A CHOICE

Chapter 9

It had been two whole months. Kate was relieved to learn that she wasn't pregnant. She had made love to Rick on day 14 just to be safe. It had been everything she dreamed of.

They had done nearly everything in that one day. A blowjob, he ate her pussy, made love to her, and fucked her hard and fast. It had been glorious!

Over the last two months, they made love nearly daily. Kate had never enjoyed sex more than she did with Rick. But she was worried about something. Because of that, she did something incredibly stupid.

She met Miguel, a guest who was staying alone. She had sex with him. Oh, she had enjoyed it but regretted it the second it was over. She didn't leave the Villa for nearly a week after that. She even decided not to have sex with Rick. She claimed it was because she was on her period, which was a lie.

So there she was, in the nurses' station, waiting her turn. "Kate, what can I help you with," Uma inquired.

"I have an issue. It's my vagina." Kate tried her best to describe the problem. "It burns, it bites, and it itches."

"I see. Here, put this on, please. I'll wait outside." She handed Kate a hospital gown that was all folded up.

Kate put it on and waited. She was nervous and scared at the possibility of what it could be.

Uma knocked and entered. "Let's get you on the table." Kate lay back and spread her legs.

The Nurse Practitioner folded the gown back so she could see. "Tell me when it hurts." She probed and got Kate to make a noise when she found the right spot.

"I'm going to take a sample." Uma retreated to retrieve what she needed.

After taking her sample, Uma said, "What it looks like to me is a yeast infection. The vagina is susceptible to these. A penis can also get them, folds of skin, and the ass. Any fold where there's moisture can cause this."

Kate relaxed a little. "Thank God. …I was afraid you would say it was an STD."

Uma's mouth dropped open. "You've had unprotected sex? I know you're on the pill, which does nothing to prevent an STD."

"Unfortunately, yes, about a week ago. You're sure it's just a yeast infection?" Kate asked her.

"Pretty sure, but that's what the sample will tell me," Uma replied. "I can give you something for it."

She applied a cream and gave her two pills. "Take these, one pill today and the other in three days. Apply the cream every eight hours for fourteen days. And no sex for those fourteen days, which includes oral sex."

"Fourteen days?" Kate was going to die. What was she going to tell Rick? She couldn't say she was on her period that long.

"Fourteen days," Uma confirmed. "I'll let you get dressed." She left the room.

Kate took her time getting dressed and emerged from the room finally. "Thank you."

"I'm glad to help. Remember, fourteen days," Uma told her again.

"I got it, thanks." And Kate left with her medication.

~oo0oo~

Today was her day off, so she didn't find anyone home when she got there. She found a safe spot for her medication and sat down, and thought. She needed to understand why she had done it. Why she had cheated on Rick. Why she'd had sex. She was such a fool.

~oo0oo~

She explained to Rick that she had a yeast infection and couldn't have sex for fourteen days.

"Fourteen days!" Rick couldn't believe it. He was going to die somewhere during those fourteen days.

"I'm not happy about his either. But we can manage. I can still give you blow jobs." She couldn't have sex didn't mean he couldn't have sex.

"I'm not happy about this either. But we can manage. I can still give you blow jobs." Just because she couldn't have sex didn't mean he couldn't have sex.

"No, that's okay. If you have to do without, I can do without," Rick told her. "I hope," he muttered softly.

~oo0oo~

That night she slept with Rick. All tucked in nice and comfy. However, she wasn't asleep; she was too busy thinking. She got out of bed in the end and looked at Rick sleeping.

She had screwed up and cheated on him. Kate left the room and went out to the pool to think. She was sitting on the edge, dangling her feet in the water. Why had she done what she did? Should she tell him what she had done? NO WAY!

Her thoughts were interrupted when Rick sat down next to her. "Can't sleep?"

"No," Kate said. Except she did have something to tell him, but the words wouldn't come out. At least not easily. "I love you," Kate said quietly. That was why she had cheated on him. She was afraid she was falling in love with him, which had scared her.

Rick was taken aback. "You love me? Really? That's good since I fell in love with you like two months ago."

Kate blinked. "You love me?"

"Why is that such a surprise to you? You're gorgeous, you're smart, you're sexy, and you're great with Alexis. You're a handful occasionally, but that only means you're worth it. So yes, Kate, I love you."

Kate felt tears running down her cheek. Rick kissed her. He tilted her head up to face him. "I. Love. You." Rick told her and kissed her again.

She smiled into his kiss. "I. Love. You."

~oo0oo~

In the end, she went back to bed with Rick and was asleep in minutes. What she hadn't counted on was oversleeping. She woke to an empty bed. She hustled into her bedroom and saw Alexis was missing. So she started upstairs and got to the top of the stairs, where she spotted Rick in the kitchen and Alexis was watching her dad. And she was talking to him.

That made her heart stop beating for a second. Quietly, she retreated downstairs to her bedroom, took a shower, and got dressed.

"Hi, sweetie." Kate hugged and kissed her. "Are you making sure your dad does everything correctly?" Kate asked her while at the same time teasing Rick.

"Can I ask a question?" Alexis asked and waited nervously.

Kate kept her arm around her. "Of course, ask me anything you want."

"Can I call you mom?" Alexis whispered so softly that Kate nearly missed it.

"You want to call me mom?" Kate managed to keep her arm around her. "May I ask why?"

"You want to call Kate mom?" Rick asked her.

"You stay out of this, Rick," Kate told him. "This is just between Alexis and me."

Rick groaned but didn't say anything, though he did listen to his daughter.

"I want a mom, and you're perfect," Alexis told her. "You're perfect."

Kate sighed. "Alexis...sweetie, I'm not your mother."

"Please?" Alexis pleaded with her. And when Kate didn't answer her, Alexis ran off, crying.

Rick tried to stop her. "Pumpkin, wait!"

"I've got this, Rick. You trust me, right?" Kate waited for him to say something.

"Of course, but…" She was his little girl.

"I've got this," Kate repeated and ran after Alexis. She found her in her bed, hugging Monkey Bunky. Kate got in her bed next to her and worked at holding Alexis close.

"Alexis, I'm not old enough to be your mother. I'm only 19 years old. I would have to be 11 or 12 years older for you to be mine, and that's not possible," Kate began, trying to reason with her.

"You said you would never leave me," Alexis told her between her tears.

"And I never will, I promise. Is that why you want me to be your mommy? Because I will never leave you?" Kate questioned her. All she got was Alexis nodding her head. "I promised, and I intend to keep my promise." Kate needed to think.

Kate offered her a deal. "I'll tell you what, give me about three months, and if you're very, very good, I'll let you call me mom. Think of it like an early Christmas. You like Christmas, don't you?"

"I'll be good, I promise. Please." Alexis overlooked the three months and zeroed in on the Christmas idea because she loved Christmas.

"It's a deal then. In three months, and if you've been a good girl, I'll let you call me mommy." And Kate got a hug from her.

~oo0oo~

Rick watched as they walked back into the room together, arm in arm. He waited for Kate to tell him something. "We reached a deal. In three months, if she's been a very good girl, she gets to call me Mommy. Sort of a Christmas present."

"You do like Christmas," Rick said. "Three months. You're sure you're good with this?" He didn't want Kate promising something she couldn't keep.

Kate nodded. "Yep, I'm good." In an instant, she got hugged and kissed in front of Alexis, who just smiled. Kate felt like she had just taken a big step. She had told him that she loved him, and in three months, she would be a mommy.

~oo0oo~

Kate soon learned that Alexis' idea of three months was one week. Still, she didn't correct her.

Two weeks came and went, and they made love together. And again and again, until they wore each other out.

~oo0oo~

It was 147 days later.

They were packing for a trip since they each had time off work. It was still summer break for Alexis' schooling, and Rick cleared his absence with Mikhail. He was partway into his next book but could manage the time off. They were flying back to New York City to see his mother.

"What if your mother doesn't like me?" Kate asked him, her nerves going haywire.

"Will you please relax? Mother will love you, Kate. Alexis obviously does, and Mother loves Alexis," Rick told her patiently.

"I need to see what Alexis is packing." Kate hurried off, leaving him for Alexis.

~oo0oo~

The trip was long, really long. It was twenty-seven hours of flying alone, not to mention the boat trip to Malé, Maldives. Kate was so very proud of Alexis for the entire trip. She had proven to be a real trooper. Bathroom breaks, eating what was put in front of her, and not complaining once.

They checked into a hotel the day they arrived and went to see Martha the following day.

The doorbell rang, and Martha answered the door. "Richard!" She hugged her son tight. "And Alexis!"

Alexis smiled at her. "Hi, Grams."

"And she talks. Oh my." Martha covered her mouth with both hands. "Come here, my dear." She opened her arms wide and crushed Alexis in a hug.

Rick introduced them."Mother, this is Kate Beckett. Kate, this is my mother, Martha Rodgers."

Martha chose not to let go of Alexis. "Welcome. Come in, come in." She took Alexis with her.

"So, tell me everything," Martha said to her son. But what she got was Alexis telling her everything.

~oo0oo~

Alexis needed to use the bathroom, freeing up Martha. "So, Mommy, hmm?"

Kate began to blush. "It's kind of a long story. But, the short of it is we made a deal. If she was a good girl for three months, she could call me Mommy. I've learned to love her, Martha."

"I love her too, Mother," Rick added. That certainly got Martha's attention.

"I love Rick as well," Kate told her, quietly waiting for her to say something.

"We have a lot to celebrate then. I'll get the wine. You two can tell me everything." Martha wanted to hear their story.

~oo0oo~

Rick was gone, leaving Kate and Alexis alone with Martha. Martha had heard everything and was intrigued. However, since Alexis did most of the talking, Martha let her because she loved to hear Alexis talk.

"So, Kate is mommy because she promised she would never leave you?" Martha questioned the child.

Alexis nodded. "Yep. She promised."

Kate groaned and covered her face with her hands for a moment. "It's true, I did say that. Mostly it was to get her to talk to me, but things are different now. I can't imagine my life without her."

And since Martha had hold of Alexis, she didn't get to go anywhere.

"Your father – Jim, is it? – works for the Resort, so he's there with you?" Martha wanted clarification.

"Yes, he has a Cabana. It's a large studio apartment but without a kitchen. He has to take all of his meals in the restaurant inside Glow. So far, he hasn't complained, though I'm not sure how busy he is." That was one thing Kate hadn't pressed her dad over.

"I'm sure he's kept busy, and you, you love Kate?" Martha asked Alexis.

"Yep!" Alexis also nodded her head. Kate had been told several times that she was loved. Not just by Rick, but by Alexis as well. It felt good to be loved.

Martha focused on Kate. "And you're how old again?"

"I'm nineteen. My birthday's in November. I know it's young to be a parent to an 8-year-old, but I'm adjusting. Actually, it's not bad. Save for the times when Alexis is sick. We only have a nurse who has just the one waiting room. She does have an amazing number of prescriptions available to her." Kate had meant to ask Rick how that was.

"It sounds like you have everything well handled. Okay, you can go to Kate now." Martha released Alexis, who immediately moved into Kate's arms and sat on her lap. It was a tight fit, but neither of them seemed to mind.

She watched as Kate fawned over the girl. It seemed she was stroking Alexis' long hair or giving her a soft kiss. That told Martha there was a lot of love between them.

Just then, Rick knocked, and Martha answered the door. Rick instantly went to Kate and knelt in front of her and Alexis. Kate couldn't help but wonder what was going on.

"Kate, I love you. That one day when we met was a sign from the Universe telling me something. You've brought love to all of our hearts." Rick held out a small black box, and in a heartbeat, Kate recognized it for what it was. The tears started instantly.

"Katherine Houghton Beckett, would you give me the honor of being the happiest man on the planet and marry me?" He cracked open the little box to show her the ring inside.

Kate was full-on crying now. She knew she loved him, that he was the other half of her soul.

"Say yes, Mommy, say yes," Alexis urged.

Kate tried but only managed to squeak. Then she cleared her throat. "Yes!"

With that, Rick took the ring out of the box, held her hand, and slipped it on her finger. Then he looked at her.

Kate looked at the ring that was on her finger, her ring finger. "It's big."

"You just have slender fingers." Rick was afraid it was too big, but it looked just right.

Kate reached out with her left hand to pull his head close so she could kiss him.

"We have to celebrate!" Martha announced. "Let's see, what should we do? Go out to eat. Yes, that's it, the best restaurant we can find. We'll all have to get dressed up. Yes, it's going to be great!"

~oo0oo~

They were back at their hotel, getting ready for bed. Alexis was in her bed, sleeping, so they didn't have their room to themselves.

"Was it a surprise?" Rick asked her while he got into bed and waited for her to join him.

"Yes, it was. It was a good surprise, but still, it was a surprise." Kate got into bed and curled up next to him with his arm around her. It was her favorite position.

"Good, I like surprising you," Rick said.

"It just so happens that I hate surprises, but that was a nice one." Kate looked at the ring on her finger. "How long have you been planning this?"

"Since the day we chose to come to New York City," Rick replied.

"That long?" Kate tilted her head so she could look at him. "That was weeks ago."

"I know. I needed to come to New York City so I could find a jewelry store. I could have found something in Malé, but I wanted something grand," Rick said. Then he picked up her hand and kissed her fingers.

"It's lovely." Kate looked at her ring again before curling her hand into place. "I love you."

Rick smiled, his love for her evident. "I love you too. It's too bad we don't have a room to ourselves, or I would make love to you."

Kate grinned at that. She had never believed that she would feel like this. "So, when's the wedding?"

"I haven't given it much thought. It's only August, so we have time. You know, Kate, we do have a place to get married at the Resort," Rick said.

Kate shook her head. "No, not there. I live there and don't want to get married there. It needs to be somewhere else. And if you say Vegas, I swear I will hurt you."

"I would never!" Rick exclaimed. "Let's see. …Maldives is close to Sri Lanka, and Malaysia. We could get married in Australia. Hawaii is kinda far, but not as far as New York City."

"I don't know about Sri Lanka or Malaysia, but Australia sounds nice, as does Hawaii. Can we get married in either of those places?" Kate inquired.

"We can get married in any place that pleases you. Though, don't discount Sri Lanka just yet," Rick warned her.