Thunder

She played with the sand on her toes and opened her eyes, as she felt a hand on her back. "Hey…don't fall asleep, you'll get sunburned", Doug chuckled and Carol smiled. She turned around and snuggled closer to him. "Well, thanks for waking me up then", she said and kissed him shortly. "Are you enjoying this?" he asked and she nodded. "I do. It's like paradise…why can't we stay here forever?" Carol murmured and turned on her back. The sun was shining brightly but a slight wind made it comfortable. "You asked me that the last time we were here", Doug chuckled again. "I know. But the last time we were working full time…now we'd have nothing to lose", she sighed. "You don't really want to give up our house and life in Seattle, do you", Doug asked and bent over her. Carol opened her eyes again and smiled. "Oh, never…but we could always buy a house here on this island", Carol answered; put her hand around his neck and Doug bent down to kiss her passionately. "Let's go get into the water", he murmured and Carol nodded smiling.

"Doug…stop that! We're not the only people 'round here", Carol said as she felt his hand on her bikini pants. Doug chuckled and shook his head. "You said that the last time we were here", he said and Carol rolled her eyes. "And still you didn't stop", she smiled and put her hands around his neck. Doug started to nibble on hear earlobe. "And I won't stop now", he whispered into her ear. "Oh Doug", Carol laughed and kissed him passionately.

While they made secret silent love in the water, her phone was ringing in the hotel room. A too important call she missed…

"Do you think mom's still mad at us?" Liam asked as he got a can of Red Bull out of the fridge. Mason shrugged his shoulders. "I don't think so. She was okay when they flew away" he answered and stretched himself. "Well, she didn't call since they landed" Liam said. "Oh boys, don't be babies. They're enjoying their holiday. They'll call when they'll call", Emery said as she came into the kitchen from the living room to get herself something to drink.

"Hey guys…are you hungry? I brought pizza", they heard Tess coming into the house. "Our babysitter is here", Liam chuckled and Emery rolled her eyes. "Well yes, I promised mom to check up on you", Tess pointed her tongue at them. "No need. We behave", Mason answered and took a pizza box from Tess. "Great, I'm starving", he said and took a bite of a pizza piece. "See, you would starve if I wouldn't bring pizza", Tess said smiling. "Hey…I cooked yesterday", Emery answered. "Really, what did you cook?" Tess asked. "Chicken nuggets with fries", Emery laughed and Tess rolled her eyes. "That's not cooking, little sis. That's frying." "But we didn't starve", Liam laughed and Tess nodded.

Kate was looking at the pictures on the hallway of her old high school and sighed. Those were the times. Tess and she had been in the volleyball team; Casey was madly in love with their friend Annie; Kate was heartbroken because of Carey but nobody knew about it; Tess was in love with Brad, such a bragger…she couldn't like him, but Tess was head over heels. God, how much changed since then? They went to college; Tess fell in love with Travis who was two years older than her; Casey went to New York to become a lawyer; Kate started to date a (too boring) young man named Joshua, until she slept with Carey; then she moved to San Francisco and now she was back, madly in love with Carey and happier than ever. Then she found a picture of the triplet's class. Emery, Liam and Mason were standing in the last row, hands around their shoulders…always sticking together, just like Tess and Kate always were. No matter how often they had a fight, or differences, or whatever…they always stuck together. Kate was proud of them. She loved them with all her heart and she sure would miss them, when they were ready to go to college.

"Miss Ross, Mr. Higgins is now free", she then heard the secretary and Kate nodded. "Thanks", she answered and went into the office.

"Well, well, well…Miss Ross, what brings you back to our school?" Mr. Higgins asked while shaking hands with Kate. Kate smiled then as she took a seat in front of his desk. "Well, I wanted to ask if I can have a job here", she answered. Mr. Higgins made big eyes. "A job…as what?" he asked. "As a teacher", Kate said. "No way…you became a teacher? I always thought you'll become a tattooer or something like that", Mr. Higgins laughed. Kate shook her head smiling. "Believe it or not, I became an English, Music and History teacher last year. I was working at a high school in San Francisco the last school year, but now I moved back to Seattle and now I'm looking for a job", Kate told him. Mr. Higgins shook his head in disbelieve. "I can't believe it…you've changed so much", he said and Kate nodded smiling. "Yeah well, deep down I'm still a rebel", Kate laughed. "Yeah…how much trouble I had with you and that Lawrence boy", Mr. Higgins remembered. "Was it that bad?" Kate asked. "Ah…I had worse students than you", he answered smiling. "Oh…I have my application and résumé here", Kate then said and looked for it in her bag. "Thanks Miss Ross. Well, I can't give you a job right away. You'll have to make a test run. We have a summer class next week; you could hold a history lesson then…and I can get to see how you're doing", Mr. Higgins answered. "That would be great", Kate said smiling. So Mr. Higgins gave her all the directions for this class and then chit chatted a little bit more, before a smiling Kate left her old school again.

"Oh. My. God…Doug…how did you get to know of this beach here?" Carol asked as Doug stopped the jet ski and they made their way to the beach which was white as a cloud. "Remember when I talked to that waiter at our hotel? He told me about it. Nice here, isn't it", he answered and Carol nodded. "Oh yes. I love being here with you", Carol said and kissed him. "Mhhhm…and I love you. Also…nobody's watching us here…" he murmured and Carol started to laugh when they lied down on the sand. "How romantic you are", she laughed and closed her eyes when Doug started to nibble on her earlobe. "Trying my best", he whispered. He traced his hand down her stomach and although it was so hot under the sun, Carol got goosebumps on her body. "You have no idea what you're doing to me", she whispered and touched his cheek, as she looked into his eyes and her smile faded away. "I love you, Carol", he whispered back and she kissed him passionately.

Thousands of thoughts ran through her mind as they made love. She remembered the day she met him for the first time. She remembered their first kiss, their first sex on the kitchen floor in her apartment. She remembered the pain she felt when he cheated on her. She remembered how much it hurt when she was with Tag but loving Doug instead. She remembered how happy she felt when he threw that birthday party for her. She remembered the butterflies in her stomach when they kissed on her porch and how happy she was when he brought her breakfast in bed the next morning. She remembered how excited he was when he proposed to her. She remembered how hurt he was when she kissed Powell. She remembered how happy their time was together. She remembered how everything started to fall apart when they got to know Joi and Ricky. She remembered the pain she felt in their last night together. She remembered when she found out about her pregnancy with the twins. She remembered how much she missed him when they were born. She remembered how much she thought about him and how much she missed him for four years. She remembered the car accident. She remembered waking up and seeing Doug again and how much she longed for him. She remembered moving to Seattle. She remembered how happy she was at their wedding. She remembered losing a baby. She remembered being pregnant with the triplets. She remembered how much love she felt when they were born and Doug being there. And he had no idea how much she was in love with him…still, after all these years. She loved him with her heart, with her body, with her soul.

Thousands of thoughts ran through his mind as they made love. He remembered how much love he felt for her since he first looked into her eyes. He remembered how much he screwed up, although he loved her so much. He remembered how much it hurt when she was with Tag and with Shep. He even hated to see her going on a Date with Toby Mintz. He remembered how much it hurt when she kissed Powell. He remembered how everything fell apart when Joi and Ricky Abbott came into their lives. Four years he dreamt of her; four years he waited for her to come to Seattle and he didn't stop loving her. He remembered how scared he was when she was wheeled into the ER because of her overdose. He remembered how scared he was when she had the accident. Carol was his life; he couldn't breathe without her by his side. She gave him the most beautiful children in the world. She was his wife and she was his best friend. He loved her laugh and the sound of it. He loved waking up beside her every morning. He loved her scent, and how her nose wrinkled when she grinned. He loved to touch her, to kiss her, to feel her. He loved her bad mood as well as her good mood. God, he loved her more than anything in the whole world. If she wouldn't be there with him now, he wouldn't live anymore. She had no idea how much he was in love with her…still, after all these years. He loved her with his heart, with his body, with his soul.

Thousands of thunderstorms rushed through their bodies when they came at the same time. Doug fell back on the sand and Carol threw her head back and started to laugh. "Oh…this was awesome. I love you Doug…I love you so much!" she said and kissed him once again.

It was almost 7pm when they arrived back at the hotel. "So…Hard Rock Café tonight, Mrs. Hathaway?" he asked as he opened the door to their hotel suite. "Sure, why not. I'm starving already", she answered as she put their beach bag on the bed. "Pineapple, Cocktails and a lot of sex not enough for you, huh?" he asked as he hugged her from behind and she started to giggle. "Well…next time we could bring something real to eat, you know", she laughed and kissed him shortly. "Good idea. Come on, let's take a shower", he suggested and she nodded. "Sure, but first I wanna call home, see if everything is alright", Carol answered and escaped from his arms to look for her cell phone. "To see if the house is still up", he chuckled and went to the bathroom.

Carol finally found her cell phone and noticed some messages were on it. Kate wrote that she'd have a test run at the school. Tess wrote that everything was fine at home. And then there was a call on her mobile box. She dialed the number and listened to it.

After she finished, a loud Thunder dinned through the air. And she was dying inside. "You coming?" she heard Doug but she couldn't move. Once again she listened to the call.

"Carol…it's Diane. I'm…I'm really sorry to bother you on your holiday…but…this is really important. When we made the biopsy of the lump in your breast, lab was broken. All tests came back negative. We had to test everything again…and…I'm so sorry Carol. I…you should come back here as soon as possible. Your test came back…positive for cancer. I'm really sorry. Please call me as soon as you can."

AN: So...finally a new chapter for you. And the drama is back. :( Let me know what you think about this...I feel so sad *lol* crazy...