Somebody That I Used To Know.
Chapter 5.
The next morning Mike left for N.A.V.C.O.M to discuss his new role. Dutchy wanted to make sure Kate was okay after an emotional night before, her placed a nervous smile on his face as she swung open the door holding Aria.
"Hey! Just wanted to see if you're okay."
Shaking her head, she walked away from the door, re-positioning Aria on the other hip.
"Dutchy, I'm fine!"
"No, I'm allowed to ask, Kate. You're going through a strange time, and I don't want to be responsible for..."
She turned to face him, raising a hand to stop his speech.
"Dutchy, it's fine, you helped."
She handed Aria to him and walked into the kitchen, he cautiously followed. There was silence as she prepared a bottle of formula, he sat Aria on the edge of the bench and poked his tongue out pulling funny faces trying to make her laugh. His eye caught the ring box sitting behind her on the bench, her reached over and grabbed, his eyes darted from the ring box to Kate's face.
"Did he?"
She froze seeing him holding the box, almost looking embarrassed, she nodded ever so slightly. He slowly placed the box back down, treating it like a ticking time bomb, and picked up Aria.
"Oh…"
Kate's brow furrowed as he walked around the kitchen trying to avoid her gaze.
"Oh? Is that all you have to say?"
He attempted to ignore her and focused his attention on Aria.
"I mean, just a strange time to do it, that's all."
She walked over to him and stood in his path, taking Aria from him, she sat on the couch and placed the bottle in her mouth.
"I didn't say yes…"
He sat beside her tilting his head, surprised by her answer.
"So you turned him down?"
"No, I just wanted to be more settled, that's all."
"So it's a, maybe?"
"Well, no, it's a yes but, not right now."
Dutchy didn't understand, to him it's either yes or no, for better or worse.
"Well, I'd better get out of your hair."
He pulled her in for a hug to disguise his dismay.
"Anyway, I just wanted to make sure you were okay, and that I didn't cause any more stress."
Dutchy rushed out the door, as he closed it and turned he was faced with Mike walking up the front path. He was like a deer in headlights, before he could say anything Mike wrapped his arm around him.
"Dutchy! Where are you off too in such a hurry?! Actually, I gotta thank you for getting her to talk, look I'm just back for a sec, but why don't you stay and hang out, might get her to open up more? I'm sure she'd love the company."
All he could do was nod and follow Mike back to the front door.
"Daddy's home!"
Mike leaned down, giving them both a kiss.
"And you'll be seeing a lot more of Daddy, they need me to start pretty much straight away!"
"Really?"
"Yep, didn't take much, I know they've been dying to get me on shore…"
Kate flinched as she spotted Dutchy hovering near the door.
"Oh Dutchy, you're back."
Mike pulled him further into the house.
"Yeah, I've gotta go back to the office, there's a couple of meetings Maxine wants me to be involved in if I'm going to be on shore. I just needed my laptop, but I thought you guys could keep each other company, you know Dutchy, you'll be a dad one day, get a bit of practice in…"
He gave Kate a kiss on the cheek and grabbed his laptop bag and left. Kate and Dutchy stood at a standstill, he cleared his throat breaking the silence.
"Ah, if you're busy I'll get out of your hair…"
Kate grabbed his arm stopping him, she couldn't help but feel he didn't want to be in her company.
"No, didn't you say Aria needs to get to know her Uncle Dutchy?"
He sighed and turned to face her.
"Yeah, I did…"
She handed him to Dutchy, she squealed with excitement. He held her above his head, making airplane noises.
"She's so tiny."
"Yeah, well, you're a giant."
"I can't believe one of us has one of these."
"Yeah, still feels a little weird, 2Dads was right feels strange I don't remember being pregnant or giving birth."
"Yeah, that would be weird, but also, I don't hear great things about giving birth so maybe you dodged a bullet. Look, Kate, about before…"
"It's okay, Dutchy, was a surprise for me too, but I don't know why you're acting like it's such a bad thing, I'm trying to move forward. I just don't understand why, as my best friend, you're not more excited for me…"
"Ah, well, do blokes ever get excited about weddings? I think that's why I'm your best friend, I mean I know that you wanted to get married, but you're not that super girly, bridezilla type. Anyway, it's a beautiful day, why don't we take her down to Hammersley."
"Oh, I dunno..."
"C'mon, it'll be fun..."
They stood on the dock admiring the boat, Dutchy leaned down next to Aria in the pram.
"This is Daddy's boat, it used to be Mummy's too, and one day you'll might be lucky enough to be on it too..."
He took her out of the pram and they walked up the gangway. Dutchy took Aria's hand and saluted Thor.
"That's Thor, our mascot..."
Kate closed her eyes, feeling the sea breeze on her face, instantly feeling at ease. Dutchy looked over to her and smiled.
"The unforgettable feeling of being out at sea..."
"Yeah, it feels familiar, but maybe I'm thinking of ANZAC."
Running her hand along the railing, she closed her eyes.
"I think I remembered something about the car accident the other day."
Dutchy placed Aria back in the pram and placed the brake on.
"Really? Maybe it's slowly coming back if you remembered where I lived and that, umm, so-called dream?"
"Don't get your hopes up, it was like a second, not really even a memory. But I was in a car, I think, and it was windy, and I was wet?"
Dutchy didn't want to put too much pressure on her, he wasn't sure how she'd react but he was excited that she may be remembering something.
"The night of your accident there was a huge storm, that's why they think you crashed."
She gripped the rail feeling feint, Dutchy watched as the colour drain from her face, he grasped her arm as she stumbled backwards.
"Kate? Are you okay?"
She stumbled a little, and placed her hand on her forehead.
"I'm taking you to the hospital."
"No, Dutchy, I'm fine."
"No, you're not…"
Dutchy paced as Kate rolled her eyes sitting in the bed, Mike burst into the room and ran to Kate's side.
"Kate, what happened?'
She groaned, knowing he was going to overreact.
"Nothing, just a little light-headed."
"What were you doing?"
Mike's eyes darted up to Dutchy, then back to Kate.
"Nothing…"
"Kate, it's important."
Dutchy interrupted, sensing Mike's panic.
"We were on Hammersley."
"Hammersley? Kate, I thought you weren't ready."
"Well, I thought I was."
He turned towards Dutchy, frustrated that he put her in the position.
"I'm Just gonna find your doctor…"
He grabbed Dutchy's arm and led him to the corridor, he released his grip as he closed Kate's door.
"What were you thinking?"
"Huh?"
"She's not ready!"
"How do you know?"
"How do I know? She's sitting in a hospital bed."
"That wasn't necessarily because of Hammersley."
"So it's a coincidence she nearly feinted while waking on to the ship."
Kate buried her head in her hands hearing Mike's raised voice, how was he going to trust her now?
Outside, Dutchy was about to ask him if she had mentioned about her memory of the accident but thought better of it, worried he might try to blame that on him too.
"Look, you're here now, I'll go."
Dutchy reluctantly left, Mike returned to Kate's bedside.
"Where's Dutchy?"
"Ah, he had to go. Kate, what were you doing?"
"What do you mean?"
"Well, when I suggested going to Hammersley a couple of days ago, you said it was too soon."
"Yeah well I was having a good day, well until now. Mike, why do I sense that's not the real problem."
"The actual problem is you feinting, Kate."
"It's not a big deal, I just didn't eat, that's all."
Mike knew she was lying, the one advantage he had was in this moment he knew her better than she did.
"Okay, well, the doctors want to keep you in overnight for observation, because of you previous accident."
Crossing her arms over her chest, she rolled her eyes.
"Seriously? And I bet you agreed."
"Yes, I did… I'll go and get you some stuff from home…"
He kissed her on the forehead and left.
Arms still folded, she sat there irritated, worried he'd never stop being so overprotective? Leaning back in to the bed she closed her eyes trying not to lose it. The stress exhausted her, and she drifted off to sleep, she felt a hand grip her arm and a voice echoed in her head.
"Please wake up, Kate, I'm sorry. I'll do whatever it takes…"
The voice was familiar, but as soon as her eyes opened the memory was gone. She flinched seeing Dutchy in the chair beside her bed, he pulled it closer seeing she was awake.
"Kate, are you okay?"
She folded her arms defensively over her chest.
"God, I am sick of that question."
The last thing Dutchy wanted to do was upset her, he winced shrinking into the chair.
"I'm sorry."
Kate groaned, knowing she was taking her frustration out on him, she shifted to the side of the bed.
"What have you to to be sorry for? It's my stupid brain that can't handle things!"
"Well, I shouldn't have pushed you to go to Hammersley."
"Dylan, I'm a big girl, I make my own decisions, everyone is just overreacting."
"Okay, well, do you need a ride home?"
"No, I'm in here overnight, do me a favour and bring me some decent food later?"
He squeezed her hand as he rose from the chair.
"You bet, but I don't think I'm gonna be able to sneak in a bottle of Whiskey."
As the door clicked shut she lay back in the bed and pulled the covers over her head.
"Okay, brain, give me another memory!"
The next day Kate sat on the couch staring blankly at the TV, Mike plonked himself beside her and waited for her to acknowledge him. She didn't, he frowned and turned off the TV.
"Kate? Talk to me?"
She rubbed her hands over her face, not wanting to start another argument.
"Mike, please…"
"Okay, if you won't talk to me, please talk to Dr Bowen. Don't get mad, but after yesterday, I made you an appointment, please believe me when I say that I was doing it for you. Please, Kate, I can't lose you again."
She turned to face him hearing the desperation in his voice, her defenses lowered seeing is troubled expression.
"Okay, I'll go…"
Kate sat in front of Dr Bowen trying to find her words, Aria gurgled interrupting her train of thought. Dr Bowen could see she was struggling she smiled politely and placed her notebook on the coffee table.
"Okay, I'll start, I'm surprised you're here, Kate. When Mike made the appointment and told me what happened I was sure you'd resist."
Kate's nose wrinkled, wondering if she had heard Dr Bowen correctly, Dr Bowen laughed at her reaction.
"It wasn't a dig, it's just I've got to know you pretty well…"
"Yeah, I've been told I'm stubborn."
"So, do you wanna talk about what happened?"
Kate exhaled sharply, placing a hand on Aria's tummy, trying to settle her.
"I know what happened, I didn't eat and I should have, it's got nothing to do with Hammersley."
"I didn't say anything about Hammersley?"
Kate clenched her jaw, annoyed that she had fallen from Dr Bowen's tactics.
"Well, Mike did…"
There was a pause in the conversation, Kate cleared her throat, trying to think of a way to bring up the topic she wanted to talk about.
"He proposed, did he tell you that?"
The grin grew on Dr Bowen's face.
"No, congratulations!"
"You think so?"
The puzzled look on Dr Bowen's face told Kate it was the wrong thing to say, she tried to backtrack.
"I mean, should I be accepting a marriage proposal when I'm not exactly me?"
"Kate, I think you're putting a lot of unnecessary pressure on yourself. Why do you think that missing years are so important to you?"
"I don't know."
"Okay, well, are you happy?"
"Well, a part from the obvious, I think so. I mean, I wish Mike was less protective, but I guess I have to try to see it from his perspective. I mean, I could have died in the accident."
"And what do you want for your future, Kate?
"I don't really know, I guess old Kate wanted a career in the navy, and I still love the navy, but having Aria has changed things, I guess."
"I know the past is important to you Kate, but why don't we concentrate on the future. I want you to think about what you want for yourself, for Aria, for your relationship, and we'll talk about it in your next session."
After her session, Kate walked by the docks, determined to prove to herself that Hammersley wasn't the cause of her turn. Looking over to the boat she spotted Dutchy sitting on the railing, taking a deep breath in she walked up the gangway with the pram.
"Hey..."
Dutchy smiled, hearing her.
"Hey, what are you doing here? Should you be here?"
She groaned, rolling her eyes.
"You sound like Mike."
"Well, is he right?"
She ignored the question and perched herself next to him.
"Dr Bowen thinks I should try to think more about the now and the future, that I'm concentrating too much on the past."
He knew he shouldn't question a professional's opinion, but he couldn't help himself.
"Yeah, trying to remember the past is important though. I mean, I'd be sad if I lost the memories of my friends."
"Yeah but you guys are still here, we can make new memories."
He looked down at Aria in the pram and smiled.
"Well, it seems you're moving forward, you have your daughter and your marrying Mike, isn't this what you wanted?"
"Yeah, well, I assume so, I assume this is where I was heading."
"You ways wanted a family, Kate. And she's pretty perfect."
Mike walked up the gangway and spotted them on the deck, clearing his throat as he approached.
"There you are…"
Kate turned, shocked to see him.
"Mike, did you follow me?"
Dutchy stepped back, sensing by Kate's tone he needed to give them a moment.
"I'd better get back to work, the young ones slack off when they think I'm not looking."
"Kate, why can't you talk to me, but you talk to him?"
"Mike, he just happened to be here that's all, why are you acting like a jealous boyfriend."
"Because I feel like you're clamming up again, I can't seem to win. You have a go at me for not wanting to talk, but then you won't talk to me. Kate, I don't know what more I can do to get you to trust me. I know you think I'm overprotective, but can you blame me?"
Kate hesitated before answering, thinking of her session with Dr Bowen. Mike stepped towards her and grasped her hands.
"Sorry, Kate, I guess I'm just on edge. I know I can't wrap you up in cotton wool, but you need to understand how hard it is for me too…"
"Would it help if I said yes?"
She froze realising what she had just done, Mike tilted his head confused.
"Yes, to what?"
She stepped forward determined to be confident about her decision, she was in control of her future.
"Yes, Mike, I will marry you!"
A gigantic grin covered Mike's face, he picked her up and swung her around.
"C'mon lets go home..."
End Chapter 5.