CHAPTER 7-

After a long morning of failed attempts free herself from Dylan's embrace she finally made her way to Navcom. Her mind wandered back to the previous night's events and again to this morning, her cheeks burning red as she drove. She couldn't help but smirk, in a state of euphoria she concluded her life was perfect. Now all she had to do was tell Navcom she accepted the shore posting, notify them of her relations with Dylan and live happily ever after.

Dylan's mind flicked backed to Jessica, he though his life was perfect with her but after the last few months he realised he was so wrong. Kate made his life complete, there was no doubting that. His mind often drifted back to 5 years ago and as much as it killed him to think of where he went wrong it, he used it as a learning curve to not make those mistakes again. Kate was his whole life now, he would do anything to keep her safe and protected even if meant leaving the Navy.

The doors slid open and Kate took a deep breath as she stepped into Navcom. A rush of cool air chilled her as she suppressed thoughts of the last time she was here alone, the day she met her new XO, Dylan Mullholland. Since that day all her briefings had involved a very handsome blonde Lieutenant who would stand by her side and make her feel safe. They would share a sneaky glance or let their fingers touch as they passed paperwork. He would hold her cap, open doors for her, carry her seabag and make sure she made it back to the ship safely. Today she was here alone and that made her sad as she was forced to think of Mike & Maxine, Jim Roth and her dear friend Chris Blake. She closed her eyes and shook her head at the thought- those few years had been hell for her and she never thought she'd come through the darkest days. As she opened her eyes she was met by a set of brown, soft doe eyes looking at her with concern. Those eyes belonged to one girl and one girl only, Jessica Bird.

'Ma'am?' questioned Jessica as she reached for Kate's arm, the task at hand difficult as she juggled a toddler.

For a second, Kate thought she was dreaming. She closed her eyes again quickly to try and remove the image of the child, but it was too late. Her shoulders stiffened, and her spine became rigid. She looked straight at Jessica and forced a smile 'Jessica! How have you been?'. Before Jessica could reply she noticed Kate's eyes on the child and for a second she thought she saw a hint of sadness. The child, a little boy, Kate would have guessed to be about 18 months old. He had blonde hair and bright big blue eyes matched perfectly with Jessica's soft facial features.

he child put his small hand out and touched Kate, much to her horror the child seemed to like her. Instantly jealously filled her and she took at closer look at the child, Dylan's child. Her heart sank, this was not what they needed right now in their new relationship. She knew she would lose Dylan to Jessica and his child.

Jessica tried again 'Kate, are you ok?' this time Kate looked her in the eye, showing her authority. 'Yes, sorry Bird. Was lovely to see you. I'm very sorry I have a meeting with Commander Marshall, I must go' Within a blink of an eye Kate was out of sight leaving a very concerned Jessica still wrangling the child. Looking back towards Kate, Jessica concluded that maybe things didn't work out for Dylan with Kate.

After accepting the shore posting, Kate was hit with another blow. Mike would be the CO of the Hammersley as he had requested a transfer back to Patrol Boats. Kate new that this meant Dylan would have to work with Mike. She knew Dylan would challenge him and she knew them both well enough to know that any disagreement wouldn't end well. She hoped for Dylan's sake that he could transfer to Childers or another ship based out of Cairns.

It was now late in the evening and Kate was crying to herself in the shower. Seeing the child today made her pine for her own loss. Filled with grief she had confronted Dylan as soon as she stepped foot in her apartment about the child and as she envisioned, he denied knowing anything about it. The green-eyed monster in her described every detail of the child to a very quiet Dylan. He was doing the maths in his head. The child couldn't be his, he knew it but making Kate believe him was going to be a battle. He wanted to speak to Jessica straight away and sort this issue out, but she hadn't answered his call.

Dylan sighed, he knew Kate was in pain and he was mad at himself for causing it, although he wasn't entirely sure what he had contributed. It was best to leave Kate to her own self-loathing, but his overprotectiveness wouldn't let him leave. They hadn't even spoken about the shore posting or the replacement CO on Hammersley as Kate had not let up her jealous ranting for hours about the child. She hurt him as she referred to him as a 'Use em' and lose em kinda guy'. He knew she was right, the old Dylan loved his time with the 'convertible girls' but Jessica and Kate had been different. Maybe it was because they were Navy too that they knew the demands of the job and the responsibility that came with the time at sea. They also knew too that when he was at home he felt like his life was on track. He had even pictured marrying Jessica. It was no word of a lie that he had changed since he realised he wasn't getting any younger and it was time to settle down. Overwhelmed with thoughts he made his way to their bed, hoping Kate would forgive him enough to join him. Reluctantly Kate made her way to bed and slipped in beside Dylan, instantly being pulled back into his torso. She closed her eyes and inhaled his scent. Maybe she was being too harsh on him after all.