Kiss Me Cate Pt. 10

"That's the same look you got when we first met when I told you how beautiful you are."

She looked into my eyes at that and her smile returned. "I believe the phrase you used was, 'You look hot.'"

"A trifling American aphorism, isn't it?" I remarked.

She took a side long peek at the mirror then looked downward at the floor with another little head shake. It struck me then that she was looking for something. I wondered for a moment what it was. I stepped past her and turned the water in the tub off. I turned back and walked up behind her and wrapped my arms around her and set my chin on her shoulder.

"Something is bothering you."

She let out a little snort and looked up at the mirror again. She turned gently holding my arms in place so I wouldn't let her go. I watched her eyes looking at herself first, then looking into my eyes in the mirror. She took a breath as if about to speak and held it before letting it out. I just lifted my eyebrows and waited. That must have set her off as her eyes squinted slightly and a furrow developed in her brow.

"Have you ever felt a moments doubt in your life Dylan?"

I started laughing. "You have no idea." She didn't seem satisfied by my answer. She looked downward again. "Hey?" I said tightening my grip on her waist. "What is it you're having doubts about?" An icy feeling trickled down my spine. "Do you believe me when I tell you that I love you?" I added in a whisper.

"Of course I do. Remember what I told you last year? You don't just tell me that you love me, you show me." She turned her head and kissed my cheek. "It's just that," she swallowed hard, "I wonder if our parents are right. Are we going too fast?"

"We finally get your dad straightened out and now I have to work on you?" I said with a little laugh.

"What would you do if in six months time I broke out in an incredible rash of warts."

"I'd say that you need to stop believing that you get warts from kissing frogs. Ribbit."

"Will you still love me when I'm an old gray hag?"

"Will you still need me, Will you still feed me, When I'm sixty-four." I sang softly in her ear. I got the hoped for reaction of a broad grin. "The answer to all of the above is, yes." I looked at her in the mirror with an equal expression. I turned serious for a moment, and pointed at her in the mirror. "You know, that was like the flash of the lure. It got me to turn my head, well that and the legs, not going to lie." I put my hand on her chest. "This was the hook. Your beauty isn't skin deep, I don't care what the originator of the phrase said. Now let's not waste all that hot water." I pulled the sash of her robe free and slipped it off her shoulders. We spent our time in the bath trying to remember the rest of the lyrics to the Beatles song, laughing when we made mistakes.

I took her hands between mine, both of us getting wrinkly from being in the bath too long. I leaned forward and whispered into her ear. "From the day you said yes, I haven't doubted us." She tilted her head slightly and I kissed her behind the ear and down her neck.

"What happens when my looks no longer make you randy?"

The light dawned on me then and I began laughing. "There it is." She angled her arm and tried to throw an elbow into my ribs.

"Arse."

"How old is your father?"

"Why?"

"Have you seen how he looks at your mother?" That stopped her, her head tilted as she thought about it for a moment. "I think both of our parents are fair examples of how our future may look. Wouldn't you say?"

She made a little noise in the back of her throat. "Thank you for the mental image of my parents having at it."

"Well let's see, we've been through the, in sickness and in health, for richer for, well your old apartment fits the for poorer part. I think that place is the reason you got the flu in the first place, drafty as a barn. I'm sure we'll eventually find a situation that fits the for better, for worse, but that doesn't bother me so long as the to have and to hold from this day forward comes about." She let out a little laugh. "No where in there does it say, only as long as she's beautiful." I pointed out. "Which in your case I'm not worried about because you're always going to be beautiful to me. Remember, that's in here." I said putting my hand on her chest. She leaned back slowly and tilted her face up to mine. I kissed her cheek.

"How do you do that?"

"I'm the Cate Whisperer."

She laughed. "That you are. Come on, the water went cool ten minutes ago." She leaned forward and flipped the drain open and began running hot water to rinse off. We decided to dress and go for a walk. I had picked out a path that would walk us past a bridal shop, which unfortunately was closed on Sundays. Cate laughed.

"Getting ideas for me are you?"

"Actually no, for me. I'm not sure if I want to go traditional bow-tie tux or something a little more stylish."

"Definitely stylish, bow ties are, um," she wrinkled her nose, "old fashioned."

"I was thinking one of those Euro ties and a vest."

"Sounds sexy." She said looking at me with a broad grin.

"What about you? I've seen those bridal magazines in your briefcase." I grinned back at her.

"You'll have to wait and find out, won't you?"

"Think you want to buy here or back at home and bring it with you?"

She thought, her mouth pulling to one side. "The thing is if I were to get it here, I'd have to be here well in advance for fittings and such. You don't just pick a gown off the rack and go with it as is."

I laughed. "You've never been to Las Vegas." Cate rolled her eyes.

Cate rolled her eyes. "No I haven't. Is that what you want, to elope and forget all the pomp and circumstance?"

I turned to face her. "No, I'm doing this once, and I want to remember it forever." That must have been the right answer since she leaned in and kissed me rather deliberately.

"I don't like the ball gowns with the full skirts." She said waving her hands out wide around her. "They're beautiful but I'd be knocking over furniture and small children in something like that." She nodded at the window display.

"How about something like that?" I nodded to a photograph at the base of the dress on display.

She let out a little laugh. "Not much left to the imagination is there, it looks like it's painted on."

"It is a bit racy for a wedding gown. I'm okay with that."

"I bet you are!" She laughed. "I've got a few ideas. If we get to see Sinead this week I may bounce a few off her." She added with a wink. "One thing I'm partial to is not going with traditional bright white, but something warmer like cream or ivory for a color. I was thinking the contrasting color would be a dusky rose pink like the one you dreamt about."

"There's a lot to this wedding gown thing isn't there." I brought my hand up and rubbed my chin.

"It's all about the dress, so they say."

"It's about the person wearing it." I winked.

We kept walking along with no purpose in mind when Cate looked up at a bus slowing for a stop just ahead of us. She tilted her head slightly and tugged my hand. "Come on!" She broke into a jog to catch the bus as it slowed to a stop. I smiled as I ran after her. She dug out a handful of coins and paid for us both. We took a seat and I caught my breath as I asked where we were going.

Cate shrugged. "That way." She pointed towards the front of the bus and laughed. We looked up at the route map painted above the windows. "Good choice, looks like we're headed towards Eden Quay."

"That's near the Customs House, isn't it?" I said, eyes closed thinking about the map I'd studied.

"Yes it is, a block or two west actually."

"I think. Just across the bridge there was the pub there where I met your friend Laura. The one I shot the video of to show you."

Her expression cooled as she perused me with one eye closed. "Keeping track of my friends are you?"

"Well now that you mention it. I mean, other than your family the only person I've met is your ex and he was as fun as an open cut soaked in lemon juice." Cate scoffed. "Don't you have any friends to catch up with while you're home?"

Her mouth was down-turned as she gazed blankly at the back of the seat before her. I wrapped my arm around her shoulders. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean anything. I just figured you'd like to reconnect with your friends while you were here."

She looked at me side-long, then peeked up at where we were. The bus pulled up to the curb and stopped. Cate just tilted her head and we disembarked on the sidewalk. The drizzly rain had stopped and the clouds were scudding low across the sky, thinning enough in spots to almost allow the sun to break through. The sidewalk was busy for a Sunday afternoon. She held my hand as we walked in silence down the block. I could tell she was going to say something but was weighing her words first.

"There aren't any really." She said, as she looked straight down the sidewalk.

"You have me." I said to try and elicit a smile and it worked for a moment, her hand tightened on mine before her expression turned somber again. I tightened my grip on her hand a bit. I knew she wasn't done as I could practically hear the gears turning in her head. She slowed to a stop and lifted her nose slightly sniffing gently. I caught the whiff of a mixture of exhaust, the green dampness of the river on the other side of the road but not whatever she had smelled. She began walking again with a purpose this time. At the end of the block was a small café and bakery. When I saw where she was headed I took another deep breath and noted the scent of coffee and chocolate on the air which caused me to laugh. She gave me a cool look as she turned towards the entrance. We left a few minutes later fortified against the cold with coffee and a paper bag of treats.

"I know I'll never starve in the concrete wilderness as long as I have you by my side. That nose of yours can find coffee and sweets from miles away." Cate broke out in a big grin as we crossed the street in front of the Customs House and took a bench overlooking the river. She took one of the cookies out of the bag and handed it to me.

"So I'm a chocolate truffle pig. Is that it?" She gave me her raised eyebrow look as the strong breezed whipped the loose locks of hair around her face. I just looked back at her wide-eyed and took a big bite of my cookie. Cate laughed. "It's a wise man that knows when to keep his mouth shut, or at least full in this case." I chuckled as I looked across the river at the traffic on the opposite quay. A flash of green here and there where decorative banners were hung for the coming holiday. I knew she was still thinking, she felt tense beside me and it was unusual for her to give off that feeling unless something was obviously bothering her. "What say we see if Laura is working tomorrow after we meet with Aoife?"

"If you'd like to, I'm pretty certain I can find the pub again." A boast which held some weight considering the fact that finding a specific pub in Dublin was like looking for a particular blade of grass in a field. I knew that wasn't the end of the conversation, but I decided not to press her on it and finished my cookie.

We finished our impromptu snack and made our way back around to walk through the garden behind the Customs House and turned northward again. The light was beginning to fade so we took a taxi back to the hotel.

"I think that's more fresh air than I've had since our trip round the lake at Thanksgiving." Cate gave me a peck on the nose then moved a little lower and gave me a lingering kiss.

"Mmm hmm." I returned the kiss as I rubbed my hands up and down her back to warm her up. We relaxed for a little while before going down to the hotel pub for dinner. When we returned to the room Cate gave in and checked her email and I dug out my latest Shakespearean endeavor, A Mid-Summer Night's Dream.

"Now, fair Catelyn, our nuptial hour draws apace..."

Cate turned to me grinning ear to ear. "That it does, but 'tis more than four days hence, nearly four months."

"You've read this one."

"I have, and seen the play a few times. All the world's a stage." She added with a smile. I read more to myself and snorted out loud, which caused Cate to laugh.

"What?"

"'Hippolyta, I wooed thee with my sword, and won thy love, doing thee injuries.' Not much has changed in the wooing department in four hundred years." I said, laughing again.

Cate turned to face me from the little desk. "Did you read the context? He means he kidnapped her and forced her to marry him as spoils of war."

"Well the context makes that sound a lot less dirty." I said, chagrined.

"Don't worry there's plenty of humor coming up." She turned her computer off, pawed through her suitcase pulling out her flannel and padded off to the bath. I read further, the going slow as is to be expected when reading a play versus seeing it acted out. Cate emerged from the bath wearing her flannel top, a stack of folded clothes in her arm. She organized them in the drawer and placed the dirty things in a laundry bag to the side. I watched her move, graceful and fluid, as she put the rest of her clothing into the drawers. She reached up and undid the clip holding her hair and I smiled at the sudden view of her backside clad in gray cotton. She ran her hands through her hair, her outstretched fingers combing through the dark locks as they fell past her shoulders. I wasn't aware that I had stopped breathing until I felt my chest begin to burn. I inhaled deeply letting it out slow.

"Don't worry it gets better." She said in an offhand manner.

"I know, though I always wonder just how it can get any better than this."

She turned at my comment and realized I'd put the book aside and was watching her. A smile played across her lips and her cheeks flushed in the soft lamplight of the room.

"I thought you were exhibiting frustration with the play."

I shook my head slightly, a similar smile played across my face. She took a few steps towards me and leaned on the bedpost wrapping her arm around it.

"What are you thinking?"

I smiled even wider. "I was thinking how incredibly lucky I am to have found the person I love and want to spend the rest of my life with. I was just thinking about how absolutely stunning you are. I was thinking that I am as happy as I will ever be in life, right now. I was thinking that I hope the kids have your eyes."

She rolled the objects of my flattery as she unwrapped herself from the bedpost and walked towards me. She reached down and uncrossed my legs and sat on my lap. "I thought we were waiting, get some travel in first." She said grinning.

"Well we did originally set a sixty year time frame to decide if things would work out. Though with this," I took her hand thumbing her engagement ring, "I've opted for the life commitment." I said bringing her fingers to my lips.

"Sixty to life with no chance for parole."

"No parole for good behavior?"

"Good behavior guarantees the life sentence." She said with a smile and leaned forward to replace her fingers with her lips. My arms wrapped around her waist and I leaned back taking her with me into the plush of the easy chair. She lifted herself away from me and took several deep breaths.

"You're good at that."

"It's like dancing, you're only as good as your partner." I said taking a few deep breaths myself. I watched her expression change. "What?"

She pursed her lips and shook her head slightly brushing the concern away. She let out a little sigh. "I just worry about the future sometimes."

"You're worried it won't be like this for the next sixty years." A little grin spread across my face.

"There's just so much pressure these days. Do you know what I mean?"

"I do." I said with a smile. "Lighter is the burden shared. Isn't that how I put that when we were at your folks?"

She looked down at my chest. "That's true. I don't think I'd have ever finished my degree, what with work and everything else that's happened. Every worry was taken care of, I only need put my hand out and there was coffee, tea, chocolate, or dinner. The daily chores all done, and delivered right to the front door at work every day. Not to mention the on demand back rubs." She smirked. "I worry I'll never be able to repay that care in kind."

"That's not a debt to repay, that's love."

"That it is." She said, a broad grin on her face as she leaned down for another kiss. "If I don't go to bed soon I'm going to turn into a pumpkin. Care to join me?"

"Very much so."

She stood and pulled me up from the chair and assisted me in disrobing. I returned the favor, her flannel fell to the floor next to my clothes.

* * *

The next morning found us going through the usual Monday routine as if we were home and getting ready for class. This morning though we were headed to meet with our new solicitor Aoife Tobin. We had a quick breakfast in the café then took a taxi to her office. Aoife's office in a second floor walk up was tidy and tastefully decorated. I got the distinct feeling she was relatively new at her position.

"Please take a seat. I heard that I came recommended by your mother Miss Murray. She was one of my favorite professors in school." She said with a smile. We completed the introductions and stated our needs and got down to the business. A few hours later we wrapped up and headed back into the brisk, cold March weather.

"Where to now?" Cate asked.

I lifted my nose and sniffed the air, looking down the street in both directions. Cate laughed, took my arm, turned me southward and began walking. We moved away from the river and Saint Stephen's Green. She turned me a few times as we came to intersections and I found why at the last turn. The street was lined with cafés and restaurants.

"It pays to know a native." I said inhaling deeply at the smells wafting through the air.

Cate smiled. "What do you feel like? I'm sure we'll find it nearby." We ended up at a pretentious little upscale café with a profusion of specialty salads and sandwiches, which I was sure were made only by native craftsmen. We had a nice lunch and talked about nothing much. We'd started a guest list for the wedding and she had added a family of cousins on her mothers side and shot off an email to Mum asking for mailing addresses for them if she had them.

"What about you? How many do you think will come from your family? I mean, how many do you think would come to Ireland for a wedding?" She asked carefully. "It could be dreadfully expensive for just a few days."

"I know and anybody that has an issue on that front will be covered for the flight and accommodations by us."

Cate's eyes went wide. "How many people are you inviting? You could break the bank." We both laughed.

"There aren't that many honestly. My grandparents won't pay a cent, I don't care how much they argue. Mom and Dad will pay their own way despite what I want. Jimmy and Pam will be okay from everything I've heard. His business is doing very well. I'll offer anyway since it's my idea, well our idea, to have the wedding here."

"It's a logistical nightmare." Cate said leaning forward, head in hands.

"Piece of cake, the people I'm inviting I've already told so they can start their passport applications if they don't already have them. There aren't many to invite from my side, other than family I've only invited Charlie."

"This Charlie fellow again. Am I ever going to meet this elusive business partner of yours?"

"I'm sure of it. We can have Charlie around for dinner when we get back." I bit my tongue.

"Engravers!"

"What? Don't they have them here?"

She gave me that long suffering look of hers. "Of course we have them here. We need to engage one and get the guest list to them to send invitations."