Chapter 2
Later that evening Gary took Kaitlyn home. When they entered the house, they found Kaitlyn's mother, Lily picking up the girls' toys in the living room. She was thrilled to see Gary and Kaitlyn together.
"I knew she would come around." Lily whispered in Gary's ear as she hugged him.
"I'm glad she did." Gary said with a smile.
"The girls have been in bed for about an hour. There are some leftovers in the kitchen if you're hungry." Lily reached for her jacket. "I'll leave you two alone to talk. I'll see y'all tomorrow." Lily kissed her daughter and Gary both on the cheek and headed for the door.
"Thanks Mamma. I'll call you in the morning." Kaitlyn said as she walked Lily to the door.
After she closed the door, Kaitlyn turned and walked over to Gary and put her arms around his waist. "You hungry?" She asked.
"No." He said as he gave her a quick kiss. "Are you?" He asked.
"No." She smiled.
"Good, because I think we need to talk?" Gary said.
"Okay." Kaitlyn smiled, took his hand, and led him to the couch.
They spent the rest of the evening talking. Gary told her everything he knew about the paper. He told her about some of the people that he had saved and unfortunately, the ones that he couldn't. He confided to her that very few people knew about the paper. Now she was part of those few, along with his parents, Marissa, Emmitt, and Chuck.
Kaitlyn told him she never mentioned the paper to anyone. Her family thought that her grief over Casey's kidnapping had caused Gary and her to stop seeing each other.
They talked about the kidnapping and Kaitlyn's ex-husband. Gary told her he saw the article in the paper describing how David was going to kill Casey and then commit suicide. Kaitlyn listened intently as he told her how he, his father, and Chuck got Casey back. Gary confided in her that he felt guilty over David's death, but he would have given his own life to save Casey.
They were sitting on the couch holding each other when Kaitlyn sat up and said, "I almost forgot, I have something for you." She smiled and got up to leave the room. "I'll be right back." She told him.
Minutes later she returned with a small gift-wrapped package in her hand. "Happy Birthday." She said as she handed him the package and sat down on the couch beside him.
"Happy Birthday?" Gary asked surprised.
"Yeah. I was going to give this to you on your birthday. The girls have something for you too, but they can give it to you tomorrow. Open it." Kaitlyn smiled.
"Okay." Gary began to open the package. Once he got the wrapping off, he found a velvet box. He opened it to find a gold watch. "It's beautiful. Thank you." He said as he leaned over and kissed her.
"It's engraved. Look on the back." Kaitlyn said.
Gary pulled the watch out of the box and turned it over. He read the inscription out loud. "To the hero who saved my heart. Love always, Kaitlyn." Thank you." Gary said kissing her cheek. He turned the watch back over and noticed the time.
"Is that the right time?" He asked.
"Yeah, 12:30." Kaitlyn sighed.
"I better get going." As Gary got up Kaitlyn grabbed his hand.
"Don't go." She pleaded.
"Are you sure?" Gary asked. "What about the girls?"
"The girls will be thrilled to wake up and find you here in the morning." Kaitlyn said as she stood up beside him. "Besides, right here with us is where you are supposed to be."
Gary smiled and put his hand up to her face and caressed her cheek. "I love you." He whispered as he leaned in and kissed her.
"I love you, too." Kaitlyn smiled. "Come on, let's go to bed." She took his hand, turned off the light, and quietly led him upstairs.