Love on ice

Chapter 41

Epilogue

It is now a year later

Alexis was helping Maria cook which in this instance was more than just making cookies. Naturally Snow was there waiting for either a handout from Alexis since she was an easy mark or got lucky and something hit the floor.

Rick was grinning as he walked to their bedroom where he'd left Kate to get some much needed sleep. But when he entered he saw her sitting in her new glider rocker, nursing Lilly. It had been a long year for Rick and Kate. Rick had been furious with her for weeks. She had even been forced to sleep in the guest room for days.

Lilly was officially two months old today and she was perfect. To Rick she already looked like a mini Kate. "How do you feel?" Rick bent down and kissed Kate's head.

"Tired, amazed." Kate knew giving birth was going to hurt but even with drugs she hadn't imagined it hurting that much. Then her little baby girl that had a moment ago been crying was given to her and she had let her rest on her chest and all the pain was gone for a moment.

Her life was all about the little girl she had given birth to. All those years she'd thought she had no interest in children. But now she had one of her own which made her wonder why she had avoided kids.

"I'm still really sorry, babe, so very sorry." She had come really close to screwing this all up. It wasn't Lanie or anyone else really that had gotten her to see just how stupid she was. She wasn't including Rick in this since it was he that had gotten her pregnant. But she had come really close to ending her marriage. Rick had been furious with her and she knew she had it coming. It had left her crying in her pillow in the guest room for days.

"We're past that now and I've forgiven you. But if you ever think of doing something like that ever again, Kate…" Rick trailed off since even he wasn't sure just what he would do.

"Never! Never ever, ever." Kate looked down at the little one suckling at her breast.

She had come really close to screwing it all up when Alexis had called her Mommy. Now she really was a mommy and she was loving every second of it.

"Four weeks until you go back to work," Rick reminded her.

Part of Kate didn't want to go back to work. She wanted to stay home and watch her daughters grow up and celebrate every moment with them. Except she was a cop and she loved her job. Before she had informed her captain that she was pregnant he'd given her a raise and given her more responsibility. She was now the lead homicide investigator.

She still had her two man team, but she now had the entire office to handle. She had found that this meant she wasn't in the field quite as much and she was learning how to delegate authority.

"Four weeks." Kate wasn't sure she was going to be ready. Then Lilly was done so Kate moved her so she could pat her back and burp her. She glanced up at Rick. "How's Derek Storm coming along?"

"All of Gina's changes that I accepted are back in her hands. Provided that she approves, it will go into publication soon. One book down and two to go.

"Are you ready for tomorrow?" Rick didn't want to leave but it was part of his contract. He had to go to three book signings three times a year and this was his first of three. It didn't really have to be tomorrow but Gina had arranged it and dropped it on him only a week ago. He was ready to kill Gina for her timing. If he thought about it too long he would think she had done it on purpose.

Kate was up and putting Lilly back down so she could sleep. It was her life now. Get a fast catnap, feed Lilly, change her diaper, and get something to eat. Thank goodness Lilly was sleeping all night now. She still woke up pretty early, around 6:30am, but that was better than every two or three hours.

Rick joined her and put an arm around Kate as they both looked down on Lilly. Rick felt Kate lean into him. "Was this what you saw when you had Alexis?" Kate really understood just how much Rick loved Alexis.

"Pretty much save for the hair color." Instead of orange, Lilly had her mother's hair color.

"Are you still good with Bracken?" He had almost destroyed them and not because the men he had sent had come close to killing them. Kate had just about destroyed their marriage because of Bracken.

"No. Yes. I'm getting there. All this time I did what I could to try and solve who killed my mother. To know that I'm not going to be the one to solve it is hard to deal with. I was willing to throw away so much to do just that. But it was going to destroy my future. I really wanted to be there when they arrest him," Kate admitted.

Rick knew something that she didn't. He had handled all of it so that Kate didn't go off the deep end again. She was his wife and he loved her so he was going to do what he could to protect her. "About that." Rick was ready to share and watched Kate turn to look at him. "I had a conference call with Jordan Shaw of the FBI and Rob Paulson of the RCMP."

Kate knew both of those names. Jordan Shaw was based at the headquarters for the BAU located in Quantico, Virginia. but she didn't have any hesitation about being temporarily being assigned to New York City; she was the leader of her team and Special Investigator for the FBI. She wasn't even using anyone from the New York office. She had brought her own team. A team that she trusted completely. She didn't trust the New York team any further than she could throw them. Rob Paulson was the Commissioner of RCMP, commissioner being the highest rank possible in the RCMP. He had total authority over all of the RCMP.

She had agreed to step aside and let the FBI and RCMP investigate William H. Bracken. Neither of them could promise that they would get him for her mother's murder, but even after he was arrested they would never stop investigating.

"And?" Kate desperately wanted some type of closure. To know that she'd done all she could for her mother.

"The FBI will be arresting him today. They'll simultaneously raid his homes in New York and DC as well as his election campaign office and his senator's office in DC. Including every piece of Realestate that he owns no matter its location. Everyone that has ever worked for him will be interrogated."

"YES!" Kate yelled then clapped a hand over her mouth and checked to make sure her daughter was still sleeping.

"Once he's arrested and the FBI have finished interrogating him, he'll be extradited to Canada to stand trial for what he ordered to happen in our home. After that's over he'll go back to the U.S. to stand trial for what they find there. Between those two prisons he's never going to see the light of day." Rick was sure of that. His being extradited was already part of the deal between the FBI and the RCMP.

Kate hugged him. Thanks to him she had closure and she had a family and a future.

"Now what do we do?" Kate asked him and just like magic she had her answer.

"MOMMY!" Alexis yelled from the kitchen. She wanted to show off what she had made with Maria.

"A mother's work is never done," Rick teased her.

"I don't need sleep," Kate retorted even if she was ready to sleep for eight hours but wasn't going to get even an hour anytime soon.

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Rick was in New York City doing his book signing and promised to call when he was done. Right now Kate was lying on the sofa trying to catch a quick nap with her baby girl on her chest. Cracking an eye open she spotted Alexis sitting in a chair, watching her and Lilly, and smiling.

Rick and Kate were very happy and relieved that Alexis wasn't threatened by Lilly. They had both worked hard to make sure that Alexis knew that she was still loved and that they both had more than enough love for her and Lilly as well as time for both.

Then the doorbell sounded and that set off Snow who was also in the living room and ran barking for the front door. That naturally startled Lilly awake and she began crying.

A moment later Maria and Martha entered the living room. "Katherine, darling." Martha headed right for her. "Is this my fault?" Lilly was still crying loudly and so far nothing her mother did was helping. "Give her to me. I know what to do with crying babies." Martha took her granddaughter and in just a moment Lilly was quiet and looking up at Martha. Martha just smiled.

"Thanks, Martha." Kate had no idea how she did that but Martha wasn't leaving until she taught her that secret. "Rick's in New York City doing a book signing."

"I know, dear. I came to spend time with you and my new granddaughter. And Alexis." Martha smiled at Alexis. "I spent more than enough time with my son. I missed out on everything being in Europe so I have a lot to catch up on." She had only first set eyes on Katherine at their wedding in Victoria.

Kate tried again. "So when are you moving in? We have a spare bedroom, you know." The house had four bedrooms and one of them was empty now that Kate didn't sleep in it any longer. It happened to be the smallest bedroom but it was still a bedroom and the house was more than big enough for all of them.

"I have an apartment. And besides, I never know when a show in New York City has an opening." Martha knew she could be here one day and gone the next.

"And if you stayed here you wouldn't have to break your lease and pay a penalty. You could save some money. I only have three and a half weeks of maternity leave left." When she was gone it would be just Rick and Maria. Martha could make it three.

"MARIA!" Kate needed reinforcements. "Martha has agreed to move into the spare bedroom. We need a moving company to move her."

"I'll make a phone call, Mrs. Kate. Welcome home, Miss Martha." Maria left them to make the call and Kate ignored the look Martha was giving her.

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Kate had left Alexis with Maria almost since she had given birth to her daughter. A baby just took up so much of her time. She felt bad about it but Alexis found a way to involve her in Kate's life.

Kate snapped her eyes open. "I'm coming, baby, I'm coming." Kate felt like she had only just gotten to sleep; she rolled out of bed and stepped over to look at Lilly who was just lying there sleeping peacefully. Then she worked out that it was her cell phone ringing.

She stumbled back to the bed, collapsed on it, then reached for her cell phone. She answered without even thinking, "Rodgers," like she was getting a call about a dead body.

"Did I wake you?" Rick hoped he hadn't.

"I don't sleep anymore," Kate lied. "How was your book signing?"

"Besides the fact that my hand aches like mad, I'm fine. I didn't even sign my name this many times when I bought the house," Rick grumbled then groaned when he flexed his fingers; Kate smiled.

"And Gina?" Kate was like Rick, she didn't understand her.

"She's more a pain in person than over the phone. No offense, but I want out of this city so bad!" Rick groaned yet again. Kate didn't take offense this time. She was learning to like Vancouver. It was her new home city and she wasn't moving again.

"Have you watched the news?" He couldn't avoid what was going on in this city. It was the story of the century.

"No, why?" Her life revolved around her girls and that was about it. Save for when Maria cooked something so she could keep her strength up.

"Arresting a sitting New York senator is the talk of the city here, and the answer is no, he hasn't yet been arrested for murder. But you wouldn't believe the size of the illegal drug distribution network he had control over. They're talking about it being the biggest in U.S. history. We're talking billions here, not millions." Rick still couldn't believe it.

A sitting U.S. senator was using illegal drugs to fund his campaign. The exact opposite of what a U.S. senator was supposed to be doing. They were supposed to protect the public. This one was doing his best to destroy the public.

"WOW!" Kate was awake now.

"I have bad news, Kate." Rick hated to do this but he needed to tell her before she heard it on TV or someone else told her.

Kate just knew there had to be bad news. "What is it?"

"Are you sitting down?" She really needed to be seated for this.

"I'm in our bed." It was as close to sitting down she was going to get.

"Roy's been arrested in connection with Bracken." Rick pulled the phone away from his ear just in case.

"WHAT!"Kate shrieked into her phone. That didn't make any sense to her. What did Roy have to do with any of this?

"I'll explain when I get home." He felt it was something he should do in person and not over the phone.

"You'll explain now, dammit!" Her yelling had woken Lilly so now she had one additional problem. "Hang on." Kate dropped her phone on the bed, retrieved Lilly, and checked her diaper. Wet. Kate sighed, then changed it, and wiped her hands. She exposed her breast and fed her while sitting up in bed with all the pillows stacked behind her.

"Okay, tell me. Why did they arrest Roy?" She wanted an answer now.

"This is what I know so far. When he was just a rookie, he and two other detectives were kidnapping mob guys and taking money from the mobs so they could get their guys back. Apparently someone was killed during one of these kidnappings.

"Bracken was an assistant DA at the time and he decided to blackmail them to get all that mob money. Instead of turning him in Roy and the two detectives let him get away with it. Then they used their status to provide Bracken support to keep people from finding out what Bracken was doing. Likely more blackmail on Bracken's part.

"One day there may be more but that's what I know now."

"I can't believe it." Kate thought she knew Roy. He and his wife and family had attended their wedding in Victoria. He taught her all she knew. He had done all he could for her. He had even looked the other way years ago when she was just a rookie officer. He could have ended her career right then and there but he hadn't.

"You don't believe it? He's my best friend. We've been playing poker for years. I don't know how many evenings Alexis and I spent at his house. I know his girls almost as well as I know Alexis." Rick felt like his best friend had betrayed him. He wasn't the man he thought he was.

"I don't understand." Kate was in shock and couldn't process it. How could Roy have done this? This just wasn't him.

"Please come home, babe. Just leave that city and come home." Suddenly New York City wasn't her city. It was someone else's city and her husband didn't need to be in any longer than he had to.

"I'll be home tomorrow, I promise." Rick wanted out of there so badly.

"I've got a surprise for you." Kate grinned and looked at Lilly since she had shifted on her nipple but was still going strong. He didn't know that they had moved Martha into the house. How long she actually stayed with them was another matter entirely. But for now she was a part of the family.

That and Lilly had cooed and smiled at Alexis earlier. That had absolutely made her big sister's day.

Kate was still amazed that she had all this because she had decided to go shopping and ran across a little girl that had gotten herself lost. Though that time in a coma had a lot to do with it.

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No one saw her and no one ever would. But she was standing there smiling as she watched her daughter, her daughter's husband, her two grand daughters, her husband's mother, and their nanny all in the living room, spending time as a family. The only think missing was Jim who refused to leave New York City. But at least he wasn't a drunk any longer. She would kill him for that when she had the chance.

It was all she really wanted. Getting Kate to relive her life while in a coma had cost her a lot. Still she would do it again in a heartbeat. The dead didn't interact with the living without a cost but Johanna Beckett was more than willing to pay that price.

At least she would be here to watch this family grow up until the day her daughter died. When that day came there would be a nice long conversation to be had but she could wait. She could only hope that that time would be a very long time from now. Even if that period of time was just a drop in an ocean.