CH21
Rick was restless and found himself cleaning every corner of the kitchen he could find.
Alexis hadn't come down for dinner and even though Rick made something, he couldn't force himself to eat it. He was far too worried about what was wrong with his little girl. So it all went into some Tupperware and into the refrigerator for some other day.
Looking up the stairs and actually putting a foot on the first step, but he turned away and went to his study. Maybe writing would take his mind off what was happening upstairs, maybe.
It didn't!
It had been a couple of hours after dinner and Rick finally couldn't take it anymore. Alexis was his daughter and he should be helping to solve whatever was wrong. Kate may mean well, but Alexis was family.
Rick had reached the door to his study. "What if I'm the cause? …. What did I do?" Rick turned away and walked back to his desk.
"I'll apologize and mean it since I don't even know what I did wrong." Rick heads for the door again.
"And do or say what if she isn't talking? She's 5, I can't force her to talk." Rick turns around and goes back to his desk.
"I'm her father and it's my job to protect her and help her, even if she does get mad at me." This time Rick had conviction and opened the door and headed for the stairs.
"What do I tell Kate?" Rick turned around and headed back into his study. Why had this suddenly gotten so hard?
"Play it by ear." Rick head for the stairs again. As soon as Rick made it to the stairs he could hear crying, but it didn't sound right somehow. The tone was different.
Looking up the stairs Rick could see Kate sitting on the floor with her back against the wall and her legs tucked in tight to her chest with her arms holding them in place.
It wasn't Alexis that was crying, it was Kate! Rick flew up the stairs. What was wrong with Kate? He had to fix her problem first before going into his daughter's room and fixing hers.
Rick was down on his knees and looking at Kate who had her head buried in her knees. Placing a hand on her arm got her attention and Kate turned to look at him. What Rick saw however was not the Kate he knew. This was little girl Kate who looked lost and sad.
"Kate?" Rick asked softly and soon got another display of just how fast a vampire could be when Kate was now on her knees with her arms wrapped around his neck holding him tight and suddenly new tears came and Rick could feel her body shaking.
"It's Alexis, isn't it?" Rick asks, not getting a response. "Did someone hurt her?" This time Rick could feel her shake her head.
"Alexis talked to you, didn't she?" Rick asks softly. Rick pulled back and pushed Kate far enough out that he could look at her while still holding onto her. "What is it?"
"She's hurting Rick, really hurting." Kate uses her hands to wipe away some of the tears, only to be replaced with new ones.
Rick saw the Kate he knew slowly come back and the little girl Kate fade away.
"Alexis's first day of school. New teacher, some new kids she hadn't seen before. The teacher wanted to get to know her students a little better, so she asked each of them to say a little something about their parents." Kate started off.
"OH NO!" Rick whispered out and hung his head low.
"Alexis's wasn't exactly first so she had to listen to the kids in front of her say something about their mom and dad. Nothing much, really. By the sound of it, it was mostly names and what they did.
Alexis only talked about you. …. When the teacher asked about her mother, Alexis told them she didn't have a mommy."" Kate's tears only started up again as she could still hear Alexis's voice explain it all to her, through all of her tears, let alone Kate's.
"Meredith." Rick whispered out again, only this time his voice had venom in it.
"It wasn't this that made her sad, not that it didn't make her sad. It's just in the days that followed; she would overhear some of the other kids talking about their mom with each other. My mom did this or my mom did that.
It wasn't directed at her and if she hadn't gotten to class early as is apparently usual, she wouldn't have heard a thing. But she did.
It's been eating away at her for days ever since, hour's maybe. They have a mommy to talk about and never talk about their dad. It's eating her alive from the inside Rick, little by little." Kate explains wiping away still more tears.
"Meredith." Rick says with more venom a little louder this time.
"If she hated Alexis, Alexis might be able to deal with that. If she beat Alexis, at least she was paying attention to Alexis. But no, she ignores her very existence.
That woman is slowly eating away at that little girl's soul and is forced to listen to all the happy kids talk about their mother. A mother she hates." Kate while still on her knees stood a little more erect.
"I swear Rick, if I ever get my hands on that woman. … I'm going to bite her and drain her dry. Every last drop, so help me. Then I'm going to take her wrinkled up body and drop her sorry excuse into the middle of a giant compost heap.
Or put her into a wood chipper and then drop her into a compost heap. … My parents taught me not to kill, but I swear Rick, what I want to do to that woman. Alexis is far too nice and sweet to be treated like this!" Kate had stopped crying and was letting her hate take over.
Rick was mad, shocked, falling in love with Kate fast, along with a countless number of other emotions. Problem was he needed time to process it all. There was just so much in all of what Kate had just told him.
"How is she?" Rick asks nodding his head at the door.
"Sleeping, or at least she was when I came out here." Then Kate's tears started all over again.
Rick brought Kate back into his embrace and held onto her tightly, and could feel Kate wrap her arms around him. "What Kate?"
"It's just, …. I can still hear the sound of her voice, crying and sobbing as she whispers out each word, ever so slowly. Stopping and starting in lurches. It was so painful Rick, ever so painful. It's going to give me nightmares." Kate was having her own problem getting the words out through her own tears.
"You want to go home? Alexis is my daughter, I'm the one that should be doing this." Rick still has his guilt that he was letting Kate do his job for him.
"NO!" Kate pushed back from Rick. "I just needed a few moments. …. I promised her a sleepover and that's what that beautiful child is going to get. I'm not disappearing on her like her mother has done.
I may be a vampire, but I'm not an evil monster." Kate insults Meredith intentionally.
Rick didn't really have words for what Kate was doing for Alexis, so he did the only thing that came to mind. He kissed her and tried to tell her what he thought of her into that kiss.
It had left Kate breathless yet again. Kate got to smell him and taste his mouth with her tongue and feel herself in his arms. For all her strength if was all she could do to remain upright as she let her head rest on his shoulder with her face planted firmly against his neck, breathing him in.
One of these days he's going to make love to me and it's going to be amazing!
Kate has somehow managed to stand with the intention of going back into Alexis's room for that sleepover that she promised. When Rick stands with her running a hand up her leg, just barely brushing along the edge of her ass. Then continuing up her side until it has reached the side of her breast.
Kate grabs Rick and spins him to slam him up against the wall and kisses him, hard. Doing her best to shove her tongue as far down his throat as it will go, while at the same time sucking all the air out of his lungs.
Kate had never wanted anyone as badly as she wants Rick, right now!
Kate uses her strength to pin his hands to the wall above his head and moves her mouth to his neck and starts to kiss, lick and suck until she has created the biggest hickey Rick has ever had.
Satisfied with her results, Kate lets go of him. "Alexis needs me and I'm not abandoning her. I'm sure you can take care of this, …." Kate grabs his crotch to find that he was hard yet again. "By yourself."
Kate leaves Rick and enters Alexis's room and closes the door behind her softly so as not to wake Alexis and then leans her back up against the door.
Kate was doing all she could to get her breathing under control. Kate knew if they kept this up much longer one of them was going to explode.
Kate picked up her bag and went into the attached bathroom to change. Kate also needed to change what were likely stained and soaked panties as well as clean up a little.
As Kate changed she could see that her nipples were hard, her lips were enlarged a little and even after cleaning up a little she was still wet and getting wetter since her mind couldn't get off what happened outside the bedroom door.
Kate had never touched herself before but soon gave into the urge to at least pinch her own nipples just a little. Maybe later she would get brave enough to finish that thought fantasizing what Rick would do to her.
For now Kate needed to calm down and slip into bed with Alexis. Kate might need sex, but Alexis needed a cuddle more.
It was now one month later:
Kate was standing outside of Rick's door having just knocked a couple of times. This time it was with more confidence that than very first time. And Kate was rewarded with Rick opening the door allowing Kate to breathe him in.
The second the door was open Kate stepped into his arms and pressed her nose into his chest.
It has been one whole week since she had last seen him. Not since the night of Alexis's melt down. However it was one whole week without either of them that got her into his arms.
However before Kate or Rick could say anything, Kate's legs were wrapped up by someone small. It got Kate's attention so she let go of Rick and kneeled down to wrap her arms around Alexis.
"Hi honey, how are you?" Kate whispers into her ear.
"Fine. …. Are you staying?" Alexis asks her.
"Yup, all weekend long like usual." Kate responds kissing her head.
Kate had started school a month ago and had been spending her weekends at the loft until the next school week on Monday.
"Throw your bag into the bedroom and then come back. We have a surprise for you." Rick tells Kate, earning him a look from Kate. Rick knows how much Kate hates surprises. "You'll like it, trust me. Right pumpkin?" Rick looks down at Alexis who was in on the surprise.
Kate watched Alexis nod her head enthusiastically while grinning wide.
Kate dropped her bag in Rick's bedroom and came back to the front door. "Follow us." Rick tells her and they exit the apartment, locking the door behind them. And are soon taking the elevator down to the underground parking garage.
Rick walked over to a bank of doors. "Each apartment has its own storage unit down her. Mine is R for Rodgers." Rick explains. Kate had already learned that Rick had changed his name, not that she understood the reason for changing it.
Kate had already dreamed of Katherine Castle, and didn't care if it became Katherine Rodgers.
Rick pulls out a set of keys and unlocks the door. Inside was a storage unit that had a few items in boxes along with 2 refrigerators. It was the refrigerators that had Kate's attention. He had one in the apartment, why did he need two more?
"These are your keys." Rick hands over the set of keys he had used. "This one will unlock the door leading into the garage and the other will open the storage room. There are two of each. One for you and one for Lanie." Rick explains.
Kate takes the keys but looks at Rick with a puzzled look on her face. "Open it." Rick offers sweeping his arm at the refrigerators.
It got Kate to open the first one wondering what could be some special about them.
Kate opens the door and sucks her breath in and slaps her hands over her mouth. The refrigerator was filled with blood bags. Lots and lots of blood bags. It got Kate to close it and open the other one finding it just as full as the first one.
Kate closed the door and put her back up against the refrigerator door to stare at Rick.
"I know a person who runs a mobile blood bank that she uses to go around to collect blood from donors. I got her to give me her latest load that took her a month to obtain. I had to stretch the truth a little to get her to give me her inventory." Rick wiggles his hand a little and scrunches up his face. Since it was a lot more than just a white lie.
Kate had heard every word and it had her mouth hanging open. There had been more blood on their ship when they had left the mining moon almost a year ago, but not by much. Kate did a quick attempt at the math. There had to be close to six months' worth of blood for the two of them in these refrigerators.
Kate couldn't believe these two. "You knew about this?" Kate looks down at Alexis, who was nodding her head.
"Now you can eat with us." Alexis tells her. It was the reasoning Rick had used as getting Alexis to keep it a secret until they were ready to surprise Kate with this. Alexis and her dad could eat food and Kate could drink her blood, instead of just sitting there watching.
It instantly brought tears to Kate's eyes and Kate kneeled down opened her arms wide to Alexis, who didn't hesitate to step into them and hug Kate back.
"Thank you!" Kate whispers into her ear and kisses her head, while squeezing her tight.
Kate hadn't been paying attention but Alexis was in her heart now and while Kate felt it, Kate couldn't yet say the words, "I love you."
"The plan is to have the refrigerators refilled every 6 months." Rick explains. "There are already 3 bags in the refrigerator upstairs." Rick adds.
Kate let go of Alexis so she could stand and kiss Rick to thank him for what he has done. They didn't have many blood bags left at home, so it was excellent timing.
Back upstairs they got started with their family weekend that started with a game of Chutes and Ladders. It was a first for Kate so she was actually interested in how the game worked.
Kate spins the little arrow and gets a number to move her piece. "You go down the chute Kate."
"But that puts me down 3 whole levels." Kate moans as she moves her piece, not noticing that she sounds a little like Rick now.
Alexis spins the arrow and finds that she gets to go up a short ladder to the next level. "How come you get to go up and I had to go down?" Kate moans again.
"Ladders go up and chutes go down." Alexis explains smiling.
Alexis only had to worry about two more chutes, though she also had a possibility for two more ladders. While Rick was somewhere in-between.
In the end Alexis didn't land on either a chute or a ladder and won the game.
Kate wasn't sure she learned anything about what the game might be trying to teach her, but it was fun to spend time with Rick and Alexis. Plus it made Kate happy to see Alexis smiling again after Alexis's meltdown over her mother.
Next came lunch while Kate chose to watch and save her blood bag for dinner. Alexis had come to understand that Kate could eat; just that she had to empty her stomach shortly after.
Alexis was still a little self-conscious about Kate not eating but she was slowly adapting. Alexis had also come to learn that she was just too young for Kate to bite her and drink her blood. "Sixteen is old." Alexis had moaned.
Alexis had so wanted to be a part of Kate's life and since Kate drank blood, she was like Rick. Kate should be drinking her blood not some strange person's blood.
Next came a movie of Rick's choosing this weekend. Last weekend was Alexis's choice. In this case Rick chose Star Wars since Kate was from outer space.
"Do you have ships like that?" Rick asked during the movie.
"Ships that look like that, … no. Are there ships that carry fighters, … yes." Kate explains.
"Their idea of FTL is similar, however there is definitely no one who can blow up a planet with a single shot." Kate was thankful for that. These people had a serious imagination just that they were lacking in actual knowledge.
Kate thought her teacher was an idiot. Kate already knew more that he did or likely ever would. Kate was doing great in most of her classes since these people were so far behind the times.
"How about the Force?" Rick asks curious, only to watch Kate shake her head.
Life out there was a little duller than this movie tended to suggest.
Rick had excused himself leaving Kate and Alexis alone. "You know what the plan is for the rest of the day?" Kate asks, since this weekend was whatever Rick wanted to do.
Alexis shook her head, however she also zipped her mouth closed. Which told Kate that she did know.
"And you don't want to tell me?" Kate pouted, only to have Alexis smile while shaking her head.
"And there is nothing I can do or say to change your mind?" Kate asks, already formulating a plan. Only to see Alexis shake her head.
"Well maybe I can convince you to tell me." Kate grins wide while she wiggles her fingers, getting Alexis to squeal and try to make a run for it. Except Kate is much faster than Alexis is and Kate soon has Alexis in her lap holding her in place, while Kate tickles her.
Alexis is soon laughing her ass off as Kate lets Alexis escape on purpose.
Alexis is on the run only to find Kate hot on her heels tickling her as she runs. Kate soon has Alexis in her arms again. "Tell me Alexis, where are we going?" Only to watch Alexis shake her head.
Kate starts tickling her again. "I'll take you for a piggy back ride to show you just how fast I can run." Kate offers something else after she stops tickling her.
This got Alexis to open her eyes wide and nod her head. "You can whisper into my ear." Kate offers and turns her head.
Alexis held her hands on either side of Kate's ear and whispered to Kate. It got Kate to scrunch her face not understanding what Alexis has told her.
Kate was all set to ask for an explanation when Rick came back into the room. "You two ready to go?" Rick asks pulling out his keys.
Brooklyn Bowl; 61 Wythe Avenue (between 11th and 12th streets)
Kate was completely out of her element here. She was watching the others taking balls and rolling them down towards these white sticks knocking them over and then try again.
They had to get shoes first and Rick took both Kate and Alexis looking for a ball for them to use.
"The idea is to roll your ball down the lane and knock down as many pins as you can with the first ball. Any that remain standing you get a second ball to knock those down with.
The more you knock down at the end of the game, the higher your score the better chance you have of winning." Rick explains. "Oh, you also get two practice rolls before we start keeping score." Rick adds.
After changing shoes Rick goes first and leaves four pins in a bunch on the left side. Of those he leaves one and the system re-sets.
Alexis was next and Kate watches her take her ball right up to the line and put it down and give it a shove and watches it go into the gutter about a third of the way down and slowly make its way down, missing all of the pins. Only to repeat this again the next time.
It looked simple enough. "Is it hard?" Kate asks Alexis as she walks back, not looking dejected.
"It's heavy." Alexis tells her.
Kate had no form and just kind of walked up to the line reaching back and launches it down the lane, way too fast for a human. Still she clobbers only 3 pins.
Rick is waiting for her and she comes back to wait for her ball to come back. "No one can throw that hard Kate." sitting at the scorer's table.
Kate over corrected and got the three pins on the other side. Throwing the ball a lot softer this time.
Rick got eight pins leaving one on each side and missed both of them with his second ball.
Alexis was next and Kate went with her and bent over her to help her push her ball straight down the lane. Kate only guided it and didn't apply any of her strength to it. Well tried not to apply any of her strength to it.
They watched the ball roll ever so slowly down the lane and hit the head pin knocking over a number of pins, getting Alexis to celebrate like she had never done that before in her life.
By the end of the first game Alexis was having fun and was celebrating with Kate getting and giving hugs and kisses.
Rick won both games however it was Alexis who was sitting in the back of the car dancing in her seat who had the most fun. And it had Kate smiling all the way home since it was Kate who had helped her roll all of her balls down the lane.
Dinner turned out to be a beef stew that Rick had left to cook in a crock pot. It was also the first time that both Rick and Alexis got to watch Kate take a bag of blood out of the refrigerator and warm it up in the microwave and poke a straw into it and drink while they ate.