Chapter 7
A month later, Andrea sat in front of her laptop with Jack in her lap on the lounge. The laptop was positioned perfectly on the table under a couple of dictionaries left by the previous owners.
"Only a few more minutes and your sister will be online." She told Jack, she kissed the top of his head and looked to the laptop screen. The skype program was open and ready. The internet was connect, Andrea had a cup of tea on the side cooling down. She had snacks and toys for Jack for when he got restless.
He gave a cute giggle and smiled at her, before wrapping his arms around her neck for a hug. She smiled as her baby boy was growing quickly, too quickly for her sometimes. But she didn't have time to dwell on that as the Skype program rang at her. She smiled and hit the answer button.
"Hey!" Andrea shouted at the screen as an image of Kat popped up. Kat's video wasn't exactly crystal clear but it was good enough for a conversation and for Andrea to see she was looking well.
"Hey! can you see me?" Kat asked from her end.
"It's a little garbled but otherwise good." Andrea told her as Kat's image froze and pixelated momentarily before clearing up.
"Oh, I can see you!" Kat shouted through the speakers, she immediately covered her mouth and looked embarrassed. She gave a cheeky grin as she mouthed 'sorry' to someone off screen.
"Where are you?" Andrea asked her as she couldn't make out any of the background.
"Internet café in Athens." Kat told her.
"You're not alone right?" Andrea asked, Kat gave her the droll teenage look of 'do I look stupid'.
"No, Miller and Diaz are here. Diaz is chatting up some random chick. Miller's talking to his Mom." Kat informed her, Andrea was relieved to know Kat wasn't alone as it was still a new world. Frankly, Andrea worried about Kat. They were family, so she'd always worry about Kat's well being as much as she would Jack's.
"How are you?" Andrea asked moving the conversation along as she didn't want to hog all of Kat's time in Athens.
"Good, it's been a real trip so far." Kat told her with a grin. She waved at them through the screen to which Jack waved back. He was a little perplexed by the laptop and Kat being shown on the screen.
"Did you get seasick?" Andrea asked her.
"No." Kat said looking victorious as she'd been afraid of getting seasick and being mocked for it.
"Ah, I knew you'd be fine. Tell me everything you can." Andrea said with a smile. Kat told her in brief details what it was like to be on the ship and part of the crew. She told Andrea about the boys antics and making friends. She had to admit she wanted Kat to be just a little homesick for her sake but was glad Kat was happy. The girl was glowing with happiness on her end.
"How are you and Jack?" Kat asked her.
"He's standing up." Andrea told her, Kat's eyes grew wide in happy surprise.
"Oh no, make sure to trip him up if he tries to walk. I don't want to miss it." Kat told her, Andrea laughed as she looked to Jack in her lap.
"You hear that, you can't walk for another four months my little man." Andrea told him. Jack cooed as he tried to touch the screen but Andrea held him back in fear of him disconnecting the call. Kat laughed on the other end and waved at Jack who waved back mimicking the motions.
"It's so good to see you. How are you handling things without me?" Kat asked her.
"Terribly, the house is a wreck. We miss you." Andrea said with a smile as she knew one thing about being deployment was that people liked to know they were missed.
"I miss you too." Kat said with a soft and wistful smile. Andrea didn't let them dwell in the moment too long before she launched into telling Kat everything that had been going in the past few weeks of her absence. She told Kat of how Tom had visited knowing Kat would want to know. The two had never had a chance to talk about what happened after Tex died. It had hurt Kat deeply. She told her of how Tom was still torn up about the loss of Tex as they were but was doing better. Andrea knew Kat would be glad to know. She was right as Kat smiled and nodded.
The two had spent many months working through their own grief and pain together. They had learned to move forward, but it hadn't been easy not by a long shot. For Andrea, having Kat and Jack was the wake up call. She had to pull herself together for them, they needed her to be strong jut as much as needed to felt wanted by them.
"I'm glad he's doing better." Kat told her earnestly. At first Kat had despised Tom, hated him for what happened but once she got past the anger and grief she with Andrea's help realised that it wasn't healthy. It didn't help Kat as she needed move forward and live her life as Tex wanted her to.
"He wanted to see you, but bad timing." Andrea told her.
"Isn't always?" Kat asked with sigh.
"I know, so when will you check in again?" Andrea asked.
"I don't know, I'll send an email when I know."
"Sounds good, now I know you want to talk forever but I want you to explore and enjoy your time away." Andrea told her.
"Ok, I love you and Jack, take care." Kat told them with a sad smile as she obviously didn't want to go. But Andrea felt that Kat should enjoy her surroundings while she could.
"We love you too, take care. If you want to talk just use the phone card ok?" Andrea told her. Kat nodded.
"Ok, bye!" Kat said she waved at the screen. Andrea and Jack waved back at the screen at her.
"Bye." Andrea said, then Kat was gone from the screen. She closed skype down and looked to her son. "She'll be home in no time at all." She told him, glad that she had him in her life.
"I gotta go." Tex said to Andrea as he pulled on his boots.
"I know, I have to admit that I wasn't expecting this." Andrea said as she was laying in bed naked looking up at him.
"Me leaving?" he asked with a sly grin. She shook her head.
"No, I knew you'd always leave. You have to find Kathleen. I'd never stop you from doing so. Never. I just-" She stopped as she was too afraid to say what she was feeling; to say she hadn't expected to care as deeply as she did. But Tex saved her from finding the words.
"Yeah me too, Red." He said, surprising her in a pleasing way. She had wondered if it was one sided but it was clear in the way he looked at her that it wasn't. She smiled. He leaned down and they shared a brief but passionate kiss. "I'm thinking maybe I could meet up with you in St Louis." He added.
"I'd really liked that." She told him, she bit her lip and drank in the sight of him. She should really get up and changed but right now she just wanted to remember the here and now. She wanted to remember the man before her in case he didn't make it to St Louis. She wanted to remember the man who saved her from herself in her darkest hours and kept her going. The man who made her smile when she didn't think she ever could do so again.
"I want you meet my daughter. If I find her." Tex said looking worried, Andrea pulled the sheet with her and sat up in the bunk and wrapped her arms around him.
"You will, and no matter what happens; I'll be there waiting for you in St Louis." she told him, he grasped her hands and kissed them before he took a deep breath and exhaled. It was as if he were preparing himself for the worst. She didn't blame him given what happened to her in Norfolk. He turned and cupped the side of face with one hand. He drank in her features and kissed her once more.
