CH32

Kate followed Rick inside and found that it was as big inside as it was outside. The wall of windows was actually three floors tall and they gave anyone looking out a view of the city. "A lord looking out over his kingdom," Kate whispered while still holding onto Alexis.

Maybe it was the height that made the place look bigger than it was. The living room wasn't really all that much bigger than Rick's. The kitchen that she followed Rick into was a little bigger maybe, but not quite as nice. She gave credit to Oscar for that.

"Hello Mother," Rick said as he entered the kitchen. What Kate saw was a woman perhaps around 50 or so. She had a rail-thin body, even thinner than her's. Her hair was short and even redder than Alexis's hair. It gave her an idea of where Alexis got her hair color.

"Richard! It's good to have you finally home again! I knew you would come to your senses. You will be staying for dinner," Martha stated like Rick didn't have a choice."Don't get ahead of yourself Martha, Richard is only staying the night. In his trailer, and then leaving in the morning," Hunt announced to everyone. "No! Talk him out of it Jackson. He's our son, he should be staying here." Martha took great exception to this news. Rick leaned closer to Kate and whispered, "That's code to have my father beat me to force me to change my mind."

"RICHARD. You belong here with your own kind," Martha stated, having heard what her son had said.

"I've done my good deed and informed your husband that Paladin is in the area and likely coming here next. We'll be leaving in the morning," Rick informed her. Kate watched the shock appear on Martha's face who turned to her husband who had been unexpectedly silent. "It's all being taken care of Martha, there's nothing to worry about," Hunt assured her.

"Dinner will be ready in an hour. Is that…thing eating also?" Martha questioned as she halfheartedly motioned in Alexis's direction. Kate's blood began to boil. Were these two really that insensitive?

"No Mother. I would never subject my daughter to your cooking. I'll make her something out in the trailer," Rick replied which seemed to please Martha as she went back to her preparations for dinner.

"You hungry pumpkin? Let's go see if I can find something in the trailer," Rick said as he took her hand, leaving the kitchen and the house. Kate only paused to glare at those two, not trying to hide her disdain for them.

"Is it bad enough that he brings that thing into this house but did he have to bring his slut too?" Martha asked Hunt just as Kate was leaving. Kate was certain that she had said it loud enough for her to hear on purpose. "He should have stayed and married that nice girl that we picked out for him," Martha added.

Kate, however, didn't take the bait and followed Rick and Alexis outside. She caught up to Rick just as he was opening the refrigerator to see what he had as she walked up behind him and wrapped her arms around him. "I'm so sorry babe. I didn't really believe you about your parents. I never thought anyone's parents could be like that." She pressed her face into his back.

"Yeah, well welcome to my world," he said brusquely as he began pulling things out and setting them on the counter. She spun him around to face her. "Don't Rick. Please don't shut me out. I'm not the enemy here." Kate looked into his shuttered eyes. He grumbled and twisted his head from side to side. But she could see light returning to his eyes. Finally he rested his forehead against hers and looked her in the eye. She sighed, liking what she saw.

"I'm sorry, it's just those two…" Rick stopped talking when she kissed him then broke from the kiss. "I get it babe, I really do. If they refer to Alexis like that again I just might lose it myself." Kate smiled a bit unsteadily, partly because she really did fear that she would unleash her dragon on the two of them.

She gave him a quick kiss and moved over to Alexis. She wrapped her up in her arms and guided her over to the sofa to sit down. "Can you cook for all of us?" she asked him. Rick turned to look at her. "Sure, we have enough," he replied. "And can we leave after we eat?" She truly didn't want to stay here. She hated his parents and didn't want to give away that she was a dragon. Her request had Rick grinning. "I'll cook if you come up with where we're going to go." He turned back to the refrigerator. "The community has a grocery store. We can stock up there on our way out," he said.

"Actually I already have a thought about where to go. It just so happens to have a lake with boats we can rent." Kate was smiling while she gave him a hint. He was momentarily perplexed until a light bulb went off in his head. She was talking about the lake were they became life mates! "We can get wood and gas before we leave, too." Rick got busy cooking since he wanted out of there. He did his duty even if his father didn't deserve it. But the people in the community did.

They ate what he had quickly put together for their meal and left the dirty dishes stacked in the sink. Rick started up the truck and carefully made his way down the switchbacks and over to the grocery store. Kate and Alexis were walking through it with him; she was amazed. It really was a full service grocery store. There was a deli that actually had Chinese cooked on site that she couldn't resist, so she selected a number of things to take with them for later. It had a bakery where they baked their own bread, cookies, cakes, and countless other things. Kate grabbed some French bread, Kaiser rolls, and some whole grain sandwich bread. They filled their cart with much needed supplies. The cashier who checked them out knew Rick and commented that he hadn't known he was back. Everything that needed refrigeration was put away while everything else was left to be put away later.

Rick stopped at a gas station to fill up on his way out, including the gas can that had been for the riding lawnmower and to purchase logs that were already cut to size and split. Unlike their way in, they were not stopped on their way out. Still to get where Kate wanted to go, it meant going through Newcastle.

Hunt was on the phone when Martha approached him. "Where is Richard? Dinner has been ready for 15 minutes already," she said. However she could see her husband's blood start to boil as he listened to whomever he was on the phone with. When he ended the call he threw the phone against the far wall. "Richard and his sluts will not be joining us for dinner. They just drove through the outer boundary on their way out," Hunt snarled. He didn't know it was possible to be more disgusted and disappointed in his son until now. He swore to beat him to within an inch of his life next time they met. Richard would rule this place after he was gone and that was the end of it.

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The last time they were here Kate had driven her motorhome and drove right into the space. Rick was presently working on his 7th attempt at getting the trailer to go where he wanted it to while Kate stood behind it trying to guide him into position. "NO RICK, YOUR OTHER LEFT!" she yelled. It only took him three more tries before she decided it was good enough and they got to work leveling the trailer. Next came putting the dry goods away and taking some of their firewood out of the bed of Rick's truck. She soon found that his trailer and truck combined allowed for a lot of storage. Plus if they had her motorhome, they would be down to two scooters with which to go places. The pullouts were out, the awning was deployed even though the sun was going down, a folding table was put up and three of the four folding chairs were taken out of storage.

Just as the sun went down Rick started a fire, went into the trailer, and came out with marshmallows. Three appropriate sticks later and they were roasting marshmallows over an open fire. "Oh, so not fair," he moaned as he watched his almost done marshmallow fall off into the fire. Kate casually reached into the bag and threw another one at him so he could start over.

Kate kept her eyes on Alexis who seemed to be calming down and was smiling as she stuffed the partly burnt gooey goodness into her mouth and had Kate throw another at her. She decided to have some fun with Alexis so she threw another one at her followed by another, and another, and another. She soon had Alexis laughing as she tried to catch them and gave up trying to roast the next one. She giggled at Alexis and let her roast one of the ones she threw. Rick was also smiling while he watched Kate interact with his daughter. He was so very happy to have her as a life mate.

Tonight Kate tucked Alexis into the bed she had chosen to sleep in, which happened to be the one closest to their room. "Your father and I will be right here and since I'm a dragon I'm not going to let anything happen to you. Good night sweetheart." She kissed her forehead and stroked her hair.

Kate stripped off her clothes and slid in next to Rick in their bed. "How is she?" He wanted her opinion. The fact that she had chosen the bed closest to them told him something and it wasn't good. "She's still scared Rick and a little ashamed of what she is I think," she remarked as she started doodling a finger over his chest. "I've been thinking," he said. "Good or bad thinking?" Kate queried. "Probably bad thinking. I think there were 4 Paladin members downstairs when I crashed through the glass. I'm pretty sure two of them were already down and bleeding out," he told her.

"Alexis was a bear when I found her, picked her up, and flew away with her. Are you thinking Alexis attacked those men and got two of them before you got there?" she asked. "She was in mortal danger and her bear took over and attacked them to protect her," Rick offered. "Would she have been aware of herself doing that as a bear?" Kate questioned. "It's hard to tell really. If Alexis simply went to sleep and let the bear take over, then not likely," he said. "But it is possible?" she persisted and watched him nod his head.

That got Kate up out of their bed. She grabbed a pair of panties and put them on then pulled out a sleep shirt. "Where are you going?" he asked. "If Alexis remembers even a portion of today and what she did, I'm betting she'll have nightmares tonight. I'm not leaving her out there all alone to suffer through them," she told him, which got Rick out of bed and putting on his boxers.

"Her little bed isn't going to fit all of us Rick," she pointed out. "No, but it will fit me, I think. You and Alexis can have the bed. Plus you just found out that you're a dragon, that you killed people as a dragon," he reminded her. "I've killed people before." Kate remembered each one, too. "As part of your job and likely in self-defense. This was different. Maybe you can keep each other from having nightmares. So you and Alexis are taking the bed and that's final," he said firmly. He started for the door only to be stopped by Kate. "You're a good man Rick, and a good father." And she kissed him.

Kate lifted up a relaxed but not yet asleep Alexis. "You're sleeping with me tonight sweetie. Your father is going to sleep out here." She was soon spooning Alexis close to her. "You're a big, brave, Kodiak bear and I need you to chase away my nightmares about what happened today," she told her as Alexis twisted and buried herself against Kate, face to face. "Okay," a small voice agreed. Kate kissed Alexis's cheek. "Go to sleep sweetie, I'll be right here," she said.

Rick soon found that he couldn't stretch out on this bed since he was too big for it. Still he had a fix for that. He went outside, dug into a storage bin and grabbed something, then went back inside. It took a few minutes of work, but he had a twin blow-up air mattress on the floor with sheets, a comforter, and his pillow. His feet hung out the end, but at least he could stretch out.

Kate woke instantly the second Alexis began to thrash about then started to whimper. "Alexis, you're fine. I promise. There is a big, brave, dragon who loves you standing right behind you. Can you feel her?" she asked her then kissed her head. "You're safe in her arms." Kate squeezed her a little closer. It wasn't immediate but Alexis did calm down slowly. Kate simply kissed her again and did her best to go back to sleep.

Hours later she realized Alexis was awake and started to open an eye to peek out, but something stopped her. 'She's pretending,' the voice in her head told her. That got Kate to keep her eyes closed and squirmed a little. "They're after me," Kate mumbled. "No, please," Kate started to whimper. "Mommy? I'm a big, brave, bear and I'll protect you." Kate was sure she had said "mommy" and felt Alexis move in a little closer. Kate couldn't help it, tears welled up in her eyes and fell on the sheets. "Please mommy don't cry. I'll save you," Alexis whispered and Kate felt Alexis kiss her head. Her heart started flipping. Alexis thought of her as mom and was willing to protect her as a bear.

Kate opened her eyes quickly and saw Alexis's face right in front of her. "Alexis?" she questioned. "Don't cry. I'll protect you," Alexis said softly. "My big, brave, bear is going to protect me?" Kate asked her and watched her nod. "Thank you." Kate reached out to kiss her head. "Bathroom and then into the shower?" she asked and started getting up with Alexis following her.

Outside the bedroom they found Rick lying on the floor curled up in a comforter as he snored softly. "He sounds like a bear, doesn't he?" she said quietly watching Alexis nod in agreement. "What shall we do to wake him up? How do you wake up such a big bear?" Kate asked. Alexis started to jump on Rick, when the bear, who had been faking it, suddenly reared up, caught her, and started tickling her. A laughing Alexis was soon begging, "Daddy stop!"

Rick stopped. "So I'm a big bear, am I?" he questioned his daughter while holding her down and watched her nod. "And what are you?" he asked her. "A brave bear," Alexis offered hesitantly not sure if that was the right thing. He immediately began smiling. "I'm really sorry pumpkin. I should have told you that you were my brave little bear a long time ago. I'm so very sorry." He kissed her head and wiped away his tears.

"How about we wash our brave little bear?" he suggested. "I'll do it if you want to start on breakfast," Kate offered. "What does our brave bear want for breakfast?" He turned to look at Alexis. "Pancakes," she said. "With chocolate chips?" Rick asked, smiling as Alexis grinned and nodded.

Kate had her use the toilet first then helped her shower since she was used to a tub. Once Kate and Alexis were clean and dressed with recently brushed teeth, they were sitting at the table eating their chocolate chip pancakes swimming in maple syrup.

After breakfast Kate was outside talking with Alexis underneath the awning while Rick showered and got dressed.

A walk through the woods was next. "Think there are any bears around here?" Rick asked grinning at Alexis. Alexis simply nodded and poked her finger into his stomach."ME? You think I'm a bear?" Rick didn't believe it, it wasn't possible. "What kind of bear am I?" Rick inquired only to have Alexis shrug her shoulders. "Your father is a Kodiak bear sweetie. A big, brave, Kodiak bear, just like you," Kate informed her. "But you're a dragon," Alexis pointed out. "Yes, I am - a big, brave, purple dragon," she told her. Though Kate was still coming to terms with being a dragon and what her mother had told her.

"Babe, Dad was run over by a drunk who was so blitzed that it was a miracle he was awake let alone driving. And Mom told me that Dad's parents were killed in a home gas explosion…" Kate was interrupted by Rick. "You're wondering if Paladin had something to do with both of those actions." He finished her thought for her. She nodded. "A gas explosion I can understand but if the accident wasn't an accident. How do you make it look like one?" She queried.

"You're a writer, how would you write it?" Kate asked him. He had imagination, how did a person so drunk he should be unconscious run down her father? "I have him in the car with me so that he shows injuries after the real driver runs down your father using people on the street or other cars to coordinate exactly where he is. I run him over and crash a little ways away right next to the people helping me. They get me out, move him over and inject him with something to wake him up enough for the cops to arrest him."

"His breath reeks of alcohol, the car itself reeks of alcohol and the best part - he has enough DUIs to fill a filing cabinet. Even better, he's had his license revoked and shouldn't even be driving. So drunk he gets into fights in bars. I get him good and drunk and almost literally carry him to his car."

"It's cut and dried. A known drunk driving without a license who is just conscious enough to prove that he is drunk. Your father never sees it coming." Rick offered his story that's tied up in a neat bow.

Kate walked over to Rick and took his arm while they walk. "I confronted my mom about being a dragon. She told me dad was an evil black dragon who did his best to not be evil," she told him. "He buried his dragon and didn't listen to it anymore. His dragon might have seen it coming, maybe. But he had silenced it," Rick said. "Silenced it?" she questioned.

"The two of you are one, however you each have a voice. In his case, a human voice who doesn't want to be bad and a dragon voice who does. Think of it as a voice only you can hear. Usually the two of you want the same thing, but that isn't always the case," Rick told her.

"A voice," she whispered. "You've heard yours haven't you? A voice in your head." He looked at Kate. She nodded. "Does it still talk to you?" he asked. "Sometimes." Kate kept it simple. There was no way she was going to tell him that her dragon had been hounding her for days, weeks, to get her to kiss him and make love to him.

Was she bonded to him because of her dragon? Kate shook her head. No, she knew she loved him. Her dragon was just along for the ride. "Babe, does this mean that I transferred chemicals and hormones to you when we became bonded?" she asked him. It took Rick a moment to catch up to the question. "It does actually. It means we're even more closely bonded than I thought."