Chapter 35 – Epilogue

The party ended well into the early hours of the morning, still laughing and happy though, their guests left, when they were done saying their thank you to everyone, they looked around to see that the only people left were their parents, daughters and the team who were all standing waiting, Kate smiled and hugged her team, they all hugged her back and congratulated her again, she smiled and thanked them "have a good honeymoon" Lanie said with a grin and Kate grinned back before turning to her family, she said goodbye to her father and watched as Livie sleepily hugged him too, then she wrapped her arms around her daughter and they went to the car with Rick, Alexis and Martha, and headed back home.

There they clambered slowly up the stairs to bed, Kate smiled as Rick gently helped her out of the beautiful wedding dress, she threw her head back and allowed him to kiss her neck as she carefully stepped out of the dress, then she turned to smile at him and wrapped her arms around his neck briefly kissing him back, before sliding her hands down and beginning to unbutton his shirt, slowly, locked in their embrace they undressed before falling onto the bed passionately making love, for the first time as husband and wife.

XOXOXO

Rick woke up the next morning and looked down, he smiled as he saw Kate curled up against him their hands entwined, he looked at her left hand with the two rings fitting snugly on her finger as though they had always been meant to be there, he looked at his own finger. Twice before had a ring similar to this lain on that finger but never before had it felt so perfect, had been a perfect fit, but that was because he hadn't been with the right woman before, now he was with the woman of his dreams and everything was perfect, he doubted he could be happier.

He thought back through the wedding smiling at certain scenes, the sight of Alexis and Livie moving down towards him grinning from ear to ear as he smiled fondly at them. His eyes travelling up, feeling his jaw drop as he spotted Kate, cheeks slightly red, but grinning as their eyes met, the sight of her looking so beautiful, so perfect had made his heart soar, he had been consumed by his love for her, and to hear her say his vows, to really show him how much she loved him, had made him giddy with delight, he gazed at her, still amazed, he would forever be amazed at how lucky he was to have the woman on his dreams, with a beautiful strong daughter, whom he loved, he loved them both so much and it definitely felt like his life was complete, for the first time, he was married to a woman he loved, Alexis had a sensible mother figure who she adored and Livie had told him that he was her father figure that she adored, and he was delighted that she felt that way.

He looked back down as he felt Kate stir, she blinked tiredly and then looked up at him, and smiled, he smiled back at her happily before kissing her gently "good morning beautiful" he murmured and she giggled, grinning at him "ready to go on honeymoon" he asked, she grinned "of course" she said "can't wait", they lay in bed together, for a while before with a sigh and a final kiss Kate pulled herself out of bed, they had packed their bags the night before, so they were ready to go, except of course they had to say goodbye to their daughters.

Kate smiled at her new husband, wow, she was never going to get used to that, then she slipped out of the room and went down the hall and pushed open the door to her daughter's room. She stood in the doorway studying her, for a while, the one person who had meant more than anything to her, the one person she would give anything to protect, the one person who had helped her step out of her protective shell and embrace her true feelings, for most of her life, Livie had been the most important thing to her, the only person she had truly loved, Livie had been more than her daughter all those years, she was her best friend, aside from Lanie of course, she looked at her now, it was amazing how only about 5 months ago, none of her family at the precinct had known about her, her two lives had been separate, and her home life her secret life, then they had had all that pain and everything had changed, her secret had been revealed as her daughter had been torn away from her, then the side to Rick she had never imagined had been brought into the light and without even realising it she had fallen in love with him, Rick was right, without Livie, pulling those buried feelings out and changing her opinion of him, she would never have allowed them to come out, she had been scared of that sort of commitment , Livie was the only one she had opened up to and Livie had shown her it was safe to feel.

She looked at her daughter now curled up under the bed covers, fast asleep a peaceful expression on her face, she felt a small smile creep onto her face and then she moved forward and carefully slid into the bed next to Livie and carefully wrapped her arms around her, pulling her carefully against her chest hugging her tightly, as she did so Livie murmured and shifted in her sleep, she turned her head towards her and must have unconsciously recognised her because she snugged deeper into her arms and sighed before going back into her deep peaceful sleep, Kate hugged her tightly savouring the moment, stroking her light brown hair, twisting it gently around her fingers, gazing at her, she felt like she owed her daughter so much, for helping her see who the man of her dreams was.

She lay there hugging Livie tightly until she stirred and blinked up at her mom "what are you doing in here" she mumbled Kate smiled "am I not allowed in here anymore" she asked teasingly, Livie sighed and snuggled into her mom's chest again "yeah of course you can come in but shouldn't you be, I dunno with your husband" Kate smiled again hugging her "just came to say goodbye before we leave for our honeymoon, won't see you for a while" "oh yeah" Livie said yawning, then she wrapped her arms around her mom and hugged her tightly, she breathed in the scent of her mom's hair whilst her mom gripped her just as tightly, they had been apart before but never for as long as this, and with everything that had happened, both of them were worried, they lay there together, they didn't even notice Rick and Alexis come and stand at the door, Alexis leaning against her dad happily, eventually Livie noticed them and grinned "hi" she mumbled and her mom rolled over to smile at them too, "ready for breakfast" Rick asked and all three of his girls nodded eagerly , he smiled happily, still unable to believe it.

Together they made breakfast, giggling and laughing with each other, just being a family. But soon the time came for Kate and Rick to leave for their honeymoon, the two parents embraced their daughters tightly, "thank you" Kate whispered to Livie who looked at her in confusion "for what" she asked, Kate smiled "for helping me to break down my walls and see what I was missing" Livie smiled "no problem" she said "thank you for always being there when I need you and never letting me go" this time it was Kate's turn to smile "always will be" she promised and kissed Livie's forehead.

Then she stepped back and moved to hug Alexis whilst Rick hugged Livie lifting her making her giggle happily, once all goodbyes were said the four of them went down to the garage under their building and loaded their bags into the car and Kate slid into the passenger side of the car and Rick slipped into the driver's side, it felt weird but nice to Kate, to let him drive for a change, she looked back at Livie and Alexis standing side by side grinning at them, she watched them together as the car slowly began to pull out of the lot and they waved, she watched them until they had disappeared from sight still waving, then she turned to look at Rick.

"so o husband where are you taking me" he grinned "total isolation where no one will disturb us" "ooo sounds like fun" she said with a laugh "and where can total isolation be found" he grinned "the Hamptons" he said "time for you to see your second home" her eyes widened "awesome" she said, he grinned again "glad you approve" he said "somewhere easy to access, warm I presume and all to ourselves for having fun in, why wouldn't I approve" she said, he grinned "you forgot luxury for having fun in" she frowned "ok how big is your place in the Hamptons" "ah" he said with a wink "wait and see"

XOXOXO

About halfway there Kate must have fallen asleep because the next thing she knew Rick was gently shaking her, she blinked and stirred before shielding her eyes from the bright sunlight, once they had adjusted she looked around and felt her jaw drop as she stared at the house "ok" she said "when you said you had a house in the Hamptons I thought you meant house not a frickin villa the size of the precinct" Rick laughed "it is not the biggest" he said "believe me I looked at much bigger ones" "oh that doesn't surprise me" Kate said getting out of the car and staring at the house.

It was big, bigger than she had imagined, she had expected just a small holiday cottage, but this was a beautiful traditional house, with whitewashed walls and a sloping red tiled roof, a beautifully kept lawn ran on either side of the white slab path that lead to the arched front door, she moved towards it and then gasped only to laugh afterwards as Rick swept her off her feet "I'm anything but traditional" he said with a twinkle in his eye and he carefully opened the front door and stepped into the house before setting her down and going to fetch the bags, she looked out the door, there were other houses around but most of them looked empty, she smiled, isolation indeed.

She moved further in, eyeing the rounding staircase that led to the second floor, curving round a large chandelier hanging from the ceiling, she moved through and arch into a sitting room, with a huge TV and comfortable looking sofa's and then into the kitchen which blew her away, it was massive, loads of cupboards, a huge fridge and an island unit in the centre, she moved again through the kitchen gazing around in wonder, to one side of her there was a French window which lead to a platform with a huge pool and in front of her was another set of French windows leading straight to the golden sands of a beach, with a big blue ocean just metres away from her back door, she slowly opened the French window and breathed in the fresh ocean breeze, smiling as she felt it lift her curls, blowing them back. Livie would truly love it here, she did love the sea, and she always had.

She heard footsteps from behind her and then Rick's gentle arms around her, he kissed her neck gently, she smiled and arced her neck reaching up to run her hands through his hair as he did so "what do you think" he murmured as he kissed her, she smiled before turning to face him "it's beautiful here Rick" she whispered "how can you bare to come home" he smiled at her and cupped her face in his hands "there has always been something to come home for" he said "book deals, Alexis if she hasn't come with me" he smiled at her "and for the last few years it has been you Kate" she gazed into his eyes, as blue as the ocean behind her and smiled "what will bring you home this time then" she asked, leaning against him as she looked out at the sea again "our daughters" she heard him say softly, "they will be there for us when we return"

She smiled again before turning to face him again "would you like the rest of the tour" he asked, and with a grin she nodded. The tour stopped when they reached the main bedroom.

XOXOXO

A few days later found Kate lying in the warm sand leaning against her husband, smiling as she felt the sun's heat beat down on her, she loved it here and wanted to stay here forever, away from the pain and death of the world, in complete isolation, but of course there were a few things she would miss if she stayed here forever, her daughters and the rest of her family being the main things.

She closed her eyes and felt Rick stroke her cheek with his thumb and she sighed happily shifting into a more comfortable position against his chest, she had been in the Hamptons for a week now, and she had barely seen any of the area that couldn't be seen from the house, they only left to get food, apart from that they just stayed there together, making love and lying on the beach, or swimming in the sea "how much longer are we going to stay here" she murmured eyes still closed "we can stay here for as long as you like" he said "Mmm" she said "don't say that or I will never leave" he chuckled "though I do want to see the girls soon" she said almost wistfully, she heard him chuckle again "yeah" he said, she looked up at him to see he was looking over his shoulder "about them"

Kate rolled over only to laugh as Livie came hurtling across the sands squealing "surprise", she fell to the sand beside her mom and hugged her, still laughing Kate hugged her back "what are you doing here" she exclaimed in delight "Easter holidays" Livie said with a giggle "school's out so we came up to see you" "we" Kate questioned, she looked up and grinned as Alexis come running round the house, she ran to her dad laughing "my bad" Rick said with a grin as he hugged her "thought it was a bit to quiet here" Kate laughed "it was beginning to get a bit quiet I have to say" Martha came round having volunteered to drive the girls up, she declined their offer to stay saying she was looking forward to having the loft to herself for a bit of peace and quiet, and so the four of them were left to themselves as a family.

Livie like her was stunned by the size of the house but soon got over it and ran around exploring it before running out to the patio with the swimming pool, she poked her toe into the water and grinned then she let out a shriek as she tumbled into the water along with Alexis and Rick cheekily snuck up behind them and pushed them in, they both surfaced spluttering but laughing, they trod water for a minute looking at Rick who stepped out of arms reach still grinning, but he was still in the splash zone he soon found out as both of the girls threw water in his face. Kate watched them from the cooler safety of the kitchen a smile on her face, everything was perfect now, their first family holiday was underway.

XOXOXO

The next week flew by so fast it was unbelievable, they spent their days together mostly watching movies and stuff when not outside in the sun, as Kate had predicted Livie fell in love with the face that the beach and the ocean was her back garden and she was often out there swimming or snorkelling, or diving down to see the hidden world underneath, they almost had to drag her out most days when it began to get dark though Kate and Rick did take a few moonlit swims once exhausted the girls had gone to bed.

They had agreed that they wouldn't stay here for any longer than two weeks with the girls in fear of deciding not to ever leave their isolated heaven and as the last few days of their honeymoon family vacation began to become visible everyone felt slightly down, but they knew they had to return home to school and their jobs, Rick promised they would come back for longer in the summer holidays and bring Skye for Livie he suggested, planning to have one of the out buildings converted into a stable for her which made Livie's eyes light up, and she was soon obviously planning bringing her horse here and riding bareback across the beach and wading in the sea, Kate knew that the summer wouldn't come fast enough for her now.

On the second to last day she woke up early and slipped out of the house, she walked across the beach until she felt the gentle waves lick at her toes, she moved forward until she was knee deep in the warm sea water and stood there watching as the sun began to rise, she heard the sound of someone approaching and she looked over to see Livie coming towards her "you're up early" Kate commented and Livie smiled as she moved forward to lean against her "I have been waking up this early since we got here" she said "I like to watch the sun rise and I saw you heading down here so I thought I would join you" Kate smiled and wrapped her arms around her daughter.

They stood there together watching the sun rise, just the two of them as it had been what felt like years ago, Kate hugged her daughter tightly feeling the breeze running through her hair and the water lap around her knees, then she felt a gentle arm around her waist and she smiled as she leaned against Rick as he and Alexis joined him, he had his arm around Alexis as hers was around Livie, she slowly slid her free hand into his and gripped it gently.

And the four of them stood there in the sea, connected by embraces and held hands, to anyone who looked over them from behind, all they would see would be four connected silhouettes shadows against the great sun's bright light, standing in the glittering jewel of the ocean, they stood there facing the light, as their lives were now, they were putting the shadows of the past behind them and stepping into the light of their new life together. As one. As a family.

The End – For Now

Thanks for all the reviews everyone, and thanks for reading, I hope you enjoyed it.

You can read more about Rick, Kate, Alexis, Livie and the rest of the team in my crossover story An Adolescent Alliance – Crossed with Bones and NCIS

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Mystic Girl