Two days later...
Steve woke up and Catherine was no longer in bed and Lyla was sleeping in the rollaway bed next to his bed.
"Good morning, Miss Willys. Have you seen Catherine?" Steve asked as he entered the kitchen.
"Good morning, boss. Yes, she was the one who opened the door for me when I arrived. She left and asked me to tell you that she will be back soon. She's nice, I liked her," Rose replied. Rose was the children's nanny since Don was born.
"Thanks. But has she been gone long?" Steve asked.
"It's been over an hour, boss. It's already nine o'clock, I was wondering if I should wake you or not to go to work."
"I'm late, but it's okay. Don and Caroline aren't up yet either?"
"Don's on the beach and Caroline hasn't left her room yet," Rose replied.
"Okay," Steve replied. He went out to the porche while Rose set the table for breakfast. Catherine arrived five minutes later and parked beside Steve's car. He walked to her car and saw three large suitcases in the car. Steve wondered if she was leaving.
"What happened? Why did you leave so soon?" He asked.
Catherine got out of the car and smiled at him. "Well, you didn't invite me to live with you, but I came anyway."
Steve smiled and hugged her. " I wanted to invite you to live with me from day one, but I didn't have the courage to invite you to join this family that's a mess."
"Well, I'm bringing someone else into this mess, so I need to get everything in order before the baby comes." Catherine replied.
"I will love having you by my side every day," Steve kissed her at length and they were interrupted by Lyla who ran out the door of the room. " Cath! Cath, Cath! "
Catherine smiled as she saw her running. Lyla approached and Catherine held her in her lap. "What happened, honey?"
"I thought you were gone," Lyla replied and hugged Catherine.
"I just went to get my things, my dear. Daddy will take my bags inside."
Steve took Catherine's bags to their room and then joined Lyla and Catherine for breakfast.
"Don said he's not hungry, I'll call Caroline," Rose told Steve and Catherine.
"Thank you, Rose," Catherine replied with a smile.
Caroline sat next to Lyla for breakfast. "Good morning," she said to her sister, father, and stepmother.
"Good morning, child," Steve told her.
"Are you okay? You look so pale," Catherine told her.
"I'm fine," Caroline replied. Catherine realized she was not well, but she couldn't imagine why.
"Steve, after lunch I'll hand over the house keys. Can I take Lyla with me?" Catherine asked.
"Of course you do, Cath."
Catherine looked at Caroline. "You can come with us too if you want."
"No, thank you." Caroline was very sad and discouraged.
"All right, but let me know if you change your mind," Catherine replied.
After breakfast, Steve went to work and Catherine stayed home. She helped Rose and put the laundry to wash and tidied up her room and Steve and asked Caroline to tidy up her room.
"Why?" Caroline asked.
"Because Rose is a certain age. She's taken care of you since you were born, tidying up your room now that she's old is the least you can do."
Caroline didn't like the idea much, but she did what Catherine asked. Catherine made the same request to Don and gave him the same explanation she gave Caroline.
"Okay. That's fair," he replied and surprised Catherine.
"Thank you, Don. I missed you at breakfast."
"I wasn't hungry," he replied.
"All right. There will be other opportunities," Catherine told him.
After lunch, Catherine left with Lyla and Steve waiting for them at the door. He had returned from work a little earlier.
Catherine and Lyla arrived with the same hairstyle, a bun on top of their head and sunglasses.
"Wow! How elegant!" Steve said when he saw them. "I was worried."
"I'm so sorry, Steve. We went to the hair salon, walked along the beach, had ice cream and went to buy the new bikini she asked me for," Catherine explained.
"Look at my hair, Daddy, it looks just like Cath's," Lyla told Steve.
"You look beautiful, darling," Steve replied.
"I'm gonna show my new bikini and my glasses to Carol."
"Go on," Steve told her.
"Sorry we took so long, Steve. We had fun and Lyla needed a lighter environment. You may not realize it, but she pays attention to everything that happens in this house and it doesn't do her any good."
"It's okay, Cath. No need to apologize." Steve hugged her really tight. " I just missed you, and I knew you'd take good care of Lyla."
"Thank you for trusting me," Catherine replied.
At dinner time, the family was reunited and Steve told the children that Catherine was living with them from that day on.
"Yay!" Lyla celebrated and stood on the chair and hugged Catherine.
Catherine kissed Lyla's cheek and smiled. "Thank you, dear."
Don stood up and Steve tried to stop him. "You're not finished eating."
"I lost my appetite," Don replied and went to his room.
"What about you, Carol?" Steve asked.
"It's all right, Dad."
"You barely ate either," Steve told her.
"My stomach has been hurting lately and I'm not hungry," the girl replied.
"Really? We need to go to the doctor, Caroline. I can take you to the doctor tomorrow," Catherine offered to help.
"Okay," Caroline replied.
Steve tried to talk to Don a few minutes later, but Don wouldn't listen.
Half an hour later the children's uncle, Steve's former brother-in-law, arrived to pick up Don.
"Pick up Don? Why?" Steve asked.
"I came at the request of my mother, Steve. Don called her and said he wanted to spend a few days at her house."
"Okay," Steve replied, and then Don came downstairs with a big suitcase and left with his uncle without explaining himself to his father.
"Is that really what you're going to do, Don? You're leaving home?"
Don ignored him and left with his uncle.
The next day, Catherine dressed to take Caroline to the doctor, but the girl refused to go. "I'm better, Catherine. Please let me stay home."
"All right, Caroline. But we'll need to go if the symptoms return."
"All right, Catherine."
Catherine dismissed Rose from house duty and told her to return only the first business day after the New Year. "I have a gift for you, Rose," Catherine delivered a package to her.
"Oh, thank you, Catherine." Rose opened the package and there was a beautiful dress inside it."
"Well, you told me you're getting engaged, so I thought you could wear this dress on occasion, if you want, of course."
"I'm getting engaged at 60, do you believe that?" Rose said and smiled.
"There's no age for love, Rose. Get engaged, get married and be very happy. Have a great New Year," Catherine hugged her and Rose thanked her again.
Steve was upset because Don was at his grandparents' house and he was adamant. She then thought it would be nice to spend New Year's Eve elsewhere.
"What is it, Cath?" Steve asked when she handed him the reservation papers at the hotel.
"I've booked a suite for the four of us at this hotel for New Year's Eve. We'll be able to watch the fireworks, I think it'll be cool."
"That must have been expensive, Cath," Steve said.
"Yes, it wasn't cheap, but we and the girls deserve it," Catherine replied.
Catherine looked at Caroline and Lyla. "How about packing, girls?"
"Come on Lyla!" Caroline got excited and called her sister.
Steve stood there with the papers in hand. Catherine hugged him by the waist. " I know you're upset about Don again, but don't let it spoil the new year's arrival with your daughters."
"I won't," he replied and kissed her. "Happy New Year, Cath. I don't know what I'd do without you."
"Happy New Year, sailor. New Year, new life and together."
PS: Thank you for the reviews and Incentives. Happy 2022!"
