Live and Learn
Chapter 27
A few days later Maddie was cleared to return home. They sat on the couch watching a movie, Maddie's phone vibrating every few seconds. Kate rolled her eyes at the constant buzzing.
"Liv?"
Maddie smiled hesitantly in Kate's direction before answering.
"Ah, yeah…"
Kate sighed as she picked up her phone, she resisted the urge to message Charlie. She scoffed at herself thinking about what she could say, running different lines through her head. Hey Charlie, sorry I'm such a psycho, I still want to talk to you. I think I like you. Placing the phone back down, she worried Maddie was right, maybe her crazy was too much for him.
She let out a squeal as the doorbell rang, Maddie laughed as she headed to her room.
"I'm just gonna lay down…"
Kate nodded, she hesitated before opening the door, fearing it was Charlie. She had no idea what she was going to say, taking a deep breath in, she peered through the peephole. Her brow wrinkled seeing a young woman standing on her doorstep smiling politely. She immediately opened the door, the young woman's expression changed, she seemed surprised to see her.
"Oh, sorry, I must have the wrong house, unless Dutchy has settled down?"
Kate chuckled at the girl's perplexed look.
"I must have got the numbers mixed up."
Kate studied the woman's face, she seemed familiar. The girl waved her hands in front of Kate's face, worried about her blank stare.
"Is everything okay?"
"Oh, sorry, he's just across the lawn there, umm, sorry, but are you Molly?"
"Yeah, I am, how do you know?"
"Oh, sorry, I'm Kate McGregor, a friend of Dutchy's, and your fathers."
A large grin appeared on Molly's face as she shook Kate's hand.
"Kate, oh yeah, the one that's in the Navy, right?"
Kate nodded, Molly barged her way into the house leaving Kate standing at the door confused.
"Ah, yeah, come in..."
Molly made herself comfortable on the couch, Kate sat beside her unsure why she had let herself in.
"You know my dad likes you, right?"
Kate's body seized, taken aback by her bluntness.
"Ah, well, yeah, we're friends."
Molly shifted closer, eyeing her off.
"Kate, I can call you Kate, right? Or Ma'am?"
Kate shifted in her seat, unsure where this conversation was going.
"Kate is fine."
Molly rose from the couch, pacing the room.
"Right, okay, Kate, you're a smart woman, I googled you after my dad mentioned you. Cadet Sword, Valedictorian, you led the best, and baddest boarding team on Hammersley, right?"
Kate nodded slowly, her eyes followed Molly around her living room.
"I guess so."
Molly stopped in front of her, her hands on her hips.
"So then I'm not sure why I'm having to spell this out for you."
Kate laughed nervously, feeling like an inexperienced teenager. Molly could see by the look on Kate's face she may have overstepped her mark, she sat beside her placing a smile on her face.
"Look, I know this is totally rude me, barging in here and basically giving you a lecture, but my dad is a catch, and well, the way he talks about you, it seems like you are too. So, I guess my question is, what's the problem?"
Kate thought about it for a moment, she wasn't going to share her inner thoughts with Charlie's daughter, but it did make her think.
"Molly, it's sweet that you care but my life, but I don't want to complicate anyone else's life by involving them."
"Hey, if he didn't want to be involved, he wouldn't. Kate, he hasn't shown an interest in anyone for a very long time, little own even mentioned a woman's name to Grace or myself."
Kate's eyes narrowed as a smile grew on her face.
"You didn't knock on my door by accident, did you?"
Molly laughed and shook her head, giving her a pat on the hand.
"See, you are smart..."
"Did he send you here?"
"No, he would be horrified if he knew I was here. Anyway, I've embarrassed myself enough for one day, just talk to him, please. He deserves to be happy, and from the sounds of it, you do to."
She rose from the couch, leaving Kate to contemplate her lecture.
Molly opened Dutchy's front door feeling confident, Dutchy poked in head in from the deck hearing the door open.
"Molly! What are you doing here?"
She ran up to him and wrapped her arms around him.
"I told dad I was going to visit! I couldn't not come and see you!"
Charlie appeared from the deck, hearing the familiar voice.
"Mol?"
"Dad! I missed you!"
She squeezed him tight, he lifted her off the ground and spun her around.
"What are you doing here?"
She giggled as he placed her back on the ground and whispered in his ear.
"Well, I came to help you with your life, seeming you're ballsing it up."
He laughed and held her by her shoulders.
"And how am I doing that?"
She pursed her lips together, placing her hands on her hips.
"By taking no for an answer."
He frowned not understanding her comment, she rolled her eyes seeing his confusion.
"I just met Kate..."
His jaw dropped, pulling her close.
"Molly! What did you say!?"
Kate needed a distraction, Maddie was a sleep, and she was left with her thoughts, which were driving her insane. Flinging opening her wardrobe, she folded her arms across her chest, it was time to reorganise. Flipping though the coat hangers, she hissed as she came across the Callisto costume.
"Fearless, I don't think so..."
She shook her head and pulled it from the wardrobe, tossing it onto the bed.
"You can go to the Good Will store."
She jumped as Maddie hobbled into her room.
"Talking to yourself, Mum?"
"Sweetheart, I thought you were asleep?"
Maddie sat on her bed, pulling the costume out from underneath her.
"You know, this looked amazing on you! Mum, you totally stepped out of your comfort zone, and it was fabulous, maybe it's something you should try more often?"
Kate sighed and sat next to Maddie, running her hands over the costume.
"Do you really think I'm fearless?"
Maddie gave her a nudge, she couldn't understand why she didn't have confidence in herself.
"Duh! Mum, you were a bad ass XO on one of the most legendary patrol boats, while being a single mum and giving me everything in the world, you're my hero! Even if sometimes you are a villain! I love you so much! But please, you need to realise your stubbornness before that man thinks it's too hard and let's you go!"
Kate pretended not to hear the last part, she ran her fingers over the costume. Maddie could see she was having second thoughts and handed her her phone.
"Message him, I'm going over to Dutchy's to see Nate, if he's there I'm gonna send him over here."
Maddie found everyone sitting on the deck, she hesitated seeing Charlie, unsure how he was going to act. She knew he was in a tough spot, she now understood the complications of Mike and Kate's relationship.
"Hey everyone…"
She sat next to Nate, who wrapped his arms around her, she glanced over to Charlie and nodded.
"Lieutenant Butterworth…"
Molly frowned, elbowing Charlie.
"Dad! You don't really make her call you Lieutenant off duty, do you?"
"Of course not, and how do you know she's one of my sailors?"
Molly and Maddie tried to hide their guilty faces, they glanced at each other out the corner of their eyes. Charlie noticed their suspicious exchange.
"Molly, what is going on?"
Maddie shuffled her chair closer, not wanting Molly to take all the blame.
"Ah, so, I added her on Facebook a week or so ago, and we got talking, you know, both being in the forces and all."
Charlie wasn't buying it, he had raised two teenage girls, and he could smell the mischief a nautical mile away.
"Yeah, right, what are you two up to?"
"Nothing!"
They answered simultaneously, Molly cleared her throat.
"But while we're talking about things in common, let's talk about Kate…"
Charlie rolled his head back, letting out a groan.
"There it is…"
His phone beeped, they all stared at him while he read the message.
"Hey, I'm at home, can we talk?"
The groups smiled at him as he attempted a reply, Molly leaned over and gave him a friendly nudge.
Placing the phone back in his pocket, he let out a hiss as he rose from the chair.
"Just so you know, I'm not going because of peer pressure…"
They let out a cheer as he slammed the front door
Charlie knocked on Kate's door and waited for her to answer, a few minutes later he was still waiting. He turned the handle, it was open.
"Kate?"
There was no answer, he noticed the light on in her room and knocked on the door.
"Kate? You okay?"
He opened the door to find her standing in her Callisto costume, he laughed nervously as he entered the room.
"Ah, what are you doing?"
She turned and smiled seeing him.
"I, umm, I needed a bit of help."
"What? You've been stuck in the costume for 3 weeks and you need help to get out of it?"
Even though she was terrified, she couldn't help but laugh, he could make her feel at ease.
"No, I needed to channel her fearlessness."
She took a sharp breath in as he stepped closer.
"And why is that?"
She brought her eyes up to meet his, she could feel her heartbeat in her throat.
"I… damn it, I'm so rarely lost for words. I don't know if you were expecting this big speech, or an apology or…"
She needed to stop her mind from racing, her words weren't inspiring confidence, so instead, she reached out and pulled the front of his shirt bringing him closer. She stood on her tippy toes and pressed her lips against his, she felt him flinch and pulled away as Charlie stood there dumbfounded.
"I, umm, I wasn't expecting that!"
Kate buried her hands in her face, she was mortified.
"Oh my god, you're over me aren't you? All my drama…"
Charlie laughed, pulling her hands away from her face.
"So, does that kiss mean your life isn't a mess anymore?"
"No,I guess it will always be a little messy, but I need to learn that it's nothing to be embarrassed about, right?"
He pretended to think about it, she whacked him on the arm knowing he was teasing.
"You're terrible..."
He laughed and gave her a friendly nudge.
"And you're a mess..."
He reached out and grabbed her hands in his.
"At the risk of sounding like a broken record, I'm going to give you my last lame speech. We both know we only get one chance, we know firsthand life can be taken away from us in the blink of an eye. I never thought I could live without April, she was my rock, my everything. Without her, my life became about my girls, and I decided that mine didn't really matter. But then they grew up and got their own lives, and now I think I'm ready to start living the rest of my life. I know you think we can't have a relationship because we both share the same pain, but that only means we understand each other more. I was mad at you because you didn't think you deserved more, you didn't think you should be someone's number one priority. I know the Navy life is hard, but I want to give this a go, and I think you do to. Don't overthink it, it doesn't have to be scary."
There were so many reasons why she had resisted his advances, but everything he was saying was true. She needed to think about happiness, everyone around her wanted her to be happy,. She felt silly, why was she doubting him? He had been wonderful, she was the one who had been less than appealing.
"I thought I was supposed to do the talking..."
He chuckled, swinging their hands in between them.
"Well, you haven't been very good at that part..."
"Seems not, but everyone else has been good at it, including the teenagers."
Charlie slapped his forehead, running his hand over his face.
"Oh god, Molly, what did she say?"
Kate shrugged and pulled him for another kiss.
"Nothing I haven't heard before."
A year later.
Molly and Grace scurried around Kate's house placing love heart shaped balloons in every room as Maddie sprinkled rose petals down the hallway. They squealed with anticipation as they gathered in the lounge room, Maddie grabbed the bottle of Champagne from the fridge and placed it on the coffee table.
"Okay, what else? They'll be home any minute!"
They all froze hearing a key in the front door, piling themselves behind the couch, they crouched down out of sight.
Kate and Charlie opened the door and were stunned by the path of petals. Charlie pulled one of the balloons towards him and rubbed it in Kate's hair, causing it to stock to her head.
"Aww, did you do all this for me?"
Kate shook her head still dumbfounded at the romantic scene before her, she removed the balloon from her hair and whacked him on the head with it.
"I'm not that romantic… Oh, it's probably for Maddie, Nate's pretty good at things like this, he definitely didn't get it from Mike."
They walked into the lounge room, Molly, Grace and Maddie jumped out from behind the couch.
"Happy Anniversary!"
Kate and Charlie screamed, clutching their chest. Molly and Grace pounced on their dad while he was still trying to comprehend what was going on.
"What are you guys doing here?"
"Surprising you!"
They gave Kate hug while Maddie hugged Charlie, Maddie handed them each a glass of Champagne.
"One year, guys! We're so proud of you!"
Maddie clinked her glass with Molly's.
"I'm proud of us too! I think we should take a little credit."
Molly giggled as she took a sip from her glass.
"Totally!"
Grace rolled her eyes before flopping back onto the couch.
"Dad, I had every faith that you guys would have got together without the meddling from these two!"
Charlie and Kate sat next to her on the couch.
"Thanks, sweetie! But, I dunno, this one was pretty stubborn!"
Charlie wrapped his arm around his Kate's shoulder, she pretended to resist.
"Hey, there was a lot going on, okay!"
The kids giggled, rolling their eyes. Charlie kissed the top of her head.
"So, you think we would be here if it wasn't for everyone's, lets say, encouragement?"
"Oh, c'mon, what did you say to me once? We live and learn?"
He laughed, squeezing her tight.
"Yeah, and I'm so glad you finally grasped the learn part."
The End.
Thanks for sticking with me guys! Lost a bit of momentum towards the end, hope it wasn't too abrupt!
Hope everyone is staying safe and healthy! xx