Disclaimer: One scene is taken from Monster-in-Law, which I don't own. I just couldn't pass it up.

Chapter 2

Linda's House

"Catherine, always good to see you!" Noreen greeted the woman as soon as she walked in the door.

"And it's always good to see you," she shared, hugging the woman she considered a second mother. "And look who I brought."

Noreen looked behind Catherine to see Lindsey and Gil softly talking outside, presumably about the landscape they were looking at.

"Lindsey."

The girl turned around, a smile sliding on her face. She ran into the woman's open arms, happy to see her, even though it had only been a month.

"Grandma!" Noreen hugged her tight, always happy to hear that term of endearment.

"And again you hug me last," Gil complained to his mother from behind them in a teasing tone. "I'm starting to think you like them more."

"I'll hug you first," his Aunt Carol said, entering the house.

"Thank you; at least someone cares." Catherine loved this side of him, this completely carefree and relaxed side. It was wonderful to see.

She helped Noreen and Linda put the gifts she and Gil had brought around the tree. They made small talk while Linda took Catherine and Lindsey's coats to put them in the hall closet.

She looked around the house, happy to see nothing had changed. The furniture was still in the same place as was the tree. The stockings were hung above the fire on the mantel. The TV music channel was still playing Christmas music. The tables were set; the aroma of food filled the house. Lights spelling MERRY CHRISTMAS were hanging from the upstairs banister. People smiling were already in the house, people were walking in the house with smiles on their faces. It wasn't often she was around a cheery atmosphere, unless you counted her home life.

"Can you believe it's already Christmas?" Linda asked her, looking around to make sure everything was where it should have been.

"Not at all. Seems like just yesterday we were celebrating Thanksgiving."

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"So how are things with the two of you, Catherine?" Peggy asked, carving the ham with a knife instead of the electrical knife she was used to.

"I think they can only be great judging from what I saw last year and Thanksgiving," Linda muttered to the two so Noreen didn't hear.

"It is great," she confirmed. "We're very much in love and I've never seen Lindsey so happy. He's great with her."

"Well, that's good," Carol voiced. "Heading down the track of marriage soon?"

Catherine smirked but she tried to hide it. "I have no idea. I'm fine not being married. I mean, it's like we're married now. It's just not recognized by the state. As long as we're together, married or not, I'll be happy."

All the women in the room sighed dreamily at the sound of that. Jim came in the room before anyone could say or do anything more.

"Okay, I finally got it fixed," he told Peggy, handing her the electric knife. "The blade was jammed because of one of the controls."

"Thank you so much." She quickly got rid of the knife she was using. "I was about to lose my mind. I'm lost without this."

The two oldest teenage girls came up to Linda at the counter.

"We're here to work," Jennifer announced for them.

"Well, it's about time," said Linda. "You guys can do silverware and fill the glasses."

"Sounds good," Jennifer agreed. She turned to Lindsey. "You do water, I do ice?"

"Good, I hate doing ice but they always make me," Lindsey told her, gathering forks and half the spoons.

"Join the club," Jennifer told her, taking the knives and the rest of the spoons. "And trust me, no matter how much you complain, they still make you do it, year after year."

Their conversation continued as they left the kitchen. Once they were out of earshot, laughter could be heard throughout the house.

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Laughter seemed to be infectious in the Jensen household after yet another story from the past. Dinner had been finished, places had been cleaned, the boys were in the basement and the girls were upstairs. Makayla was playing with Princess in the living room and Sarah was smiling at the sight from her mother's arms.

Catherine leaned over to whisper something in Gil's ear, the action not lost on the family.

"Hey, when are you two getting married already?" one of them asked.

Gil looked over to Catherine, noticing a similar smile to the one he knew he had.

"People must really want us to get married," Gil muttered to Catherine.

She nodded. "I guess."

Turning back to his family, he smiled deviously at them. "We'll get back to you on that," he answered, standing from the table with Catherine's hand in his. "But now, I'm pretty sure you all have things to do. We'll leave you now so you can work."

Catherine just shrugged her shoulders to the groups as she allowed him to pull her away. Laughter followed them before she heard the sound of chairs moving on carpet. The boys were called from the dart game to take some chairs to the basement.

Catherine settled on the blue couch, the same place as the year before. She smiled as she watched a curly haired Makayla follow Princess to the dining room. On the way, though she stopped at Gil. He dropped the blanket on the couch he held to pick her up.

"What are you doing, munchkin?" he asked her.

"Nofing. I follow puppy," she answered as best a three year old could.

"Following the puppy? Well, you better go catch up." He set her down after giving her a kiss on her chubby cheeks. He watched her run into the room, yelling 'puppy' the whole way there.

"Isn't she a sweetheart?" he asked Catherine rhetorically. He picked up the forgotten blanket and draped it over her legs. He settled on her right, making sure he was close to her. She offered him some of the blanket which he gladly took.

"You're good with kids," she muttered to him, a shine in her eyes.

He turned his head to look at her, his heart actually skipping a beat at the small smirk on her face.

"Would I be good with our kids?" he asked slowly.

An eyebrow rose. "We have kids?"

"Earlier, Lindsey asked me that when we get married, are we planning on having kids," he explained. "I've been thinking about it since."

"Marriage or children?"

"Right now children."

She brushed her hand through his hair, smoothing it back. "You'd be great with our kids. I bet we'd have beautiful children."

"Gorgeous, like their mother," he corrected, his hand finding hers.

"Or incredibly handsome like their father," she added. He smiled brightly at her, pulling her closer. Their lips met in a chaste kiss, cut short by multiple voices saying or yelling something different.

"It's embarrassing, isn't it?" Lindsey asked Jennifer quietly from the upstairs balcony.

"I think it's sweet. Besides, without her dragging him to come, I doubt he would have come. I always enjoy it when he comes to the holidays," Jennifer said, her eyes scanning the downstairs. When she saw them all come out from the dining room, she muttered a finally under her breath. "Let's go downstairs."

"It's time!" Peggy yelled to the house.

"I think we should sneak away again later," Catherine muttered against Gil's lips.

"I think we should, too."

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Catherine ran a hand through her daughter's long hair, happy she had let it grow out. This was probably the only public contact she knew her daughter didn't mind. She's always loved having her hair stroked, even as a baby.

She could hardly believe her daughter was already fourteen. Seemed like just yesterday they were coming home from the hospital. Trying to fight the tears in her eyes, she leaned over and placed a kiss on Lindsey's forehead.

She had taken the spot of Gil, who now sat at her feet, and Noreen now sat beside Lindsey. He listened to his mother and girlfriend converse amicably back and forth, never once slowing down. He looked to his right when he felt a hand on his shoulder, Lindsey moving off the couch and away from the conversation. He smiled, knowing what it was like to be caught between a conversation.

He moved to get up, getting immediate protest from the woman behind him.

"I was comfortable," she complained.

"You've been so quiet, Gil, even during gifts," Noreen mused, eyeing her son suspiciously.

"Who can get a word in edgewise between you two?" he laughed. He sat in front of them on a wooden coffee table. "You know, when you two first met, I was incredibly nervous."

Why?" Catherine wondered.

"Well, mom, you're the most amazing woman I've ever know. Cath, I've never known anyone like you. Somehow, I feel like I've known you forever. I guess what I'm trying to say here…"

"What?" Catherine asked suspiciously.

Catherine's interested stare looked back at him as well as his mother's confused look.

"What are you doing for the rest of you life?"

He heard two gasps when he reached in his pocket.

"Oh, my god," both women said when he pulled out a red leather box.

He took Catherine's left hand in his, holding open the box to reveal a diamond ring.

"Will you marry me?"

A silence went around the whole room but it wasn't noticeable to the couple. They saw only each other. He could see the answer in her eyes; now he just had to wait for her to say it.

"Yes!" she finally managed, tears stinging her eyes. "Of course yes!"

They didn't even register the applause or cheers of his, now her family. As soon as he slipped on the ring, they were too long gone. He didn't care his entire family was watching; he kissed her as passionately as he could, while still being mindful of the young ones in the room.

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She couldn't stop kissing him. She didn't want to. He tasted and felt too good to let go.

Her arms wrapped themselves tighter around his neck, staying warm and wanting to feel more of him. His hand made their way under her coat and grazed her hips. She pulled away faster than he could act.

"Your hands are cold," she explained at his questioning look.

A mischievous smile grew on his face. "Then perhaps I'd better warm them up."

"What are you… Gil!" She tried to jump away but he held his cold hands on her lower back, keeping her pressed firmly to him. "That's mean, Gil. Your hands are freezing."

"How about I warm them up on you later?" Will you forgive me then?"

She smiled. "Definitely."

"You know, I have Lindsey's permission to move in now," he told her.

"Good because after this, I am definitely never letting you go home again. Unless I'm with you of course."

"I practically live with you now anyway, as Lindsey pointed out."

"I know and you would officially have lived there long before that but I had to be sure this was actually going somewhere," she explained, a sad expression on her face.

"I know, I understand," he expressed.

"I knew from the first day though," she was quick to say. "I knew, or rather hoped, it would lead down this track."

"The first day all those years ago or the first day last year?" he teased her. Her pointed look changed his mind. He kissed her on the top of her nose. "I knew it, too."

She felt relived when he said that, she always had those feelings but she was never sure if he felt the same way. He used to be married to his job, used to spend all his time working, and while she may have changed him, his job still meant everything to him. At least she thought it did.

If she would have thought about it more, she would have realized that he had actually spent less time at work than ever before. He tried not to work every weekend. He actually stayed home on his days off. She knew he had changed. She just hadn't realized how much yet.

"I'll never understand why you do that," she said to him of the kiss he had just placed on her nose. "Give me a real kiss."

"That is a real kiss," he chuckled. "Just because a kiss isn't placed on the lips doesn't mean it's not real."

"I know, believe me. But right now, I want a kiss on my lips." She pulled him to her by the lapels of his coat. She was happy to feel his hands had warmed up when she felt them move higher as his lips touched hers.

He nipped at her lower lips, an action by him she loved. She moaned deeply when he gently but down on her kips. She gladly returned the fervor of his kiss, her hands holding his head stationary.

"See, now that's a real kiss," she hoarsely said after they pulled apart.