Here is chapter 30, enjoy !

That night, Jim and Johanna stayed at the loft as well as Lizzie. Rick had prepared three rooms, a guest room and those of Alexis and Martha, not knowing if Kate's parents would share a room. It was bound to be weird between them after so much time spent apart. So just in case, he prepared three rooms. Once everything was ready, he went back downstairs and saw that Kate was in the kitchen, preparing dinner for everyone. He walked to her and hugged her from behind.

"Hey." He simply said, kissing her cheek. "What are you cooking?"

"I don't know. A mix of what we have in the fridge … which is not much since we haven't been here for the last three weeks."

"We could have just ordered in." he remarked.

"I know. But I wanted to cook. I need to keep busy right now. I don't want to think … about anything."

"Ok. But I'm here, whatever you need."

"I know." She said, smiling and kissing him lightly.

"Could you see if we have any vegetable somewhere? Pasta and cheese will not be enough." She asked. She did not want her mother to think she was not taking care of her family, and certainly not as she was pregnant.

Once the meal was ready, Rick dressed the table and everyone sat down. At first, the conversation was quite awkward. How do you start a conversation with someone you haven't seen for fourteen years? There was so much to say and yet nobody was talking. The atmosphere was heavy.

"So, Katie, tell us how Rick proposed." Lizzie said, hoping to alleviate the situation. Seeing how her granddaughter blushed, she changed her tactics. "I remember when James proposed to your mother. It was during a family dinner during the summer. Absolutely everyone was there and he looked so scared." She laughed at the memory.

"Well, I was scared. What if she had said no? I would have looked like a fool in front of the entire family." Jim said, looking like the mere memory of that day still scared him. "I think I would have fled the country if she had said no."

"Well, I did a good thing saying yes then." Johanna said, putting a hand on one of Jim's.

"Mom?" God it felt weird to say these words. "I'm going dress shopping for the wedding some day in the week with some friends. Before this one grows too much." Kate said, putting a hand on her stomach. "Will you come with us?" she asked, tears brimming in her eyes and her hand crushing Rick's knee.

"Of course, I would love to go with you, and meet your friends. I … I always dreamed of going with you to try on wedding gowns. I have to say this is a dream I thought would never come true." Johanna said, her own eyes filling up with tears.

"Can I come too?" Rick asked, already knowing the answer.

"NO!" the three women at the table exclaimed at the same time.

"Ok, ok, just checking. No need to yell at me." Rick said, pouting.

"You're not saying it before the wedding. And I will not keep it here because I know it will be too much for you. I'll let it at my da … at my parents'." Kate said, blushing slightly at what she nearly said.

"It's ok Katie. I understand that it will take time. We all need to get used to the idea of me being back." Johanna said, voicing what everyone had thought since they had the news of her non-death. Strangely enough, these words seemed to be all it took to alleviate the atmosphere and make the meal much more comfortable for everyone.

O-o-O-o-O-o-O-o-O

When dinner was finished, Kate and Rick took everything to the kitchen while Jim, his wife and his mother moved back to the living room.

Once they were done with the dishes, Rick went to prepare some coffee and tea for everyone when he was stopped by Kate's arms pulling him to her. Before her had time to ask her what was happening, her mouth fused on his, making any idea of question fly out of his mind. When they broke apart, in desperate need of air, he smiled.

"What was that for?" he asked.

"Just to thank you for being here. For being you. I really don't know how I would deal with all of this if you weren't here. I think it would have broken completely." She said, smiling at him but not bothering to try and stop the tears rolling down her cheeks.

"Well, you're welcome. I'm here and I'm not going anywhere. You're stuck with me forever."

"Good." She said, kissing him sweetly once more.

As things were getting heated, they were interrupted by someone clearing their throat next to them. They broke apart and blushed when they saw Johanna, arms crossed on her chest, looking at them.

"Well, now I know what was taking so long with the coffee." She said, laughing when Rick rushed to the coffee machine to get everything on a tray.

After having talked for a while, Kate noticed that Johanna was struggling to mask her yawn.

"Well, I think it's time for everyone to go to bed. It has been a rather emotional day and we could all use some rest." Kate said, saving her mother from appearing ungrateful by going to bed while they were all there for her.

Johanna smiled sweetly at her daughter and got up with Jim.

"Uh Katie? Do you have something I could wear to sleep? I don't have any of my things back with me. They'll be shipped sometime in the week." Johanna asked.

"Sure, come with me." Kate said, getting up and walking through Rick's office and in their bedroom.

When she turned around to ask her mother what she wanted, she didn't find her in the room. She walked back out and found Johanna looking at the picture of her and Rick at his graduation ceremony which was hung on the wall by the door.

"You look so happy." Johanna whispered, her eyes still fixed on the photograph.

"I was happy. I am happy. Even happier now." She said, taking her mother's hand in hers.

That was all it took for Johanna Beckett to break down. Kate led her to the bedroom, made her sit on the bed and went back to close the bedroom door. Rick entered the office just at that moment, concern clear on his face.

"She's not really well, I'll talk to her. Could you wait for a bit before coming to bed? I really need to …"

"It's ok Kate. Go take care of your mother. I'll take my laptop in the living room to give you some privacy." He said, kissing her before gathering his things and leaving the room.

Kate turned around and looked at the door of her bedroom. On the other side of this door was her mother. Her long lost and still alive mother. Even if both of them were tired, she could feel that the conversation they were going to have will be a long and very important one.

Taking a deep breath, she walked into the bedroom.