CH58

Espo and Ryan were gone and at the moment Rick was loading up Alexis, Sam, and the dogs in the truck while Kate had Lanie and Jenny with her in the motorhome. Espo and Ryan had assured everyone that they had had a good time and were happy to meet Rick. Plus they loved his house and all of his toys, especially the quad. Espo had won all the timed races and had gleefully rubbed it in. Especially since he lost all of the other games.

"Okay, are you two ready? Here's the phone so you can call them while we drive. You're sure your mother packed everything you'll need?" Rick looked over at Sam who nodded. "Then let's go camping!" He had Sam up front with him while Alexis was in back with the dogs.

"Ready back there?" Kate asked looking at Jenny who had elected to let Lanie sit up front on the trip out but would sit up front on the way back. "All set," Jenny said though she was a little queasy. "The bathroom is a bit behind you if you feel the need," Kate reminded her. Jenny had been cursing ever since she had gotten up that morning. Just the smell of breakfast had her running for the bathroom. After awhile she had finally managed to keep a little something down. This trip might turn out to be the trip from hell for her. 'Jenny woke up with morning sickness this morning; are you sure this is a good idea?' Jenny was Kevin's wife so that made her a part of Kate's family.

'Never fear, one award-winning bear hug tonight and another in the morning and she'll feel better,' Rick promised. 'I thought your hugs only helped mentally?' Kate asked him. 'Trust me,' he answered.

Kate did, so she started her motorhome and soon saw Rick right across the road in front of her as he and Sam waved wildly getting Kate and Lanie to wave back. They both needed fuel first so it meant going into town so Rick turned left while Kate turned right. After fueling up and doing a bit of shopping they continued on US16 until they reached I-90 then went across it and onto US14. They were headed for Belle Fourche Campground that was located on County Road 110. They had another pair of side by side RV sites with each having a picnic table and a fire ring as well as water, electric, and sewer hook-ups. The sites were mostly level so set-up was a breeze and they were all pass-through so Kate didn't have to spend half an hour trying to get Rick to back his trailer in straight. There was even free firewood in a bin at the office; campers just had to go get it.

The view of Devils Tower, even from the campground, was exceptional. According to a brochure there were a number of trails available to walk. Valley View Trail was 0.5 miles long and just south of the Prairie Dog Town. South Side Trail was 0.6 miles long and just west of Prairie Dog Town and met up with Red Beds Trail that was 2.1 miles long and went all around the Tower. The inner trail around the Tower, Tower Trail, was 1.3 miles long and circled the Tower at its base. Just west of Red Beds Trail was the Visitor Center.

They chose to walk the Valley View Trail that met up with Red Beds Trail for 0.3 miles and then onto South Side Trail that took them back to their campsite. By then they were all tired and hungry. Without Johanna being there this time, it was up to Rick, with Kate's help, to make lunch.

"I don't think…" Jenny was queasy just smelling it. However she soon found herself in a Rick bear hug. "Relax, don't think about it," he soothed and did his best to give her an award-winning hug. Jenny was married and loved her husband, but she was melting into Rick's hug and wanted to stay there for hours. He felt her become less tense and her heart beat slowed while Kate was smiling widely knowing what his hugs could do. "Ready for lunch?" he asked as he let go of her.

Jenny got a different lunch than everyone else. Hers was more bland and free of spices. All she was given were nibble items: carb-rich crackers, dry cereal, and pretzels - all things that Rick had bought in town while getting gas. After that she had freshly sliced watermelon and a Popsicle. All of it went down and stayed down. "I'm taking all of these things home with me," she declared in relief.

"Thank you!" Kate kissed him soundly. "You're such a good man." Then Kate got her own hug that had her melting into him as always. "How did you know?" she questioned him while still being hugged. "Alexis." She deduced that it must have worked for Meredith.

Lanie stepped out of the motorhome after using the bathroom to see Kate wrapped in Rick's arms. She couldn't see her face but her body language told Lanie that Kate Beckett was deeply in love. Maybe this really was a different Kate Beckett after all, one that Lanie had been wanted her to be for years. But oh, how Lanie missed her best friend. Couldn't Kate have fallen in love with someone in New York and not have moved hundreds and hundreds of miles away? Still she knew that Kate had done it for her mom and it had worked out. Lanie resolved to shut-up and not press anymore. Kate finally had what Lanie always wanted for her.

Lanie hadn't realized Jenny stepped in close. "You should try one of his hugs. That man really knows how to give astounding hugs," Jenny told her.

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Rick drove over to the office and threw what firewood he could into the back of his truck then drove back to start the fire for the night in the pit that was in his space. Kate got the marshmallow bag out of the trailer and handed them out to everyone along with the metal coat hangers. "Where's the chocolate and graham crackers?" Lanie complained only to see Kate nod in Jenny's direction. "Oh, right, sorry!" Lanie settled down to roast her marshmallow.

"Mom?" Alexis called and immediately had a marshmallow thrown at her. "Me, too," Sam called, grinning at what was coming. Lanie, however, leaned over towards Kate and asked, "Mom?" Lanie hadn't heard Kate called that during the days they'd been there. "It's kind of a long story. Alexis doesn't really remember her birth mother and I fell in love with her and her with me. There are times when I wish I had been her birth mother. I treat her like she was mine and it was Alexis who asked if she could call me mom. At first I resisted. Being a mom meant…anyway I soon realized that I liked the idea of being her mom so I just went with it." Kate shrugged her shoulders.

"So when can I expect to be a godmother?" Lanie asked. "Someday. I had my IUD taken out a few weeks ago," Kate replied. "You really do love him." For the first time Lanie realized Kate loved him completely.

"I love both of them like I've never loved anyone before. I feel so very different. It's hard to explain..." Kate was interrupted by Rick who was sitting between Alexis and Sam on the far side of her. "Marshmallow?" he asked. Kate picked up the bag and threw two at a time. He couldn't make up his mind which to catch so naturally he dropped both of them, only to have Kate throw two more. One of them got juggled enough that he finally got hold of it and silently placed it on the end of his coat hanger.

Alexis and Sam were laughing while Kate was grinning as Jenny and Lanie watched the dynamics of the two of them. To both of them Kate was definitely in charge which was more like the Kate Lanie was used to seeing.

It was time for Alexis and Sam to be in bed. Jenny and Lanie watched as Kate offered to do it. Kate had them brush their teeth and wash-up then helped them into their pajamas. Sam got into the back bunk bed on one side in the rear of the trailer, while Alexis took the other side with Midas and Maggie sleeping in their crates between them.

"Sweet dreams. Tomorrow we'll get up close and walk around the Tower. After that you're going to be Junior Park Rangers," Kate told them and kissed both of them. "Goodnight sweetheart, I love you." She popped Alexis on the end of her nose with a fingertip, causing her to giggle. "I love you too Mom."

"Sam, sweetie, I'll give you the phone tomorrow and you can call your parents. You've been a very good girl." Kate stroked Sam's hair and kissed her head again. "We'll try to be quiet when the dogs come inside," Kate added then picked up a soda can and a bottle of beer on her way outside only to come back for two glasses of wine.

"How's your stomach?" Kate asked as she handed Jenny a can of ginger ale that Rick had also gotten her. "Amazingly calm. I don't suppose it's the Wyoming air?" Jenny questioned, smiling, only half serious. "Well, it's not filled with car exhaust," Rick pointed out. "Plus you can see the stars," he remarked as he looked up getting everyone else to do the same. "I can see the appeal of living out here but I doubt I could find my job out here," Jenny said.

"My mother gave up being a lawyer and she loved it. She always said that helping people gave her purpose. Now she cooks for hundreds a day," Kate declared.

"Newcastle isn't big enough for me. I prefer working on dead people. How far is it to the biggest town?" Lanie wondered aloud. "Casper is about 2-1/2 hours while Cheyenne is about 3-1/2 hours, Billings is about 4-1/2 hours and Denver is about 5 hours," Rick answered her question. "And how do you know that?" Jenny was impressed. "I've done a fair amount of research to see what's close for camping trips like this one." He thought it was a simple enough explanation.

"How about populations?" Lanie challenged him. "Casper is 49,000 plus; Cheyenne is 62,000 plus; Billings is 166,000 plus while Denver is 663,000 plus," he smiled after he finished.

"Casper is big enough to need an ME," Kate pointed out. "I've hired all the deputies I need but I'm sure Casper could use a couple of homicide detectives." Kate was smiling. Could this actually work?

That got Rick up and into his trailer then back out with his laptop. "What are you doing babe?" Kate asked him and paid no attention to Lanie who repeated the word "babe," only as a question. "This place has free Wi-Fi," he replied and began looking.

"Casper - Approximately 80 sworn officers from the ranks of Patrolman to Captain serve in the operations division working around the clock in the Patrol, Traffic, Investigations, and the Problem Oriented Response Team sections."

"The Intelligence Officer gathers and distributes information about habitual criminals, gang members, and others who are involved in criminal activity."

"The Operations Support Team is made up of Detectives who focus on crime analysis, intelligence gathering, proactive and multi jurisdiction investigation support."

"It says you can apply on-line though the site only talks about new rookie officers, not ones who are already detectives in another city," he read.

To Kate that said they may not have any openings for a homicide detective, and even then they may only have one with only 80 officers compared to over 300 thousand in New York. She was a little dejected, still it was a pipe dream. Unless a certain someone called them. "What about Cheyenne? How big are they?" she asked since it was only an hour farther away.

"Cheyenne Police Department." He shook his head. "Their website doesn't say but it's probably more than 80 with 13,000 or so extra people."

Still it didn't deter Kate as she got up and went into the trailer to make a phone call.

"You've already stolen LT from me, now you want my two best homicide detectives? Do they even know about this?" Roy asked her. "No sir. …Please sir, just a quick phone call from you could tell me if this is even a possibility. I'll leave it up to Kevin and Espo if they even want to consider this after you find out sir. …Please." Kate knew what she was asking. She was stripping her old office of three of its best homicide detectives if she included herself.

Roy moaned. He'd been having such a good day, too. And here he thought it was going to get even better by having Kate call him out of the blue again. "I'll call them," Roy relented. "Thank you sir!" She was almost jumping up and down. "But only after Ryan or Esposito ask me to and if both want to move out there," Roy said, adding a condition for his help.

Kate stopped dancing. He had just blown a pachyderm-sized hole in her plans. Trying to find out if this was even possible was one thing but asking Kevin and Espo to ask Roy was another. "I suppose you want me to lose Dr. Parish also," he asked after she was silent too long. "Now that you mention it sir..." She bit her lower lip and started praying. She listened to Roy moan again. Kate knew she was asking for a lot. "The same condition applies to her as well. And you owe me Beckett, you owe me big," he warned her there would be a price and one day he was going to cash it in.

"And I'll gladly pay it sir. Thank you!" She went back to hopping up and down. Then she ran outside with the phone and handed it to Lanie. "Call Roy and tell him you want him to call Cheyenne, that you are thinking about relocating there," Kate told her. "And then hand it to Jenny so she can call Kevin."

"What have you done girlfriend?" Lanie took the phone but questioned her. "I got Montgomery to use his influence and maybe find the three of you a job in Cheyenne, Wyoming," she offered shyly, considering she had done this without their input. "What makes you think I want to move?" Lanie countered. "Because you've run out of single men in New York City and after Espo moves out here you won't have a choice. And don't you even dare tell me you and Espo aren't back together because I know different." Kate used the information Rick had given her. Lanie quickly did a review of how Kate could possibly know when her eyes fell on Rick and started throwing daggers at him.

"Just because you rejected all the single guys I set you up with doesn't mean I've run out of men," Lanie argued. Kate turned to look at Rick. "Don't even think about it," Kate threatened him. He looked around Kate and mouthed, 'we'll talk later,' to Lanie. "Don't even think about it." Kate could read his lips and directed her threat at Lanie. Still he mouthed, 'we'll talk.'

"Please just call him. You're still one of my best friends and if you don't move, we'll see each other how often? Once a year during Christmas? Or for a birthday? Call him Lanie, please. Jenny's next." Kate shoved the phone into her hand forcing Lanie to take it. Kate was actually astonished, her heart soaring, as Lanie walked off with the phone at her ear. She was gone longer than Kate thought it should take, yet when she came back she handed the phone to Jenny then sat down and said nothing.

Now it was Jenny's turn to walk off, only she wasn't calling Roy. Jenny was calling her husband with Kate's crazy scheme. Jenny took just as long as Lanie had. "Okay, he'll call him but he has a condition. We all come or we don't come at all," Jenny told them. That had Kate even more worried over her crazy idea. A minimum of 3 jobs if not 4. All during a time when the economy was on a downturn and hiring was slowing. Good thing she loved a challenge. "Deal," she told Jenny. "What about Espo?" Kate questioned. "Kevin said he would talk with him about your…idea." Jenny was sure Kate was grasping at straws. Still if this worked they would all be at least close together again and she knew what that meant to Kevin.

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The next day was a walk around the base of the Tower itself. "It's really tall," Alexis pointed out as she looked up. After their walk they went into the Visitor Center. The building itself looked like a log cabin out of the Wild West. It had information screens and a shop. "Dad!" Alexis had found something and she was grinning at him as she pointed.

Over 20 tribes have a cultural affiliation with Devils Tower. Many tribes have stories about how the Tower was created. Most of the stories talk about a bear using its claws to score the Tower's sides.

"Well, I'll be..." He didn't know that. 'Think it's true?' he asked Kate who was now reading it. He had his theories but he wanted to hear hers. 'A bear that size simply isn't possible,' she stated. 'Neither is a real live dragon,' he countered. He was quite pleased to have found a book that talked about it and he bought it to read later. If there was even an ounce of truth in the stories he was going to find it if he had to read the book a hundred times.

Next was the Junior Park Ranger Program that lasted an hour. Junior Park Ranger certificates and badges were distributed upon completion. Rick bought the girls patches that could be sewn into the sleeve of a jacket or coat. Both Alexis and Samantha were positively beaming, very happy with themselves.

The rest of the day was spent enjoying their campsite and playing with Midas and Maggie.

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Rick and Kate volunteered to sleep in the motorhome, while Lanie, Jenny, Alexis and Sam slept in the trailer. This setup allowed Rick and Kate to be alone all night long. Come morning Jenny once again got a preview of what having children would be like since it was up to her to get Alexis and Sam out of bed, into the shower, brush their teeth and get dressed.

Jenny sat outside eating her crackers, dry cereal, and pretzels followed by watermelon and a Popsicle, all of which stayed down.

They walked over to the Prairie Dog Town to watch the prairie dogs popping out of their holes and scurrying across the ground before having lunch followed by driving home. Kate had work in the morning. That same morning Rick and Alexis would take Lanie and Jenny to Rapid City where they'd catch their flight home.

After they arrived home from camping, Alexis and Sam were out back playing on the play set with Midas and Maggie running around them barking, wanting in on the action.

Rick was in the kitchen working on dinner before Sam's parents showed up leaving Kate with Jenny and Lanie in the living room.

"I may have been wrong about your Rick." Lanie looked anywhere but at Kate. "Say that again, please," Kate asked not sure she heard correctly. Lanie turned to look at her. "That man truly loves you."

"And I love him too, Lanie, more than I ever thought I was possible of doing. I was happy, or at least I thought I was, and then Dad died." Kate still felt that pain and feared she always would. "Mom was killing herself grieving for him. I talked her into going to Yellowstone for a vacation. It turned out it was a place she and Dad had never been to but had wanted to visit. It was enough to get her to come."

"While we were there Mom started living again though she was tired a lot. When we came home she began deteriorating once more and I truly feared that I had lost her. It was then that I made a decision. She had come alive outside of New York and it took a trip to Wyoming to get her to live anew," Kate said, trying to justify her rationale.

"But Newcastle of all places?" Lanie questioned. "I thought that if being in a big city made Mom sad then we needed a small city. Since Wyoming worked before maybe it would work again. I looked at a lot of houses spread out all over until I found two or three that I thought would work for us."

"After flying out to visit them I settled on the one across the way. It was Rick who got Oscar to come out, though it pissed Mom off a lot that he had interfered and made decisions for her. Still Oscar has worked out great in giving her back to me. I love Rick for a lot of things and that's just one of them," Kate explained.

"Plus he's a great father," Jenny remarked having watched him with Alexis and Sam. "There is that," Kate said as she smiled and nodded in agreement. And maybe in a few months he would get to prove it to her with their own child.