Hey sorry this didn't come sooner, I've been swamped! Hopefully the posts will be coming more frequently in a few days. My brief summer vacation starts on Thursday so I should have more time to post. Thanks for being so patient and for all the great comments, gotta love those comments. and LET's GO PENs! ~ Aeryn
I try to drive as safely as I possibly can, you know obey the speed limit and what not, but let's face it, my best friend was just robbed. Keeping the speed limit is an almost an impossible feat. My thoughts linger back to Sid and how worked up he was when I left, but I can't dwell on that right now. Right now Beth is my number one priority.
I pull up to the side of the road in front of her drive way. The dark asphalt is highlighted by the yellow tape encircling the yard. Police cars are in the street and an ambulance has just gone past me. I'm about to panic about the last detail but I'm slightly comforted by the absence of lights and sirens. I take a deep breath and unbuckle my seat belt, stepping out of my jeep into the cold March night air.
"Come on boys," I say quietly as I open the door for Koda and Bran. Usually I would have just brought Bran, but I figured Koda may calm Beth down a little bit, being that they are so close. I walk up to the yellow tape where I'm greeted by a young police officer.
"I'm sorry Miss, but you and your dogs can't pass the tape," he says holding his hand up to stop me.
'Must be a rookie' I think. I had never seen him before at the station and I knew most of the guys. Bran and I helped keep up training for some of their police dogs from time to time. And they employed my rescue team to sniff out missing people on occasion.
"I..." I begin.
"She's okay O'Connor, you can let her pass," a tall rather bulky man in his fifties says coming up behind the rookie, "How's it going Caitlin?"
"I was ok until I got this call. How is she doing, Roger?" I ask the chief as I walk under the tape, the dogs following suit.
"Well, we had the ambulance check her out, mainly because she is pregnant, and they said she and the baby were doing fine. However, she is pretty shaken up and she's not saying much more than what we ask," he says leading me over to the porch.
"That's understandable. And Zach?"
"He wasn't here during the break in, apparently he was at work?"he asks me, confirming the story.
"Probably. He was recently put on the night shift, he works about an hour away," I nod.
"Ok, well he's not here quite yet. But if he works an hour away, that's understandable."
We stop in front of the porch where I spot Beth sitting on the porch swing that I know Zach had recently put in so they could sit there with the baby in the summer. She is all curled up in a blanket and staring off into space as an officer kneels by her side, trying to comfort her.
"Beth," I say quietly.
She looks up at me and I can see tears in her eyes. She slowing gets off the swing and almost falls on top of me in a hug. She quietly sobs into my shoulder.
"I know, hun. It's going to be ok. You're ok and the baby is ok, that's all that matters,"I try to soothe.
A few moments later a car parks right behind mine and Zach comes running up the driveway.
"Oh my God!" he says looking at the mess on the inside of the house. Everything was totally obliterated, Beth was lucky to get out alive and unharmed. Beth spots him and immediately throws herself into his arms.
I watch as Zach, even though in his own stress, tries to comfort his broken wife.
"I'm sorry to bother you Mr. Kelley, but I need to ask a few questions," an officers says.
"Sure," Zach says looking to me.
"Go ahead, I'll be here," I nod.
Zach nods slightly as he pulls away from Beth to go talk to the police officer.
I sigh as Beth and I sit on the swing. Koda comes up to Beth and puts his head on her lap. She sniffles a little before her fingers find their way to his white fur. Bran sits on the floor by me, watching over us.
"Do you remember when we were little and you guys had a swing like this one and we use to sit on on you screen porch?" I ask Beth with a smile.
"Yeah, we told some of our best secrets then and had some mean Truth and Dare games," she says, I look over and see that I have brought a small smile out from confinement.
"For 8 year olds anyway," I smile, "And then that one time when we wanted to see how high we could make it go and it came back and left a huge mark on the house."
"Oh my God, Dad was so mad at us!" she laughed.
"And then he made us paint the spot where the swing had hit," I chuckle.
Our laughter subsides and is replaced by silence again. I can feel her thoughts going back to the events tonight. I hear her take a deep breath and I know that she is opening up. Now it was my job to just listen, be the silent support.
"I had been on the couch watching the Princess Diaries, it was playing on some channel and I remembered how we use to watch it. I suddenly felt really tired, so I thought I would just go to bed. So I turned everything off and went into the bed room. And then I heard his truck pull in the drive way, it sounded like it was missing a muffler. I went to look out the window and I saw him carrying a crowbar or something. I ran into the closet and luckily grabbed the phone on the way there. I had just called the police when I heard the window smash," she recalls, tears finding their way down her cheeks. "I was so afraid, not so much for me but for the baby. I could here him rummaging through things and smashing other things. And then he came so close to finding me... but the sirens could be heard coming down the street and he bolted. He came so close to finding me..." she sobs.
"But he didn't. That's all that matters," I say comforting her, "Your dad was looking out for you tonight. Just like he always is."
Beth and Anna's dad had died of lung cancer when Beth was 9 and Anna was 11. He had died a week before my 10th birthday and I had been there trying to comfort them by just listening, because I couldn't do anything else, plus I was 10, I was lucky I knew to do that.
"I know," she sniffles.
"Did you call Anna? And you told the police what you told me?" I ask.
"Yeah I did. And I called Mom, and I'm assuming she called Anna."
"I'm sure she did hun," I say rubbing her back as I spot Zach coming over to us.
"Well they said that they have everything they need from us and that they were still collecting evidence here, so we could go find a hotel," Zach sighs.
"No, you guys can stay with me," I say shaking my head.
"Caitlin, we appreciate it but..."
"No Zach, I have a guest bedroom. You guys are staying with me," I say not so much asking.
"Alright, but we won't stay long..." he sighs.
"You can stay as long as you need to."
"Okay, we'll follow you back to your place."
I nod and walk toward my jeep, opening the door and letting the dogs in before I myself hop into the drivers seat. My driving is a lot better than it was before, and my mind is way more at ease. That is until I think of what happened with the Crosby's after I left. It has been about 2 and 1/2 hours since I bolted out the door. If Sidney antagonizes me in any way about leaving I'm gonna flip.
I pull into the driveway and find that the Crosby's have already left, not that I'm surprised.
I let the dogs out of the car and walk up to the door, Beth and Zach following behind me.
"Hi guys," I smile letting my hand pass over all the different dogs. I hear Zach and Beth greet the dogs too, letting me know that they are relaxing a bit more. I spot Sid stand up from the couch and see him pause the moment in whatever tape of whatever hockey game he was watching. He come quickly over to my side.
"Are you guys ok?"he ask concern evident on his face.
"Yeah, we'll be ok," Zach answers with a weak smile.
"Why don't you guys head to the guest room up stairs and get ready for bed, the bathroom is right be side it," I sigh.
"We know Caitlin," Beth sighs as she walks up the stairs Zach following close behind her, "Oh and Cait?"
"Yeah"
"Thanks."
"No problem Beth," I smile as I watch the couple make their way up the stairs.
Suddenly I feel a pair of arms snake around my waist, his bee stung lips gently kissing the underside of my jaw before he rests his head on my shoulder.
"I'm really sorry I yelled at you earlier," he mumbles.
"Yeah, what was all that about?" I say turning around to face him. Thankful that he wasn't blowing up at me.
"It's just you kind of pissed me off when you said that my dad didn't like you and then he basically said that he was questioning how I put up with you and your life before you left. So I just kind of burst. And, I'm really sorry my Dad was such an ass to you. He just doesn't know you that well... or at all actually. He tends to jump to conclusions when he doesn't know things, especially after Victoria," He sighs starting to ramble.
"I understand Sidney..."I smile.
"But he was..." he begins looking at anything but me.
"Sid, I get it," I smile, leaning up to gently press my lips to his, "I'm going take care of the dogs and then let's go to bed."
"I already took care of them and are you sure you want me here tonight?"
"What do you mean?"
"Well I've seen you take care of them for how long so I just did what you normally do."
'Dear God, he is perfect' I think to myself in surprise.
"Thank you, but that's not what I meant. I meant why wouldn't you stay here tonight? You do every other night."
"Well, I figured with Beth and Zach here..."he shrugs.
"Hun, they already know that you stay here. Don't worry about it,"I smile kissing him lightly and taking his hand and leading him up the stairs.
"Oh, ok."
We make our way into my room and I go through with my normal before bed routine.
"So what did your parents think of me leaving?"I ask after spitting my tooth paste in the sink, calling into the adjoining bedroom.
"I told them what was going on and they understood," he says nonchalantly.
I walk into the bed room to find Sidney already in bed. I shut off the light and crawl into bed next to him. He pulls me close to him so that my back is flush against him.
"Can we talk about something?" he asks quietly.
"Can it wait until morning? I can hardly keep my eyes open," I mumble my eyes already closed and I can't seem to reopen them.
"No, we've already been putting it off," he sighs.
"Alright, then shoot, but no promises I'll be awake when you finish your sentence," I yawn, my eyes still not staying open.
I feel his grip on me tighten and he takes a deep breath letting it out as a deep sigh.
"I think we should move in together."
I try to drive as safely as I possibly can, you know obey the speed limit and what not, but let's face it, my best friend was just robbed. Keeping the speed limit is an almost an impossible feat. My thoughts linger back to Sid and how worked up he was when I left, but I can't dwell on that right now. Right now Beth is my number one priority.
I pull up to the side of the road in front of her drive way. The dark asphalt is highlighted by the yellow tape encircling the yard. Police cars are in the street and an ambulance has just gone past me. I'm about to panic about the last detail but I'm slightly comforted by the absence of lights and sirens. I take a deep breath and unbuckle my seat belt, stepping out of my jeep into the cold March night air.
"Come on boys," I say quietly as I open the door for Koda and Bran. Usually I would have just brought Bran, but I figured Koda may calm Beth down a little bit, being that they are so close. I walk up to the yellow tape where I'm greeted by a young police officer.
"I'm sorry Miss, but you and your dogs can't pass the tape," he says holding his hand up to stop me.
'Must be a rookie' I think. I had never seen him before at the station and I knew most of the guys. Bran and I helped keep up training for some of their police dogs from time to time. And they employed my rescue team to sniff out missing people on occasion.
"I..." I begin.
"She's okay O'Connor, you can let her pass," a tall rather bulky man in his fifties says coming up behind the rookie, "How's it going Caitlin?"
"I was ok until I got this call. How is she doing, Roger?" I ask the chief as I walk under the tape, the dogs following suit.
"Well, we had the ambulance check her out, mainly because she is pregnant, and they said she and the baby were doing fine. However, she is pretty shaken up and she's not saying much more than what we ask," he says leading me over to the porch.
"That's understandable. And Zach?"
"He wasn't here during the break in, apparently he was at work?"he asks me, confirming the story.
"Probably. He was recently put on the night shift, he works about an hour away," I nod.
"Ok, well he's not here quite yet. But if he works an hour away, that's understandable."
We stop in front of the porch where I spot Beth sitting on the porch swing that I know Zach had recently put in so they could sit there with the baby in the summer. She is all curled up in a blanket and staring off into space as an officer kneels by her side, trying to comfort her.
"Beth," I say quietly.
She looks up at me and I can see tears in her eyes. She slowing gets off the swing and almost falls on top of me in a hug. She quietly sobs into my shoulder.
"I know, hun. It's going to be ok. You're ok and the baby is ok, that's all that matters,"I try to soothe.
A few moments later a car parks right behind mine and Zach comes running up the driveway.
"Oh my God!" he says looking at the mess on the inside of the house. Everything was totally obliterated, Beth was lucky to get out alive and unharmed. Beth spots him and immediately throws herself into his arms.
I watch as Zach, even though in his own stress, tries to comfort his broken wife.
"I'm sorry to bother you Mr. Kelley, but I need to ask a few questions," an officers says.
"Sure," Zach says looking to me.
"Go ahead, I'll be here," I nod.
Zach nods slightly as he pulls away from Beth to go talk to the police officer.
I sigh as Beth and I sit on the swing. Koda comes up to Beth and puts his head on her lap. She sniffles a little before her fingers find their way to his white fur. Bran sits on the floor by me, watching over us.
"Do you remember when we were little and you guys had a swing like this one and we use to sit on on you screen porch?" I ask Beth with a smile.
"Yeah, we told some of our best secrets then and had some mean Truth and Dare games," she says, I look over and see that I have brought a small smile out from confinement.
"For 8 year olds anyway," I smile, "And then that one time when we wanted to see how high we could make it go and it came back and left a huge mark on the house."
"Oh my God, Dad was so mad at us!" she laughed.
"And then he made us paint the spot where the swing had hit," I chuckle.
Our laughter subsides and is replaced by silence again. I can feel her thoughts going back to the events tonight. I hear her take a deep breath and I know that she is opening up. Now it was my job to just listen, be the silent support.
"I had been on the couch watching the Princess Diaries, it was playing on some channel and I remembered how we use to watch it. I suddenly felt really tired, so I thought I would just go to bed. So I turned everything off and went into the bed room. And then I heard his truck pull in the drive way, it sounded like it was missing a muffler. I went to look out the window and I saw him carrying a crowbar or something. I ran into the closet and luckily grabbed the phone on the way there. I had just called the police when I heard the window smash," she recalls, tears finding their way down her cheeks. "I was so afraid, not so much for me but for the baby. I could here him rummaging through things and smashing other things. And then he came so close to finding me... but the sirens could be heard coming down the street and he bolted. He came so close to finding me..." she sobs.
"But he didn't. That's all that matters," I say comforting her, "Your dad was looking out for you tonight. Just like he always is."
Beth and Anna's dad had died of lung cancer when Beth was 9 and Anna was 11. He had died a week before my 10th birthday and I had been there trying to comfort them by just listening, because I couldn't do anything else, plus I was 10, I was lucky I knew to do that.
"I know," she sniffles.
"Did you call Anna? And you told the police what you told me?" I ask.
"Yeah I did. And I called Mom, and I'm assuming she called Anna."
"I'm sure she did hun," I say rubbing her back as I spot Zach coming over to us.
"Well they said that they have everything they need from us and that they were still collecting evidence here, so we could go find a hotel," Zach sighs.
"No, you guys can stay with me," I say shaking my head.
"Caitlin, we appreciate it but..."
"No Zach, I have a guest bedroom. You guys are staying with me," I say not so much asking.
"Alright, but we won't stay long..." he sighs.
"You can stay as long as you need to."
"Okay, we'll follow you back to your place."
I nod and walk toward my jeep, opening the door and letting the dogs in before I myself hop into the drivers seat. My driving is a lot better than it was before, and my mind is way more at ease. That is until I think of what happened with the Crosby's after I left. It has been about 2 and 1/2 hours since I bolted out the door. If Sidney antagonizes me in any way about leaving I'm gonna flip.
I pull into the driveway and find that the Crosby's have already left, not that I'm surprised.
I let the dogs out of the car and walk up to the door, Beth and Zach following behind me.
"Hi guys," I smile letting my hand pass over all the different dogs. I hear Zach and Beth greet the dogs too, letting me know that they are relaxing a bit more. I spot Sid stand up from the couch and see him pause the moment in whatever tape of whatever hockey game he was watching. He come quickly over to my side.
"Are you guys ok?"he ask concern evident on his face.
"Yeah, we'll be ok," Zach answers with a weak smile.
"Why don't you guys head to the guest room up stairs and get ready for bed, the bathroom is right be side it," I sigh.
"We know Caitlin," Beth sighs as she walks up the stairs Zach following close behind her, "Oh and Cait?"
"Yeah"
"Thanks."
"No problem Beth," I smile as I watch the couple make their way up the stairs.
Suddenly I feel a pair of arms snake around my waist, his bee stung lips gently kissing the underside of my jaw before he rests his head on my shoulder.
"I'm really sorry I yelled at you earlier," he mumbles.
"Yeah, what was all that about?" I say turning around to face him. Thankful that he wasn't blowing up at me.
"It's just you kind of pissed me off when you said that my dad didn't like you and then he basically said that he was questioning how I put up with you and your life before you left. So I just kind of burst. And, I'm really sorry my Dad was such an ass to you. He just doesn't know you that well... or at all actually. He tends to jump to conclusions when he doesn't know things, especially after Victoria," He sighs starting to ramble.
"I understand Sidney..."I smile.
"But he was..." he begins looking at anything but me.
"Sid, I get it," I smile, leaning up to gently press my lips to his, "I'm going take care of the dogs and then let's go to bed."
"I already took care of them and are you sure you want me here tonight?"
"What do you mean?"
"Well I've seen you take care of them for how long so I just did what you normally do."
'Dear God, he is perfect' I think to myself in surprise.
"Thank you, but that's not what I meant. I meant why wouldn't you stay here tonight? You do every other night."
"Well, I figured with Beth and Zach here..."he shrugs.
"Hun, they already know that you stay here. Don't worry about it,"I smile kissing him lightly and taking his hand and leading him up the stairs.
"Oh, ok."
We make our way into my room and I go through with my normal before bed routine.
"So what did your parents think of me leaving?"I ask after spitting my tooth paste in the sink, calling into the adjoining bedroom.
"I told them what was going on and they understood," he says nonchalantly.
I walk into the bed room to find Sidney already in bed. I shut off the light and crawl into bed next to him. He pulls me close to him so that my back is flush against him.
"Can we talk about something?" he asks quietly.
"Can it wait until morning? I can hardly keep my eyes open," I mumble my eyes already closed and I can't seem to reopen them.
"No, we've already been putting it off," he sighs.
"Alright, then shoot, but no promises I'll be awake when you finish your sentence," I yawn, my eyes still not staying open.
I feel his grip on me tighten and he takes a deep breath letting it out as a deep sigh.
"I think we should move in together."
6 Comments to "Chapter 56: Memories"