Chapter Twenty-Two
Kate realized it was later than she thought when she finally left her mother's house and quickly made her way to Laura's. Letting herself through the back door, she was surprised not to find Laura sitting in the kitchen, waiting to find out what she's walked in on earlier. Truthfully, if Kate were totally honest, she would have had difficulty walking away if she'd caught Laura with an ex-lover in such a compromising position. She's purposefully tried to convey that she had no intentions toward Sara, but there was always a chance her actions had been misinterpreted.
The house was dark and quiet, but Kate knew where everything was so she didn't even turn the lights on as she made her way upstairs to Laura's bedroom. Half expecting to be locked out, Kate carefully opened the door. The bed light next to Laura's side of the bed was on, casting a soft light over the figure occupying the bed. For a moment, Kate thought that Laura was simply waiting for her to say something, but closer inspection showed that Laura was actually sleeping, lying on her back with a book open on her chest, reading glass still on her face.
In the silence of the moment, Kate paused reflecting on the woman in the bed, wondering just how she had gotten here. Less than a year ago she had been living in California, working at a job she loved and had sweated blood and tears for. She had been with a woman whom she had known had not been a partner, but merely someone to occupy space, looking beautiful while she had done it. But more than all of that, she had never pictured that she would be back in her hometown, completely and utterly in love with someone. Inside her chest, Kate felt a tightness caused by fear. If she examined the fear or looked at it too closely, she knew it would make her want to run away, far away, from this seemingly innocent individual who, without even asking, had the power to completely destroy her. It was more frightening to Kate than anything else she had ever faced. But starring at Laura, sleeping so soundly in the bed they'd been sharing for the past couple of months, Kate knew that no matter how scared she was, she would never allow herself to give up. She would never allow herself to turn away from this once in a lifetime opportunity.
Love was something that she'd heard about in songs, something she'd read about in books, or seen in movies. Love was always something that Kate was completely aware of if only because she knew she had never really felt it, not as an adult. She knew it was out there, but she also knew that not everyone got to experience that all consuming passion and emotion that really was a great love. Yet, here she was, having completely and blindly stumbled into it. Great love was not something that you ran away from or gave up. It was to be held tightly and cherished and revered because it was unique and extraordinary. She knew deep within her that her relationship with Laura was never going to be ordinary or simple. Kate's whole being had somehow become so completely intertwined with Laura that to try to pull themselves apart would break them both and cause excruciating pain.
With a silly smile on her face, Kate stripped off her clothing and crawled into bed, curving her body around Laura's. She put her arms around the other woman, ignoring the mews of sleepiness that came from Laura as Kate's embrace woke her. Kate wanted her to be awake, wanted her completely and totally aware as she had something of vital importance to say to her.
"Babe...babe...tired," Laura crooned, half-asleep.
"Laura," Kate said softly, and then repeated with more force. "Laura!"
"Wha' babe?" Laura's blue eyes slowly focused on Kate's face, trying to crane her neck even as the other woman held her tightly.
"Laura, I need to tell you something."
"'kay?"
"You're the one." Kate didn't know how else to express what she'd suddenly realized herself only moments earlier. There was a passing feeling of frustration as Kate wondered if Laura was going to realize the importance of what she was admitting, knowing that she wasn't sure if she could get the words out again.
Suddenly, Laura stopped struggling to move within Kate's arms and sighed softly. "I know," she replied. "You've been my one since I first saw you. I love you, Kate."
Because of her devotion and attention, Kate's website launched at the beginning of August, amid Caitlyn's preemptive protests about going back to school and Laura's quagmire of her newest book release.
"D o you go to book signings?" Kate asked over her shoulder as she typed a quick email of introduction to her website to various contacts she'd groomed over the years.
Laura laughed, shaking her head no. "It's not like I'm J.K. Rowling, or something."
"Who?" Kate asked, distracted as she typed.
A screech from the other room made both women look up at the figure who flew into the room and straight at Kate, coming to a skidding stop in front of her. "Are you kidding me?!" Caitlyn demanded, her mouth open wide in astonishment.
Kate looked from mother to daughter, confused at what was going on. Caitlyn, clearly seeing the confusion did a quick about face and zoomed up to her room, mumbling loudly "I cannot believe it! I just cannot believe it!"
"What is going on?" Kate mumbled to Laura from the side of her mouth, afraid to take her eyes from the stairs, knowing that Hurricane Caitlyn would be coming back momentarily.
"You have committed a faux pas, dear, and I'm afraid there really is no way out of it."
Sure enough, Caitlyn came bounding back down the stairs at a speed which was clearly not healthy for anyone. Once again her predestined trajectory brought her to a stop just in front of Kate. Holding up a book, Caitlyn waved in at her. "You've never heard of J.K. Rowling?"
"Um, no?" Kate wasn't even sure at this point what her answer should be.
"Have you heard of Harry Potter??"
"Sure, that witch kid in those mov-"
"He is a WIZARD, not a WITCH, and YOU are a muggle!" Caitlyn's smug tone served to irk Kate just a bit. She narrowed her eyes slightly as she starred at the girl. "J.K. Rowling wrote the Harry Potter books. How could you not know that?"
"Yeah, Kate, I thought you were like some computer nerd. How could you now know about Harry Potter? He's all over the internet and gaming world." Laura chimed in with a knowing smile. It wasn't often that she got to team up with Caitlyn against Kate, who was a very formable opponent. This time, mother and daughter had the other woman trapped.
Swiveling her seat, she turned her glare on Laura. "I haven't been a computer nerd in over a decade!" Kate put her nose in the air and sniffed loudly. "I am above such things now!"
It was Caitlyn's giggling that was everyone's undoing. Soon, they were all giggling in some form, even Kate who always felt that she WAS indeed above such things. Never had she ever seen this side of her own life. Never had she known just how reserved and ungiving she had been, even to herself.
Chapter Twenty-Three
The morning's temperature was well over 90 degrees before noon, the brutal sun glowing harsh in the humid air. Everything took on a wavering hazy look in the heat and there were reports that paved streets were buckling in various areas, adding to the distressing feel of the penetrating heat. People who could flocked to the malls, knowing that the large central air units there would be putting out more cool air than their own units at home. It was also the Saturday before the schools were to reopen and children everywhere were desperate for the last hours to play outside before being locked back up in classrooms.
Caitlyn was no different. Kate had gone and bought a special sprinkler so that Caitlyn and Jessica could be outside without killing their little brain cells too badly. Kate herself was inside, enjoying the air conditioning, not willing to sacrifice it to be outside in the sun. Laura was in the kitchen, puttering around as she took a break from her work.
When the doorbell rang, it interrupted a moment of blissful peace that both women were taking for granted, not aware of how quickly their lives could change.
"Got it!" Laura sang out as she went to answer the door.
"You definitely got it," Kate replied saucily as she watched the other woman sashay down the hallway.
Laura could feel the smile on her face fade when she opened the door. "Mr. Mackey," she stammered as she faced a man she'd often seen but never talked to. At least not since Todd had gone to prison.
"Hello Laura." James Mackey had always had a fondness for her, wishing only that his son had been man enough to love her as she deserved.
"Won't you come in?" Laura was flustered, but still retained her senses enough to be polite.
James shook his head slowly, "No, no...I just came over to tell you something. I've been putting it off, but you need to know." His hand came up as he unconsciously scratched as his chin, his eyes shifting away from Laura's. "Todd is getting out next week."
Laura felt immediately light headed, as though she were in a dream and only just realized it. She almost felt like she could see herself react, from a distance. Instantly she saw flashes of the last time she had seen Todd, followed by scenes of the night he had nearly killed her. Then she saw the face her of her daughter, the only good that had come out of the horrific experience. And she felt fear like she'd never felt before. Todd knew he had a daughter. There had been a couple of attempts to contact her until Laura had asked the prison to stop all contact to her house. That was probably why she hadn't known that he was going to be released. As all of this happened, she realized that James Mackey was still talking.
"...I am going to send him away, to relatives that live upstate near Greenbay. But he's going to be coming here first..."
His voice broke and Laura suddenly focused on the old man. James Mackey was a shell of a man, that was clear from looking at him. Everything about him had a gray tinge to it, from his hair to his skin, all of it seeming to just slowly fade away. As Laura looked at him, she saw his eyes filling up with tears and saw the effort it took to for him to try to keep them from falling. He realized that Laura's blue eyes were looking at him with a sadness that he too felt, a pain that they both shared.
"I am so sorry, Laura," now the tears fell over the lower rims of his eyes, trailing quickly down his wrinkled face. "For everything. I never told you, never said how sorry I was. I was so ashamed of him...of my boy, of what he did to you." He crumpled to the ground, falling onto the welcome mat before Laura could do anything to stop him.
"Mr. Mackey? Mr. Mackey???" The man moaned softly in response, his arm weakly clutching at his throat, his breath coming out in short, painful sounding rasps. "Kate! Kate, call 911!
With two cold water bottles in hand, Kate left the vending area of the hospital's emergency room and went straight back to where she'd left Laura talking to a woman with a clipboard. She noticed immediately that Laura looked tired and overwhelmed as the clipboard woman tried to get more information about James Mackey from her. Time for this foot to come down, Kate thought. Laura's smile when she saw her reassured her of her course of action.
"Here, drink this," Kate handed Laura a bottle and then took the seat beside her. An immediate air of control came over, and Kate looked the tired clipboard woman in the eyes. "We are not close to this man or his family, nor do we know the answer to any of the questions on that paper you're trying to fill out. I suggest that you call his store or call his neighbors. Call someone who will know more than we do because you are wasting time asking us." With an air of completion, Kate turned her attention to Laura, her lips forming a gentle smile. The clipboard lady sighed and then walked back to the font counter, obviously done with them.
"Thanks," Laura said, leaning into the taller woman, seeming to just taking strength from that contact. Taking a swig from the water bottle, Laura closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "I hope Caitlyn doesn't drive your mother crazy."
Kate snorted softly. "Not bloody likely. She did raise me, you know."
They shared a quiet laugh before sobering. "How are you holding up?" Kate's voice was warm with her concern but guarded because she didn't want to push at Laura or badger her with her protective nature.
"It's been a strange couple of hours," Laura said, this time her laugh was without humor. "Mr. Mackey came to tell me that Todd is being released."
Kate's brows came together in consternation. "When?"
"Next week, apparently."
Rarely was Kate ever at a loss for words, but in this moment she was really fighting her instinct, which was to immediately protect Laura and Caitlyn in any way she could. But she knew, she just knew that she had to let Laura decide for herself how much help she wanted from Kate and that if Kate mishandled the situation she could very well jeopardize something that had become vital to her own life.
"He's going to want to see Caitlyn," Laura whispered, as if too afraid to speak any louder, that somehow giving voice to her fear would make it a reality. That answered one question for Kate - Todd knew he had a child. "I have sole custody, of course, and with his record that's never going to change. I don't have to let him see her at all." As Laura opened her eyes and looked up at Kate, her fear was evident in every aspect of her face. "But is that fair to Caitlyn?" Tears fell and Kate wrapped her arms tightly around the other woman, practically lifting her into her lap in an effort to hold her closer.
As Laura sobbed, Kate felt utterly helpless, clearly out of her element and depth. She had never been a parent, had never really thought about being a parent, of putting someone else's needs always above her own. The time she had been spending with Caitlyn had made her only too aware of how much her life had lacked before. Having a child, a small person, looking to you for guidance, for love, for everything was not only an enormous pressure, but also a tremendous source of fulfillment. Kate now understood what someone people always knew, which was that a child was more than just an expression of love and commitment. The responsibility involved was more than just providing for that child and seeing that it had what it needed to survive.
Kate had never thought she would have an emotional response to a child, but Caitlyn had brought every emotion she had ever had to the surface and with it the fierce desire to make sure that no matter what, she would do everything to ensure that Caitlyn knew that she was loved and valued. As she sat there holding onto the woman she loved, she thought of Caitlyn and all the little things that came into play with that thought. She had a flash of how Caitlyn looked when she was sleeping, so completely innocent and vulnerable, yet safe in the knowledge that her mother would protect her and Kate knew that somewhere deep inside, her own maternal instinct had been awaken and that she would fight like a momma bear to protect that little girl. But she always knew that she was not the only one and she wondered if that what it felt like to raise a child with someone. To know that instinct to protect was shared with someone, and sharing that tremendous burden and that tremendous joy of raising a child.
Laura's tears had stopped, but she was still cuddled in Kate's arms. Kate didn't notice any of the other people in the waiting area, her only concern was Laura. She had so much to say to her, but none of the words were for that moment, so she stayed quiet, just holding the woman to her.
"Excuse me, are you here with James Mackey?" It was another woman in purple scrubs.
"We already told the other woman that we don't know his emergency contact information," Kate tried to keep her voice even as she fought not to lose her famous temper.
"I'm here because he's awake and he asked me to find a Ms. Laura Kingston, if she was here." The woman looked at the both quizzically. "Is one of you Ms. Kingston?"
"I am," Laura said, pulling slowly away from Kate. "Is he going to be okay?"
"We are doing tests now to determine whether or not he's had a heart attack or if there's another reason for his collapse. He's awake and stable for now and he'd like to see you."
Laura looked at Kate. "Will you wait for me?"
"Forever."
To Be Continued...