Steve woke up in the middle of the night with the loud sound of the TV.
He got up from the bed and went to see what was going on. It was cold and Paul was cowering, lying on the couch.
"Paul, what are you doing here? It's too late, son, you should be sleeping. I put you to bed hours ago."
"I'm watching TV, Daddy. I'm scared because there's a noise in the bedroom window." Paul's bed was near the window.
"You can't see that kind of movie, and you can only leave the room at night to go to the bathroom. Come on, you're going to go back to your bed." Steve picked him up and turned off the TV.
"But I'm afraid, Daddy."
"I'm going to stay in your room until you fall asleep. Okay?"
"Okay," Paul replied.
Steve took him back to the children's room and it was very windy outside.
"Is that the noise you heard?" Steve asked.
"Yes," Paul laid his head on his father's shoulder.
"That's just the wind hitting the window, there's nothing wrong. But I'm going to sit in the armchair and wait for you to fall asleep," Steve told Paul. He put the boy on the bed and sat on the armchair as he had promised.
While waiting for Paul to sleep, Steve was thinking about Catherine. He had thought she was very skinny on the last visit. "She must be feeling cold," he thought and regretted not being able to be beside her at the hospital. Steve looked at the children and thought it was a cruel choice. Being by Catherine's side in the hospital meant letting the children go and he knew she wouldn't forgive him if that happened, and he wouldn't forgive himself either.
"Daddy, are you still here?" Paul asked sleepily.
"Yes, son. I'm still here."
At the hospital, Catherine woke up scared. She had dreamed of everything that had happened and woke up just as she fell down the stairs with Sam and hit her head on the floor.
"Oh, my God! The children! Paul, Alice, Philip!" she called them and the nurse approached quickly.
"Calm down, calm down, everything is fine," the nurse said trying to calm her down.
"The children," Catherine repeated.
"Your kids are fine," the nurse said.
"Where I am?" Catherine asked the nurse.
"With all these medical devices and me dressed in white, where do you think you are?"
Catherine looked at the empty chair beside her bed and vaguely remembered seeing her father sitting there, but she didn't know when. "What about my father?" she asked.
"We are at CTI in the middle of the night. Visits are not allowed at this time," the nurse replied.
"My head hurts," Catherine complained.
"Soon the doctor will see you and will prescribe medication. Just stay calm."
"Okay," Catherine replied. She tried to pull the cover to cover herself because she was cold, but her arms were weak. "I'm cold," she said to the nurse.
The nurse covered her and Catherine thanked her.
Catherine was thinking about the things that happened and wondered if Steve was upset with her. "The whole time he thought the kids were being threatened because of him and the cause was me," Catherine thought.
The next day, Steve received a visit from the social worker in the morning and as soon as she left, he traveled to Maui with the children. He arrived at the hospital reception and called Jack. "I'm here at the reception with the kids, Jack."
"She's being moved to a room, Steve. So I think the kids will be able to see her for a few minutes during visiting hours," Jack replied.
"This is great, Jack," Steve smiled.
When the visit was released, Steve left the children with Jack and went into the room to see her.
Catherine smiled when she saw him. "Hey, sailor," she said.
"Hey, Cath!" He came over and hugged her carefully. "I missed you so much."
Catherine wanted to hug him too, but she couldn't. "My arms are weak, I can't hug you."
"It's okay, honey." He sat on the chair beside the bed and took her hand. "I really want to take you home."
"Aren't you mad at me? After all, it was my fault that the children were being threatened," Catherine told him.
"Of course it wasn't your fault, Cath! Don't say nonsense. It never crossed my mind."
"And the kids?" she asked.
"They are there at the reception with your father. They will be able to enter the final 15 minutes of the visit. They are super anxious and have a proposal for you," Steve said.
Catherine smiled. "Which proposal?"
"Well, you're going to have to wait for them to come in to find out."
Steve talked to her but omitted everything that had happened to the children in the past three months. He didn't tell about their return to the orphanage and his struggle to get them back because he didn't want to make her sad.
When the visit was 15 minutes away, Jack entered the room with the children. They entered the room and were shy when they saw her lying on the bed with her head bandaged.
Catherine smiled when she saw them. "Hi, my loves."
"Come here," Steve told them, for them to get closer.
Alice approached and Steve held her so that she was the same height as the bed.
"Hi, Aunt Cath!" Alice smiled.
"Hi, my love. How are you?" Catherine asked.
"I'm fine, but I don't want to go back to that place anymore, they left me, Philip and Paul away from Daddy and our home."
Catherine looked at Steve. "What place is she talking about?"
"That place where kids who don't have mommy and daddy stay. We stay there because we don't have a mommy. Aunt Cath, do you want to be my mommy?" Philip told her.
Steve had to tell her that the children returned to the orphanage for a while.
"Oh, my God. It won't happen to you anymore. I'm sorry that you guys went there," Catherine told them.
"Are you going to be my mommy too, Aunt Cath?" Paul asked.
"What about me, Aunt Cath?" Alice asked.
Catherine looked at Steve as the three looked at her expectantly.
"I said they had a proposal for you," Steve told her.
"Yes, it's quite a proposition," Catherine said.
Steve reached into his pocket and took out a small box. "I also have a proposal. Catherine, do you want to be my wife and mother to my children?"
"Oh, Steve!" Catherine was thrilled.
Jack approached. "You have exactly two minutes to answer. The children will have to leave shortly."
"I don't need two minutes, dad," she told Jack.
"Great," Jack replied.
" Yes, I do," Catherine replied to Steve and the kids.
Steve opened the box, took the ring and put it on her finger, then kissed her gently.
Catherine smiled and then looked at the children. "Come and give Mommy a kiss."
The children were excited and Steve lifted them up to kiss Catherine's face.
"I love you all," she said to Steve and the kids.
"I love you too, Dad," she said to Jack.
"We are going to be a happy family," Steve said.
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