Chapter 23

The following Monday, Dylan was awakened by his alarm clock. He grumbled and turned around to look at the sleepy, relaxed form of his girlfriend. He smiled and stroked her cheek.

"Sweetie, it's time to get up",

Kate blinked, "Huh?"

"It's time", he said.

Kate sighed, "Five more minutes", she murmured.

"You can, but I've to get up. I have a ship to steer", he said.

Kate sighed again and narrowed her eyes.

Why is it so hard? Why is shore leave so short?

It's weird. You've been alone for over twelve years and never had a problem getting up and going to work. But, since you've been together, it hurts when he still has to leave for a fortnight. You should actually be happy, because it means that your feelings are right.

Kate opened her eyes again and rolled them.

Congratulations! What a poor comfort.

Grumbling, she pushed back the sheets, got up and padded to Duncan's room to see if he was already awake. He was. She continued on her way to the kitchen to prepare breakfast before going to the bathroom.

A few days later, at Navcom. Kate was making herself a cup of coffee. How time flies. It seemed to her it was yesterday she entered Maxine's old office as the new Cairns base commander. She took a sip and returned to her desk, slightly frowning. She also discovered that the fact she missed him, even for a fortnight, wasn't easy.

Her assistant had just placed a huge file on her desk, rotations. People leaving the Navy, people getting reappointed, new faces, a few retirements and promotions. That meant rearranging the crews. Some were easy, like Rebecca's promotion to sub-lieutenant. Dylan proved to be a good commanding officer, so his rank as lieutenant commander would become permanent instead of acting CO. He will be a good CO for the Hammersley. But what about Nikki? When she comes back, then she will have to do something. Back to sea? What if she relapsed? Will she be able to take a shore posting? Wouldn't that be too unfair? Otherwise, which ship? There's always a possibility. One of the COs, Adams, is going to retire. But, she is still in the rehabilitation centre. Worries for later.

Kate was looking through the file when there was a knock at the door.

"Hey Kat! How're you doing? Huge file have you here", Nikki said joyously as she walked in and plopped down in Kate's desk chair.

Worries for now!

"Hey Nik, I'm glad to see you. How are you?", Kate said.

"I'm totally up and about. I've been home since yesterday afternoon. I can't wait to start over again", Nikki said.

"Uh-hu, I do believe you. So, no more booze?", Kate asked a little suspiciously.

Nikki shook her head fiercely and rolled her eyes, "No! I can't smell it anymore. Honestly, I can't believe I've been doing that for the past twelve years. I'll have to keep an eye on Pete so he doesn't exaggerate".

"I'm glad to hear that", Kate said, raking her brains over what to say to her friend.

"Can I go back to work?", she asked.

"Well, uh, Nik, Hammersley left port last Monday with Dylan in command. I expect their return in a week. I suggest you take a holiday. I'll put Pete on leave too. It will give you time to put things on the right track in your family, won't it? Perhaps you could take a break? Just the two of you, outside of Cairns. Hazel can stay with us. Duncan will love it and I'm sure Dylan will agree too", Kate said.

Nikki widened her eyes, "Dylan will agree too?", she repeated.

"Are you saying that…?"

Kate smiled, "Yes, we are in a relationship. We recently moved in with him".

"Oh Kat, I'm so happy for you! At last!"

Kate sighed happily, "Yeah, we're all reunited now".

"All reunited? What do you mean?", Nikki asked frowning.

"Becca gave me a hint as to what happened at that disastrous wedding party. Dylan is Duncan's father!"

"Oh my Gosh! That's great! Shouldn't we have to celebrate that?", Nikki exclaimed.

"Party?", someone asked and both looked towards the door where Rebecca was standing.

"Hey Becca! Have you heard that? Kate moved on and Dylan is Duncan's father! That's great, isn't it?", Nikki said joyously.

Rebecca walked through the door, "It was floating in the air", she said and then looked at Kate, "So, you made the first move. I'm happy for you, really! You deserve it", she said to Kate.

"Thank you", Kate replied and looked at Nikki, "Don't you have anything to say to our new officers' mess member?".

"Huh?"

"I just signed Rebecca's promotion to sub-lieutenant", Kate replied with a smile.

"WOW! Is it? Oh, congratulations to you too", Nikki answered extremely happy.

"Thanks a lot Kate. Uh, I wanted to ask you if you have time for lunch today and so do you, of course", Rebecca told to Kate and Nikki.

"Yeah, sure. Charlie's?", Kate asked.

"No, our mess. We worked hard with our people and now quality and finesse is what I wanted to achieve. I would like to present you our new dishes and salads. However, if I got a little more budget, I could do more, you see".

Kate raised an eyebrow, "I catch your drift Becca. Make me a proposal and I'll see what I can do. And now, you've aroused my curiosity. I want to taste your culinary achievements", she said with a smile.

That afternoon, Kate sat back down at her desk. She was content with the quality of the food. Now, she had nothing to fear when they had visitors. Cairns was probably going to have the best cook in the Navy. The bad thing was that Nikki showed up again. Good for her, but not so good for Kate's planning. She couldn't take the Hammersley away from Dylan and Ryan. They were a good team and Nikki needed an appropriate function, not a stupid office job. She was entitled to a second chance. Luckily, she had agreed to the suggested holiday with Pete. It would give her time to work out something.

She again reviewed the file containing the personal records.

The rotation was approaching and she got confirmation that Lieutenant Commander Adams of the Woolongong was going to retire. This was the solution. She was going to merge the crews of both ships. Both got new people and some veterans. Nikki would return to the Hammersley as CO with the Woolongong XO. Bird would stay with her and Harpie as a buffer. Dylan and Ryan would get the Woolongong with 2Dads as a buffer. The Nikki and 2Dads combination was okay, but not ideal. But, it matches Dylan and Ryan perfectly.

Kate straightened her back and smiled. It was going to work and she stood up to make herself a cup of coffee as a reward for achievement of the difficult puzzle.

The days passed without too much difficulty. One day, Lieutenant Coughan passed on a message to her that the Naval base was going to be inspected by a superior officer and his team.

"It's a little late, isn't it, ma'am?", William remarked.

"It's deliberate William, as there's too little time left to fix things that are definitely wrong. But I can assure you, we are the right way up. I'm proud of this base", Kate said.

"Moreover, with our cooks, we can provide them with the best lunch in the Australian Navy. I'll talk to Chief Brown about it".

"Good. Is there anything I can do about that?", William asked.

"You can book a meeting room and check by yourself which areas they want to see. And transportation from and to the airport for…uh. Who's going to visit us?", Kate asked, frowning.

"It's mentioned that it will be Captain Hogan. Do you know him?".

"Yeah, I met him once. He's an older man, close to retirement and probably burdened with stupid jobs to keep him busy until then. That's all William".

"Okay ma'am", he said as he left her office.

She looked at the calendar, "It'll be for Thursday. Hammersley will be back on Friday. Hopefully, they'll be gone by then", she mumbled.

To be continued