Love on Ice

Chapter 21

The next plane trip was just like the first one. It was filled with keeping Alexis happy and occupied. Not playing with the tray table or kicking the person in front of her. Along with yet another potty break.

When Kate came back from the restroom she found Rick in her seat meaning it was her turn to keep Alexis happy. Kate was learning that keeping Alexis happy was a real chore.

Then came pushing her in her stroller to get from the plane to baggage claim where they saw a woman holding up a sign that was for them since it had Rail Tours written on it.

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They weren't alone though the other four people from their flight didn't have children. It was two senior citizen couples.

There was a shuttle ride to their hotel where they stayed for two days before taking another shuttle to the train station. As expected their room was just like the rooms Kate was used to, two queen sized beds in the same room.

Rick looked and saw a zonked out Alexis in her stroller. "She's sound asleep." He wasn't too surprised since she had been awake and completely active for the entire trip. It was just that it wasn't even dinner yet.

"Nap, maybe, then wake her and go to dinner?" Kate suggested since she couldn't think of anything else. In the end they didn't really have a choice. Maria didn't come with them so they didn't have a babysitter.

Then Alexis's bedtime came and they were stuck in the same room with a sleeping child. They were at least sitting side by side up against the headboard of their bed watching TV with the volume set way down low.

Rick tried joking about it. "Romantic, isn't it."

It was just what Kate needed since she burst out laughing. To keep from waking Alexis who was in the bed next to them, she covered her mouth with both hands but kept on laughing, causing Rick to start.

Eventually she managed to stop. Then she snuggled in nice and close and latched onto him. Screw what was on TV. She began sliding a hand down to his crotch only to have it intercepted by one of his. "Better not, unless you intend on giving Alexis a show, followed by her needing lots of therapy while we're in jail." Rick was betting there was a law somewhere about having sex in front of a three-year-old, soon to be four.

Kate took her hand back then what he had said dawned on her. "Our room on the train is going to be even smaller, isn't it?" It meant no sex at all for nine whole days. She was going to go mad. They made love daily at the very least since the season was over. Save for when she had her period.

"Probably half this size," Rick said. While not having sex during the vacation was going to be a challenge, it was a vacation.

"I don't know if I can last that long." She had gone weeks, even months without sex before she met Rick. Now even a week sounded like forever let alone nine days. She was betting she'd be so horny when this vacation was over that she was going to erupt.

"How big is the shower?" Kate looked up at him. She was thinking sex in the shower, right now. She got up and pulled Rick behind her. "Just kill me now," Kate groaned. She turned away from the one person shower that didn't even have a tub for Alexis's bath and pressed her face into his chest.

Rick, though, thought up a quick plan. "Strip." He yanked his clothes off and watched Kate do the same.

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It hadn't been the most comfortable sex they'd ever had. However, both of them had at least had a climax. Thankfully the sink hadn't broken off of the wall. Now both of them were curled up under the covers in their bed, wearing pajamas that neither of them had worn since they'd become lovers. Hands were mostly kept to themselves but that didn't stop them from kissing a lot.

"Are we going to survive this?" Kate asked him then shifted to take a quick peek at Alexis.

"Depends on just how small the bathroom is on the train." Rick knew she wasn't the only one that was addicted to having sex daily. Kate pressed her face into him. For now she was fine, but they had only just started this vacation.

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They had taken a tour of Vancouver, British Columbia, that was part of the package and had eaten out at a steakhouse.

Kate had found that Alexis didn't like being in her stroller especially when she got tired and cranky. Mostly she was in Rick's arms. Kate was thankful that the stroller had all these little pockets to store things in. It held snacks for Alexis, bottled water for all of them, and wipes for emergencies. And Kate was learning to react quickly whenever Alexis suddenly announced, "POTTY!"

Right now Alexis was sitting up on her bed watching TV and yawning but refusing to actually fall asleep. She was up past her normal bedtime and she wanted to stay up as long as possible.

"This hasn't been so bad," Kate commented since she was getting used to Alexis's sudden needs.

Rick stretched out beside Kate. "My only hesitation in suggesting this was us being trapped on a train for four straight days. There are only just so many places for us to go. That and the bar isn't for her. I'm not even sure if they'll even allow us to take her in there."

"But we do stop and can let her off the train to see things, right?" Kate didn't remember everything exactly.

He shook his head. "We have one stop for a few hours, otherwise this is a scenic trip."

"So we need to be in the observation car and pointing things out to her or we're in trouble." Kate was catching on. What she couldn't figure out was why Alexis was so different at home. She was nothing like this at home.

"Big trouble. Right, pumpkin?" Rick looked over Kate's shoulder and saw a sleeping Alexis who had finally given up the fight. When Kate moved to tuck her in Rick stopped her. "Give her a minute just to be sure."

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Keeping Alexis at least engaged if not entertained had proven to be relatively easy. It was a game for her to spot all the animals she could see then name them.

When she got the animal right she got a snack. However, she was also filled with questions. "Why does it gots bones on its head? What's it eating? …EWWW!" Being told what they ate had her pushing her snack away since what they were eating sounded totally gross to her.

The food on the train was really good and they even had a children's menu that was filled with things Alexis liked, thankfully. Almost all of it was finger food which made Alexis happy.

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Kate found that so long as one of them kept Alexis busy with something, no matter what it was, the trip was actually pretty good. No, she didn't like being in the stroller on several occasions but the stroller was easier on them and safer for her when she was in it. That or she was carried by either of them though she preferred to be on her dad's shoulders when she was being carried.

Now came the task of getting home which was a much shorter flight from Toronto to New York City followed by the drive home.

All of them had souvenirs of their trip from stuffed animals to t-shirts and lots of pictures.

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Maria greeted each of them when they got home. "Welcome back, Mr. Rick, Miss Kate, and Miss Alexis."

"Tell Maria all that you did, pumpkin." Rick was sure she had a complete story to tell her which would allow him and Kate time to unpack.

Rick was smiling as he walked up the stairs as Alexis began to tell Maria everything. She would, of course, leave out her being a pain sometimes.

"You're genius." Kate kissed him when they reached their bedroom.

"I'm glad you think so," Rick grinned which earned him a light swat since he was playing with her.

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Alexis was still telling Maria everything when they went back downstairs to join them.

"Dinner is in the oven," Maria said since she had their schedule stuck to the refrigerator with magnets so she knew when they would be home.

"Alexis appears to have had a good time." Maria had so far heard most everything from her point of view.

"The countryside was amazing," Kate said, "and Vancouver and Toronto are really nice cities. Not exactly New York City, but nice. Everyone was really nice."

"We had some time so I took them to the stadium where the Vancouver Canucks play and the Toronto Maple Leafs just in case of a trade."

Kate really didn't want to think about Rick being traded. Granted he could be traded to some place close but a lot of teams were pretty far away.

"What really are the chances?" Kate questioned him.

"That kinda depends. If the Islanders aren't doing well next year and another team wants to make a push they may decide to trade me or others. It's all about business, nothing personal. It's not like being married. The fans will love the Islanders no matter who plays for them. Go ask the Cubs fans why they are still fans," Rick offered in response.

Now that Kate could understand since she still loved baseball. She even had a plan for trying to get Rick to a baseball game. She went to his hockey games so he could go to her baseball games. She just needed to get her time off to coincide with a home game.

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For the first time in her life Kate wasn't looking forward to going into work. What she really wanted to do was stay home and make love to Rick some more.

They'd mostly done without for the entire trip. Last night had been two hours of lovemaking to try and make up for that. Rick had handcuffed her to the bed then surprised her yet again by using her dildo gag.

She still loved what this man could do to her body. He had followed that up by fucking her from behind while she still had her gag in place. Kate had removed her gag and replaced it with his cock until she could taste him. Then she'd gotten on top and had done her best to fuck his brains out.

Some of it had been done without a condom but she was still willing to risk it. She was, after all, still on the pill.

Kate kissed Rick soundly. Then went out into the garage to get into her car and drive into the city to go back to work.

Rick, she knew, had plans to leave Alexis with Maria and go into the gym to work out. He needed to make sure he was in shape for when the season started again. He had two months to make sure he was ready.

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Kate was studying her murder board and willing it to talk to her when her cell phone rang. She didn't even bother to look at who was calling. "Beckett."

"Hi, I got something in the mail today that I thought I should share immediately."

"BABE! …What?" Now suddenly she was worried. At first she was happy to hear his voice but not so much now.

"The arbitrator has reduced my penalty for that fight I was involved in earlier."

"To what?" Kate asked since as far as she was concerned he shouldn't even have been penalized in the first place. Those three might have killed that guy.

"Half."

"HALF! Is that all? Those three might have killed that guy. And why is the NHL involved at all? It didn't happen on the ice." Okay, she knew the NHL could and had just like MLB would and had but that didn't mean she liked it.

"Well at least half is better if not really right." Kate suddenly saw the entire floor looking at her. "Go back to work, it's just my boyfriend," she yelled at all of them.

"What did you say?" Kate was sure she had missed something.

Suddenly Alexis's voice was on the phone. "MOMMY!"

"Hi, pumpkin." Kate didn't know exactly when she had begun using Rick's term of endearment for her but she had. Now everyone who was still watching her saw Kate Beckett become all soft and mushy. Her entire demeanor changed.

"What have you been doing today?" Kate went to sit down at her desk.

Kate could hear Rick coaching her. "Dinner."

"Go out to dinner, Mommy," Alexis managed to tell her.

Alexis was gone suddenly and replaced by Rick's voice. "We want to come into the city and eat dinner with you if you can get off work early enough."

That had Kate turning to look at her murder board. It was a brand new case. She'd just gotten it and had very little to work with so far. They had an entire list of suspects to work through.

"I think I can arrange that. What are you interested in? I'm good with anything so long as it involves steak." That steak in Toronto had been amazing and she wanted her city to beat Toronto.

That had Rick laughing. He was so sure she was going to say Chinese. "How about Delmonico's?"

"SOLD! I'll meet you there. Gotta go, the boys are back. Love you. Wait, what time?" Delmonico's was in the Financial District and she needed time to get there.

Rick scrunched up his face. "Six? So Alexis can come."

"I'll make it work. Love you." Kate hung up so she could turn her focus on Espo and Ryan.

"We love you too, Beckett," Espo teased then looked for a little help with the teasing. "Don't we, Ryan?"

"Most definitely," Ryan agreed easily.

"What did you two find?" Kate was done with discussing her home and love life with these two. She had a murder to solve.

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Kate took the subway down toward Battery Park, then a taxi to reach the restaurant. Stepping out she liked the look of the place. It said old school to her. And just inside the front door she saw a rug that said Since 1837. She also saw Rick and Alexis waiting for her.

"Mommy!" Alexis rushed her and Kate swooped down, picked her up, and gave her kisses.

"I've never actually been here before. I've heard of it, of course. So why did you pick this place?" He didn't live in the city.

First Rick kissed her cheek then said, "I asked and this was the place I was told we just had to visit at least once in our life."

They got taken to their table and Kate saw dark cherry wood everywhere. The walls had really tall wainscoting with wallpaper above that. Then on one wall there was this massive painting at least twenty feet by ten feet that was of people dining in the 30's based on what the women were wearing.

Alexis got a booster seat; they were given a menu and waited for drinks.

Kate couldn't resist since they were here. "PREFECTURE MIYAZAKI 'DELMONO.'"

She then defended her choice. "What other place has a steak named after them?"

She also noticed that Rick came prepared. He had coloring books and crayons to help keep Alexis happy and entertained.

Rick chose filet mignon while Alexis got lamb meatballs, Delmonico potatoes, and purple Brussels sprouts. They were all finger foods in his eyes.

Kate was so interested in being here that she didn't say anything about the prices. Hers and Rick's were $85 while the glasses of wine were $40 each.

In the end Rick still cut up Alexis's meatballs so she could pick them up little piece by little piece and Kate grinned as she watched Alexis pick up a purple Brussels sprout and bite off little bits at a time.

No, they didn't need any dessert and once back outside Kate had to go back toward work to pick up her car. However, Rick drove her in his car since he was in a parking garage not far away.

"I'll be right behind you, babe." Kate kissed him and looked in on a sleeping Alexis in the back seat.

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When Kate got home she found Rick sitting on the bed naked, just the way she liked him. She hurriedly changed then walked up to him equally naked and felt him slip his arms around her and press his face into her stomach. That had her holding his head in place.

"That was really nice of you. It was a really good steak." She had enjoyed her evening.

"Better than Toronto?" Rick asked and looked up at her.

Kate had to think about it. She really wanted to say yes but… "No. Toronto still wins. What is it about Kobe beef anyway?" It wasn't local beef. It was Japanese.

"That really was a good steak. I'll bet you taste better than either of those, though." Rick grinned wide.

Kate felt herself immediately getting wet in anticipation. "Prove it." She squealed as Rick spun her around, put her backside on the bed, and willingly spread her legs wide so he could eat her.

She felt him push her feet closer and closer to her head and was glad that she was still keeping up with her yoga. Looking down she watched as he ate her. It was a vision that she enjoyed.

"We need a camera," Kate commented absentmindedly.

Rick stopped what he was doing and looked up at her. "Still or video?"

"What?" He had stopped what he was doing until her mind caught up. She almost couldn't believe he was even considering it. "Video." She was really interested in watching them make love.

"I'll get what we need tomorrow."

"Whatever, just eat me, Rick." He needed to finish her off first.

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Kate still didn't see Alexis in the morning except when she stopped in her room to give her a quick kiss. She did, however, see Rick and kissed him soundly before getting in her car and driving to work.

Work was filled with problems. All their leads led to dead ends. Espo and Ryan were long gone and she was still there trying to figure out just what the hell was going on.

Roy had his bag and had turned out his light. "Go home, Beckett."

"Sir?" She had barely recognized that he had said anything. "Yes sir, in a moment."

"You have a family, Beckett. There's nothing more important than family. The dead deserve your hard work but they don't deserve your life. So go home." Roy left her and didn't wait to see if she listened.

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The house was dark when Kate arrived save for the kitchen where she found Maria waiting for her. "Your dinner is in the warmer, Miss Kate. Enjoy." She ran a hand along Kate's arm and made her way to the stairs to go to bed.

"Thanks, Maria." She hadn't even thought about eating dinner until she got home. Just pulling it out and smelling it told her how stupid she'd been as her stomach growled, letting her it was being ignored.

Once she was done eating she headed for their bedroom and saw Rick in their bed naked like she liked him. Unfortunately he was asleep. Then she noticed a video camera on a tripod pointed at their bed along with a new remote on the nightstand.

She grinned. Rick really was amazing and she wasn't sure just how she could love him more. She stripped, threw her clothes into the hamper, then got into bed and snuggled close, pressing her face into him and breathing him in.

She went to sleep praying that she wouldn't do anything to mess this up. She'd gotten past being called Mommy and didn't need another challenge like it.