Wicked Game

"Kate…what is it?" Carol asked and looked at Doug, who got up from the stairs. "I think…" Kate started but couldn't speak because of her tears. "Shhh…it's okay. It's going to be okay. Stop crying baby", Carol said and handed her daughter a tissue.

Some moments later Kate stopped crying and they all sat on the couch in the living room. "Can you tell us what's going on now?" Carol asked. Kate nodded and looked down. "I think he's cheating on me", she said and finally looked at her parents again.

"What? No…no way", Carol said surprised and looked at Doug. "I don't believe that…if that's true, I'm going to…" Doug started and made a fist with his hand. "Yeah Doug…we know that", Carol interrupted him smiling, "but I'm sure you're misunderstanding something", she said to Kate then, wanting to know more. Kate rolled her eyes and leaned back. "What happened?" Carol asked then and Kate started to tell everything.

***Flashback***

Kate opened her eyes slowly, only to find she was alone in the bed. Again she missed Carey waking up. She sighed as she sat up in bed but then she found a note on the nightstand. "Good morning babe, I'm on my way to work and you were sleeping so lovely…I didn't want to wake you. I'll have to stay long, so don't wait up for me. Will see you tomorrow then…I love you, kiss, Carey", she read and smiled. "I love you too", she said and got up to take a shower.

While the water was running down her body she thought about what she would do today. Tess was still in Hawaii with Travis and her parents were still in Chicago…maybe cleaning the apartment was an idea…and cooking something good. "Well, let's make a lasagna again", she thought. Carey loved lasagna, she could bring it to him for lunch, surprise him when he couldn't come home earlier. Now that was a good idea.

She made the lasagna and gave it in a basket with Animal Crackers, red wine and glasses. "He'll love that", she thought and smiled, thinking of him. Eager to see him, she got in her car to drive to the TV station.

Exactly when she arrived there, she got a phone call. "Hello?" she asked, as she picked up. "Is this Katherine Ross?" a man asked. "Yes", she said. "Hello, this is Nathan Lewis speaking. I'm the head of the medical department of the Seattle Seahawks. We got to know that you're looking for a job as a physical therapist, is that right?" Nathan asked and Kate was stunned. How could he know about that? "Yes, that's right", she answered. "Great…are you able to come to the CenturyLink Field this evening, around 5, to talk?" Nathan asked again and then she was Carey coming out of the building. He looked awesome. Kate smiled seeing him. "Miss Ross?" she heard again and she focused on the phone call again. "Ah…sorry, yeah, 5pm is okay for me. Which entrance?" she asked and followed Carey with her eyes. "Just wait at the main entrance, I'll get you then", Nathan said. "Great, thanks", Kate said and they hung up. And just when she wanted to get out of the car, she saw him, opening the door of that car, smiling at that girl, hugging her, kissing her cheek and guiding her to the entrance of the studio. She felt like somebody hit a knife through her heart. This couldn't be real. So that's why he wrote that he would be late? Another woman? A beautiful woman…Carey was cheating on her…

Like in trance she started the engine again and drove away. She couldn't go back to the apartment. She felt the tears burning in her eyes, but she needed to focus on the streets. Without thinking she drove to her old home, and there she sat on the couch, bawling her eyes out, before she fell asleep with a broken heart until her parents arrived at home.

***End Flashback***

Kate had a hard time to hold back the tears. She just couldn't believe what she saw…she couldn't believe that this was really happening. Carol sighed and looked at Doug, who looked back at her with a furrowed brow. "Maybe it's not what you're thinking", Carol then said to her daughter. "Maybe that was just a co-worker of him", she added. "Mom…it's the third day he's staying late. You should've seen him, all happy when he hugged her…it's obvious", Kate answered, rubbing her eyes. Carol looked at Doug again, not knowing what to say. "You should talk to him, ask him right away", Doug said and Carol nodded in agreement. "Yeah, talk to him, tonight…after your job interview", Carol said. "I don't know if I want to go", Kate murmured, not in the mood for anything. "Are you insane? It's the Seattle Seahawks!" Doug almost screamed at her, which made Kate smile a little. "I know…it's something, isn't it", she said and everybody nodded. "Go to that interview and see if you would like to work there…afterwards you can still talk to Carey", Carol said and Kate nodded. "You're right…sorry for being such a cry baby", Kate apologized then. She was so happy that her parents were here again; that she could talk to them. "No problem peanut. We love you", Doug said and hugged his daughter. "I love you too…welcome back", Kate said and snuggled closer to her dad. Carol smiled again, falling in love with him more and more as she saw him with his daughter. "You still have that lasagna?" Doug then whispered into Kate's ear and she laughed. "Yeah dad…I still have it. We could warm it up" she suggested and Doug nodded.

While Kate got out getting the basket, Carol hugged Doug. "God, I so hope he's not cheating on her", she murmured. "I can't believe he's doing that…after all he's done for her", Doug said and Carol looked at him. "I hope you're right. I love you", she said and kissed him shortly. "I love you", he answered then, happy to be at home, hoping that everything would turn out good.


They sat together to eat the lasagna and Carol and Doug told Kate everything about what happened in Chicago; how Emery was doing; about her new boyfriend and stuff, until it was time for Kate to go. "Well, it was really nice, but I think I have to go back to the apartment to get ready for that interview", she said and got up from her seat. "Aww…good luck baby. Call afterwards, I wanna know how it went", Carol said and hugged her. "And good luck talking to Carey. Tell him I'll rip his ass apart if…" Doug smiled and Carol punched his arm. Kate sighed and nodded. "I will. Thanks…again. I love you", she answered and finally went outside to her car.

Carol got up to put the dishes away, when suddenly her phone rang. "Carol Hathaway", she said as she answered it. "Carol…this is Carey speaking. Is Doug there too?" Carey asked and Carol turned around quickly to Doug. "Yeah, he's here too", she said, feeling her heart beating quicker. "Can you put me on speaker please", Carey asked and so Carol did. Doug had no idea what was going on. "It's Carey", Carol whispered and he nodded. "Hello?" Carey asked again. "We're here", Doug said fiercely, expecting the worst.

"Good. Hi. How are you? How's Emery doing?" Carey asked.

"Emery is fine…what do you want?" Carol asked back.

Carey took a deep breath. He was nervous.

"Well…I want to surprise Kate today. I…I have something planned. Something big….and before I do that…I wanted…well, I wanted to ask you if…if I have your blessing…I want to ask her…if she…oh man. I want to ask her if she wants to marry me."

"What?" Carol and Doug both said at the same time, not believing this.

"Oh man", Doug said, rubbing his head.

"Kate thinks you're cheating on her", Carol said then.

"What? How come?" Carey asked.

"She saw you today with a woman…well, she wanted to bring you lasagna for lunch and then she saw you hugging and kissing another woman", Carol told him.

Care chuckled. "Oh man…that was Emily…Casey's fiancée…they came today…for the surprise…I want everybody there", he answered.

Carol laughed and shook her head. "What surprise have you planned?" she asked, happy that he wasn't cheating, and happy that he wanted to marry her daughter.

"Well, do I have your blessings?" Carey asked.

"Of course, son", Doug tossed in, happy too.

"Oh thanks…thank you so much…I really love her…I do. I wanna ask her today at the CenturyLink Field. She has an interview at 5pm…oh…are you still in Chicago?" he suddenly asked.

"No, we got back today", Carol said.

"Good, that's good…can you be there a little bit earlier? Around 4.45 maybe? It's going to be awesome…well, I hope it's going to be awesome", Carey smiled, nervously.

"Sure, we'll be there", Carol said and after that they hung up.

"Oh my God", she said and laughed, as she hugged Doug again. "What a day", she added and looked at him. Doug chuckled and kissed her shortly. "We'll never get bored…that's for sure", he chuckled again and Carol nodded and smiled, happy that everything was ok.


It was almost 5pm when Kate arrived at the CenturyLink Field. Smiling she thought back to the day when her dad took her and Tess to a football game here…how old were they? Maybe 6 or 7…since that day she wasn't back here again. Hopefully she wouldn't have to answer football questions. She liked the sport, but she didn't follow the NFL lately. "Well, I have nothing to lose", she said to herself and got out of the car. Nathan was waiting there already, with a football in his hand. "Miss Ross?" he asked and Kate nodded. "That's me, nice to meet you", Kate said and they shook hands. "Nice to meet you too. Follow me", he said and so Kate did. They went inside the stadium. Kate couldn't remember that it was that big…wow. She definitely wanted to see a game again. She noticed some guys on the field, with their jerseys and helmets…maybe they had a training. "You like football?" Nathan asked, as he stopped in front of the field. "I do…but lately I didn't have time to follow with all the exams and stuff", she told him. Nathan nodded. "When are you finished?" he asked. "Two exams next week, then I'll get my diploma…hopefully", Kate said. "You had practice?" Nathan asked again. "Sure…I worked at the University of Washington Medical Center at the ICU and also at some nursing homes…but never for jocks", Kate answered. "Well, would you like to try it? Our physical therapist will move away soon…so we need a new one and I heard that you're good at your job", Nathan said and that surprised Kate even more. How could he know that? "I sure would like to try it", she said and smiled. "Good…call me again after you finished your exams and we can make a date for a test run", Nathan said and Kate nodded. "Okay…I will, thank you", Kate smiled again. "Alright…now take that ball and bring it to the guys…say hello, introduce yourself, they're all nice", Nathan said and handed Kate the football. She nodded and turned around.

The football players were gone, only one was kneeling in the middle of the field, with his head down. Shrugging her shoulders, Kate made her way to him. When she came near to the player, he suddenly looked up and Kate's heart fell to the floor. It was Carey. "Hi, my love", he said, and took down his helmet. Kate couldn't believe it. She felt the tears welling up in her eyes, her heart beating like crazy. "What the hell are you doing here?" she whispered, trying hard not to cry. She didn't notice the visitors at the sideline. Carol and Doug were there, Avery and Jason as well as Casey and Emily were there; on the video wall behind her Tess and Travis were watching.

Carey took her hand in his. "Kate…I love you. I love you so much…you're my best friend. I can laugh with you, cry with you…fight with you, and talk with you. You mean everything to me. I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I want to have kids with you. Will you marry me? Will you make me the happiest man in the world?" he asked, looking into her eyes, as if there was nothing around them. Kate couldn't hold back her tears anymore as she shook her head and letting out a chuckle. "What a wicked game you play…" she said and wiped away her tears, "yes…I will marry you", she finally said and laughed, not believing that this was really happening right now. Carey put the most wonderful ring on her finger and then got up to kiss her, like there was no tomorrow. "I love you", Kate then whispered, not letting go of him. The other rushed to them to hug them and say their congratulations. "Look up there", Carol whispered to her daughter and pointed at the video wall. "Congrats, sis! I can't wait to see you again!" Tess almost yelled into the camera and Kate cried again. She blew a kiss to her sister and waved at her and Travis, before she hugged her parents again.

"Kate…hi, congratulations", Casey then said and Kate hugged him too. "Hi Casey…thanks so much…how are you? I didn't see you for so long, Mr. Lawyer", Kate chuckled. "I'm good, working at a law firm in New York city right now…may I introduce you to my fiancée…this is Emily", Casey said and Kate looked at the young woman next to Casey. Now everything was clear. "Hi Emily, nice to finally meet you", Kate said and they shook hands.

Carey hugged her from behind. "I love you", he whispered in her ear and Kate turned around. "You suck, do you know that? I had the worst thoughts already", she said and Carey chuckled. "I know…your parents told me about it…I'm sorry…I had to plan everything, that's why I stayed at work so long. I interviewed Russell Wilson…he's a really nice guy, asked him if I can do this here…I told him about you and he told me that they're searching a new physical therapist", Carey told her and Kate shook her head smiling, still not believing that this was real. "Wow…just wow…I don't know what to say", she said and Carey chuckled. "Well, I'm glad you said yes", he said and kissed her again. "How could I say no to this amazing proposal? To you?" Kate asked, shaking her head again. Carey shrugged his shoulders and smiled. "I love you, Carey", she then said. "I love you too, Kate", he answered and kissed her once again. "Do you think you can keep that Jersey and Helmet? You look so sexy in it", she then whispered into his ear. "Oh…I have to ask them…or maybe I should start playing football huh? Maybe the Hawks will take me", he chuckled and Kate laughed, happier than ever. They went to the others and chatted with everybody, happy that this day turned out okay…