Disclaimer: Not mine. That sucks.
A/N: Thanks to Cropper for the beta. This is what happens when she holds the Red Pen of Death.
The Long Road
Chapter 13
After picking Lindsay up from Kaitlyn's house, Catherine stopped by the grocery store to pick up a few things for dinner. Knowing what lay ahead put a knot of dread in the pit of her stomach but she was determined to stand firm. All she could do at this point was wait and hope for the best.
"What's wrong, mom?" Lindsay asked, giving her a puzzled look.
Catherine's response was quick, her voice rising with her nervousness, "Nothing. Everything's fine." She turned to give her daughter a look that she hoped passed for innocent.
Lindsay studied her silently before turning her head to stare out the window of the car. When they pulled into the driveway, Catherine could have sworn she heard a groan of disappointment from Lindsay. Casting a curious glance the girl's way she turned off the car and got out. They unloaded the bags and carried them into the house. While Catherine began putting the groceries away, Lindsay took her backpack into her room. She reappeared a few minutes later, dressed in her favorite pajama pants.
"What's for dinner?"
Catherine smiled and said, "How about we grill some hamburgers?"
"Sweet! I'll go start the grill." Lindsay hurried outside.
Catherine began rolling out hamburger patties and laying them on a platter. She was in the process of seasoning them when Lindsay came back inside and said, "Is somebody coming over for dinner?"
"Huh?" Catherine mumbled, obviously distracted. "Why?"
"Well, either somebody is coming over or you're awfully hungry. We can't eat six hamburgers." Sarcasm dripped from her voice at Catherine's incomprehension.
"Oh." She shrugged and said, "Warrick's here."
"Where is he? His car's not out there."
"He's asleep. He had a rough day yesterday. He was in no shape to drive so Nick dropped him off. I'll wake him up in a little while." Catherine's reply was dismissive.
"Is he okay?" Lindsay's voice was worried, her eyes wide with concern. "Nothing happened to him did it?"
Catherine turned to look at her daughter. "He's fine, honey," she soothed. "He just didn't get much sleep yesterday and he was exhausted." Catherine didn't mention any of the events of the past two days. No sense in upsetting Lindsay for something that was over and done with.
When the grill was hot enough, Catherine turned over the cooking to Lindsay and went in to wake Warrick. Pushing the bedroom door open, she took a moment to study the man on the bed. He was sprawled out in the middle of the queen-sized mattress. One arm was over his head and the other was across his stomach. His legs were flung out and the thin sheet did nothing to hide his tumescence. His dark skin was a delightful contrast to the butter yellow sheets and Catherine had to stop herself from going over and crawling in beside him.
She felt tears prick the backs of her eyelids as she drank in his sheer physical beauty. That she loved him only intensified the attraction. She had found something with this man that she had not believed existed – acceptance. He knew her better than any other person on earth and he loved her anyway. Suddenly, she couldn't wait for him to wake up. She needed to look into his eyes and tell him her decision. She needed to feel his arms around her, feel his lips on hers. She wanted to run outside and shout to the world that she was going to marry the man she loved.
As if he could feel her gaze, Warrick's eyes fluttered open. "Hey," he mumbled in a voice sexily roughened by sleep.
"Hey, yourself." Catherine walked over and sat on the edge of the bed. "You feeling better?"
He nodded, studying her face. "Is Lindsay here?"
"Yeah. She's grilling hamburgers. I wanted you to have time to get dressed before dinner." She smiled when he shifted to lay his head in her lap.
"Do we have time for anything else?"
He grinned up at her and her breath caught in her throat. "You don't know how badly I wish we did. But there are some things we need to take care of first."
Warrick's smile faded. Closing his eyes, he huffed out a sigh and said, "Okay. I'll be done in a few minutes. Do I have any clean clothes here?"
Stroking a hand down his cheek she said, "Yeah. There are some jeans and a shirt in the closet and you have some underwear and socks in your drawer." Bending down she placed a soft kiss on his lips and said, "Don't be long."
When Warrick emerged half an hour later, dinner was ready and they immediately sat down to eat. Lindsay chattered about the movie she and Kaitlyn had watched. She was blissfully unaware of the tension between the two adults. Several times Catherine looked up to catch him watching her as if he could determine the outcome of their pending conversation just by looking into her eyes. Every time she caught his eye she gave him what she hoped was a reassuring smile.
Dinner seemed to last forever. The food on his plate smelled wonderful but tasted like cardboard. He ate because he didn't want Lindsay to ask any questions. He ate because it was what Catherine expected. Several times he had to stop himself from snapping, from demanding an answer. His palms were sweaty and his heart was racing. The hamburger was a solid lump in his belly. Just when he thought he couldn't take anymore Lindsay asked to be excused.
As soon as he heard the bedroom door close he looked up at Catherine and said, "I can't stand this."
She raised an eyebrow in question and allowed a soft smile to play around her lips. "What?"
With a growl of frustration, he said, "I just need to get it over with. Go ahead and tell me I was an idiot. Do something besides sit there like there's nothing going on."
Standing, Catherine picked up her plate and said, "Let's get these cleaned up. Then we'll talk."
Taking a deep breath in an effort to reign in his emotions, Warrick pushed back from the table and began gathering up the dirty dishes. They worked in tandem, each of them comfortable in the routine of cleaning up after a meal. When the counters were cleaned and the lights turned off, Catherine took his hand the led him to the living room.
She led him to the couch and tugged him down beside her. After a moment, she looked at him and said, "Yes."
Warrick sat in stunned silence, his eyes confused, his mouth hanging open. He swallowed with an audible gulp and whispered, "Yes?"
Catherine repeated, "Yes."
A slow smile spread across his face. His eyes clearly showed his transformation from confused to cautious to joyous. Then his lips were on hers and he was laughing into the kiss, pulling her to him, holding her tight.
Several sweet moments later he pulled away and said, "Should we tell Linds now?"
Catherine gave a quick shake of her head and replied, "We need to talk first."
Warrick's eyes grew wary, a frown tugging at the corners of his mouth. "Okay," he drawled. "Let's talk."
Catherine reached out and cupped his cheek in her hand. "You weren't the only one who was wrong yesterday. I should have handled it better."
Warrick reached up and held her palm against his cheek. He nuzzled into her softness before placing a lingering kiss on her skin. He pulled her hand from his face and held it captive between his. "You had every right to say no."
With a soft smile, she said, "Oh, I know that. I just should have taken a minute to tell you why first."
Raising her hand to his lips he brushed a kiss across her knuckles. "Would have been nice. But I wasn't in the mood to hear it. Can we just call it a draw?"
She grinned and nodded. "Yeah. I think it's safe to say we were both wrong." At his sigh of relief, she continued, "But there is one more thing I need to tell you."
The hesitancy in her voice told Warrick he wasn't going to like what she had to say. Slowly, he leaned back and scrubbed a hand over his face. When he opened his eyes he gave a soft chuckle and said, "Do you think we could skip this part?"
"No," she said softly. "I need to explain." She paused a moment, gathering her thoughts. "When you asked me to marry you the first thing I thought about was Tina. I thought about how I didn't want to be like her."
"You are nothing like her," Warrick said.
"I don't mean it that way and you know it." At his nod of agreement, she continued, "I don't want to be your next ex-wife. I want to be the last one." She chuckled and shrugged before saying, "That's why I want to wait a year."
The words seemed to suck all other sound from the room. Not even the whisper of a breath could be heard. Warrick searched Catherine's face, looking for any sign that she was joking. Realizing that she meant what she said he stood and walked over to stare out the window. After a few moments he said, "I don't want to wait a year."
Catherine stood and walked over to stand behind him. She slid her arms around his waist and rested her head against his back. "I don't want to wait either. But I need to know that you really want to be married to me. I couldn't stand it if you only proposed because of what happened." She gave him a gentle squeeze and continued, "Do this for me, please."
Warrick turned until he could look into her eyes. Slipping his arms around her, he nodded. "Okay. We'll do it your way. If you want to wait then we'll wait. A year won't change my mind."
"Thank you," she whispered just before his lips covered hers.
