Lizzie stepped out of the backseat of Steve's truck. She was accompanying her sister and future brother-in-law to Catherine's friend's house. Melanie worked at the base with Catherine. She and her husband Jason had just welcomed twin boys and they had invited the three over.
As they walked to the front door, Catherine placed her hand on her little sister's shoulder. She said quietly, "One little display of attitude and you're getting sent to military school. You got that?"
"Yes, Ma'am, Lieutenant."
Her sarcastic response earned Lizzie a glare from her older sister. "That includes sarcasm."
Lizzie just smirked as she continued walking.
The three were soon inside and several introduction were made. Steve had met Jason a few times before during training exercises and missions. One of the twins, Kevin, had stayed awake during the visit while the other, Luke, had slept through it. Catherine was relieved that her sister's attitude had been good.
"Are you still scared of twins?" Catherine asked Steve when they had gotten back in the truck.
"I'm not scared of anything," he stated, grinning at her.
Catherine raised an eyebrow. "No? Then why three years ago on a plane out of some country I can't even remember were you squeezing my hand when Commander Jacobs was giving you a vaccine against whatever you had managed to pick up on a night mission? Did the little needle scare you?" she asked in a mocking tone, smirking as his face fell.
Lizzie laughed from the backseat, not bothering to stop, even when Steve glared at her.
Catherine groaned when the beeping of the alarm clock woke her up the next morning. She sat up and turned it off, not bothering to hit the snooze button. She needed to get up right away.
Steve also rose to his feet and walked over to Catherine. Smiling, he leaned down to kiss her. "Morning, beautiful."
"Beautiful? At this early in the morning?" She shook her head. "Not yet."
"You always are," he said, kissing her again.
Catherine laughed a bit before saying, "As much as I would love to stay here and let you kiss me all day, I need to get ready."
Kissing her one last time, Steve stepped out of the way so she could walk to the bathroom.
He sat back down on the bed and rubbed his hands over his face. He had a long wait ahead of him to get in the bathroom; Catherine took ages to get ready in the morning.
Last night, they had discussed their upcoming wedding. They decided to have it on the beach and to have it soon. They wanted to get married before the baby was born, with Catherine adding "while I can still see my feet."
A soft knock on the bedroom door caused him to look up. "Come in," Steve called.
The door opened to reveal a tired looking Lizzie. Rubbing her eyes, she said, "I don't feel good."
"Come here," Steve instructed, holding his right arm out to indicate to Lizzie to sit beside him.
Taking a seat next to him, Lizzie raised her arm to cover a cough.
"You feel a little warm," Steve stated, his hand against Lizzie's forehead.
Luckily, Lizzie thought with relief. She had been worried he wouldn't fall for her act, but it seemed like he was.
Taking in the sight of Lizzie's slipper clad feet and the bathrobe tied around her, Steve asked, "Are you cold?"
"I'm freezing," she replied, wrapping her arms around herself. "It's so cold in here."
Steve frowned. It was actually quite warm in the room. "I think you're sick, Lizzie. Come on, let's get you back in your room." He stood up and guided her out into the hallway and down to her room.
Lizzie climbed back into bed and pulled the blanket up to her shoulders. How long did she have to keep up this act for?
"I'll be right back, Lizzie," Steve said before exiting the room to retrieve a thermometer.
Sighing, Lizzie sat up. She waved her hand to fan herself. It was so warm in the house, but she had to keep her act up. As soon as she heard Steve walking back up the stairs, she put her head back on the pillow again.
Steve, completely oblivious to the scheme, sat on the side of the bed. "I'm going to take your temperature, honey. Open up."
Lizzie did as she was told and the thermometer was slipped under her tongue. She had the sinking feeling that her plan was going downhill. Steve would discover that she wasn't really sick and she'd get into trouble again.
"If you have a fever, you're staying home from school," Steve proclaimed, reaching to take the thermometer at the sound of the beep.
Lizzie watched as he read the number displayed on the small screen. She bit her lip, knowing her plan was probably ruined. But she was surprised.
"Let me go tell your sister that you're sick. I'll be right back," Steve said as he left the room again. After closing the door behind him, he looked at the screen once more. 98.8. He should have known she was faking.
Sighing, he continued down the hall until he arrived back in his and Catherine's room. Catherine stepped out of the bathroom just as Steve sat down on the bed.
Taking in the look on Steve's face, Catherine asked, "What's wrong?"
"Someone decided she doesn't want to go to school today."
Catherine sighed as she sat beside him on the bed. "What happened?"
Steve held up the thermometer that read 98.8. "Lizzie came in here and told me she was sick, but she's faking."
Sighing again, Catherine questioned, "How do you want to handle this?"
"I have a pretty good idea."
They both stood up and journeyed down the hallway to Lizzie's room. Catherine shook her head at the sound of her sister's fake cough. She knocked on the door and called, "Lizzie? Can we come in?"
"Okay," Lizzie responded in a hoarse voice.
"She's added the voice," Steve remarked before they went inside.
"Steve was just telling me that you're sick," Catherine stated, seating herself on the side of her sister's bed.
"So...?" Lizzie looked from Catherine to Steve and back.
"So," Steve repeated, "we're going to take you to see a doctor to make sure you're okay."
Lizzie's eyes grew wide as she stared at him in shcok. "What?"
Catherine, barely managing to keep a smile off her face, nodded. "We've been meaning to find you a pediatrician anyway and we already have a list, so I'll just go make some calls." She stood up and took a few steps in the direction of the door to the hallway.
"Wait," Lizzie said, sitting up.
Catherine and Steve sent each other knowing looks before they both looked at the teenager.
"Yes?" Catherine wondered.
Sighing, Lizzie admitted, "Okay, so I'm not really sick."
"We know," the older sister said, sitting again. "Why were you trying to stay home?"
"I don't know," she muttered, shrugging as she looked down at her folded hands resting on top of the blanket.
"Elizabeth, eyes up when you're being spoken to," Catherine commanded. "And there has to be a reason."
"I'm just nervous for soccer tryouts. If I don't go to school, then I don't have to feel so bad about not going."
"You're not going to go to tryouts? You're great at soccer."
"But I don't know anybody."
"This is a good way to meet other kids," Steve said as he stepped behind Catherine.
"But..."
"No more 'but's," Catherine said gently, a smile taking over her face. "You're going to be great. Now, go get ready for school. No more faking. Got it?"
Lizzie nodded in defeat. "Got it."
"Good." Catherine stood up from her seat on the edge of the bed and left the room, Steve following right behind her.
Steve couldn't help laughing as soon as they were in the hallway. Catherine turned to silence him with a glare. "It's not funny."
"Come on, Cath, do you know how many times I did that as a kid?"
Catherine rolled her eyes, shaking her head. "Act sick to stay home? I don't know, Steve, how many times?"
"A lot. And I'm sure you've done the same thing."
"Maybe," Catherine remarked with a shrug before turning away and walking back towards their bedroom.
Steve just laughed again.
Lizzie nervously scanned the field and the crowd as she warmed up alonside her teammates. It had been two weeks since she had tried out for her school's soccer team and they were stretching before their first game. The other team was doing the same on the opposite end of the field while fans scattered among the bleachers as they filed in to watch the game.
Coach Bradley began calling out the names of the starting players. Lizzie hopefully listened to the coach, but she was just a sophmore. The seniors would be more likely to start. Besides, she was just lucky to have made varsity.
"Rollins," Couch Bradley called out. She proceeded to name the rest of the players who would be starting, but Lizzie didn't listen. She couldn't believe she was going to start at the opening game.
"Good luck," Lauren said before Lizzie took the field. Her arm was still in a cast. It would be another couple of weeks until she could play.
Lizzie smiled at her friend. "Thanks." She then ran onto the field with the rest of the starters. That was when she noticed Catherine and Steve sitting on the top row of the bleachers.
Feeling a bit more confident after seeing them there supporting her, Lizzie felt ready to play.
She even scored the game winning goal.