Chapter 7
Dinner for two
Later on in the day, no leads had been discovered and Catriona had called some co workers who had promised to bring up some of Andy's personal files for searching the following day, Catriona and Tim sat in the bull pen and talked quietly with each other waiting for Ducky to arrive.
"So, dinner it is then?" Tim asked, stroking her hand with his fingers. Soft hands for a medical examiner- a Scottish trait, he'd always thought. At that moment Ducky arrived and the pair snapped apart.
"Ready to go, duckling?" He asked and Catriona smiled.
"Daddy, if its all the same, Tim is going to take me to dinner for old times sake. He'll drop me back later. I won't stay out late, I promise." Catriona slid off the desk and went over to her father, hugging him and kissing his forehead.
"Verra well, Duckling. Take your time and enjoy yourself. I'll see you at home." Ducky kissed her cheek and left, placing his hat on his head with a flourish.
"See you later, da, don't wait up." She smiled as he waved from the lift. Then alone in the bullpen, she wrapped her arms around Tim's neck, his hands settling at her waist. "Hello, Tim."
"Hello, Katie." He replied, giving her a tender kiss, the first in 15 years and hopefully the first of many.
When they broke apart for necessary air, they linked arms and left together to go to the little Italian around the corner from the navy yard. A tiny, compact little place but which had a reputation for being wonderfully flavoursome and delicious. They sat in a little booth seat together at the rear of the restaurant where they talked and ate the wholesome food laid before them.
Mid way through dinner, Tim plucked up the courage to ask Catriona about her phone call.
"Katie, who rang you earlier. They sounded close to you." He asked quietly.
"Yes they are. It was my daughter." She let this comment linger in the air. Tim nodded, knowingly- though of course he didn't. "I thought you knew." She added at his face, resting her fork on the edge of her plate.
"Knew what?"
"I wrote to you and told you. I heard nothing, I assumed you were shocked or whatever."
"Knew what?" He urged again, laying down his own fork.
"She's your daughter too. Our daughter, Alice Rose." She pulled out her purse and handed Tim a photograph of a tall, willowy, girl of 14 with a pale complexion, dark hair and hazel eyes- Tim's eyes.
"When did you know?" He asked.
"1 month or so after I went to Scotland. I wrote to you in Annadale and in MIT. But heard nothing, so I raised her myself, bringing her back to the states with me when I went to New Orleans. I thought you were scared or something." She said sadly as Tim gazed at the picture.
"Scared of what? She's beautiful, like her mom." Tim praised and Catriona smiled.
"Scared of parenthood or something." She admitted.
"Never, I could never be scared of something as precious as this- a family. I never got your letters." He murmured again.
"Perhaps you should talk to your mum or Penny, about that then." Catriona suggested- more inclined to think Admiral McGee had something to do with it.
"I will. But right now, I just want to spend some time with my girl. I'd like to meet her- Alice Rose." Tim said finally, taking her hand in his across the table.
"I'll see what I can do about her school hours or something. I might get her up here with Ben Stuart and Steve Wren when they bring up Andy's things." Catriona suggested, sadness obvious in her voice.