It seemed to Matt that he was doing less marshaling these days. Images of past summers filled his mind – roundups, stampedes, gunfights, and a continual round of drunken brawls, underhanded gamblers, and fights over saloon girls and the price of whiskey. There were still herds coming in, and trains left the stockyards west of town each day pulling cars of lowing cattle. There were still cowboys spending money and cattle buyers making deals, outfitters stocking chuckwagons for the long trail back to Texas or Colorado, and drummers selling every conceivable commodity to the local businesses. But the raw, wild, vigor of earlier years had been replaced by a more ordinary hustle and bustle. He hadn't seen a mountain man or a hide skinner in town in weeks, maybe months. But when more people were ordinary, those that weren't stood out in even sharper contrast. Could Tonneman have worked his wickedness with as little effort in those years after the war when every man wore a gun and expected to use it day by day? Maybe not. Maybe not.
This night Front Street was resting easy – loud and lively rather than rough and rowdy. He ducked into the Long Branch a little before midnight, but his searching eyes found no sight of Kitty Russell. A shared glance with Sam and the bartender's eyes lifted in an almost invisible nod towards the upper floor. Matt smiled his thanks and headed through the door to the back hall and the back stairs.
Kitty was sitting brushing her hair when he turned his key in her lock, and she lengthened the stroke of her brush as he entered, waiting for him to come, as he did, and take it out of her hand. She loved it when Matt brushed her hair.
"You're early, tonight," she said.
"I was about to say the same thing about you," he replied.
Kitty made a little grimace. "Doc."
"Oh." He continued brushing. "Well, it was bound to happen."
"I'm not mad about it, Matt. You're right. It was time. It's just…" Kitty turned to lay her cheek against his waist. "It was just so nice, for a little while, when it was just us."
Matt set the brush down and lifted her to stand in his arms, "Well, I thought so too, Kitty, but apparently we weren't the only ones to notice." He told her about Festus, carefully leaving out the part about "greeny sick-lookin'" and remembering to include "glowin' like a rose". Kitty laughed, and he laughed with her. As a story it was much better than sitting listening to the words under Festus' studied gaze.
"Doc give you a bedtime, Kitty?" he asked, turning her around so he could rest his hands on her nicely rounded belly. Nothing showed under the full skirts she now wore during the day, but holding her loose fitting nightgown tight against her he could trace the outline of her pregnancy, and her breasts, free under the gown, seemed delightfully heavier.
"I'm to go to bed by midnight and drink mint tea before I go to sleep," she replied, "If I can't sleep, then I get to change to chamomile tea."
"Wouldn't whiskey work as well?" Matt asked, pouring them both a drink.
She giggled. "By golly, Matt, I think you're right!" But a yawn broke in as she sipped her drink. "Wanting to sleep isn't a problem, Matt," she told him, "Just the opposite. I nap in the afternoon and then come up early at night." She frowned. "It's hard on Sam."
Matt took her empty glass and walked her over to the bed. "Sam know?" He pulled back the covers and tucked her under them.
Kitty yawned again. "I think so. Pretty sure." She took Matt's hand as he sat down next to her, "You know he had a family? Before the war?"
Matt's brow clouded. He knew the story, and it wasn't pretty. "Wife and children all dead and buried when he finally got home. Just the grave markers at the farm. No one to tell him what happened or even who buried them." The story hit Matt hard. He'd buried countless bodies in shallow graves on the prairie leaving a makeshift cross and a silent prayer as their only marker.
But Kitty was moving on, "He was bad for a while, Matt. Drank a lot. Then he came west from Virginia and made a new life," she squeezed his hand, "I can't but be glad he did. I couldn't run the Long Branch without him. Not now. And babies, well, that's not new to him. I can tell by the way he looks at me, he knows."
"You talk to him about it all the same, Kitty. Or I will." Matt smoothed her hair back from her forehead, "I always feel better, when I'm out of town, knowing you have Sam with you at the Long Branch, sleeping here." That had been a change Matt had asked for after her kidnapping by the Stones. Sam had the big corner room on the other side of the building with his own outside entrance and everyone concerned felt more comfortable with him sleeping in – even if most nights he left by the front door and walked around to his own stairs. Matt tilted his head curiously, "You pay him enough, Kitty? For what he does?"
Kitty laughed. "He's been my partner for nearly two years, Matt. We worked that out after I lost the first baby. He just didn't want anyone to know – thinks they'd start to turn to him instead of me, and that's not how we work things. I make the decisions, and he's taken on more of the work, but yes, he's getting enough out of the Long Branch to keep him plenty comfortable."
"That's good then." Matt said, relieved. He cared little about money, although he knew Kitty did, but he did care about her security and peace of mind, and he trusted Sam to see to that. "You want me to turn out the lamp, honey? I've got to go back out for one more round. Festus is stuck at the office with that son of a bitch, Tonneman. Be back in an hour or so."
Kitty looked at him curiously. It wasn't like Matt to use language when she was around, but she knew that Tonneman was a special devil. "Leave the light. I'm going to read a little. Promised Doc I'd go to bed, but I didn't say anything about going to sleep. Oh, and Matt?"
"Hmm?"
"Doc said before Christmas, just like we thought."
He kissed her lightly on the lips and he left, locking the door carefully behind him, and tucking the key into the special inner pocket of his vest.
OoOoO
Matt took his time walking Front Street. Met a few friends. Had a beer or two when they were offered at the other saloons. Everyone knew he spent his time at the Long Branch, but he kept a finger on the other places as well. He took his place in a couple hands of poker at the Bull's Head and lost, though not very much, with good humor.
Mollie Parks offered him coffee at the Oasis, and he drank it, not unpleased at the shot of good whiskey she'd clearly added to his cup. They were seated at a table in the back, and he noticed her taking a look around the almost empty room before she leaned in to speak to him. "Word is that Doc was up to see Kitty today." Matt sipped his coffee, his face calm. Mollie was an old friend, and good company, but he didn't share secrets with her. He'd shared a bit more with her when he was younger and Josh Stryker had first introduced his deputy to the lady. She was some older than he was, comfortable and undemanding, and she'd taught him a thing or two during those early years, but that had been a long time ago. "I'm not trying to be pushy, Matt, we've known each other too long for that, just trying to let you know that there's beginning to be talk. Just a little, but it could lead to more."
"A man can't sneeze in Dodge without the word going out he's dying of pneumonia," Matt commented evenly. He smiled and patted Mollie's arm where it lay on the table. "Don't worry about it, Mollie."
"Well, I might if it were anybody but you, Matt," Mollie admitted frankly. "You just let me know if there's anything I can do to help. Sometimes a quiet word here or there can do wonders."
Matt smiled a little and finished his coffee. Chet, at the bar, was making closing-up noises. Matt rose to leave. His memory flashed briefly on his own embarrassment that day, not more than a dozen years ago, when someone had finally mentioned in his hearing that Chet and Mollie were married, had been for a long time. It still wasn't something he understood, but, as the years passed, he'd come to know it was the way it worked for them. Mollie stood up beside him, going up on tiptoe to give him a smacking kiss on the cheek and a pat on the seat of his pants, "You tell Kitty I'm coming to visit her soon, Matt."
"I'll do just that if I see her, Mollie," he said and left her shaking her head and chuckling over the 'if'.
He crossed the street and stood looking over the top of the batwing doors into the Long Branch. Most of the tables had been cleared and the chairs put up. One game of poker was still going on in the back, and a lonely cowboy was still hopefully chatting with Cora over by the stairs. He walked over to the bar where Sam was drying a stack of recently washed glasses.
"Howdy, Marshal," Sam greeted him, "Get you a drink?"
"Nope. Probably had more than I should tonight already, Sam. Just wanted to talk to you." Sam looked over at him, his face cocked in a listening expression. "You know I'm leaving tomorrow for Kansas City? Taking Newly and Festus with me on the train."
Sam shook his head, "I don't remember a time you've needed three men for one prisoner, Marshal," he commented.
Matt's face hardened. "He's not a normal prisoner, Sam, and his gang is still loose out there somewhere. That's one reason I'm taking him on the train – it's a lot harder to stop a train than a coach or a rider. Faster too. We expect to be back in four days, no more than five."
Sam nodded, waiting.
"I deputized Burke earlier today and he's going to watch the office, Sam, but I wondered if you'd take a badge for me, too. Just in case something comes up that takes sense as well as muscle?"
Sam grinned and reached out his hand for the badge Matt held out. He tucked it in the pocket of his vest. "I'll just leave it there unless it's needed, Marshal. You tell Burke?"
"Oh, yes. Made it mighty clear who was in charge if anything were to happen," Matt replied.
"We're good then." Sam told him, lifting his eyebrows in query as Matt continued to stand looking at him.
"You know, Sam?" the Marshal eventually asked quietly.
"I know, Matt," Sam replied, his smile both tender and serious. "I'll make sure she comes to no harm while you're gone. Trust me, I'll watch over her for you."
"I do trust you, Sam. Always have," Matt Dillon said. "And now… well, I'm glad you're her partner." He reached out to offer a hand to the man across the bar, and Sam took it in a firm clasp. With a nod of his head but no further comment, Matt headed for the back stairs, and Sam walked over to rescue Cora from her pining cowhand.
OoOoO
Despite her stated intention to wait for him, Matt found Kitty asleep when he entered her room. He deftly removed her book and lorgnette to the table, and blew out the lamp before removing his clothes and slipping into the far side of the bed. He was surprised to find soft hands waiting to caress him and pull him close.
"I thought you were asleep," he said against her hair.
"I was. I'm not now," Kitty told him.
"No, you're not, are you?" he chuckled as those hands ran over his hips and then moved lower to stroke his thighs. He pulled her closer, trapping her hands just where he wanted them. His own palms spread against the softness of her bottom, stroking and kneading her just as she was him. Her mouth was sweet and warm, opening under his.
It wasn't long before her gown was gone and the sheets and covers pushed away. He found her breasts and caressed them gently, knowing they were likely to be tender. He was expert by now on what she liked in the first months of pregnancy and was eager to find out what the months to come would bring. Her ran his hand over the rise of her belly and let her hands in his hair guide his mouth to her nipples, suckling gently, teasing with his lips. Gentle as he tried to be, her eager hips and arching body drew him in, pushing him for more, urging him to plunge harder, setting a faster pace. "Whoa, honey," he whispered, "There's no race, we've got all night." But her mouth reached up for his, her tongue stridently showing him exactly what she wanted, her hips opening wide to lift and rub up against him. Matt gave her what she asked him for, and was rewarded with her ardent cry and the feel of her muscles spasming around him as he thrust into her, clutching him until he spilled hot and urgent inside her.
"I wish you weren't going." It was her turn to whisper now as they lay twisted together, the sheet pulled up around her shoulders.
Matt ran his hands over the smooth skin of her back. She didn't say that often, although he knew she thought it. "I'll be back just as soon as I can, Kitty," he promised her. "You'll wait for me?"
"You know I will, Matt. I always do."
There was one tender kiss, and they both settled in to sleep.