Ok guys…here's another chapter. Hope you enjoy it.
Chapter 4
On Saturday morning, Cuddy got up at 6am, completing her morning yoga, taking a shower and even managing to throw some laundry into the washer before Rachel got up.
Once her daughter did rise, Cuddy made Rachel a plate of scrambled eggs, which had become a favorite of the little girl. Of course Cuddy had also snuck in a slice of whole wheat toast on the plate, spreading some strawberry preserves on top of it in order to make the bread more palatable for Rachel's young taste buds.
During the rest of the morning, Cuddy had gotten Rachel dressed, singing to her daughter as she brushed her hair before putting it up in a ponytail. The two of them then went downstairs and played on the floor for awhile with Rachel's toys as Cuddy was filled with joy over how vivid of an imagination her little girl had.
As morning stretched into early afternoon they wound up laying on the couch together, watching Dora the Explorer until close to two pm when Rachel fell asleep.
Carefully easing her way off of the couch, Cuddy placed a blanket over her sleeping daughter, knowing she would have about an hour to herself until Rachel would awaken once more.
As she walked into the kitchen to get a drink, Cuddy started thinking about her date with Kevin later that evening, feeling that little flutter inside her stomach return when recalling the sound of his voice and the way his smile made her feel so much better about herself when she was around him.
A half an hour later she was still thinking about him, wondering where he planned on taking her tonight. Thinking about calling him before Rachel woke up in hopes of getting a clue of how she should dress for the evening.
Now standing inside of her bedroom, Cuddy couldn't help but smile over her anticipation, reaching for her cell phone on the night stand as the need to hear Kevin's voice again was now turning into the sweetest kind of ache.
"Mommy!" Rachel suddenly yelled, obviously now awake from her nap.
"I'm coming honey." Cuddy yelled back, looking down at the phone and deciding to tend to Rachel first before trying to call Kevin.
"Mommy! Hurry! There's a waterfall down in the basement!" The girl then shouted from the kitchen just as Cuddy crossed the threshold of her bedroom.
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At that same time and on the outskirts of Princeton, Kevin Bennet was standing on the backyard deck of his home, surveying his five acre wooded property as another glorious summer day was in full bloom.
There were so many projects he needed to conquer this summer. His mind running through all of them as the birds sang cheerfully to each other through the array of pines, oak and cherry trees that speckled the landscape. After thinking things through for a moment he finally decided that planting some apple and pears trees in a small meadow just off in the distance would be the first thing he tackled on his mental list, making plans to go to the nursery tomorrow and pick up a few specimens.
Earlier today he had awoke at 6am, unable to sleep. Feeling that good kind of nervous energy he thrived on.
He had quickly gotten out of bed, pulling on a white t-shirt and blue shorts before reaching for a pair socks and making his way down to the living room. After putting on his sneakers he set off for a five mile run.
He loved running and had been doing it since he had been a junior in college.
The day that greeted him this morning was thick with smell of pine trees as he listened to the sound of his breathing. His feet falling into a steady rhythm as his sneakers made contact with the macadam beneath them.
It was about a half a mile into his run when Kevin realized he had been smiling the entire time. His mind already knowing the cause of his happiness as it had been playing with thoughts of Lisa Cuddy ever since he had gotten up this morning.
He simply could not wait to see her again. The idea of spending time with the amazing woman who made his heart skip a beat whenever she flashed him that dazzling smile, accompanied by her full laugh, lifting his spirits higher with each step he took.
The route he chosen to run that day was also taking him higher and higher, up into the mountains and to a place where the trees began to outnumber the houses. He loved the outdoors, loved nature and everything it had to offer. The trees, birds and all of the wildlife around him sure to ease the worries in his mind. The breathtaking beauty of nature, somewhere he could always escape to whenever his soul had taken a beating from the more ferocious aspects of life.
As he reached the peak of the mountaintop that morning...…. he felt an old and painful memory running up close behind him, taking him by surprise.
His guard had not been as keen as it once was as it had been years since he had beaten this particular demon. It's presence nearly breaking him all those years ago when he had only been a young man of twenty.
Before it could gain on him any further, Kevin commanded his legs to run faster, his thigh muscles burning as he pushed them to the brink, until he was gasping for air, until he eventually had to stop, or ...risk passing out from the sudden and wild burst of exertion.
But…he had made it. He had kept that awful memory in the past by using the sound of Lisa's voice along with the beating of his own heart to chase it back down into that awful place where it belonged, too close to happiness once more after all of these years to let it sink its teeth into him again.
Now standing in the back yard of his home, Kevin's thoughts turned away from his run this morning and back towards Lisa Cuddy, wondering what kind of flowers she liked and if he should bring her some for their date, before his thoughts were interrupted by the ringing of his cell phone.
"Hi Lisa." He said with a smile after retrieving the cell phone from the front pocket of his jeans.
"Listen Kevin, I know you're probably going to think I'm lying but…well…a pipe burst in my basement a few minutes ago and I've got one hell of mess on my hands. I've shut off the water and called the plumber but he said it's going to be a couple of hours before he gets here. I'm so sorry but I think I'm going to have to cancel our date tonight." Cuddy informed him with regret as she herself was in fact really looking forward to the date as well.
"Cancel the plumber and give me your address." Kevin replied back to her without hesitation.
"You know how do plumbing?" Cuddy questioned with surprise.
Kevin smiled, rather liking the way the pitch of her voice had lifted with her inquiry. "Believe it or not Lisa, I actually worked my way up the corporate ladder of the construction world instead of sleeping my way to the top." He told her, trying to make his voice sound as serious as possible.
Cuddy laughed. "And here I thought you were just another pretty face." She commented back to him with a smirk.
"I'll have you know I am not just a piece of meat! In fact I have the smarts real good. So just remember to keep your hands to yourself when I come over." He joked back to her with a chuckle.
Cuddy shook her head, amused with his little game. "Just shut up for a minute so I can give you my address." She told him, rolling her eyes as the smile on her face grew even wider.
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"Mommy, when is that man coming to fix the basement?" Rachel asked about twenty five minutes later while standing inside the kitchen with her mother.
"Soon honey, but for right now let's go back downstairs and clean up a little bit more." Cuddy replied, drying her hands on a towel just as there was a knock on her front door.
"He's here Mommy! Let's go!" Rachel exclaimed, taking hold of one of Cuddy's hands and practically dragging her down the hallway.
"I swear I don't know where you get all of your energy." Cuddy commented down to her daughter before she reached out with her free hand, twisting the knob to the front door.
"Hi." Kevin said to her, taken back for a moment by the sight of her standing in the doorway.
Cuddy was dressed in a white tank top with a pink sports bra underneath it and wearing soft cotton pink shorts that showed off her luxuriously toned legs. Her dark hair had been pulled up into a ponytail, her face void of any makeup, revealing a new depth of her beauty to him. The curves on her body, outlined in the soft fabric she was wearing, the kind of thing that stirs something deep within a man, coming from his most primitive side.
Subconsciously, Kevin moved his hand up to his face, rubbing two of his fingers over his lips….just in case he was in fact drooling over the mouthwatering vision before him.
"Hi." Cuddy said back to him softly, feeling her heat begin to race in the best kind of way.
She knew in that moment she had been holding back her physical attraction to this man. Her eyes now tracing his tall and well built frame, loving the way his jeans fit over his long legs, sensing the power that was harnessed in the span of his narrow but powerful hips, scanning over the broadness in his chest that was wrapped in a light blue t-shirt and feeling a shiver run down her spine when their eyes connected once more.
"Look's like I got here just in time." Kevin said, leaning closer to her before wiping away a small smudge of dirt from the side of her cheek with his thumb.
Her skin was so incredibly soft and he wanted to kiss her right then and there.
Cuddy held her breath for a moment, committing the unexpected and electric sensation of his touch to memory before a thread of anxiety sprung up from inside of her.
"Oh god, I must look like a total mess." She groaned a second later while tucking back a strand of her dark hair which had broken free from the confindes of her ponytail.
"You look amazing." Kevin whispered to her, leaning in a little closer to her and planting a small kiss on her cheek as his simply could not resist the energy currently coursing between them.
Cuddy gasped softly, taking in the scent of his cologne and locking eyes with him once more as he moved back from her a bit.
"Mommy?" Rachel said from beneath them both as the two adults above her were seemingly a million miles away from the toddler at the moment.
"Oh baby, I'm sorry…" Cuddy apologized, feeling a pang of guilt about being so wrapped up in the man standing outside of her door that she had temporarily forgotten Rachel was here with them.
"Kevin, this is my daughter Rachel" Cuddy then said while placing a loving hand on the top of the little girl's head.
"Hi Rachel." Kevin replied down to the toddler with a soft smile.
She was simply adorable. Her hair tied back in a ponytail just like her Mother's. Her big blue eyes and cute round face the kind of features that would bring a smile to anyone's face.
"Hi." Rachel answered back to him in a low, shy whisper before retreating behind her mother's legs.
Kevin looked back up at Cuddy, giving her a wink to assure her everything was ok before he addressed the little girl again.
"So Rachel, your Mommy was telling me you have a BIG mess in your basement. Do you think if I need some help cleaning it up you'll be able to pitch in?" He asked her while keeping his tone soft and reassuring.
"I don't know." Rachel said in the same low whisper as the child's eyes took in the sight of the tall man before her.
She remembered another man who was tall like him….and…. who she thought was friend. He used to play with her but then he left one day and never came back.
Undaunted by the reaction of the shy little girl, Kevin squatted down to her level as Cuddy nervously bit down on her bottom lip, worried her daughter was reacting in such a way because she too had mourned the loss of House in their lives.
"Well, do you have any tools here to help me fix the pipe in the basement?" Kevin then asked Rachel with a gentle smile.
"No." Rachel answered back as her blue eyes looked directly into his.
"Well…..what if I told you have some tools inside of my truck that you can use to help me?" He questioned.
That immediately grabbed the girl's attention, her body moving out from behind Cuddy's legs as she took a step closer to him.
"You have tools for me to use?" She asked curiously.
Kevin nodded, still crouched in front of the toddler.
"I sure do. Wanna come see?" He asked her while offering the little girl his hand.
Rachel nodded, placing her small hand in his and sticking out her tongue a bit as she smiled.
