Thanks for the reviews! I have off from work tomorrow, so I figured I'd get this part out today to try to get some people's suggestions for the other couples to work on that tomorrow. Like I said before, the first few parts will be Nick/Kait, but I will get into the other relationships after that. I have no idea where I'm going with those relationships (Except Kait being completely disgusted by the idea of her father having sex -- Come on, how can I not include that?! ). Suggestions and ideas are welcome as always. Thanks!


Telling Dad and Moving On: Part 3
By LissaMarie
August 31, 2002


Kait exited the bathroom dressed in dark flannel pajama pants topped with a tight gray t-shirt. Her long, wet curls laid against her back as she made her way out to the kitchen. She found Nick there leaning over a frying pan on the stove.

"Showers free if you want to hop in," Kait offered walking up to him and rubbing his back and shoulders. He didn't say anything, so she leaned her head between his shoulder blades and wrapped her arms around his waist. "What's on your mind?"

Nick snapped out of it. "Nothing much. My shower can wait until after we eat. I hope you don't mind grilled cheese and tomato soup. It was all I can make out of what you had." He turned around and out his own arms around her shoulders, leaning down to kiss her sweetly on the lips.

"Sounds good to me," she mumbled against his lips. She pulled away and looked into his eyes, becoming serious. "If you really needed to talk, you'd come to me, wouldn't you?" She asked the question worried that, as their relationship progressed, he was putting less trust in her than she was in him. She hated to think that he didn't feel he could talk to her.

"I would," he assured her. "I will. Let's just eat, okay?" He put a sandwich on each of the two plates Kait took out and spooned some soup into the bowls. They carried them over to the small kitchen table, and both sat down to eat in silence.

When she finished, Kait stayed in her seat and stared at Nick. She didn't realize that she was gawking until Nick mentioned it.

"Do you have any idea how disconcerting it is to have someone watch you eat?" Nick questioned, smiling when he saw her jerk out of her stupor. "Is it really bothering you that much that I won't tell you what I'm thinking about?"

"Yes, actually it is," Kait told him honestly. "I tell you everything, but you won't tell me what's bothering you. And don't tell me nothing because I know that you'd be lying." She stood up. Picking up both of their dishes, she carried them over to the sink to rinse them out.

"It's this case," Nick admitted to her back. He watched Kait turn around slowly and leaned against the counter, obviously waiting for him to continue. He didn't know how.

"That's a start. This is something that we can talk about. The case is getting to me too. Finding those kids got to everyone. It even got to my dad even though he tried to hide it. What is it about the case that is bothering you so much besides the fact that there is a case like this at all?" Kait asked.

Nick got up from the wooden chair and made his way toward the more comfortable sofa. He took a seat and felt Kait come down next to him. "How do you do it?" he asked suddenly.

"Do what?" she frowned.

"The autopsies. How do you cut open the bodies of children as if they were nothing more than lab animals?"

Kait cringed at his tone. "It's my job. I examine the remains to see how the person lived, what their last hours were like, how they died, and if they were murdered, who killed them. I told you before. I help the families of the victims achieve some kind of justice and closure. No matter how hard I try, I can't bring the victims that lay on my tables back to life; I'm not God. I can only do so much. Does my job bother you?"

"No," Nick told her quickly. "I understand why you do what you do. I'm sorry I asked. I shouldn't have." He ran his finger over her knuckles in apology, and she smiled at him. "What would you say that girl's last few hours were like?"

"In my opinion? Hell on Earth. Probably full of pain, and things that don't even make it into children's worst nightmares--All of those things that parents believe will never happen to their kids. She was raped repeatedly by a man who, of course, took no care to be gentle. She was perhaps scared out of her mind. I don't think she could have been a day over 9 years old, so she most likely understood what had happened, at least on some level. She possibly felt dirty--different, strange, abnormal. She might had thought about her parents or her friends, and how they would feel about her if they found out. I can imagine that she cried continuously. Of course, psychology isn't really my specialty, but in my opinion, the quick death that the blow to the head gave her might have been a welcomed reprieve at a time of intense pain and suffering." Kait went through her explanation in a clinical, detached tone, though she felt white hot anger surge through her veins as she thought about what that little girl had endured at the hands of a madman that, for all they know, was out doing the same thing to another child.

"Sometimes you can't cry. You don't feel like you should. You're not a kid anymore, and only kids cry," Nick told her distantly.

Kait's eyes darted and met his searchingly. "Where is this coming from, Nicky?" She had a feeling she already knew and the mere thought made her feel nauseous. Thinking about sexual abuse happening to a stranger was one thing, but thinking about it happening to the man that she felt very strongly for, gnawed at her.

"The first time was when I was 9. My parents were going out with some friends, and my babysitter had gotten the flu. She couldn't come over, but suggested her neighbor. She was a couple years younger than my normal babysitter, but since my sitter was going off to college in less than a year, everyone thought it would be best if I got used to having another person staying with me. She charmed my parents the second she walked into the door, and she was fun for the first few hours. She played around more than my sitter usually did. I went up to my room an hour later than my normal bedtime, and she followed me up. She was watching me while I got out pajamas, and chuckled when I asked her if she could turn around while I changed. She took the flannels from me an led me over to the bed...I had bruises that hurt whenever I moved on my sides and upper arms, but I didn't cry. I wanted to. I wanted to curl up into a little ball and sob my eyes out until my mom came home, but I didn't. I just sat there and waited. I didn't move when I heard her talking to my dad downstairs as if nothing had happened or when my mom came into my room to say goodnight. I guess she just assumed I was spacey because I was overly tired--It was a few hours after my bedtime at that point. I didn't move until I heard her car pull out of the driveway, and my parents go into their room that was right next to mine. I knew they wouldn't let anything happen to me while they were home. It was just when they weren't that I had to worry. I did. At least until I was 12 and was able to convince my parents I was old enough to fend for myself while they went out. Best day of my life." He went through his monologue completely detached until the very end. His voice cracked on his last sentence. He looked up to see tears coursing down Kait's cheeks which he reached up to wipe away with his thumbs.

"Nick, I am so sorry. I shouldn't have pushed you. Sometimes I just want to help people so much that I end up hurting them more," Kait whispered putting her hand over his on her face.

Nick was silent for a moment. "I think I'm going to go get a shower now." He stood up leisurely and leaned over to kiss Kait's forehead.

"I'm going to bed. See you in a little while?" she questioned not releasing his hand.

Nick contemplated telling her that he'd stay on the couch but found himself nodding. His hand was released, and he grabbed his gym bag from the floor before going to the bathroom.

Kait got up and went to her bedroom. She curled up on her preferred side and closed her eyes refusing to allow her tears to fall once again. Almost exactly 15 minutes later, she felt Nick climb in next to her and wrap his strong arms around her. She rolled over to lay her head on his shoulder and mumbled something into his neck that she knew he couldn't make out, but she didn't repeat it.

Nick thought he heard her say love, and the thought didn't scare him half as much as he imagined it would.

TO BE CONTINUED...

I know...Another short part. I wanted to get other people's suggestions for the other couples before starting with them, and that was where this was going. Please tell me where you see both W/S and G/C after the couple of months that had passed...