Flashpoint, page 3
part #8 of Commitment Series
It seemed to Cat that as one disaster resolved itself, another arose throughout their relationship. She and Billie were not immune to their own life-threatening experiences. After Skylar's birth, Brian was released from prison, and took Cat, and the children hostage. Billie did her best to rescue them, but ended up shot in the head and spent the better part of the next year regaining her health and her memory. There was a time when she did not even know who she was…or who Cat and the children were.
Their family was nearly torn apart by that life threatening experience and it left Billie with a form of epilepsy that caused her to become aggressive and angry. It took brain surgery to remove scar tissue to relieve the almost constant pressure and headaches she suffered through, and to restore to them, a sense of hope for the future.
Cat had her own health scare when a breast lump was discovered during a normal physical. The lump turned out to be benign, but it was a very terrifying and sobering experience for all of them.
Cat sighed and smiled. She wiped a lone tear from the corner of her eye as she allowed feelings of extreme happiness to fill her heart, knowing her family was together and the future looked promising.
***
"Finally!"
With a stiff neck and sore lower back, Billie called it quits and shut the computer down. She retrieved the stack of information she'd sent to the printer from various Internet sites and carefully collated and stapled each packet in preparation for their discussion with the kids at dinner that evening. She felt a sense of excitement at the idea of a relaxing and fun-filled week alone with her family in the woods. Her only regret was that they still had two weeks to wait before they could go. It would be a long two weeks.
Billie rose from her seat at the desk and raised her arms high into the air. She clasped her hands above her head and stretched from side to side while she enjoyed the muted sound of vertebrae cracking into place and the mild rush of heat that followed in its wake. Feeling relaxed after her stretch, she gathered her papers and went in search of Cat, who she spotted as she entered the living room.
"Hey, there." Billie reached Cat's chair and leaned over to tenderly kiss her wife.
"You look very pleased with yourself," Cat observed.
"I am." Billie sat on the arm of Cat's chair. She fanned the stack of papers in her hand. "I found all sorts of exciting information about all five national parks. It's going to be a tough choice."
"Can I see?" Cat reached for the papers.
"Sure." Billie handed the stack of papers to Cat and then rose to her feet. "Want something to drink?" she asked as she headed into the kitchen.
"Tea sounds good." Cat replied without looking up from the papers she was reading.
"Tea it is! I'll be back in a few."
As soon as Billie entered the kitchen, she spotted the spaghetti sauce simmering on the stove. As she approached the stove, she forced herself to reach over the sauce pan for the tea pot which rested on the burner behind it. With all the willpower she could muster, Billie turned away and headed to the sink where she rinsed, then filled the teapot with water before placing it back on the burner. Suddenly, all resolve drifted away as the enticing aroma wafting from the mixture of sauce and herbs rose to her nostrils and rendered her totally incapable of resisting. Sparing a quick glance toward the living room, she lifted the lid from the pan and nearly fainted as a rush of spicy Italian aroma assaulted her senses. She reached for the spoon, dipped it into the sauce and brought it to her nose, intending to savor every moment before treating her taste buds to the flavorful sauce.
Just as she was about to taste the liquid ambrosia, the kitchen door swung open. "Hi, Mom!" Tara quipped as she entered the room. "Hmmm! What smells so good?" She dropped her shopping bag on the floor by the door and headed straight for the stove.
"My spaghetti sauce. Want a taste?" Billie asked seriously.
"Your spaghetti sauce?" Tara said in disbelief. "Get out! You made spaghetti sauce?"
"Hey! It could happen!" Billie replied with mock indignation.
"Is it edible?" Tara eyed the rich red mixture on the spoon suspiciously.
"It's great. Here, have a taste," Billie urged, the hint of a grin showing on her otherwise serious face.
Tara looked doubtful, but hunger overcame reason as she agreed to taste the sauce. Hunger was quickly overcome by surprise as she realized how succulent and savory the sauce was. "Holy shit, Mom! That is good!" Tara exclaimed.
Billie narrowed her eyes at Tara. "Holy shit indeed! Don't let your mother hear you talk like that or both our hides will be hanging on the line—yours for swearing, and mine for letting you!" Billie quickly regained her composure. "So you like it, huh?"
"Like it? I love it!" Tara exclaimed.
"Love what?"
Tara and Billie both turned to see Skylar straggling in through the kitchen door from shopping at the mall with Tara and Karissa. Billie had all she could do not to burst out laughing as she noticed the exaggerated makeup on her ten-year-old daughter's face. It was so poorly applied it closely resembled a clown's face.
Billie looked at Tara and tried hard to contain herself. "So, who did your sister's makeup?" she whispered to the fifteen-year-old.
Tara saw the twinkle in her mother's eyes and immediately recognized her attempts to stay composed. "Actually, she did it herself," Tara explained. "They had a sale on makeup at the boutique and they allowed the customers to try it on before buying it."
"Oh, I see," Billie said, at a total loss for words. She turned so that Skylar couldn't see her face and whispered to Tara, "You actually let her walk around the mall like that?"
Tara grinned. "Karissa and I made her walk way ahead of us so no one would know she was with us," the teenager hoarsely whispered to her mother.
"What's cooking? It smells really good!" Skylar was totally oblivious to the discussion between her sister and mother on the topic of her cosmetic makeover.
"Spaghetti sauce. Mom made it," Tara answered.
"No way! Mommy can't cook!" Skylar exclaimed loudly, not even thinking about hurting her mother's feelings.
Billie suddenly realized that her younger daughter had returned a quip for a quip as they traded unintentional barbs—Billie about Skylar's makeup, and Skylar about Billie's cooking ability.
Well, turn about is fair play, Billie thought and she turned to answer her daughter. "You know I'm not a totally rotten cook," she said. "Here, have a bite." She spooned another taste of sauce from the pan.
Skylar backed away. "I'm not eating that!" She was convinced it would be the next closest thing to eating doggy poop.
"I'll eat it!" Tara offered and she took the spoon from Billie and licked it clean.
"Billie? Billie, honey, would you please stir my spaghetti sauce while you're in there?" Cat's voice was heard from the living room.
Tara and Skylar looked at each other and then at their mother, whose face very clearly showed her guilt.
"You lied!" Tara exclaimed. "Get her!" she shouted and both girls chased Billie into the living room where she hid behind Cat's chair.
Billie pointed at her daughters. "Ah, don't forget the cook is my girlfriend."
Cat immediately rose to her feet and looked at Billie like she was growing antennae from her forehead. She spared a glance at her daughters and nearly forgot what she was about to say when she saw Skylar's makeup. She quickly regained her focus. "What's going on here?" She stood between her daughters and her wife.
"Mom said she made the spaghetti sauce!" Tara pointed to the guilty-looking Billie cowering behind Cat's chair.
Cat's hands immediately went to her hips and she looked at Billie with raised eyebrows. "Oh, really?" she asked. She looked back at her daughters, stepped aside and gestured toward Billie with both hands. "Have at it, girls!" Cat grinned from ear to ear as the two young ladies wrestled Billie to the floor and administered tickle torture until she surrendered.
"Okay, that's enough. Why don't the two of you head upstairs and wash up before dinner. I'll put the spaghetti on to cook in a few minutes. Okay?" Cat suggested.
The girls immediately abandoned their perch on top of Billie and did as their mother asked while Cat stood over Billie, hands once more on her hips. She shook her head in disbelief. "You'll never learn will you?" she said jokingly and reached down to help Billie to her feet.
"So much for, 'the cook is my girlfriend'!" Billie deadpanned. "I could have used some help here, you know."
"You're lucky I didn't join them. Did you really think you could fool them into thinking you cooked dinner?" Cat asked.
Billie looked insulted. "You make it sound like I can't cook at all, Cat," she pouted.
Cat's eyebrows once more took up residence in her hair line as she looked at Billie.
Finally, the obvious became unbearable. "Okay! Okay! I admit I can't cook, but a girl's gotta have a little fun now and then, ya know?"
Cat stood on tip toes to kiss her tall wife. "You're lucky you're cute," she said. "Oh, and by the way, what's up with Skylar's makeup?"
Billie was only half listening as she heard a sound coming from the driveway. "Seth is home from work!" She ran into the kitchen and directly for the pan of spaghetti sauce where she stood stirring it—a look of pure mischief on her face.
Cat stood in the kitchen doorway to watch her wife's antics and shook her head from side to side; a wide grin on her face.
Seth came into the house and immediately stopped short to take a deep breath. "Don't tell me—spaghetti for dinner, right?" he asked hopefully.
"Oh, yeah," Billie said. She scooped a spoonful of sauce from the pan and held it out to her son. "Come have a taste of my sauce. You're gonna love it."
At seventeen, Seth was taller than Billie by at least three inches. He stopped in front of his mother and cocked his eyebrow with a look that was 'so Billie', Cat had to stifle a laugh from her position in the doorway. "Your sauce?" he asked before devouring the contents of the spoon.
He never broke eye contact with his mother when he patted Billie on the side of the face. "Nice try, Mom. Nice try." Seth walked through the kitchen toward the living room and stopped in front of Cat, who was still in the doorway. He leaned down and placed a kiss on her cheek. "Great sauce, Ma." He then winked and walked away. "I'm gonna shower before dinner. I'll be down in a few."
Billie turned toward Cat with an astonished expression on her face. She was totally at a loss for words at her son's obvious betrayal.
Cat smiled ear to ear. "They know you so well, my love. They know you so well!"
Suddenly the whistling sound from the tea pot announced its presence as the ladies dissolved into laughter.
CHAPTER 4
"Ma, you've outdone yourself," Seth exclaimed between bites. "This spaghetti is the best."
"Yeah, Mama, it's really good," Tara stressed the word 'Mama'.
Cat smiled as she caught Tara's intimation.
"What about you, Sweet Pea. Do you like it?" Billie asked her youngest daughter. Skylar had stuffed her mouth so full of spaghetti; all she could do in reply was to nod vigorously.
Cat reached for a piece of garlic bread. "How was work today, Seth?" she asked.
"It was okay. Really busy, but okay. We were out straight all day. I spent the whole day bagging groceries. My boss said it will slow down as school gets closer to starting," he explained.
"I hope it slows down enough for you to get a week off in the middle of August," Billie said.
Seth frowned. "Why would I need a week off?"
The turn in the conversation caught the attention of the two girls who waited attentively for Billie's reply.
"Mama and I were thinking that we need to celebrate her test results by taking a vacation. What do you think?" She looked around the table at the children.
"Where are we going?" Skylar asked.
"Well, that's what we'd like to discuss with all of you," Cat answered. "Mom spent hours online today looking up a few spots. We have some suggestions, but we'd like to hear your ideas as well."
"What kind of vacation are we talking about?" Seth asked. "I mean...are we going to an amusement park, or on a cruise, or something like that?"
"We were thinking more along the lines of a camping trip," Billie replied.
"I thought you said you'd never go camping again," Tara interjected.
Cat smiled and she sat back to watch Billie wriggle out of this one.
"I know I said that, but this won't be like the last camping trip we went on. First, we need to make sure the weather is cooperating, then we need to pick a place that has cabins so we don't have to camp out in tents and have to worry about rain and bears," Billie explained.
"It sounds kind of boring. What's there to do in the woods?" Tara asked.
"Depending on where we go, there are plenty of things to do to keep us all busy," Cat replied.
"Like what?" Skylar questioned.
"Well, there's hiking, kayaking, fishing, biking, horseback riding...and depending on where we go, there will be things to see in the surrounding communities. We might even camp somewhere close to that amusement park Seth was talking about," Billie explained.
"Sounds cool! When do we go?" Seth asked.
Billie smiled at her son's willing and cooperative nature.
"I still think it sounds boring. Can Kelly come with us?" Tara asked.
Cat and Billie exchanged a contemplative glance in response to Tara's question.
Kelly was Tara's age and the daughter of a military officer. Throughout her father's career in the Marine Corps, she had lived in numerous places around the globe. She moved into the neighborhood several months earlier and soon hooked up with Tara through mutual friends. The two girls seem to hit it off immediately, although Cat thought that Kelly's more stiff military-type mannerisms (no doubt learned from her father) made her an odd bedfellow for Tara's more laid back style.
"We were kind of hoping to make this just a family trip, sweetie," Cat explained. "Not even the Swenson's are coming this time."
"Oh, man!" Tara whined. "It's really going to be boring without Kelly or Karissa."
"If Kelly goes, can Missy come too?" Skylar asked hopefully.
Billie made a 'T' with her hands. "Okay, time out. Like Mama said, this is supposed to be a family camping trip. We rarely spend time with just each other these days, except at the dinner table. As you three get older, it will get even worse. Heck, Seth will be in college soon and will be gone most of the time. We want this to be a family trip. That means the five of us. This will be fun if you give it a chance. Okay?" Billie looked around the table and waited for responses.
Tara crossed her arms in front of her and pouted.
"I'm willing, Mom," Seth said.
"Me, too! I like horseback riding," Skylar added.
"Tara?" Cat prompted her daughter.
"Come on, Tare. It'll be fun," Seth playfully punched his sister lightly on the arm. "Kelly won't mind. It might even do you two some good to be apart for a week," he added.
The contemplative gaze shared earlier by Billie and Cat became adorned by a frown on Cat's face, and one raised eyebrow on Billie's as they absorbed Seth's remark.
Tara looked at her brother and begrudgingly smiled at the puppy-dog face he was giving her while silently pleading with her to go along.
In exasperation, and as a way of surrendering without losing face, Tara threw her hands into the air. "Okay. Okay. I'll go. Sheesh!" she exclaimed.
"Great!" Billie said. "So the next question is, where?"
"Mama said you did some research on a few places. What did you have in mind?" Seth asked.
Billie excitedly jumped to her feet and retrieved the stack of papers from the counter top that she printed out earlier. She tossed the packets on the table. "Take a look," she said.
Billie paced around the table while the kids browsed the packets and excitedly talked about each potential destination.
"I thought it might be fun to visit a national park and see some of the things we only hear about on TV or in books. For example, the Old Faithful Geyser in Yellowstone, or maybe the Grand Canyon, or maybe even the huge redwood trees in California. Of course, we could go somewhere else if you've got other ideas," Billie offered.
"I like Yellowstone. Don't Yogi Bear and BooBoo live there, Mama?" Skylar asked her mother.
Cat tilted her head back and laughed. "I think they live in Jellystone National Park, sweetie."
"Yellowstone sounds okay to me," Tara said. "It might be cool to see Old Faithful."
"Seth?" Billie waited for her son's input.
"The Grand Canyon sounded good to me, but now that I think about it, there's probably more to do at Yellowstone, so I guess you can count me in too," he replied.
"Mama?" Billie looked at Cat for her suggestion.
Cat smiled at Billie. She knew her reply was simply a formality, as Billie had confided to her earlier that Yellowstone was her first choice as well. "I think the kids have made an excellent choice."
"Jellystone it is. Yogi, here we come!" Billie exclaimed as Skylar's giggles filled the room.
***
Billie and Cat lay side by side in their bed; Billie with her hands locked behind her head, and Cat with hands clasped on top of her stomach. Both women looked straight up at the ceiling. The house was quiet. Skylar was sleeping soundly in her bed, and Seth and Tara were watching a movie in the family room. The time on the clock read 11:48 p.m.
"I'm glad the kids picked Yellowstone," Billie said. "That was my choice as well, but I really didn't want to influence the decision unless it was deadlocked."
"Yellowstone will be fun," Cat agreed, albeit a bit distractedly.
