Chapter 6

A loud crash of thunder startled Alison awake. She looked over at the window, watching the sky turn white with lightning as heavy rain pelted the glass.

She soon heard the pitter patter of little feet running down the hallway. Within seconds, the bedroom door opened and Katrina ran in.

"Mommy! I'm scared!" she whispered in a small, frightened voice.

Alison was used to this. Ever since Katrina could climb out of her crib, she'd come sleep in their bed during scary thunderstorms.

"It's okay, sweetie," Alison said softly. "Climb in."

Katrina climbed up on the bed, her teddy bear in hand, and slid under the covers between her parents.

Rafe turned over, suddenly realizing there was a third person in the room. "What's the matter?"

"She's just afraid of the storm."

Satisfied that nothing was seriously wrong, Rafe rolled back over to his side of the bed and fell back asleep.

Katrina nestled herself against her mother. She felt much better now.

"Bernie was afraid too, Mommy," she whispered, holding her bear close to her.

"Well you'll both be safe here," Alison promised.

"Mommy?"

"Mmm hmm?"

"Are the angels bowling upstairs?"

Alison laughed. "Where did you hear that from? Daddy?"

"One time it was thundering real bad and he said thunder was nothing to be scared of. It was just the angels in heaven bowling. And that they'd make lightning whenever they got a strike."

Alison laughed again. "Well it sure does sound like they're bowling."

"But it's still scary sounding."

"Well the storm will pass. Now go to sleep. It's late."

"Okay. Goodnight, Mommy."

"Goodnight."

"Goodnight, Daddy." Katrina looked over to her father, but he only responded by snoring softly. Katrina giggled.

Just then, a bright streak of lightning lit up the sky. Katrina closed her eyes as tight as she could, trying to block out the light.

Alison touched her soft hair, then gave her forehead a kiss. And after a little while, her little girl was finally asleep again.

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Rafe smiled as he watched them both sleep. He half remembered Katrina coming into their room at night. He knew at some point it had been storming so he supposed she must have been frightened.

Rafe leaned over and kissed Alison on her temple. He then whispered in her ear. "Good morning."

Alison mumbled in her sleep.

Rafe kissed her again. "Wake up."

Alison slowly opened her eyes. She looked up at Rafe and smiled. "I like sleep, you know."

"I'm sorry. But you just looked so beautiful. I had to kiss you."

Alison smiled. "You smell good."

Rafe laughed. "I just got out of the shower."

Alison propped herself up on her elbow, looking down at Katrina. She loved watching her sleep. She was definitely a very energetic child, a trait she was sure she had inherited somewhere from the Kovich family, mainly Lucy. But it was times like these where she was so quiet and peaceful, sleeping like she hadn't slept in a week, that she loved. And that trait, she was positive came from her.

Alison ran her hand along Katrina's head, smoothing her soft blonde hair.

"Guess we need to get her up and dressed soon," Rafe said. "Did you know she wanted to wear her pink tutu to daycare yesterday?"

"That's why you need to let me help her dress!" Alison laughed. "You didn't let her, did you?"

"No, of course not. Although she did make up a pretty convincing story about how you let her wear it to school sometimes."

Alison laughed. "She's thinking of dance class."

"Well she tried. So, shall we get her ready? If you want to get her dressed I'll give her a ride and you can get to work."

"Actually, I'm taking her to my grandmother's today."

"Oh?"

"Yeah. Nana said she wanted to spend some time with her."

Just then, the phone rang.

"Oh, get that!" Alison said excitedly, pointing to the phone. "That might be about the house!"

Rafe answered the phone. "Hello?...Yes, this is him...Okay, thank you." Rafe then hung up.

"Well? Who was it? Was it Kendra? Was it about the house?"

"No. It was Dr. Meyer's office, reminding us of Katrina's dentist appointment on Monday."

"Oh."

Rafe noticed the disappointment on her face.

"She'll call us today, right?" Alison asked. "I mean, she said she'd get back to us by the end of the week. Well, it's the end of the week."

"I'm sure we'll hear from her soon."

Alison sighed. "I hope so."

"Mommy?" Katrina said softly, stretching out her little arms and yawning as her eyes struggled to open.

"Good morning, sweetie." Alison leaned down, giving her daughter a kiss.

"Good morning, Princess."

Katrina looked up and smiled at her father. "Daddy, you snored."

Alison laughed. "It wasn't that bad, don't worry," she said to Rafe, seeing the look of surprise on his face.

"Hey! Where's Bernie?" Katrina sat up, looking around for her bear.

Rafe noticed something under the sheets. Reaching under, he grabbed the bear and brought it out. Then, putting on his best "bear voice," he made it talk. "I'm right here!"

Katrina looked at the bear and laughed. "Bernie!"

"Good morning, Katrina!"

"Hey, Bernie!"

Rafe started to hum as hemoved the bear, making it appear that he was dancing.

Katrina laughed and laughed. "Bernie, you're so silly!" Katrina grabbed her bear, hugging him tightly.

Rafe laughed, kissing his daughter on her cheek before he stood up. "Well, who's hungry?"

"Me! Me! Me!" Katrina said.

"Alison?"

"Five more minutes," she replied.

Rafe laughed. "Well alright then, let's go see if we can find something in the kitchen!" Rafe scooped Katrina up in his arms, carrying her out of the room.

Alison rested her head back onto her pillow, stretching out her arms and legs. She smiled as she could hear Katrina and Rafe talking in the other room.

Then she looked over to the phone, hoping it would ring soon with good news.

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"Keep your head up, Katrina!" Amanda called out as she watched a woman lead Katrina around the arena on her pony. "That's it! Wonderful, darling!"

"Nana?"

Amanda turned around, seeing Alison walking towards her.

"Hello, Alison."

"Gus said I'd find you out here."

"How are you, dear?"

"Fine. A little tired, but fine."

"And the baby?"

"He good," Alison said, patting her belly.

"Mommy!" Katrina called out, waving to her mother.

Alison waved back at her. "Who's that?" she asked, pointing to the woman. "You have new stable help?"

"Oh, that's Jessie Monroe. Wonderful young lady. She won the Rockford Equestrian Championship three times in a row. I've hired her to give Katrina private lessons," she announced proudly.

"Nana, what are you up to?"

"Well darling, if Katrina is going to compete in the New York Junior Equestrian Competition in two years, she'll need to be ready!"

Alison sighed. Somehow she had a feeling this would come up. "Nana, I want Katrina to ride horses because she loves them, not to win some competition. Besides, those things put all sorts of pressure on little kids. If she doesn't win, she'll be heartbroken and she'll never want to ride again."

"She won't be under any pressure!" Amanda insisted. "Why look at her! She's having fun. She wants to learn! And from the looks of things, she's a natural at it. The competition won't stand a chance!"

"I don't know."

Amanda turned to her granddaughter, frowning. "You want me to discontinue her lessons, don't you?"

"No. If she's having fun, I don't mind. And I do want her to properly learn how to ride a horse, because I want her to be safe. But the second she feels any pressure about competing, I'll pull her out so fast. I only want her to do what she feels comfortable doing. Alright, Nana?"

Amanda smiled. "Alright, dear. But I'm telling you, riding is in her blood! I won a couple of blue ribbons in my day. That was so long ago. I think I was fourteen."

"Mommy! Mommy!" Katrina came running to her mother, wrapping her arms around her, giving her legs a hug.

"Hey, baby. Well look at you! Where did you those clothes from?"

"Nana bought them for me!"

Alison turned to Amanda, giving her a suspicious look.

"Well, darling, she has to have proper riding clothes. You don't want her to dirty up her regular clothes now do you?"

"I suppose not. They do look cute on her."

Katrina heard Jessie walking toward them. She ran over to her, taking her hand and leading her over to where they stood. "Mommy, this is Jessie!"

"Hello," Jessie said, extending her hand to Alison. "You must be Alison."

"Yes, it's nice to meet you."

"You have a lovely daughter."

Alison smiled. "Thank you."

"Jessie says I have po, po, po..." Katrina looked up at Jessie for help.

"Potential," she said with a laugh.

"Potential!" Katrina said to her mother proudly. Then she looked up at Jessie, giving her a very confused look. "What's potential?"

"It means you're off to a great start!" Jessie said as she gave Katrina's nose a tap with her finger.

"Mommy, do we have to go now? Please can I stay longer? Please?"

"Five more minutes, okay? But then we got to go because Daddy is at home waiting for us and Mommy is getting really hungry."

Jessie gave Katrina a smile. "That's just enough time to go around one more time!"

"Yay! Let's go!" Katrina grabbed Jessie's hand, eager to ride around one more time.

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"Daddy! We're home!" Katrina announced, bursting into the front door and running into the living room.

Rafe walked out into the room, smiling. "Hello, Princess!" Rafe bent down, giving her a kiss on top of her head as she raced to her bedroom.

Alison trailed behind, closing the front door as she walked into the house.

"I'm so glad you're home!" Rafe said.

Alison gave him a smile. "Me too." She walked over to him, greeting him with a soft kiss. She then looked up at Rafe, giving him a suspicious look. "Do I smell smoke?"

"Oh, I burnt dinner," Rafe announced, in a strangely happy mood.

Alison's voice rose sharply. "What?"

"Don't worry, it's okay."

Alison's temper changed drastically. "Rafe! I asked you to do ONE simple thing! Just ONE! How hard is cooking dinner? I told you I'd be STARVING by the time I got home and you burnt it!"

"I got distracted by a phone call."

"That's no excuse! I cook and talk on the phone all the time!"

Rafe started to laugh. He had no idea that Alison would be so angry over dinner. Who could ever predict the current mood of a pregnant woman? But he knew she wouldn't be angry for long.

"What are you laughing so hard about?" she demanded.

"I was just thinking of how if you could just give me a minute to explain, you wouldn't be so upset."

"Well? I'm listening."

"Yes, I burnt dinner. And I'm sorry. It was my fault. I was distracted by the phone. But I thought instead, we could go out for dinner. We have some celebrating to do."

"What are we celebrating?"

Rafe grinned widely. "How about our new house?"

"Our new what?"

"Our new house! Kendra called. She said our offer was accepted! The house is ours!"

"Oh my god! Really!" Alison smile retuned. She'd already forgotten about dinner.

"Yes! Really! It's all ours!"

Rafe laughed as Alison ran into his arms, kissing and hugging him in her excitement.

"When can we move in?" Alison asked.

"As soon as you want to move in!"

"I want to move in as soon as possible!"

"Then soon it is!" Rafe laughed, kissing her once again.

"Hey! I'm huuuuuunnnggrrry!" Katrina called out.

Rafe and Alison stopped kissing and looked at Katrina.

Rafe gave her a smile. "Go put your shoes back on, Princess. We're going out tonight!"

"Alright!" she cheered, running back to her room.

"Now, where were we?" Rafe asked, turning his attention back to Alison.

Alison laughed and then kissed him again.