A/N: Thank you so much for all the sweet reviews on the last chapter! I'm so glad you all think these characters are in character and I'm being realistic. :) I write to please you all! Quick update on my teeth: I CAN CHEW SOLID FOODS! Mac n Cheese and muffins are my best friends at the moment. Aright, back to the story. ;)
Katherine heard the front door swing open and turned to see Jack walk in, Davey following behind him. "Hey, Katherine?" He called to her loudly, kicking off his shoes and not noticing she was standing a few feet away from him. "Dave's here. I kinda dragged him here to take that baby shower gift home."
"What's my baby cousin doing at your place, Jack?" David glared at his coworker and stood as a barrier between the two other adults. He turned his head and looked at Katherine holding Jenna. "And why is she holding your baby? Ok, now I'm confused!" David threw his hands up in defeat, his wide eyes looking back and forth between Jack and Katherine, searching for quick answers.
"Gee, it's nice to see you, too, Davey." Katherine rolled her eyes at her protective older cousin, the man who was much like a brother to her. "Relax, okay? I was watching Jenna while he was at court and told him I'd be happy to stay and watch her on my day off. One baby is sure easier than eight."
"YOU SLEPT OVER? KATHY!" David yelled, growing red in the face with his fists balled up near his sides. Katherine pressed one hand to his chest in an effort to keep the two from starting a fight.
"Calm down, David, would you?! Yes, I slept over. No, most certainly not in the same bed and you know why. So please relax and know nothing happened and that I'm just here to support a friend during a tough time." Katherine explained rather quickly and calmly, watching as her protector's face returned to a normal shade, his fists uncurling and his eyes no longer glaring dangerously at Jack.
"Dave, nothing happened." Jack weakly defended, his posture never faltering.
"Nothing at all?" He double-checked. Both adults nodded in assurance and all David did was nod. "Sorry about that, Jack." He began his apology, looking at him with soft eyes, taking a step closer. "It's just um…she's had a tough life and I'm really her main support. I don't want her hurt in any way."
"I get it, Dave, don't sweat it. I would've done the same with Jenna." Jack said as the two shook hands awkwardly. "Let me go find that baby shower gift I forgot."
Jack turned on the ball of his heel and left to go in search of the gift wrapped in a baby pink bag. Katherine turned sharply to look at her cousin and glare at him furiously once he had left the room. "David Joseph Jacobs you are so lucky there is an infant in my arms or else I would have stabbed you by now." Katherine hissed quietly at her cousin, her chest heaving from obvious anger. "We agreed several years ago to never talk about my incident. You could have had him asking questions and you're damn lucky he didn't."
"Sorry, Kathy. But after it happened I became even more protective of you and men around you. I can't have it happening again…anything like it happening again. You were a mess; our whole family was."
"Our whole family meaning you, Les, and me. I don't have anyone but you two, which is why it's important you're nice to Jack." Katherine hushed; glancing over her shoulder to make sure Jack wasn't coming yet. "Jack and I have decided to date. It had nothing to do with me sleeping over, I swear. He never made an advance at me sexually, so relax. He is a complete gentleman. Jack Kelly is a really good guy."
"I sure hope he is. And I sure hope he treats you well." David said hesitantly. "Give me a hug, Kid." He said as he pulled her into his arms for a friendly bear hug.
"Why is everyone calling me Kid lately? I am a grown woman!" Katherine growled into his work vest, the beginning of his neck being the end of her head.
"You'll always be a kid to me. I'm ten years older than you. Remember me? That old thirty-four year old cousin you got?" He kissed the top of her head and let her leave his grasp, lightly rocking Jenna in her arms. "Call me if you wanna talk about it, okay, Kathy?"
"Okay, Davey. I love you, old man." She smirked up at him.
"And I love you, Kid." He smiled back down at her.
"I got it!" They both whipped their heads behind them at the sound of Jack's voice. He swiftly moved to where they had been standing, a pink gift bag in his hands. "Sorry, Dave. That day was a busy one for me and I forgot."
"Don't sweat it." He replied with a bright smile. "I gotta get home to Medda. Thanks for the belated gift, Jack. And treat my baby cousin right." David winked at Jack and waved to the two of them, standing awestruck, and slipped out the door.
"How'd he…? Oh!" Jack said, confused at first, and then turning to Katherine with realization. "You told him we're together?" Katherine nodded, handing Jenna to him. Jack smiled at his daughter, bouncing her in the air in front of his face. He did everything to make her giggle, laugh, and smile for the next few minutes before returning to his conversation with Katherine. "I can tell he loves you a lot. I like that."
"I do, too." Katherine smiles fondly of him, smiling as Jack interacts with his daughter. "We should do something Saturday. Neither of us work that day and it could be our second official date."
"What was our first?" jack asked, brows scrunched together in confusion.
"Well our gourmet French toast breakfast in our PJs this morning, of course!" Katherine said in a silly, dramatic tone. The smile in her voice gave off that she was joking and soon enough her and Jack were both in a fit of laughter.
"I'll take you on an official date soon enough, don't you worry." He winked at her. "I'll get someone to watch Jenna and it can be just the two of us. Real romantic and all."
"Oh, Jack Jenna can come. It's alright with me, I love kids, and besides, I couldn't take away from your time with her." Katherine protested innocently. Jack felt a familiar stab in his gut as she mentioned being with him and his daughter. Did she not want it to be just them? Was Jenna the reason for their relationship?
"You sure? I mean…you don't want it to be just us?" Jack asked tentatively as he looks down at his daughter.
"I would love Jenna to be there, but it's up to you. If you have ideas running through that handsome head of yours that are only meant for you and I, then ignore I ever said anything." Katherine said with a shrug of her shoulders.
Jack only nodded, not sure what to think. Of course he'd been coming up with romantic date ideas all day long, but he was also trying to figure out Katherine's true intentions with him and his daughter. "Thanks for watching her again." Again. She watched his daughter for free before they had shown their interest in each other. She watched his daughter even though she watches her every other day at work. That damned voice that had been going off in Jack's head all day long decided to speak up again, after having been quieted down for a while.
"Does she love me or my kid?"
Hearst High School, 2007
Sixteen year old Katherine Plumber stands in the hallway with her group of friends. She wasn't by any means popular and she knew it full well. Her friends went on and on about their crushes as she stood there, leaning against a blue locker, having no part in their conversation.
Katherine Plumber did not have crushes. She had had only one true crush before, but he had led her on and asked another girl to homecoming. He'd asked another girl after saying he would ask her. He'd asked another girl that was skinnier and prettier and more popular than her. Why would she have believed for a second that he was interested in her?
Katherine stopped having crushes, figuring that she had never once been asked out by a boy in all her sixteen-nearly seventeen-years of living. No boys flirted with her or really even talked to her. What was the point in getting her hopes up that some stupid boy would like her, then cry for days on end when he never talks to her or asks a different girl out? Why would anyone-
"Katherine?"
Her thoughts were interrupted by a deep voice. Turning her head, Katherine's chocolate eyes met with the green ones of Oscar Delancey, a boy she recognized from her English class.
"Yeah?" She replied, almost immediately smacking herself for her stupid response. She was always so awkward around boys.
"I need to get to my locker." He pointed to the locker she had been leaning on for a while with a little smile on his face.
"Oh, duh. Sorry." She said, biting her lower lip, her face flushing a bright red as she moved.
"You're cute when you blush." He said nonchalantly as she passed him. She turned around, eyes wide, and stared at him as he simply carried on with putting books in his locker.
"Did you just call me cute?" She gaped at his words.
"Sorry?" He half-apologized, confusion dripping from his voice.
"No…uh…I didn't mean it like that." She said, her face growing red again. "I just don't get complimented by boys…or people…like ever."
"I don't why. You're really cute." He says as he does that cute half-smile on her. His short blonde hair was perfectly styled and he ran his right hand through the silky blonde threads. "We should talk more. We have English together, right?"
"Yeah…fifth period." Katherine nodded, a smile on her face now.
"Well I can't wait for fifth period then. See you later, Katherine. I like your smile, by the way." He winked at her before walking away, leaving her standing there in shock over what just happened.
"Could a boy like me? Especially a boy like Oscar Delancey? He's cute, pretty popular, and…well, a boy. None of those things have found me appealing before!"
Katherine walked to first period with a smile on her face, eagerly waiting for fifth period.
A/N: There you have it! That last little flashback is the beginning of Katherine and Davey's hesitation towards Katherine with guys and sexuality in general. I hope you all enjoyed! Review, follow, and favorite for more! :)