Chapter 17

Kim was finding that there are many upside of knowing the owner of a posh resort, one of them being no penalty for a late check out. Allowing her and Kerry enough time to enjoy their last full day together before heading back to Kerry's home. After their rather heavy morning discussions the two stayed away from revisiting the subject of their impending separation. Kim was relieved for the most part now that she was confident both wanted the same thing, which was basically some sort of future together, it was the logistics that still needed to be worked out. Kerry had been clear in her willingness to do whatever it took to make it work. It was really coming down to Kim and what she wanted.

The reality was, it had only been seven days afforded her to decide if she was open to the possibility of turning her life completely upside down and inside out. She was on the precipice of a ledge that descended into a whole new lifestyle, one that included not only a committed romantic relationship with the woman who left her emotionally gutted a decade earlier, but also one that required her to take on the responsibilities that came with being involved with a single mother.

She had grown quite fond of Henry, that she was sure of, but any kid can be charming for a week, what would it be like in a month. Would this kid resent having to share his mom with someone else, possibly somewhere else?

Kim's heart and head were at war with each other. Historically, Kim could justify her behavior as a need to feed her always starving id, but not this time, this time, people she genuinely loved, were at stake of being hurt. She needed to make the right decision for everyone involved, not just to fill the gaping whole inside her that she found impossible to keep filled.

"That's right Kim, you're the human embodiment of quicksand' she chided herself out loud

"What's that?" Kerry asked

Kim hadn't realized that Kerry had returned to the room after arranging for the boat taxi to pick them up to take them back to the launch at the Marina parking area.

"Oh nothing, just talking to myself is all" Kim deflected.

"Hmm, you should see a professional about that" Kerry joked.

"Oh, believe me I know...We all set?" Kim said, trying to change the subject.

"Yeah, just let me call Maggi and let her know we are hitting the road and will pick up Henry tonight around dinner time." Kerry grabbed her phone and went out to the veranda to make the call.

Kim finished packing up and took one last sweep around the room.

Kerry was back in the room in under 5 minutes. She made her way to Kim and placed her hand on her lower back.

"You ready to leave paradise babe?" she asked but noticed Kim's body had gone rigid. "I'm sorry did I scare you?"

Kim scrunched up her face in a look of distaste. "No, I'm just not a fan of the endearment 'Babe'" she admitted bashfully.

Kerry didn't seem to take offense though "No Babe huh?" Kerry leaned in to ear, do you prefer 'Hun'?" she asked before placing a soft kiss on her earlobe. "Or, maybe 'sweetheart'?" She said as she kissed her neck

While trailing down to her pulse point "...or how about 'Darling'? She asked, emphasizing it with a little bite.

Kerry moved her way to the top of Kim's left breast where she gave it a little nibble and a flick with her tongue. Kerry looked up at her lover with a sly smirk "Do you like any of those endearments 'My Love'?"

Kim, clearly effected by Kerry's meandering kisses, lifted her chin up to her mouth and pulled Kerry in for a deep, wet kiss, after a few moments she ended the kiss "Definitely going with 'My Love'" she said.

They finally got on the road after keeping the captain and his deckhand, Paul, waiting almost 45 minutes, both ladies were a little embarrassed but neither regretted their little lapse of manners, they were running on borrowed time now with Kim's departure clock ticking loudly in both of their heads.

Kerry loaded the car and she let Kim decide the music for their road trip. Nothing melancholy, instead she found a great oldies station and cranked the Motown tunes up as loud as tolerable, Kerry and dropped the top of her baby and sped down the interstate feeling light and relaxed after their little escape.

About an hour into the drive Kerry began an eternal discussion on what was the best way to broach the subject with Kim regarding their next steps pertaining to their rekindled relationship. Kim's actions sure made Kerry believe they were on the same page but the truth was, Kim had yet to articulate her thoughts on what she wanted.

Finally mustering up her courage she decided to just go for it, "Kim?" Kerry began, but at the same moment her phone rang, interrupting her train of thought "Fuck!" she said with a huff under her breath.

"Love? Can you grab that for me please?" Kerry asked Kim, putting the emphasis on the recently agreed upon endearment.

"Sure" Kim said as she grabbed the phone from its resting place on the seat consul, "its Celeste" she said reading the caller id from the phone.

"Ok, just put her on speaker" she asked Kim. "Hello Celeste, what's up?" Kerry said jumping right in.

"Kerry darling, I found you! I've been trying to get a hold of you for days!" said the anxious sounding agent.

Kerry knew Celeste had a tendency to exaggerate so she didn't seemed all that concerned, "Well you have me, so what's up? Kerry repeated eager to get on with the call.

"Yes, well, when is Henry out of school for summer break?" she asked

"June 6th, why?" Kerry was getting perturbed with the beating around the bush tactics

"How would he feel about spending his summer vacation in California?"

"What are you really asking Celeste?" Kerry said, finally getting tired of the little game.

"The Producers want you available during the casting and nearby for final approval of location sites, it will probably take 2 to 3 months" she said, finally getting to the point.

Kerry glanced at Kim wondering what she thought about the prospect of being in the same State over the summer.

"Hi Celeste, its Kim, how are you?" Kim spoke up, "Sorry to interrupt, I have a few questions." She looked over at Kerry mouthing 'Do you mind'? Kerry, whose curiosity was peaked, just mouthed, back, 'Go ahead'

Kim proceeded "Will they need Kerry in LA or just in California?"

There was a brief pause and a ruffling of papers, "It just says they would like to have" the agents voice changed tempo indicating she was likely reading a passage from a contract, "'the rep for P.T. Carmichael available for any last minute approvals, and be easily accessible to the screen writer for any consultations and re-writes," but it doesn't say anything about being in LA per se"

Kim looked encouraged, "So, say if she were able to be in their office within 2 to 3 hours, that would be alright?"

"Oh, yeah, I'm sure that's fine, they just don't want to have to worry about her getting on a cross country flight and putting everything on hold for a day, what are you getting at Kim?" the agent asked somewhat put off by her intrusion.

"Hold on a sec" Kim said before pushing the hold button on the phone

"Ker, how would you feel about you and Henry staying with me over the summer in San Francisco while working of the film?"

Kerry wondered if Kim could hear the little explosion of joy that just went off in her head.

"We would love that, well, I would love that. We can talk to Hen when we get home tonight" Kerry answered, she nodded her head to take Celeste off hold, Kim pushed the button and held the phone up to Kerry.

"Celeste, tell them that P.T.'s representative is based in San Francisco and that she will agree to coming out the duration of pre-production as long a she can stay in the Bay Area."

Looking over at Kim "Kim, how long is a flight from SF to LA?" she asked her, "No time at all, hour at the most. It would be longer driving through the traffic, she joked.

Kerry directed her attention back to the phone "Give them a call and see if they would go for that and then give me a call back when it's all sorted, ok?

"You got it boss" there was a slightly sarcastic tone in Celeste's voice but not enough to crush Kerry's high from just learning that Kim Legaspi, the love of her life, wanted Kerry and her son to spend the summer with her.

"I will call you love birds later, safe travels Kerry, good bye Kim" she said before hanging up.

Kim returned the phone to its place and reached over to take Kerry's hand, bringing it up to her lips where she kissed her knuckles before rubbing them on her cheek.

"I can't wait to show you guys around my city" she winked.

They pulled into the drive way a quarter after 6 and found a waiting eight year hold hopping up and down eager for their return.

"Hi Mom! Hi Kim! How was your, um, what did you call it? A romantic getaway?" Henry asked Maggi and Tara who was waiting with him.

The women looked a little embarrassed, "What? Um, we didn't say that, did we?" Maggi looked to Tara for some help, she just shrugged, "Well, what else would you call it?" she asked honestly.

Maggi looked over to the boys, "grabbed the bags and bring them inside ok guys?" She instructed

Tara was hugging Kerry and looking over her shoulder towards Kim, "Well, what did you think of the resort?" she asked

Kim beamed, "It was incredible" she told Tara

"What did you think of the pool?" she asked

"We didn't see the pool" Kim answered

"Oh, what did you think of the beach lagoon?" Tara asked again

"There was a lagoon?" Kim asked surprised

Tara let go of Kerry and pushed he away from her, "Jesus Kerry, didn't you show Kim around he place?"

"I showed her the veranda, and the bed" she said somewhat smugly

"Oh, and you showed me the shower too" Kim added

"Right, I showed her the shower too" Kerry added as she made her way past her grinning neighbors

"It was beautiful, I hope to visit there again sometime" Kim added as she followed Kerry inside.

After dinner Kerry and Kim decide to bring up the idea of spending the summer in California to Henry.

"So, like what would we do there?" Henry wondered.

"There's a lot to do" Kim told him, "We could go hiking, camping...Have you ever been to Yosemite?" Kim asked

"No, I've seen it on TV and a boy in my class did a report on it. It seems really cool, they have bears there right?"

"Yep, bears, owls, eagles, all kinds of wild life." Kim told him

"And if you like baseball we are really close to AT&T Park where the Giants play. We can go to as many games as you like, I have some friends that always are offering me tickets?"

"And I'll be working in Los Angeles while we are there too, you know what's in LA don't you?" Kerry asked

"Disney Land?" he answered excitedly

"Yeah, and Universal Studios. So there is a lot to do in California" Kerry added.

"Where will we stay?" asked Henry

"I'll take this one" Kerry said looking at Kim "Kim has a home in Palo Alto, that's about 30 minutes or so from San Francisco, but I asked Celeste to rent us a house in the City to stay in, it's a little bigger than Kim's place so we will have more room to spread out and not be on top of each other."

Kerry grabbed Kim's hand hoping to convey to her that this wasn't a decision made because she wanted to be away from her but one to give her an out whenever she began to feel the pressure of instant family life. "But I said we need at least 3 bedrooms so Kim could stay with us as much as she wants," She emphasized the point by giving the hand a tight squeeze. "Also, I told her it has to allow dogs because Kim has a dog."

"You have a dog?" Henry asked excitedly

Kim was staring at Kerry's hand on hers before looking back at Henry

"Yeah, Smiley. She's very sweet, and loves to play ball, it would be great to have you around to help me take care of her." Kim told him.

"Henry was quite for a few minutes then looked up at the both of them with a huge grin, "This is going to be the best summer ever!" he exclaimed while pumping his fist before grabbing his arm in pain "Ouch! I forgot about my shoulder!" he said half laughing half crying.

Kerry leaned over to give him a kiss, "I'll get you some Tylenol and then I'll tuck you in ok?"

Ok Mom" he said, Kerry got up to leave but noticed Kim hanging behind to stay with him, she waited form Kerry to leave the room before talking again.

"Henry, I know you're the man of the house and I respect the very much so I want to be perfectly honest with you, is that ok with you?"

"Uh huh" he said nodding his head

"I think you should know that I love your Mom very much, I love everything about your Mom and that includes you." Kim said, leaning in and gently bopping him on the nose with her finger. "I'm excited that we all will be spending more time together and I really hope that this summer will be the beginning of something really great." She finished.

Henry seemed to be taking in what Kim was saying, pausing a few moments before responding.

"Me and my Mom, we're like best friends, but now Michael and Kelly, from school, are like my best friends and I've kind of felt bad that Mom didn't have someone she could be best friends with too, so, I guess what I'm trying to say is, that I'm really glad that you love my Mom and that you guys will be able to play together and I'm really glad that we all get to hang around with each other from now on. I think you're really cool Kim and I really can't wait to play with your dog this summer."

Henry scooted up from where he was sitting and pulled Kim into a tight embrace. "Goodnight Kim."

Kim leaned down and kissed the young boy on the top of his head.

"Goodnight Henry" neither had heard Kerry return but heard her as she cleared her throat "Ok Kid, let's do this," she handed her son a glass of water and the pills. "Its late so only one chapter of Harry Potter tonight ok?" Kim walked out to leave them alone.

About 30 minutes later Kim heard a soft knock on her door before she heard it click open "Hey, can I come in?" she heard Kerry ask.

"Yeah, come on in" Kim was stretched out of the bed scrolling through her blackberry "I was just catching up on some emails" she told Kerry before placing the phone back on the night stand.

"Everything good back home?" Kerry asked

"Yes, we are in spring break so nothing involving students, just sorting through all the office politics more or less" said Kim

"I was kind of hoping to find you in my room" Kerry shyly admitted

Kim raised and eye brow "Oh really?" she asked suggestively

Kerry rolled her eyes, "nothing like that I just thought that maybe we could spend our last night sleeping together, just sleep" she clarified, still a little unsure about to being intimate with Henry in the next room

Kim, sat up, took a long, feline like stretch, and in one swift movement rose from the bed and in just two strides was in Kerry's personal bubble. "I would like that very much" she whispered in Kerry's ear.

"Follow me Love" she said turning around and leading her to her bedroom.

As the two woman prepared for bed Kerry wanted to make sure Kim understood her decision to rent a house while in California wasn't a move to distance them from her, "Kim, are you ok with me and Henry getting our own place this Summer?" she asked

Kim had just finished brushing her teeth and was wiping her face clean with a wash cloth.

"I'm ok with it, I was surprised at first, but...if we are being honest. It's probably a good idea to take things slow with Henry."

Kim made her way to the bed and began to undress as Kerry made her way into the bathroom to prepare for bed.

"I've lived alone for a long time and having a lover and a child under my roof could be a lot to get use too, I think it would be fun to stay with you guys at the rental, and I plan on doing so, but thank you for thinking about my need to maintain my own place too."

Kerry was relieved that Kim understood her motives. She finished getting ready for bed and was searching for some sleepwear in the dresser by the closet "Good, Kim, I, I want this to workout, more than anything and if that's going to happen we have to be honest with each other and constantly be checking in with each other."

She turned back around to find Kim crawling into bed naked. Kerry caught her breath at the vison, opting to forgo pajamas as well and crawled in next to her.

"Umm" Kerry began, "Celeste also mentioned that they need me in LA to finalize the contract in two weeks. I wondered if, maybe, you would want to join me while I'm there."

She looked over at her lover to find she had a huge grin on her face.

"That would be awesome Ker, I was starting to miss you and I haven't even left yet." she turned over to face her. "I'll make sure to rearrange my schedule."

Kim propped herself up on her elbow to get a better look at Kerry,

"I really want this to work too Kerry, and I will do whatever it takes to make it happen" she bent down to draw Kerry into a deep kiss.

"I could get use to this jet-setting life style of yours Dr. Weaver" she teased

"Yes, about that" Kerry said "I got something for you, it's in the closet."

Kim's curiosity was peaked, "You do? In the closet huh?"

"Yes, take a look" Kerry pushed

Kim got out of bed and slowly strutted to the closet putting on a little show for Kerry. She disappeared in the closet.

"Oh. My. God. Kerry!" Kim said from inside the closet, "it's the perfect size!"

Kerry watched from the bed, excited by her reaction, waiting for Kim to come back out with her gift.

"And it comes with a matching duffel?" Kim asked as she reappeared dragging out a new designer suitcase set from Coach.

"Yep!" Kerry answered, thrilled that her lover could finally dump the old dilapidated piece of luggage she had been dragging around all these years.

"I love it Ker, thank you so much!"

"And I love you Kim, and that comes with a lifetime guarantee, just like the luggage."

ALL DONE!

Any interest in a California Visit?