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ARCHIVING: Only with the permission of the author.

Questions
By sinjenkai

 

Part 24

The next morning when Calleigh awoke, it was to an empty bed and she didn't like that at all. She could hear Natalia out on the deck on the phone with someone, so after going to the bathroom, she joined her there.

"Yeah, I've got an appointment for Wednesday with Dr. Jensen, but I don't know how long it will take for her to clear me to come back. Hold on just a second Horatio."

Holding the phone down by her side, Natalia turned up her face to get a Good Morning kiss from her wife.

"Do you need to talk to Horatio?"

Threading her fingers in Natalia's hair and kissing her again, Calleigh whispered. "I love the taste of your kisses first thing in the morning. And yes I do,"

Handing Calleigh the phone, Natalia whispered back. "Well, I love the taste of your kisses any time of the day. Do you want anything special for breakfast.... other than bacon that is?"

Chuckling, Calleigh took the phone. "No, whatever you fix is fine with me... as long as there's bacon."

Laughing and leaving Calleigh out on the deck, Natalia went inside to start breakfast. Soon the sounds and aroma of sizzling bacon and eggs filled the air.

Walking in from the deck, Calleigh placed the phone on the counter before going over to stand behind Natalia as she was plating the food. Wrapping her arms about Natalia's waist, Calleigh tried to sneak a piece of bacon off the plate.

Swatting at her hand, Natalia admonished her. "Hey! You can wait until I get it to the table."

"I just wanted to see if I could get away with it. So you made an appointment with the therapist?"

Taking the plates over to the table and then going to the refrigerator for the juice, Natalia replied.

"Yeah, I actually called Horatio first to find out when I could go back and he told me that I had to be cleared by a therapist. So I called Dr. Jensen and made an appointment. Hopefully it won't be too long before I can go back."

When Natalia turned around, Calleigh could tell that something was bothering her. Going over, Calleigh placed her hand underneath her chin and gently lifted to gaze into her eyes. For a brief moment, Calleigh thought that she saw fear before it was quickly masked.

"Talia, we're not going to let our ghosts control us. Remember? We are stronger than they are. Baby don't worry, we'll be back at work soon, up to our elbows in evidence."

Nodding her head, Natalia whispered back. "I know, I'm just ready to get things back to normal."

Settling her hands on Natalia's waist, Calleigh offered. "What about us packing everything up and going home. We can be there by tonight."

"You wouldn't mind?"

"Darlin', we still have a hot tub that we haven't tried out yet and anywhere that you want to be is fine with me."

Pulling Calleigh against her body, Natalia leaned down and kissed her. "I do so love you. How this? Let's clean the place up, pack up everything perishable and we can leave first thing in the morning."

"That sounds like a plan to me babe. Now where's the bacon?"

Kissing her wife one more time, Natalia took her by the hand and led her to the table. After they finished breakfast, they moved the bed back into the bedroom, then clean up the cabin. By the time that they finished, it was early afternoon so they took a break and had a light snack.

Deciding that they had done all that they could do until the next morning when they would pack the food, they went for a slow stroll on the beach, holding hands and laughing at Mallory's antics.

After a walking for a while, they came across a small grove of trees off to one side and Natalia led Calleigh over to it. There standing underneath the canopy of leaves and branches, Natalia looked down upon the face of the person that meant the world to her. Calleigh's eyes seemed to pulse in time with Natalia's heart while her golden hair brightened the sun's rays and her breath stirred a gentle breeze.

"I know that we've had our own ceremony, but I just wanted to reaffirm my love and intentions to you."

Natalia leaned down and kissed her before she continued. "I didn't realize how long I had been waiting for you until you came into my life. You were, you are a ray of sunshine on my dark world. You believed and stood by me when all others walked away. You've given me hope, love and understanding without asking for anything in return. With every breath that I take, with every beat of my heart, some part of me is singing your name and will continue to do so until the end of time. I love you, I am in love with you Calleigh, and I want to spend the rest of my existence with you."

Silent tears tracked down Calleigh's face as her heart recognized once again her soul mate. Looking up into the warmest eyes she had ever seen in her life, Calleigh was still astonished that she was able to see this amazingly beautiful woman who had captured her heart. Reaching up to caress her face, Calleigh sighed as Natalia turned to press a gentle kiss against her palm.

Softly Calleigh spoke. "When I was a little girl running around in the woods with Mullet, I had a favorite tree that I would climb up to read or just to daydream. And up there, I would fantasize about finding someone who would love me. And I would think about my grandmother, and how she told me that when she fell in love, the beat of her heart changed to match that of my grandfather, and I dreamed of finding the one who would change my heartbeat. Then I met you, and my rhythm has never been the same."

Taking Natalia's hand, she placed it over her own heart while placing one of her hands over Natalia's. "Feel that. Our rhythm is as steady as our love and there is nothing or no one that can ever change that. And I am so in love with you and will be until time ends."

Rising up slightly on her toes, Calleigh threaded her fingers through silky hair and kissed her mate. Her mate in every sense of the word possible. The kiss was slow and soft, full of love, hope and a little bit of awe as they both realized that this was the love that fantasy and dreams were made of and rejoiced in the knowledge that they were a part of something special. They knew that they had gone through more in the past couple of months than most people and had made it through stronger and more committed to each other than ever before. When they finally broke apart, the smiles upon their faces mirrored each other's and they laughed with joy.

Hand in hand, they strolled back to the cabin with Mallory happily trotting by their side. By the time that they reached the back deck, the sun was setting so they decided to sit out there and enjoy their last evening watching the sky change colors. Calleigh went inside to grab a bottle of wine and a couple of glasses while Natalia got comfortable on one of the loungers.

Bring out the wine, Calleigh handed her a glass before joining her on the lounger. Sitting in front of her wife, she settled her back against Natalia's chest and smiled as she was wrapped in a warm embrace. Leaning her head against Natalia's shoulder, she turned slightly so that she could brush a kiss just underneath Natalia's ear.

Quietly they sat there and watched the sky change from pale colors to almost black before they got up and went inside. Deciding that they really didn't want to fixing something for dinner, they both settled for bowls of cereal as they leaned against the kitchen counters.

After cleaning up the dirty dishes, they showered and went to bed, content and very happy just to hold each other.

Part 25

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