Chapter 4

Amber Osborne

Catherine made her way with little Jacob back to their chamber. Her intentions were to give him a bath and to go speak with Mary. Lunch and shopping with Jenny had been great. It had been hard for her at times to keep from smiling knowing the plans Devin had made. This would certainly be a Winterfest to remember. She so hoped everything would work out beautifully this year. Jamie had already relieved some of the concern she and Vincent had about Mouse’s situation. Now there was still the matter of Father and Mary to be addressed. Vincent she knew was the person to speak with Father. When she came home to an empty chamber, she assumed that’s where he was. However, when it came to Mary’s feelings, Vincent hadn’t noticed a thing. For Catherine it had been obvious.

"Ok little one, let’s get that bath!" she said tickling Jacob’s tummy. When he whimpered and whined instead of giggling, she knew immediately what was wrong and went in search for his medicine. "Here you go sweet heart." She said rubbing it on his gums and kissing his cheek.

***

Vincent made his way into Father’s study. It was just this morning he and Catherine had a little laugh over being Mr. and Mrs. Fix it of the community. Now he was going to give Father the opportunity to open up to him. He promised Mary he wouldn’t directly ask him. Of course he couldn’t. However, there had to be a way to know. If he was serious about stepping down, Vincent wanted to be able to understand why. He knew quite well Mary was concerned. Thanks to Catherine, he understood even more just how much Mary did care for him. Now he had to admit, he wanted to know as well. As he entered the chamber, he looked around and saw no one was there. "Father?" he called out. Yet there was no answer. Turning around he left the study in search of him.

***

"Mary? Are you busy?" Catherine asked as she entered her chamber.

"No dear! Come right on in." Mary noticed Catherine holding the teething ring in Jacob’s mouth. "Oh dear. Gums still sore?"

"I’m afraid so."

"Poor little one."

"He seems to do ok with these and his medicine though. It seems to help. What are you doing?" she asked, seeing a few things piled on her bed.

"I was just looking for the sweater Father asked me to mend for him so he could wear it for Winterfest. With all the preparations going on, I think I’ve misplaced a bit of my mind. I can’t for the life of me remember where I put it!"

Catherine smiled. "Well would you like me to help you look for it?"

"That would be wonderful. Thank you." As they began to look around and behind everything in Mary’s chamber, it dawned on Mary that Catherine had wanted to see her about something. "What is it you wanted to see me about dear? I’m sorry. As I said, I believe I would lose my head if it weren’t attached to my shoulders!"

The two women laughed. "I just wanted to stop by and see how you were doing. You’ve been so busy and you work so hard. I thought I’d pay a visit to see if there was anything you needed."

"Oh well thank you. That’s sweet of you. I think Sarah and Rebecca have put the finishing repairs on the tapestries. They were looking a bit worn. All they needed was a touch here and there. That was a great load off. I had a few other things I needed to tend to tomorrow just before lunch, but I was supposed to keep Luke. If you don’t have anything planned, would you mind keeping him for me just until I finish up?"

"Of course Mary! You know all you need to do is ask. I’m happy to help. You’ve done so much, I don’t see how you keep up. You’re quite an amazing woman."

Mary blushed a little. "Well I wouldn’t go as far as to say all that."

"It’s true. You’ve always been a big help in the community." Mary waved her had behind her to dismiss her praises as she continued her search. "Father is a very lucky man to have you at his side." Catherine added watching her reaction carefully.

Mary slowed a bit and looked up at her thoughtfully. "Well I’m not exactly ‘at his side’…" she said, her voice trailing off.

"Well he trusts you. Aside from Vincent, it’s obvious he values your opinion above anyone’s."

Mary stood up now completely abandoning her search. "It…it’s obvious?"

"Well…" Catherine wasn’t sure now what she had started or what she would say next. To her surprise, Mary fixed that problem for her.

"Oh Catherine what has he said? I must have made a fool of myself!" Mary asked her frantically.

"No, Mary! It’s all right. He hasn’t said a word to me."

"He…he hasn’t?" She asked lowering her hands from her cheeks to her sides.

"Well no."

"Then, how do you know?"

"Well I can’t say for sure I do, but there are moments between you two when I see things. It’s all right. I haven’t said anything, and I don‘t plan to."

Mary looked relieved. "Oh thank you Catherine."

With her thanks, Catherine quickly spoke again. "That doesn’t mean I don’t think you should."

Mary’s relieved expression quickly chased away. "Catherine, I can’t do that!"

"Why not? You and Father deserve the same happiness every one else does. If you find that with each other then that’s wonderful! We would all be very happy for you. I don’t think anyone would look twice." she said closing the distance between them trying to comfort her.

"Catherine, Jacob and I have been close for years. We’ve been here since the very beginning, but we have never discussed anything like this before."

"Well Mary, don’t you think it’s time you did?"

"It’s not that simple. If something were to go wrong…I couldn’t risk it!"

"Mary, don’t you think every person who falls in love takes that risk? It is a part of life! No, it’s not easy, and yes, it is scary; but when it is right, it’s worth it! I’ve seen the two of you together. I honestly don’t believe you would find he doesn’t return those feelings. Even if he doesn’t, it wouldn’t change anything. Then you would know and not have to wonder any longer. Don’t you want to know?"

"Well of course I do, but.…" Again her voice trailed off. Shaking her head she went about searching again.

Catherine sighed walking over to her and putting her hand on her shoulder. Mary stopped, turning to embrace her. "Oh Catherine. I never thought I’d let it get to me this way. I’ve kept it in the back of my mind as best I could for so long. I am glad you know. I needed some one to know."

Catherine held her close. She wanted so for her to be happy. "Mary it is going to be ok. Anytime you need to talk, I’m here. You can trust me."

Mary pulled away and place her hands on Catherine’s shoulders. "I know I can. Thank you Catherine."

At that moment, the two were interrupted by a visitor. Clearing his throat, Father made his way slowly in. "Am I interrupting something?"

Both women answered, "No" and then smiled knowingly at each other.

To ease the awkwardness, Catherine spoke up. "I’ll take Luke with Jacob and me after breakfast tomorrow. He’ll like having Luke around." Mary gave her a smile.

"Thank you Catherine." After a glance that spoke volumes, Mary directed her attention to the little guy in Catherine’s arms. "I’ll see you at dinner little one!" Jacob smiled brightly at her. Father rubbed Jacob’s head as he smiled at his grandson, then cupped Catherine’s cheek for a moment. She had given his son all the happiness in the world, and him a beautiful grandson; something they never thought would be. Giving Father a smile, Catherine gracefully made her way out of the chamber just catching Father’s inquiry about his sweater. She paused for a moment, and left upon hearing him agree to help her search for it. It wasn’t long before she ran into Vincent on her way back to their chamber.

"Well hello there! You look like you’re in a hurry."

"Catherine have you seen Father?" he asked looking past her.

"Yes, I just left him with Mary."

"Good. I need to speak with him." he said as he made his way around her.

Catherine caught his arm. "Vincent wait!"

Vincent turned and looked at her a moment before smiling. He moved toward her and kissed her lightly on the forehead. "I’m sorry. I won’t be long. You needn’t worry."

"But Vincent you can’t!"

He turned to look at her again questioningly. "Catherine what is it?"

"Vincent, can it wait?"

"Well, I suppose it can. Is anything wrong?"

She placed her hand on his cheek. "No. I just think they should have some time alone."

"Alone? Why?"

Catherine gave him a slight eye roll. "Vincent, they need an opportunity to discuss certain feelings." Vincent stepped back a moment in surprise making Catherine giggle. "Don’t look so surprised, Sweetheart. It’ll be ok, I promise. I had a talk with Mary today. They need this."

"Are you sure? I mean.…"

Catherine grinned and kissed him before he could say more. "It’ll be fine. Trust me. Why don’t you come with us? I know this little squirmy guy is dying to get to his father." She said as they looked at Jacob laughing.

"Come here little one." Vincent said in that soft voice that sent chills up Catherine’s spine. As she handed Jacob over to him, he looked at her with a slight grin.

"You don’t play fair."

Vincent laughed a little. "Would you like to stop playing’?"

She gave his arm a smack. "Vincent! Don’t you dare!"

They both laughed as he kissed her, and then they walked on.

***

Mouse was floating on air as he made his way through the tunnels. Jamie was coming home, not staying Above. He couldn’t keep his thoughts away from how great it would be when she was finally at home once more. Not paying attention to where he was going, he rounded the corner and ran right into her.

"Mouse!"

"Jamie! Mouse sorry. Wasn’t watching out."

"It’s ok. I’ve missed you!" she said pulling him into a hug.

Mouse’s face lit up with a great big smile. "You did!? Mouse missed Jamie too! When is Jamie coming home?"

"I’ll be home as soon as I finish up school. It won’t be much longer. Oh Mouse I’m learning so many wonderful things! It’s great! Do you remember the ladder I asked you to fix once?" Mouse shook his head. "Well I think I’ve found a way to fix it! Come on I’ll show you."

The two walked and talked sharing all kinds of ideas. Mouse loved hearing all the things Jamie had to tell him. It fascinated him. Aside from the technical aspect he loved having her there with him again. Jamie had been a big part of his life. Until she had left he never really quite grasped just how important she was to him. He always knew she was his best friend. Yet, when she left, he found he couldn’t bear to live without her. Over the years that friendship had grown into love. Jamie hugged him again before she left, promising she’d be there for Winterfest. On her way out of the tunnels, Jamie ran into Vincent and Catherine.

"Hi!" she said greeting the happy couple.

"Hello Jamie!" Catherine said.

"I was just on my way back up. I was telling Mouse about some new ideas I’ve already gotten."

"I’ll bet he loved that." Catherine said. Only Vincent picked up the double meaning.

"It was great. I’ve missed all of you."

"You have been greatly missed as well." Vincent said.

"Thanks. It was good to be home. I can’t wait until Winterfest."

"Yes, it’s going to be quite a celebration!" Catherine said with a slight grin on her face.

Jamie gave her an odd look for a moment and then hugged them both. "Well, I’d better get going. I’ll see you guys soon,ok?"

"Ok. It was good to see you!" Catherine told her.

"It was great to see you all too."

Catherine and Vincent watched as she went. "He obviously hasn’t told her how he feels yet." Catherine said to him.

"These feeling are very new to Mouse. Love is a very powerful thing. I’m sure she’ll find out soon enough."

"Well, there are a few things about love I’d like to show you. Do you think we can get to our chamber soon enough?" she said with a little smile.

"Not unless we’re magically there when I finish this." he said as he held her in a long, deep kiss.

~