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So ;)
Act 28: Catherine
"Okay, so there's Charlie, then Howard…"
"Russell," Sara corrects me.
"Darn… Russell, then Howard, Sidney, Rueben and Hazel."
"Yup," Sara grins. She takes my hand and entwines our fingers. "You know, if anything I should be the nervous one."
"How so?"
"I'm ready to bet my salary that they've been storing as much embarrassing stories about me as they could."
"That prospect is a bit reassuring."
"It'll be fine," she assures me before giving me a kiss.
"Seriously, don't you guys ever stop kissing?" Lindsey asks with a roll of her eyes. She sits down next to me and buckles her belt.
Sara has invited us to go in California in order to meet her siblings. I'm excited, but I'm a nerve wreck, I mean it's not a slow introduction, I'm basically meeting all of them in one go; granted I met Hazel already but, I was in Vegas, I had field advantage and she was so busy catching up with Sara that the attention wasn't much on me.
"Will there be kids my age?" Linds asks.
Sara winces. "I don't know, my nephews all go to boarding schools and I don't think it's a holiday period so I'm afraid you'll be the only teenager."
"It's okay," Lindsey shrugs. "We'll go surfing, right?"
"Of course, I promised."
"Cool," Linds beams.
I don't think I'll ever cease to feel giddy when watching those two interact. I think Lindsey likes to be treated as an equal rather than a teenager; I mean Sara interacts with my daughter as she would with Greg, Nick or Warrick – mindful of the age difference of course when it comes to the topics of conversation. It helps that they have a lot of common interests, and Sara is always enthusiastic about everything they do together as if she was catching up time or something.
Sara has been radiant ever since we've arrived at the Vegas airport, like a kid on Christmas morning. I know how close she is to her siblings so I can imagine how she feels to finally be able to see them all, the distance makes their physical meetings a bit sparse.
We have barely stepped a foot out of the arrival gates when Sara mutters something. "Bear…"
I look up and immediately see who she's referring to, there's a man at least a head taller than everyone else around, with broad shoulders like a battle axe; his stony expression shifts immediately when his sparkling green eyes lay on Sara.
Sara is practically dragging me walking as fast as she does, when we're in front of the man she drops her duffle bag and her backpack, then jumps into the man's arms who envelops her into a bear hug. He's so tall that Sara's feet don't touch the ground anymore.
"Hey little one," the man speaks with affection.
Sara's greeting is muffled against his shoulder but I think he understood perfectly. It's barely perceptible but I can see Sara shaking, I assume she's crying.
"Scout, I love you but you better not be leaving snot on my jacket," he chuckles.
"No snot… just saliva, promise," Sara deadpan.
"Very funny, smarty pants," he chuckles. "You're alright there?" he asks gently.
"Just a moment."
"All the time you need."
After a few seconds Sara nods and the man delicately put her onto the ground. He leans back a bit, erases the tears on Sara's face and kisses her forehead.
Sara smiles and wipes the remaining tears then turns to us. "Sorry about that…" she says. "Cath, Linds, this is Russell; Russ this Catherine Willows and her daughter Lindsey."
Russell leans down to kiss both of my cheeks putting a gentle hand on my shoulder. "I'm delighted to finally meet you."
"The pleasure's all mine," I reply.
Russell turns to Lindsey and bends until he's at eye level. "Hey there," he grins. "I don't want to make you uncomfortable or anything so I'll let you choose your greeting, bear hug, kiss, handshake fist bump or just a wave."
"Handshake fist bump," Lindsey chooses after pondering it all for a moment and Russell and her do just that.
"Nice meeting you Lindsey."
"Me too," Lindsey beams.
He offers to take my bag then waits for Sara to gather her belongings. She grabs my hand again and we all follow Russell to the car.
"You're super tall," Linds states.
Russell's deep voice booms with laughter. "Wait until you see the others."
It's an hour drive to their house, although the word 'house' seems inappropriate, the property is huge to say the least.
"Welcome to the Sidles'," Russell announces while grabbing our bags from the trunk.
"This is your house?" Linds asks in awe.
"The right part is used as a bed and breakfast," Sara explains mentioning the three stories part of the building. "The left side is for the family."
She wraps an arm around Linds' shoulders and guides us inside. She barely has to announce that she's here for the rest of the clan to rush into the foyer.
Russell wasn't kidding, they are all tall, in fact Hazy and Sara are probably the 'shortest' of the lot. The next minutes are a veritable hug fest, and Lindsey and I are warmly welcomed. Their enthusiasm makes me forget about my nervousness and they do all they can to put me at ease.
Once we're settled in our rooms, Sara gives us a tour. I'm impressed by the whole thing, there's a warmth coming from the whole place, I can almost see them growing up and run around screaming and laughing.
The day is spent with animated discussions, Linds and I are the centres of attention, and every now and then Sara is being teased. I feel like discovering a new side of Sara, she's more carefree with her siblings, the affection they share with one another is pouring out of them, though I'm very close to my own siblings I'm envious of their bond.
"You were cute," I state pointing a family photo.
"Was?" Sara feigns hurt and comes closer to me.
"You haven't changed a bit."
Her grin fades a bit. "Yeah… that's not me."
"What? Oh come on, it's you in miniature."
"You know for a CSI, you should be ashamed right now."
"Hey!" I swat her arm.
"Cardinal rule, devil's in the details."
I frown and look closer at the picture, finally putting my finger on the said detail. "Green eyes…"
"Yup, that's Eleanor, I'm… the frowning little cow-boy," she kisses my neck then points another child on the picture.
I chuckle. "How old were you?"
"Five… I think."
"My statement stays the same, you were cute."
"Sure I was," I roll my eyes. "Come on, dinner is about to be served."
The next day Sara wakes me up at dawn so we can go surfing, Lindsey is adamant about not leaving the beach until she stays standing on a board; I watch the seven Sidles giving advices to Lindsey, watching over her when she's in the water, teasing her like she was their little sister.
I take the opportunity to observe their dynamic, Charlie is the authoritative and yet benevolent force leading the whole brotherhood, Russell is a giant teddy bear – but something tells me that it's best never to make him angry; Howard is the quiet one; Sidney seems to be constantly on speed; Rueben is the goofball and Hazy is just the bubbly little sparkle maintaining the good mood all around.
I'm sure there is more to them, that the best of them is shining now that they are together; but right now they all seem not to have a single care in the world. HaHhH
Sara convinces me to join them in the water before we head back and I admit that I enjoy the bath, the water is refreshing.
We eat at the beach then get back to their place around three in the afternoon, Lindsey is beaming with joy because she managed to stand on her board for almost a minute. After the mandatory showers to wash off the salty water, I talk Sara into some cuddling.
"Thank you for inviting us here, it's a great breather from Vegas," I kiss Sara's neck.
"You're welcome. I'm really glad that you've finally met everyone."
"Me too," I grin and she pecks me on the lips. "It must have been great growing up here."
"It was alright," she shrugs.
"Just alright?" I frown.
"Yeah," she pauses. "It could be loud at times."
I snort with amusement. "I bet."
I shift my position so I'm on top of her, I cross my arms over her chest and rest my chin on it. "Tell me a memory," I request.
She frowns and shakes her head with a pout when nothing comes but then I can see the moment a memory strikes her. "Singing…" she mutters. "My father loved to sing. He'd sing all the time, operas, jazz, blues, songs from the radio, anything really. And you could tell his mood by the songs he'd pick. You could hear it ring everywhere in the house. He had a beautiful baritone voice. He'd sing to my mother to make her smile or so they could dance. He'd sing us to sleep sometimes; I remember that if he felt like one of us was left out he'd hug us and sing… I loved his voice," she grins at the memory. "He had a warm voice, like Russell's, but deeper."
I smile finding her very adorable at that very instant. She frowns. "What is it?" I ask.
"I hadn't thought about that in ages…" she shakes her head. "So easy to forget the good stuff," she adds in a murmur.
Sara's expression changes into something sombre for a second then softens again. I have the feeling that she's hiding from me, and I also know that it would be unwise for me to push. There's one thing I've picked up on, Sara never talks about her parents, ever; she has mentioned them in passing once or twice at most, but in truth that memory she just shared is the only thing that make her parents real.
I know that her father died when she was young and her mother was out of the picture soon after, and it doesn't take a genius to figure that it's something that has scarred her deeply.
I move a bit so I can kiss her then shift my position again so my head is resting on her chest. She wraps her arms around me as I let her heartbeat lull me into a slumber.
Some undetermined time later I wake up to Sara's lazy caresses on my back. I blindly kiss her collarbone, then her neck. I move against her, when I open my eyes she's grinning at me with affection. I kiss her, my hands slowly tracing her curves, one of my hands sneaking under her top.
There's a knock on the door, effectively breaking the spell we were caught on.
"Scout, it's our turn to make dinner," a voice I recognize as Rueben's announces through the door then we can hear his footsteps fading away again.
I drop my head on Sara's shoulder and sigh.
"Sorry about that," she chortles.
"It's only a rain check," I kiss her neck and roll over so she can move.
She stands up and offers me her hand, I grab it and she pulls me along. I can't help but sigh heavily.
"Are you pouting?" she asks with smirk.
"I'm not hungry… not for food anyway," I add petulantly.
I need a seconds to understand that I'm against the wall near the door, Sara's hands are all over me and she's greedily sucking at my neck. My body responds immediately to her touch, I was slightly turned on a second ago but right now it's like I was on fire.
I'm clenching one of her shoulders and holding her head in place with my other hand. She pushes one of her legs between mine and the friction makes me shiver. She grabs my face and kisses me hungrily at the same time moving against me to create a delicious friction on my nether regions.
I moan in her mouth and pull her closer to me; her mouth gets back on my neck and this time she's biting me, one of her hand travels between us and she cups me through my jeans; my head falls back against the wall and my eyes are tight shut. I can feel myself so close to my release.
As suddenly as it had started she stops her movements and pulls away from me. I open my eyes immediately and see her smirking at me. "I have to make dinner," she winks mischievously at me and starts to walk at the door, knowing full well what she did to me.
No she didn't…
"That's… damn you…" I pant. "Not funny…damn…"
"At least now you have a reason to pout," she jokes over her shoulder.
"You're mean…"
She just chuckles and exits the room. My head falls back against the wall and this time I close my eyes, breathing deep in a weak attempt to get my body and desire under control. I'm weak on my legs and I can feel myself throbbing for that release. I was so close…
Damn you Sidle, damn you.
Thanks for reading
