Howdy everyone! First, thank you for the reviews, and the kind messages. I apologize for the long delay but health issues kept me away, and when I was fine it was the good old writer's block. Anyway, the good news is, this is the LAST update for this story.
Since I didn't want to drag it on and on, I've made more or less big time lapses, so maybe you want to read the whole thing from the beginning or just the update, in any case, without further ado, the last chaps. (Fluff alert!)
Enjoy,
So ;)
Act 59: Sara
I sigh and move my neck in a circular motion to work out the kinks. I listen to the boys joking around with a distracted ear. I start shading my vest and open my locker. I'm immediately drowned to the odd thing about it, something that wasn't there the last time I opened it: keys in front of a folded paper.
As soon as the keys are resting in the palm my hand, my heart starts pounding. I can feel a grin tugging at my lips as I run the pad of my thumb over the keychain a small silver coin with a fingerprint engraved in the centre.
I chuckle when I read the note.
"Sara?"
I turn to Greg. "Sorry, what?"
"Breakfast, on me," he sums up.
"Rain check," I smile. "I already have plans, you guys have a good morning."
I barely register the drive, my heart is beating wildly when I park in front of Cath's house. I feel as nervous as I did for our first attempt at a first date.
It takes me a full minute to unlock the door because my hands are trembling, who would have thought that such a simple thing would be overwhelming.
I step in and close the door behind me. "I'm home," I announce breathlessly.
I drop my backpack in the entrance and shed my vest before moving further into the house. I find Catherine sleeping in her bed and smile at the sight.
I decide to take a shower, ten minutes, a batman shirt and a pair of shorts later, I slip into bed behind Cath.
She stirs with a content sigh then turns to me. "I'm home," I repeat, my voice still unsteady.
She beams, one of her hands cupping my cheek. "You're home," she echoes with a bright smile before kissing me.
"Cath?" I speak against her lips.
"Hmmm?"
I break the contact but don't pull away. "I forgot the milk."
"Uh…" she gives me a mischievous smirk. "Guess I'll have to spank you."
I chuckle and kiss her again.
"Sar, what's wrong?" she sits up and looks at me with a frown.
I'm surprise to feel wetness on my cheeks when she rubs her thumbs over my face. I shake my head and grin even more.
I just gave a meaning to the phrase 'so happy I could die'. It just occurred to me that I am home because home for me it wherever Catherine and Linds are, but even more I finally understood that I just need to be in cradle of Catherine's arms to feel absolutely complete.
I am happy beyond words and I'm lucky enough to be fully aware of it.
"I am home," I repeat.
She scrutinizes me and maybe she comes to the same realisation I did, that I talk about more than the house. I lean in and start making love to her pouring every bit of myself in every touch, every caress, every kiss.
I am home
xxxxx xxxxx
Moving in with Cath was really easy, it was more about moving my wardrobe mostly; since my siblings come to Vegas often because of business I'm keeping the apartment so they have a place to stay.
The best part is that even six months after receiving the keys, the novelty of opening the front door on my own and proclaiming that I'm home hasn't worn off and I doubt it ever will. It's silly I know, because frankly I was spending most of my time at Cath's anyway, but it's just different to live there properly.
Now, I can surprise Cath with a meal, or just spend time with Linds without having to plan it ahead, and I don't have to think about going back to my place to get one thing or another or take care of it.
I know I needed time and space a while ago, because adjusting with the new dynamic between Cath and I was rough and I still had fits here and there, but things have changed for the best.
I understand now the concept of looking forward going home. I mean, I used to love going back to my place, but there just something greater about coming home to the people you love, looking forward spending time with them even if it's just sharing a meal. I think part of me had forgot what it was like to have that family dynamic on a regular basis.
"Can I get you anything to drink?" Nancy offers as I re-enter her house by the door giving into the garage.
"I wouldn't say no to a tall glass of cold milk," I grin.
"Coming right up."
Nancy has warmed up to me again, I think Cath had something to do with that, at least a little bit. That being said this is the first time we find ourselves alone for an extended period of time. I won't lie, even after all that time I'm still a bit nervous around her. I have a good reason for it though.
"Your car is fine," I break the silence.
"Okay."
"But you already knew that, didn't you?"
Catherine told me that Nancy had trouble with her car and asked if I could check it out which is why I'm here now. However, after a thorough check out I can tell that except needing an eventual wash, the car doesn't have any problem.
"A second opinion is always nice," she doesn't deny my statement.
I'm not mad, just apprehensive. It just occurred to me that we've never been alone for more than an hour since Cath and I first started to get involved with one another, usually there'd be someone else around be it her boys, Linds or Cath or one of their brothers or Lilly. This time however, there's no buffer, no escape, the only way to end this would be for me to leave. I guess there's a first time for everything.
"Derek used to talk about all those things he wanted to do with our kids. When each boys turn fifteen he'd have gotten an old car and then spend a year working on it and on the sixteenth birthday offer them the car so that they'd have pride in owing it not to mention the bonding time they'd have had doing all the repairs."
I grin at her confession. I've only ever heard her mentioning her late husband in passing, until now that is.
"He'd talk about that plan when I was first pregnant before we even knew we were having a boy so I'd tease him and asked what he'd do if we had a girl," she chuckles. "Oh well I'll do exactly the same because no baby girl of mine will be a damsel in distress," she takes a tone which I assume was close to Derek's voice.
I chortle, taking a sip of my milk.
"He was much like my father in that aspect. Dad taught us everything from plumbing to electricity, from knowing how to throw a good punch to cars," she continues. "How did you learn so much about cars?"
"When I was young, I knew this kid who would only talk about cars, talk about dismantling them and building them up again."
When I was in foster care there was this kid Damon, who literally never said anything unless it was car related. I think it was keeping him calm and helping him cope with the situation. I learnt a lot listening to him and participating to the mechanical workshop they had at the school they sent us to. I also used to help him out with his homework finding a way to relate cars to any topic we were working on.
"That and working on cars at work doesn't hurt either." I add not wanting to expand on Damon further. "Are you going to go on with Derek's plan?" I ask, focusing the conversation on her again.
"Yeah," she answers after a beat. "It'll be a good opportunity to talk to them about their father."
I nod. A comfortable silence settles between us. "He sounded like a great man."
"He was. He had a great sense of humour, there was not a day without laughing with him around."
"It must be hard to carry on with the boys on your own."
"There are good and bad days," she says with a tilt of her head. "You know how they say it takes a village to raise a kid, well I'm lucky enough to have a village with my family and Derek's. I think my biggest fear was that the boys wouldn't have good male figures to look up to, but they actually have that with their uncles so…"
Oddly enough I relate perfectly to what she just said. Once we were on her own with my siblings, I was lucky to have my older brothers to look up to, but I've always thought that Charlie had the toughest position in the end because he was the eldest. For a long time the seven of us were our own village.
Speaking of my siblings…
I take a deep breath and decide to launch what I see as an inevitable conversation. I'm not blind and if I haven't pried about it, I know for a fact that Sidney has kept in touch with Nancy. Knowing my brother he wrote good old fashioned letters, something tells me Nancy is the kind to enjoy a pen pal.
I don't know much, because I haven't brought the topic up with Sid yet and frankly I don't want to meddle. I'm certain of one thing though, there's one of Sidney's favourite books on Nancy's coffee table.
Sure it could just be a coincidence, but the fact is that it's not just any copy, it's a first edition and it's one of Sid's. How am I so sure about it? Well once I borrowed that very same copy and misplaced it, Sid gave me such an earful about it, you'd think I had killed someone. Charlie found the same edition of the book and gift it to Sid, as luck would have it I found the misplaced one a few days afterward.
And now it's on Nancy's coffee table…
Again, it doesn't necessarily means anything, or at least it wouldn't if Sidney didn't worship books the way he does, so at the very least it means that Nancy is important to him or that they share something deep, whatever that is.
I don't think I'd mind if anything was to happen between them, but I'm a bit weary. I don't know if Nancy is ready for something, clearly her late husband is still very present. I just don't want Sid to fall and get hurt, because he tends to fall hard. The only good thing is that I know Nancy, and I do trust her.
Right… let's do this.
"Three things, two we have in common and one making the difference," I start seemingly out of the blue.
I have her full attention, for she's looking at me expectantly.
"One, we both have the same job regarding our siblings. Two, we're both good at it. The difference between you and I being that I know how to get away with murder, and I will should you ever give me a reason to."
She's about to say something but I raise a hand to silence her. "I'm just making conversation, or maybe this is a pre-emptive strike, who knows? It doesn't really matter," I shrug. She holds my gaze and though she doesn't say anything I know she understood that I have Sid's back and that I'll be fine if she wants to be more than friends with him.
I drain my glass of milk and look at my watch. "And I should get going, I promised Cath I'd make dessert today so I need to hit the grocery store. Thanks for the milk," I wink at her before taking my vest and leaving.
xxxxx xxxxx
"Roger," Cath calls me with a teasing voice.
"Yes, Jessica?"
"What would you say about going to Montana for the week-end?"
"Let me guess, the house is empty and you want to play patty-cake there, am I right?"
She slaps me lightly on the shoulder. "I happen to enjoy going there, you know. It's a good break from Vegas."
"When do you want to go?"
"Next week-end, is that good for you?"
"Perfect," I peck her lips. "And don't think I didn't notice you not denying that you intended to seduce me there," I wiggle my eyebrows with amusement.
She sighs profoundly "… you know that my mother said the same when I told her I wanted to go?" she buries her face against my shoulder.
"Oh my…" I shudder. "This is like a cold shower."
"It's not that I want to, I have to, I mean I'm the only one not to have done anything there," she feigns a whiny voice.
"That was another great over share…" I joke.
"Uh…Fine… we won't do anything," she pouts.
"Are you kidding me? We're on now, we're going to patty-cake in every corner so you can show off to everyone."
She burst out in laughter at my boast. "As a matter of fact I think we should practice right now," I tighten my embrace and attach my lips to her neck.
"I like the way you think," she moans when I nibble on one of her weak spots.
I don't think I'll ever cease to be amazed at how much I'm in love with Cath, and how that feeling is tenfold every new day I'm lucky enough to live.
xxxxx xxxxx
"Why are you running away?" Sidney chuckles.
"Because you're going to slap me like the jackass you are," I protest and move my character around the screen.
Sidney has been coming to Vegas almost two to three times a month to work with the new clients. Things are going great and the word to mouth works wonder for them because they're backed up with orders.
I'm happy, not only this is awesome for the family business but it has the non-negligible bonus of giving me the opportunity to spend time with my siblings regularly.
Sidney and I are playing to a video game as we usually would when he's around.
"Ooh let's do this one, I want the princess dress!" he exclaims.
"I'm not even going to comment on that."
We start the bonus level and laugh as we try to impair each other losing sight of the objective altogether.
"Stop weighting me down, Dum-dum!" I guffaw.
"Don't be jealous of my skills."
"And now we're both dead, nice play genius…"
"You're the one who let go!"
We keep bickering, goofing around instead of playing properly and I'm enjoying every second of it.
I take a small break to get some snacks and watch him play on his own.
"Behold greatness!" he proclaims proudly and I just shake my head with a roll of my eyes.
I observe him, the thought crossing my mind is completely out of the blue but I go for it anyway.
"Sid, I love you unconditionally, I always will until I draw my last breath."
"Wow, what brought the gloom on?" he frowns with a glance in my direction before paying attention to the game again. "I mean, don't get me wrong, I feel the same about you," he grins. "It's just random."
"You're a great guy and I'm not just saying that because you're my bro," I continue. "Understand what I'm about to say has nothing to do with the potential impact it could have on my own relationship. It's all about her being someone great who deserves the best… matter of fact you both do," I mark a beat. "My point is, I need you to know that if you hurt her in any shape or form I'll never forgive you. I'll still love you, but this will stay between us forever."
There's a beat during which he's trying to understand that I'm talking about Nancy. "I don't… it's not…"
"Sid…" I cut through he's denial.
He clears his throat. "I won't, you have my word."
"Good," I nod firmly. I pick up my controller and re-enter the game. "Uh, you're an amateur, let me show you how it's done."
"Scout, please, I can beat you with my hands behind my back."
"Says he whom I've been beating since childhood."
"Oh you're on."
We start playing together again, but don't manage to keep our serious for more than three minutes, preferring throwing each other's character into pits or hitting them.
"Scout?"
"Hmm?"
"Although you have the wrong idea, because we're just friends…"
"Sure you are," I mutter inaudibly.
"Thanks."
"You're welcome," I just grin before hitting his character.
"Hey! No fair, I wasn't watching!"
"Excuses, excuses…" I smirk.
