April 2010
"What, exactly, did your mother say?"
"When I told her I was coming up here with you for a romantic weekend?"
"Yeah. I mean… how did you get from romantic weekend, to… 'see you two tomorrow'?"
Rick winced, throwing her an apologetic look before glancing in the rear view mirror. Kate in turn, twisted; Ramona was sacked out in the car seat they'd bought this afternoon, her head sprawled to the side in what had to be an uncomfortable angle.
"She said, and I quote: 'Really, Darling, how romantic can it be with a small child there?' And then she told me that she and Alexis would be there tomorrow, that she really couldn't come tonight, because she had plans." He screwed up his face in disgust. "And then I told her that I didn't want to know, and then you got there, and, well… she sailed out the door, and… ew." He shuddered. "I don't want to know if my mom is dating!"
Kate shook her head, trying to hide her amusement. "She's right about one thing, I guess… I mean… it will be easier with Alexis there. The way Ramona follows her around."
Rick nodded, grinning. "Yeah. I think the adoration is mutual." He flicked the indicator on, and moved over to the right hand lane, exiting the main road at the next turn.
Kate glanced around again. With any luck Ramona would still go down easily tonight, in spite of the long sleep in the car.
"So I called ahead," Rick said. "I thought we could make something simple for dinner, like pasta."
"And you had to call ahead?" Kate smirked.
"Yeah. I got my guy to make sure there was food in the house."
"Right." She rolled her eyes. Her parents had had money, and she and Gabe had both been lawyers, but every so often she was taken aback by the kind of wealth that Rick had. "And-" She fell silent as he dropped a gear, slowing as he turned into a side street, her eyes widening as she took in the houses out the window. Wealth. Yeah, okay. When Rick had said he had a place in the Hamptons she'd figured on it being impressive, but this was something else. He pulled up into a driveway, cutting the engine and indicating to the house with a nod.
"This is it."
"It's… Wow, Rick. It's amazing"
He shrugged. "Come on. Let's get Ramona inside, and I'll give you the tour."
"Here?" Ramona piped up from the backseat, and Kate smiled at the sound of her sleepy voice.
"Yes, we're here, Honey."
"Watch me!" Ramona cried, and Kate watched her throw herself from the edge of the pool into the water and into Rick's waiting arms.
"Wow, Sweetie! Good jumping!"
"I did jump!" Ramona exclaimed, scrambling from Rick to swim across to Kate, splashing gleefully.
"You sure did," Kate said, the water just past her waist. Ramona clung to her, and she leaned back against the tiles, taking in their surroundings. The heated pool was blissful, the landscaping enclosing it just beautiful. The sound of the water lapping gently at the sides could be heard alongside the crashing of the waves from the beach just a few hundred yards away. The evening air held the promise of spring, and the sea breeze was a welcome respite from the haze of the city.
In her arms, Ramona wrapped a hand around her neck, her skin cool, and Kate sighed. Maybe she should have insisted Alexis come with them tonight; she could have asked the teenager to take Ramona upstairs, bought just a few minutes alone with Rick. Because the way he looked right now, his chest broad and strong - and more to the point, bare - in the water… damn.
"Come on, Ramona. Time to have a warm shower, and get tucked up in bed."
"Don't wanna," Ramona mumbled, but she could feel her daughter growing heavier in her arms as she listed against her.
"Come on," Kate said again, walking up the stairs, and across to the pool chairs that their towels were on, wrapping her daughter up in one before picking up her own robe. "Tomorrow we can swim again, with Alexis."
"Did she go down okay?" Rick asked as she made her way into the master bedroom, and she nodded, biting her lip as she looked around. Wow. They'd arrived, gotten Ramona settled in the room across the hall, and Rick had pointed out their room, carrying her things in here. She'd ducked in to grab her bathing suit after dinner, but the lights had been low and she'd dashed right out again, changing downstairs. Now that she had a chance to really look she could see this bedroom was really something else; the bed centered in the room, the fireplace a feature, a heavy anchor amongst the wood.
"Yeah, she did," she said at last. "Rick… this place is incredible."
He grinned. "I only wish we'd been able to get up here before now," he told her. "I've wanted to come up here since… Well, since Christmas, at least."
She smiled, padding across the soft carpet to the bed, where Rick reclined, a book in his hand. "I'm glad we waited," she admitted. "I… didn't want to rush from my marriage into a new relationship, and… well. I didn't want to jump into something."
He chuckled, sitting up, and patting the space on the bed beside him. "Katherine Beckett, you know I think you're extraordinary, right? And if I'd met you, and it had taken us four years to get together, or more… we could have worked with that."
She laughed, lying down on the bed next to him and relaxing into the pillows. "This is better, don't you think?"
"Much," he agreed, tossing the book onto the nightstand, and shifting so he hovered above her. "Much better."
Rick smiled as he stepped into the shower after her. "Everything okay?" he asked, and she looked at him, her features soft in the glow of the candles on the ledge.
"I'm great, Rick," she assured him, edging under the spray to adjust the water temperature, before leaning back. The water rushed through her hair for a minute, and, now thoroughly drenched, she reached for the shampoo, massaging it through her hair.
He nodded, taking her in. He would never get enough of her. Getting into the pool with her and Ramona had been a special kind of torture as he'd watched her in her bathing suit, the red one piece alluring as she'd swum.
Now, here she was, in his shower, suds running down her back as she turned into the spray, and he swallowed, stepping forward, his fingers reaching for her hair.
"Let me," he suggested, and she dropped her own hands down, reaching around and behind them so they were on his ass while his own fingers ran through the wet strands, washing the last of the soap away.
He pressed his front into her back, his hands falling from her hair to her shoulders and along her torso, before he shifted again so he could lean his head down, peppering soft kisses over the elephant tattoo on her ribcage, his fingers skimming her waist as the water poured over them. He stood up straight as his desire flared, already hard against her rear, and, bringing a thumb to her breast, he ran it across her peaked nipple.
"We just got out of bed," she protested, but her actions betrayed her words as she shifted to give him access, and he brought his mouth to her neck, sucking the tender skin at her throat, his hand falling from her chest to between her legs.
"Are you ready for the onslaught?" Rick asked as he heard the car in the driveway.
"Ready for the romantic weekend to turn into a family getaway?" She laughed. "I guess I have to be, right?"
He chuckled, closing the gap between them and cupping her jaw in his hand, he kissed her. "At least we had last night," he reminded her, and her eyes darkened as she looked at him from beneath her lashes, her cheeks coloring.
"Yeah." Her voice was husky, and he sighed, his mouth at her ear. If only he could whisk her back upstairs, lay her down again, peel her clothing off piece by piece, and press his mouth to every inch of her perfect skin. She exhaled, her own breathing shaky, and he grinned at the knowledge that she was just as affected by him as he was by her.
"Where's Alexis?" Ramona chirped up from where she was seated at the dining room table, and he laughed as Kate rolled her eyes, stepping away from him.
"She's here now," Kate told her daughter. "Are you finished with lunch? We can go help them get their things from the car." She cast a heated look at Rick, and he swallowed. This woman would be the death of him.
"Go see Alexis!" Ramona jumped down from her chair and tore out of the room toward the front door.
"Guess we'll go see Alexis, and your mother," Kate agreed, her expression wry, and he shrugged, following her to the front of the house, watching in satisfaction as she opened the front door, taking Ramona's hand and stepping outside to greet his family.
"Martha!" Kate smiled as his mom kissed her cheek, before dotting one on the top of Ramona's head. The young girl twirled around Martha before darting away from Kate and barreling into Alexis.
"Well, hey there, Cutie," Alexis said, scooping Ramona up and smiling at Kate.
From the doorway, Rick watched as the women in his life - his family - shower one another with love in their own ways; Kate's reserved smiles, his mother's flamboyant gestures as she recounted the way she'd floored the gas on the open stretch of highway once they'd left the city.
Alexis shook her head at her grandmother's dramatic recount of events. He grinned as she let Ramona scramble out of her arms, and he looked on as the little girl tugged on Alexis' hand, chattering away.
"Well, come on, Darling," Martha said, indicating for Rick to join them, and he pushed off from the door frame, striding toward them, kissing his mother and daughter on the cheek before picking up their overnight bags and swinging them over his shoulder.
He watched as Kate threw an arm around Alexis' shoulders, and his heart swelled with joy at seeing their easy affection.
"Hurry up," his mother instructed, and he nodded as Alexis and Kate walked into the house, following after them, Martha beside him.
"What's the rush?" he teased, and she chuckled.
"Richard, we're here to take care of Ramona so that you and that gorgeous girlfriend of yours can have a proper vacation before she starts at the Academy. If anyone should want to rush, it's you!"
"You meant that?" he asked. "You're really here to mind Ramona, and you don't actually plan to crash our weekend away?"
"Of course." She fluttered her hand, waving away his concerns. "We'll put our things away, and then perhaps I can lay by the pool while Alexis and Ramona swim. Or we can walk into town and get ice cream. Whatever you want, as long as you and Kate enjoy yourselves this afternoon!"
"Oh, that sounds wonderful, Martha, thank you," Kate flashed a brilliant smile at his mother, and his lips turned upward as well.
"Yes, thank you, Mother, Alexis," he said as they made their way up the stairs, and he opened the door to Alexis' room first, before walking further along the hall to his mother's and putting her bag down there.
"Will you be okay with Alexis and Martha?" Kate asked Ramona, but the question was redundant, judging by the beam Ramona offered them in response. "Okay then."
"This is just beautiful, Rick," Kate said, slipping her hand into his as they strolled along the beach, the waves rushing up to the shoreline, crashing and breaking before they hit the sand, the water edging closer toward their feet each time.
"I love getting away from it all," he agreed, his thumb making small circles on her skin, and she grinned. "It's not as cozy as your cabin in winter though."
"Oh, I don't know," Kate mused. "I think being wrapped up in that bedroom of yours, fire roaring, would be plenty cozy."
"Yeah, okay… We'll have to try it next winter."
Wow. Next winter. Yeah. "Next winter I'll be finishing up at the Academy…"
"No longer a police recruit, but a rookie? Is that how it works?" Rick asked, and she nodded.
"Something like that… lowest on the food chain, in any case."
"Officer Beckett." He turned to her, his eyes darkening with arousal as he stepped closer so that their bodies were flush. The waves lapped at their feet and she closed her eyes, letting the world melt away for a second. "I don't know how I'm going to handle watching you go off to work each day."
"What do you mean?" she asked, and he chuckled, his voice low in her ear as he answered.
"A woman in uniform… Beckett… you have no idea."
"That does it for you, huh?" She pressed tighter against him, feeling just how much the idea did it for him.
"Mmm-hmmm." His lips found her neck and she canted into him, her eyes closing once more as his hands wrapped around her waist. She stood tall, arching onto her tiptoes as she tried to get closer to him, her fingertips skimming his back and making their way under his shirt. "Beckett," he breathed, his mouth on her throat. "I think we need to find somewhere a little more private than the beach."
A/N: Thanks K&J... one more, guys! x