CH55
Rick dropped off Kate at her house since she wanted to pack up about half of her clothes and move them over to their home. "What's your mother going to say?" he asked her. "I'm hoping she'll be happy for me. Besides if you and Alexis are right, Oscar isn't going to be leaving for days if not weeks." She was still working out how she thought about that. She liked Oscar sure, but she mostly liked him for what he was doing for her mother and her restaurant. Moving out here and opening a restaurant where her mother could cook to her heart's content. Her mother was living again and Oscar had a hand in that.
"You're thinking too loudly over there," Rick pointed out as he parked behind her Jeep. "I love and miss my dad and I'm sure Mom does too. I'm still trying to figure out how I feel about her moving on." Her parents were supposed to be together forever. Now thanks to Paladin they were broken.
"Oscar is a good man, give him a chance." Rick wanted it to work out for all of them.
"I intend to. I just want Mom happy. It's why I moved out here." Kate didn't know if she had told him that before, however he didn't look shocked.
"Speaking of coming out here, when are your friends showing up?" Rick asked her. That had Kate smiling widely. "Tomorrow evening actually. Their plane is scheduled to land about 8:30 pm. They'll pick up their luggage, rent a car, and drive here from Rapid City. I told them to come to your house first since I was likely going to be there instead of here," she told him.
"I'll make sure the spare room is ready and the games are all warmed up and working properly. I may have to go get gas for the quad though." He was actually looking forward to meeting her friends.
"Give me some time to pack and talk to Mom and I'll be over." She kissed him quickly. "I should be over in time to tuck you into bed sweetie." Kate reached back to Alexis and blew her a kiss and got out of the truck. "Wait up for me." Kate told them and went inside.
She opened the door and found her mother and Oscar standing in the kitchen, not just standing in it but with his arms wrapped around her mother from behind with him giving the side of her head kisses. She stopped right where she was and watched with her mouth hanging open. Hearing something about it was one thing, however watching it was quite another story. At first watching her mother with Oscar made her sad. It should be her dad, not Oscar. Though the longer she watched the more she saw that her mother was happy. While at the same time her heart missed her father all over again.
Kate stepped back outside and pulled the door closed, just not enough for it to latch. It gave her time to take some deep breaths. Her mom was happy which made her happy, or at least she wanted to be happy. "GOD DAMN PALADIN!" she whispered to herself.
She needed someone to blame for this mess. She was in love and happier than she'd ever been. But did it have to be at the cost of her father's life? She took a deep breath and opened the door loudly by making it hit the door stop hard. "You home Mom?" she called out as she entered and found them both still in the kitchen just as Oscar was leaving it.
"KATIE!" Johanna turned to face her and Kate saw a glow on her mother's face.
'Oh god, I think they did it,' she thought to herself. Her mother's face even had a guilty look on it. 'Are they still naked?' Rick inquired. Kate didn't see the giant grin on his face but she just knew he had one.
'I wasn't talking to you, now leave me alone so I can talk to my mother and Oscar.' Kate didn't want to sound terse with him but she feared that she did. 'I'm sorry babe, I didn't mean to blow up at you. It's just that I found them together with Oscar holding her and kissing her.' She really needed to clear her head and not hear her dragon or Rick. 'Got it, I'll be as silent as a mouse. Take your time. Remember we both love you,' he told her and became quiet.
"Katie?" Johanna asked again since she had been quiet. Kate walked up to the counter across from her, reached for her hands, and held them in hers clasped together.
"Something you want to tell me Mom?" She wanted to see if her mother was secure enough to admit it to her.
"I…we…" Johanna really was a little lost here. Just how did she tell her daughter that she had moved on from her father, her husband? However, Johanna felt something that got her attention. "ME!? What have you done Katie?" Johanna held up Kate's left hand which easily displayed the ring that was on her finger. Immediately Kate was smiling while blushing a little. Rick had actually proposed a couple of days ago and she had only gotten her ring recently after Alexis herself slipped it on her finger for Rick.
"Rick proposed." Kate was beaming, and it had Johanna practically squealing as she came around out of the kitchen to wrap her arms around her daughter. "I'm so happy for you Katie. I just knew you loved Rick and his little girl." Johanna went back to crushing her in a motherly hug.
"I love both of them so very much Mom. More than I thought was even possible. I never knew just how empty my life really was until they filled it." Kate had actually thought she was happy when she lived in New York and had her job as a homicide detective. "That little girl is an angel, trust me I should know," Oscar told her.
"So when's the wedding?" Johanna dived right out in front. "I only just got engaged Mom. Give me a chance to enjoy it first," Kate chastised her though it didn't come across as being upset in her voice.
However she stepped back and looked at the two of them. "Now, what's going on?" she glared at the two of them.
Johanna had never thought of herself as being susceptible to her daughter's glare but under the circumstances, this time it had her heart racing and she really was worried about what her daughter would think. She looked between Oscar and Kate. "I…we… Oscar and I…" Johanna really didn't want to say 'had sex' even if that was what they had done. Twice even, with her on top both times.
"What your mother is trying to say is that she accepted my offer to stay out here for a while while we date and get to know each other better. We've even been thinking of renovating the entire house. Live upstairs and create an office downstairs with a business much like the one I have in New York," Oscar said to help Johanna out.
That was actually a bit of a shock for Kate. She knew her mother liked Oscar and now she was finding out that he was willing to move here to be with her instead of trying to talk her into moving back to New York. It answered a question about the restaurant.
"Oscar is a shifter," Johanna suddenly mentioned followed by her slapping her hand over her mouth since she didn't know what had happened to her filter. That tidbit of information had Kate openly staring at Oscar. "You're a shifter too? Do you know any others?" She wasn't going to give up herself or Rick or Alexis just yet.
"I was part of a really small shifter family. Just me and my parents. I left home to make a life for myself and finally did it in New York. I met Eileen, got married, and had a son, Michael. After Eileen passed away I stayed in the city and ignored the horse inside me."
"Rick got me to come out here to help Johanna and I started falling in love with the open area. I could feel the horse inside me loving it out here and not wanting to go back. I was also starting to be interested in Johanna. Those two combined got me to come here a lot. More than was truly necessary," Oscar told her.
"How long have you known Mom?" Kate questioned her. "Only a few hours actually. I found him outside running around and Oscar gave me a ride. He even jumped this little tree. I thought sure he was trying to dump me on my ass," Johanna teased him.
"Your ass is fine and it's not my fault the wood collapsed and you landed on your ass," Oscar teased back. "TMI you two, way too much TMI." Kate made a face which in this case was real and not faked. "And you have room to talk Katie?" Johanna countered not realizing that she just admitted that the two of them had had sex.
"And on that note, I'm going to go pack some clothes to take over to Rick's house. I'll be spending the next few nights over there," Kate informed the two of them. "Oh, and don't forget, we have company flying out tomorrow and they'll be using one or more of the bedrooms here," she reminded them and went upstairs to pack.
Kate made sure to make noise coming down the stairs so she didn't have to see Oscar with his arms around her mother again. She really had to get a handle on her thoughts on the matter of her mother being with Oscar. "See you tomorrow Mom," she called out and dragged her bags out to her Jeep.
Kate found the front door unlocked with Midas and Maggie just inside the door happy to see her and not leaving until they were both properly petted. "How the heck do you two always know when I'm home anyway?" she questioned them.
Rick came around the corner and took one of her bags. "They can hear your Jeep when you pull up," he told her. "But my Jeep is way out there!" She used her now free arm to point to where her Jeep was sitting. "Yep," he agreed and started walking upstairs. He stopped Kate at the door to Alexis's bedroom. "I'll take that. There's a certain someone who wants to see you and you promised to tuck her in when you got home." He smiled and headed for their bedroom.
She smiled as she walked into Alexis's room and found her all curled up on her bed sound asleep. Kate carefully uncurled her and pulled the covers up over her. "You really are my brave little bear." She leaned down to kiss her head. "What I wouldn't give to be your birth mother." She let the tear escape from her eye and wiped it away. "Good night sweetie." She kissed her head again. "Mom?" Alexis whispered in a sleep induced drug sound. "Shhhh, go back to sleep. I'll have breakfast with you in the morning before work." Kate ran a hand through the little girl's hair. "Love…mom," Alexis mumbled. "I love you too Alexis. Good night." Kate adjusted the sheets and comforter over her and left giving Alexis one last lingering look from the door.
Kate was reflecting on what her life was like now as she walked into their bedroom and found Rick already in bed waiting for her. "How was she?" he asked her. "Sleeping soundly," she told him and stepped into the bathroom to start her nightly routine.
She was barely dressed as she slipped into bed and into Rick's arms where she found herself in yet another of his hugs. She closed her eyes and melted into him. "Where were these hugs years ago when I could have used them?" she murmured. "Living another life," he told her. That got her to lift up and place herself more on top of him.
"We both were." Kate, however, knew her life hadn't been anything like Rick's. She wished she had found him when they were both in New York. It was anyone's guess where they might be now if she had.
"Rick, if we had met earlier…" Kate wasn't sure what she was asking. "My bear would have noticed you in an instant and been on my case to see you as often as I could. Though I might not have listened since I had silenced him years ago. Moving out here is what brought him alive," he had to admit.
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She was nervous about today as she sat at her desk waiting for everything to happen. First Greta was scheduled to show up this morning for her first day of work. Kate had only ever spoken to her over the phone. She had her report on her that she had requested. Mostly she had hired her because of what Espo had told her. She trusted Espo and yet this was a big step.
Then the first trailer from the contractor who was going to start work on their building in about a week and a half was scheduled to show up. Two of his men were going to do a survey of their building so they could work out where to start.
About the same time an HVAC technician was going to come out and look at their heating system. Kate had high hopes that he had good news for a change. Sure she still had money in her budget, but it wasn't even winter yet so she had to be careful with expenditures. Plus due to a delay their new Apple computers for the office were finally scheduled to be delivered and the women in the office would be busy installing all of the necessary software and make the conversion from Microsoft Windows to Apple. She was sure there would be problems, just that these computers were the newest and greatest things available. They came out in March and here it was late July.
Adding to all this was the fact that their K-9 unit was going to show up today as well. Kate had talked to him frequently on the phone. Their new cars were still over a month away so he would be getting his choice because of the dog. When the new cars did show up he was going to get one of the PT-Cruisers.
And if all that wasn't enough, she was hoping for an answer from LT any time. If he declined her offer she was back to square one and needed to start looking all over again.
A knock at her door brought her back to the here and now. "The man for the heating system is here ma'am," Elizabeth told her. "Thanks Elizabeth, let's hear what he has to tell us." Kate stood up, went to greet him, then they both showed him what they had and let him work.
Just as they left him Greta showed up. "Greta, it's a pleasure to meet you." Kate shook her hand.
"I really appreciate this offer ma'am. I won't let you down." Greta needed to make this work.
"Esposito spoke highly of your actions during that incident on the train. Let's get you introduced to everyone, get you into a uniform, check out your equipment, assign you a car, and have you get started. For a least the first week, you'll be here in the office. If we get a call you'll be the one to answer it. Sloan is off today, two are out on patrol since it's the weekend and the courthouse is closed, and there will be only one deputy during the night shift," Kate explained as she showed Greta around and soon had her assigned to her own desk.
Just as Greta was sitting at her desk while working with the other women getting taught how things work in the office, the next new hire and his German Shepard arrived.
"I'm giving you the last Dodge Durango until the new cars come in a little over a month from now. It's supposed to be set up for a dog in the back just as you asked. For now you'll join Greta who is our other new hire that started today. Who's your friend?" Kate held out a hand for his dog to sniff. "I have two Dobermans at home and Mom has a small dog," she explained as the German Shepard was sniffing her.
"This is Jethro. We finished our training together last month. This is our first assignment together," Mark explained. "Well, I'm glad to have you and Jethro. I take it you found a place to live?" she asked him. "We moved in yesterday. It's nice and much less expensive than I ever thought. It's fully fenced for Jethro to be outside and it even has a garden space." Kate instantly knew just which one he was talking about.
"My wife is probably already out there expanding it into something even bigger," Mark said as he chuckled and was expecting to go home to find his wife with dirt all over her.
Kate was back in her office and was starting to open her lunch when the UPS driver showed up with several boxes. She came out of her office and joined the women as they opened the first one. "This is going to be different." Elizabeth joked since they were used to using a standard tower with a monitor. Now they had laptops.
"You're first Elizabeth; get yours changed out and up and running and don't forget we have 24 hour support to help you, so use them and abuse them. I don't expect this change to be easy. Just remember I'm last." Kate was smiling since she was finally close to having this office running like it was supposed to.
Kate hadn't yet finished her lunch which required her to use the office microwave when she had another knock on her door. "Your heating system is old but actually is in good shape. There are newer and more energy efficient systems on the market today and you'll need one of them in a few years. I've cleaned the boiler and replaced the ignitors. What I would like to do is flush the system and refill it," he told Kate. She wrote out a check for the work he'd done today knowing he'd be back tomorrow to flush the system and refill it.
She was soon back to eating her lunch. Kate still hadn't heard from LT when Amber showed up with Samantha to start her night shift. "Hi Sam, you coming home with me again?" Kate greeted her, just a little sad that she would be missing Alexis again, at least until breakfast.
"Sam has talked me into asking if she can do a sleep over. Meaning she spends the day with Alexis and Rick tomorrow and I'll pick her up when you bring her back into work the following morning." Amber sprung it on Kate.
Kate opened her eyes wide since she was not expecting this. "I have friends flying out from New York today. They should already have landed in Rapid City and be on their way here," she had to tell her as she looked at her watch.
"I'm sorry, I knew I should have thought to check if you had plans. We'll just make it for another day." Amber hugged her daughter hoping she didn't feel bad. "Espo and Kevin have to go back in three days while Jenny and Lanie will be staying for a week. We were planning on going camping after the guys leave. We can take Sam with us if you are willing. We'll have the space," Kate offered, knowing just what Rick would say.
Excited, Sam turned to her mother. "Please Mom!?" she begged. Sam had heard everything especially the word camping. "We'll have to talk with your father tomorrow. If he agrees then you can go." Amber was happy that her little girl was so happy.
"I'll get Rick to give me the necessary permission forms for you to sign. It'll be for three days and two nights just like last time," Kate informed them then heard her desk phone ring. "Excuse me, make plans, call your husband and talk with the women. We got our new computers in today and we're starting the conversion to using them." Kate jogged to her office.
"Beckett," Kate answered the phone and listened for a moment. "Hi LT, how's New York treating you?" She was really hoping for good news. While she listened her eyes opened wide. "And your girlfriend is interested in being a partner in this business?" Kate questioned him and listened for a while.
"WOW, that sounds like a lot of house and yes, the job offer is still open and yours if you want it." Kate crossed her fingers and tried to cross her toes. "GREAT! It'll be good to have you LT! Greta, and Mark our K-9 unit, started work today and our new computers just showed up with the cars a little over a month out still. Likely you and Greta will get one of the Intrepid RTs since one of the Rams is always going to be here at the office," Kate explained and listened for a while.
"Three weeks is good. We'll be waiting and I'm happy for you LT. It sounds like you have found the right girl," she told him and hung up to get back to Amber and Sam. "Ready to go sweetie?" Kate held out her hand for her to take.
"My husband has agreed that she can go camping with you, so I'll pack her suitcase the night before and bring it with me," Amber informed her. "That's great! I'm sure no one will mind one additional person on our trip. And Sam will give Alexis someone to play with. I'll bring in the forms tomorrow." Maybe it would help Alexis feel better with four strange adults being part of the trip.
Kate soon had Sam dressed for sleep and tucked into bed. "You can see Alexis for breakfast tomorrow and tell her you're going with us while camping." Kate stroked her hair and kissed her head. "Thanks Kate." Sam couldn't wait.
It was just then when Midas and Maggie went nuts when the doorbell sounded announcing the arrival of Espo, Kevin, Jenny, and Lanie.
