CH46

Kate was just getting around to snuggling up close to Rick wearing one of his button down shirts she had stolen...no, borrowed permanently...along with a pair of panties since they had kids on the other side of the wall, when her cell phone signaled and vibrated. She groaned and rolled off Rick reaching for it then rolled back into place before answering it. "Beckett." She tried not to sound irritated by the call even if she was.

"I'm so sorry to bother you ma'am especially since you're off this weekend and it's after 10pm, but I thought you would like to know," one of her deputies said. "Know what Deputy Sloan?" Kate recognized the voice even though he hadn't told her who he was. "We got a call from a Greta Bailey. She was calling to tell you that she accepted your offer and wanted to know how soon you could arrange for relocation help," Sloan replied. Rick looked at Kate with 'who is Greta' on his face, not that Kate was paying attention to him.

"Excellent. Call her back and find out if she's given her present job two weeks' notice and just how much stuff she needs to move. A one bedroom, two bedroom, or studio apartment, that kind of thing and a date when she would be ready to move," Kate told him. "Actually she's ready now ma'am. Where she was working just laid off 22 officers as part of a cost cutting measure," Sloan told her. Kate squeezed her eyes closed. According to Espo Greta had been cool under fire even if she did have a little girl back home to take care of. "Okay, I'll try and make arrangements to have her moved as soon as possible. I'll call you back after I do so you can tell her when she has to be ready. Thanks for the call Sloan." And Kate hung up.

"Who's Greta?" Rick questioned. "The office is seriously understaffed and I made a couple of calls to see if they would be interested in working out here. LT is coming out in a few days to look the place over before making a decision while it seems Greta is interested now," Kate briefly explained. "She was laid off." Rick couldn't help but overhear her conversation after all since she was having it while lying on his chest.

"She was a metro cop that Espo seemed to like. I made a call and had her history forwarded so I could read it for myself. Sounds like the city is in cost cutting mode. I heard she has a little girl and isn't married," Kate told him. "So you offered her a better job," he said as he bent his head and kissed her head. "I went looking for some places for her to think about moving into during lunch yesterday. She can get a two bedroom and one bathroom apartment with a garage out here for what wouldn't even get her a closet in Manhattan," she said knowing New York City was horribly expensive.

"Now you need a mover?" Kate nodded. "It'll have to wait until we get back home before I can look someone up," she groused. She would really like to get it arranged and be done with it, but they didn't have a computer here. "Not necessarily," he remarked and had Kate lift up as he rolled over to reach for his phone before rolling back into place. "Call him back and get her address," he said and made a call.

"Hello, Melissa? It's Beckett. I need the address for Greta so I can tell the movers," Kate asked. "I'll ask him, I think he's on the phone with her now," Melissa replied. She came back a minute later with an address that Rick passed on to whomever he had on the phone."Two weeks. It will take one day to pack her one bedroom and four days to move her," Rick informed Kate who passed it on.

"She says she'll have an address for the movers tomorrow," Sloan told Kate who then told Rick. "She's booked for two weeks from today." Rick hung up after telling Kate who told Sloan. "Greta says thank you ma'am," Sloan relayed. "Thanks for the call Sloan, see you in two days." And Kate ended the call. "One down, a few more to go." Kate rolled away just as Rick had to put her phone back.

"You're going to give me that bill for the move Rick. It's coming out of the office's budget and don't make me hurt you by saying no!" She pinched him just to enforce her point. "OW! Spousal abuse and we're not even married yet," he complained. "Rick?" Had he just...? "When I propose Kate, and I will, you'll know it and remember it for the rest of your life." He bent his head down to kiss her. "Now go back to sleep. We have 5 little girls to get up and clean in the morning, not to mention 4 adults." He wrapped his arms around her to hold her in place with a mini bear hug.

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"I'll let you change first, just close the door," Johanna told Oscar after sending Alexis upstairs to her bed. It was perfect for her since she was small.

A few minutes later Oscar came out wearing a full set of very slick and tasteful pajamas. "Ta da! What do you think?" He struck a pose and grinned while Johanna looked him over. "I think I'm going to be underdressed. You're very handsome," she teased though what she was going to be wearing was nowhere as nice.

"Please don't tell me you'll be undressed on the other side of that door," he begged. He wasn't sure how much longer he was going to last. A kiss here and a wish there and a sign that she's interested was killing him. She smiled a smile that didn't help him any.

"Sorry." Johanna patted his chest and went into her bedroom then closed the door so she could change. She soon changed into her pajamas and looked in the mirror after wiping off her make-up with a cleansing pad. "I just don't know and it's not fair to him, Jim. He really is a sweet, caring man and if I say no, I know he'll go away and I'll never see him again. But I'm not moving back to New York and that's where he has his office, and I'm so lonely," Johanna said to the face in the mirror, who didn't answer back. 'Was 8 months long enough?' she wondered as she crawled into bed. There was a wonderful man just the other side of the door and she was learning to like the smell of his cologne.

Johanna tossed and turned for what had seemed like hours. She needed sleep, they had 5 little girls to clean up tomorrow with only 2 showers. She got out of bed and slowly cracked the door open so she could see him. As if that alone would tell her what to do. What she saw was him moving and rolling around, hanging his feet off the edge of the bed so he could stretch out. The sofa that converted into a bed by adjusting the cushions was just too short for him; they hadn't kept the dinette that would have been another bed in favor of a real table with four chairs.

She opened the door and walked over to Oscar who was looking up at her, surprised to see her. She reached down and took his hand and tugged. "Come on, this is too small for you. Go get in bed and don't give me any trouble, just do it." Johanna pulled him into her bedroom, waited for him to pick a side, then climbed into bed on the other side. She decided to snuggle up close and felt him wrap an arm around her. "Now go to sleep," Johanna instructed him. However he tilted her head so he could kiss her deeply. He pulled on her to get her on top of him as they kissed. Then Johanna found one of his hands palming her breast on the outside of her top. She moaned into his kiss.

Johanna moved a leg and felt that he was hard and ready; she was rapidly getting there herself. She felt him turn them so that he was now on top and had switched to kissing and sucking on her neck, eliciting another moan from her. Next she felt his hand sneak its way under her top until it was on her bare breast. Her hands were holding his head down so she could kiss him and smother her moans. "Oscar, we have to stop. Alexis is upstairs," she gasped. It was Johanna's last attempt to stop this before it went too far.

He buried his face in her neck as he collapsed on her with a groan, pinning her to the bed under his glorious weight while her arms wrapped around him. "Yeah, she is," he muttered as he started to move off Johanna, only to have her hands hold his face. "Give me just a little more time," she pleaded. He nodded and rolled off her then spread his arms wide while he tried to calm down. Johanna moved so that she was lying on top of him much like her daughter presently was with Rick. "Go to sleep." She rubbed her hand over his chest and closed her eyes. 'Not yet, but soon.'

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Someone was watching her, she could feel it! Kate's eyes blinked open and she found another pair of eyes staring back at her. "What's wrong honey?" she whispered as she managed to extract a hand and stroke her hair. "Hungry," Samantha said softly. Kate was expecting a number of things like "homesick," "wet the bed," "can't sleep," or maybe even "my tummy hurts," since she was the one with the seafood allergy. But hungry? That one took Kate a moment to process.

She reached for her phone to check the time and opened her eyes wide. 7:30 in the morning!? "I'll be right there honey. Have you used the bathroom yet?" Kate asked her since they only had the one, and watched her nod. "Good girl, let's see if we can find you something for breakfast." She slid her leg out from between Rick's and slipped out of bed trying not to wake him.

In the main room Kate found four very wide awake little girls. "Has everyone used the bathroom?" she inquired quietly and got a lot of nodding heads. "Good, that means it's my turn," she told them and stepped inside to quickly pee and wash her hands.

"Now for breakfast. Big breakfast or cereal?" she asked them. "Big please?" Samantha asked and Kate got three heads nodding in agreement. She lit the propane burner, set a skillet on it and found sausage and eggs in the refrigerator. She pulled those items out then found the blueberry pancake mix. She soon had sausages cooking in the skillet as she stirred batter for pancakes while another skillet heated up for them. Kate poured in the batter for the first one and switched to making coffee next since she needed something to wake her up. Keeping up with four girls was a handful.

Kate found plates, cups, and silverware and had the girls sitting at the dinette after converting it back into one. Samantha was served first since she started this and had a pancake, two sausage links, scrambled eggs, toast, and orange juice. Kate quickly noticed that from the look of things her motorhome was meant for dinner and Rick's trailer was meant for breakfast. Kate had to pour the maple syrup for her and went back to cooking. She was just serving Sara when a growling Rick stumbled out of the bedroom and headed straight for the bathroom. "He's grumpy like my dad in the morning," Jenny informed everyone. "He hasn't had his coffee yet. Give him a chance, he'll warm up," Kate said. "That's what my mom says too," Jenny told them.

Paige was served next just as Rick came out of the bathroom and went straight for the coffee. "And how are you girls this morning?" He leaned back up against the refrigerator and looked at them while sipping his coffee wearing his boxers and a t-shirt. "Fine," Jenny told him since she was the only one not yet eating. "What do we do today?"

"Well I was thinking we go see the mountain and look at some really big heads," he pulled his hands out wide after starting in front of his face getting a couple of giggles. "Maybe stay there a couple of hours, maybe buy a souvenir for each of you to take home and then we'll just have to see. Did you bring your swimsuits?" Rick asked them and saw four nodding heads. "Then perhaps we'll go swimming after I figure out where to go," he said.

Kate served Jenny. "What do you want babe?" she asked him. "I'll have what they're having with a stack of pancakes please," he replied.

"Are you four good swimmers?" Rick asked them and got four nodding heads. "Who's the fastest?" he asked and three hands pointed at Paige who was oldest. "So we have an Olympic Gold Medalist in the making do we?" Rick decided to have some fun with them. Paige shook her head. "Don't knock what you're good at. I'll bet you'll win lots of gold medals! Make your parents and your country proud of you." He wasn't letting her off the hook that easy. "Do you like swimming?"

"Yes, but it's too cold here to swim much," Paige told him. "There isn't an indoor heated pool!?" He probably shouldn't be shocked but in a way he was. True, Newcastle wasn't that big of a town, but the next president of the United States might come from here or the next super swimmer. "That would kind of slow down your training," he had to admit.

He made a note to himself to see what it took to have an indoor pool built that all of the kids could swim in. On second thought make that an indoor water park that had a narrow, Olympic-length pool off to the side. He could own it and charge money to use it. How hard could it be? Or maybe get in touch with the YMCA and see about having one of their buildings built here.

"Here's yours babe." Kate handed him his plate which had him pouring the maple syrup before sitting on the sofa that was also back to being a sofa. He looked around. "Who put away the beds?" he asked and watched four little girls raise their hands. "How did you know what to do?" he inquired. "We watched you," Sara replied softly.

Kate tossed the pillows onto their bed and sat down next to Rick with her plate. He practically inhaled his food and was done in less than a minute. "Hungry babe?" She was amazed. "I need to let Midas and Maggie out," he explained and she kicked herself having forgotten about the dogs.

Rick dressed quickly and was taking Midas and Maggie out as Kate sent Samantha in to shower since she was the first one finished eating. Sara would be next. As soon as they were done, she sent Samantha then Sara into the bedroom to change into clothes their mothers had sent with them. Kate sent Paige to shower next then Jenny. They changed into their clothes in Rick's bedroom while Kate cleaned up the kitchen. As soon as she was finished with the dishes she sent the girls out to sit under the canopy then hopped in the bathroom for a quick shower herself.

Rick was watching Midas lift his leg just as Oscar with Patch and Thor came out for the same reason. "How did you sleep?" Rick asked him as his two watered the grass and a pole. "Better than I have in a long time actually." Oscar had Johanna draped all over him all night long. He hadn't realized he missed having someone next to him that badly."And?" Rick knew how tall his friend was and wasn't sure he would fit in the bed Kate was willing to crawl into. "And I slept fine." He wasn't going to kiss and tell. "Riiight." Rick wasn't buying it. "I don't know what you're thinking but nothing happened, or have you forgotten your daughter was asleep right above us," he reminded Rick then silently cursed at himself. Oscar however had just let the cat out of the bag.

"Give her a chance old friend. Kate tells me Johanna saw Jim as her one and done, but it sounds like you're making progress." Rick was happy for him. "If it wasn't for Alexis something might have happened last night. But it's probably a good thing that nothing did. It might have ended up a one and done for her," Oscar said, still afraid of that. "She would have felt guilty about what she had just done and rejected you because of it," Rick figured out and watched Oscar nod. "How long are you staying?" Had Oscar changed his mind about when he was leaving? "As long as it takes Rick, as long as it takes."

"She must be something special, I haven't seen you act like this ever. Hell I'm not even sure how much you dated after Eileen," Rick mentioned based on what he knew. "She is and I haven't much," he admitted. "And are you and Kate still in denial?" Oscar turned the tables on him. "Not anymore. Kate is simply the most amazing woman I've ever met and after what my publisher and publicist did to me, that's saying something." Rick still didn't know how he had been so stupid. Maybe it was his battle with his father that had helped him to be willing to become the playboy, still rebelling against his father and his choice for Rick's wife and mate.

They were both headed back when Alexis came bursting out the door. She saw her dad and the dogs and began running. Midas and Maggie were really happy to see her so Rick handed over the leashes to his daughter. "And what did you have for breakfast?" he asked Alexis but it was Oscar who answered for her. "Johanna made one of the best breakfast burritos I've ever had. That woman really knows how to cook." He was very impressed.

"So that's why you like her!" Rick teased except that he just opened his big mouth momentarily forgetting there were little ears close by. "You like Kate's mom?" Alexis asked having heard her dad. It got worse because no one noticed that Kate had exited the trailer and heard Alexis. Oscar bent down to Alexis. "Let's not tell anyone. I don't want to scare her off. Johanna is very special and she means a lot to me. So let's keep it a secret for now, please," he asked her and watched Alexis zip her lips closed which earned her a kiss to her head from him. He was even starting to get ideas about moving out here and get out into those wide open spaces. There was a piece of him that was waking up and loving the idea of living out here.

"Are we ready to go? The girls are almost done brushing their teeth." Kate announced herself before getting too close. She knew she would be talking with her mother soon. Right after she worked it out in her own mind how she felt about Johanna and Oscar.

"I'll get Jo," Oscar said and handed over Patch and Thor before he entered the motorhome. "I need to shower and shave. I promise to be quick," Rick said as he hurried to the trailer.

About fifteen minutes later the truck was full and Kate and Johanna were right behind them on their scooters. Everyone was very excited to see Mount Rushmore. They had to pay to park and Rick didn't even get to park up close like Kate and Johanna did. "Okay girls, I want you to stay right next to one of us. Either by me, Oscar, Kate, or Johanna. I do not want your parents yelling at me because I lost their little girl. Do we have a deal? Promise me," he told them and heard five promises. "No swimming if you break your promise," he warned them.

It was a bit of a walk to catch up to Kate and Johanna. They found a walkway with concrete columns on either side that had state flags hanging from them. There were two flags per column. There was a bit of a crowd but it wasn't too bad. Still Rick and Oscar took turns putting the girls on their shoulders so they could see better. There was an activity the kids could do scheduled an hour from now so they went to the gift store. "Remember your promise," Rick reminded them before they went in.

Kate bought each girl a Mount Rushmore Arrowhead Patch that their moms could sew onto their winter coats maybe. Johanna bought each of them a Mount Rushmore Scenic pin and pinned them on their shirts. Oscar bought each of them a postcard packet of 5 cards and told them they could write their parents a note about how much fun they are having and he would mail it later today. Rick bought each of them a refrigerator magnet that showed the mountain with the presidents' faces wearing sunglasses with blue lenses. On their way out he spent a dollar on each girl to have a penny pressed with Mount Rushmore on it.

The adults carried the packages while the girls went to their activity where they each colored a pre-cut, printed, lightweight cardboard image of Mount Rushmore then they cut out and glued a stand to the back of it so it could be placed on a table. Each of them proudly displayed what they had created to Rick, Kate, Johanna, and Oscar.

"Paige is going to be a gold medalist in swimming someday but you four are going to be artists and become famous," Rick proclaimed, which only had them smiling wider. Then they ran across a guy in a bear suit. "He's not as big as you dad," Alexis announced which nearly gave Kate heart failure. Rick simply stood over her, raised his arms out in front of him, and growled getting the other girls to giggle. After pictures with the bear were taken, Kate was walking with Jenny as they started to go somewhere else. "That was fast thinking Rick.' Kate was quite impressed. 'Alexis damn near gave me a heart attack…Hang onto the girls please, I'll be right back,' he told her and ran back inside the souvenir store.

He came back out a few minutes later with a bag that had 5 necklaces in it, individually wrapped up and tapped closed and marked by Rick as to who got what.

5 – Black Hills Gold Grape Leaf Necklace at $57.50 each for the girls.

2 – Black Hills Gold Dragonfly Necklace at $150.75 for Kate and Johanna. It was his thank you for helping him with the girls on this trip.

"Where did Rick go?" Johanna asked Kate since she didn't see him and watched her shrug her shoulders.