Chapter 37
It had been a couple of days since Catherine had woken up. Steve and the kids had been visiting her everyday they had time. Steve had been given time off work by the Governor but the kids had to go back to school.
Steve was turning into a domestic goddess, he was cooking, cleaning, picking the kids up from school. He was starting to get bored but he had to fill the time he couldn't be with Catherine with something. There was a noticeable improvement with the kids, they were becoming back to normal. They were getting along great and that's all Steve could ask for.
Catherine had started with the psychologist and she was doing great. Louise was helping her and she was remembering more which was helping her focus on moving on. She still had bad moments but she had managed to control them when the kids were around.
Steve hadn't seen his team in a while, he was too focused on Catherine and the kids. He had decided that on his way to see Catherine he would stop by the office and see how they were getting on without him.
"Boss what are you doing here?" Kono asked when Steve walked through the door.
"Just came to see how you are all getting on. Felt like I haven't seen you all in a long time."
"Oh okay, Danny and Chin are out following a lead, they should be back anytime now. How's Catherine?" Kono had wanted to go and see Catherine see how she was doing but between working and not wanting to intrude on her time with Steve and the kids her, Danny and Chin had decided that they would give them all some time and see her when she had come out of hospital.
"She is getting better they are hopefully going to release her tomorrow, in time for the weekend." Steve informed her. "She is doing better now she is seeing a psychologist. She just wants to get back to normal, get back to work."
"She has only been back for a week and is thinking about work already?" Kono asked.
"I don't think its as much about work, more that she wants to get back to normal, forget what has happened. I think she just needs something to take her mind of everything."
"Steve, what are you doing here?" Danny asked, as he and Chin walked in. They had seen Steve's truck in the car park and Danny had started a rant on the way up to the bullpen about how he should be focusing on Catherine and him being here was going against the governor.
"I just popped in to see how you are all doing. Catherine is with her psychologist this morning , so on my way there thought I would see how everything was going."
"Everything is fine. I am getting shot at less, not getting blown up and I get to drive my own car." Danny told him.
"Danno you have never been blown up, you have been by things that had blown up and you haven't been clipped in a long while." Steve said.
"I get shot at all the time, when I am with you. Hardly ever when I go out with this two." He said pointing to Chin and Kono.
"How's Catherine doing?" Chin interrupted, trying to stop a ran he was sure Danny was about to give.
"She is doing good, hopefully she will be released tomorrow." Steve informed.
"Well that is good, how is she coping?" Chin asked.
"She is doing really well, she is holding it together when the kids are around, and the psychologist is helping her cope. Speaking of which she will be finishing up I should go. I will speak to you all later about a BBQ saturday night." Steve said. He wanted to do something for Catherine for when she got out of hospital. They might even have some news. Steve was planning on proposing to Catherine. He had wanted to ever since they had moved in together, but never had the chance. He had almost lost her and now he was sure that he wanted to ask her. He wanted to ask both Jay and Chelsea to make sure they were both okay with it. He was going to ask the kids tonight, and then ask her if she was released tomorrow.
"Hey sailor." Catherine said, when Steve walked into the room. She was looking better. Her arm was in plaster, she was in her own clothes and she was walking about. She had been getting out of bed for the last couple of days but it was the first time he had seen her getting out of bed by herself without a nurse around.
"Hey, your looking better." Steve noted walking over to her, to give her a kiss on the cheek.
"I'm feeling a lot better."
"A good session with Louise?"
"Yeah the best session I have had I think. The nurses have said I should be able to come home tomorrow morning as long as everything is okay."
"That's great news."
"I am going to go and have a shower." Catherine said.
"Do you want any help?"
"No I think I should be alright." Catherine said. Truth be told Catherine had cuts and bruises all over her body and a scar from surgery and she was feeling self conscious.
"Okay I'll be out here if you need any help." Steve replied.
Catherine had been in the shower for about half an hour, when he heard a thud. He walked over to the bathroom door and knocked on the door. "Catherine are you alright?" Steve asked.
"Yeah I'm fine, I will be out in a minute." She replied.
Steve moved away from the door, not entirely understanding why Cath didn't want any help. Normally she would have let him in, he would have helped her and if it was the other way round she would help him. But Steve decided to give her time and let her ask him.
When Catherine came out of the bathroom she was in her PJs ready to get back into her bed. She hated being stuck in bed for so long but it was becoming painful to move around and knew that it was the best option to do.
Once Catherine had feel asleep Steve moved from his place lying on the bed. He found a piece of paper and left it on the table telling her he had gone to pick up the kids. Evie finished first. He was going to take her for shave ice and talk to her about the engagement, he wanted her to be okay with it as well as Jay and Chelsea.
"Hey Sweetheart," he greeted when she got in the car.
"Hi," she replied buckling up the seat belt.
"How was your day at school?" Steve asked.
"It was okay, nothing really happened." Evie replied. Ever since Steve had started picking her up from school that was the answer she would always give. She would never really give any detail but he wasn't overly concerned at the moment because Jay and Chelsea would normally only give him that much on how there day was.
"I thought that since we have a little while since we have to pick Jay and Chelsea up we could go and get some shave ice."
"Okay." Evie replied. Normally her dad would take her to pick up some shopping or do something that he needed to do before picking up Jay and Chelsea and heading back to the hospital.
When they arrived for shave ice Steve brought the two and they took a little walk stopping to sit on a bench, in a quiet little spot.
"I wanted to talk to you about something." Steve started, turning to face Evie.
"What's wrong?" Evie asked . She was a little worried that it was about her mom, and since Catherine had been taken and Jay and Chelsea had been worried about Catherine, she started to think more about her mom and how she had left her. She wasn't sure what was going on in her head herself and didn't want to have to talk about it with her mom.
"Nothing's wrong sweetheart. Unless you know something that you're not telling me." Steve asked, trying to figure out if there was something to worry about with Evie.
"No everything's fine." Evie said, with a small smile.
"You know if you need to talk about anything all you have to do is tell me." Steve said, taking one of his daughters hand in his.
"I know." Evie said.
"I wanted to talk to you about asking Catherine to marry me." Steve started. "Since she went missing, I have realised that I want to spend the rest of my life with her. That I love her. I wanted to make sure that you are okay with it. If you don't want me to ask her, you can tell me." Steve said locking eyes with his daughter. Of what he could gather Evie seemed to like Catherine, but liking her and him wanting to marry her were two different things. He wanted her to agree with him because he didn't know what to do if she said, she didn't want him to marry her.
"I think that's a great idea. You seem really happy, I like living with her, Jay and Chelsea." She said with a smile.
"Thank you. I haven't spoke to Jay and Chelsea yet. I am going to ask them later before I ask Cath."
They sat in silence for a while, before Steve tried to find out if there was anything Evie wanted to tell him. "Are you sure there is nothing you want to talk to me about?"
"No, I'm alright." Evie answered.
It was that moment that Steve noticed something different in his daughters eyes. She looked sad about something, like a sparkle had gone. He wanted to push her on the issue but knew that he had to pick up Jay and Chelsea soon, and they wouldn't have time to have a proper conversation. When Catherine was released tomorrow he would take Evie out for a couple of hours on Saturday to have a proper conversation.
When Steve and Evie picked up the twins from school, he took the home before going to the hospital. Evie had gone upstairs to get changed and Steve asked Jay and Chelsea to come to the kitchen to talk to them.
"I wanted to talk to you both about something." Steve started. "I have known your mom for years. And when she went missing I released that I couldn't lose her. That I wanted to spend the rest of my life with her. I wanted to know what you would both think if I asked her to marry me."
"I think that's a great idea." Jay said. He truly believed that his mom would want this as well and after everything that she had been through in the last couple of weeks she deserved to be happy and if this would make her happy he wouldn't do anything to stop this.
Steve looked over at Chelsea, he wasn't sure what she was going to say. She was hard to judge, although over the last couple of weeks she was seeming to like Steve more and want him and her mom to be happy he wasn't sure she would be so acceptable or marriage.
"I think it would be amazing." Chelsea said as she walked over to Steve and gave him hug.
Steve was taken aback, Chelsea had never came over to hug him before, and he would admit it did quiet surprise him but he was hoping that it was a move in the right direction.
"I am going to ask her tomorrow if she gets to come home from the hospital. When I saw her this morning she said the nurse had told her that if there was no complications today or tonight she can go home tomorrow. I am just going to have a shower and get changed and we will go up to the hospital."
Catherine had slept for most of the afternoon, and when she woke Steve wasn't there but he had left a note explaining that he had gone to pick up the kids. Steve had been great, she didn't know what she would do without him these past couple of weeks. From conversations she had had with Jay, Chelsea and Evie, he had been amazing keeping it together. She knew that she was pushing Steve a way a little because he was trying to help, but since she woke up, she would never let him help her in the shower, or bathroom. She wouldn't tell him that much about what had happened. It's not that she didn't want to, it was more that she couldn't. Every time she tried to she would end up crying or freezing, and not being able to say anything. She hoped that like Louise said, when she got home in a relaxed setting she would be able to tell him. She had to talk to someone in the Navy about what happened. Give her account of what happened. She wasn't looking forward to it, she didn't think she could relive in all in one go.
It was about an hour later when Steve and the kids came to see her. It was like the same as every night they had come to see her. They would arrive, talk about school, stay whilst Catherine had her dinner, then they would go home so Catherine could have her rest. But today Cath noticed something different, they seemed more cheery. They tried to make her happy when they were there but today they seemed overly cheery.
"You ready to come home tomorrow?" Chelsea asked. She was looking forward to having her mom home. With her mom being home she could relax, because she knew that her mom was safe, her mom was back.
"Hopefully, saw the doctor earlier, he is ready to release me tomorrow morning, so I should be home by the time you get in from school." Cath said.
"We've missed you at home." Jay added in.
"I've miss you lot too. It will be good to be home. I have missed you all, I am thinking family dinner tomorrow night." Catherine said. She was sick of eating hospital food. She was looking forward to eating something other than plain foods.
"We're alright ahead of you in that sense, we have already planned our menu for when you get home, we are going shopping when we leave here to get everything we need." Steve explained.
"What are we having?" Catherine asked, anything would be good food as long as it was home cooked and not frozen, processed food.
"That's the surprise, you will have to wait and find out tomorrow." Steve said.
Sorry the ending isn't very good, I wasn't sure where to end it without it being a really long or short chapter I thought here would be a good as any place to finish. Hopefully I should update soon. Hope your still enjoying it. Please review!