A/N: The camping weekend is full speed ahead… enjoy :) xx Mariah


Katie pulled the cake out of the oven with ease. She set it on top of the stove and let the oven mitt fall off her hand. Her mind fell into a lulled state as she set about the familiar task, her body grabbing a towel automatically to cover the cake with. The phone ringing drew from her trance, awakening her dulled senses.

She hurriedly moved to answer the phone. "Hello?"

"Hi, Katie, how are you?" Isabel chirped.

"I'm alright," she said looking around at her empty house, glad to hear Isabel's voice. "Everything okay over there?"

"Everything's fine, I'm just packing some things for Nic and Haley's weekend excursion." Isabel paused on the other end, leaving Katie unsure of where this was headed. She'd thought Isabel was coming. "I'm not exactly sure what one would need on a camping trip. That's all."

Katie laughed. "I see, so you called to see if I would help, right? I thought you were coming as well."

"Well, I was going to, but I'm not feeling up to it. It's just too far into my pregnancy, but I just wanted to call to see what you had packed for you, Ned and the children so that I could use it as a comparison."

"I haven't started packing just yet, but I could tell you what they normally take if that would help." She explained.

Isabel gasped on the other end. "Katie, you haven't packed a single thing? You all leave in two days."

"Exactly, that's two days.. I have all of tomorrow to pack." She explained. "That's what I usually do."

"It just doesn't seem like an ample amount of time to pack for five people to me," Isabel said.

Katie laughed at her friend's concern. "If you're so worried about it, then why don't you come over and help me?"

"Okay, but only if you'll help me afterward," Isabel said.

"Fine," Katie playfully groaned.

"I'll be over shortly." Isabel giggled.

Katie found herself blushing at the sound of Isabel's laughter, maybe she'd need some company this weekend and stay behind.

Isabel knocked on the door in minutes and it didn't take long to get the Banks bunch packed and ready for the trip. The two women cleaned up the mess in the living room and made their way to Isabel's.

Katie walked into the living room only to be greeted by a very large stack of camping equipment. "Isabel, what is all this?"

The blonde, only a few steps behind Katie surveyed the scene with a fairly different reaction. "Oh, this is everything that I purchased for the weekend."

"It's…a lot." She looked more closely, finding fishing rods, backpacks, tackle boxes, sleeping bags, candles, manuals, maps. "They probably won't need half of these things."

"Well, I had only hoped that they would be prepared in the event of…" Isabel started to explain, her voice turning more mouse-like.

"In the event of what?" She walked into the center of the room. "A flood?" she pointed to box for an emergency raft. "Or a…fire?" She grabbed the fire extinguisher and held it in the air. "Really?"

"I know that they will be using an open flame to cook their meals so I was only thinking ahead in case the fire happened to get out of hand," Isabel explained, waving her pointer finger.

"How do you expect them to carry all of this into the woods, anyway?" She asked as she moved around the large array of items.

"I bought them each a backpack." Isabel laughed, holding up the large camping backpack that was clearly intended for Nic to wear.

"That's not going to fit the set of tin dishes, the tent, the raft, the Swiss army knife, the fire extinguisher, the sleeping bags, the…Boy Scout Manual, the…" She said.

"Ok, I understand. I may have overdone it a tad." Isabel sighed.

Katie stood open-mouthed gesturing to the living room full of supplies. "A tad?"

"Significantly overdone. Does that make you feel better?" Isabel smiled.

"Yes. Now, let's work on sorting through your junk now." Katie smiled back at her. "I was thinking about staying behind to keep you company. Is that alright."

Isabel shook her head in agreement, wishing that she could spend every moment with Katie. She made the dullest, monotonous tasks seem fun.

How did she do that?

Isabel waded into the pile, laughing as she made fun of almost every item that she came in contact with. The blonde found that she didn't even mind. She could not wait for this weekend.


Ned came home at his usual time, six o'clock. Just in time for her to meet him at the door.

"Hey you," she smiled, leaning into him to kiss him. He tasted like cigarettes and she licked the taste away from her teeth as she pulled back. It was such a turn-off, but she could never tell him that. Not like she used to. "How was your day?"

He pulled back, smiling. "What was that for?" He asked, turning to close the door. He set down his briefcase and shrugged his coat off. "Do I smell goodies? What did you bake?"

"A cake," she said softly. "It's a special day." His excitement fell and he sidestepped past her. "Oh, Ned. Come on. It's your birthday. Why wouldn't I bake you a cake?"

"You know how I feel about birthdays," Ned walked directly into his office, setting his briefcase down and loosening his tie as he turned to face her. "Why would you make me a cake when you know that?"

"I thought it would help keep normalcy around here. Especially since we lost Peter," she explained. "Is that so wrong of me?"

"Just stop it, Katie," he sighed. Ned had had enough. He rubbed his hands through his hair and scrunched his brow up. "Stop trying to make things normal. Things aren't normal. They have never been normal."

"What's that supposed to mean?" Katie whispered.

"Where should I start, Katie?" he laughed out loud at her question, sinking into his desk chair. "Our relationship started when William took advantage of you, and when things were finally going good, I got drafted. Instead of coming home some hero, I lost my leg in the war after William died to save me. Not to mention you go to your parents for everything and I have your dad breathing down my neck at work to take on more responsibility, but you hate my long hours." His voice rose and his face got redder the more he yelled. Katie stood there, waiting for him to finish. This is what he always did. He'd yell until there was nothing left for him to say. "We'll never be the way we want to Katie. How am I supposed to enjoy my birthday when I can't even enjoy my life with you? It's constant problem after problem." He sighed, pausing. "And then I hear from Nic that you're thinking of going back to work and are staying home this weekend. I'm your husband Katie. Why did he know about any of that before me?"

"I don't know how he knew that," she explained rapidly, not wanting to give him the chance to interrupt her. "I'd only thought about it a few times. Once while I was talking with my mother and another time with Isabel…" She closed her eyes with a huff. "She must've mentioned something. Nic is a doctor after all."

"I don't care if Nic is some fancy doctor," he stood up, leaning forward to be close to her face. "You're my wife. He shouldn't know anything about you before me. Got it?"

"Yes, sir." She said monotoned. "Did that satisfy your power need today, Ned? Or are you gonna accuse me of cheating on you with Nic now too?"

"Don't start with me," he muttered, going around the desk. His hand wrapped around her waist and pulled her close. "You know I'm right about this. I deserved to know you wanted to go back to work. I hardly care if you come camping. You hardly ever come."

The grip he held on her scared her. Ned had never been like this. So forceful and bruting. "Ned, please stop," she whispered, her heart skipping a beat from the pressure of his hand. "You're scaring me."

"Good. I've had enough of this. We need to be on the same page," he reminded her. "We should be working together, not apart. Why are you being so difficult?"

She pulled away from him and turned around before he could say anything. She went straight to the kitchen, eager to cook dinner and avoid any sort of conversation with Ned.

"Katherine, don't walk away from me." He said, his voice carrying into the hallway from the door to his office that she left open. He followed her, seeing the girls in their doorway. They were peeking to hear what their parents were fighting about. He'd seen Henry outside playing football with his friends on his way in. "Close the door and stay in your room, girls. Mommy and I are having a grown-up conversation."

"Okay, daddy," Danielle said and then pulled the door closed.

He didn't respond, just charged into the kitchen. "What is your problem?" He yelled in a whisper. "The kids heard us, you know." She ignored him, shaping her meatloaf in a cooking tin. "Katie, come on. Don't ice me out. We need to talk about this. This is why things never change."

"You want to talk? Then calm down," She left the meat and turned around to look at him, her tears spilling onto her face. "You remind me of how you've talked about your father when you're like this."

"That's not fair," he said, all anger leaving his voice. "I'm not my father."

She knew what a sensitive topic this was among the two of them. Katie felt a knot gather in her throat. "I didn't know if when we were in your office… if you'd hit me."

"Katie, I would never hit you. Ever." He moved to her, his voice low and soft. He wiped the tears away with her thumb and rest his hand on her cheek. "I just have a problem with you pretending like things are normal around here."

Katie turned around. She refused to say another word. She resumed her task to finish reading the meatloaf recipe and Ned, assuming he had gotten through to Katie, went into the fridge and grabbed himself a beer. He noticed she'd noticed.

He'd been almost three weeks clean of alcohol, after his many slip-ups.

He looped his arm around her waist to pull her closer to him. "I'm sorry for shouting at you," he said. "I should've taken control of my anger. I apologize for that." Katie pushed her body against his, freeing herself from his grasp and moving closer to the stove. "Katie…."

She heard the sad tone behind his voice, but she didn't dwell on it. She was hurt, so deeply hurt.

He waited for her to say something, but she never did. He merely turned around and went back to his office. Once she heard the door close, she dropped to the floor.

Her tears rolled down her cheeks freely as she sobbed, her belly aching from contracting so much as she gasped.

"Mama?" Danielle whispered, coming into the kitchen slowly. She was alone, most likely.

"Hmm?" she tried to hide the emotion in her voice as she quickly wiped her tears away. "Yes, baby?"

"Why are you on the floor, mama?" Danielle sat beside her. "Did daddy hurt you?"

"No," she answered. "Your father would never hurt me, Dani."

"Then why are you crying?" Danielle's small hand wiped her tears away and she left her face into her child's hand. "Mama, are you and daddy mad at each other?"

"Yes," she said. "I'm mad at your father, right now. But we'll be okay, okay? Don't worry about us, we're the adults. You're the child, you shouldn't be worrying about anything." She rubbed her back, pulling her close.

"Mama?" Danielle asked.

"No more questions, baby," she whispered. "Okay?"

"Okay, and mama?" Danielle whispered.

"Hmmm?" She asked.

"I love you," Danielle whispered.

"I love you too, baby," she laid her head on her daughter's breathing in softly. This was just what she needed to calm down. Her daughter's love.


Dinner was quiet.

Katie's eyes were glued to her plate as Ned spoke to the children about guidelines for the camping trip tomorrow. She did want to go, despite wanting to stay home with Isabel as well.

"Your mother has decided she's going to stay home this weekend," Ned said, cutting into his meatloaf.

All of the kids groaned at the thought of their mother's absence, but Ned quickly gave them each a look and they were quiet, but not for long.

"Is this because you and mama were fighting earlier?" Henry was the only one who dared to ask, both of the girls ducked their heads down, but Henry took a bite of his food and looked to his father for an answer.

He must've heard something from outside in the yard.

"Your mother and I are fine, Henry. Don't you worry? It was just a little disagreement is all." Ned reassured their boy, squeezing Katie's hand. "Right, honey?"

She nodded and leaned over to kiss his cheek. "Your father and I are fine. I'm staying home to help Mrs. Thomas."

"Aw, mama I really wanted to go swimming with you." Josie pouted, leaning into her mother who she sat beside.

"I'm sorry, baby," she said with a smile, looking at her. "Mrs. Thomas is so close to having her baby that she shouldn't be alone, okay? We'll go camping again soon and go swimming. I promise."

"Okay," the blonde perked up at the thought of going camping, again. This time was her first time going with. "I like that idea."

"Me too," Danielle perked up too, smiling at her mother.

"Will you go fishing with me next time, mom?" Henry asked in between gulps of food.

"Slow down there, boy." Ned chuckled, cutting himself a bite. "You don't want to choke to death."

"Look at his plate, Ned! He's gonna be bigger than all of us one day," she tossed out there, smiling at her growing boy. She couldn't wait to see what he'd become one day.

"I see," he muttered, nodding to him. "He's gonna be a football player, right?"

"Right," Henry grinned. "Dad, did you see my passes to Jack?"

"I did," he nodded and then looked to his wife, who sat just to the side of him. "He has one helluva arm, honey. You should see him throw."

"I saw him a little today," she chipped in, smiling. She took a bite of her meatloaf and quickly ate it before speaking again. "He was running faster than Bailey sometimes."

The doorbell rang and Ned looked over his shoulder as he wiped his mouth and stood. "Excuse me, I'll be back." He said, going to the door.

When the door opened, Katie could tell by the shout of Ned that it was a happy visit and she stood up soon after. "Stay here, kids." She said, rubbing Henry's head on her way out of the dining room. "Ned?"

"Oh, sorry honey. My pal from the war stopped by," Ned wrapped his arm around Katie, startling her as she was pulled into him. She wanted to pull away but leaned into him for the sake of his friend. It wasn't anyone's business that they were fighting but their own. "This is Charles, he helped lift me to the plane after my injury. Save my life dozens of times on the front too."

"You always said to stop by if I was nearby and I finally was," Charles stepped inside, smiling at her. "You must be Katie. I've heard a lot about you."

"And I've heard quite a lot about you," she smiled, taking his bag from him and placing it on a hook on the wall before she gave him a quick hug. "Are you hungry? We were just eating dinner."

"If I remember correctly, Charles can always eat." He chuckled, clapping his buddies back. "C'mon. I'll introduce you to the kids."


Katie readied the couch in Ned's office for Charles as she placed a sheet over it and laid a pillow down for him. She went into the linen closet to grab a blanket for him and she heard Ned and Charles laugh from inside the living room. She placed the folded blanket on the couch before going into the living room and collecting the empty bottles littered around them, Ned caught the look she gave him as she took the empty beer bottle from his hand.

"The couch is made up for you in Ned's office, Charles." Katie smiled at him. "So, I'm gonna turn in boys."

"I'll be in soon," Ned said as she leaned in to press a kiss to his forehead on her way out.

"Okay," she said, moving out of the living room. She went into Henry's room first, pulling the blanket he'd kicked off over him. She touched his feet that poked out from the bed and sat down beside where he slept. She ruffled his hair and kissed his cheek. He was so big now. "My sweet boy," she whispered against his cheek and then moved to stand up, seeing Ned there.

"They grow up so fast," he sighed, leaning into the doorway.

"Yeah, they do." She said quietly, walking toward him. He wanted to hold her hand, to hold onto something of her, but she brushed past him and toward the girls' room. "Do you ever wonder what would've happened if we hadn't gotten married so young?"

Ned didn't respond at first as they looked in on their sleeping daughters, his hand only rested on her lower back. "Never in a million years. Why, do you?" He asked.

"No. I'd never regret marrying you," she said flatly, turning around.

"Then why ask such a thing?" He asked.

"It just came to my head," she whispered, walking into their room.

"Nothing ever just comes to your head, Katherine." He mumbled, taking his watch off and sitting on his side of the bed. He pulled his tie loose and started to unbutton his shirt. "I wish you'd be honest with me."

"Sometimes, I do wonder what would've happened to us if we hadn't married. If you hadn't cared enough to interrupt William that night." She whispered, sitting down next to him. She grabbed a hold of his hand, bringing it to her mouth. She kissed his skin, smiling into his hand. "But then somewhere along the line, I remember everything that did happen and how much I love you."

He nodded, looking over at her. "I love you too. Goodnight," he stood up, making his way toward the bathroom, but she stopped him. She held onto his hand and he turned back to look at her. "Is there something you need?"

She couldn't lose him. Despite everything she had been feeling these past weeks, she didn't want to lose her husband by being so cold.

"Ned," she whispered and tugged on his wrist, pulling him back to her. "Come here."

She looked into his eyes and pulled him down to press her lips lightly against his. She whimpered instantly at the feel of his soft lips against her own. It was as if they were made for one another at how easily they began kissing; it seemed almost too normal and familiar.

"You want this?" he asked, pulling back to look into her eyes.

She nodded and pressed her lips onto his again. She couldn't say the words. She just couldn't. Because she didn't want to do this. She wanted to go to bed, but she was scared of losing her husband by being so cold lately. By turning away one too many times.

Katie moved to the middle of the bed and laid down as Ned moved over her and hiked her nightgown upwards, bunching the material in his hands and lifting it to her hips. She lifted herself for her dress to continue to lift from her legs. Once it rested on her hips, he ran his hands along her soft, smooth thighs. He parted his lips, allowing Katie's tongue to flick against his own and he eagerly groaned at the sensation, bringing his hands to her hips and gripping them to pull her closer to him.

She gasped, parting her legs even further as he pressed against her and allowed her to feel his growing bulge from within his suit pants.

"I've missed you," he said, moving his lips across her throat to her collarbone where he slowly lifted one of its sleeves down her arm. "You've been so distant lately."

"Mhm… I'm sorry," she smiled, shivering against his soft kisses. "I've just been… so tense, you know?"

He groaned at her answer, pulling back to look into her eyes. "Are you messing with me?"

She licked her swollen lips, shaking her head. "Not about this."

He narrowed his eyes, pushing her panties aside and running his slender finger along her as her wetness coated the tip of his finger. He grinned, pulling back to bring his finger to his lips, groaning at the sweet taste it left on his lips.

"Ned, please…" she moaned, dropping her hands to undo his belt.

He smiled, leaning down to kiss along her neck as he allowed her to undo his pants. Once she removed the buckle from the belt, he took initiative and pulled his zipper down and undid the button from his pants.

She looked up at him before dropping her eyes to his lower half. Quickly, she pushed down his pants and watched as the article of clothing (along with his underwear) dropped to the floor to pool around his knees. Then, she caught sight of his erected manhood standing fully at attention and begging for her to touch it.

She reached out and ran her fingers down him, feeling the warmth and his pulsating vein from her touch. She parted her legs, sliding further down the bed as he laid between her legs

"Are you sure you want this?" he asked.

"Yes… Stop asking," she whispered.

He smirked, flashing her his dimples once more. He gently pushed her hand away so that he could grasp himself. Slowly, he brought the tip of himself to press against her, groaning. "Oh Katie…" he mumbled, pushing his hips forward as he finally pressed into her.

She moaned into his ear, arching her back as she moved her hands to grip the edges of the bed for stability. There had never been a time when she'd wanted him so little, yet felt so good. She moaned, tossing her head back.

He looked at her, tugging one side of her dress further down to reveal her breast. He leaned down and latched his lips onto her nipple, sucking it with occasional flicks of his tongue as his hips began to thrust into you in a rhythmic pace.

Her hands move to his hair, threading her fingers through his locks as he continued to pay attention to her breast. His hips did all the work and she knew she wouldn't be able to last. It had been so long.

He pulled back to look into her eyes, bringing a hand to cup her cheek. "Open your eyes, my love," he whispered.

She leaned against his touch and opened her eyes to look into his own. She bit her lower lip, his hips slamming into hers causing her orbs to widen at the sudden hard thrust. He was filling her to the hilt that gave her the sensation of being filled in the right places.

"Damn, you're so beautiful," he repeated.

She wrapped her arms around his shoulders, pulling him in for a kiss. She moaned against him, her walls beginning to tighten around his member as he moved in and out of her rapidly without any sign of stopping.

"I'm close," she moaned against his lips, moving back to pull his shirt off and hold onto him. "Oh, Ned."

"Come for me, baby," he whispered huskily.

At his choice of words, she held onto him tightly and wrapped her legs around his waist as her walls tightened and she felt her climax rush through her body unexpectedly.

He groaned, her warm abyss tighter than ever. "Oh hell," he cursed, slamming his hips repeatedly into her. "Fuck." After a few thrusts, she watched him carefully as his face contorted into pleasure. He had thrown his head back and his mouth was slightly agape once he released his own climax. "Katie, I love you, but you know what the best birthday present would be?" He asked, pressing a kiss to her cheek.

"Mmm, I love you too," she replied with a grin. "And what?"

He moved off her, smiling at her. "Another child," he breathed.

She smiled at him and then sighed. She didn't know if she could give that to him.