CH18
It is now one month later: (December)
Henny Youngman
Jack Benny
Bob Newhart
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Kate and Alexis were floating in the pool again, this time barely holding on by a finger with each other. "Have you done any thinking about college all these times?" Kate asks, hoping that this would be the last time.
"A little, Oxford isn't actually in London. It's a number of miles to the northwest roughly. There is transportation between the two but it would take time." Alexis informs Kate.
"O-kay, but a place that big must have places you can stay. Maybe you could take trips into London between class days, find something to do, find a nice British boyfriend, one with an accent." Kate started smiling.
"There was this guide that I downloaded and put it only laptop, it's called The Living Out Guide. It offers pros and cons of living on college if you qualify or living in a house off college.
Off college offered mostly three major locations. City Centre, Jericho and Cowley Road. Cowley Road seemed to be the most popular with better pricing and more available places. Jericho usually has fewer housing choices with higher prices, however you get what you pay for.
One of the drawbacks of living out is transportation to the college. Living out means eating out, so you need to know how to cook." Alexis points out.
"Good thing your dad taught you how to cook than." Kate points out.
"Cowley Road has the most number of grocery locations, restaurants, night life and such, however it's also the furthest out." Alexis points out.
"Pray you don't have a 7:30 class on the far side of the campus than." Kate points out, remembering she had just such a class with her next class on the opposite side with no time to get there. "Alexis honey, please tell me you know about the dangers of drugs and alcohol?" Kate asks, suddenly thinking like a mom, even if she doesn't recognize it.
"I know, trust me I know." Alexis really did know.
"And do you know the peer pressure or desire to fit in that goes with it? … You've found a guy and you like him and he offers you something. You like him and would like to see more of him, and you're all alone living in England, with the two of us hours away at best." Kate offers a scenario.
"I've thought about it mom, I have. It's just, … how does anyone know how they will react when that time comes?" Alexis offers.
"You'll know what to do because you are sure of yourself. Secure in who and what you are, and you don't need him to feel good about yourself. You don't need his approval, and if he really did love you, he would protect you, not offer you drugs or alcohol.
Items aren't love honey. … You loved the loft, but if it burnt down, you would find another one. Which is more important? Monkey Bunkey or your dad, or me even. There are just some things that are irreplaceable. Will you miss Monkey Bunkey? Yes, but will it kill you to lose him like it would kill you to lose your father?" Kate knew it wasn't a perfect example, but it was something.
"Trying to fit in, isn't standing out. It's losing yourself to, it's giving up who and what you believe in just to gain someone's favor, be a part of the crowd.
Just pick the right crowd honey, or make your own and offer those that share your views into it. You don't smoke, so don't hang around with people who do. You don't drink, so don't hang around people who do.
Being called chicken is a lot better than being called dead, or having someone call your father or me to tell us to come get you and take you home. The right friends can help you honey, help you study, help socialize safely, give you advice, offer support when you need it, or you them." Kate offers.
"God I sound like my mom." Kate squeezed her eyes closed.
"And what did you do with all of that advice?" Alexis asks, since there were still things she didn't know about Kate.
Kate huffed out a laugh. "Pretty much the exact opposite. I had wild teenager phase that I'm not too proud of anymore. I did a lot of stupid stuff." Kate moaned.
"Like drugs?" Alexis asks.
"How about we not talk about my stupidity anymore." Kate started praying.
"I'll take that as a yes. …. I'll just ask your dad if I want to know more." Alexis teased.
"OH GOD! … Suddenly bringing my dad is turning out to be a really bad idea." Kate didn't mean it, not really. Just at the moment she did. Getting Alexis to giggle.
"I've never been this far from home. I've always had dad near. Friends that he knew and approved of." Alexis admits.
"And you will get homesick, you just will. Everyone does. And if you have selected the right friends they will be there for you. Not offer you cocaine to take the pain away, or a smoke to make you feel mellow. … Just make sure you don't hear "I'm your friend, don't you trust me?" as they offer you drugs or a drink to make things better." Kate offers again.
"Like your dad or your teenage years?" Alexis knows her dad fell into that trap.
"I'm afraid my dad and I are not good examples of what to do. My dad went his route and I hid my heart behind my walls and buried myself in my work. We were both existing but not living.
Being out here with my dad, and everyone has shown both of us what we were missing out on." Kate had a family and never really knew what she was missing out on with her choices.
"Lunch ladies?" Rick calls from the door and closes it again.
"What's in the sink Castle?" Kate asks straining to look into the sink on the far side.
"That is the still frozen ham for Christmas dinner tonight. We need to start working on the side dishes a little after lunch." Rick advises.
"Castle you do know we have pigs on the island and have ham practically every other day." Kate points out.
"Yes but this is a Honey Baked Ham and it cost me $70. … And I didn't have to chase the thing down, shoot it, gut it, slice it up, all outside in the heat." Rick points out.
Kate didn't get it, ham was ham. Why couldn't Rick have gotten a second turkey, something different for a change, like Thanksgiving.
Kate thought she was right as she took her first bite, ham was ham. Besides their ham could have been a FRESH ham, not frozen.
It was only later when Rick slapped his head. "We still didn't bring any Christmas decorations." Rick hung his head low.
Martha did have to admit that the island was a little void of decorations, since she was used to her son going way overboard with literally everything.
Rick had talked everyone into watching the movie Miracle on 34th Street. The original black and white version. The others were just copies.
"Wait right here." Rick pats Kate's hand as he gets up and runs for their bedroom.
"You know what he's up to?" Kate asks looking at Alexis, only to watch her shake her head.
Mistletoe? A Christmas movie that they don't have? They didn't have space for a tree and he had already complained about not bringing any decorations.
"I hid this away in my bag when we flew out here." Rick sits back down next to Kate and hands her a wrapped in Christmas paper small rectangular box. "Merry Christmas." And Rick kisses Kate's cheek.
"Rick?" My god what had he done?
"Go ahead open it." Rick knew they usually opened on Christmas morning to see what Santa brought them, except Rick knew Santa didn't bring Kate this.
Kate slowly removed the wrapping paper with her heart in her throat. Just what was in this?
Kate saw the outer box and didn't recognize the name, but it still had jewelry store written all over it.
Kate cracked it open with everyone straining to take a look as she did. Kate sucked in her breath and stared at what was inside. "It's gorgeous Rick." Kate worked at blinking back the tears.
Kate lifted it out for all to see while leaving the box in her lap. "It's gorgeous darling. … Try it on, let's see what it looks like on you." Martha offers.
Kate handed it over to Rick and turned her back to him and pulled her hair to one side, allowing Rick to place it around her neck.
Kate got compliments from everyone and Kate thanked Rick by kissing him as passionately and filled with love as she could.
14KT Yellow 4 Prong 3ctw Princess Cut Diamond Solitaire Pendant on 18 Cable Chain through V shaped bail 3 CTW.
"I'm glad you like it, and if we're lucky you'll get to keep it so I don't have to go out and buy it all over again." Rick tells her.
"Thank you!" Kate wiped the tears away and kissed Rick again.
Kate also felt guilty. She hadn't gotten Rick a wedding ring, even if she had been thinking about if he was ever going to ask her. However she put his not asking up to the situation they were in. Why be engaged if you were not going to get married?
Now she had a ring and a Christmas present and she had gotten him nothing. Kate knew she would fix that either on the next trip or when this ended. He was hers and she wanted that ring on his finger to show all those women out there that he belonged to her.
It took some pleading from Rick and encouragement from Alexis along with Kate's guilt to get Kate to sing 'Silent Night' for them.
It earned Kate a kiss from Rick. "I am so remembering to bring a guitar next time." Rick teased, since he thought Kate had a lovely voice.
"And if you do I'm going to give you my interpretation of 'El Kabong'." Kate counters.
"Ooooo, way to show your Geek, Kate. What was the name of his tag along buddy?" Rick challenges her.
"Oh please, give me a hard one. … Baba Looey." Kate answers.
"Challenge accepted Kate." Rick was up to the challenge he hoped.
"What do I get if I win?" Kate responds. That got Rick to think about it and lean in and whisper into Kate's ear.
That got Kate's eyes to open wide. "You have them?" Kate asks and watches Rick nod his head. "And you waited till now to mention it?" Kate was going to shoot him, and that's if she let him out of them.
"And when I win?" Rick asks.
"You mean IF you win." Kate counters and thinks about it and leans in to whisper it to Rick.
It got Rick to grin wide. "Deal." Rick offers his hand and Kate takes it to seal the deal.
"Who goes first?" Rick asks.
"Roshambo?" Kate offers.
"Ooooo, impressive." Rick responds and holds his hands out, getting Kate to do the same.
Two rocks turned out to be first, followed by two papers, followed by Rick with a rock and Kate with paper. "Paper covers Rock. … I go first." Kate was smiling. NOW, how to trip up Rick on the first question?
"What is the name of the little boy who can't stop daydreaming? Instead of paying attention in class, he imagines he can fly, fights his math problems on the chalkboard, flees from attacking Indians, deep sea dives, wins a boxing match, and turns into Douglas MacArthur." Kate asks him.
Rick curses silently, he had underestimated Kate, she really was geeky at this. Rick had the episode in his head and just had to play it out to get the name.
"Ralph Phillips. His teacher was always on his case." Rick answers. "My turn." After watching Kate curse.
"What was the name of a little African boy with a loin cloth and a bone in his hair. He never speaks and most of his cartoon appearances featuring him hunting some sort of illusive prey." Rick started grinning wide.
Now it was Kate who was silently cursing. Kate now had a fear that she just might lose this bet. Kate started thinking back till she found what he was doing in her memory. Now she just needed a name.
"Inki!" Kate saw Rick's face fall so she knew she had gotten it right, and danced while seated next to Rick on the sofa.
"Katie watched a lot of cartoons when she was little, with her nose just inches away from the TV tube." Jim points out, rooting Katie on, with no knowledge of what she was going to win, just that he wanted her to win.
"And my dad has been a child all his life." Alexis counters, sticking her tongue out at Jim.
It was Kate's turn. "What was the name of Elmer Fudd's wife?" Kate ached her eyebrows. She had him this time.
"Elmer Fudd was married?" As soon as those words escaped his mouth, Rick knew he was in trouble. Only to watch Kate smile back.
Shit, shit, shit! Elmer Fudd's wife? Elmer Fudd was a hunter of wabbits, and an occasional wacky duck. He actually took Daffy Duck home one time before shooting him, so of course he was married.
Elmer Fudd's wife? Rick decided to risk it, even if he had no idea. Besides even if he lost, he won. "Mrs. Elmer Fudd." Rick tried to sound convincing, however he failed big time.
However by the look on Kate's face, he had gotten it right. "Who told him?" Kate looked around. "No cheating you three." Kate pointed at her dad, Martha and Alexis.
"My turn." Rick smiled wide, getting Kate to groan. "What is the full name of Wile E. Coyote in the cartoons with Sam the sheep dog?" Rick tries coming at Kate sideways.
Kate started to try and picture the cartoons that those two were in. They were going into work, they even punched their time cards when they started and quit work. The coyote was after sheep instead of a road runner and loved ACME products in his quest to get a sheep.
Sam was big and slow and nearly blind, or so the coyote thought. He had even used ACME hair growth to make sure his eyes were covered one time. 'Morning Sam, …. Morning, …' "Ralph!" Kate answers his question, knowing that she is right.
"Eeerr, wrong." Rick was smiling.
"Wrong my ass, his name is Ralph, Castle." Kate knew she was right.
"His FULL NAME is Ralph E. Wolf, Kate. … You lose. I expect you to pay up tonight." Rick arched his eyebrows a couple of times.
Kate could feel her mouth opening and closing over and over. She was right and still lost, how was that possible? Still she may have lost the bet, but she was still going to enjoy tonight so very much, it even had her starting to get wet just thinking about tonight.
It had Kate praying the walls were sound proof, knowing what was coming, Kate had serious doubts that she could remain silent for long.
"And thank you for the Christmas present, it really is beautiful." Kate leaned across to kiss him again.
"I'm glad you like it." Rick kissed Kate back.
"Where are they?" Kate asks after closing the bedroom door a few hours later.
Rick fished them out of the drawer he had hidden them in and started thinking of how to use them.
Rick tossed them on the bed and started the slow process of removing Kate's wrap and bikini, kissing various sections of Kate's exposed skin. By the bikini was gone Rick could feel Kate trembling with anticipation.
Rick helped Kate into bed and took his time using the handcuffs to secure Kate to the bed, before he started slowly removing his swim trunks, exposing to Kate that he was already more than ready, as was Kate since she could feel just how wet she was.
Each time Kate started to scream from one of the now countless orgasm's she had ever had, Rick would cover her mouth with his, allowing her screams to be muffled as Kate screamed into Rick's mouth.
Kate was sure she couldn't have another orgasm and was actually tugging hard on the handcuffs as Rick used his mouth yet again. This time Rick wasn't quite fast enough to silence her scream, so a piece of it got out, before she could taste herself on his lips.
It had Kate whimpering at the taste of them as she felt his fingers replace where his talented tongue had been just moments ago. "RICK, PLEASE?" Kate wanted to be released so she could touch him. "PLEASE BABY, I want to touch you." Kate yanked on her cuffs to emphasize the point.
The second Rick finally released Kate from both handcuffs, Kate turned him on his back and mounted him and proceeded to enjoy herself, and just as she started to get too loud Kate bent down and kissed Rick, while screaming out her final orgasm of the night.
Kate was lying on top of Rick while they both worked at getting their breathing under control. "We are so repeating this again." Rick points out, getting a completely sated Kate to just hum back in response.
"We didn't use any protection Kate." Rick points out the only flaw in the night.
"I don't care, we're flying home soon and if this doesn't get me pregnant, than I will be shortly, because I want that baby Rick. I want our baby, the one we lost the first time. I want him." Kate tells Rick while doodling a finger on Rick's chest.
"This will be the last time Kate, it has to be. … It just has to be." Kate bent his head down and kissed Kate's head.
It wasn't until just before New Year's that their call into Espo told them they could all fly home. They were to land in LaGuardia and they would be met on the tarmac at the end of the runway. The military had cleared the airport mostly.
They would be given shots while still on the plane and then couldn't get off the plane until they were sure that the infection had taken hold so that the infected could detect it. Then they would be transferred into a helicopter and taken into Manhattan and dropped off at the hospital where the 54th had taken over.
At this point Ryan and Espo and a few friends would meet them and escort them to one of the hotels in town that the 12th had control over for them to stay in. The food they brought with them would be transferred to the kitchen in the hotel.
After that things would be worked out for all of them depending on what they found. It wasn't going to be easy, the planet had lost a lot of people. For likely a long time Marshal Law would remain in effect for the foreseeable future.
They loaded up all of their hand weapons along with the two Tommy Guns with all of the ammunition for them. The coolers were filled up, all of the cases of food that they thought they could take were also loaded.
Jim and Martha watched the three of them shut down the house and close it up pulling down the hurricane shutters and locking them in place.
Alexis was flying the plane when she pointed to the F/A-18E that was suddenly flying next to them. "He wants to know where we are going and if we have people and shots waiting for us." Alexis tells Kate.
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And so ends book 2 of our trilogy. The first chapter of book 3 should be out in just about a week. I want to make sure that I'm far enough out in front that i can keep updating daily like i prefer to.
It will have it's own name like any trilogy would, so keep your eyes open for it.
Happy reading!