Sometimes Dreams Come True

~~~~~~

Taking my hand the moment she saw me, Kate stood on her toes, gave me a light kiss on the lips, and then smiled and said, "Would you care if I took you back to my room for a few minutes before we go out?"

"No, not at all," I uncomfortably replied, "Is everything okay?"

"Of course," she softly giggled, "It's just that I think you have beautiful hair, and it's too pretty to be in a ponytail so; I'm going to blow dry it for you, okay handsome?"

~~~~~~

"Your father is a nice guy," I told her, once we'd reached her room, "Tell him that I said hello the next time you see him."

"You can tell him yourself," she giggled, making me sit on her bed while she pulled her blow dryer out of her closet, "We're going to my parent's house as soon as your hair is dry."

"Uh...okay," I nervously replied, "Sounds good to me."

"Relax," she giggled, "My parents are really cool people and you're going to be really surprised."

I don't know why I did what I did next, but no longer being able to deny the impulse I felt, I suddenly grabbed her by the waist, making her delightfully squeal as I pulled her into my lap, and then looked deeply into her eyes and said, "Have I ever told you how beautiful I think you are."

"No," she softly said, tenderly caressing my face, "But now is as good a time as any," and then she gently but firmly placed her lips upon mine and really...I mean really kissed me. She softly moaned as her tongue found mine, and thus began the start of something sweeter that anything I would ever in my life come to know.

~~~~~~

Chapter Two

"Mom," Kate smiled, as she introduced me to her mother, "I'd like you to meet my new friend, Rick Parker."

"It's nice to meet you, Missus Evans," I nervously replied, shaking her hand.

"So, this is your knight in shining armor, huh?" she grinned at Kate, "He sure is a handsome thing, Katie; and you can call me Sandy, okay Rick?"

"Yes, ma'am," I replied.

"Hey, Rick," smiled Roger Evans, entering the room, "It's good to see you again. How are you, son?"

"I'm doing well, sir," I grinned, as we shook hands, "And thank you again for last night."

"Think nothing of it," he smiled, "So what brings you here this morning?"

"I did," Kate giggled, "I wanted Mom to meet him."

"Good," Roger laughed, "I finally have someone who can help me out in this sea of estrogen around here."

"Oh, hush, Roger," Sandy chuckled, "Somebody needs to keep you in line, and that's why we're here, huh, Katie?"

"That's right, Mom," Katie giggled, as she hugged her Dad, "But we need to take it easy on him until we get Rick broken in first."

"Huh?" I stupidly asked.

"Don't pay these two any mind, Rick," Roger laughed, "They get a little too full of theirselves from time to time."

"And it's a good thing, too," Sandy replied, smacking him on the butt, "Or you'd eat up all of the profits from the restaurant."

"Don't blame it on me," Roger laughed, as he rubbed the slight portliness of his stomach, "All of the recipes came from your side of the family, dear."

"That's right." Sandy giggled, hugging Roger "I forgot for a moment, sweetie."

As I watched the exchange between Kate's parents, I discovered the well from which her beauty and kindness had sweetly sprung. And in that precious moment, I also began to discover a side of my own self that I never even knew existed...for that was the day that I first fell for Kate.

~~~~~~

Later that afternoon Kate and I were sitting together out on the commons in front of our dorm when she leaned over and kissed my cheek.

"What was that for?" I asked.

"I never really thanked you for taking up for me," she sweetly smiled, "I was afraid...I mean really afraid. And then you came in and kicked Eddie Ross' ass...as well as chasing off him and his chicken-shit friends."

"But he was about to slap you," I softly said, gently taking her hand, "And I couldn't just stand by and let that happen."

"Then there's something you need to know," she warned, "I went to high school with him, and I know that he's going to come looking for you, because he's such a vindictive prick."

"Don't worry," I confidently replied, "He's a coward...trust me."

"That's what I'm worried about," she fretted, "He'll come after you when you least expect it so; please be careful."

In a one-on-one situation I knew that I could easily defend myself, however, if he were to bring some friends with him...that would most certainly change the situation. In other words, I would be forced to use greater, almost deadly force when it came to defending myself.

However, the laws in my home state are very specific when it comes to deadly use of the martial arts. It basically states that if more than one person is attacking someone, and that particular someone is skilled in martial arts, then the use of deadly force is called justifiable homicide if one or more of the attackers get killed.

~~~~~~

That night Kate and I went to meet Mike and a couple of our other friends at "Sam's" to listen to the band that Mike and I had gone and seen the night before. We couldn't have been there for more than an hour when Eddie Ross and four of his friends showed up at our table.

"HEY ASSHOLE!" he shouted over the music.

"What do you want?" I sneered, taking a defensive posture.

"I'm here to kick your ass," he laughed, "And there's nothing that you can do about it."

"You didn't learn the last time, did you?" I snarled, "If you're dead set on this, I'm going to warn you right now that I'm not going to play with you this time. Do you understand?"

"Outside," he said, "NOW!"

"Alright then," I smiled, "Lead the way."

~~~~~~

The moment we were in the parking lot outside the club, two of Eddie's friends tried to grab me. I sent the first one down with a spinning back kick straight into his jaw, and the second with a hard back-fist to bridge of his nose.

Before I had time to recover, Kate screamed, "RICK, LOOK OUT," and then I felt something slicing into my right side. As I turned; I saw Eddie holding a knife with my blood on it. I punched him hard in the face, causing him to drop the knife, and then wince in pain as I took hold of his right arm and bent him forward to a ninety degree angle.

"I'm going to snap his arm off if you don't back off," I warned his friends, "Get the fuck out of here, NOW," and needless to say, they quickly fled.

I was now hurt and extremely pissed off by this time, and going totally against everything I'd been taught since I was little, I gave Eddie Ross four consecutive kicks in the face, delivering them as hard as I possibly could. And, also having lost my temper, something I almost never do, I twisted his arm over until I heard it snap, and then knocked Eddie out cold with one last extremely hard kick to the face.

~~~~~~

"This is going to need stitches," Kate fearfully said, taking off my bloody shirt and looking at the knife wound I'd received, "We'd better call my Dad."

~~~~~~

"You take it easy and let me take a look at this, Rick," smiled Roger Evans, as he took the makeshift bandage off the knife wound, once we arrived at Kate's parent's house, "Uh, oh, it looks like you've been cut pretty deep, kid. What've you been into?"

"He got attacked by five people, Daddy," Kate quickly said, "And he kicked three of their asses so badly that the other two ran away."

"Let me guess," Roger laughed, "It was Eddie Ross and his crew, wasn't it?"

"How did you know?" I asked.

"That dumb ass has been after Katie ever since they were kids," Roger smiled, "And now it looks like he's met his match." Then he took the bandage completely off and said, "Come with me into the kitchen and sit down. I'll stitch you up."

"But you're not a doctor," I objected, "Maybe we should go to the Emergency Room."

"I was a Navy Corpsman in the Korean War as well as the early years of the war in Vietnam, son," he smiled, "You're in good hands, kid, trust me."

~~~~~~

Kate held my hands while her father gave me fourteen stitches, and the only discomfort I felt was when he deadened the site by injecting the Lidocaine Hydrochloride on each side of the wound. Other than that, the whole procedure was virtually painless.

However, while he worked on me, Roger asked me questions about the fracas that had just occurred, as well as how I reacted to it. I told him the truth as best as I could remember, omitting nothing. And while I spoke, I could've sworn I saw a proud smirk wash across his face more than just a couple of times.

~~~~~~

"Be sure to keep it clean," Roger smiled, as he finished bandaging my wound, "Come back here in ten days so that I can take those stitches out." Then he devilishly smiled and added, "On second thought, why don't you get Katie to do it? It isn't like I haven't taught her how to remove stitches, huh Katie girl?"

"That's right, Daddy," she smiled, then helping me stand up, Kate said, "Come on, sweetie, let's get you home."

~~~~~~

"This makes twice that you've saved me," Kate softly said, as we lay beside one another in my dorm room, "I'm so sorry that you got hurt."

"That's what I get for taking on that many people," I chuckled, "Man, my Sensei would sure be pissed off at me big time if he knew abut this?"

"I won't tell him," Kate giggled.

"You won't have to," I fearfully replied, "Somehow he always seems to know when I'm in trouble. I don't know how I know, but I expect he'll probably be here sometime tomorrow."

"Mmm," she purred as she gently hugged me, "So will I, baby...so will I."

~~~~~~

I was awakened the next morning by the sound of someone loudly knocking at my door. I was also pleasantly surprised to find that Kate was still lying next to me, causing her to awaken when I rose to answer the door.

I was not surprised to find none other than Mr. Kazamatsu standing there as I opened the door.

"Good morning, sir," I meekly said, "What're you doing here?"

"Why you fight?" he asked, in broken English, "And how many people?"

"Well, Sensei..." I began.

"How many?" he angrily barked, interrupting me.

"There were five of them," Kate defensively growled at him, from across the room. And as she made her way toward us, she looked at Mr. Kazamatsu and contemptuously snorted, "He was defending me so; if you want to be pissed off at someone, then you can be pissed off at me...and not Rick."

Kazamatsu suddenly got a lopsided grin on his face, and after looking back and forth a couple of times between me and Kate, he grinned at me. And then while looking at my knife wound, he laughed and said, "Five people and that is only wound you get?" making me nod my head, "Ha, you pretty good...not so stupid boy," and then he patted me on the shoulder and left, laughing wildly as he closed the door behind him.

~~~~~~

"I'll be damned," I chuckled.

"Who in the hell was that?" Kate demanded, "He was awfully rude."

"That was my Sensei, the man who taught me how to defend myself," I explained, "His name is Shigeru Kazamatsu, and I broke my word to him by fighting those assholes."

"I don't understand," she replied, "You were defending the rest of us, not to mention yourself."

Maybe so," I said, "But I still should've just walked away, then I wouldn't have gotten stabbed."

"I really enjoyed sleeping next you last night, Rick," Katie smiled, changing the subject by placing her arms around my waist, making me hiss from her pressing against my wound.

"Ooops," she giggled, backing away slightly, "I'm sorry, sweetie. I didn't mean to hurt you."

"It's okay," I groaned, "It only hurts a little bit."

"I wanted to tell you how brave I thought you were," she smiled, lightly kissing my lips, "You could've been hurt a lot worse than you were."

"Uh huh," I chuckled; "Now you see why my Sensei was so pissed off at me, huh?"

"He didn't look that way when he left though;" Kate pointedly replied, "Did he?"

"No," I curiously smiled, "You're right, he didn't, did he?"

"Well then," she sweetly purred, taking my hand and pulling me back down onto my bed, "Let's spend the day relaxing, sweetie. What do you say, hmm?"

"That sounds pretty good to me," I smiled, slowly placing my arms around her waist and pulling Kate against me, "Besides, I can't think of anyone I'd rather be relaxing with right now than you, okay beautiful?"

Kate answered me by placing her lips softly against mine; giving me the sweetest kiss, which was normal for her. Then our tongues deliciously began an age old dance, while at the same time; something within me, which was a sweet, tender...emotional feeling that I'd yet to experience in my life, began to awaken.

"I've wanted to do that for the longest time now," Kate sensually breathed, the moment our lips parted, "Ever since you protected me from Eddie Ross that first time."

"And I thought that you were so pretty, too," I smiled, gently tracing her lovely cheek and jaw line with the back of my hand, "The prettiest girl I've ever seen."

"Thank you, Rick," she smiled, kissing my lips, "I think you're pretty hot, too."

I slowly leaned down and softly kissed her lips, barely tasting them, not wanting to let myself completely go; yet wondering how she would respond if I did. In order to test the waters, so to speak, I slowly began to rub her tummy. However, before I could go any further I heard another knock at my door.

"I wonder who this could be." I asked, rising from not only the bed, but also the tender embrace within the sweetness of Kate's arms.

~~~~~~

When I opened the door I was surprised to find a girl who stood about five feet, five inches tall, with blonde hair and blue eyes. She was very pretty and built very nicely with her measurements proportionate to her height and weight.

"Can I help you?" I politely asked.

"Hi, I'm Kate's room mate, Sara Miles," she softly replied, "Is she here?"

"Yes," I grinned, opening the door wider so that she and Kate could see each other, "She sure is, please, come in, Sara."

"Girl, are you okay?" Sara asked Kate, "I was worried sick when I heard what happened." Then she turned to me, and giggling, said, "Where are my manners? You're Rick Parker, aren't you?"

"Yes," I smiled, extending my hand, "It's nice to meet you."

"A handshake," she grinned, "Oh, no," and then she placed her arms around my waist, and tightly hugging me, added, "Around here, nice guys always get hugs."

"Thank you," I hissed, "I'm not trying to be impolite, but..."

"He just got fourteen stitches last night, Sara," Kate almost jealousy interrupted, jumping off the bed to pull her away, "You're gonna pop them if you don't let go of him this instant."

"Jeez, Kate," Sara knowingly smiled, "I was just trying to say hello, damn."

"Yeah, well, you said hello," Kate possessively replied, "That's enough."

"Ladies," I smiled, trying to diffuse a potentially awkward situation, "Why don't we go get some breakfast this morning?"

Before anyone could reply, my room mate, Mike, burst through the door. "Rick," he said, almost out of breath, "I came as soon as I heard what happened. Are you alright?"

"He got fourteen stitches from where Eddie Ross tried to stab him," Kate quickly replied.

"Speaking of Eddie Ross, he's going to file charges against you," Mike said, "If he hasn't done it already."

"What the hell for?" I said, "He had the knife, as well as four other people backing him up."

"Let me take care of this," Kate smiled, as she picked up the telephone in my dorm room, "Don't worry, Rick, everything is going to be fine...I promise you, sweetheart."

"Ooo, girl," Sara giggled, "I knew you had the hots for him, I was right."

"Shut up, Sara," Kate grinned, as she winked at me, "You'll have to forgive her, Rick."

Oh, yeah?" I smiled, pulling Kate into my arms, quickly kissing her lips, "There's nothing to forgive if she was telling the truth, now, is there?"

"No," Kate purred, "I guess not," and then began to kiss me again.

"I thought you were going to use the phone, Kate," Sara giggled, with Mike laughing alongside of her.

"Oh, hush up, you two," Kate laughed at Mike and Sara as she picked up the phone.

~~~~~~

Twenty minutes later we were at Kate's parent's house again, only this time it was to see her mother, Sandy.

"Now I want you to tell me everything, Rick," she said, after Kate had relayed to her the information Mike had given us earlier, "And don't leave out a single thing, no matter how small you think it is."

"I almost forgot to tell you," Kate knowingly giggled, "Mom is an attorney, a defense attorney...and she's never lost a single case either."

"Oh, hush up, Katie-girl," Sandy smiled, then turned to me, "Start from the beginning, Rick, sweetie."

I told her everything I could remember, starting back to the very first time Eddie Ross tried to slap Kate, and when I was finished, Roger came out of the garage and into the house holding a plastic bag with a bloody knife inside of it.

"I went back to that bar after I stitched you up last night," he devilishly grinned, "And look what I found. I had a friend of mine test the blood on the knife against the blood on your bandage and it's an exact match."

"So, what does this mean?" I asked.

"I'll tell you what it means, kiddo," Roger laughed, gently patting me on the shoulder, "It means that when Eddie Ross files assault charges against you, and he will, I know the little bastard all too well; we have indisputable proof that he attacked you with intent to do bodily harm; especially since I know that the fingerprints on the knife will be another exact match to his own."

"Good work, honey," Sandy smiled.

"I agree with Mom," Kate giggled, "Pretty cool, Dad."

"I agree, sir," I smiled, "I think it took some doing to find the evidence you have, but I'll still get arrested."

"I wouldn't worry too much about that if I were you, Rick. You see, I always wanted to be a policeman when I was a kid, but I'm slightly color blind," he laughed, "So, I married a beautiful lawyer instead. I went to law school, too...even passed the state bar exam. But when I tasted my father-in-law's barbecue for the first time, I knew in my heart that we could make a hell of a lot of money selling this stuff and I would be able to eat it any time I wanted."

"Yeah, and it's starting to show, too, Dad," Kate teased, poking her father in the stomach with her finger, "You really ought to slow down."

"Leave me alone girl," Roger grinned, and then turned he to me, changing the subject and said, "Let's have a look at those stitches, Rick."

~~~~~~

"Oh, my goodness, Katie," Sandy smiled, the moment I'd taken my shirt off, "He reminds me of your father when he was that age."

"I know Mom," Kate proudly giggled, knowing that she was also making me blush, "Isn't he pretty?"

"Alright, that's enough," Roger said, "Stop trying to embarrass Rick."

"You'll have to forgive these two," Roger told me smiling, "They've been that way ever since Katie turned about sixteen, or so."

"It's okay," I smiled, gently caressing Kate's tender cheek and staring into her beautiful blue eyes while trying to imagine her at sixteen, "Don't give it another thought."

I suddenly heard a happy sniffle coming from Sandy's direction, but I wisely chose to maintain the eye contact that had been established between me and my beautiful Kate. However, right before I began to drown in her eyes, she gently pulled my hand around to her lips, tenderly kissing the back of it

~~~~~~

"I really like your parents," I smiled, as Kate and I lay together in my bed, "I think your Dad likes me."

"What're you talking about?" she girlishly laughed, "Both of my parents think you're the greatest thing since sliced bread."

"You father is a very nice guy," I replied, "And your Mom looks more like your sister than she does your mother."