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new chappie for you guys...
Chapter Eight
Kate couldn't help but gasp as she entered the house. The place was amazing, it looked more like a mansion than a typical family house.
Almost as soon as they got inside, Kate could feel Hannah letting go of her hand. Even though Hannah was just a child, it was the only thing that felt familiar right now and the feeling of safety disappeared as the child ran down the hallway and disappeared into a room.
Kate followed the tall man into the living room. Afraid that she would get the almost white furniture dirty, Kate reluctantly sat down, when the doctor gestured for the couch.
The brunette let her eyes travel over the light room. The walls and most of the furniture were in soft colors, giving the room a very welcoming feeling and most of the walls had either beautiful paintings or family photographs hanging on them.
Kate's eyes settled on a specific photo, which had been placed on the shelf above the fireplace. It was a picture of Hannah and a small brown haired boy, who had a strong resemblance to the girl. Both dressed in white, sitting on a navy blue towel, on what Kate guessed was a sail boat. She could tell the photo was relatively new, since Hannah looked to be about the same age as she was now.
Most of the photographs contained either Hannah or the small boy, a few of the doctor and a blonde woman and a couple of all four of them together.
Kate continued to inspect the room and her eyes fell on the broken vase just as Hannah came running into the living room carrying a huge stuffed animal.
"Hannah, don't run there" Jack said firmly as he reentered the room as well, motioning to the broken glass on the floor.
Hannah froze in her position, glancing down at the shards before running around them over to the couch.
Holding up the huge stuffed animal in front of Kate's face, Hannah waited eagerly for the brunette to say something.
Before she had a chance to open her mouth Jack came over and took the stuffed animal out of Hannah's hands. "Princess, maybe you could show your toys to Miss Kate later." His voice was patient and loving, but at the same time firm.
Hannah responded with a small disappointed nod, which rewarded her with the stuffed animal back. Jack carefully walked around the couch and placed a blanked over Kate's shoulders.
Kate gave him a small appreciated smile as he sat down on the couch next to her. "How did you get this?" He asked softly, as he carefully leaned forward and traced two fingers over the wound on her forehead.
Kate shivered at the touch, telling herself it was because she was still cold. "Clumsy moment" She answered shortly, holding her breath. Jack's eyes locked with hers and Kate suddenly felt very self-conscious about her appearance.
Dropping his hand, Jack gave her an amused smile. "I'm Jack Shepard by the way."
Kate nodded slightly, returning the smile. "Yeah, I know."
Jack glanced at Hannah who was still standing right next to the couch with the stuffed animal in her arms, waiting patiently for her father to let her show Kate the pink animal.
Kate couldn't help but smile again, the man looked almost worried at the possibility that his young daughter had told her about him.
Jack rose from the couch and gently took one of Hannah's hands, moving her with him as he walked towards the doorway. "Would you like something to drink, or eat maybe?" He offered, turning around to look at the brunette.
"No, thank you." Kate answered a bit warily, watching the doctor leave the room with Hannah.
Feeling a bit awkward that they were still there, Kate shifted nervously on the couch. Wasn't he supposed to just get his car keys and drive her home? And where did he go now? Kate thought nervously, as she once again glanced around in the empty living room.
The transparent glass shards once more caught her attention. It didn't look like the vase had been placed anywhere near where its remains were lying. She got the feeling someone had actually thrown it across the room. The thought made her more nervous. Had there been a big fight that had ending somewhat violently? Kate looked around again in the room, but found nothing else out of place.
A few minutes passed. Kate still sitting on the couch, started to feel really apprehensive. She was about to go look for Jack just as the man walked back into the room.
He was carrying a sweatshirt over one of his arms and holding Hannah's hand with his opposite one. The little girl was now dressed in purple pajamas, carrying a new stuffed animal under her arm.
Jack let go of the small hand and walked over to the couch. Leaning forward, he gently placed a band-aid on Kate's cut, giving her a shy smile as he pulled away.
"Thank you" Kate said quietly, as Jack handed over the grey sweatshirt.
With a grateful look, Kate rose from her seat, letting the blanket fall down to the couch. Putting the sweatshirt on, Kate realized that she had probably been a lot colder than she had thought. Inhaling the very masculine smell of the shirt, Kate smiled to herself, already feeling much warmer with the soft grey material wrapped around her.
Noticing that Jack gave her a curious look, Kate could feel herself blush. God I hope he didn't just see me sniffing his shirt, Kate thought, feeling embarrassed.
Jack cleared his throat and turned to his daughter. "Hannah sweetie, go put your jacket on" turning back to Kate, he smiled gently. "Ready to go?"
Kate responded with a small nod and followed the two Shepard's out to the hallway. Jack helped Hannah on with her jacket, which was tricky since the child refused to let go of her stuffed animal. Smiling at the scene in front of her, Kate quickly glanced around in the hall. It looked too perfect, like she had walked into a home decorating magazine.
Jack handed the still wet beige jacket back to Kate, with an appreciating smile on his face.
Kate gave him a weak smile back, feeling slightly bad because she knew that Jack thought the only reason his daughter had been wearing the jacket was to keep her warm.
Kate looked around curiously as they walked to the garage. The house and garden were just amazing. No way that they took care of all of this by themselves. They probably had a gardener and at least one housekeeper, Kate thought as Jack opened the garage door, exposing two very nice looking cars.
As soon as the garage door was up, Hannah sprinted for the red vehicle one to the left.
"Princess, daddy's car" Jack informed firmly, walking over to the black vehicle himself. Kate watched fascinated as Hannah froze in her step and turned around, giving Jack a pleading look. The doctor didn't make any sign that he had even seen it as he opened the door behind the driver seat.
Hannah reluctantly walked over and climbed into the car hugging her stuffed toy tightly as her father fastened her seatbelt. Closing the door, Jack gestured for Kate to get in the car as well.
Sitting down, Kate placed her wet jacket on the floor, not wanting to get the seat more wet than necessary. Remembering that she had sat on the white couch in the living room with her soaked jeans, Kate let out a sigh.
They hadn't been driving for more than a minute when Hannah's voice was heard from the backseat. "Daddy, are we still going on a picnic today?"
"I don't think so princess its getting very late. We'll go tomorrow, ok?" Jack answered casually.
"But we promised mommy that we would go today…" the girl insisted, sounding upset that her father had told her no.
"I don't think mommy will mind if we change it to tomorrow." Jack said firmly, giving Hannah a stern look in the rear-view mirror, ending the conversation.
Kate carefully glanced at Jack who looked incredibly uncomfortable. She wondered why. Judging by the conversation it had to do with Hannah's mother. It couldn't very well be the picnic, could it?
Realizing that there hadn't been anyone else at the house, Kate suspected that maybe Hannah's parents were divorced. That would explain why he wasn't too keen on talking about it, especially not in front of her, a stranger. But in that case, why were her car in his garage?
Letting her eyes fall to his left hand which was placed on the steer wheel, Kate noticed the wedding ring he was wearing. So much for the divorce-theory, Kate thought, shrugging the whole thing off her mind.
"Kate, see my puppy!" Hannah suddenly exclaimed from the backseat, giving Kate the biggest smile possible when she turned around to look at the child.
Hannah was proudly holding up the white stuffed dog in front of her. "He's very cute" Kate said lovingly, turning back to look at the road.
Feeling Jack's eyes on her, Kate tilted her head to look at him. "She's obsessed with stuffed animals." Jack explained, sounding amused.
"I thought all kids were" Kate answered with a small smile, gazing in to the man's deep brown eyes.
Jack seemed to be looking directly into her eyes as well but suddenly snapped his attention back to the road. Kate slowly let her eyes travel back to the road in front of them as well.
"Where are we going?" Hannah asked curiously, letting out a small yawn.
"We're driving Ms Kate home." Jack answered softly, glancing up in the rear-view mirror. Kate saw in the corner of her eye how the man smiled adorably as he watched the little girl in the back seat.
A few minutes later, Hannah had fallen asleep hugging her white puppy closely. It wasn't until then Kate understood why Jack had dressed the girl in her pajamas. He had panned to carry her directly from the car to her bed when they got back home.
"So what do you do Kate?" Jack asked politely.
Kate shifted uncomfortable in her seat, unsure what to answer. You know the usual, work, eat, sleep and run from the law. Noticing that Jack was glancing at her questioningly, she cleared her throat. "I work as a waitress" Kate said, her voice not very convincing. It wasn't really a lie. She did work as a waitress from time to time. But not recently. It was hard to find a waitress job, especially in Los Angeles, without any proper papers to show.
"That's nice I bet you meet a lot of interesting people then." Jack said, staring at the road in front of them.
"Yeah" Kate answered simply, trying to think of something to say to change the subject. "What kind of doctor are you?"
"Spinal surgeon" Jack answer just as shortly, obviously not thrilled with the new topic.
A comfortable silence fell over the car. The only sounds heard were the traffic outside and an occasional sound from the sleeping child in the backseat.
Kate was starting to feel tired, fearing that she would fall asleep she stretched out her legs and sat up more erect in the seat. It didn't do much good and just a few minutes later Kate felt her eyelids getting heavier, soon unable to open them back up after blinking.
Kate heard someone call her name and shot her eyes open, feeling very disoriented. Realizing that she was still in the car, she turned her head towards Jack.
"Hey, sorry for waking you, but I kind of need directions." The doctor said apologizing.
Explaining for the man how to get to her place, Kate soon had fallen back into her peaceful sleep. She woke up when the car stopped, once more feeling confused about her whereabouts.
"I guess we're here." Jack said softly, glaring out of the window, not looking too impressed by the buildings surrounding them.
"Yeah" Kate said shortly, unsure what else to say as she took off her seatbelt. Glancing behind her at Hannah, Kate smiled. "Could you tell Hannah that I had a really good time today?" Kate asked the girl's father with a bashful look on her face.
"Sure" Jack answered with a smile.
Kate bit her lip, feeling a bit awkward at the silence.
"Here" Jack said, handing her a small white card. "If you ever need anything, anything at all, promise you'll give me a call"
Giving him a small nod, Kate opened her door and stepped out of the car. "Thanks for the ride"
"Kate…"
The man's voice made her catch the door just as she was about to close it.
"Thanks" Jack said in a sweet tone, giving her a genuine smile.
Kate smiled back at him and gave him a small nod before closing the door. Walking slowly to her front door, fingering with the small card in her hand, Kate could see the black car disappear in the corner of her eye.
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