Keeping Katie Ch 13
Karen was up early the next morning. She kissed him awake and he opened one eye to peer at her. "Good morning." he said.
"Morning." she said cheerfully.
"You really ought to try sleeping in some morning." he said.
"You can go back to sleep if you want to." she said, but she kept staring at him.
"What? You want something. The answer is yes, whatever, now can I go back to sleep?"
"Yes, you can go back to sleep, but this conversation isn't over." she said and got up from the bed.
"Am I going to regret saying yes?" he asked.
"Could be." Karen called back from the bathroom.
Don groaned and rolled his face into a pillow. "You are not a normal person, you know that don't you?" he called.
"Why? Because I sleep at night not all day?" she stuck her head out the door at him.
"You hardly sleep at all." he complained.
"Darling, go back to sleep if you're still tired. I'm serious." She strolled toward him with her clothes already on. "Go ahead and sleep in. I was just teasing you. I don't really want anything except you and I have you." she came over and sat down on the bed next to him. "Did I dream you talking to BB?"
"No. We had a nice talk last night. I thought you were sleeping."
"I was, sort of. It fit right into my dream. Is there something I need to know?"
"She asked me a favor."
"She did? That's terrific. She's not one to do that. What did she ask? No, nevermind. It's between you and her, isn't it?"
"She asked me to go with her to the father/daughter dance at school." he admitted with a shy smile.
"That's wonderful. What did you tell her?"
"I told her yes, of course. But there is a problem." he was still smiling.
"There usually is. What is it?"
"She needs a dress. She mentioned that she was worried about your being able to afford it. I told her that we'd talk about it. This is really important to her. I'd like to help her with it."
"We'll find a way. I think this is absolutely fantastic. But is it going to be a problem that you're not her father?"
"Not according to her. She said she has other classmates that are going with others than fathers. She was worried about asking me."
"But she trusted you enough to ask. That is such a huge leap forward for her. She's trusting you now. I'm so excited."
"I hope you will let her tell you about it in her own time. She needs to do that." he told her.
"I'll let her, but I just hope I don't bust in the mean time. Congratulations, my love. You've accomplished a minor miracle."
"It was BB. She did the asking." Don said.
"It's more than that. She has a huge distrust of men, yet she came to you to help her solve a problem and will trust you to be her "date" Don, that's huge. I'm so thrilled. She trusts someone of the male gender. It's beyond terrific. And I'm so proud of you that you made that bridge with her."
"I told you she made the connection."
"She may have taken the last step, but she chose you to do it with. You have a way with the ladies, Don Cragen."
"I only want to have my way with one lady." he growled playfully.
"That was not what I said." Karen told him. "And you said you were still sleepy."
"Hmm. Sleep or making love with a gorgeous woman. Tough choice. I'd have to choose..."
"Sleep, because this woman has to go to make breakfast." Karen laughed and patted his arm.
Don grabbed her and rolled her over on the bed, covers and all. "Can't breakfast wait?" he asked playfully. He buried his face in her neck and kissed it, nibbling on the sensitive part under her ear.
Karen laughed and wriggled in his arms. "Don, you're terrible." she said.
"That isn't what you said before." he nibbled on her shoulder.
"And you're going to make me explain this to the kids." she said.
"Explain what?" he lifted his head to look at her.
"Why my nipples are hard as a rock and why I want to come back in here so I'll probably burn breakfast. You explain that to them."
Don sighed and dropped his head to her chest. "Okay, but we'll finish this later." he said with a kiss to one of those hard nipples and let her get up.
"Go back to sleep if you can. I'll get them off to school."
He groaned and burrowed back under the covers when she left the room. It was warm and dark and he slipped back to sleep. The smell of coffee woke him up in a little while. He poked his head out to look around. Karen was grinning at him. She had a huge cup of coffee and a plate with waffles on it. She was waving a plate behind them to waft the aroma to him. "Morning, sleepy head." she teased.
"You are obscenely energetic in the morning." he informed her gruffly.
Karen laughed. "And you are a grouchy puss until you have your coffee." she replied. "You know, I could eat these waffles if you don't want them."
"Go ahead, just give me the coffee." He said sitting up in the bed.
She handed him the cup and the plate. He saw a second plate behind her. It too had waffles on it. "I brought mine too. You can eat up." she said smugly.
He sipped the coffee with pleasure. "You make a mean cup of coffee, lady."
"Good. She mentioned it to me."
"She did? What did she say?"
Karen smiled. "She said she hoped I wouldn't be upset, but that she'd asked you to take her to the dance and that you agreed to go. She was worried that I would be mad. I told her I thought it was a good idea, then she wanted to know how she could earn enough money so a dress for it wouldn't have a negative effect on the household economy. I was so proud of her I wanted to bust. She was so grown up about the way she said it. I would've given her the entire budget for a year right then for asking like that."
"What did you say?"
"I told her we'd get a dress for her and she'd be one of the prettiest girls there. What else could I tell her?"
"She's growing up." he said.
"Yes, she is, into quite a lady too. I'll make time to take her dress shopping. Maybe Charlene can stay here so I don't have to take Katie too. This should be a just BB trip."
"I want you to take my credit card and buy BB the nicest dress you can get her. I want this to be special for her."
"I can't take your card, Don. I'd never pass for you. And if they say anything I'm liable to get hauled in for fraud."
"You won't. If it bothers you, then buy her the dress she wants and I'll give you the money back."
"You don't have to…." Karen began.
"Yes, I do. I want to do this for her. Please?"
"Okay. I'll do that for you. Do you have a particular price in mind?"
"No. I'll leave that up to you, just remember I'm only a police captain not the Police Commissioner."
"So no pillow cases, but not gold gowns either?"
"Pretty much. And let me know what color it is so I can get her a wrist corsage to match it."
"I do like your style. You need to get moving, there capitan, if you want to get to work on time."
"I guess so. Call me today with the color, will you?"
"White, looks good with everything."
Don got dressed and headed for his office. Even the Chief of D's phone call first thing in the morning didn't dampen his mood too much. He had a comstat meeting mid morning, but the usual reaming of a senior officer went pretty much to other precincts. It was a good day altogether. Karen called at 3:30.
"Hi. Am I catching you busy?" she said.
"No, I can talk. What's up?"
"We have a pale blue dress with matching shoes. She looks beautiful in it. It was a bit more than I'd planned on, but she'll knock 'em dead in it. White would look nice, but so would a light blue. You asked me to tell you."
"That's fine. What's wrong?"
"Nothing. Why do you ask?"
"Your voice. Tell me?"
"It's nothing. We'll talk about it later. It's not life or death. How is your day going?"
"Good. And yours?"
"Going well. I miss you."
"Same here. I have to go, I'll see you in a couple of hours."
"Okay. Bye."
Don hung up feeling a bit uneasy by the conversation. Karen was keeping something from him and it made him nervous. He trusted her, she wasn't comfortable keeping secrets. The idea nagged at him the rest of the afternoon. He almost forgot to call the florist. On inspiration, he had a bouquet made for her as well. When he got home he slipped into their quarters and put the bouquet on the nightstand and went back around to the front of the house.
Charlene was at the sink. She gave him a huge grin. He grinned back. She'd've been able to see what he did from that window. "They're getting BB ready." She said.
"Is she nervous?"
"You are joking, right?"
"I'm going to go freshen up. I'll be ready to go in a few minutes."
"Take your time. BB's so nervous she's more hindrance than help."
"Weren't you on your first date?" Don asked with a smile.
"More than a bit. I need to ask you a question. Would-would it cause a lot of trouble if I was dating someone in your squad room?"
"Elliotts wife might have something to say about that."
"It's not…oh, yes I guess she would." Charlene nodded coloring.
"Other than that my detectives are free to see who they chose. Does that solve your dilemma?" he asked without letting on what he knew she meant.
"It does. Thank you."
"Good. Call me if they get ready early."
Charlene nodded. The sparkle in her eyes was evident. Don contemplated the lack of men in this household as he took a quick shower and changed. Someone had missed the boat on a whole bunch of first class women, but he wasn't about to enlighten them. He was happy the way things were.
He went back out to the outer part of the house to meet his "date."
TBC
