Epilogue
Catherine took the seeds that Rebecca had sent her from the bag and distributed them to the small piece of garden she had assigned to them.
When she had done it, she turned to take the watering can and after a couple of turns on herself, looking for her, she remembered, that she had left it on the porch, right on the side of the stairs.
She threw a subtle oath when she noticed. Michael and Vanessa had been thrown out of the house, in socks, in the direction of their playground in the garden, and she had had to chase them to put their tiny sports. After hunting them, the three of them had sat on the steps of the porch, and there the watering can was in her hand.
The first step he took, her ankle cracked and he felt a throbbing pain. With a gesture of disappointment, she continued walking towards the porch, while limping slightly. It had been two years since she sprained, and she recognized that it barely bothered her, but when the weather was going to change ...
- Uffff!
She took a strong breath. It certainly was a painful reminder of what had happened during those hours of anguish, but he smiled. As much as it hurt from time to time, seeing Vincent was enough to momentarily forget all that ...
She was about to reach for the watering can when she saw Vincent walk out the door of the house, wearing a dark blue bathrobe, barefoot, and his hair disheveled, holding a cup of coffee in his hand.
Cat Smiled openly at the sight.
- Good morning, sleeping beauty! .- she greeted him, going up the stairs and hugging him.
He left the coffee cup on the teakwood table that lived on the porch and received it with open arms.
- It would have been more "beautiful sleeping" if the sounds of the work of the new house of your father ... had not awakened me ... What the hell are they doing now, the roof? ... They are a constant scandal ... .- He looked towards the place where his father-in-law was building his new house, on top of the foundations of the previous- ... I do not know if when he thought about doing it it occurred to him that his son-in-law slept many times during the day? - he looked at Cat with suspicion saying that. She merely shook her head effusively-. For me, he does it with premeditation ... A part of him, he enjoys, bothering me.
- How can you think about my father! ...- exclaimed she amused- ... I'm sure he regrets all the discomfort that can cause you, but he is looking forward to them, so that Mark goes to the apartment with Emily, now that Aaron and Claire are going to stay to live in the house of the Keller family ... .- she told him.
- Already ... there may be strong reasons, but I know you enjoy bothering me ... You know perfectly well that between me and your father there will always be certain ... .- The sentence did not end ... it was not necessary.
Cat moved her head from side to side again.
- Noooo ... You know you appreciate ... .- she said laughing.
Vincent rolled his eyes and pressed her closer.
- Let's leave the subject of your father and focus on you ...- He smelled her hair closing his eyes-. You smell like wet earth ... It reminds me of…
He did not have time to say anything else, because the screams of his children interrupted him. They came running up to him and forced them to separate and sit on the step so they could do the same on Vincent's knees.
- Dad ... today mom has made, chicken with potatoes, what is great? - Michael told him, knowing it was one of his father's favorite foods.
- Yes ... it's great ... .- Vincent looked at Cat resigned. Lately the children did not separate from him.
Cat looked at her son smiling.
- Yes ... it's great ... but now you have to let dad have his coffee ... Agreed? .- She asked as she approached the still steaming cup that he had left on the table.
- Ok ... .- Vanessa said, raising her thumb, while Michael, got off, Vincent's knees, and began to run to his part of the garden. She looked at her father. So ... today you're not going to the hospital, right?
- No ... today I'll be all yours ...
Vanessa smiled, hugging her neck ... and without saying anything, she ran after her brother, who was already digging with a 20 cm high bulldozer.
Cat watched as her daughter walked away and then looked at her husband.
- My God, it's exactly like you! He even has that little hole, which is on your cheek ... .- she said pointing.
Vincent cocked his head and bit his lip.
- ... and Michael, do the same thing you just did ... .- Cat said laughing, pointing now his mouth.
Vincent nodded.
- If physically the two have come out to me ... but they have your incredible eyes .. .- he said looking at her-. ... and without a doubt, your stubbornness and your genius ... and Bob's. - He said with displeasure.
Cat grinned, sitting down next to her.
- Exactly ... they have taken the best of each one of the three ... ..- she clasped her arm with her husband's -. ... Well ... and now changing the subject ... have you made it clear to Angela that she has to leave her head of surgery alone these two days? ... - Cat told her.
Vincent took a sip of his coffee and nodded.
- Yes ... I have made it clear to her ... I do not want to know anything about anything ... unless there is another hecatomb. The train accident has been a horror, luckily they are all out of danger ... They have enough staff to cover everything that may happen from now ... .- sighed, wishing it were true and let him rest.
He acknowledged that the work was exhausting, but also appreciated the support of the entire hospital for that important position and of course, Angela, who had done everything possible and impossible to convince him.
- I hope I deserve the confidence of Angela and the entire team ... - he told Cat- ... She is so involved in everything related to the experiments of Evan, Jt and all his team that has been conditioning the old rooms of Rebecca to make an apartment and her office, and now, she practically lives there ... From there she controls all her life ... including Frank ...- he added winking at Cat. He sighed again ... - I know she considers me capable of to bear this responsibility, but I also know, because she told me, that my special qualities can save lives ... "You have to use them" were his words.
Cat nodded.
- I know ... I was there the day he told you ... The day that you could no longer refuse your offer to work for her ... but, what was said ... She has to leave you more free time ...
Vincent looked at his wife.
- Cat, these days has been a case in point ... The accident was so serious that upset all the hospital staff ... .. - put a hand on her knee, squeezing it -. You know that Angela tries to be with you as much as possible .
Cat approached him and lowered her head before saying almost in a whisper:
- Still chasing you?
Vincent could not suppress a laugh.
- Cat! Jealous at this point? ...
- No! ... it's just curiosity ... - Cat replied, trying to look very dignified.
- I understand ...-Vincent bit his upper lip- ... well, from time to time ...
Cat frowned.
- Occasionally ... what?
Vincent laughed again.
- Well, from time to time, while I'm in the operating room, I see her staring at me from above ... but as soon as she realizes that I've seen her, she winks at me, shrugs and leaves ...
Cat moved uncomfortably by his side. Vincent felt his pulse quicken, put his arm around her shoulders.
- I guess you can not help it ... but I can assure you that she is in love with Frank, just like Frank with her ... Their relationship is perfectly consolidated after the almost two years they have been together ...
- ... but I still feel something for you ... ..- she added, sighing.
Vincent took a breath.
- Sometimes I think that the circumstances in which we met were so special for her, that that has provoked her feelings towards me ... It was a crucial moment in her life ... and it has left a mark impossible to erase.
Cat nodded, thinking seriously what Vincent had just said.
- Yes, you may be right ... She would never have taken the step she took, if it had not been for you ... it is what has the effect Vincent Keller.- his wife said nudging him in the side.
Vincent narrowed his eyes, sighing.
- Yes, but let's leave Angela ... .- he said, wanting to change the conversation- Now I have a couple of days off, which I'm going to take literally ... I do not intend to do anything ... - stretched his legs and closed his eyes, feeling the sun on his face ... but then opened them again. Cat was going to say something to him, but he interrupted her. - ... and by the way, did not you tell me you want to buy an apartment?
Cat frowned without understanding what Vincent was saying.
- Me? No ... Ah! .-fell then in the account- ... The papers that are on the kitchen table ... Well, they are the plans of one of the apartments that are being built where the old warehouse was ... .- she explained-. JT and Tess are interested ... and they asked me to take a look ... to see what I thought ...
Vincent smiled too.
- Are you seriously considering going to live there?
Cat nodded.
- Yes ... I think that JT never missed it ... and Tess's apartment, they were too small. Leaving the Club was an idea ... - she shrugged her shoulders- ... interesting to start a life together, but it was not the perfect place ... and I admit that, yes, it can be. It's a lot bigger and allows Jt to have more space ... for his things ...
Vincent's eyes widened.
- Console!
Cat shook her head from side to side in resignation.
- Yes ... console ... .Men! All day thinking about the same ... - she said with reluctance.
Vincent laughed cheerfully.
- No darling, do not make mistakes ... That is a moment of guys, which must be maintained ... but I only have one idea in mind constantly ... and that idea ... .- caught her waist- ... You know what it is ... .- kissed her neck ...
Cat closed her eyes.
- Vincent ... .- she said trying to keep a cool head. She had to say something to her husband ... But it was hard when he felt his lips on his skin -... Vincent?
- Yes ... Catherine ... .- he answered, beginning to lower his hand to her ass.
- I have to tell you a lot of things and all important ... - she turned away from him- ... Ian has called me from London ... There is news, many news ... Let's start with Lynn ...
Vincent frowned. What he had in mind disappeared quickly, as did his hand from his wife's ass.
- Is she okay? .- he asked worried. Since she left, she had called many times and everything was going great. Heather Catherine Wyatt, was born perfectly and was a beautiful creature with blond hair of her mother and the same eyes of her father ... just that ... She had been working in one of the restaurants in town and had rented a cute two-story house and You could say she was happy ... although they all knew who she often thought about.
- Yeah ...-Cat answered smiling- ... It's just, that she's in NY ...
Vincent opened his mouth in amazement.
- Seriously?
Cat nodded.
- She has brought Heather to meet the people from the tunnels ... and us ... Tomorrow we are invited to eat there ... everyone ... including Heather ... since we told her about it, she has not had a meeting as it should be ... Evan is preparing her to meet Vincent ...
Her husband looked at the garden, smiling, with only one idea in his mind.
- And why do not you stay here with him? The times that I have spoken with Vincent about her, it is clear that he really misses her ...
Cat nodded.
- Yes I know…. but Vincent is a unique soul who lived a great love, epic and unrepeatable ... The two feel something for each other ... but they know there will never be anything like that ... and Vincent will never stop being linked to Cathy ... and that Lynn he knows ... and Vincent too ...
- Something like us ... epic and unrepeatable ..
- Yes ... something like us ... unique and unrepeatable ..
- ... and I hope very durable ...- he said hugging her and kissing her on the forehead.
- Besides ...- Cat added- ... I think between her and Angus ...
Vincent opened his eyes.
- Seriously? .- repeated.
- Well, it is very incipient ... but I think there are possibilities for both ... - Cat rested her head on Vincent's shoulder- ... I'm glad of it ... she deserves to be very, very happy, and if it's with someone like Angus, better ... he understands her perfectly ...
Vincent nodded, feeling Cat by his side. He could hear his heart beating faster than usual and that made him think there was something he had not told him.
- Something else? .- He asked, suspicious.
- Yes ... .- Cat smiled again- ... More emerging loves ... .- She turned to look at him-. So it seems Ian is in love ...
Vincent smiled, even knowing that that was not what worried his wife.
- Really? .. and who is the lucky one? -. He had known for some time that Cat felt a special feeling for Ian. They understood each other very well. The family triangle formed by Cat, Mark and Ian was special. Edward had adapted perfectly to his new life ... and he was an example of overcoming and fortitude ... He was a happy soul and grateful to be alive ... as Cat used to say ...
Cat did not wait, to tell him.
- She is a guest that they had last year in summer ... a beautiful woman with long brown hair with blonde highlights and with intense green eyes ... .- Cat sighed. She was delighted that Ian had found someone. ... Her name is Joanna*, she is a lawyer in a small Canadian city. The fact is that since then they have been called many times and all that ... but a month ago she came by surprise at the hotel and ... well ... can you imagine ... Ian is thinking that when everything Covington House closes, it would be a great time to go live with her to Canada ... He left the law school parked because he could not face everything at once ... fight against the Consortium and study was too ... but, intends to resume it, and join her in her work ... and also be closer to us ... I recognize that I miss him to him ..
Vincent nodded.
- I think it's great that you give yourself the opportunity to share your life with someone ... as Mark has done with Emily ... It's amazing how well you see them together ...
- It's true ... ..- Corroborated Cat sighing.
- And now, my darling ... .- said her husband, separating slightly from her .- What else you have to tell me and that makes your pulse accelerate? ...
Cat looked at him as if she had been caught committing a prank.
- Well ... .- she began saying slowly- The judge has authorized that you can enter Covington House ...
Vincent leaned back and became serious.
- And you leave that to me for the end? .- he reproached him, although he understood his nervousness. Talking about it, it was like talking about Stuart again. He tried to get it out of his head-. ¡It was already time! It is incredible that the lawyers have taken so long to solve the problems of inheritance ... -He leaned his elbows on his knees-. Do you think we can finally be sure that everyone died?
- Well ... we have not known about them since then ... there has not been any movement in their accounts ... in anything ... I think we'll only see one fact ...
- Do you think they would find something there ... of everything they stored about us, about their experiments? ... - he asked.
- I do not know what they will find ... .- she looked at Vincent and moistened her lips ... MY family is going to check it. That's why I told you about Ian ... until everything is not clear with will move from there ... My father will take a plane to London tomorrow ... .- she cleared her throat-. and Stuart and Rebecca, too ...
Vincent moved slightly restless.
- He will want to take what remains of Erik, after two years ...
Cat nodded.
- Do you want to go? .- Cat asked in just a whisper.
Vincent shook his head energetically.
- No ... they're already there to take care of it ... I want to be with my children ... now that I can ...
The children passed in front of them, running with their little hands full of dirt. The war had started again. War of clay balls. They spent hours playing in their piece of the garden, full of dirt that could move from one place to another ... Including your small bodies.
Cat cursed them about having to put them in the washing machine ... but they ignored him.
- I admit that I would also like to spend more time with them ..- she said as they disappeared behind the house- ... but we have a problem and we love our jobs and I can not imagine my life without being what I am ... although sometimes I have the impression that I abandon them ...
Vincent took her by the shoulders.
- Do not worry ... they love you very much ... they love us ... I can feel his feelings towards us very clearly ... and do you also know what they think? - he asked with a certain expression of disgust. Once the subject was removed he could not get it out of his head. It was impossible ... deep down he knew, that he was united to them and to what they were.
Cat looked at him and shook her head from side to side.
- Do not…. in which? .- she asked, although she thought she imagined the answer.
Vincent smiled on his side and sighing, answered:
- They think of an island surrounded by cliffs ... and in him ...
Cat expelled air with force and also smiled. She got up from the stairs.
- Talking about him ... I must show you something ... This time they sent me a beautiful thing ...
Cat came running into the house, excited. When she came out a few seconds later, she was carrying a white box of a similar size as the shirt boxes. She sat down next to Vincent and smilingly opened it.
Vincent raised his head, incredulous, to see the content.
-Why?
- I do not know ...- Cat said, shaking her head from side to side, amused- ... but I swear I love it ... .- She picked up her little skirt and looked at it. A clean white wool sweater and long stockings completed the set- ... I'm going to ask you to send me another one for Vanessa ... .- smiled funny .- ... they have to be charming with this put ...
Vincent snorted.
- I do not think they need a Scottish outfit in NY ...
Cat looked at her husband with resignation.
- Vincent ... sometimes I want to give you a slap ...
Vincent made a face of feigned surprise.
- Why?
- You know why…
Her husband licked his lips.
- I know why they sent it, and I do not like it ...
Vincent got up, after leaving the empty coffee cup on the porch floor, and started walking toward where Cat had been working.
She put the suit back inside the box and left it on the top step of the stairs. Then she picked up the watering can and went to him.
- What are they this time? .- Vincent asked reaching the garden -. When I've noticed the smell of dirt in your hair ... it could only be for a reason ...
Cat pursed her lips slightly. She pointed to the seeds that were still in the pouch where Stuart had put them to send them.
- Orchids ... he says, they're the color of Skye's sea on a stormy day.
Vincent raised an eyebrow at the comparison.
- What's up? Rebecca is tremendously poetic! ... if you read her letters you would know ... - Cat reproached him, shrugging her shoulders defending the rich prose of her ancestor.
Her husband snorted and turned to look at his children, who had returned to their yard and played to see who was digging faster.
- A couple of letters a month ... from the day we said goodbye to them.
Cat nodded.
- Yes ... so it is .- she said sighing. He missed them and knew that he too ... although never in these two years, Vincent would have recognized him.
Vincent ducked his head.
- They're never going to give up, right?
Cat sighed, shaking her head.
- No ... never ... you already know ... it's been 2 years and it's still ... You will never be resigned to losing yourself ... .- Cat stroked her back.- Still can not forgive him, despite everything that happened after what he did ? - he asked, although he knew the answer.
Vincent closed his eyes.
- I know what happened next and I know everything that I owe ... my life, ... .- he hugged her around the waist and kissed her forehead- ... yours and our children's, but still I can not do it ... With his decision changed my life forever ... Change our life forever ...
- ... that's true ... but other factors influenced it ... Do not forget ... - Cat rested her head on his chest-. You notice not only what Stuart did, he made our present what it is ... Gabe also had his role and Papa and Rebecca ...
Vincent nodded.
Vincent nodded.
- Yes ... I know ... and the first one was me ... If I had had cold blood, I would never have gone to Afghanistan and all this would never have happened ... but I do not want to go that far ... I admit everything, because it took me to you ... but when we had at hand a life outside the beasts ... He took it from me, out of pure selfishness and condemned my children to be what they are ...
Cat sighed.
- But they are ours and they are great ... and most importantly we will know how to handle it ...
Vincent smiled wryly.
- We know now that he is 2 years old and there are hardly any reactions, but he expects you to have 15 and you will see ... and if you keep in touch with him and Rebecca, sooner or later they will find out everything and then, yes, we will have a problem ...
Cat turned away from him.
- They have the right to know ...
- No. - answered his sharp husband -. They will know what they have to know nothing more ...
Cat ducked her head, moving her from side to side.
- You're becoming like my father ...
Cat looked at him, amazed to hear him say that.
- No ... I'll never be like your father ...
Cat nodded, smiling.
- You'll end up doing the same as him ...
- No ... .- He answered sharply.
- You think the secrets will keep your family out of trouble ... but Vincent, these secrets are not any secrets ... - she told him, tried to make sense.
- Cat! They are still 2 years old ... we should not worry about them for now ... -They are so happy ... so, without knowing what they are ... if I had left to choose, my children would be normal ... and we too ...
Cat became very serious.
- But these would not be ... and besides, what the hell! Without threats ... you are a normal person, well ... you're not normal, it's true, you're ... special ... there's nothing wrong with that ...
He stood in front of him.
- You are a surgeon ... you are a professional, who has saved hundreds of lives since then, thanks to what you are, using part of your incredible abilities to see what others can not see ... to do what others can not do ... The other day without going any further, you prevented Michael from breaking his head, when coming down from the Fergusson tree ... Vincent, we are what we are and we will always be, we make a decision, for the sake of our children ... it is already .. Stop thinking about it ... or is there something else you have not told me about Stuart?
He realized that maybe it was time for him to take everything out.
- I still do not support the idea that you're doomed to that concoction ... .- Vincent continued without giving up.
Cat smiled.
- Vincent, you know what it is ... They have explained it to us many times ... and I feel good, just like Rebecca ... She has said that as she sees Stuart go down, she will stop taking the doses ... and so, she will die with him ... I plan to do the same ...
He approached him.
- I can not imagine what better way to die than by your side ... - she added.
He stood on tiptoe and kissed him. He grabbed her around the waist and kissed her in turn. He had no arguments against her. It was impossible, and even more so when I kissed him like that.
- Oops! You do not wear anything under that bathrobe! ... .- Cat said noticing some movement in a little below.
Vincent pursed his lip as he moved his head from side to side.
- Do not…. What if we go up? They are very entertaining ... what can happen?
- Like a million things ... ..- Cat assured him.
- Any serious?
- Can ... .- she said thoughtfully ... ... but you have a sixth sense, right? .- She said smiling. While he reached inside the robe and caressed his abdomen gently.
He nodded, lifted her effortlessly and she put her legs around his hips ... He led her to the house as he casually told his children.
- Children, we are going to put the washing machine! ... We come right away ...
The children looked at them for a second, they shrugged and automatically, they continued with what they were doing.
A few hours later ... at sunset.
Cat got up from the floor when she heard Vincent leave the house.
She turned around and saw him with the phone in his ear, leaning as he often did, on the porch railing. He smiled at her ... but this time she could not smile back.
Dark, dense storm clouds came into the city from the east ... she looked at them enraptured. She was sure that she had seen them before ...
She turned to her left, hoping it would not happen what she was sure was going to happen. Cat closed her eyes and heard it. They came running from behind the house, trying to fly a small kite that Aunt Heather and Uncle Evan had given them ...
Their laughter was in her brain and in her heart. She opened her eyes quickly contemplating the whole scene in slow motion ... Vincent leaning against the porch railing, his head pointing at the storm, the children, laughing as they played and the black storm clouds coming up to them ...
The déjà vu was exact ... the dream was exact ... but that dream had formed in her mind ... many years ago, the night before her wedding ...
He always thought that those clouds foreshadowed what had happened in their lives after that wedding, but now he realized that he was wrong ... that dream was an omen of what could still be to come
Now to hear the laughter of their children as they came running, decided to forget about fatalism ... Maybe fate had them prepared a few more surprises, in their lives, but now ... She was happy and nothing and no one could snatch that feeling.
She had her children ... a big family, in NY and on the other side of the ocean ... and she had Vincent.
Her husband sat back down on the porch stairs. Cat knew right away that she was talking to Stuart. After making love that afternoon, they had had a long and painful conversation ... and he had confessed that despite everything he had done, and how much it hurt to recognize him, he missed him ... Cat had said they could start small ... maybe, with a simple phone call ... and that was what he was doing ...
He greeted her smiling.
Cat watched him for a few seconds.
He wore jeans that fell over his hips and a white v-neck shirt that marked, without dissimulation, the musculature of his chest ... The warm afternoon sun shone on his brown hair and his eyes of an intense green ... Cat stared at them , maybe similar to Stuart's? ...
... but what made her take a breath with strength and pride, was his captivating smile ... full of love, promises and shared dreams ...
It was impossible not to feel complete having him ... As she had said to herself many times, a man's dream all of her.
Her mind traveled until the day she met him hidden in the shadows of an old warehouse ... She could never have imagined what would change her life thereafter ...
Now looking at him there, sitting, relaxed and happy, she realized that her heart began to really beat that day ...
The children, seeing him sitting and using the telephone, ran towards him and sat on his knees. Cat was sure they had noticed that he was talking to Stuart ... to his "grandfather" ...
Vincent smiled at her as only he knew how to do it, and beckoned her to go with them. She bit her lip, feeling the most absolute happiness fill her inside.
She left the shovel and the rake on the ground ... She took off her thick gardening gloves and smiling, she ran to her family ...
End ... 12/26/2017
** Character borrowed from #BurdenOfTruth... Ian(Billy/Peter) and Joanna are destined to be together ... :))