A/N: Here we go…an update on Kate and Rali's vacation – Day 1. You'll soon see - Rafe's got every minute planned out. ;)

As far as everyone else goes - goodness. Now that I sit and think about it - there's a lot more to come in the story. I'm driving myself crazy. I think I've created a monster. LOL! But really - what else is new???

Until 35 – enjoy!! xox-G

Chapter Thirty-four

Colin stood at the foot of the bed, watching Kate sleep. She looked so peaceful. She looked healthy. But he knew the truth.

Chris had just left, from checking in on her, sounding optimistic as usual. Katrina seemed to be doing well. Colin prayed it would last. Her parents had left this morning for their little vacation. He knew it would be hard to get a hold of them if something happened – not to mention it would ruin their trip.

Sighing he moved to place a kiss on her cheek. She murmured, "Mmm, Colin. I love you.." before she turned on her side and fell back under.

"Love you too." He replied, kissing her again. He pulled the covers closer around her and shut the light before moving out into the hallway.

He hadn't felt like playing in weeks, but right now it seemed to be the only thing that would make him feel better. Before he could grab his guitar and settle in, the phone rang. He crossed the room to answer it.

"Hello?"

"Colin…" Caleb said softly.

It had been weeks since their last conversation – the one that had ended so badly. Colin knew he should apologize but didn't quite feel up to it. It was always hard for him to tell his father he was sorry. So much had happened between them.

This was the last thing he was in the mood for. "What is it?" He said with a sigh.

Caleb knew it wasn't going to be easy. If it wasn't for Livvie giving him the silent treatment for the past week, he'd never have given in and called. He fought to keep his voice light. "Just checking in with you. How's Katrina doing?"

"She's alright." Colin replied. "Not good. Not bad. Just alright."

"And the baby?" Caleb asked.

"Actually, the baby's just fine. It's Katrina who's…" Colin said, his voice shaking a bit.

Though he was thousands of miles away, Caleb could hear it. He could hear how scared he was. Though his relationship with Olivia was very different than what Kate and Colin shared he knew what it was like.

"I understand." Caleb began, hoping he wouldn't screw this up. "Look. Colin. I know that you blame me…"

Colin cut him off, shaking his head. "Don't. It's alright. I don't know who to blame anymore. Do I blame you – for being what you are? Or her father – for being what he is? Or myself, for not walking away from her when I had the chance?"

"Colin…"

He sank onto the couch and held his head in his hands. "I've thought about it a lot." Colin made a decision – the only one he could make. "It's my fault. I had a chance to leave her and I just wasn't strong enough. I love her, Dad. I have loved her since the day I met her – and now it's too late. I can't live without her. It terrifies me to think that I'll lose her – and if I do – I have no one to blame but myself."

"It's not your fault Colin…" Caleb tried to convince him.

"Tell that to her father." Colin snapped. "If this ends badly - you tell him. Tell him how I stood by and watched his daughter die…"

"Colin." Caleb tried again. "Don't do this to yourself."

The flood gates had opened and for Colin there was no turning back. "She's fighting so hard. She's amazing. God, you should see how strong she is." Colin's voice broke and a tear slipped from his eye. "I'm useless. I can't do anything to help her. I just take her to the hospital and hold her hand, and get her something to eat and an extra blanket when she's cold."

Caleb wasn't good at this. Encouraging his son was not his strong suit. He looked stood and took the phone out of the room, desperate to find his wife. "I'm sure you're doing everything you can."

"That's just it. I'm not doing anything." Colin replied.

"I can help you." Caleb said, his voice quiet. "Colin. I've been doing some research."

Colin blinked as the words his father spoke processed. "You what?"

He didn't want to get his son's hopes up too much. "I've been looking into things. I don't have all the answers – but there's hope that they'll both be fine, Colin. You need to believe that."

The despair that had seemed to close in on Colin retreated a bit. Could it be true? Suddenly things seemed clearer. "This is crazy. Hasn't this ever happened before? What does your research say? I'd be shocked to learn that Katrina and I were the first couple in history to have this problem."

Caleb nodded. "My thoughts exactly. That's what I've found out. You're not. There seems to be a case like yours from a few hundred years ago. I'm trying to find out more but at the moment, I'm not clear on the details. It was a long time ago."

For the first time in weeks a smile formed on Colin's lips. "Before your time – huh, Dad?"

Caleb chuckled. "Just a few years."

"OK." Colin sighed. "OK. So. It's happened before. That's great. Well. It's not great but you know…" He ran a hand through his hair. "Tell me what to do to speed this along."

Caleb cleared his throat and chose his words with care. Even still, the old bitterness was still there. "First of all, get her maniac father to ease up a bit and let me in on helping her. I don't know why he's taken so long to come and rip me to shreds but I know he'll be here soon."

Colin was about to tell him that Rafe had no idea, but he knew that wouldn't be wise. His father would gloat and Rafe would be even more furious when he found out the truth – if that was at all possible.

"Alright." He simply said with a nod. "I'll see what I can do."

"If we're going to fix this, I'll…" Caleb tried not to choke on the words. "I'll need his – umm – assistance."

"OK." Colin knew that fighting Katrina's illness was the least of their worries. Getting his father and her father to cooperate with each other was nothing short of impossible.

He tried to reassure his son as best he could. "Just take it easy, Colin. This didn't happen overnight – it's not going to be fixed overnight."

"Alright." It was unbelievable to him, but Colin felt a hundred times better than he had before he'd answered up the phone. He swallowed his pride and said, "Thanks Dad."

"Don't mention it." Caleb said with a smirk. "Take care of yourself. I'll talk to you soon."

"OK. Say hi to Mom and Rachel for me." Colin replied with a smirk of his own.

"I will." Caleb promised.

"Goodbye." Colin said as he clicked the phone off.

For the first time since this all began, Colin felt hope. He also felt terrified. When Katrina's parents came back, they'd have to tell them the truth. All of it. And God help them if Rafe found out Caleb's known for weeks.

Colin decided it just didn't matter. What mattered was Katrina. Even though it wouldn't be easy he knew that everyone would agree that was the most important thing of all.

xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"Oh Rafe…" Alison sighed as they entered the room. It wasn't so much a room, it was more like a little cottage. It was absolutely breathtaking. It was full of Victorian style furniture with the biggest most luxurious looking bed she'd ever seen in the center of the room. It was certainly a scene set for romance. The bed was made with soft, snowy linens and had a gauzy white canopy. She turned a full circle and then smiled at him.

"Rafe. This is so beautiful." She said with a grin from ear to ear and tears shining in her eyes.

That was exactly the reaction he was hoping for. That smile on her face, he loved it, more than anything. It was what he worked his whole life for.

"I'm glad you like it." Rafe replied, smiling back at her.

She was about to go to him when she heard something. She could have sworn she could hear the ocean. Shock filled her eyes as she crossed to the other side of the room and opened a set of double doors. She found out she was right when she opened the door and realized they were footsteps from the beach. Not only that, they also had a small patio and something that looked like a little private cabana.

She felt Rafe come up behind her and curl his arms around her waist. She rested her hands on his and leaned back into him. "I can't believe you. You planned this all by yourself?"

"Yes." He nodded as he bent down to kiss the top of her head.

She turned in his arms and gazed up at him. "You did an excellent job. I'm completely impressed. So…" She said with a giggle. "Tell me. What do you have planned for us today?"

"Today?" Rafe asked grinning down at her.

"Yeah." Alison replied as she inched closer. "It's such beautiful weather. Are we going to the beach?"

"Ummm. No." Rafe said softly as he bent his head and kissed her sweetly. He eased away slowly and linked his hand with hers, pulling her gently back inside.

"No?" She giggled as she followed behind him. "Are we going sightseeing? Shopping maybe? On the way here I saw that there's a great straw market nearby. I want to get a new beach bag."

"No shopping." He promised her as he led her over to towards the bed. "No sightseeing. Not today."

"If we're not going to the beach, and we're not going sightseeing, what on earth are we going to do all day?" Alison asked though the answer was clear as he swept her up in his arms and placed her in the center of it.

"You want a detailed itinerary?" Rafe asked as he leaned close and sat on the bed next to her. He gave her a wicked grin as his hands reached around her back to the zipper on her dress. He began inching it down slowly.

"Yes. I do." She smiled as she sank into him, shivering as she felt his hands on her skin.

"OK." He said as his lips made their way across her cheek and towards her own. "First, I'm going to kiss every inch of you. At least once." He smiled at her and made her giggle. "Maybe more than twice. Be prepared. It's going to take a couple of hours since, you know..." He leaned in close, his breath teasing her ear. "...we're all alone."

"We're alone..." She replied, already breathless as she felt his hands move the straps of her dress off her shoulders. He gave her a drugging kiss as she tried to answer him. "I uh –I know…I umm - can't believe it…" She moved to pull his shirt over his head, desperate to feel him close to her.

He could see she was distracted. He grinned widely at the knowledge that she was thinking of nothing but him. This was exactly what he had wanted.

"There's no one here to bother us, Angel." He whispered as his lips moved towards hers."We have all the time in the world."

He decided to tell her the rest of his plans. "Now let's see. Later, I thought we'd have dinner, outside, on our little patio."

His kisses and his hands were driving her insane. She clung to him and tried to find her voice. "Uh huh…" She ran her fingers through his hair and brought his lips back to hers again. "Sounds…nice…"

He wasn't nearly finished teasing her. His lips trailed down her throat and back again as he finally was able to slip her dress off and cast it aside. He still had more plans to reveal. "You didn't see the bathroom, but there's a Jacuzzi tub in there. I thought, maybe before dinner, we could take a bath."

Alison's head was spinning. Her eyes fluttered closed. The feel of his hands on her skin and the pictures Rafe was painting with his words driving her completely insane.

"Okay…" She mumbled as her hands pulled him closer. "That sounds fine…"

Rafe was making good on his first promise to her. His mouth trailed up and down her arm. He took her hand in his, slowly, deliberately nibbling on her fingers. He rose from the bed, quickly shedding the rest of his clothes before lying beside her again. As he did he revealed the last item on the day's agenda. His voice was husky as his lips sought hers. "And then, tonight, I thought I'd make love to you outside, under the stars, with the sound of the ocean in the background and the warm tropical breeze running over your skin…" His hands ran down the length of her body making her arch against him. She was completely under his spell now.

"No one will bother us." He said as he kissed her deeply. "I made completely sure of that." He promised as he kissed her again. He leaned close and took his time, smiling against her lips when he heard her sigh. His mouth moved lower, his kisses robbing her of her breath.

Alison was afraid she'd never breathe normally again at the rate he was going. A few torturous moments later, his mouth inched its way towards hers again as his voice hummed against her skin.

"We have our own private beach, our own little cabana. Alison…" He trailed off, cleary as affected by her as she was by him now.

"Yes?" She gasped as he covered her body with his. She gazed into his eyes and ran a hand over his cheek. She writhed beneath him, desperate to be as close to him as possible.

"I love you…" He smiled as he pressed his lips to hers.

"I love you…" She replied, tightening her arms around him.

He took a moment to tease her some more. "Those are my plans. Do they sound alright to you? Or do you still want to go shopping?" He asked as he eased back and ran his hands through her hair.

She shook her head at him almost in a panic. "No. No shopping. No shopping." She framed his face in her hands and kissed him desperately. "I never want to go shopping again."

Rafe laughed as he returned her kiss. "Oh how I wish you meant that."

She had had enough. She pushed his shoulder until he lay flat on his back, so that she now hovered above him. He was driving her crazy. "Rafe." Alison demanded softly.

"Yes?" He whispered, his eyes glinting with amusement.

"Stop talking. Please. Just…" She pleaded as she clutched his shoulders and crushed her mouth to his.

She didn't have to say anymore. He knew exactly what she wanted. Rafe kissed her lips softly and took her under. Just like he'd planned, the world fell away as they came together.

They were finally alone at last.