Chp 9

Matt leaned back against the tree trunk and sighed contentedly. Kitty, who was currently lying beside him, using his chest as her pillow, echoed his sentiments. "It sure is a beautiful day, Matt." Kitty smiled up at him. "I think this was the best idea you've had in a while."

"Why thank you, Ma'am." Matt glanced around to ascertain their privacy before bending down and kissing her. "I was kinda hoping you'd like this."

They had come to Nickel Creek, a small watering hole that bordered on the family's land and they'd spent most of the day, fishing swimming and generally anything they wanted to, other than work. Well, almost anything.

Kitty pulled his head back down for a second helping before replying. "Well, you got your wish. I love it. And more importantly, the kids are loving it. Even Georgie is having fun. He and Bud were looking for tadpoles earlier and I have never seen a little boy with a bigger smile on his face, then when they found one."

"That little boy sure is taken with you." Matt remarked. "I don't blame him, of course. I am too." He grinned down at her.

"I know." She sighed. "And although I intend to encourage you, I'm not so sure about Georgie. I know he's missing his mother and he feels safe with me and all but…" her sigh grew as she sat up, placing her hand flat to the ground and leaned on her arm. "I just worry about when we leave here. I don't want him to get so attached to me that it tears him up again, when we eventually go home."

Matt nodded, took her hand and pulled her back to him, kissing her forehead. "I was thinking the same thing. We're going to have a problem with all of them, I think, when we leave. Losing both parents in one fell swoop is hard enough without…"

He stopped, realizing how it sounded. He and Kitty weren't surrogate parents for the children, even temporary parents. They were simply friends. But still, they were the only parents the kids knew, for the moment at least. He wasn't sure how he felt about that.

Kitty didn't need him to finish his sentence. "Yeah, I know." She agreed. "Well, we'll just have to be careful while we're here to make sure the kids understand that we're not replacing their parents, even temporarily."

"Yeah," Matt answered absently, his mind on what it might be like to be actually be married to Kitty and have children with her. But before he could think too hard on the subject, Martha found them. "Miss Kitty, Marshal?"

Kitty sat up from Matt rather self-consciously. "Hey, Martha. You all having fun?"

"Yes, Ma'am." Martha answered. "We sure are. That's what I come to ask. I know we got chores to attend to at home and animals to feed and all but can we stay just a little while longer? We all promise to work real hard when we get back if we can stay just a few more hours. Please?"

Matt and Kitty exchanged looks. It was as they thought. The kids were beginning to think of them as their parents. They would surely have to do something about that. But both of them realized that right then, was not the time to try and figure it out.

"Sure." Matt answered. "It is nice out here."

"Whoopee!" Martha exclaimed as she ran back to where the other kids were playing along the bank of the creek to tell them.

Kitty looked up at Matt with a grin. "Guess we'll worry about who is and isn't their parents tomorrow, huh?"

Matt shook his head with an echoing grin. "Guess so."

The rest of the day was spent as the morning had been. The kids played and swam and talked and giggled. Games of tag you're it and quiet times as they gathered around the fire to eat the fish they'd caught. Afterward there were stories from Matt and giggles from the kids as Kitty told them some of the cleaner jokes she knew.

Georgie had, as had become his habit, finally settled himself next to Kitty when the day waned and refused to leave her side, even for an late afternoon's entertainment of hide and go seek with his siblings. Kitty looked across the fire to Matt and simply shrugged. The day had been too nice and she wasn't about to spoil it by making him leave her side.

After the last song had been sang, the last bite of food eaten and the sun started sinking, the group, assembled by the creek side, decided it was time to head back. They would have chores to attend when they returned and the children to bathe and put to bed and preparations to make for the coming day. Life on a ranch, Matt and Kitty were beginning to realize, was work.

Finally they were all aboard the wagon and headed home. Kitty sat beside Matt on the wagon seat, her head on his shoulder and Georgie's small form in her lap. The group was silent as they drove, as all were tired from the rare day of play and laughter, but each went home with a small feeling of joy that they'd not had for some time.

Later, after the chores were done and the kids bathed and put to bed, Kitty and Matt laid together in silence as they reclaimed each other, body and soul. Words weren't needed as each one knew what to do to drive the other over the abyss into the sea of pleasure and beyond. Their cries of ecstasy were stifled by claiming each other's mouths in passionate kisses.

When at last they were spent, they laid spooned against each other, sated and content. Matt pulled Kitty as close to him as he could get her and held her there, his big hand cradling her small waist. Kitty entwined her hand with his and clung to it tightly.

"You know, Lady." Matt rumbled softly in her ear. "I think I could get used to living on a ranch, if all the days were like this." He inclined his head and kissed her temple.

Kitty chuckled softly. "Sorry, Cowboy. But they're not." Wiggling around, she turned to face him, pulling his lips to hers. "But today was a nice day though, wasn't it. The kids certainly enjoyed it."

Matt nodded. "Yeah, they did and I'm glad for it. After all they've been through in the last 30 days, I think they deserved it. Of course, tomorrow we're going to have to go back to the real world. Me and Bud are going to have to work hard if we're going to get that barn rebuilt before winter. And there's stock to tend. It's going to be a long day." He finally sighed.

Kitty smiled, listening to him. She would never point it out to him, because she knew how he'd react to the comment, but as he spoke of the things that needed doing and the work that lay ahead, she heard a sort of excitement in his voice at the prospect of it all. It sounded a little like he was looking forward to it and was enjoying his role as a surrogate father and rancher. That gave her a little hope that maybe, one far off someday, he'd feel that way, about a life like that, with her and their own children.

Moving her hands from his chest to his stomach and then still lower, she giggled as she kissed him again. "Well, I guess we should go to sleep then." She murmured as she felt him respond to her touch. "I don't want to keep you from your rest."

Matt gently took her by the shoulders and pushed her on her back. "I'll sleep later." He said as the fire between them was reignited.

TBC