Kitty was standing in the doorway of Arianna's room watching her sleep. Many evenings she would still walk into the kids rooms to make sure they were still there. Memories of the years without them, believing they were dead still haunted her dreams sometimes. But seeing them sleeping peacefully always brought her contentment and caused her to worry less.
Suddenly arms went around her waist to rest on her bulging belly. "Checking on the kids?" Troy asked quietly into her ear.
She smiled softly. "Of course," she replied. "A mother's job . . ."
He turned her around slowly and looked into her green-brown eyes. "Is that all there is, or is something bothering you? We can always talk about it . . "
She shook her head, keeping her smile. "Nothing's bothering me that isn't already in the past," she said as she tenderly caressed his cheek. "It just makes me feel better to see them and know they're there . . ."
He knew what she was talking about. Gently, he pulled her into his embrace. "It still worries you, doesn't it? That Jonas will take them again . . ."
She sighed as she allowed her head to rest against him. "Well, being that he's on the station and that he's just terrorized the kids anything is possible . . . I don't put anything past that man . . ."
"But at least the kids have started showing they can take care of themselves a bit," Troy offered, thinking of the things the kids had all done together.
"They're still just kids, Troy," she replied, looking for stressed than she wanted to. "They shouldn't have to worry about this . . ."
"Why don't we go sit down?" he offered. "I have some music playing and I have some chilled cranberry juice just for you."
Her smile was back again. "Okay . . . You talked me into it."
He walked her to the couch and has her sit down. He then handed her a glass of chilled cranberry juice complete with straw. Softly in the background was music from the Earth group Stereophonics circa 1990's. The compilation was one of her favorites. As he took a seat next to her with a drink of his own, he put his arm around her. She immediately leaned into him, but she still hadn't stopped thinking about Zac and Arianna and Jonas. Troy could tell.
"You know . . . Maybe you could set up some sort of training for kids at high risk for abduction. That way if it should happen, they have some training under their belt . . . And I'm sure that it's not just Zac and Arianna that's at risk," Troy said as he sipped his drink.
Kitty sighed. "Laurissa and Daniel are at high risk too," she said. "Maybe even Tiyanna"
"Sounds to me like you have the start of a decent class there, barring Daniel, of course. A little too young yet . . ." he smiled.
Kitty laughed softly. "Just a little," she said. And yet she was pretty sure the child wasn't without protection of some sort.
For a moment they were quiet, just holding each other and listening to the music.
"This music is so sad . . . How did you ever grow to like this so much?" Troy asked.
Kitty shrugged. "For a long time I identified with it," she said. "Now I just like to like!" she smiled.
"That's good to know," he said, as he kissed her gently. "Oh, I didn't tell you! Last night I ran into your new counselor, Alexandra Faal. She came into Soma."
"Really?" Kitty asked with a smirk. "And how did you know it was her? I don't believe I told you what she looked like."
"Well, some things I just have to keep a secret," he winked at her. "Actually Kassia told me about her."
Kitty laughed. "Of course . . ."
"She seemed a little lost so I picked a song from her Academy days for her. That seemed to perk her right up," he replied.
"I'm glad to hear that. Got to keep the crew happy!" she smiled.
"And what about the Captain?" he asked.
"What do you propose?" she asked, with a devilish glint in her eyes.
"How about this?" he said, as he kissed her passionately.
As he pulled away just a breath, she smiled. "I think I could use more of that . . ." she replied.
"I was hoping you'd say that," he replied and kissed her again. "And I have a lot more planned!"
He shifted his weight and his arms and suddenly, he stood up, with her in his arms. He carried her like a child to their room. Candles were lit everywhere and incense was burning. Gently he laid her on the bd.
"I love you, Kitty . . ." he said as he caressed her face. "You are the love of my life . . ." He then leaned in and kissed her again.
As he pulled away, she looked at him as she ran her hand through his dark hair. "I didn't know what love really was until you . . ."
He kissed her again and together they lost themselves in each other and the moment.