Much faster this time, but unfortunately I don't know when I can get the next chapter up.
Thanks for the reviews I'm almost at 100, yeah me. It's amazing to see all the hits that I get on this story so thank you.
Thanks to cathandsaraforever55 for doing the beta thing.

Chapter 18

That was how Emily found the two women when the young girl woke up. It wasn't until the blonde had seen Catherine in the bed that she had remembered they still had guests. Giggling Emily went over to what had been Sara's side of the bed when the two CSI's had gone to bed. The young blonde climbed up to join the adults for a morning cuddle. That the two CSI's were lying close and wrapped up in each other didn't bother Emily in the slightest. This was how her mom and girlfriend used to sleep, so to Emily there was nothing new or unusual about it.

Doing as had been a tradition for Sunday mornings; Emily snuggled down in between the sleeping women. Waking them in the process. Sara, used to the blonde's weekend ritual, kissed Emily's cheek before speaking. "Morning sweetie, you sleep okay?"

Catherine on the other hand was rather shocked at finding Emily snuggled in next to her. That didn't improve when the older woman noticed that Sara was lying snuggled up to the other side of the girl.
Almost falling out of bed in her hurry to get up, Catherine had a panicked expression in her eyes. It wasn't something Emily noticed, but the brunette saw it before the strawberry blonde could hide the feeling.

"Morning Catherine, sometimes I have to pee really bad when I wake up too," Emily stated, misunderstanding the CSI's hurried exit from the bed, as a sign that the older woman needed to use the bathroom.

Not sure her mind worked let alone communicated with her mouth, Catherine was quick to agree with the girl. Escaping to the bathroom would be a good thing right about now. The older woman gathered her clothes and rushed to the bathroom leaving Sara and Emily to enjoy their Sunday morning cuddle.

Hiding out in the bathroom wasn't the brightest idea Catherine had ever had, but at the moment she didn't know what else to do. She didn't understand why Sara wasn't freaking out. The brunette had been terrified to get into bed with her and now the younger woman was fine with the fact that their proximity had practically molded them into one person.

Sara was actually worried, she just didn't have the luxury of hiding. The brunette was more worried about Catherine's reaction, than the fact that they had slept intertwined. It was the best night's sleep she had, had in some time, and she didn't want to question the reason why.

"What are we doing today, mama?" The girl was hoping she would get to spend the day with Lindsey and Catherine.

"Why don't we sleep some more." Sara couldn't help the laughter that bubbled over at the pout the blonde was showing her. It clearly showed that Emily wasn't all that happy with the idea of sleeping. But what 6 year old would be?

The sound of a laughing Sara was enough to cause Emily to laugh too. It had been some time since the two of them had stayed in bed laughing like this. It was a good healing experience for the both of them.

The noise from the bedroom had Lindsey coming to see what was happening, and soon all three of them were lying on the bed telling jokes and laughing. That was the way Catherine found them, when she finally risked venturing out of the bathroom. She watched the three of them having fun for some time before she let them know she was there.

The older woman was glad it was Emily that found her and Sara in bed together and not Lindsey. The strawberry blonde would have liked to have stayed wrapped up around the other woman. It had been the best sleep she had gotten in a long time. But that wasn't something that Catherine was ready to admit.

"It looks like you're having a great time." Seeing the smiles directed at her, when they noticed Catherine's presence, was having the opposite effect on her than Lindsey's happiness usually had. It was adding to the overall queasiness she was experiencing. The mere presence of Sara was making the older woman uncomfortable for reasons she refused to acknowledge. She didn't want to disappoint Lindsey, but Catherine needed to get out of Sara's home.

"Come on Linds, time to get dressed. We have already taken up too much of Sara and Emily's time." Catherine knew she had interrupted some joke she hadn't heard.

"Arh mom, we haven't even had breakfast yet. Can't we stay longer?" Looking pleadingly at her mother didn't seem to work. Lindsey turned her best puppy dog eyes and pout loose on Sara. The brunette never stood a chance.

"Don't look at me like that shorty, it's not my decision."

"But does that mean we can stay for breakfast?" Lindsey wasn't ready to give up. This was going to be one of those times where Catherine would lose no matter what she did. Not only that, but if they left, Lindsey would most likely not talk to her anytime soon. The older woman had found that out the hard way; her daughter was just a stubborn if not more than herself.

Sara chose to give the two Willows' time to sort it out, without the audience. Getting up the brunette got some clothes and grabbed Emily. Slipping out of her bedroom without notice. "Squirt we're doing this a little differently today."

"How mama?" Emily wasn't mad merely curious. They had a routine for weekends and rarely deviated from that routine.

"We'll get dressed before breakfast; that means after you get clothes on you get to watch cartoons while I shower."

The young blonde got Sara's thinking expression on her face as she tried to think things over. "What 'bout Catherine and Lindsey, are they staying for breakfast?"

That wasn't what the brunette had expected. Sara had thought that Emily would have asked about why they did things differently today. "I don't know sweetie. But that doesn't mean we can't have a great day together."

Emily was dressed in no time. It never was all that hard to get into a pair of jeans and a tank top, though with the cast on her left arm it did give more trouble than normally. When the young blonde was comfortably situated in front of the TV, Sara headed for the bathroom to get ready for the day. Walking past her bedroom the brunette was glad that she thought to take her clothes with her. The two Willows' women could be heard even through the closed door. And neither sounded particularly happy.

It wasn't that Catherine couldn't see why her daughter was angry. Lindsey wanted to stay. The girl had a point, there really was no reason for them to leave before breakfast, it wasn't as if Sara had thrown them out. The brunette had invited them to stay the night, and would have thought that included breakfast. No the problem was Catherine. She knew that, but she wasn't ready to admit that she wanted to stay more than anything; however that didn't change how scared she felt because of it.

As usual, when the older CSI got emotionally involved she freaked and then hid; with her head in the sand. It wasn't the best or most constructive way, Catherine was very much aware of that. But it was a way that worked, if you didn't let yourself get close to anyone you didn't get your heart broken. It had worked with Eddie, at least for Catherine, but not for her daughter. Catherine didn't know why, but she was scared of needing someone and would rather leave now then to become further involved with Sara, and to have the brunette break her heart. It wasn't only lovers that Catherine chose to keep at arm's length, it was everybody in her life. Even Nancy to some extent. The only person she didn't try to stay away from was Lindsey, but that apparently wasn't working. Her daughter had on several occasions told Catherine that the CSI loved her work more than her own flesh and blood.

Lindsey's final argument was fitting, in some ways. "You'll leave then, but I'm staying with Sara." With that the young Willows' stormed out of the room, refusing to acknowledge Catherine, and slammed the door as a goodbye.

Sara had just exited the bathroom when the furious Lindsey slammed the door. "It can't be all that bad, I'm sure the door didn't mean it that way."

Lindsey looked up at the brunette's voice and threw herself into Sara's arms. "She hates me, it's never what I would like, but always 'bout her."

"Oh shorty, your mom loves you more than anything in the world." Holding the girl close, trying to communicate her conviction about Catherine's feelings, without saying anything else. Sara knew it wouldn't help if she continued with this topic, right now Lindsey was convinced that her mother hated her. Sara informing her differently would only cause more the young Willows pain. "Let's go join Em, and see what we can do about something to eat. With all this excitement this morning I'm starving."

Drying the tears of Lindsey's cheeks, the brunette steered the girl toward the living room and Emily. Giving Catherine the chance to compose herself after hearing what Lindsey had said. That would be hard on anybody, and the strawberry blonde would need some time before joining them.

"Em what should we make for breakfast this lovely Sunday?" Lindsey and the brunette slumped down beside the young girl on the couch. "Uh uh, cheese omelet and, and some of those sausages."

The excitement in the young blonde's voice was impossible to miss, but Lindsey didn't know why the girl got this exited about an omelet.

"Err… what about pancakes?"

"You silly, pancakes are only for special days." Emily giggled at Lindsey.

"How is Lindsey to know that squirt, she hasn't had breakfast with us before."

That stopped Emily's giggles, she knew her mama's tone of voice. "I didn't mean to laugh at you, sorry."
Lindsey didn't exactly understand why you couldn't have pancakes, it was a Sunday after all. Maybe it has something to do with why we had fruit for dessert last night. Giving up on that thought, she remembered that Emily had said sausages, but Sara didn't eat meat.

"I like sausages, but I didn't think you ate meat, Sara?"

It was Emily that was fastest to answer, "It's not really sausages, but they taste like them they're just not meat."

The expression on the young girl's face turned serious as she tried to understand the concept of faux meat. Even though Emily had heard about it before, it had Sara chuckling as the brunette went into the kitchen.

"Em you get the eggs and Linds you'll get the sausages, they're in the freezer, and I'll find the pan and mixing bowl."

By having Lindsey help with the cooking the brunette was distracting the strawberry blonde from her conversation with Catherine. Giving both Willows time to cool off. It also served another purpose, this way Lindsey would get some food, which could only help with the girl's temper.

The girls took turn whisking the eggs into a fluffy mass while Sara grated the cheese. Lindsey helped with making the omelet and heating the sausages while Emily went to the fridge. The young blonde was looking to see if there were any strawberries left from last night. Fruit was a thing Emily could always have, and the blonde especially loved strawberries. It was rare that they had any for long.

Sara was hoping that by the time breakfast was ready Catherine would have decided to join them. When that wasn't the case, the brunette went to find the older woman, when the girls were busy eating.

Stepping into her bedroom, Sara found the strawberry blonde sitting on the bed lost in thought. "She knows you love her. She's just confused and knows this will get your attention."

"Huh," Catherine only noticed the other woman as the brunette sat down beside her. "Oh Sara, I didn't mean to cause you this trouble. We'll get out of here."

"Err… I wasn't meaning for you to leave." Sara didn't follow the older woman's thinking. What had gotten Catherine to think that she wanted them to leave?

Catherine was having a hard time denying the feelings being this close to the brunette brought up. It definitely didn't help clear her mind. The older woman was startled when she suddenly felt Sara's arm around her back pulling her into a sideways hug.

"… Everything will work out. Lindsey is a good kid; you have done great with her." Catherine hadn't heard all of what the brunette had been saying. What little she had caught had made her relax further into the embrace. Sara had taken that as a sign that the strawberry blonde finally believed her and continued talking. It wasn't as much what the brunette was saying as it was the comfort of being held by Sara that had Catherine relaxing.

"Come join us for breakfast. Everything looks better with a full stomach." Catherine would have agreed to anything at this point, and it was no problem for the brunette to get the older woman to follow her.

Catherine wasn't sure when that had started, but one way or another that was how it had ended up being. Catherine never felt the need or want to agree or follow somebody. So why she so willingly wanted to do what Sara suggested was confusing to say the least. But after this morning that was a minor detail that for once didn't matter all that much. The strawberry blonde didn't want to dwell on any of her problems. It had been a long time since she felt like this. Maybe it wasn't so bad to go along with what the brunette suggested.

When the two women walked into the kitchen they found the girls talking. Apparently Emily and Lindsey were so caught up in their talk, that they had forgotten about their breakfast. The subject of what Cam was to draw next on Emily's cast had the two girls in lively discussion. The young Willows had been fascinated by the dragon and that had started the conversation. The girls were consumed by their talk and didn't notice Sara walking up behind Emily. Until the brunette stole a strawberry of the young blonde's plate.

"Hey mama that's mine."

"You weren't eating, so I might as well enjoy it." Sara winked at the older CSI and proceeded to ready a plate for each of them. "Em, what are the plans for today?"

Sara looked more relaxed than the strawberry blonde had ever seen. This was a new side of Sara and Catherine didn't want to go back to the old one.

"Lindsey's gonna sign my cast and maybe Catherine would too. Can we go to Cam's so she can do the next drawing?"

"Is that all?" The amusement was clear in Sara's voice.

"Maybe the park, oh and can Lindsey stay?"

During all this the young Willows had been quietly eating. Lindsey didn't know what her mom would allow. Or even if she was in a good mood. The older girl thought it better to keep a low profile as not to provoke another yelling match with her mom.

"Cam is busy and doesn't have time for us today. The park would be a great idea. And about Lindsey staying, it's not up to me, but her and Catherine are welcome to stay."

Catherine couldn't quite get used to the ease with which Sara deal with everything Emily. When she thought about it, it shouldn't have surprised her. The brunette had always been great with Lindsey. Even the children they dealt with at work, Sara seemed to have a bond with. But she, like the rest of the graveyard shift had come to believe what the younger woman said about not being good with kids.

After being hugged by Sara all her reservations had been temporally forgotten. It wasn't that Catherine's issues had been resolved. She had stopped over thinking and was just enjoying the time she was spending with the brunette.

After a successful breakfast Emily charmed Catherine in to agreeing to stay. The older woman was finding it hard to say no to the young blonde. Catherine found it adorable that Emily was like a blonde mini version of Sara. Not only the way she dressed but also in the little things the girl did.

The Willows had ended up staying until it was absolutely necessary for Catherine to get Lindsey to Nancy's before she had to be at work.

Before they left Emily was trying hard to weasel a promise out of the older CSI for another day she could spend with the Willows. It didn't take long for Catherine to give in to the pleading green eyes directed her way. It worked even better than Lindsey looking at her that way. It didn't occur to Emily to ask Sara.

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