First Kiss
Catherine sighed and laid her head down. The case they were working on was grating on her nerves...or rather their only suspect was. They were already working well into the morning...it was already 10 a.m. A small boy had fallen down the stairs and died, and the only suspect was his father. He had definitely done it, but there was currently no proof.
"Cath?"
Catherine sat up and turned to Warrick who was looking at her worriedly. "Hey War," she said with a small smile.
He walked over and sat beside her. "Are you okay?" he asked carefully.
Catherine looked at a school picture of the dead boy. "I don't understand why anyone would want to hurt a child," she finally said, "And he's so cute and looks so much like his father."
Warrick sat there for a few seconds before putting his arms around her. "People are stupid, Cath. They usually don't see how good they have it. I did find a motive though."
Catherine sat back. "What is it?" she asked.
"Money. After his wife died, an insurance policy was drawn up for both Mr. Carter and the son. No one thought much of it since he had one drawn up for himself too, but the one for the little boy was so much that I'm thinking that's why he did it."
"We have no proof," Catherine said gloomily.
"We do though," Sara said from the doorway. Catherine and Warrick looked over at her. "The coroner's report. He didn't fall down the stairs until after he had already died."
"Dead bodies don't fall," Warrick said. "What was the cause of death?"
"He was hit in the back of the neck with enough force to sever the spine."
Catherine's cell phone rang. "Go back to the crime scene and find out what the weapon was," she answered before answering her phone.
Sara left, but Warrick stayed behind to see what was up. Catherine looked pretty angry. "What's going on?" he asked when she was finished with the phone call.
"Lindsey was caught with a boy in the janitor's closet," she answered testily.
Warrick's jaw dropped. "No way." Catherine nodded. "I'm coming with you."
"No. You bring Mr. Carter in and keep him here until Sara can prove that he did it."
Warrick glared at her retreating back as he called Brass. "Yeah. Bring Mr. Carter back in. Getting the proof right now." He hung up and stood there for a minute. He was going to kill Lindsey and whatever boy she was currently dating.
Lindsey knew she was in trouble by the look on her mom's face. Catherine was livid. Thankfully, the principal called them in before Catherine could get a word in edgewise.
"Mrs. Willows," Principal Flanery said, "Lindsey was found in a janitor's closet with a boy, as you know."
Catherine glared at Lindsey. "Yes. What exactly was she doing?"
"I asked her that. She said that they were kissing. Then she said that there wasn't enough room for them to do much else."
Lindsey looked at her mom's hands. It looked like she was about to claw through the leather. "Can I please have a few minutes alone with my daughter?" Catherine asked with barely controlled anger.
Lindsey was quite dismayed when the principal complied. When they were alone, Lindsey turned to Catherine. "Let me explain," she said quickly.
"How are you going to explain this?" Catherine demanded. "Why--What were you--" She stopped and took a deep breath. "One chance. Explain what happened."
"My new boyfriend, Will, said he wanted to talk to me and suggested the janitor's closet. Mrs. Hayes opened the door just as he kissed me. She sent us to the office. Principal Flanery was yelling at me so I snapped and said what I said." She raised her chin defiantly. "We weren't really doing anything wrong."
Catherine pinched the bridge of her nose. "So you were only kissing?" Lindsey nodded.
"There wasn't even any tongue," she insisted.
Catherine cleared her throat. "Right, but you're still going to take any punishment he gives you and you're not to argue."
"Mom--"
"Lindsey, I'm serious. You brought this upon yourself."
The look on Lindsey's face could only be described as down-right petulant. Principal Flannery stuck his head into the office. "Are you finished?"
"Yes," Catherine said with a final warning look at Lindsey.
The man came back in and sat down at his desk. "A line was--"
He was cut off when his office door opened and Warrick stepped in. "Sorry I'm late," Warrick said appologetically. "I was a little held up at work."
Lindsey covered her face to hide her humiliation. Catherine managed to contain any confusion she felt. "This is Warrick Brown. He's..." she trailed off.
"My new dad apparently," Lindsey said under her breath but still loud enough for everyone in the room to hear.
Warrick was unphased. "What action is being taken for this incident?" he asked without looking at Lindsey.
"In School Suspension for three days and a one-page essay over the rules that were broken today," Principal Flannery said, thinking that the punishment was fair.
Catherine was satisified, Lindsey was horrified, and Warrick was outraged. "That's it?" All eyes in the room went to him. "She," Warrick pointed to Lindsey, "was caught in a janitor's closet with a boy. I think they should be...locked in empty rooms on the opposite sides of school!"
Catherine cleared her throat. "Could you excuse us for a few minutes? We apparently need to talk about this."
By Principal Flannery's wide eyes, he agreed. "Just-Just tell me wh-when you're through," he said, edging around Warrick. Warrick looked like someone just killed his favorite animal.
"What is wrong with you?" Lindsey and Catherine exploded at the same time.
There was an awkward moment before Warrick responded. "Hey! I didn't do anything wrong. I didn't kiss anyone in a janitor's closet today!"
"No, you have the breakroom for that," Lindsey retorted angrily. Where did Warrick getting off trying to force the already evil principal to give her worse punishment? Really!
"Lindsey--"
"No!" Lindsey said tersely. "Neither of you are allowed to yell at me or give me the third degree. You used to take your clothes off for a living, and, Warrick, you're not my father. Nothing bad happened today. A teacher walked in at a compromising moment and assumed the worst. And that's exactly what you two did!" She wiped the tears that leaked out. "Why can't you just trust me?"
Warrick felt like the dirt under-foot. Catherine wasn't going to let guilt get in the way though. "Because we know what it's like to be teenagers. I don't want you to have to learn the hard way like I did. Wait until you're ready to have that first kiss, that first moment. Lindsey, there's plenty of temptations now days. Just because there was nothing going on this time doesn't mean that next time there won't be. You're the daughter, I'm the mother." Warrick opened his mouth but when Catherine glared at him, he shut it. "Warrick isn't your father and he's not trying to be. He's looking out for you like one should, but he's not."
Lindsey glared at her, trying to find a loophole somewhere in her mom's reasoning. "Just because you did bad things when you were a teenager doesn't mean I'm going to. I'm not like you."
"And that's a good thing," Catherine said firmly. "I'm just saying that this punishment is fair enough, but we're going to discuss it more at home."
Warrick glanced at Catherine to make sure that she wasn't going to cut him off again. She wasn't. "I'm sorry for assuming the worst, Lindsey. It's just...I remember you when you were little bitty and now you're getting caught in closets with boys." He shrugged apologetically.
Catherine was disgusted when Lindsey's face softened. She was obviously still angry with Catherine, but as soon as Warrick apologized and turned on the puppy-dog eyes, all was forgiven. "Lindsey, tell Principal Flannery we're ready to continue." She glared at Warrick while Lindsey sullenly did as she was told. "Thanks a lot for selling me out," she whispered.
"I didn't sell you out. I just apologized," Warrick said quietly.
Catherine and Warrick stood there while Principal Flannery re-explained the punishment to Lindsey. She took the punishment without protest, and followed Warrick and Catherine out of the office. "I'll see you after school," Catherine said, kissing Lindsey on the cheek.
Lindsey glared at her and hugged Warrick. "Bye 'Rick."
Out in the parking lot, Catherine hit Warrick in the arm. "Hey!" he protested. "It's not my fault I'm a likeable person. You know teenagers hate their parents! I'm just not her parent, that's all."
"It's still not fair."
Warrick laughed as he pulled Catherine into his arms. "It'll be okay. We'll talk about it tonight and have a laugh."
Catherine pushed her cold nose in the crook of Warrick's warm neck. "Yeah right. Lindsey isn't going to forgive me that easily. She'll pout and eat in her room until I get ready to go to work and then she'll ask to stay the night somewhere. I'll refuse because it's a school night and she'll have another reason to be mad at me until tomorrow after school when she crawls into bed beside me."
Warrick kissed the top of Catherine's head. It saddened him that Catherine had the routine down. "I have an idea."
"Tell me about it when we get to my house," Catherine said softly. Warrick pulled away and raised his eyebrows. "Haha. Not like that. I'm tired and I can tell you are too. What happened with the case?"
"The leg of the coffee table. It was easy to get a confession after that so I wasn't needed anymore." He leaned down and kissed Catherine softly. "We don't kiss in the breakroom, but it's not a bad idea."
"Shut up." Catherine playfully pushed him away and opened her car door. Warrick pinned her against the open door and pretended to bite her neck. "We're in a junior high parking lot, Warrick," she said, making no move to push him away.
Warrick kissed her one last time before pulling away. "Meet you at your house?" he asked. She nodded and shut the door before Warrick could change his mind. He was a very distracting man.
Warrick pulled up at Catherine's house at the same time she did. At the door, she could barely get the key in the lock when Warrick pulled her against him and started kissing her neck. Inside, she pushed him against the closed door and they had a rather lengthy makeout session.
When Warrick started inching his hands up the front of her shirt, Catherine pulled away. "Wait. We can't do this now," she said breathlessly.
Warrick moved his hands back down to her waist. "What's wrong?"
Catherine leaned her head against his chest and tried to regain her equilibrium. "I--" She sighed. "I know it's going to sound stupid, but I don't want to rush into things. I don't want to just have sex with you." She wouldn't look at him, but he could tell she was embarrassed by how her ears reddened.
Warrick gently pushed her chin up and looked into her eyes. "I understand," he said softly. "I'm not going to push you into anything until both of us are absolutely ready, okay?"
Catherine nodded. "Come on. We've got about four hours to get some shut eye before Lindsey comes in, trying her hardest to wake us up without actually making it known."
Warrick felt a little awkward slipping into bed with Catherine. He held her in his arms and it felt so right. "This evening we'll have dinner at my place," he said decisively, having forgoten about his "idea" from before.
"Great," Catherine said sleepily.
Warrick smiled as he pulled her closer. They drifted to sleep in each other's arms.
Lindsey came in at about four and tossed her bag on the dining room table. She stomped through the house and slammed her door. After a few minutes of quiet, she slammed back out of her room and stomped to the living room and turned the tv up really loudly. Why should she be lectured about being caught in a janitor's closet with a boy when her mom and Warrick where probably shacking up? When no one came out to yell at her, Lindsey got a little frustrated and threw her mom's door open.
"Go away, Lindsey," Warrick said sleepily. "We're tired."
Lindsey stood at the door and glared at the fully clothed forms. So they weren't shacking up; they were just sleeping. "I hate school," she announced.
"Get out," Warrick ordered crossly. Living off only a couple of hours of sleep per day made him cranky.
"You're not the boss of me," Lindsey said.
Catherine sighed. "We'll be up in a little while. Just give us an hour."
"Leave the door open," Lindsey said patronizingly. She walked away with a satisfied grin on her face. That should leave them pretty angry for a while.
"She treats us like teenagers," Warrick mumbled.
"Yeah," Catherine said, sinking once more into the comfort of his embrace. "We have an hour so let's make the most of it."
Warrick's dirty mind went through the things that they could do in an hour. He groaned. "I need to get home," he said hoarsely.
Catherine sat up on her elbow and looked at him. "You're a bad bad man, Warrick Brown," she said with a lazy smile. "An hour to sleep. Just pretend Lindsey hadn't just came barging in."
She turned over on her back so that her hair was spread out on the pillow. "Right. Sleep," Warrick said.
It wasn't that hard to get back to sleep, but an hour later, Lindsey turned the stereo on full blast. "Time to get up," Catherine groaned.
"Yeah," Warrick agreed. Neither made a move to actually get up though. Finally Warrick sighed. "Be at my place in an hour." He got up and kissed Catherine soundly before walking into the living room. "Lindsey, be nice to your mom." He kissed the top of her head and left.
Lindsey smirked to herself. Not a chance.
Later that evening, Catherine and Lindsey walked into Warrick's apartment arguing about whether or not Lindsey should be allowed to stay the night at her friend, Brooke's, house. "No," Catherine said with finality.
Lindsey pouted and noticed her surroundings. It seemed like a very romantic atmosphere, with many candles and the smell of good food. "Warrick!" she yelled. There was no way he could be planning something romantic with her there, right?
Warrick walked out of the kitchen drying his hands with a dish towel. "Are you ready to eat?" he asked.
Catherine stood still while he lightly kissed her. "What's going on?" she asked.
"I just thought it would be nice to sit down to a good home cooked dinner together," Warrick said. "But I should warn you: there will be no fighting at the dinner table. We can discuss the day's events, but the voice level better not get above normal." He directed that last statement toward Lindsey.
"What will you do if it does? Spank me?" Lindsey demanded. He stared at her and she felt like maybe she crossed a line. "Sorry," she muttered.
Catherine rolled her eyes. How did Warrick do that? He made Lindsey apologize with a single look! "Okay. We both agree. What smells so good?"
Warrick smiled. "Sit down at the dinner table." There wasn't actually a dinner table, but the coffee table was covered with a white table cloth and set like one. Catherine and Lindsey took their seats on the floor while Warrick brought out the food.
"I thought you said home cooked," Lindsey said with a smirk.
Warrick shrugged and put the family sized bucket of Kentucky Fried Chicked in the middle of the table. "I made everything else," he said seriously as he went back into the kitchen to bring out the rest of the food.
The rest consisted of mashed potatoes, gravy, corn, and macaroni and cheese. "Warrick, this macaroni is gross," Lindsey said.
Catherine glared at her daughter even though she silently agreed. There was no doubt that Warrick had fixed the rest of the food himself.
"Have you even heard of butter?" Lindsey asked.
"Lindsey, stop!" Catherine ordered.
"Voice, Catherine," Warrick reminded her. "I like the macaroni, but everyone tells me it sucks so it doesn't matter. Eat it or don't."
"She'll eat it," Catherine said, giving Lindsey a warning look.
Which she took no heed to. "No, I won't," Lindsey said.
"So Lindsey, do you want to stay here for the night?" Warrick asked quickly.
Both females looked over at him like he was insane. "Hey, don't look at me like that. The woman in the apartment next door has a daughter a little older than her and said she would be happy to get Lindsey to school if we weren't here in time. Lindsey can have the apartment to herself and still have someone keeping and eye on her."
Catherine was dubious, but Lindsey was excited. "Come on, mom! Please?" Even though she knew it hardly helped, she made her eyes wide and looked as cute and innocent as possible.
Catherine glanced at Warrick and was dismayed when she saw him giving her the same look. "It's fine with me, but you had better be in bed at a decent time. I don't want you to get in any more trouble at school."
"Yes, no more sneaking into janitor's closets or bathrooms or locker rooms or empty classrooms with any boys," Warrick said, "I don't care how innocent it was. Next time, I'll kill you and him."
"Right," Lindsey said flatly. Warrick would never harm a single hair on her head and she knew it. "I'm sorry for the way I talked to you earlier." Neither adult was sure who she was talking to so they stayed quiet. "Mom, I know you're just trying to look out for me, but I know right from wrong."
Catherine looked down at her plate and sighed. "I know, but there are things that people will try to push you into, especially boys..."
"A conversation better suited for another time," Warrick said quickly. "A time where I'm not in the vicinity."
Lindsey smiled mischeivously. "I dunno. I mean a girl needs to be educated..."
Warrick glared at her. "All you need to know is boys are scum. Every boy in your school is scum, all the male teachers are scum, I'm scum, Nick's scum, Grissom is scum." At the end of his little rant, Lindsey was doubled over in laughter and Catherine was smiling widely. "I'm not joking! Stay away from them or you'll probably catch some kind of infection!"
Lindsey tried to keep a straight face long enough to say something witty, but she couldn't so she just laughed. "I don't think she's taking this seriously," Warrick said flatly.
"I think you may be right," Lindsey mocked.
Catherine smiled. "You take Lindsey home to get her stuff and I'll take a nap."
"That's not fair," Warrick protested. He didn't mind; he just wanted to give her greif.
"You suggested it, you take her," Catherine countered, taking her plate into the kitchen to the sink.
Lindsey grinned at him. "Let's go, buddy-o."
"Okay," Warrick said morosely.
Catherine rolled her eyes when Warrick kissed her on the cheek. "Stop pretending," she said, "You know you wanted to take her. I just gave you the perfect opportunity." She kissed him full on the mouth. "Go."
Warrick groaned. "See you when we get back." He hated when she kissed him like that then acted innocent. She had to know what she did to him.
In the car, Lindsey turned down the radio and stared at Warrick until he glance at her. "What?" he said.
"You're a good guy," she said.
"Thanks for telling me that. I was starting to doubt myself," Warrick joked.
Lindsey grinned. "I know I might have hurt your feelings earlier today--"
"You didn't hurt my feelings," Warrick protested. Way to cut a man off at the knees!
She continued as if he hadn't interrupted. "But I was just a little mad. This thing tonight was great. I love mom, but talking to her after a big fight is hard. Usually she ignores me so I stay in my room. When I try to make it easier on her and ask to stay the night somewhere else when she goes to work, she doesn't let me. Then she'll get mad at me for something else. We usually make up the next day though. Tonight she wasn't mad at me and we were able to have a civil meal together."
Warrick was trying not to laugh. Catherine and Lindsey had such different views on their fights. Catherine thought Lindsey was mad at her and Lindsey thought Catherine was mad at her. It was pretty funny. "That's me, keeper of the peace between the Willows women."
When they got to their house, Lindsey quickly ran in and got her stuff. The ride back to Warrick's apartment was comfortable and they danced and laughed at the music on the radio.
Warrick walked in first. Catherine had cleaned the dinner dishes and put the left overs away. The candles were all blown out and Catherine was asleep on the couch. "Looks like mom cleaned up," Lindsey said, tossing her backpack underneath the coffee table.
"Yeah," Warrick said softly. He got those home-y feelings when Catherine did things like that. It was difficult to keep his happiness from over-flowing when he got those feelings.
"Ew," Lindsey said, bringing Warrick out of his thoughts. "You have that mushy, I'm-about-to-declare-my-undying-love look on your face."
Warrick glared at the teen. When he felt those feelings, Lindsey sure knew how to keep him grounded. "Go do something in the other room," he ordered.
Lindsey pretended to gag. "Behave yourself. You both need to be at work soon."
Warrick sat on the couch beside Catherine when he was sure Lindsey was out of the room. He grinned to himself and slowly slid his hand up Catherine's blouse. His grin widened when Catherine grabbed his hand. "Warrick," she said warningly, without opening her eyes.
"I was just playing. It's not like I would've actually done it," he lied. His hand was splaid across her flat stomach and he started tickling her.
Catherine's eyes snapped open. "Warrick!" She pushed his hand away and sat up. After a few moments of silence, Catherine stood up and stretched.
"Is it safe to come out now?" Lindsey called. "Are you two decent?"
"No!" Warrick yelled back. He sat back on the couch and smiled when Catherine glared at him.
"Yeah, Lindsey, we're decent," she countered. She glanced at her watch. "And we've gotta go." She kissed Lindsey. "Be good and don't stay up late. I love you."
"I love you too, mom," Lindsey said. She slapped Warrick on the back. "I would just like to say that my principal blames my actions on poor parenting."
Both adults froze and turned to Lindsey. "Excuse me?" Catherine said.
Lindsey was grinning. "He saw you two making out in the parking lot."
"Why are you just telling us this now?" Warrick asked suspiciously.
"I didn't remember until earlier when I was talking to Warrick in the car. Next time, if you really want to be all serious about the punishments and stuff, go somewhere private to makeout."
Catherine just stood there in a shocked sort of silence. Warrick winked at Lindsey and took Catherine's arm. "Come on, Cath. We're gonna be late to work."
Lindsey went into Warrick's room as soon as they were gone and put in a movie. Being independent was great!
A/N: I wanted to sort of relay the teen and parent's side of the story. Catherine and Warrick are getting more involved and Lindsey's getting in more trouble...