Sorry for the wait...here's the next chapter.
Chapter 8
Meanwhile, Catherine was in a cab on her way into D.C. She entered the Pentagon the same way hat she had for the past ten years and took the familiar root to see her so called father. When she got to the Sec Nav's office she went directly to the chief of staff. Michael saw her coming and opened the door for her.
"Oh…I'm so glad you're ok." Michael said sitting down at his desk as Catherine entered the room.
"Glad I'm ok?! I spent the night at Mac's. Why did you call the Admiral and tell him that she kidnapped me? I wanted to go with her. I asked her if I could go and she said yes, so did Vivi…or at least she did until she found out that I know the truth."
"You know the truth?" Michael said in surprise.
"Yes, and today Mac is filing the paperwork to sue for custody. So, please leave me alone, I want to live with Mac. Besides, she is more of a mother to me than Vivi will ever be." Catherine said as she walked out the door. Michael just sat there stunned by the strength of the child that he had never wanted to raise.
Catherine walked to the desk of Michael's secretary. "Lieutenant?"
"Hey Catherine. What can I do for you?" Lieutenant Eric Hamilton said enthusiastically.
Catherine was nervous. She didn't know how she wanted to approach the situation. "Lieutenant, is there someplace we can talk in private? I have something I need to talk to you about."
"Sure," Eric said as he led her to one of the empty conference rooms.
Catherine entered the room and sat down in one of the chairs. She had never been this nervous before in her life. She took out her wallet and pulled out the picture of her and Eric, along with the picture Mac had given her from the hospital.
"Eric," she said as she put the hospital picture on the table. 'Are you the man in this photograph?"
"Yes, I am. He answered without hesitation. He had a bi smile on his face, it was almost as if he was glowing.
"And this is you in this picture also?" She said pointing to the picture of him and herself.
"Yeah, it is." His face was still glowing.
"Eric, do you know who the baby in this picture is?" She said pointing back to the hospital picture.
"Yes, I do…The baby in the picture is you." He looked up at Catherine with a smile on his face and a look in his eyes that said "I'm glad you finally know the truth." "The picture was taken the day after you were born. Who told you?"
"Mac...She thought it was time that I knew the truth. She said that knowing you, you would know who I was. She said I have your eyes."
'You do…but you also have her hair and her smile. I always knew it was you, but I knew Sarah would want to the one to tell you. She was the one who kept in touch with you growing up. I haven't heard from her in about 12 years. I know what you have told me about her…but we're not here to talk about her. We're here to talk about you. Why did Sarah tell you now?"
"She doesn't think that the Morin's are taking good care of me. She's suing them for custody of me." There was a shocked look on Eric's face. "She's suing them because I want to live with her. They haven't cared about me since Michael Jr. was born. Their lives revolve around him and I'm left to clean the house. They wouldn't even send me to school because it would take away from the time that I had to be at home…so they homeschool me. They leave me with my books, tell me what I need to do, and then when I have to go work at JAG or if I have to go anywhere else I have to either call for a cab or get Mac or Harm to come and get me."
"Honey, I'm sorry. If I would have known I would have tried to help you more. I wish you would have said something…but I'm glad that Sarah is taking care of you."
"Yeah, I am too. I would have said something but even though people tell me that I'm a strong person…I just couldn't seem to do anything about it. I was scared of them. But Mac is my rock, Eric. She's stood by me through everything."
"Well, you two aren't going to be alone in this. I'm going to be with you. We are going to attack this as a family."
"You don't have to do that. Actually…" Catherine paused. She was trying to figure out how to say this. "I would rather if you…"
"You would rather it if I stayed out of it." Eric finished looking hurt.
"Eric, dad…please. Its not that I don't want you to be my father…I just don't want the judge to have a third option. Mac's background isn't very good and Vivi will do anything not to give in. I want to get to know you as my father, but I want to live with Mac."
"I'll agree not to push for custody with Mac if you promise to visit me."
"I'm sure that Mac won't oppose that. Besides, you're my father; I want to know you."
"Then, how about having lunch with me?"
"I can't. I'll probably b working through lunch since I haven't gotten any work done yet."
"Then, how about dinner tomorrow night? I want you to meet my fiancée."
"Ok, sounds great." Catherine agreed as her cell phone rang. Without hesitation she answered it. "Mackenzie."
"Cat, its Jen. The Colonel's worried about you and wondering where you are…Also the Admiral wants to see you ASAP."
"Ok Jen. Tell Mac that I'm with my father. She'll know who I'm talking about and tell the Admiral I'm on my way. Alright?...ok?...bye."
"I'm sorry, but I have to go. Duty calls."
"I'll see you tomorrow night?"
"Yeah, call me about what time."
"Ok, Love you sweetie." He said as he gave her a hug.
"Love you too, bye."
As Catherine walked out she looked at her watch. She had been talking to Eric for an hour. She was so busy looking at the time that she didn't notice that she was being watched. Michael hadn't taken his eyes off of her since she had left the conference room. "If only I knew what they were talking about." He wondered to himself.
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXxXXxxxxxX
It may be a little while before my next posting...let me know what you think of the story so far. Read and Review.
