Adventures With Kate and The Sitter
Chapter Three – The Guest House
When Jane got home it was close to 11 PM. She saw that Maura had left a note that there was a dinner plate warming in the oven. Maura knows her wife well enough to know that she doesn't eat that often when she is working on a new case. They are normally too busy trying to put the pieces together as fast as they can. Time is of the essence and they work long hours trying to get the case solved as soon as possible.
Jane ate her dinner and then went upstairs to find Maura sitting in the bed reading a medical journal. She sat on the bed next to Maura and gave her a quick kiss. "Jane, I talked with Kelly about staying in the guest house rent free. She was a little apprehensive but she said she would think about it. I am hoping that she really thinks about it and takes us up on our offer."
"Me too, babe. That would make getting called in to a crime scene early in the morning so much easier. I always worry about our mothers driving over here when they have been sleeping. I know it takes my mom time to wake up in the morning. She has arrived here some mornings looking half asleep."
"Yes, my mother is the same way. She will let us know within two days."
"Great, I am so exhausted." Jane said as she laid down next to Maura still fully dressed and on top of the covers. Maura slid out the other side of the bed and help Jane sit up so she could help her undress and get ready for bed. Maura knew Jane was pushing herself. Her dedication to her job was one of the traits that she loved about Jane, but it was taking its toll on her.
They finally snuggled up in bed and fell asleep wrapped up in each other's arms. Their alarm was set to go off at 6:30 AM. At 6:20 AM Kate came barging into the room. She walked right over to her mommy and said, "Mommy, mommy, are you awake?" She gently stroked the side of Maura's face. "Mommy?" Maura stirred and Kate climbed up onto the bed and snuggled into her they were laying there face-to-face. Kate gave her mommy a kiss on the cheek. "Mommy?" Maura stirred and opened one eye.
"Kate, what time is it?"
"Almost alarm time. I have a question."
"Can you please wait until alarm time?"
"Okay." Kate said as she climbed under the covers and snuggled up to her mommy and closed her eyes. Jane had snuggled closer to Maura from the other side when Maura stirred. She was still asleep but had missed Maura when she moved away a little bit.
The alarm sounded at 6:30 AM and as soon as Maura turned it off, Kate asked, "When am I going to see Kelly again? Will Kelly be picking me up from school every day?" She paused and then continued when Maura opened up one eye. "Will Kelly get to go out trick or treating with us this year? Do you think Kelly has a boyfriend or girlfriend?"
Jane reached over and covered Kate's mouth with her hand, "Kate, you need to give mommy time to answer your first question before you bombard her with additional questions, okay?" Jane asked as she slowly wiggled her hand at Kate's mouth, which Kate had kissed. When Jane didn't remove the hand, she licked it and Jane pulled her hand away. "Yuck, Maur she licked my hand."
"Both of you, quiet. I just woke up. Kate I will answer your questions downstairs while we are having breakfast. Jane, you should know this is Kate, you know your mini-you, so of course she would lick your hand. Both of you out of my bed, let me get up and get dressed. Kate rolled over Maura so that she could snuggle up with Jane, neither one of them wanted to get out of bed yet. "Fine, you two stay there, I'm getting in the shower."
Jane wanted to take a shower with Maura. "Okay, Kate, you need to go get dressed for school, okay? Mommy and I will see you downstairs in a few minutes."
"Okay, mama." Kate said as she climbed out of the bed and went to her room to do as her mama suggested.
Now that Jane was awake, she could attend to her naked wife in the shower. And attend to her she attempted, Maura wanted to kick her out though as they didn't have time this morning, they had to get to work. Maura hurried up and finished and got out so that Jane could finish her shower. She got dressed quickly as she knew that Kate would be waiting for her. She didn't want Kate rushing back into their bedroom. They really needed to get a lock installed on their bedroom door.
All of the children were up and dressed by the time Maura arrived downstairs. They all had just taken their seats at the kitchen island. Today the children would have to have cereal as it was already getting close to time to leave and she still needed to answer Kate's questions.
Maura still took the time to squeeze their orange juice after she had given them some of Jane's sugary cereal. The children were all excited. They very rarely got to have cereal. When Jane came downstairs, she was like, "Hey, why are they eating my cereal?"
Maura just smiled at her and said, "Love, we need to answer Kate's questions before we leave. Your mom will be here any minute."
Jane looked at her watch and said, "Oh, it's later than I thought. Okay, back to the questions. You will see Kelly tomorrow as she is picking you up from school. She will not be picking you up every day, only on days when mommy, nonna, grand mére or I cannot pick you up. We will have to ask Kelly if she would like to go trick or treating with us and the last one, I don't know if Kelly has a boyfriend or girlfriend? She will have to tell us that when she is ready, do not ask her, okay?"
"How did you remember all of my questions mama?" asked a surprised Kate.
"I am a detective remember, I get paid to do things like that." Jane replied as she smiled at Kate.
"Do I have to pay you?" Kate looked confused.
"No, sweetie, I was just answering all of the questions that you asked mommy when she was only half awake. Now do you have any more questions or can mommy and I go to work?" Jane knew that they had to get going or they would be late for work, again. Korsak was understanding. He knew having four children under the age of nine had to be time consuming in the mornings, trying to get them all ready for school.
"That was all of my questions for now mama, thank you." Kate replied and smiled back at her mama.
"You are welcome little one." Jane said as she walked over and gave Kate a kiss on the top of her head.
The other children were just finishing their breakfast. Kate had stopped eating to listen to her mama answer her questions. She was concentrating to try and make sure that she would remember the answers. "Mama, how come I can't ask Kelly if she has a boyfriend or girlfriend?"
"Kate, it's just something you normally don't ask, you let the person tell you about themselves."
"But I want to know all about my new best friend. Why can't I ask her about herself?"
"How about you ask her if she would like to share about herself, that way she might tell you whatever you want." Jane replied and wondered if Kate was going to be like this until she moved out to go to college. Whenever she was excited about something or someone, she was forever asking questions.
Angela arrived just as Jane and Maura were gathering their coats to walk out the door. They gave everyone hugs and kisses and left for work.
At 10 AM Maura received a text from Kelly letting her know that she would love to accept their offer of staying in the guest house. Maura immediately sent a text to Jane to let her know that Kelly accepted their offer. Jane replied to Maura, 'Great, I needed to ask her something so I will call her.'
Jane who was the passenger in Frost's cruiser called Kelly. When Kelly answered Jane said, "Hey, thank you for accepting our offer. Is it possible for you to come over for dinner tonight so we can work out all the details?"
"Yes, I can do that. I am free any time after 3 PM." Kelly let Jane know. She had fun with the children and was looking forward to spending more time with them. She was already attached to them, especially Kate. She just thought Kate was so adorable.
"Well, how about if you pick up the children today and then Maura and I will meet you at the house. Kate is dying to see you, she woke us up at 6:20 this morning asking when she would see you again. We told you how adventurous she is, well there is no stopping that little one when she wants something and today, she wants to see you."
"Oh, I am so touched. She is such a sweet little girl. Okay, I will pick up the children and see you when you get home from work."
"Thanks Kelly."
"You are welcome, Jane." Kelly replied as the call ended. She had to think of what she could do with Kate this afternoon to make her day special. Being around Kate made Kelly wonder if she wanted to have children of her own someday or if she just wanted to enjoy other people's children like she was doing now. She would have to talk to her significant other about that.
Kate was surprised when Kelly picked her up from school. "Kelly, I am so happy to see you. Are we going to do something fun today?"
"I don't know, what would you like to do today?" Kelly asked Kate and watched as Kate's eyes grew big with excitement.
Kate thought about what she wanted to do and then said, "Can we play Monopoly. Mama likes that game and she has been teaching me. I haven't won a game yet but maybe you could help me."
"That would be fun, let's see what the others would like to do and if they are okay with it then we will play that."
Kate clapped her hands and said, "Yippee, Monopoly."
They waited in the car pickup lane and when everybody got in the car, Kelly asked them, "What would you like to do today, Kate had suggested playing Monopoly."
MJ liked Monopoly but it was a nice day and he wanted to go to the park and play at the playground. "Can we go to the park before dinner and maybe after dinner we could play Monopoly?"
AJ and Lilly agreed with MJ. Kate thought about it and said, "Yes, the park is a great idea, thank you MJ for suggesting it." With that settled Kelly took them to the park by their house. Kate saw the hopscotch markings on the pavement and asked, "Kelly can you play hopscotch with me?"
"Sure, Kate I would love to." Kelly hadn't played hopscotch in years but it all came back to her. They had been playing for about ten minutes when Kelly came down on her foot wrong and fell down. Kate immediately went to her side and tears started to gather in her eyes. "It's okay, Kate, I am fine, I just landed funny on my foot. It just means I need to rest it and ice it when we get back to the house."
"Mommy, will make it all better when she gets home. That is her job, she kisses our boo boos and makes them go away and then we feel better." Kate told Kelly as she tried to reassure her.
"I should be fine by the time she gets home. You can still play hopscotch. I can watch you from the bench."
MJ, AJ and Lilly had seen Kelly fall and came over to make sure she was okay. "Are you okay, Kelly?" MJ asked, always the perfect gentleman.
"Yes, MJ, well I will be. I just landed funny on my ankle while playing hopscotch. It will be okay in a little bit and I will put some ice on it when we get to the house. You guys can continue to play."
"Are you sure?" Lilly asked. "I can play hopscotch with you Kate, if you would like."
"Thank you, Lilly. I would like that. It is no fun playing by yourself." Kate replied. For a four-year-old she was very grown up. Kelly could see a mix of Jane and Maura in her. She could see a lot of Jane in her.
Kelly explained to the children, "I had previously injured this ankle playing softball. I slid into second base and the base wasn't tied down correctly and I have been having issues with it ever since. I just need to be more careful when I am playing with you. I will be fine, please continue to play and have fun."
Each of the children gave Kelly a hug and went back to playing. They spent another half an hour in the park and then the children were ready to go back to the house. Kelly had to limp back to the car. Luckily it was her left foot and the SUV was an automatic so she had no problem driving back to the house. She loved that Jane and Maura let her drive the SUV to drive the children around. It was a nice Range Rover with all of the amenities. It was a lot nicer than the old mustang she was driving. Of course, she couldn't pick up all four kids in her mustang.
When they arrived at the house, MJ made sure that Kelly could walk and offered to help her if she needed assistance. She managed on her own. Once inside, the children all put their backpacks away and cleaned up before coming back downstairs. Kate asked if they could play Monopoly now so that is what they were playing when their mothers arrived.
Maura looked at Kelly with an ice pack on her left foot and asked what happened. Kelly explained the little mishap and Maura asked if she could examine her foot. After a quick examination Maura determined that she just rolled her ankle and that it would probably hurt for a little while.
Jane had put dinner in the oven while Maura tended to Kelly. Angela had stocked their freezer with plenty of Italian dinners. After dinner, Jane and Maura talked with Kelly and she agreed that she would start staying in the guest house the next evening. She would check out of her hotel.
"You're moving in Kelly?" Kate asked as she overheard part of the conversation.
"Yes, Kate. Kelly will be moving into our guest house. That will allow her to be available when mommy and I get called into work early in the morning or have to work late." Jane explained to Kate. "Is that okay with you?"
"Yes, mama. I love it. Now she will be here when I want to play with her. Kelly, would you like to help me in my garden one day?"
"I would love that, Kate."
"I can help you move in, when are you moving in? Will your girlfriend or boyfriend be moving in also?"
"Kate!" Jane and Maura both shouted. Everybody turned and looked at them.
"What, I was just curious." Kate said as she had tears forming in her eyes. She ran out of the room and headed for the stairs. Jane ran after her.
"Kate, slow down."
"No, mama. You and mommy yelled at me." Kate said as Jane caught up to her and scooped her up into her arms.
"Baby, we only raised our voices because we told you not to ask Kelly about a boyfriend or girlfriend. We told you to let her bring it up."
"I'm not a baby." Kate said as she squirmed so much that Jane almost dropped her.
She sat down on Kate's bed with her and told her, "You will always be my baby, as you are my youngest child. Mommy and I are not going to have any more children."
"Now, can you come downstairs and apologize to Kelly?" Jane said as she was rubbing Kate's back to get her to calm down.
"Yes, I just wanted to know. Because I like Kelly and if she has someone then I might like them also." Kate told her mama.
"I know but we need to let Kelly explain her personal life when she is comfortable sharing with us, okay?"
"Okay. I am grounded?"
"No, sweetie, you are not grounded. Let's go downstairs and talk with mommy and Kelly."
Kate walked as fast as she could downstairs and ran right up to Kelly who was sitting at the kitchen island with Maura. "I am sorry Kelly. I shouldn't have asked you personal questions. You can share with me when you are ready."
"Thank you, Kate. Pretty soon I will share more about me. Meeting new people and learning about them is a process. You don't learn everything right away, it takes time to get to know people. You will learn more and more about me as we get to know each other more, okay?"
"Okay. I am sorry though." Kate said as she grabbed Maura's hand and said, "Mommy, I know it is my bedtime can you come upstairs with me and tuck me in." Maura and Kate went upstairs and after Kate put her pajamas on, she said, "I'm sorry mommy. I didn't mean to upset you and mama."
"I know mama talked with you already but we just need to be careful, okay?" Maura said as she tucked Kate in and gave her a kiss goodnight. Kate liked her bedtime and tried not to mess up her schedule. "You can see Kelly tomorrow when she picks you up from school."
"Okay, mommy, good night."
"Good night, Kate." Maura said as she turned off the light and shut the door. They would have to help Kate navigate the world of making new friends.