When she woke the next morning, Lindsey had no idea where she was until she saw Cassie asleep next to her. She looked at the clock hanging on the wall and was surprised to see that it was only eight thirty. She rolled over and went back to sleep. Catherine woke up ad tried to sit up and found that something or someone was keeping her from doing so, she looked down at her waist and realized that it was the latter of the two options. She smiled when she rremembered who the arm belonged to. She rolled over to look at the clock and gasped when she saw the time. It was twelve thirty! She rolled over towards Nick and shook him awake. "Nicky! We gotta go get Lindsey and Cassie from the hospital!" "Wait Cassie isn't ours yet, Cath." "Nicky our lawyer just called, she is all ours." He couldn't stop the tears from flowing and he blubbered out "She's really ours C-Cath, she's really ours?" "Yes Nicky, she's really ours." "Oh God!" She held him close while he cried. When the tears finally stopped, he kissed her with everything he had and got up and headed to the shower. She slid out of bed and went to join him. When they got out, they toweled off and and got dressed. Catherine fixed her hair and helped Nick put some spikes in his hair with hair gel. She was about to go to the kitchen to fix them breakfast, when Nick grabbed her arm and spun her around. When she turned to look at him he grabbed her face and kissed her. "I love you Nicky." He smiled "I love you too Cath." They decided to grab lunch after they picked Lindsey and Cassie up. When they got to the hospital Nick grabbed her hand and took off running to the elevator. As soon as the door opened on Cassie's floor Nick ran straight to Cassie's room. He opened the door slowly and found his two girls curled up asleep in Cassie's bed next to one another.
As he finished opening the door it creaked waking the two sleeping girls from their slumber. When they saw who was at the door both Lindsey and Cassie exclaimed, "Mommy! Daddy!" They chuckled as the girls ran over to them. Nick picked Cassie up after she gave he and Catherine a hug and kiss. He looked her straight in the eyes and said, "Cass, guess who gets to go home today?" She cried, "Me, Daddy! I get to go home today." Lindsey happily giggling said "Yay!" Nick and Catherine switched kids. Cassie immediately threw her arms around her neck. "I love you mommy." The nurse walked in at that moment and handed Catherine the discharge papers. She quickly filled them out and took them to the nurses station. She put her purse down and pulled an outfit out for Cassie. They were given the ok to get her stuff from Cassie's room and take it to Nick's house. So she brought her some of her clothes. She took Cassie and Lindsey past the curtain and pulled it closed. She helped Cassie get changed since she was still weak and had Lindsey go ahead and change while the curtain was closed. Lindsey opened the curtain and out came Catherine holding Cassie and her purse. Nick picked Lindsey up and put her on his shoulders, Catherine did the same with Cassie and they walked out of the hospital room. But were stopped by a nurse. "Excuse me Mr. Stokes, this is little Cassie's it came in with her." she said as she handed him a blankie, a pack of bubble gum, and a picture of a young child. He thanked her and they went to the Denali. When they were finally out of the parking lot, Nick asked "Cassie who is this in this picture?" "I don't actually know daddy, I found it in an old box in my biological mom and dad's bedroom closet." "Does the child in this picture resemble either of your parents?" "My dad I guess." While they were in the car, Catherine turned to Cassie and asked her where she wanted to eat. She smiled and replied "May we go to Marco's pizza and arcade?" Lindsey gave Catherine puppy dog eyes. Knowing Lindsey hadn't been in years and Nick probably had never been she nodded her head. Lindsey and Cassie screamed "Yay!" Suddenly Catherine's phone rang. "Hello?" "Is this Catherine Willows?" "Yes?" " This is Desert Palms hospital,Tony Vartann just arrived via ambulance, he is unresponsive, you are his emergency contact." "Oh God! I'll be there as soon as I can." She hung up. "Nick turn the car around and take me to the front entrance. Now!" "Baby, what's wrong? What happened?" "Vartann was just brought in on an ambulance and as of now he is unresponsive!" She called Brass. "Jim, what the hell happened to Vartann?" "What do you mean? Last time I saw him he was walking to his car to go home." "Well he was just brought to Desert Palms on an ambulance and he is unresponsive!" "Shit! Cath are you at the hospital right now?" "I'm on my way in as we speak." "I'll be there as soon as I can." She walked in and flashed her ID to the lady at the front desk. "Are you looking for Mr. Tony Vartann?" "Yes, can you tell me where he is?" "I was told to tell you to go to the ICU when you got here." "Oh God! Thank you for your help." She sent Nick and Brass a text and ran up the stairs. She went to the nurses station and they told her he was in room 524. She slowly opened the door with creak and broke down crying right there in the floor. He was on a ventilator and had so many tubes hooked up to him. The only sounds were Catherine's sobs and the steady beeping of the machines. Nick ran up the stairs and into room 524. "Baby, oh sweetheart. Shh, shh, come here. I got you. It'll be ok." Brass walked in and saw Nick holding Catherine and he knew it was bad. Shortly after Brass walked in the doctor came in to tell them what they knew. "Ms. Willows?" "That would be me." Catherine spoke. "Well we can tell you why he is in this state and his injuries." "Ok, great." "He is still under anesthesia from surgery, because he was beaten and stabbed very violently. One stab wound in particular went through the appendix which we had to remove. He also oddly had a nine millimeter in his shoulder." "He is a police detective and he was shot on the job. I thought they had removed that bullet though." "Apparently not, he should wake up any minute now." "Oh thank goodness!" Catherine exclaimed. With that the doctor left the room. "Hey Cath, why are you Vartann's emergency contact?" "We dated for a while way back when and he must have done that then and didn't change it after we broke up." "Okay." "Where are the girls?" "A nurse took them to the children's floor to visit the sick children, they love having visitors." "Oh that's sweet Nicky." "Nicky?! Cath what is that ass doing here?" "Vartann, what the hell are you saying? We broke up months ago. Why am I still your emergency contact?" "I don't have anyone else to be my emergency contact, so I figured you wouldn't mind if I left you as my emergency contact." "What about your mom?" "She is dead." "Okay then." "Well Nicky, let's get out of here so Brass can ask Tony what happened." She took his hand and lead him to the children's center and picked up Lindsey and Cassie. They walked to the car and got in. Nick drove them to Marco's and helped Cassie out of her carseat. They walked in and Nick and Catherine sat down and ordered while Cassie and Lindsey went to the arcade. Nick pulled Catherine into his lap and captured her lips with his. She broke the kiss and sauntered towards the bathroom. She walked back to the table and sat down. Soon the pizza arrived and Nick went to go get the girls. The girls came running over to the booth as Nick stood up. Cassie looked scared. "Cass, what's wrong?" Lindsey answered for her, "Cass saw one of the boys who took her and killed her family." He let Cassie sit on the other side of him and Lindsey sat next to Catherine. They chowed down on the pizza. Suddenly Cassie started whimpering and crying and Nick looked up to see a boy of about eighteen staring at Cassie. Nick stood up and unholstered his gun and flashed his ID. The boy ran, but Nick was faster and cuffed him and called Brass and he sent two of his men to apprehend the young man. After they finished eating they went back to Nick's house. They got the girls in pajamas and in bed asleep. Nick snuck up behind Catherine and peppered the skin of her neck in kisses. She let out a moan of pleasure. He lead her to bed and undressed her. Then he took one of her nipples in his mouth and sucked her breast making her whimper. He did the same to the other. He slid inside her and and thrust into her fast and hard. He kissed her loving the taste of her lips and tongue. She was moaning and writhing underneath him. The climax building low in her belly. She could feel her muscles clinching around his shaft. She screamed his name out as her orgasm washed over her. He filled her with his hot seed and pulled out. Panting he pulled the blankets up over them and succumbed to sleep. The next morning she woke up and found the other side of the bed empty. She slipped a gown and a robe on and walked into the kitchen. She found him making pancakes. He pointed at a cup of coffee and she picked it up and took a sip. "Mmmm, Nicky this is so good." "I love you Catherine." "I love you too Nicky." She got the girls up and went to the bathroom. When she walked in the kitchen Nick walked up behind her and put his arms around her. She loved her life and everyone in it.