Til We Meet Again (13 page)

“Was it Grace?” Katie asked.

“Yes, it was and she reassured me of our life together and our marriage but she warned me that I
had
to tell you something to save our baby,” he said.

“What is it?  I’ll do anything to not lose this baby,” she asked.

“You are not to tell your mother this weekend,” Dean told her.

“But why not?”

Dean gave her a squeeze.  “She’s not ready to hear it.  She’ll get really upset and then you will and it will harm the baby,” he told her.

“Oh God Dean, what if I hadn’t known?  I would have lost our baby,” she said getting upset.

“Katie, it’s okay to be upset but I think one thing we have to remember is that Grace is really keeping a close eye on us, through you of all things if you can get your mind around that, and I don’t think she’ll ever let anything bad happen if she can help it,” Dean reassured her.  “I would suggest that you not say anything to your mom about the dreams either,” he advised. 

“I figured that out earlier,” she replied.

Dean squeezed her breast then and she moaned with pleasure.  There was nothing further said about Grace as they began speaking only with their hands and their bodies.  Soon they had shed their nightclothes and Dean was inside her from behind her.  “Oh Katie, I want to stay here forever.” 

They stayed that way for quite some time, feeling each other, touching, kissing and even caressing one another.  When Katie went to call out, Dean shushed her with a kiss reminding her that her parents were in the next room. 

They held each other and talked quietly in the dark before they drifted off to sleep.

Chapter 12

The next morning the sun shone brightly through a crack in the curtains and again Katie woke not feeling well. 
Oh God, please don’t let me feel this way while my parents are here, especially if I’m not supposed to tell her,
she thought as she groaned and rolled over.  She wasn’t sure if she was praying to God or to Grace.

“What’s wrong?” Dean asked rolling over to kiss her cheek, a little concerned.

“I don’t feel well again this morning,” she told him.  “I’m not sure I’ll make it to work this morning but I don’t want my parents to know.”

“Why don’t you come to work with me anyway, you can hang out in the office on the couch and maybe you’ll feel better later,” he suggested.

“What will my parents do?”

“Ask them if they have plans for the day.  Maybe they’ll want to go shopping or something,” he said.  “Will you at least think about it?”

Katie nodded and laughed.  “Only if you bring me a cup of tea and I’ll see how I feel after that,” she replied.

“It’s a deal,” he said.  He grabbed his robe and left the room to go to the kitchen.  He was surprised to find Katie’s parents already there having some coffee.  “Good morning,” he greeted them.

“Oh, good morning Dean,” Maggie said unpleasantly.  “Where’s Katie?”

“She’s just taking an extra few minutes in bed, she likes to be lazy on Saturday mornings.  I’m just going to take a cup of tea up to her,” he said.  It wasn’t all a lie at least.

“Well tell her we’re waiting for her.  We want to go do some shopping this morning while the two of you are at work and we want to know the best places to go.”

“Okay, sure, I’ll let her know that and she’ll be down just as soon as she can be,” he said as he went about making himself some breakfast and pouring Katie’s tea.  He gathered it all onto a tray and carried it upstairs to the bedroom where he let out a sigh.  “Your parents think you’re working this morning anyway but they want to know where the best places to shop might be since that’s what they’d like to do.”

Katie let out a sigh of her own.  “They’re up already?” she asked.

“Yeah, ran into them in the kitchen.  I don’t think they’re ready to go anywhere though, must be waiting for us to clear out before they shower and dress,” Dean replied.

“More than likely.  That much is nice of them.”             

“Your mother didn’t seem too pleased that you were being ‘lazy’ this morning.”

“Argh,” Katie cried and covered her face with a pillow.

“I thought you always got along with your parents?” Dean asked her as she set the pillow aside and took a few sips of her tea.

“I always
did
.  I know they didn’t want me to move, I was their little girl and I chose to move ‘away’,” she said making exaggerated quotations in the air with her fingers.  “I think they’re just a little bitter.”

“I’d say.  From everything you had told me, I was expecting this warm, welcoming family of yours.”

“Don’t worry, when my brothers get here, you’ll find welcoming,” she said.

“Phew, I was starting to get worried there for a minute,” he replied.

Katie drank her tea while Dean showered and almost choked on it when her mother poked her head into the door.  “Morning sweetie, thought I’d have seen you downstairs by now,” Maggie said.

“I know, Dean brought me my tea and we were just talking about work stuff, like how we have to work the long weekend because a lot of the staff want it off,” Katie lied. 

“I see, well, we wanted to know where all the good places are to shop.  That’s where your father and I are going to head off to after you two leave.”

“I know, Dean told me that and I’d be glad to lead you in the right direction,” Katie said. 
It would be my pleasure to send you back home,
she thought.

“Thanks sweetie, you get showered and dressed or you’ll be late for work and then you can give us those directions too dear,” Maggie said and ducked back out the door.

“Ahh,” Katie groaned.

“Hey, what’s wrong?” Dean asked as he came into the room wrapped in a towel.

“My mother, but forget her and shut the door,” she said.

“Obviously you’re feeling better, tea help?” he asked.

“Yeah, it did and a shower might help a little too,” she said.

“It’s all yours,” he told her. 

Katie got out of bed slowly as she was still feeling a little lightheaded and slipped into her robe before crossing the hall for a shower while Dean stayed behind and dressed before going back downstairs. 

It wasn’t long after when Katie went downstairs and met her parents in the kitchen where she gave them directions to several of the great shopping places and then left with Dean for the library.  She was feeling a little better after the tea and the shower had helped tremendously, but the thought of her parents being there for the weekend was enough to make her feel unwell so she didn’t know whether it was morning sickness or just nerves that was causing this bout of illness.

They worked side by side for the day as Dean had been able to round up enough staff to cover the sign-out desk.  The returns would have to wait until Tuesday when the library would re-open after the holiday.

With the lack of traffic coming in, Dean was glad he had shortened the Saturday hours. 

“Why is it so quiet today?” Katie asked.

“Well, unlike the city, probably most of the people who live around here have
left
for the weekend to spend elsewhere with their families, plus, anyone that
is
here for the weekend is probably from out of town and don’t need our services,” Dean explained.

Katie nodded slowly in understanding and they continued working.

It didn’t take long for the day to end and they sent everyone home and went back to Dean’s office where he pulled her into her arms. 

“I guess I get to take you home now and share you once more with your family,” he said.

“Yeah, too bad because it would be nice if you could take me home, help me get out of these clothes and maybe help me with having a nice, long, hot soak in the tub or something like that,” Katie teased.

“Hmmm, when do your parents leave?” he asked as he nibbled on her neck.

“Not for another two whole days,” she said pretending to whine.  “Oh, right there,” she whispered.  “That’s a really good spot.”

They locked up the library and walked hand-in-hand to the car.  Dean held the door for her and they carried on teasing each other on their way back to the house.  Katie noticed right away that her parent’s car wasn’t in the driveway and almost leaped out of the car.

“Just where are you going?” Dean asked.

“Inside.  My parents aren’t back yet,” she told him feeling like she was pointing out the obvious.  “Hurry up.”

Dean hurried to follow and they locked the door behind them and hurried up the stairs.  Katie turned on the water to fill the tub and they went to the bedroom and undressed each other.  Not long after they slid into the hot water and ran their soapy hands all over each other.  They kissed and held each other close just satisfied being with each other. 

When they’d soaked long enough and the water was getting cool, they went to the bedroom where they finished what they’d started at the library.

“Will we ever get enough of each other?” Dean asked.

“I certainly hope not,” Katie replied.  “It will be harder with a baby here but I really hope we can keep it up.”

“Oh, I don’t think I’ll have a problem with that,” Dean teased.

Katie gave him a playful swat.  “I think we should think about making something for dinner before my parents get home and find us here.  Didn’t stop mom this morning from poking her head in here, she must think you slept in the other guest room.”

“Where are your brothers staying?” Dean asked.

“Oh, they booked rooms at the hotel.   They knew I didn’t have the space and they want some time to themselves with their wives.”

“Gee, do you think we could go and join them?” he asked.

“I’m thinking we should have let my parents stay there too,” Katie replied.

“That would have been even better. In fact, we could have let them all stay here and we could have stayed at my place.”

Katie raised her eyebrows. “Why didn’t I think of that?” she said.

“You were just too stressed out about this weekend and dinner,” Dean answered.

“That reminds me, we need to get the turkey out of the freezer tonight or it’ll never be thawed out for tomorrow morning.  I totally forgot.”

They got up, slowly dressed and went downstairs to find the turkey was already sitting in the sink and there was a note from her mom that they had been home, got the turkey out of the freezer and said they were going to dinner at the restaurant Katie had talked about for the reception and then they were going to see a movie.  They indicated they would be late and not to wait up for them.

“I won’t be waiting up for them,” Dean said.  “I’ll be
up
to something else though,” he said.

Katie rolled her eyes at him.  “We’ll never get enough,” she said again. 

“No, we won’t but I’m famished so let’s make some supper,” Dean said.

They decided to make spaghetti, something simple and quick, and after they ate they went for a walk around the neighbourhood.

“How about I build a fire and we watch a movie? Dean suggested.

“I’d love that,” she replied and when they returned to the house Katie chose the movie while Dean built the fire.

It wasn’t until she opened her eyes and saw that the movie was almost over that Katie realized she had fallen asleep.

“Have a good sleep angel?” Dean asked.

Katie smiled at him.  “Didn’t realize I was that tired,” she said.

Dean smiled.  “I think you’ve got a lot more on your plate than you’re admitting. Now let’s get you to bed and you can get a good night’s sleep since we have a busy day ahead of us,” Dean suggested.

“My brothers never showed up here today did they?” she pointed out.

“Maybe they did and they’re out with your parents,” Dean suggested.

“Yeah, probably all sitting around the dinner table condemning our choice of venue for our wedding reception,” Katie said with a little more sarcasm than she’d intended.

“Hey, let’s not jump to conclusions.  Your parents seem sensible, they may love it,” Dean said.  “Now can we forget all this and go to bed.”  He reached under her and pinched her fanny making her jump off the couch. 

They turned out the lights and retired to bed.  Dean didn’t do anything more than wrap her into his arms and they fell asleep.