CH16 (97)
It was now 2 months later:
Madison who was now almost 7 months pregnant and was in the Castle clan dome. It was not her shift in medical but like always she was on call being the only doctor they had. Fortunately for her, Kate and the others she had 2 very, very good nurses.
"You're big Mags." Emily points out the obvious.
"Yes I am, thank you for noticing sweetie." If Shawn had said it she would be all over him. But innocent Emily had said it so Emily gets a kiss for her comment.
"Have you two decided on a name?" Kate asks as they are both sitting on the futon/sofa an hour later.
"We've both been going thru all the boy names we can think of. We have at least narrowed it down, some." Madison chuckles. If you could count 15-20 names as narrowed down.
"Well you two better pick one or I'm going to start calling him "Hey you."" Kate teases.
"So tell me how you are doing?" Madison knows some since Kate is still coming to physical therapy.
"Not too bad I guess. I can walk to the showers. I can walk to the kitchen. I've even made it out to the furthest greenhouse to help Alexis. Farther than that is still out. …. Alexis even has a chair out in each greenhouse for when I get tired of standing." Kate chuckles.
"You got lucky with her Becks. I'll bet there won't be another like her in generations to come." Madison was impressed with Alexis. Alexis had found her, found Jim, found her parents and is pretty sure she set her up with Shawn. Even if she wasn't sure.
"I know, trust me, I know. As good as she is now, it's almost scary to think what she could be when she is older. … I want to say more mature, but she's already there. … I guess that's part of what scares me for her. She's not even in college yet and look at what she can do.
I wasn't doing things she's doing at her age. I'm really worried that she is missing out. I really want her in school on Ariel or even Tellus if I have to. I'm not stealing something from her just to make these colonies work." Kate wants what's best and is praying this is the right choice.
"You know she's going to fight back." Madison warns her.
"I know. And she'll probably point out that I'm not walking very far yet." Kate's leg was a liability that Alexis may try to exploit.
"You've got about 6 more months before the year is up. Keep up the hard work and it won't even be a topic of conversation." Madison was happy with her progress.
"How is Shawn?" Kate changes the subject. Needing to get the topic off her leg.
"He's having a blast. He and Rick are out there right now playing with their toy. You know there is a giant reef out there? …. They have both spent a lot of time surveying it. You should see some of the pictures. Maybe when we finally have some boats we can take a trip out to it and so some snorkeling as Alexis calls it." Madison was grinning. She was happy her husband was having fun.
"So I've heard. I've also heard there is something called scuba diving where you take tanks of air with you. Did you know Rick and Alexis have started swimming lessons for the colonists?" Kate was interested in diving. It was something the old Kali would have jumped at and dragged the rest of them along with her.
"I'm told they found a diving pool too. … I can just imagine Kali dragging us there daily." Madison laughs at just how much trouble Kali would have gotten them into.
Suddenly Madison grabs one of Kate's hands and places it on her stomach. Letting Kate feel the baby kicking. Getting Kate to grin. "I remember those days. Emily was relatively quiet. Kali however was trying to kick her way out. I still don't understand how all my internal organs survived." Rick's hands were the only thing that kept her calm.
"Those two are going to miss their older sister." Madison warns Kate.
"Yeah, those three have bonded nicely haven't they? They are probably going to be impossible for a while after Alexis is gone." Kate agrees.
"Have you thought about what to do for college yet?" Madison is interested in know if Kate has thought about the future.
Kate however shakes her head. "None of the city towers on Ariel will be completed by then. Maybe still another year or two. Depends on how construction is going. If our house is 6 months behind schedule due to delivery delays, how far behind schedule are the towers.
Alexis should only be on Ariel without us for about a year more or less. Martha has plans for her while she is there. She has shared some of her plans with Rick and I. Alexis is going to be so busy between school and Martha." Kate was almost afraid she wouldn't find friends as busy as Martha was going to keep her. However kids have a way of finding each other.
"Remind me again how old Martha is?" Madison knows what Martha does, almost daily. Getting Kate to start laughing.
"Martha is going to be young when she's 80." Remembering Martha at the old fire house in New York.
"Where are our girls anyway?" Madison and Kate had been alone for a little while now.
"Alexis took them out to the northern garden with her. She is hoping for a harvest in about a month. … You should see her greenhouses. I'm telling you Mags, she is talented." Kate was proud of her and had told her so numerous times.
"So Becks, do you know what time it is?" Madison was grinning. Kate however starts groaning.
Madison starts struggling to get up and take Kate to medical. Madison however gives up. "A little help." Madison holds out her hands.
Kate however doesn't miss the irony of the situation. "So the injured lady has to help the pregnant lady to stand." Kate was grinning and pouring it on.
"Oh shut-up and help me up out of this trap you call a futon." Madison was not impressed.
Kate kept up with Madison all the way to medical where Kate climbed onto one of the beds to go thru her physical therapy session.
Kate shuffled her feet back to her dome and fell on her bed and was asleep in less than a minute.
Kate didn't see or hear a thing until she woke up, finding a pair of eyes staring at her. It took a few seconds. "Hi sweetie." Kate smiles, happy to see her.
Kali however just smiles back.
"Are your sisters here?" Kate tries a question.
"Uh huh." The apparently talkative Kali responds.
"Where's your father?" Kate tries another question.
"Cooking." Kali responds.
Well this was fun!
Kate decides this calls for drastic action. Kate whips her arm out and snatches Kali and rolls over dragging Kali with her. Then using both hands with Kali on top of her starts tickling her.
Getting an instant reaction of her laughing and trying to get away.
Kate however rolls over trapping Kali below her and starts tickling her in earnest.
"Mommy stop." Kali barely gets out between laughs.
Using a gravelly voice. "I'm not mommy, I'm the tickle monster." Kate stops tickling her and lifts up her top and delivers a raspberry to her tummy. Then lifts up and takes in a big breath and delivers another raspberry to Kali's tummy.
Keeping the gravelly voice. "You better run little girl. Bwah, ha, ha, ha."
Kali rolls out from under the tickle monster and starts running.
"Bwah, ha, ha, ha." Kate struggles to get up free of pain and starts walking after Kali, however she pulls up short when she sees Emily sitting on the futon reading her pad.
Kate shuffles her feet over to Emily and is right behind her and leans down. "Bwah,ha,ha,ha." And starts tickling her.
Unlike Kali, Emily screams then starts laughing and struggling to get away. "Mom stop." Emily manages between laughs.
Using her gravelly voice again. "I'm not mommy, I'm the tickle monster. …. Bwah, ha, ha, ha."
Emily escapes and starts running. "Bwah, ha, ha, ha." Kate does her best to yell after her with a gravelly voice.
Alexis steps into the dome. "Mom why is Emily screaming while running down the hallway?"
Kate turns on Alexis and reaches out her arms and shuffles her feet towards Alexis. "Bwah, ha, ha, ha." While wiggling her fingers.
"Uh-oh!" Alexis starts backing up slowly.
Still with a gravelly voice. "Al-x-us." Kate keeps shuffling her feet forward towards Alexis.
"Uhm, mom?" Alexis keeps backing up.
"I'm not mommy, I'm tickle monster." Kate keeps moving forward shuffling her feet. "Bwha, ha, ha, ha."
Alexis squeals and turns and runs. "Bwha, ha, ha, ha." Turns into Kate laughing and starts walking for the kitchen since it was dinner time.
Stepping into the kitchen she finds Rick still cooking while her girls are sitting at the table waiting for their food.
"Mommy?" Kali asks not really sure she is.
"Hi sweetie." Kate bends down to kiss the top of her head. "You hungry?"
Kali nods her head. "Dad good cook."
"Well I'm hungry too." Kate tells her. Then with a gravelly voice. "Bwha, ha, ha, ha."
This gets Kali, Emily and Alexis to squeal and run for it.
Rick has watched it all while cooking. "Tickle monster?" Rick asks.
Kate lifts her arms and starts shuffling her feet towards Rick. "Bwha, ha, ha, ha." While wiggling her fingers.
"You tickle me and you'll go hungry." Rick advises the tickle monster.
Kate clears her throat. "What do you know, I'm cured. It's a miracle." Kate was all smiles.
"Uh-huh. …. That was good by the way." Rick was grinning and arches his eyebrows a couple of times.
Kate smiles. "Thanks, I thought so. …. Dinner?" Kate actually was hungry.
"About 15 minutes still. Have a seat, they might actually be back by then." Rick chuckles.
About 20 minutes later Kate is sitting at the table eating dinner that Rick had cooked and was still cooking as the colonists slowly came in to eat too, one by one.
Emily and Kali were pushing Alexis out in front of them. She was their big sister, it was her job to protect them from the mommy/tickle monster.
The girls were about half way to the table. Mom?" Alexis is cautious.
Kate smiles at them. "Hi pumpkin. …. It's perfectly safe, the tickle monster is busy eating. As soon as its tummy is full it'll take a nap." Kate was still smiling.
Alexis lets her guard down and walks with a little more confidence to the table, with her sister's right behind her. Just as Alexis pulls out a chair to sit down, Rick holds out his arms and is wiggling his fingers and shuffles his feet towards them. "Bwha, ha, ha, ha."
All three girls scream and run for it. Leaving Kate laughing her ass off practically falling out of her chair.
It was half an hour before the girls came back to try again, finding Kate and Rick sitting at the table across from each other. Kate was eating ice cream, while Rick was just finishing dinner.
Alexis inches her way across the floor with Emily and Kali right behind her, hanging onto the back of her top. "Mom, …. Dad?" Alexis whispers.
"Hi girls, you're late. You want some dinner?" Rick asks all smiles. "There's ice cream after you are done." They all three watch Kate lift up her spoon and put it in her mouth.
Everything seemed normal. They were acting like mom and dad again. Still, … "Have a seat I'll get you something." As Rick gets up and walks to the cooking area to dish out some food onto three plates.
Alexis has just about made it to the table while Emily and Kali keep an eye on their dad, not trusting him for a second.
It was now that all of the colonists in the kitchen get up and hold their arms out wiggling their fingers as they shuffle their feet towards the three of them. "Bwah, ha, ha, ha."
The three girls scream and make a run for it, each taking a separate route in their haste to get away. With Emily and Kali barely escaping being caught by one of the colonists.
Rick is doing his best to hang onto the kitchen work counter to keep from falling down laughing. Kate can barely sit while laughing as tears come to her eyes.
The colonists who were in on it are also laughing just not as hard.
About 30 minutes later most of the colonists who were in on it are gone now, while some new ones have come in to eat. Each has already heard about the tickle monster incident in the kitchen, while a few haven't.
Rick and Kate are sitting at the table waiting for their girls to come back listening to the colonists explain it to the new ones who don't know, getting them both to start laughing again.
Kate has tears rolling down her face that she is wiping away. "They may not be back till breakfast." Rick tells Kate. Getting Kate to nod her head as she wipes away still more tears.
They may both pay for this later, but for right now, it was worth it.
Kate was gone along with most of the colonists. It was just Rick who was starting to clean up and a couple of stragglers getting in late. "Lucy, can you see the girls?"
"They are hiding out in one of the main domes." Lucy answers.
"Ok, so we may have over done it, just a touch. Can you tell them to get their butts back here if they want to eat? All the tickle monsters are gone now." Rick asks of Lucy.
The next morning Kate was back in medical for her physical therapy, without having gotten her morning cuddle session. Apparently she had overdone it just a tad the day before.
"Since I'm walking again, tell me why I'm still coming in for PT?" Kate had always hated this part.
As the nurse bends Kate's leg and tells her to push back. "Because in a few months it's going to be cold outside and we want you running when spring comes around again. Or would you rather walk for the rest of your life?"
"Running?" She had Kate's attention now.
"Hey slow down there for me. I'm not talking about running a marathon, but if you want to run down your child we want you to be able to do that. We want you to be the best possible mommy you can be."
Kate had gotten her shots to her muscles, completed her PT and shuffled her now tired legs back to her bed when she crashed back onto it for a quick nap.
Kate was blinking her eyes open and found herself looking into someone's eyes. "Hi." Kate grins, seeing Kali laying next to her without actually touching her.
"Hi." Kali responds back.
"Where is everyone?" Kate didn't even know what time it was.
"They left to eat." Kali was smiling at her.
"So I have you all to myself do I?" Kate was grinning, since she had an evil thought.
"Yup" Kali was waiting for her mommy.
"Well I'm glad you're hear sweetie." Kate leans over to give her a quick kiss.
Then Kate pulls back and wiggles her fingers in front of Kali. "Bwah, ha, ha, ha."
Getting Kali to scream and jump up and make a run for it. Leaving Kate laughing her ass off rolling around in her bed, wiping away tears.
It was mean and she knew it, but just couldn't resist. Now she was going to have to spend the rest of the day making it up to her, or her daughter may never come anywhere near her again.