Ch 45

On Monday morning, which was also Valentine's day, Kate just placed Emma in her stroller when there was a knock on the door. Kate walked and looked through the peephole.

"Who is it?" she asked not recognizing the person on the other side.

"Delivery for Mrs. Flynn!" the guy said raising up the flowers he was holding. Kate unlocked the door and opened it.

"I'm Mrs. Flynn"

"Ma'am, can you sign this please?" He asked, giving her a pen and clipboard.

Kate signed the papers before she exchanged the clipboard for the red roses.

"Thank you."

"You are welcome, ma'am," then he turned around and walked away.

Closing the door, Kate walked to the kitchen where she got a vase out and filled it with water. Then, she placed the roses in it and picked the card.

"To my loving wife, Kate. I miss you and Emma. Sorry, I can't be there in person to deliver these flowers to you. Happy Valentine's day. All my love, your loving sailor husband, Mike" she read out loud before she turned towards Emma, who was awake. "Look what daddy sent!"

Kate put the note back with the roses then pick them up, walking to the dining room table where she placed them in the center of the table. With one last look at them, she turned around and grabbed her hat before taking the stroller.

"Come on, sweetie. Let's go and see your grandparents."

After Kate dropped Emma off with Mike's parents, she drove to Watson bay. She walked into the classroom with almost ten minutes to spare, she lowered her things on a desk and took her hat off. Soon, other Lieutenants and Lieutenant Commanders filled the room. At nine O'clock their instructor walked in, and all of them stood at attention.

"I see everyone's here, at ease and sit down," they all did as they were told

"I'm Captain Lock; I'll be your instructor for the next four weeks. Over the next few days, I will get to know each one of your names. Shall we get started?" Kate opened her folder while listening to the Captain.

A few days later, at lunchtime, Kate walked out to the parking lot to meet Michele and Emma. She couldn't help but grin when she spotted Michele's car and then, the door opened, and her smile brightened.

"Mike!" She exclaimed walking fast towards him, and soon they were enveloped in a hug. "Mike, this is a surprise," she whispered against his lips.

"Hello, you too." He chuckled against hers.

"Sorry, I miss you."

"I miss you too," they kissed once more.

"For how long can you stay?" Kate asked after a while, once they were resting their foreheads together. Mike sighed.

"Until Sunday, better than nothing, don't you think?" she nodded, and he took a moment to observe her. "You look tired, Kate,"

"I'm fine."

"Kate," he gave her a worried look, and she sighed.

"Ok, yes, I am tired. It's been a couple of complicated days between studying and feeding Emma every three hours."

"How is going?"

"It's a nightmare."

"That bad, huh? Tell me about it."

"Captain Lock," she left out, and Mike raised his eyebrows

"He's your instructor?" he asked surprised. She could hear a touch of concern in his voice.

"You know him?"

"Yeah, I do. He's strict by the book taskmaster. But that shouldn't be a problem, what happened?" she looked at Mike, chewing her lower lip.

"Oh, Kate, you didn't?"

"I did. This morning," she grimaced

"And..."

"He's three times worse than you were, Mike," she whined. "It took over five minutes of heated throat debate for him to realize that I was right." Mike grimaced.

"Were you two alone?"

"It was in front of the class."

"Kate, you got to be careful, or otherwise you could end up in a lot of trouble."

"I know. He did give me a warning: next time he will fail me," Kate shook her head as they heard Emma cry. "I need to feed her."

Kate walked to the car and entered in the back next to Emma's car seat. Mike noticed Captain Lock walking towards them, so Mike walked to meet him.

"Captain Lock, I'm Lieutenant Commander Flynn, sir," Mike saluted him receiving a salute back.

"Lieutenant Commander Flynn, I heard a lot of things about you."

"Have you, sir?"

"Yes, they were not all good."

"Really."

"I've heard you have quite the taste for trying the limits."

"I've never broken a rule, Captain."

"That's what I've heard. Have you met Lieutenant McGregor? I saw her getting in that car," he said pointing towards it.

"Yes, sir. She told me you had a very loud debate this morning."

"Let me tell you; she has a huge chip on her shoulder. She thinks she knows it all."

"She corrected you, sir."

"Yes."

"Don't worry, sir. You are not the first or the only instructor she has corrected," the Captain shook his head.

"How do you know?" Mike grinned as he turned to where Kate was.

"She corrected me," Mike admitted with a shrug. "Twice. She also proved to me that I was wrong. Did she do that to you too, sir?"

"Yes. I've read her profile; she's one amazing bright officer."

"That she is, sir."

"Tell me, Lieutenant Commander, how well do you know the Lieutenant?"

"Personally, or professionally, sir?"

"Both"

"Well, sir. She's a bright, amazing officer who also happens to be my wife, sir." The Captain raised his eyebrows surprised.

"Your wife?"

"Yes, sir. We've been married for fourteen months," Mike turned to see Kate getting out of the car carrying Emma in her arms, "And that's our daughter, Emma. She's three months old," Kate closed the back door and walked to them.

"Sir"

"Lieutenant. You got a beautiful daughter."

"Thank you, sir." She smiled and passed her to Mike.

"If you excuse us, sir. We've only got forty minutes before we have to return to class and only one of us has had lunch."

"Very well, Lieutenant, Lieutenant Commander," they saluted each other before the Captain walked away from them.

"So where do you normally sit while having your lunch with mum and Emma?"

"Follow me, sailor," she grinned.

The went to the car, and Kate grabbed a blanket and bag before closing it and walking towards one big tree. Mike followed her, and she gave him the bag to place the blanket on the ground.

Kate sat on the blanket as Mike lowered the bag on the floor. Then, he passed Emma to Kate waiting arms. Kate lowered Emma on the blanket before she opened the bag. Mike took a seat stretching his legs in front of him.

"How was your patrol?"

"Alright, I guess."

"And why are you early?"

"The XO had a family emergency, and there were no other replacements."

"Oh, I hope it was nothing bad?"

"His wife went into premature labor, and there were complications. The placenta tore itself from the wall"

"That must hurt, I hope they will be alright."

"Yeah, me too. The X has been worried about them. He and his wife have been trying for five years to get pregnant, and now, he might lose one or both," he sighed sadly.

"I hope that doesn't happen, Mike," she said finding his hand and giving it a slight squeeze.

"Me either." Emma made a noise, and they looked down at her. They smiled at her. They ate in silence for a few moments, before she was lost in thought.

"Kate? What are you thinking about?" Mike asked after looking at her.

"Kids," she smiled, "we've never really talked about how many we want."

"Oh? And what made you think of that?"

"Mum and dad asked the other day how many we are planning on having."

"They asked you too, huh?" Kate swallowed a mouthful of water while looking at Mike

"They asked you as well?"

"Yeah. Fist question after their hellos, they were not very subtle," he chuckled. "So, now that the question is out there, how many would you like?"

"One more... hopefully a boy."

"I would like that; sadly we can't pick… so what if it's a girl?"

"If it's a girl, then it's a girl."

"Or you might have twins," He grinned.

"There are no twins in my family."

"It might happen, anyhow, have you thought about when would you want to try?"

"In a couple of months? Three or four from now? Then they will be close in age while growing up."

"Are you sure, Kate?"

"Yes," she grinned.

"Then, let's hope that in three or four months our schedules are better than you here and me there."

"We can always find a workaround," Kate grinned.

"True, so how was my pick of lunch?" Mike wriggled his eyebrows.

"I loved it, Mike."

When the time was just enough for Kate to return to class, they picked their things up, and Mike grabbed Emma from the blanket, while Kate picket the blanket and they walked to the car. After placing Emma on her car seat, Kate kissed her forehead. Before picking all her things.

"I'll better go, I don't want to be late for class," Kate said stretching herself. Mike pulled her close, hugged her.

"No, you shouldn't. See you at mum and dad's?"

"Sure," they kissed once more before she walked away.

"See you later! Have a good afternoon with Emma!" She shouted as she walked away.

"I will!" He answered in the same manner, and she waved her hand one more time before she rushed to her class.