Ch 46

Later that afternoon, Kate arrived at her in-laws' place and walking around the house, she found Mike cooking at the barbeque while his father was opening a couple of cold beers.

"I hope one of them is for me, dad," Kate said smiling, they turned towards her and grinned.

"Sure, here you go," she walked towards them, and Patrick passed her a bottle.

"I will save mine for later; I still need to feed Emma." She said, and the bottle ended up in Mike's hand. Mike kissed Kate and returned to the barbeque.

"How was your afternoon?" Mike asked her

"Good. We had a surprise test."

"How did you do?" Patrick asked as he opened a bottle of beer for himself.

"Good. Captain Lock was surprised that I got all the questions right."

"Good on you, Kate."

"Thanks, dad."

"Where are mum and Emma?"

"They walked to the shop; they should return soon," Patrick said

"Oh."

"Did anyone else pass the tests?" Mike asked as he turned the steaks over.

"Not counting me, other four passed. Captain Lock gave us all us a chance to study over the weekend; he's going prepare a new test with added surprises for Monday," she finished scrunching up her nose.

"I bet there's nothing you don't already know" Mike grinned.

"Hopefully, but I still need to study on the weekend."

"Just don't let it take all your weekend, Kate. You need to spend time with Mike and Emma," Patrick said

"Don't worry; I'll bet Mike will make sure I take brakes. And yes, I'll be spending time with them," Kate said smiling. Ten minutes later Michele pushed the stroller around the corner and smiled when she spotted Kate. "Kate, how are you?"

"Hi, mum! I'm good." Kate stood up and walked over to her and hugged her. Then she bent over and picked Emma up.

"She's more than good, she had a surprise test and passed." Mike grinned from his spot next to the barbecue

"Hello, sweetie!" Kate said at the same time talking to Emma, and kissing her cheek.

"That's very good, Kate." Michele grinned.

"I guess it is," she nodded in agreement before turning towards Emma again. "I think someone needs to be fed and an urgent change of diapers."

As Kate took Emma inside, Mike helped his mother with the items she bought. Once Kate was done and back to the garden with a clean and full Emma, Mike was finishing with placing steaks and garlic bread onto plates.

"Good timing," Michele said

"I couldn't help it, smells great," Kate grinned seating in front of her with Emma on her lap.

Mike lowered a plate in front of her, before doing the same beside her and taking a seat. Kate had only one little issue in her hands, by holding Emma, she couldn't cut her food quite well. Mike noticed and pulled her plate towards him and grinned as he cut her potato and steak on small edible portions.

"Thanks."

Since he had fewer issues with his hands, Mike finished first and grabbed Emma from Kate's arms so she could finish her dinner. Once they were all finished, they sorted everything and went inside to clean the things and spent some more time enjoying the company. Mike placed Emma in her car seat since she was asleep, two hours later they were saying their farewells to Mike's parents before getting home.

"What are your plans for tomorrow, Kate?" Mike asked as he watched as she got changed to her nightgown, once Emma was in her room and they were alone.

"Study," she said smiling

"Kate, you know we don't have this luxury of being together that much, right?" he added with a smile.

"Yeah, don't worry I will be spending time with you and Emma."

"I hope so," Kate walked over and climbed into bed kissing him passionately.

"Don't hope, I'm starting to spend time right away," truth to her word, and with no interruptions from their daughter, they made love before falling asleep in each other's arms.

Early the next morning, Emma woke them up when her crying was heard over the baby monitor. Kate got up and finding a robe walked to Emma's room. Mike blinked a couple of times when he heard the cries, and then he smiled as Kate's voice filled the air.

"Good morning, sweetie. Shh," at that moment Emma stopped crying, "There, there. You were hungry, huh? After this I'm cleaning you, mommy's pretty sure you need a change, right?"

Mike remained in bed, listening to Kate talking to Emma and enjoying the feelings that took over him. Then he got up and found something to wear, after a quick washroom stop, he went to find them. In Emma's room, Kate was still feeding Emma, and she looked up when she heard him approaching.

"Morning," she smiled tiredly as he walked to her and kissed her softly.

"Hmm, morning! Morning, sweetie," he said to his daughter caressing her cheek softly. "She sure is an early bird."

"Yes, she is," Kate yawned.

"Hey, I'll go and make us a drink," Mike said, and his wife nodded looking down at the baby. A few minutes later he returned with two hot drinks in his hand. He reached the room the moment Emma burped.

"Kate? What would you like for breakfast?" He asked giving her a cup; she inhaled the smell of her drink deeply.

"Hmm, thanks. We could walk down to Vivo Cafe and have breakfast there."

"Sure"

"Great, I haven't been there in a while."

"Do you want some help?" he asked as Kate walked towards the changer.

"Don't worry I have this particular routine mastered by now."

"I don't doubt it." Mike grinned as he watched from the rim of his cup as Kate changed Emma. Soon, their daughter was in a nice little dress, and they were getting changed themselves. Not that much later, they walked out of the condo with Mike pushing Emma's stroller.

Almost three hours later, they were back at home, and Mike took to himself to enjoy his day with Emma to give Kate the chance to study for her test; although he managed to bring her out of book world for lunch and Emma's feeds.

That night, Mike and Kate showered together. Once they were out, Kate went to Emma's room to give her one last feed. Tiredly, she dragged herself to her room and smiled at Mike.

"She's finally asleep," she said rubbing her eyes as she plopped herself on the bed under the covers.

"Any plans for tomorrow?" Mike asked as she snuggled up to his side

"More studying."

"More? Kate, you don't have to study."

"I know, but I don't want to fail the test," she grimaced

"AS you would ever. Kate, you will do fine."

"I know," she kissed him resting her head on his chest.

"Then, why do you worry?" he mumbled, and she shrugged.

"I don't know."

He kissed her forehead as he noticed her lids becoming heavy, she sighed peacefully before her breath evened out and she fell asleep. Mike watched Kate for a while before he too fell asleep.

The next day, Kate spent a couple of hours studying. Then she remembered she didn't have enough chances to spent time with her husband and daughter as other families would Mike was leaving that same night back to Cairns. So, she closed the books and opted for spending the rest of the day with Mike and Emma.

"Taking a break?" Mike asked her when she joined him in the kitchen. "I was about to take you something to drink."

"Well, not quite a break."

"How's that?" He frowned confused; he turned around to return the jug its place.

"I've decided to spend the rest of the day with my family," she smiled and could see the gleeful grin on Mike's face before he hid it and turned around towards her.

"Are you sure?" She caressed his cheek.

"I am. So, I thought that we could go for a walk along the waterfront and have lunch in town?"

"Sounds good to me."

"Good." He gave her a cup of tea, and she grinned mischievously. "Now, when we return this afternoon… I want to spend it with you while our daughter is asleep." She bit her lower lip, and he moved forward to capture her lips groaning with the idea.

"I like your plan," he whispered against her lips. "When do we leave?" Emma chose that moment to make herself noticed.

"After Emma's been feed," she winked at him as she turned around to Emma's room.

An hour later, Mike was pushing Emma's stroller with Kate next to him along the waterfront. They stopped at a cafe for a late lunch, then returned home. After Emma was feed and changed, she slowly fell asleep again. Kate lowered her slowly on her bed, and as the baby girl didn't wake up, she grinned and went to find her husband. She smiled sadly when she found Mike in their bedroom packing his bag.

"Hey, Emma's asleep?" He asked over the sound of his bag zipper. She nodded and stepped closer to him wrapping her arms around his neck and gave him a passionate kiss which he returned fiercely. They spent the afternoon in bed making the most of their time alone. They both knew it would be a good couple of weeks before they could see each other again.

At night, after Kate feed her once more, Mike grabbed Emma and walked her around to make her fall asleep. Once he was sure she wouldn't wake up, he lowered her to her bed and kissed her forehead.

"Night Emma, you be a good girl for mummy. Daddy loves you," he whispered.

He watched her for a few minutes with his heart in his throat knowing he was going to miss her again. Gathering his thoughts and feeling, he walked out of Emma's room and closed the door partly.

"Emma's asleep," he announced to Kate as he entered the kitchen. She turned around closing the cupboard first. Then she walked to him and wrapped her arms around his neck and his found her waist and hugged her as close as he could. They looked at each other's eyes before kissing.

"I'm going to miss you," Kate said. "This is getting harder and harder by the way."

"I know. I'm going to miss you and Emma."

"Do take care of yourself" Kate pleaded.

"I will as long as you don't study too hard," Kate smile

"I'll try."

"Let me know how that goes."

"I will Mike," they kissed once more before finally pulling apart. With a sigh, Mike walked over and picked his bag before walking towards the door with Kate behind him. He stopped and turned towards Kate

"You are right, you know? This is getting harder and harder. I'll see Steve tomorrow about your posting," she nodded and unable to find words she kissed him. "See you in a few weeks."

"I'll be looking forward to it," she whispered, letting him go.

Mike finally walked out; Kate watched him leave until the door of the elevators closed in front of him. With a sigh, she locked the door and turned to her books. She studied until Mike called to let her know he arrived, and after a heartfelt conversation she went to sleep.

Over the course of the following three weeks, Kate was busy with her studies, stealing as many moments as she could to spend them with her daughter. When the course was done and she passed at the top of her class, she was relieved, happy and extremely tired. She used that weekend to spend it with Emma, they went shopping and walked along the waterfront enjoying the nice weather they had.

After the weekend, Kate returned to Watson bay as an instructor for navigation course. She kept herself busy for the next month trying not to think how much she missed him and how bad it was that his patrol was extended for an extra week.

Even with her feelings against her, Kate got into a routine: In the mornings, after dropping Emma at the daycare. She drives to Watson bay and afterward, she stops by the pool to swim as many lengths as she can fit in her spare hour to finally get rid of her baby fat and get back in shape. With that taken care of, she picks up Emma and returns home. In the evenings, Kate relaxes by practicing yoga, the only thing that she found that can make her fall asleep when Mike is not there.