Kiss Me Cate Pt. 04

I hope you enjoy reading this as much as I did writing it.

I've had a long standing love of Irish lasses. Their eyes, complexion, smiles have always warmed my heart, and a few have broken it.

Constructive criticism as always is welcome in the comments, others will be dealt with in the usual manner.

***

Things had worked out surprisingly well, with the help of a lawyer Cate had dealt with Chad's attack letting them plead down to second degree assault instead of sexual assault for our silence on the attack. I wasn't happy about it considering there was video of him admitting his intentions. He was still going to do time though and that's what I was concerned about. There was no reason he should be allowed to buy his way out of it like he had in the past. I bowed out of Catelyn's class which didn't make her happy, but it was only a few more weeks. I continued to assist her with grading but not as her teaching assistant, and would register for other classes for the spring to cover the credits I lost.

Cate had moved in more or less. She kept her apartment only because dropping the lease would end up costing her more. She wouldn't allow me to buy it out for her, and was very adamant about paying her own way no matter what I said. I offered to get her a small car but she declined stating she would get her own car in her own time. I secretly believed she would rather ride with me than drive herself to school. I didn't mind, I preferred it too.

"I straightened out the tickets, we leave the day after Christmas and come back on the eleventh." Cate snuck up behind me and reached around and stole a toast off the plate I was making for her.

"Mmm, I'm not sure if it's maple syrup or peanut butter that was America's true gift to the world." I turned and she kissed me.

"Both are equally as sweet, but that could just be your lips."

"Flattery will get you everywhere."

"I hope so." I said wiggling my eyebrows at her.

"You know that amount of time in a hotel is going to cost a fortune." She gave me her concerned look any time we brought up money. She knew I could afford it, but still hated to see me spend a dime of it on anything concerning her. I chuckled because she was like an anti-girlfriend. Not at all what one might expect when finding out her boyfriend is a millionaire.

"I looked into a long stay place, one of those sublet, rent your home while you're away sort of things, cheaper than a hotel. I can buy a loaf of bread and I have thee." I paused. "When we get away from the clutches of your family."

"Already regretting the decision to come?" She said around a mouthful of toast.

"Not in the least. I get to watch you with my family first, I'll have some idea of the introduction jitters by watching you."

"You keep saying they're going to love me, then you make it sound like I've volunteered for the Spanish Inquisition. Which is it?" She asked wide eyed.

"Nobody expects the Spanish Inquisition! I'm teasing, they are going to love you. My mother nearly exploded when I told her I was bringing you home for Christmas."

Cate laughed. "Is your mum a clinger?"

"She might be with you. I can't say as I'd blame her though."

"What's your dad like? You don't talk about him as much."

"There's not much to talk about. He's a quiet guy, he lets my mom do the talking most of the time since arguing isn't only her nature but her job." I grinned, popping half a strawberry into my mouth, and offered the other half to Cate. She chomped down on it smiling.

"Does he have any hobbies or does she keep him on a short leash."

I laughed. "He's tried golf and will go occasionally with work buddies but I wouldn't call it a passion like a lot of people find it. We did use to love to fish. There is a good bit of it around here away from the city."

Cate let out a soft hum of acknowledgement. "Good to know." She smiled. "What else?"

I shrugged. "Mom said he's trying his hand at painting. I hear he planted twigs, as Mom called it last fall. He was never much of a gardener but that surprised her."

Cate turned and sat at the table and I set down the plate with the remainder of breakfast, peanut butter toast around a huge bowl of fruit and a cup of yogurt.

"A little different than the first breakfast you made for me." She smiled plucking a piece of melon off the top.

"Well yes, but I was trying harder to impress you then. What was it, three whole weeks ago?"

"Four I think." She said around a grape. "How long did you search for Irish breakfast ideas online?" She added laughing.

"Less time than I spent shopping for the ingredients." I grinned. I set my plate down and sat with her. "The healthiest thing on the plate was the grilled tomato and mushrooms."

She laughed. "We don't eat like that every day trust me. This is a more likely a breakfast, or at this time of the year a big bowl of oatmeal with a splash of cream and a sprinkle of cinnamon sugar. Just the thing on a cold morning."

I nibbled on my toast and thought for a moment. "You're homesick."

She sighed and sipped her coffee. "I didn't think I was until the chance to go home came up. Now all I can think about is the things I miss about it." She was quiet a bit longer. "It's not that I'm not happy here, it's that it takes a bit of getting used to. Do you know what I mean?"

I nodded. "I think the least amount of culture shock you could get would have been moving to Canada. At least we speak the same language. All the people you know and love are in Ireland."

"Almost all." She said smiling and rubbed the calf of my leg with her foot.

I smiled. "Almost all. You know the environment, the way people are and will or should act. This place must seem like the wild west to you."

"That's an exaggeration. I agree that it's not my normal environment, and at times I stand still like a frightened kitten looking around wondering what the hell I was thinking. It's not nearly as bad here as it was in the city."

"That's why I like it here. If you feel like it you can immerse yourself in the city, and when you don't, you can drive out to the woods and water and commune with nature."

"Exactly, I've wondered over the past few months if I could have survived that big city lifestyle."

"Survived? I'm sure you would have survived, but would you have been happy. That's the real question." I eyed the last piece of toast on her plate, raising an eyebrow. She smiled and turned it so I could reach it. "Did you want anything else?"

"No, I'm good thanks."

"What to do on a Saturday in December." I mused.

"Well since I have a still have a job, I imagine I should catch up on the stuff I missed this week."

I shook my head in the negative. "No. You've got ten days until the holiday break and there isn't anything you can't catch up with on Monday. Try again."

She bit her lip nervously. "I guess I should get started on my Christmas shopping." She sighed.

"Now you're thinking."

"We are not going crazy!" She said pointing a stern finger at me.

"You're not the only one who's been thinking. I'm not so dense as to realize why you've been playing twenty questions with me about my family." I laughed. "I was thinking of an American delicacies basket for your folks."

"A box full of junk food?" She laughed. "Da would like that, Mum would not."

"Not junk food, American food. A bottle of real maple syrup for starters, maybe a nice bottle of bourbon for Dad, some Hawaiian coffee, that sort of thing."

"That's an excellent idea, and don't think for a minute that Mum won't tipple the bourbon." She said smiling.

We spent the day battling crowds and filling in our mental lists. We'd made one trip to the car already putting bags in the trunk and heading back inside.

"You know who I have no idea what to get for Christmas, is you." She said.

As we approached the doors of the mall I thought about it, and realized there was nothing more that I wanted in this world than her. It must have been fate because the song came on over the public address system as we entered the doors again and I laughed.

I sang along. "All I want for Christmas is you." I kissed her behind the ear bringing about a big smile.

"Yes, but unwrapping me on Christmas morning might be a little awkward with the family looking on." We both began laughing.

"I'm game if you are." I mirrored her smile. She decided we needed to split up for a bit and go our separate ways. I didn't like the idea much but she wanted a little time to search on her own for a few things. We agreed to meet back at the food court later. I walked along peeking in windows and gathering and tossing out ideas. I smiled at the window of a lingerie store and went inside. I walked around and rejected multiple ideas. I went around a corner and found a rack of silk and satin nightshirts and smiled.

A short while later I passed a jeweler and stopped. In the window was a display of blue stones. I stared for a few moments, all I could see was her eyes, how they crinkled at the corners when she smiled, how they sparkled in the sunlight and how they changed subtly with her mood getting gray when she was sad, and bright like a spring day when she was happy. I wanted to see those eyes every day for the rest of my life.

She had found a table amazingly enough in this crowd and there were two coffee cups in front of her. Beneath the table looped over her bent knee was one of the generic mall shopping bags no doubt purchased to hide the source of the contents. I laughed because I had one dangling from my hand as well.

"I've only been gone a short while and you've already left me for someone else?" I said frowning.

She rolled her eyes at me, something I caused her to do often. "It's hot chocolate, sit down a moment. It's probably cooled enough to drink now."

"Sorry, I got tied up in line."

"I'd guessed as much. Find what you were looking for?" She grinned.

"I found one thing I was looking for, and one I wasn't." I sat, opened the top of the cup and tested the heat.

"How's your list coming along then?"

"I'm done, other than stopping buy the liquor store and picking up a few bottles."

"That's quick, did you already have a lot done?"

"No, we just keep it small in my family. A few years ago my parents said they didn't want anything, and we got into a argument, well more of a debate, and they shared something that I've come to agree with, that it's not the presents under the tree that matter, it's the people around it."

"I like that." Cate was grinning ear to ear. She reached out and took my hand.

"I think that will all change as soon as there are grandkids though." I added laughing.

"Are things getting serious with Jimmy and his girl then?"

I nodded. "Mom thinks there may be a diamond under the tree this year, but she's not entirely sure."

"Pamela, right?"

"Yes. What she sees in him I don't know." I laughed.

"Well if he's even a mere shadow of you, I can entirely see what she sees in him."

"Me? I'm not special."

"I hardly agree. You're special in every way." She swallowed visibly. "You've done nothing but show me since we met."

"Hey." I whispered and gripped her hand. "What's wrong?"

She laughed, her eyes welling up. "Nothing, absolutely nothing Dylan. Haven't you ever seen a incredibly happy woman before?"

"Well it's tough to figure them out, they cry when they're sad, they cry when they're mad, they cry when they're happy. It's not the best indicator to go by." I said lifting her hand and giving her a quick peck.

"It's not the tears you look at, it's the mouth, make her smile if she's sad, or steer clear if she's angry. She might bite. If she's happy, just keep doing what you're doing." She said laughing. She dabbed her eyes with the napkin.

"Well then." I stood, not letting go of her hand and came around the table and kissed her deeply. A couple people clapped and a few made rude noises. I looked down and saw a big grin and pink cheeks. "What if she's smiling?"

"Keep kissing her."

I obliged.

We stopped and picked up take-out for dinner and went back home. As soon as we were finished, she kissed me as I cleaned up and she bolted for the bedroom and closed the door.

"Was it something I said?"

"No, just don't come in, you'll spoil the surprise!"

"Ooh, I like surprises." I called back.

"I hope so, but you don't get this one for a few weeks."

"Awww!" I said through the door. I heard the rustling of bags and wrapping paper. "Take it easy in there, don't cut up the bedspread."

"Yes dear!"

We spent Sunday morning at a local diner laughing over stories of our favorite Christmas gifts from the past then spent the afternoon at home watching old movies. I stopped her from trying to work a few times, and gave up around dinner time. She went through a mountain of emails.

She sighed. "Tomorrow is going to be rough. People are sure to notice you're not there. I'm sure there will be loose lips with regards as to why Chad isn't there."

"You don't have to explain anything to them. Just let whatever official statement the office gave for his absence stand. You're the faculty, you don't answer to the students for the administrations actions. As for me, if anyone asks, tell them to contact me, I'll just say I'm pursuing outside interests for now. A few of them new I developed applications. I don't think Chad had any friends in class anyway. He was more of a jock in a nerds world." I had convinced Cate to set her emergency dial number to me so she could one button dial me quickly if she ran into trouble again. If anyone laid a hand on her in threat again I wouldn't likely stop at detaining them like I did with Chad.

The next morning she tried to convince me that I didn't need to drop her off at the front door now that Chad was in jail. I just smiled and brought her to the front door. I did complete my other class, since I was only taking the two this semester it should be pretty easy. I went over to the library afterward and waited for Cate to finish up her day. She texted me that she'd been asked to stop by Dr. Howe's office after her class.

She came down the steps and climbed into the car.

"What happened?"

"Hello to you too." She leaned over and kissed me.

"Sorry." I said putting the car in gear as she tugged on her seatbelt.

"Nothing really, he wanted to apologize for the entire affair as if he and the rest of the faculty had anything to do with it." I didn't even have to see her face to see the eye roll in my mind. "He also said that they may have an opening upcoming for an assistant professorship pending the defense of my thesis."

"Nice! Do you think it's some sort of reparation for what happened?"

"I'm not sure, but I don't think so. He's been good to me, very professional and encouraging since I arrived. I believe he's sincere about helping me succeed."

"I like him even more now. I think he had a hand in making the call to keep you on if I was willing to bow out of your class."

"You've just made more work for yourself next semester."

"I know, but if you get the job you're going to be teaching more than two classes a day. On top of you defending your thesis, I think you're going to be more busy than I am."

"Does this mean the honeymoon is over?" She quipped, squeezing my hand.

"Hardly. Though there may be more nights with us hanging like vultures over our respective keyboards."

"As long as I can reach over and do this occasionally I'll be happy." She said running her hand up behind my ear through my hair letting it fall between her fingertips and sliding down to the nape of my neck making me shiver.

"I can deal with that." I said smiling. "You may have to submit to daily back and shoulder rubs."

"Oh, the horror."

"Keep it up and I may start in on you tonight young lady."

"If you do, wait until after dinner, I don't want to pass out and land face down in my plate." She said with a heavy sigh. "I still want to go over what was turned in last week."

We stopped to pick up a few groceries and I ended up making dinner for us while she dove into work. I set dinner out and went over and reached over the back of the sofa and rubbed her shoulders. She moaned softly and tilted her head back.

"Come on, you need to eat something."

"Why are you so terrific." She said smiling. "I'm still waiting for something horrid to happen like finding out you're a criminal on the run or something."

I leaned down and kissed her nose. "Nope, I couldn't be cleaner if I were an altar boy. Well there was that jaywalking incident, they still haven't caught up with me for that one. They never will either, I've changed my name three times and wiped out my past." I said with an evil grin. "Come on before it gets cold."

"Heavens, you did all this while I was working?"

"All this, mostly it was chop and drop. There's nothing difficult in that." I said with a laugh.

"You're not the typical college student. I believe they subsist on pizza, ramen and beer."

"Good idea, I'll grab us a couple of beers. How are you doing? Are you nearly done for the night?"

"I just need to answer one more email. I didn't realize just how much help you were until I had to do everything myself." She said just before a wide yawn she just barely covered.

"I can still help, it's you who said that you didn't want help. I believe it was some worry that the administration would look unfavorably on that considering the circumstances."

"I do need to learn how to handle it on my own. I don't know how these kids do it, it's as if they spend more energy trying to avoid doing their work than they would if they just did it in the first place."

"Finish it up and I'll draw you a bath."

Her eyes widened. "Why? You don't need to do that."

"I don't need to, you're right. I want to." I got up kissed her and cleared the plates. I came back a few minutes later for the rest and she was still staring at me. "What?"

"I just can't believe you're real sometimes."

"Need another pinch to prove you're not dreaming?" I smiled.

She reached up and grabbed my ass and gave it a squeeze. "Nope, I can tell by this."

"I don't think that's how you check to see if you're dreaming."

"I prefer my method, it doesn't leave me black and blue."

"Your method is going to end up with unwashed dishes and incomplete emails."

"You're so easily corrupted."

"I don't think you realize the level of distraction you provide." I said as she let her hand slide down the back of my leg.

She stood and tossed back the last of her beer. "You're rather distracting yourself." She kissed me and picked up the rest of the table and followed me into the kitchen. Once cleaned up she kissed me and thanked me for dinner and padded back to the couch and her laptop. I watched her from the kitchen for a moment as she stretched her neck tilting her head to and fro to loosen up before leaning back into it. I finished up the dishes and went and drew her bath.

"Save or send." I said from the doorway. "If you don't I'm coming for you."

"I'm coming!" She said exasperated.

"Wow, I'm good, I'm not even in the same room."

She giggled at that and I heard her walking towards the bedroom, she sashayed into the bath naked as the day she was born. I watched her at the mirror as she brushed her hair out and piled it on her head with a clip. She padded past me with only a sly look and dipped a toe into the water to test it before climbing in.

"I don't know what I did to deserve you, but I'd do it all over again in a heartbeat." She said grinning up at me. She made a humming in the back of her throat as she settled into the hot water. I just smiled and went out to the bedroom and picked up the clothes she'd laid on the bed and took her flannel pajamas and her robe and brought them into the bath. "Seriously? You're making me feel guilty now."