Chapter Five

January 11 1999

"I don't think it's a good idea, Katie," Johanna said. Kate rolled her eyes. "You worked so hard to get into Stanford. It was your dream for so many years. Now you want to change?"

"Mom. I want to be here while you get better. I also…" Kate blushed. "I don't want to leave Rick. It would be unfair to ask him to have a relationship with me long distance, and I can't ask him to go out there with me. Besides, I think I want to change to criminal justice. I can still go to law school with that, but it opens up other options too. NYU has a great CJ program."

"Katie…"

Kate wanted to scream. Sure, her mom was still in the hospital, and she was still in pain and all that. Kate could see that. But her mom was so annoying sometimes. She always had to be right. Always. And it often just pissed Kate off, even if she could sometimes see that the reason behind her anger was that her mom was often right.

Not this time though. Kate knew exactly what she had to do. She couldn't go back to California and leave Rick behind for the next four years. She just couldn't. And she wasn't going to.

"Mom, I'm going to do this. It's the right thing to do. When you met dad, would you have wanted to spend the next four years away from him."

Johanna didn't answer, but her cheeks did flush. Kate wanted to crow in victory because she knew that her mom and dad wouldn't have been able to spend that time apart.

Her mom rolled her eyes and gave a big sigh. "Fine, but you get to do all the paperwork for the transfer. And you're not going to do something dangerously stupid like become a cop. I don't care if you want to study criminal justice, but you can find some other way of helping people besides going onto the force."

"Mom…"

"Don't mom me, Katharine Beckett. You may be an adult now, but that doesn't mean that you can just rush off and make a hair brained decision just because I got hurt. I know that's why you're doing it, because you never mentioned becoming a detective before now."

Kate fumed. 19 years old and her mother was still dictating her life. She wanted to stomp her foot and fold her arms across her chest, but that would just be childish, and Kate hadn't been a child in a long time. Instead, she just gave her best glare and then flopped down on the hard plastic chair that sat beside her mom's hospital bed.

"You'll find what you love to do, Katie. Maybe it's being a criminal defense attorney. Maybe it's not law at all. You don't have to be a lawyer just because its what your dad and I do for a living. But please, don't rush off to be a cop just because I got hurt. If in a couple years, after you've got your degree, if you still want to join the NYPD, than that's okay, but don't make the choice now just because you're upset. Okay?"

Kate nodded and slid forward in the chair so she could give her mom's hand a squeeze.

"Now. Tell me how your date with Rick went last night. Did he tell you any more about his next book?"

"Mooooom," Kate groaned, which caused Johanna to giggle.

She and Rick had gone out to dinner the night before and had a blast. The more she learned about him the more she was positive that whoever came up with the whole soulmate business knew what they were doing.

Kate could honestly say she was already falling in love with him, which was nuts considering that she had only known him for two days.

"You're falling for him already," her mom said softly, obviously still able to read her daughter's thoughts easily enough.

Kate blushed but nodded shyly.

"Don't be upset about it. I was the same way with your father. The only reason why we waited three months to get married was that we wanted our parents to be there and that was the quickest we could get my parents here to see it."

"Rick and I aren't going to get married that fast," Kate said.

Johanna laughed. "Wanna bet?"

"Mom. I want to wait until I'm out of school."

"Sure. I'm positive that will happen."

Kate rolled her eyes. Her mom looked giddy with the thought that she would one day get to say 'I told you so.' She always looked like that when she thought she was right and Kate was wrong. And in this case, Kate knew that her mom was wrong. She didn't want to be married before she finished her schooling, no matter how deep her feelings for Rick would eventually become. They had their whole lives after all. It was good to just take it slowly and enjoy getting to know each other along the way.

-:::-

February 1 1999

The day her mother came home from the hospital was a joyous day for the Beckett family. It was just so nice for Kate to see her mom at home and fairly comfortable and not laying still in a hospital bed. Kate had come to absolutely hate hospitals over the last few weeks, and she knew her mom felt the same way.

"So, Katie," her mom said after she had gotten herself situated on the sofa. "When do we get to meet Rick?"

"Dad's already met him," Kate hedged. She and Rick were still going great. They had seen each other every single day since they met. Spending time with him was so easy that often Kate had to pry herself away from him in order to go back to the hospital to see her mom. Less than a month after meeting him, and Kate could honestly say that she doesn't know how she could ever live without him.

They haven't done anything serious. They've kissed and made out a few times, but something is holding Rick back and she doesn't know what. She's ready for them to take it to the next level, but apparently he isn't, and he won't tell her what's making him so cautious. It's driving her crazy. Seriously, like fucking crazy. Kate has never wanted someone so bad – which she's happy about since if she had wanted someone so bad, keeping her virginity would have been so much harder - and the fact that he is apparently keeping them in the slow lane not only is making her crazy, but it hurts too.

"I know that, but I haven't."

Kate sighed. "Maybe we can have dinner with him in a few days. I want to spend as much time with him as possible, so having him over will be good. I do have to go back to California for a couple of weeks to handle everything there."

"Are you still sure you want to transfer," her mom asked. "You just…"

"Mom," Kate sighed exasperatedly. "Yes. I want to transfer. I was thinking about it before all this happened, and now that it has, I just know that I don't want to be a lawyer. More than that, I don't want to be away from Rick. I know it's only been a few weeks, but just the thought of him being so far away hurts."

Johanna giggled. "My little girl has it so bad."

"Shut up," Kate groaned. "And it isn't as if you're one to talk. You and dad are still disgusting and you've been married for 20 years."

"Never going to change either," Johanna said without shame. Kate smiled. Sure, she put on a front about being disgusted by how lovey-dovey her parents were, but truly she loved it. She wanted that for herself. For years, she was positive the world would stay cold and gray and she would never have what her parents had. And she had been sure that she didn't even really want that. But now she had that chance. Color was in her life for the first time and she was so damn excited about meeting each new day because she would get to see him.

It was sappy, but it was also true.

Kate looked down at her mother who was smiling at her softly. "What?"

"Being in love looks good on you, kiddo. I'm really happy for you."

Kate blushed. "Shut up."

Johanna laughed.

-:::-

February 3 1999

Kate jumped up excitedly when the doorbell rang. She rushed to the entry way and, barely remembering to check the peephole, pulled open the door then threw herself into her boyfriend's arms.

"Rick!"

"Kate. You saw me three hours ago," Rick said with a laugh, wrapping his arms around her and pulling her close.

Kate buried her face in his neck and took in a deep breath. He smelt so good. God, she wanted him so bad. She pulled back and pressed her mouth to his.

Some time later, someone cleared their throat behind them. Kate sighed and pulled away. She spun around, staying within the circle of Rick's arms. "Must you do that, father?"

Jim smirked. "If I hadn't I have a feeling we wouldn't be seeing either of you for dinner."

Kate rolled her eyes and stepped away from her boyfriend. She grabbed his hand and led him into the living room where her mom was propped up against a ton of pillows.

"Mom, I'd like you to meet Rick Rodgers."

"How do you do, Mrs. Beckett," Rick asked, stepping forward and offering Kate's mom his hand.

"Oh, you have some manners," Johanna said, shaking Rick's hand. "It's nice to meet you, Rick. I'm glad we could finally meet. I can't thank you enough for what you did for me."

Kate watched as her boyfriend blushed. It always amazed her how easily he became embarrassed. He had admitted, when asked about it, that it was part of the reason why he had chosen to write under a penname.

"I'm just glad I was able to help, ma'am."

"Oh, pish. Don't ma'am me. Call me Johanna. Maybe mom, someday," Johanna said with a laugh, causing Rick to blush even more.

"Mother, stop teasing my boyfriend," Kate admonished.

Johanna rolled her eyes. "Fine. Go help your father, would you? I can smell the potatoes burning."

Kate just glared as she walked away to do as she was asked. She wasn't quite happy leaving her soulmate behind to no doubt be interrogated by her mother, but there wasn't much she could do about it.

She managed to help her father salvage dinner and then walked into the living room to help her mother up. Kate and her dad had tried to get Johanna to accept eating in the living room, but she wouldn't hear of it, claiming that she wasn't going to look like an invalid in front of her daughter's soulmate.

Kate paused when she entered the living room. She half expected to see Rick looking uncomfortable, maybe even standing with his hands in his pocket, but instead, she found him sitting next to her mother grinning at Johanna as she laughed at something he said. Kate was kind of shocked because normally her mother never got along with any of the boys she brought home. Maybe it was because Rick was her soulmate? Maybe it was because he was older?

Kate shrugged it off and walked further into the room.

"Hey, there she is," Rick said smiling up at her. Kate could feel herself smiling back. She couldn't help it. Anytime he grinned or smiled at her, she just had to smile back. It was an automatic response to the happiness that always filled her whenever he smiled.

"Are you ready for your trek into the dining room, mother?" Kate asked.

"Yes, is your father coming to help or is there something else left to burn?"

"I salvaged dinner. He's finishing setting the table. Rick will help me."

Rick stood. "I'd be happy to."

Between the two of them, they managed to get her mom lifted up and onto her feet, and then they helped her into the dining room. Kate knew her father had offered to get her mom a wheelchair to use, but ever stubborn, Johanna had said no. So she was walking with a cane, mostly using them to keep her balance and ensure she didn't walk too fast, which the doctors said would be bad.

Dinner was good. Kate could tell that both of her parents were charmed by Rick. After years of bringing home guys who her parents were never going to approve of – in fact, bringing them home mostly because her parents wouldn't approve of them – it was nice to have them like someone she was dating.

Granted he was her soulmate, so it wasn't as if she was going to dump him if they didn't like him. That was nonsense.

Kate was brought out of her thoughts by her mother asking a question which made her groan.

"So, Rick, when are you and my daughter going to get married? Soon?"

Kate rolled her eyes. "Mom!"

"What?" Johanna asked innocently.

"We're not getting married any time soon, okay? We're just getting to know each other. There's no rush."

"Why wait? You love each other, it's quite obvious! Life is short, you know?"

Rick laughed, which cause Kate to glare at him threateningly. "Don't worry, Johanna. We'll get there. I agree with Kate, though. There's no rush."

Johanna rolled her eyes. "Mark my words, the two of you will be married sooner, rather than later. And when you tell us about your engagement, I'll be the first to say I told you so."

"Don't listen to her, Rick. She always says I told you so. About everything," Jim said with a smile. "She loves to be right. About everything."

Kate laughed, but inside she was wondering. She and Rick were getting closer every day. She'd honestly move in with him the moment he asked, if he were to, you know, ask. Would the same go for marriage? Would she say yes if he asked her right now?

The answer was obvious. Of course she'd say yes. Kate knew she wouldn't even have to think about it. She'd scream yes over and over again, maybe she'd jump up and down too, who knows?

Maybe that's why it felt like disappointment flowing through her when Rick agreed with her plan of waiting?

Kate pushed those thoughts away and refocused on the conversation. She would deal with her newly discovered insecurity later.