Work Text:
August
Four months since Abby’s death
“Katie, how on Earth did you nab him?” Claire, Kaitlyn’s sister, asked. The two of them stood on the dock at their parents’ home on Lake Pleasant, watching as Chris and their dad, John, attached the jet skis to the pontoon.
“I have no idea,” Kaitlyn told her, laughing as she faced her sister.
“Auntie Katie!” came a shriek before something small ran into the backs of her knees.
“Hey, love bug!” she greeted, scooping up her niece, Amelia, into her arms. “Are you excited to spend the day on the lake?”
“Yeah!” the little girl cheered, wiggling down out of Kaitlyn’s arms, and running back up the dock.
“Don’t run!” Claire called after her, Amelia looked over her shoulder sheepishly before slowing down to as brisk a power walk as her six-year-old legs could carry her. Claire’s eyes darted around quickly before turning back to her sister. “So, how’s the sex?” she asked softly enough for only Kaitlyn to hear.
“Claire!” Kaitlyn exclaimed, looking at her sister in astonishment. Claire gave her an innocent look with a shrug. Kaitlyn crossed her arms across her chest, looking back down at her dad and Chris, who were finishing up with the jet skis. John laughed at something Chris had said, the latter looking mighty pleased with himself. “Really, really amazing,” she conceded, a big smile spreading across her face.
“You two just going to stand there or are you going to help?” Bryan, Claire’s husband, called as he lugged a cooler and the charcoal grill down the dock toward the boat.
“I’m supervising,” Claire replied, turning to face her husband, hands on her hips.
“And you supervise so well,” Bryan told her, wrapping an arm around her waist and kissing her temple. “But, seriously, your mom is starting to freak out, go help her.”
“Fine,” Claire sighed dramatically and rolled her eyes. “Keep the munchkins out of the water for me?” she asked Kaitlyn.
“Sure thing,” Kaitlyn agreed, looking around for her nieces in the lawn away from the dock. “Where is Evie?”
“On the swings,” Claire called back as she walked back toward the house where their mom was putting together the food for the day.
Kaitlyn found both of her nieces over on the small swing set their dad had put together when Amelia was first born.
“Aunt Katie, look how high I’m going!” Amelia squealed as she arched high into the air on the swing.
“You’re practically flying!” Kaitlyn called back, shielding her eyes from the hot Arizona sun.
“I think your dad has finally forgiven my choice in football teams,” Chris told her, coming up behind her and wrapping an arm around her waist.
“Doubtful, but he does cut you some slack since you’re actually from Boston and not just a sheep,” she countered, wrapping her hand around his and removing it from where it rested on her hip just under the waistband of her jean shorts. “Children,” she scolded him playfully.
“You talk about my butt regularly in front of children,” he reminded her, placing a kiss to the crook of her neck. He wrapped his other arm around her waist, pulling her back against his chest, and resting his chin atop her head.
“First of all,” she began, waving a hand in the air, “it was one time, and it wasn’t in front of children, a child just happened to overhear.”
Four months later and her heart was just starting to constrict less painfully at the thought of Abby. Her unexpected relationship with Chris had turned a traumatic event into something more bittersweet. Doing what she did it was hard for her to believe in things like fate because she felt that she fought against it with each patient code she faced. However, it was hard for her to deny that Chris was brought into her life for a reason; Amanda and Claire agreed that he’s the only reason why she didn’t enter a downward spiral after Abby’s death.
“Second of all,” she continued, turning around to face him and wrapping her arms around his shoulders. “I would be the one to deal with the inevitable melt down of my sister when Amelia asks why your hands are on my ass.”
“Fair enough,” he laughed, holding her a bit tighter, and pressing a quick kiss to her lips, consequences regarding curious six-year-olds be damned. He looked up at the sound of the front door opening; Claire and her mom, Ruth, exiting the house hauling a large cooler between the two of them.
“Help Katie with the girls,” Claire called, waving him off when he moved to go help them.
Chris turned back to Amelia and Evie, a huge smile on his face. “Who’s ready to have some fun?” he called out, clapping his hands together.
“Me! Me!” Evie shrieked, toddling toward them from the swings. Kaitlyn bent down to scoop her up, but she pushed her away. “Chris carry me!” she declared.
Kaitlyn stood there slack jawed, watching as her youngest niece giggled as Chris scooped her up and easily lifted her to sit on his shoulders.
“Traitor,” she muttered, unable to hold back a smile as she attempted to glare at the little girl.
“Aunt Katie, you can carry me!” Amelia called, running at her full speed.
Kaitlyn positioned herself just before Amelia threw herself onto her back. Standing back up, Kaitlyn hoisted Amelia higher on her back before following Chris and Evie down to the dock.
“Auntie Katie,” Amelia whispered in her ear. “Are you and Chris in love?”
Kaitlyn laughed, trying to cover up her shock. “I don’t know,” she said, looking back at her over her shoulder. “Why do you ask?”
The little girl furrowed her eyebrows, taking her aunt’s question seriously. “Mommy says you should only kiss people you love,” Amelia told her after a moment.
“Your mommy is right,” Kaitlyn said, chuckling and shaking her head, “but sometimes adults kiss each other when they care about each other a lot.”
Chris looked up at her questioningly as he heard the tail end of their conversation as they approached. Kaitlyn shook her head and mouthed “Later.”
“You care about him a lot?” Amelia asked, playing with Kaitlyn’s ponytail.
“Very much,” she confirmed, turning her head and placing a loud kiss against her niece’s cheek. “Just like I care about you very much.”
Seemingly satisfied with her answer, Amelia shimmied down off of Kaitlyn’s back, and ran ahead to catch up with her father and grandfather, who were working on starting the engine.
“Anything I should know about?” Chris asked, keeping one hand on Evie’s leg and wrapping his opposite arm around Kaitlyn’s shoulders.
“The start of the impending wrath of my sister,” Kaitlyn told him, wrapping her arm around his waist as they walked up the gangplank together. “Nothing to worry about,” she said, patting his butt for good measure.
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“On the pontoon, makin’ waves and catchin’ rays up on the roof,” Claire and Kaitlyn sang along with the music at the top of their lungs, taking turns spinning around with Amelia and Evie as they all danced together.
“You should see them when they’re drunk,” Bryan commented, walking up to stand next to Chris where he watched.
“That good, huh?” he responded, rocking back on his heels a bit.
“Last time they went out together, I woke up the next morning to find both of them passed out on the couch,” he started, holding up a hand to stop Chris from commenting too soon. “Oh, it gets better. The kitchen was a disaster because they had decided to bake. Claire was finding stray streaks of flour around the kitchen for days.”
Chris threw his head back and laughed. “Was anything edible?” he asked.
“Oh, it was damn delicious,” Bryan conceded, laughing. “How they kept everything straight while smashed out of their minds was absolutely beyond me.”
“They seem thick as thieves,” Chris commented, taking a drink from his beer, looking back to where Kaitlyn was now braiding Claire’s hair.
“You have no idea,” Bryan agreed, taking a drink of his own. “When they both have the same goal, there’s no stopping them.”
“Daddy! Daddy!” Amelia ran up and tugged on the hem of Bryan’s shirt. “I’m ready to go down the slide!”
“Has Grandad turned off the engine?” he asked, looking up to see John walking away from the wheel.
“Yes!” she affirmed, bouncing on her toes.
“Has Mommy put another layer of sunscreen on you?” he enquired, watching Claire applying sunscreen to Kaitlyn’s back.
“Yes!” she whined, pulling at Bryan’s hand. “Daddy, please! I wanna go down the slide!”
“Go get your vest.” Bryan told her, turning to set his beer down and take off his shirt.
“Yay!” Amelia cheered, turning on her heel and taking off.
Chris chuckled, the little girl running to the other end of the boat and pulling out a bright pink life vest. He watched while Kaitlyn helped her buckle and tighten the vest before the little girl ran back toward her father. Kaitlyn leaned back against the railing as she watched Chris approach. She’d removed her tank top as soon as they shoved off, her sun kissed skin glowing against her turquoise bikini top. She lowered her sunglasses and smirked in response to the predatory grin spread across Chris’s face.
“Jump off the back?” she asked when he was within earshot, pushing her sunglasses back up her nose. “Don’t act like you don’t want to.”
“Cute,” he responded, bracing his hands on either side of her on the rail, effectively trapping her. He leaned forward, his lips against her ear. “I’d much be motor boatin’, but with your dad ten feet away, I guess I’m better off behaving myself.”
Kaitlyn nipped at his ear in response, the heat in her cheeks from more than the glare of the sun. “For now,” she commented, slipping her hands between the two of them, unbuttoning her shorts, and shimmying out of them before ducking under his arms. She put an extra sway in her hips as she walked toward the open edge of the boat. She turned back toward him and crooked her index finger at him beckoning him to her.
He chuckled to himself, dropping his chin to his chest and shaking his head slightly. He pulled off his t-shirt and dropped his hat and sunglasses on a nearby chair before walking over to her. “You’re going to be the death of me,” he said, removing her sunglasses and tossing them aside. “But what a way to go,” he finished before wrapping his arms around her waist and jumping off with her clinging to his shoulders, her shriek echoing off the water.
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Kaitlyn yawned loudly, not even attempting to stifle it. Being out on the water, and in the sun, all day had worn her out. Between fatigue and Chris’s hand resting on her thigh while she drove, it was becoming increasingly difficult to focus on the road. Since the two of them were flying back to L.A. the next day, they were heading back to her parents’ house while everyone else stayed at the lake house.
“I had fun today,” he told her, giving her thigh a squeeze just above her knee.
“Yeah?” she replied, rolling to a stop at the red light. “My family wasn’t too much? I know Claire and I can be a lot when we’re together; especially when there’s alcohol involved.”
“You two remind me a lot of me and my siblings,” he told her as she eased the car back into motion when the light changed. “I really enjoyed the hamburger eating contest.”
“Oh, God,” she said, rubbing at her stomach. “Don’t remind me; my stomach is still threatening to revolt.”
“I have no idea where the two of you put all that,” he commented, laughing lightly and stretching a bit as she turned onto the residential street.
“I don’t either,” she replied, pulling into the driveway. “I’ll be spending a lot of time at the gym burning it all off when we get home.”
“Speaking of home,” he said, clearing his throat nervously. “I know you need to plan for time off and stuff, but I’d love to bring you to Boston with me when I go back for Thanksgiving?” his voice lilting high at the end, turning his request into a question.
Kaitlyn sighed, her chin dropping to her chest. “I would like that very much,” she said, looking up at him.
“But…” he prompted, his mood dropping at the thought of not being able to introduce her to his family in a way that he would like.
“Do you think everyone would be willing to postpone dinner by a day?” she asked, chewing on her bottom lip nervously. “It’s my year to work Thanksgiving; health care doesn’t exactly take a holiday, unfortunately.”
“I think that can be arranged, sweetheart,” he told her, smiling as relief flooded through him.
Kaitlyn leaned over the center console and gave him a kiss, smiling when she leaned back and scratching lightly against the day-old stubble that lined his jaw.
“You know,” she began, turning and getting out of the car. “I’ve never been to Boston.” She shut the car door behind her, pulling out the house keys from her purse.
“Really?” he asked, shutting the passenger side door and walking around the front of the car to stand beside her. “We’ll have to make the most of it then.”
“How much PTO do you think that will require?” she asked, pushing open the front door.
“Babe, if it were up to me, I’d keep you there through January,” he said.