Katja Pt. 16

Erik had grinned, "Well, just don't make it too nice, she is promised to someone."

Ariel grinned, "I know that, but she still needs to drive the little males crazy. It's a female thing brother, you just wouldn't understand."

They cleaned up a bit, then Tony and Ariel went to their room, and Erik and Katja were sitting on the couch watching TV. Geoff and Brigette were in their bedroom so for the first time in a while, they were alone.

Erik had made her a cup of tea and he had some coffee. He smiled, "Well, it's nice to be alone for a change, today went well I think."

Katja nodded as she curled up to him a little more, "Yes, I think so. We do have a slight problem though."

He looked at her, "What do you mean?"

She grinned, "Apparently our son likes redheads. And he made the mistake of telling Gesa he liked Erin's hair. Now she's a little jealous of Erin and thinks Geoff may find another redhead he likes better.

Erik grinned at her, "That was the last thing I was expecting to hear. Are they alright?"

Katja nodded, "Geoff told her he only thought it was nice, he'd never seen anyone with that color before. And he told her that he really, really liked her." Katja grinned, "Gesa seems better know, Allie and I talked to her but she did growl at Erin."

Erik almost hurt himself holding in the laughter. "Does Erin know?"

Katja nodded, "She asked me if she had done or said anything wrong because Gesa growled at her. Then she asked if there was anything she could do, she felt bad for Gesa." She took a sip of tea, "So, I told her sure, "Just don't try and steal her mate, you have your own."

Erik snorted out a laugh, trying not to wake up the kids. He pulled her close and kissed her. "I love you."

Katja grinned, "I love you too."

They both laughed a little more, finished their drinks, and headed to the bedroom to enjoy themselves.

The next morning, the girls left about ten for their female bonding shopping trip. Erik, Tony and Geoff stayed home and bonded themselves. Erik and Geoff went out to the garage to straighten up and make sure everything would be ready to pack up. While they were doing that, Tony came out and started to clean his bike.

Geoff was having a wonderful time, between helping his dad then helping Uncle Tony, he didn't know what he enjoyed most.

After they finished, they went back inside and cleaned up. Erik helped Geoff get changed, "You know son, I think we're going to have to get you some new clothes also. Your growing so fast, it's hard to keep up."

Geoff laughed, and hugged his father. Then he asked, "Daddy, can you put something on the wall for me?"

Erik nodded, "Sure Geoff, what is it?"

Geoff went over to the table by his bed and opened the drawer. Erik watched as he pulled out a piece of paper and brought it over to him. "Can you put this up?" He handed it to his father.

Erik looked at it and smiled, it was a hand drawn picture of, he supposed was a Lyonness girl, labeled Gesa and a human boy with a tail, labeled Geoff. Granted it was stick figures but it wasn't bad. He grinned to himself, remembering last nights conversation, the girl had red hair. "This is very nice Geoff; did you do this?"

Geoff shook his head no, "Gesa drew for me." He looked at it, "She made herself with red hair, she though I didn't like her as much anymore because I said I though Erin's hair looked nice. But I just never saw that color before."

He looked at his father and cocked his head, "Why would she think that? I really, really like her color and her. We always have fun together."

Erik smiled at his son, he's too young to worrying about something like this. "It's hard to explain Geoff, and even harder to understand sometimes, even when you're older." He thought for a minute on how to explain it. "Sometimes, when girls like you and you like them, they get scared your going to like someone better. Usually, the more they like you, the more scared they get."

Geoff thought for a minute, then said, "You mean that since she likes me a lot, she gets scared that I could decide I liked someone better and then she won't be happy?"

Erik thought for a moment, "Yes, that sounds about right."

"Even though I told her I really, really like her and her color?"

Erik nodded, "Yes, sometimes they just get really scared."

"So there's nothing I can say to her to make her happy and not worry?"

Erik smiled, "No, that's not what I meant. Look, just tell her you like her when you think she needs to hear it."

Geoff smiled, "Oh, you mean like you tell mommy you love her?" Thinking he finally had an answer.

Erik smiled, this was getting harder to explain, "Yes, that's what I mean. You tell her when you think she needs hear it, or just because you want to let her know. All females like that. Then everything should be okay."

Geoff smiled, "Okay, I will. Thank you."

Erik grinned, at least that was over with, "Now, where do you want the picture?"

Geoff looked around, then smiled, "How about on the door to the closet? That way I can see it when I'm in bed."

Erik nodded, "Just let me get some tape, I'll be right back." He turned and saw Tony leaning on the door jamb. He grinned, "That was a fairly good explanation."

Erik grinned back, "How much did you hear?"

"Just the last bits. What brought this on?"

Erik grinned, motioning him to follow, "Well, it seemed to start when Geoff made the mistake of telling Gesa he liked Erin's red hair, he though it looked nice. However, she didn't like that much from what Katja told me last night, she growled at Erin. She's afraid Geoff's going to be on the prowl for someone with red hair instead of her."

Tony grinned, "You know, I really can't believe these kids sometimes. Their too young to be worrying about something like this, at his age I was still playing with my own spit. They should be playing catch or something and coloring."

Erik grinned and held up the picture, "Gesa did, and gave herself red hair so Geoff would like it."

Then he grinned again, "I suppose you better get used to it one of these days. Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to get some tape so I can hang this masterpiece on the closet door so he can see it when he's lying in bed."

Tony laughed, "Go ahead, I wanted to give him this anyhow." He held up the bag he was holding.

Erik saw the logo on it, he grinned, "Another new shirt?"

Tony nodded, "I saw his first one didn't fit him anymore, he's grown so much, so when I was at the shop the other day, they had some new ones, so I picked another couple of them up."

Erik nodded, "I know, I swear I can actually see them growing if I looked at them long enough. Katja is picking him up a couple pairs of jeans and shirts when their shopping. He saw us and Azlan wearing them, so he asked if he could get some to."

They both grinned and Erik went for the tape while Tony walked into the room. "How's my favorite nephew doing?"

Geoff laughed as Tony sat on the bed with him. "But, I'm you only nephew."

Tony laughed, "Maybe so, but your still my favorite. I saw you outgrew your shirt, so, I got you two more. They had some new ones when I was there the other day and I couldn't decide which one, so I got both." He handed Geoff the bag and he quickly opened it grinning as he pulled them out.

Geoff grinned as he saw they looked almost like his other one, it had the same symbol on it, but this one had a big bird flying and some type of dogs on the front and the other had a big black cat on it. He put his arms around Tony's neck and hugged him. "Thank you, uncle Tony, I love it. And I love you too."

Tony got tears in his eyes and engulfed his nephew in his arms. "I love you too kiddo. I'm glad you like them."

Geoff let go and he smiled, "I do, I like the dogs on the front of this one and the big cat on the other."

Tony grinned at him, "Well, they're not really dogs, they're called wolves. But they are related to dogs. And the big cat is called a panther."

Erik walked into the room and smiled at the scene. Geoff grinned from ear to ear, "Daddy, look at the new shirts uncle Tony got me." He picked up the first one, "This one has a big bird and dogs, but the dogs are called wolves." He looked at Tony, "Did I say that right?"

Tony grinned, "You sure did." Geoff smiled, then picked up the other, "And this one has a big cat on it. It's called a... panther." He looked at Tony once more and he nodded. Geoff smiled, and cocked his head, "It kind of looks like Caesar a little, he's black too, but he's not as big."

Erik grinned, "They look very nice Geoff, and thank you for telling me what their called." He grinned, "Your getting smarter every day."

Geoff grinned as his daddy praised him. Erik winked at Tony, who nodded back smiling. Then Erik said to him, "Alright Geoff, I'll hold the picture up, and you tell me when it's in the right spot."

Geoff smiled and nodded, then he sat back on the bed and waited. Erik held the picture up with one hand, "Now, just point which way."

Geoff cocked his head, and pointed up, then pointed to the left. "That's good daddy."

Erik grinned and pushed the tape down on one corner, smoothed it and applied the rest. He stood back, and asked, "Okay there Geoff?"

Geoff cocked his head one way, then the other. Then he grinned, "It's good, thank you daddy."

Erik walked over and picked his son up, "Well, if I did a good job, don't I deserve a hug?"

Geoff giggle and put his arms around his neck and hugged him. "I love you daddy."

Erik grinned, "I love you too Geoff." He kissed his forehead, "Well, since were all done, how about some lunch?"

Geoff nodded and giggled as his tummy rumbled. Tony laughed, "It sounds like part of you is ready for lunch. I think you can eat more than I can."

They went into the kitchen and sat Geoff on his chair. Both kids had outgrown the high chairs already, but they still needed a booster for now. Erik made him his favorite sandwich, ham and cheese, cut into four pieces of course. Then he added a few raw baby carrots and some small celery sticks. Erik smiled, his son was like him, they both loved raw vegetables, but hated cooked ones. And for the same reason, Geoff had said they were too "mushy." If it didn't crunch, they didn't eat it for the most part.

Tony grinned as he made a sandwich for himself, "Still hates mushy food huh? He is his father's son."

Erik grinned and nodded as he set the plate in front of him. Then he poured him a small glass of juice and set it down. "There you go sir; your lunch is served."

Geoff grinned and picked up one of the pieces and started to eat.

Tony sat down and joined him, as did Erik once he finished making his. The three of them ate and talked for a bit about moving. Tony and Ariel had very little left to move, mainly clothes and personal items. Erik asked, "How you getting the bike there?"

"Trailer," He answered. "I'm going to get a hitch for the car this week and I'll rent a trailer from the same place. That way, we can load all the other boxes on it."

Erik nodded, "We were thinking of doing the same for the stuff we don't want to go in the moving van. They'll pack and move everything up a couple days before, so we'll head out after that and stay in our quarters there for the night. Then they should be delivering it all the next day, it's like it's all that far."

Erik grinned, "Then we get to unpack everything."

Tony smiled, "We'll give you a hand."

Erik grinned, "Thanks, I appreciate it. How much stuff do you guys still need to get?"

Tony thought for a moment, "A lot of little stuff, we've been getting things every time we went out there, so we've got the big things. I also have to put some things together, bookcases and some more shelves, that type of thing. The rest is mainly decorations and some more kitchen stuff. Then of course, there's basic things we need to take care of outside, lawn mower, edger, that kind of thing."

Erik smiled nodding, "Amazing how much stuff you need isn't it? When I moved in here, it was the same."

Erik looked over at Geoff, he was finished and was taking a drink of his juice. "All done Geoff?"

He smiled and nodded. "It was good."

Erik grinned, "I'm glad you liked it. I've got us something for dessert when we went shopping the other day. Would you like some?"

Geoff grinned and nodded yes. Erik stood and went over to the freezer and pull out a couple small ice cream cones. For an adult, they were no more than a few bites. But perfect sized for a small child. He unwrapped one and handed it to him.

Geoff grinned again, "Ice cream cones, and they're small." He quickly started to lick at his while Erik unwrapped his.

They finished and Erik helped him wash up, he still had a hard time reaching the faucets. Erik picked him up and gave him a kiss. "Let's go watch TV for a while, the girls shouldn't be much longer."

After they left the house, the girls drove over to the clothing store and parked. They were going to do some shopping and then go to lunch. The walked in and Andre smiled when he saw them. He walked over and greeted them, "Hello ladies, and how you been? Katja, I haven't seen you in a while."

Katja smiled, "We've been good, with the children and all the rest, I haven't had much time to go out. Speaking of children, that's one of the reasons we're here. Andre, this is my daughter, Brigette. Brigette, say hello to Mr. Andre."

Brigette smiled shyly, "Hello Mr. Andre."

Andre smiled, the little girl was the spitting image of her mother. She was going to be a heartbreaker once she got older. "It's a pleasure to meet you Miss Brigette."

He smiled at the ladies. "So, what are we looking for today?"

Helen smiled, "Well, I need some maternity outfits myself."

Andre smiled and said, "Your pregnant? That's wonderful."

The Katja replied, "I'm just looking to see what's new. Nothing in mind, just whatever I find. I'm really here to get a few things for the children. They grow so fast the first year."

Andre nodded, "So do human children, not as much as the Lyonness, but still quite a bit. We have gotten some new things in since the last time you were here. I'm sure you'll find something."

Then Ariel grinned, "I'm looking for something new also. But, the main reason I'm here, is that I get to buy my niece here, her first dress."

Ariel grinned, "She need something to impress all the little males, whether they be Human or Lyonness."

Andre grinned and nodded, "Yes, we have a nice selection in now. With people moving in and out, we started carrying more children's things. Plus, we'll have idea of what to have at the other store."

Katja smiled, "When do you plan on opening it?"

"My partner and I are still talking about it. We thought we might wait to the spring, we're trying to figure out the best time. Erik told me the first bunch of the people will be moving over the next six months or so. So, we thought we'd open then and at least have the basic things and some other pieces at first. I'll be running the new store and my partner will run this one."

He smiled, "Thanks to your husband, we've already have a shop lined up and when I have time, I'll look for a place to live. Erik gave me the name of the person you used for your house, she was very helpful."

One of the girls that worked there called to him, so he smiled, "Let me know if I can help you if you need it." He walked over to the girl.

They looked around the store, and started in the children's section. Katja picked out some jeans for both of them and then started to look for some shirts and other things to go with them. Ariel took Brigette's hand and said, "Lets go love, the dresses are over here." And they walked over smiling. Helen grinned and headed over to look for her things.

Katja smiled as she walked around looking for different things for the children and for herself. She picked out the jeans for Geoff and Brigette, they were easy, then looked for some shirts for Geoff first. Most of them were pullovers and she picked out two, but she also found a couple buttoned shirts. She had just got some socks and underwear, when she saw some black T-shirts like Erik and Tony wore in Geoff's size. She grinned, "He's going to love these." She added a package of them also.

She walked over to where Ariel and Brigette were looking at dresses. "How's it going?"

Ariel smiled, "Well, we found this one." She showed her a wine-red dress with black trim. "But were looking for one a little plainer and trying to decide on the color. We've just found this one, but I'm not sure of the color."

Katja cocked her head, "It's the same color that Erik picked out for my one shirt. Why don't you hold that one up next to her and I'll take a picture and send it to Erik. Then we can do the other one if he says it's the wrong color."

Ariel smiled and nodded. Katja took the picture and sent it to Erik.

Erik was explaining something to Geoff he asked about when his phone beeped. He picked it up and read the text, then he opened the picture. He answered it grinning, then went back to his conversation.

Katja's phone beeped and she saw that Erik had answered her back. "Hi love. That one's good, you have the same color and it looks good on you."

She smiled, "He say's that color is good."

Ariel grinned, "Good, so let's go and try these on and see how they look. Then you can help me find something."

The went to the dressing room, and Brigette tried the dresses on to make sure they fit. She put the first one on and grinned as she looked in the mirror.

Ariel and Katja nodded, "That's very pretty kitten. Try the other one."

Brigette nodded, and Ariel gave her a hand with that one. She loved the first dress, it was so pretty and the material was soft. She put the other one on and Ariel led her back out. She smiled as she looked at her reflection. This one was pretty also. Not as nice as the first one, put still pretty. She turned and looked at her mother and aunt. Katja smiled as did Ariel. "Very pretty love. Why don't you get changed, and we can help Ariel find something and get you a few tops and other things?"

Brigette nodded smiling and quickly changed. She handed the dresses to Ariel and Katja said, "I've also got some jeans for you."

She smiled, "You mean like you and aunt Ariel wear?"

Katja nodded, "Yes, just like those. Now let's help your aunt and finish up your things, then look for aunt Helen. Then we can go for lunch."

They walked around until Ariel found what she was looking for, and picked out a few tops for Brigette, then went to find Helen. She was by the dressing room talking to someone from off the ship. She smiled as they walked up, "I guess you found everything." Indicating the pile of clothes in the small cart. "Oh, this is Tina. Tina, this is Ariel, Katja, and her daughter Brigette."

They smiled at each other, they were familiar with each other, but not friends. Then Katja asked, "Did you find everything?"

Helen nodded, "Yes I did. You already?"

Katja nodded, "We just have to pay for all this. Then we can go."

Helen nodded, "Me too. Tina, I'll see back on the ship." Then they headed over to the clerk.

They loaded everything in Helen's car and walked over to the restaurant were Suzi still worked.

They walked in and Suzi smiled as she saw them. She came over and gave them a hug and guided them to a table. "It's so good to see Katja, is this your daughter?"

Katja smiled, "Yes, it is. Brigette, this is a friend called Suzi. Suzi, this is Brigette."

Brigette smiled shyly, "Hello Suzi, it's nice to meet you."

Suzi was a little shocked, considering her age, she was surprised by her greeting, "It's nice to meet you also."

Then she asked, "So, what have been up to?"

"We've been out doing a little shopping. The children needed some new clothes." Katja grinned, "The way they're growing, I'll be surprised they fit after a few months."