Lotte- I love you so much! And I must say, you'll love this chapter, for some reason I couldn't get lets start a pride all our own out of my head...

Chapter 9

Kate hit her head against the door of her room, cursing herself for her actions.

"Whats wrong with me?" She hit her head against the wall again, this time harder. "why can't I just forgive him? Why?" She abandoned her position at the door to raid her closet, remembering she did have a class she had to get to. She didn't hear the the door open, or the body slipping into the sanctuary of her room.

Jack grabbed her forearms, spinning Kate around, he pressed his lips to hers.

"I'm sorry." He gasped when he finally pulled away from her. He cupped the sides of her face with his hands. "I shouldn't have left, and I shouldn't have stayed gone for so long. Please, What must I do for your forgiveness? I will do anything." He kissed her again. The second attempt just as equal as the first in desperate need.

"Jack... I..." The English language failed Kate at that moment, as she simply stood before him, unable to speak of everything her heart longed to say. " I really have to get going, I have class soon and.. and I just have to go." She finally said, dropping her gaze to the floor.

"Oh." Jack stepped away from her, his own gaze fixing on the hard wood floor, sorrow welled in his heart. Kate turned back to her wardrobe. Sighing, she looked over her shoulder at Jack, who was making his way to the door.

"Close the door, and keep your back to me please?" the longing in her voice struck him, allowing hope to start to grow. Jack did as she asked, hearing her fumble around with the articles of clothing. "Tonight, when I get home, can we talk?" She looked over her shoulder at him as she pulled her tee shirt on, silently hoping he hadn't turned around so she could look at his face.

"Of course." He didn't mean to sound so eager, but the thought of truly being with Kate again was too great a hope to not feel some sort of excitement.

"I just have to stop at Jerry's first, on my way home." she tapped on his shoulder to indicate that she was done changing, allowing him to turn and fully look at her. He always thought it amazing that something so simple as a tee shirt could always look so perfect on his Kate, but then again, he thought, she always looked that way to him.

"For Kerri?" He couldn't help but smile thinking of the little boy.

"Yes, I can't help it, I miss him." She smiled as she walked past Jack, motioning for him to follow her down the stairs.

"Could we go see him together?" Kate grabbed her bag from the table beside the door, turning to look at Jack, her smile lost.

"No, I don't mean anything by it, I just have to talk to him alone, you understand right?"

"Yeah, I understand." He grabbed her coat for her, helping her into it, hoping to spend every moment he could with her before she left.

"I'll talk to you tonight." She smiled at him, kissing his check and turning to the door.

"I love you." He whispered as she closed the door behind her, just catching his almost silent words.

As Kate had expected, Kerri fused himself to her leg almost the moment she entered the house, burying his face into her jeans, never wanted to let him mother go.

"Baby, you act like you haven't seen me in ages! Have you forgotten that you spent all day yesterday with mommy?" Kate looked up at Jerry, who was chuckling and rolling his eyes.

"I want to go home mommy." Kerri pouted, giving his mother what she called the puppy dog face, it was his greatest tactic in getting what he wanted.

"Not yet baby, you wouldn't like it at home right now." She hoped Jerry would say something to back her up, but he remained silent.

"I'll behave Mom I swear! I can share my room with Jack, Oh I promise I'll be good." Jerry had to hold back a chocking laugh, luckily Kerri didn't notice.

"Baby, why don't we go to your room and talk?" Kerri nodded his head vigorously, grabbing his mother's arm and dragging her to the spare bedroom in Jerry's house. He sat her down on his bed, and climbed up into her lap, missing his mother dearly.

"See how clean I keep it mom?" she was sure his grin could reach each of his ears, as he looked around in pride.

"I see baby, I see." she kissed his forehead. "Baby, can I ask you something?" the child nodded his head, curious as to what she had to say. "do you like Jack?"

"Uh-huh. He's so much fun! He knows the Lion King mom! And he played with me mommy, no one but you know how to play right." he pouted, "no one else knows what they all say. But jack does!"

"I'm glad you like him baby." Kate couldn't help but smile thinking of how perfect jack and kerri looked together, perhaps, she thought, they could look like a real family one day. "Mommy has something she wants to tell you, a secret." His ears perked, the thought a secret exciting him.

"You can trust me!" He practically bounced on her leg, looking up at her in anticipation.

"Kerri, do you remember what you asked me when you saw Mufasa teaching Simba about the pride lands? How he would control all that the light touches one day?" he nodded his head slowly, trying to understand what that had to do with anything. "what did you ask baby?"

"Where's my dad?" He answered quietly.

"And what did I tell you?"

"He had to go away, for a long time, and you didn't know how long he would be gone."

"Thats right baby. Like Simba, when he went to go live with Timon and Pumba, but Simba came back, didn't he? He came back to his old friend Nala?"

"Yeah."

"Well baby, your daddy came back too, just like Simba, just when he was needed." She drew him closer to her, kissing his forehead. "Jack is your daddy, precious."

Kerri remained silent, simply looking up at his mother, thinking over his mother's words.

"He isn't Mufasa, is he?" Kerri spoke quietly, his eyes lying on his favorite stuffed animal. It took Kate a moment to realize what he was asking, Mufasa dies in the movie.

"No baby, he isn't Mufasa. He's Simba. So I guess that makes me Nala." She ginned at him, tickling his side.

"Nala is pretty." He spoke through giggles, making no attempt to stop his mother. "Do I get to be Kovu?"

"Yes baby, you can be Kovu."