda said, smiling and kissing her grandson's cheek, waving goodbye to them as Katherine picked Danielle up, took Henry's hand and led them down the walk, wishing she'd driven the car; she'd walked to her parents' house because she thought they'd be staying there and now they needed somewhere else to go.
And then she had an idea.
She could visit her father at work.
And pretend that she was just visiting him and not planning on sneaking to Ned's office...
Jim pushed his glasses up off of his face, leaving them in his hair as he rubbed his eyes, glancing around the office.
He wanted to go home; the numbers were making him tired. The end of the month was always stressful, even now that Ned had started working here. And Ned was definitely a godsend, but even he couldn't change everything.
There was a knock on the door; he saw a female silhouette and immediately perked up; there were two possibilities of who it could be which made him very cheerful indeed.
"Come in," he said, and Katherine poked her head through the door, Henry and Danielle in tow.
All weariness faded; his smile grew and he stood up, hurrying to pick up his grandson and toss him in the air. "What are you up to today?" He asked, slinging an arm around his daughter and pressing a kiss to her forehead.
"We were going over to your house but Micah is sick," Katherine said. "Mother sent us onwards."
"Yes," Jim sighed. "He's been throwing up since very early this morning, I'm worried."
"Do you think he needs the doctor?" Katherine wondered. "I could stop by his office and ask him to drop by on his way home possibly."
"No, Melinda thinks it's just a bug, and she has a fair amount of experience with these things," Jim said. "And you're the nurse, why didn't you diagnose him?"
"I didn't want to get Henry and Danielle infected," Katherine confessed.
Jim nodded. "One house with sickness is enough," he agreed, taking Danielle from her arm. "Go on," he said, looking in admiration at Danielle's beautiful little face; she looked so much like Katherine had at that age, it was like traveling back in time.
"What do you mean?" Katherine asked, flushing.
"I'll keep these two company, we can go outside and look at the newer models," Jim said.
"Father," Katherine said, and Jim grinned at her, his dimples showing and his blue eyes clear.
"Katherine, I know very well that you actually came here to see Ned, and you don't need to deny it," Jim said. "Your mother made very similar visits here over the years; I'm very happy to visit with my grandchildren for half an hour." He looked at Katherine closely. "Then again, an hour would be fine too."
His daughter's cheeks were scarlet, yet she was backing out of the room, grinning at him. "I love you, father, and yes, I did come to see you too, but if you're letting me go, I shan't not take this chance."
"Just go ahead, don't worry," Jim chuckled, already walking outside to the lot; he had a feeling that Henry would love the new Chevrolet Convertible.
Ned popped another piece of candy corn into his mouth; a salesman had dropped some by in an attempt to get them to do business with him and Ned hadn't been able to stop eating it all morning.
"Last piece," he said, taking a third, licking his fingers and going back to the paperwork in front of him.
He felt restless; the end of the month always brought this. Jim's job meant that he bore the brunt of the number crunching and Ned's meant that he wanted to do more, but really couldn't.
He took yet another piece of candy corn, fully giving up on having self control today; he was bored.
There was a knock on the door; he didn't even look up when he said, "Come in," because he was expecting Harry from Sales with the estimations.
In which case he actually had some work to do; he frowned at the rolled up sleeves of his dress shirt; his sweater had been tossed aside a long time ago and Harry might be expecting a bit more formality; he took another piece of candy corn and stood up to grab the sweater, turning to face his visitor and pausing in pulling the sweater over his head.
Katherine.
She had changed; earlier she'd been cooking breakfast in her nightgown, which was always a delectable sight, but now she was wearing a new dress, blue with white polka dots, tight at her waist.
He'd always known he'd find Katherine beautiful, but he'd never really thought about her growing more beautiful.
Her tan wool coat was slung over her arm, and there was a wide smile on her piquant face; her eyes looked wide and her cheeks were flushed, and her new dress took his breath away.
She'd gained some curves in childbirth; before she'd been so slim, and now her chest had grown a size, and her hips were definitely wider.
He loved her ever so much, to see how her body had changed, grown. He'd fallen in love with a girl; he was still desperately in love with the woman she'd become.
"Katherine," he said, lowering his arms, putting the sweater on the desk. "What are you doing here?"
She closed the door behind her, stepped forward, and then turned around to lock it.
He felt his breath catch; he knew what this meant.
"I was going to see my mother," she said. "But Micah is sick so I brought Henry and Danielle over to say hello to daddy and he said he wanted to show them the new cars."
She licked her lips, placing her coat over the back of a chair, eyes hopeful as she looked at Ned.
Ned liked the solitude of always having his office blinds drawn, so there was nothing more he had to do but clear his desk off.
And that only took a moment.
"So you came to see me," Ned said, voice deepening and it wasn't even intentional; he saw her shifting from foot to foot, nodding, and he knew that that probably wasn't intentional either.
"Yes, to see if you were busy," Katherine breathed out, a breathy sigh.
"I'm not," Ned said. "But I might be soon."
She was already stepping forward. "Then that just means we have to hurry," she said, her words ending in a moan; Ned was catching her around the waist, and placing a kiss to her neck, doing what he'd been planning on doing that morning before Henry had come running in.
"No ghosts this time," he warned, and she nodded, eyes sparkling, biting her lips when his mouth sucked on her neck, when his lips started a journey upwards to her jaw, and finally their mouths met, clashing before they melded together perfectly, moving in a graceful dance.
His hands went to her waist; he lifted her up, placed her on the desk, had her on her back in a moment.
Her arms were tight around his neck, keeping him there, not letting him take a step back, keeping his body bent over hers.
But he had some goals to reach and she was keeping him from reaching those goals.
Time to change tactics.
His hands were braced on the table, and he let them slowly move to start exploring the curve of her waist, his thumb moving from the bottom of her rib cage and up to the underside of her heavy breasts.
She was still nursing, and it showed. Their weight had increased in a very obvious way, and oh god, she was more than a handful now, and she was moaning to feel him touching her through her dress the way that she was; arching into the embrace.
And finally, finally, her arms slacked, and he was able to straighten a little, just enough so that their lips parted, so that he was gazing down at her, letting their gazes meet.
"Ned," she whispered. "You taste like sugar."
"I've been eating candy corn all morning," he confessed, eyes darkening, traveling to the buttons hidden by the sailor type tie on the front of her dress.
And then he pulled it open from the front, one smooth jerk; each button popped from its hole with ease; Katherine gasped, and the sound made him harder.
He dragged the sleeves down, he pulled the dress down to her waist, and her brassiere was plain and white, covering her large breasts, but not for long.
His hands slid around to her back, found the clips, slipped the material from her body.
And then it was just Katherine.
But never just Katherine.
She was always more than just.
She wasn't sure she'd ever seen that look on Ned's face before as when he'd slipped her brassiere off; one of intense concentration, of love, of pure lust.
She just knew that she wanted to see it again.
She just knew that she planned to see it again.
His lips landed on one sensitive breast; Danielle was getting a little rough, not intentionally, but she'd noticed tenderness, and she bit her lip tightly to find how Ned was treating her.
It was like he knew to go slow, to go gently; his lips were soothing, and his tongue made her distended nipples sigh as if in relief.
His hands came up to cup her, soothing her even more; he was rubbing in circles and he took the nipple his mouth wasn't on in between his fingers, rolling it, cherishing it.
She sighed in pleasure, to feel this kind of treatment when they were still in a hurry; yet he was taking his time to make sure that she felt good, that she'd get that far.
And then his hands were moving, sliding up her thighs, pulling her panties down before he parted her legs, pulling away from her.
"Wait," she said, seeing that look on his face again as he spread her legs wide. "I want you inside me today."
He moaned, and she was sitting up, pulling at his belt, tugging his trousers down, until he was finally freed.
She wanted to touch him, stroke him, just admire him, but they were on a schedule.
She wanted to give him the same as she'd been given, but his eyes were already closed in pleasure, and he nodded.
"We don't have that much time," he said, and took her hands in his; her legs clamped around him and he was holding her wrists over her head as he entered her, their lips meeting so he could cover up her moans.
Jim sat in the crisp Autumn air, behind the wheel of the Convertible.
Danielle was on his lap and Henry stood in front of them, turning the wheel and making noises, pretending that the car was moving.
He saw his daughter leave the office, looking flushed and rumpled; he quietly smiled to see how very much like Melinda she was; he'd be sure to tell his own wife to get Katherine to pay back the favor sometime in the next week.
"Well, we're ready to go," Katherine said happily. "Thank you for watching them."
"I loved every second," Jim promised, as they got out of the car. "Happy Hallowe'en," he called over his shoulder, watching them walk from the parking lot.
"Happy Hallowe'en," Katherine called in response; she'd had her Hallowe'en treat, Jim reflected, jogging up the steps into the car dealership.
He just wondered when he'd get his.