Disclaimer: Early Edition doesn't belong to me.  The characters of EE belong to Tristar Pictures. The other characters in this story belong to me.  This is the continuation of my story Second Chance .  It picks up right where the other left off.  E-mails are always welcome.

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A New Beginning
by Christine

Chapter 1

Gary got down on one knee in front of her. Taking her hand he looked up at her and said,
"Kaitlyn I love you more than I ever thought I could love someone. With every passing
day I love you more." As he looked at her she could see all the love that he felt for her
shining through his eyes. "Kaitlyn Kelly I want you to spend the rest of our lives as my
wife. Will you marry me?"

She got down on her knees in front of him. "Yes." She said as the tears started to stream
down her face. "Yes, I'll marry you." She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed
him.

Kaitlyn replayed that scene in her head a thousand times. As they lie there in bed, Gary
softly sleeping beside her, she smiled. When she came to his loft that night she wanted to
apologize to him for loosing faith in their love. She was going to beg for his forgiveness
and pray that Gary would accept her apology. She never anticipated that he would ask her
to marry him.

Gary opened his eyes and saw that Kaitlyn was awake. He kissed her ear and wrapped her
tighter in his arms.

"What are you smiling about?" He whispered.

"I was just thinking about how lucky I am?" She turned her head towards him and kissed
him on the lips.

"Lucky, huh?" Gary smiled. "I'd say I'm the lucky one?"

"Why would you say that?" She looked at him and smiled.

"Because the most amazing woman I have ever met agreed to marry me. Giving me
everything I have ever dreamed about." He hesitated. "A wife, a home and a family of my
own." Gary smiled at the thought.

"Is that how you think of us?" Kaitlyn asked.

"It's the only thing I dreamt about while we were apart. My dreams were the only thing
that got me through." Gary sighed. Not wanting to think back to how lonely those six
weeks had been.

Kaitlyn's heart broke every time she thought about how much she had hurt him. "I'm sorry.
I am going to spend the rest of my life making it up to you." She whispered.

Gary leaned in and kissed her a smile on his face. "There is nothing to make up. Besides,
that's the past. I want to concentrate on our future. You, me and the girls."

"Don't forget about the cat?" Kaitlyn teased.

"Trust me, I won't." Gary groaned. "Seriously though I've been thinking about
something."

"What's that?" She asked.

"Well I was thinking that since we're going to get married and spend the rest of our lives
together that." He hesitated.

"Gary, what is it?"

"What would you think if, well, I would like to adopt the girls." Gary quickly said.

Kaitlyn wanted to make sure she heard him correctly. She wanted him to repeat what he
just said. Maybe then it would sink in.

"What?" She whispered.

"I want to adopt the girls. I love them and I want to be their father in every way. I want to
give them my name. I want us to be a family." As Gary spoke he could see the tears
welling in Kaitlyn's eyes.

"I love you." She whispered as the tears flowed down her cheeks. "Thank you."

"Don't cry." He said as he wiped her tears away. "I hate it when you cry." He kissed her
cheek. "I think we're going to have a great future."

"Hmm, so what is our future?" Kaitlyn asked.

"Well we're gonna get married, soon." Gary picked up a piece of Kaitlyn's hair and twirled
it in his fingers. "I'm sure the girls would like a little brother or sister." He smiled.

"You want to have kids?" Kaitlyn asked surprised.

"Well sure I do, but I guess I should have asked you how you felt about that first."

"There is nothing more in this world I want than to have a family with you." Kaitlyn
smiled and quickly kissed him. "How many?" She asked.

"I don't know I haven't really thought about it." He looked down as if he were
concentrating on an answer. "Well we already have the girls. I was thinking enough for a
baseball team would be nice." He said with a smile.

"Nine!" She asked shocked.

"No really ten because you need a batter. And well, since we already have the girls, that's
really only eight." He gave a little boy look as he pleaded his case.

"Eight! Okay, no. I am not have eight more kids." She said as she shook her head.

Gary hesitated for a minute. "How about six." He asked quickly. She looked at him and
rolled her eyes.

"Five max." She said as Gary smiled. "And that includes the girls." Kaitlyn pointed a finger
at him.

Gary shook his head in agreement.

"You know, I hear sometimes it takes a lot of practice to make a baby." He smiled
seductively. "I think we should start practicing." He reached up and began to kiss her
neck.

"There is nothing I want more than to "practice" with you." Kaitlyn smiled.
 

Chapter 2

Later that evening Gary took Kaitlyn home. When they entered the house, they found
Kaitlyn's mother, Lily picking up the girls' toys in the living room. She was thrilled to see
Gary and Kaitlyn together.

"I knew she would come around." Lily whispered in Gary's ear as she hugged him.

"I'm glad she did." Gary said with a smile.

"The girls have been in bed for about an hour. There are some leftovers in the kitchen if
you're hungry." Lily reached for her jacket. "I'll leave you two alone to talk. I'll see y'all
tomorrow." Lily kissed her daughter and Gary both on the cheek and headed for the door.

"Thanks Mamma. I'll call you in the morning." Kaitlyn said as she walked Lily to the door.

After she closed the door, Kaitlyn turned and walked over to Gary and put her arms
around his waist. "You hungry?" She asked.

"No." He said as he gave her a quick kiss. "Are you?" He asked.

"No." She smiled.

"Good, because I think we need to talk?" Gary said.

"Okay." Kaitlyn smiled, took his hand, and led him to the couch.

They spent the rest of the evening talking. Gary told her everything he knew about the
paper. He told her about some of the people that he had saved and unfortunately, the ones
that he couldn't. He confided to her that very few people knew about the paper. Now she
was part of those few, along with his parents, Marissa, Emmitt, and Chuck.

Kaitlyn told him she never mentioned the paper to anyone. Her family thought that her
grief over Casey's kidnapping had caused Gary and her to stop seeing each other.

They talked about the kidnapping and Kaitlyn's ex-husband. Gary told her he saw the
article in the paper describing how David was going to kill Casey and then commit suicide.
Kaitlyn listened intently as he told her how he, his father, and Chuck got Casey back. Gary
confided in her that he felt guilty over David's death, but he would have given his own life
to save Casey.

They were sitting on the couch holding each other when Kaitlyn sat up and said, "I almost
forgot, I have something for you." She smiled and got up to leave the room. "I'll be right
back." She told him.

Minutes later she returned with a small gift-wrapped package in her hand. "Happy
Birthday." She said as she handed him the package and sat down on the couch beside him.

"Happy Birthday?" Gary asked surprised.

"Yeah. I was going to give this to you on your birthday. The girls have something for you
too, but they can give it to you tomorrow. Open it." Kaitlyn smiled.

"Okay." Gary began to open the package. Once he got the wrapping off, he found a velvet
box. He opened it to find a gold watch. "It's beautiful. Thank you." He said as he leaned
over and kissed her.

"It's engraved. Look on the back." Kaitlyn said.

Gary pulled the watch out of the box and turned it over. He read the inscription out loud.
"To the hero who saved my heart. Love always, Kaitlyn." Thank you." Gary said kissing
her cheek. He turned the watch back over and noticed the time.

"Is that the right time?" He asked.

"Yeah, 12:30." Kaitlyn sighed.

"I better get going." As Gary got up Kaitlyn grabbed his hand.

"Don't go." She pleaded.

"Are you sure?" Gary asked. "What about the girls?"

"The girls will be thrilled to wake up and find you here in the morning." Kaitlyn said as she
stood up beside him. "Besides, right here with us is where you are supposed to be."

Gary smiled and put his hand up to her face and caressed her cheek. "I love you." He
whispered as he leaned in and kissed her.

"I love you, too." Kaitlyn smiled. "Come on, let's go to bed." She took his hand, turned off
the light, and quietly led him upstairs.
 

Chapter 3

Gary woke up to the sunlight streaming through the front windows. He rolled over and
looked at the clock. It was a little before 6:30. He reached over and shut off the alarm
before it went off. He got up on his elbow, his head in his hand, and watched Kaitlyn
sleep.

He knew how lucky he was to have her back. Before when they were together his heart
was constantly struggling with his mind. In his heart he knew that he loved her more than
anything but, his mind kept telling him not to trust that love, because in the end he would
loose it. For a short time he thought he did. But, now as he lay there watching her sleep
his heart and mind were completely in sync looking forward to what the future brought.

Meow. Thump. Hearing that all-familiar noise, Gary quickly got out of bed, pulled on his
jeans and t-shirt, and headed downstairs. When he opened the front door, he found the cat
sitting on the paper.

"Meow." The cat came into the house and jumped up onto the chair in the living room.

"Hey keep it down will ya." Gary whispered. He picked up the paper, quietly shut the
door, went over to the chair, and picked up the cat. "And stay off the furniture!" He
dropped the cat to the floor and the cat walked over and headed up the stairs.

Gary sat down in the chair. He knew that when Kaitlyn and the girls got up he would be
distracted and chances are he would end up forgetting about the paper. Unfortunately, he
had learned that lesson the hard way. He opened the paper to find out what his day
entailed. After looking through it twice, he headed upstairs.

When he walked into the bedroom, he found the cat curled up next to Kailtyn on his
pillow. He gave the cat a disgusted look and checked to make sure he hadn't woken up
Kaitlyn. She was still sound asleep, wrapped up in the quilt. Gary laid the paper on the
nightstand and headed for the shower.

Kaitlyn rolled over and reached for Gary. What she felt was the cold spot on the sheets
where he no longer lay. She looked up and saw the cat on Gary's pillow. She gave him a
quick scratch on the head and rolled back over. She knew Gary was in the shower because
she could hear the water running. She got herself out of bed, realizing that her robe was in
the bathroom, she grabbed his flannel shirt off the chair, and put it on. As she buttoned it,
she saw the paper laying on the nightstand. Though she was tempted, she didn't touch it.
Instead, she headed downstairs to the kitchen.

Kaitlyn had put on a pot of coffee and was in the process of opening a can of cat food
when she felt Gary's arms wrap around her waist.

"Good Morning." He whispered as he kissed her neck.

"It is a good morning." She said.

"You know I never knew how sexy a flannel shirt could be." He whispered into her ear.
"But, I think you out of the flannel shirt would be even sexier." He smiled and went back
to kissing her neck.

Kaitlyn closed her eyes, her heart beating faster with each kiss. In the comfort of his arms
was where she knew she would spend the rest of her life, hoping that his touch would
always effect her this way. As soon as she turned herself around in his arms, their lips met.
She didn't want him to stop, but she knew that he had too.

"The girls will be getting up soon." She said breathing heavily as she pulled away from
him. "Want some coffee?"

"Coffee would be good." Gary smiled, letting out a breath. He turned his attentions
toward the paper.

"What does the paper have planned for you? Nothing dangerous I hope." She asked
noticing that Gary was looking at the paper. She poured them both a cup of coffee.

"Actually it looks like it's going to be a pretty light day. First, I have to stop a mugging in
the park. Then I have to stop a kid from drowning at the aquarium. Those are both later
this morning. Then around 5:00 a guy is going to try and beat a train through a railroad
crossing and if I don't stop him he's not going to be successful." Gary said.

"That's what you consider a light day? You know I can help you with paper." She said.

"I don't think that's a good idea." Gary said shaking his head.

"Why not?" Kaitlyn asked.

"Because the paper, it's not an easy thing to deal with and," Gary stuttered trying to find
the right words.

"Gary, I see marriage as a partnership. That means that we need to be there for each other.
That paper is a part of your life. If you intend to share your life with me, well that includes
the paper. So you need to let me help you." Kaitlyn argued.

Gary knew she was right. He had spent the last six years dealing with this paper on his
own and it was hard for him to let go.

Kaitlyn saw that he was struggling with what she said. She walked over to him and put her
arms around his neck.

"Gary, I know that this isn't easy for you. You are going to have to get used to the fact
that what this paper brings to your life is something we have to face together." She
reached up on her toes and kissed his lips. "I love you. Besides, two heads are better than
one."

"I love you too." Gary leaned down and kissed her. They were interrupted by the sound of
the girls coming into the kitchen.

"Gary!" They screamed in unison both running to his waiting arms. He hugged them both
and then picked up Casey.

"We've missed you." Casey said as she kissed his cheek.

"Well I've missed you too." Gary said.

How about I make us some breakfast." Kaitlyn smiled and kissed Jessica on the forehead.

"Can we have pancakes?" Jessica asked.

"Pancakes it is." Gary said as he set Casey down.

"I'm going to run upstairs and put on my robe. I'll be right back." Kaitlyn headed upstairs.

A few minutes later, when Kaitlyn came back downstairs she found Gary holding the box
of pancake mix in his hands and reading the preparation instructions. Jessica was getting
the griddle out of the cabinet.

"You guys need some help?" Kaitlyn asked.

"Mommy, Gary doesn't know how to make pancakes." Casey said.

"Well we're just going to have to teach him then aren't we." Kaitlyn said.

"I can figure it out." Gary said.

"A cook, you're not." Kaitlyn teased as she took the box out of his hands.

"I'll admit to that." Gary said. Then he leaned in and whispered in her ear. "There are other
things I'm better at." He kissed her cheek.

"Well then maybe you should concentrate all of your efforts on the things that you're
better at." Kaitlyn smiled as she playfully elbowed him in the stomach.

"Oh, I intend to." Gary smiled.
 

Chapter 4

When breakfast was ready, they all sat down at
the table. Gary couldn't remember a time where everything felt so right. He had waited his
whole adult life for this, a family. Now here they were, right there in front of him. Having
the love of this family was something he wanted to feel for the rest of his life.

"Girls, Gary and I wanted to talk to you about something." Kaitlyn said.

"What did you want to talk to us about?" Jessica asked.

"Well, we wanted to tell you that Gary is going to be spending a lot more time with us."
Kaitlyn smiled.

"Just like before?" Casey asked.

"Only better." Gary smiled.

"Better how?" Jessica asked.

Gary looked at Kaitlyn and could see in her eyes that she was urging him to answer the
girls' questions. Her smile was the only encouragement he needed.

"Your Mom and I," he hesitated, "well, if it's okay with you two your Mom and I are
going to get married."

"Get married?" Jessica couldn't contain her excitement and a huge smile spread across her
face.

"I guess it's okay with her." Kaitlyn said as she smiled at Gary. Then turning her attentions
towards Casey asked, "What do you think about that sweetie?"

"What does that mean?" Casey asked.

"Well, it means that Gary is going to live here with us and he'll be a part of our family."
Kaitlyn smiled.

"Does that mean that you're going to be our Daddy?" Casey asked looking at Gary.

Gary looked over at Kaitlyn. He could see the tears welling in her eyes. He reached over
and took her hand.

"If you want me to be. I would like very much to be your Daddy." Gary smiled. "In fact
Mommy and I are going to talk to a Judge to see if we can make that official. If it is okay
with you and Jess."

Casey got out of her chair, crawled into Gary's lap, and put her arms around his neck. "I
think I would like that too." Casey said and Jessica shook her head in agreement.

Gary kissed her on the nose. "You and I will have to have a standing pizza breakfast date."
He said as he started to tickle her.

"What's wrong Mommy?" Jessica asked.

"Nothing sweetie, I'm just happy." Kaitlyn said as she kissed her daughter's cheek. "Hey,
you guys want to give Gary his birthday presents?"

"Yeah, I'll go get it." Jessica screamed as she headed out of the kitchen.

"No, I'll get it." Casey yelled after her.

Kaitlyn rolled her eyes and laughed. "Are you sure this is how you want to spend your
mornings?" She asked Gary.

"Definitely." He smiled reaching across the table to kiss her.

They were interrupted by Jessica's voice. "They're kissing again." She said.

"Get used to it." Gary said as he winked at Kaitlyn.

"Here open this one first. They go together." Jessica said as she handed him her package.

"Okay." Gary ripped the gift-wrap off. "A baseball bat."

"It's special." Jessica said. "Look." When she turned it over Gary noticed it had Sammy
Sosa's name engraved into the wood. It also had his autograph on it.

"It's Sammy's bat. Uncle Greg helped us get it." Jessica said. Gary smiled.

"Open mine, open mine." Casey screamed and she handed Gary a smaller flat package.

When Gary opened the package, he couldn't believe what he was holding. It was a plaque,
enclosed in glass were Sammy Sosa's rookie baseball card, and on a separate piece of
paper his autograph. He looked at Kaitlyn in disbelief.

"How did you get this." He asked.

"Well believe it or not they were both pretty easy to come by." She smiled.

"That card had to cost you a small fortune." Gary said.

"Actually, all I had to do was barter with Greg to part with it. He's been collecting baseball
cards since he was a kid, he actually had two." She smiled. "I figured you could hang them
both up at the bar."

"Thank you." He said as he grabbed Casey in one arm and Jessica in the other and kissed
them both on the cheek. "These are the best birthday presents I've ever gotten."

"Come on Jess. You have to get ready for school. Ben will be here soon to walk you to
the bus stop." Kaitlyn instructed.

"I don't have school today. That means I get to spend the whole day with Gary." Casey
smiled.

"That's not fair." Jessica groaned.

"Hey, I promise you later on tonight you and I will play catch." Gary said.

"Okay." Jessica said. She headed upstairs to get dressed. Casey followed close behind.

Kaitlyn got up out of her chair to start cleaning up the breakfast dishes. Gary grabbed her
and pulled her down onto his lap.

"Thank you for the birthday presents." Gary said as he kissed her lips.

"You're welcome. I promise next year you'll get them on your birthday." She smiled. "Hey,
we should call your parents and tell them our news."

"Do we have too?" Gary groaned.

"Gary! You don't think they are going to be happy about it?" Kaitlyn asked concerned.

"Happy about it? Are you kidding? They're going to be thrilled. That's what I'm afraid of."

"What do you mean?"

"Well, we haven't even talked about when we're going to get married. As soon as my
mother finds out, she'll be headed for Chicago. It's anybody's guess as to how long she'll
stay."

The ringing of the telephone interrupted them. Kaitlyn went to answer it.

"Hello." She said. "Hi. Yeah. What? We can't do that. I thought the decision was already
made on this." She looked frustrated. "Okay, see if you can get a hold of Paul and give me
a call back in about an hour and we can decide what we're going to do. In the meantime,
schedule a conference call with Mr. McDonald for around 11:00. Okay, I'll talk to you in a
little bit." She hung up the telephone.

"Something wrong?" Gary asked.

"Just some things I have to get straightened out, it's work." Kaitlyn sighed. "I'm going to
see if my Mom can watch Casey this morning." She said as she reached for the telephone.
Gary stopped her.

"I can watch Casey." He said.

"What about the paper?" Kaitlyn asked

"She can come with me." Gary said.

"Do you really think that is a good idea?" She asked.

"Why not? I think I can handle a four-year-old for a few hours. Besides, I have an errand
of my own I have to run and she can come with me."

"Are you sure?" Kaitlyn asked. Gary could tell she was just trying to be cautious.

"Casey and I will be fine." Gary said. "I'm sure there are going to be plenty of times when
this is going to happen. What was it that you said to me earlier? Marriage is a partnership,
which means that we need to be there for each other." Gary smiled.

"You're using my own words against me." Kaitlyn said as she wrapped her arms around
Gary's neck.

"Yep." Gary smiled and kissed her.

"What about your parents?" Kaitlyn asked.

"We'll call them later?" Gary whispered. "Besides, I don't want to talk about my parents
right now." Gary smiled seductively as he wrapped his arms around Kaitlyn's waist and
continued their kiss.
 

Chapter 5

Gary headed out with Casey in tow to take care of the
paper's work. Casey got excited when she learned that they were going to the park.
Unfortunately, that excitement was quickly quashed when Gary told her that they were not
there to play.

"Then what are we here for?" She asked, arms crossed.

"Well Casey, I have to stop a man from stealing a woman's purse." Gary said as he pulled
the paper from his pocket and scanned the article. He looked around the park to see if he
could find the woman.

"Can't we play for a little while." Casey pouted.

Gary squatted down until he was at Casey's eye level. "How about I make a deal with you.
If you let me take care of this, I'll take you to the aquarium."

"Okay." Casey conceded.

As Gary kissed her forehead, he heard a woman scream. He turned around and saw a
woman fighting with a man. She was struggling to hold onto her purse.

"He buddy, let go of that." Gary screamed. "Miss let go or you're going to fall and hurt
yourself."

As Gary ran over to where the woman stood the straps of the purse broke and she fell
backwards. Gary got there just in time to cushion her fall with his body. As she lay on top
of Gary clutching her purse, the mugger took off running.

After Gary worked his way out from underneath her, he helped the woman to her feet. In
the meantime, Casey walked over to Gary and wrapped her arms around his leg.

"Are you alright?" Gary asked.

"Oh, yes I'm fine. Thank you." The woman said. "He didn't even get my purse." When the
woman finally looked at Gary, she realized how handsome he was. Her attraction was
written all over her face.

"You're welcome." Gary said awkwardly.

"What a cute little girl." The woman said. "What is your name?"

"Casey." Casey said.

"Well your Daddy is quite the hero." The woman smiled seductively at Gary noticing that
he wasn't wearing a wedding ring.

"Well Casey we better get going if we want to make it to the aquarium." Gary swallowed
hard. "Are you sure you're okay?" He asked the woman.

"I'm fine." She surprised Gary by kissing him on the lips.

"It was nice to meet you Casey." The woman said when she pulled away. She reached into
her coat pocket, pulled out a business card, and placed it in Gary's hand.

"Call me sometime." Then turned toward Casey and said, "You have fun at the aquarium."

Gary smiled and led Casey away as she waived good-bye, tossing the business card in the
first garbage can they reached.

Gary and Casey headed to the aquarium. Gary knew exactly where they had to go. A
five-year-old boy was going to fall into the dolphin tank. When they got there Gary saw
the little boy right away. He was hanging over the banister. His pregnant mother was
talking to another woman, oblivious to what he was doing. Gary ran over and grabbed his
leg just as he began to fall pulling him back over the banister.

"Hey kid. You almost fell in there." Gary said.

His mother turned to see Gary grabbing her son and jumped to the wrong conclusion. "Let
go of him." She screamed. The kid then kicked Gary in the shin and ran to his mother's
arms. The mother took her son by the hand and hurriedly walked away.

"He almost fell in." Gary screamed after them. "Brat." He mumbled under his breath.

Gary and Casey spent the next few hours at the aquarium. He spent most of the time
trying to answer her questions. Though he knew Casey well, he was surprised at how
curious she was. Gary would answer one question and she would quickly have another.
 
 

Chapter 6 After leaving the aquarium, they headed to McGinty's for lunch. When they got
there the place was busy with the usual lunch crowd. Gary and Casey headed to the office.
Marissa was sitting at the desk having a conversation with Patrick.

"Hey Mr. H." Patrick said.

"Gary?" Marissa asked.

"Yeah, it's me and I have a visitor with me." Gary said as Casey followed him into the
office.

"Hi Marissa. Hi Patrick." Casey said.

"Casey is that you?" Marissa asked.

"Yep." Casey answered as she gave Marissa a hug.

"Well I'm glad you're here. It has been a while since you visited. Is your Grandma with
you today?" Marissa asked.

"No, not today Marissa. She's with me." Gary said.

"Does that mean what I think it does?" Marissa asked.

"Gary and Mommy are getting married." Casey said.

"Married?" Marissa asked surprised.

"Patrick why don't you take Casey into the kitchen and get her something to eat." Gary
said.

"Can I have ice cream?" Casey asked.

"You have to eat a sandwich or something first. Then you can have ice cream." Gary said.

"Okay. Come on Casey. We will make you a sandwich and then I'll show you how to
make a sundae. You like chocolate?" Patrick said as he took her by the hand.

"Can I have sprinkles?" Casey asked as they headed out the door.

"Well?" Marissa smiled.

"Well what?" Gary said as he sat down in the chair.

"Are you or are you not getting married?" Marissa asked impatiently.

"Yes. I asked Kaitlyn to marry me and she said yes." Gary smiled.

"I spoke with her when she came in last night. I was hoping things would work out
between you too. I told you Gary, all you needed was a little faith." Marissa beamed.

"Well, I don't know if it was faith Marissa. You were right about one thing. When two
people are meant to be together, it's a lot easier to overcome obstacles. Kaitlyn and I, well,
we had some definite obstacles to overcome."

"It's called fate, Gary." Marissa smiled. "No matter how hard you try you can't get away
from it."

"Call it what you want Marissa. I'm just glad to have her and the girls' back in my life. For
the first time in a long time I'm not afraid of what the future has to bring." Gary smiled.

"I'm happy for you Gary." Marissa said. "So when is the wedding?"

"We haven't really had a chance to discuss that yet." Gary said.

"Have you talked to your parents?" Marissa asked.

"No, not yet." Gary said as he rubbed the back of his neck. "I told Kaitlyn we would call
them later.

"What are you so worried about? Your parents are going to be thrilled."

"I know. It's just, well you know how my Mom is. I'm just afraid she'll force Kaitlyn into
something that she doesn't want." Gary groaned.

"What do you mean?" Marissa asked.

"Well, knowing my Mother she is going to want this huge wedding. Kaitlyn and I, well,
we have both been through all that before. I'm not so sure she would want that again. I
know I really don't." Gary said. "I think I just want something simple."

"Why don't you just tell your mother that?" Marissa asked.

"That's easy for you to say." Gary mumbled. "I'm going to head upstairs to get changed.
Could you keep an eye on Casey for me? So to speak." Gary smiled.

"Sure." Marissa said with a smile. Gary walked to the door. "Gary, don't worry about it
everything will work out." Marissa smiled.

"I hope so." Gary headed upstairs.

Once Gary had changed his clothes and grabbed a bite to eat, he, and Casey headed out to
take care of his errand. Gary told her that they were going to get something for Kaitlyn,
but that she had to keep it a secret. She eagerly agreed.

They were sitting on the El when Casey asked, "When are you and Mommy going to get
married?"

"I hope it will be soon." Gary smiled. "Why?"

"Do I have to wait until then to call you Daddy? Casey asked.

Gary was surprised at her question. He was being honest when he told Kaitlyn that he
wanted to be the girls' father in every way, but for some reason, he never really thought
about what the girls would call him.

"Is that what you want to call me?" Gary asked.

"Yeah, can I?" Casey said.

"Well, I guess that is what I am going to be? So, I guess that is what you can call me."
Gary smiled.

"Okay." Casey smiled and took his hand as they headed off the train. "Since you're going
to live with us, does that mean cat will be living with us too?

"Well, yeah, I guess it does." Gary said.

"Can we get a puppy?" Casey asked.

"A puppy?" Gary stopped and looked at her. Casey shook her head yes. "Well, I think that
is something we're going to have to talk to Mommy about." Gary said.

"Okay." Casey said disappointed.
 

Chapter 7

It was 3:00 when Gary and Casey made it home. Kaitlyn was sitting at the kitchen table
papers scattered everywhere.

"Hey sweetie." She smiled when she saw Casey. "Did you have fun today?"

Casey went on a mile a minute about the aquarium and all that she and Gary had done.
She told her that she had seen Marissa and that Patrick gave her ice cream. Then she
started to talk about meeting the nice lady in the park.

"She kissed him right on the lips, Mommy." Casey said as she crinkled her nose.

"She did, did she." Kaitlyn said as she looked at Gary, who was obviously uncomfortable
with the remark.

"She was just thanking me for the help." Gary said awkwardly.

"Oh, I guess that's a hazard to the job." Kaitlyn teased. When Gary looked up at her and
saw the smile on her face he knew she was teasing.

"You could say that." He said with a half smile.

"Daddy has a surprise for you." Casey said.

Although they had talked about it, nothing could have prepared Gary for the way he felt
when he actually heard that word come out of Casey's mouth. Daddy, he had wanted to
hear someone call him that word for so long. At that moment, he didn't think his heart
could be more full.

"He does, does he?" Kaitlyn said as she looked at Gary then headed to put her coffee cup
on the counter.

"That was supposed to be a secret." Gary said to Casey.

"He just doesn't understand that it's hard for four-year-olds to keep secrets." Kaitlyn said.

"Casey why don't you go on in the other room and play so that Mommy and I can talk."
Gary said.

"Okay. Are you going to give her the present?" Casey tried to whisper, though she was
not very successful.

"Yes." Gary said as he smiled and shook his head. Casey returned his smile and headed out
of the room.

Gary walked over to Kaitlyn and put his arms around her waist. She instinctively put her
arms around his neck. They both smiled at each other and then kissed.

"Well, I've heard Casey's version of the afternoon. How was it for you?" Kaitlyn asked as
she played with the v-shaped piece of hair at the nape of his neck. "Outside of the kiss, of
course. I don't think I need to hear about that again." Kaitlyn smiled.

"We had a good afternoon. She asked me about something." Gary looked at Kaitlyn.

"Did she hit you up for a puppy?" Kaitlyn asked.

"Yeah, well that she did." Gary smiled. "But, she asked me if she could call me Daddy."
Gary said.

"I caught that." Kaitlyn said.

"Even though I told her it was okay, I wasn't really prepared for the way I would feel after
I heard her say it." Gary said. "I have to admit it was one of the best feelings of my life."

Kaitlyn moved her hand to his cheek. "Thank you." She said. "I love you."

"I love you, too." Gary smiled.

They spent the next few minutes kissing absorbed in a world of their own. They were
interrupted when Casey pulled on Gary's pant leg.

"Did you give Mommy the pretty ring yet?" She asked.

Gary and Kaitlyn pulled away from each other. Kaitlyn looked at Gary in surprise and he
sighed.

"Did you know that four-year-olds can't keep a secret?" Gary said. "Well, since the cat is
out of the bag, so to speak."

Gary reached for his jacket and pulled something out of its pocket. He handed it to
Kaitlyn. It was a small box with a ribbon tied around it. She pulled the ribbon off and
opened the lid. Inside was a small velvet box. She opened the box to find the most
beautiful ring she had ever seen. It was a princess cut diamond solitaire with smaller
triangular stones on the side, set in platinum. With tears in her eyes, Kaitlyn put her hand
to her mouth and looked up at Gary.

"Gary you didn't have to do this." Kaitlyn said. "This is too much."

"Well, you're going to spend the rest of your life wearing it. I think a little expense is in
order." Gary smiled. "If you don't like it, we can take it back and get you something
different."

"You absolutely will not take it back. Gary if I had every ring in the world to select from
this is exactly the one that I would choose. Its beautiful." Kaitlyn said.

"I helped pick it out Mommy." Casey beamed.

"You did?" Kaitlyn asked. Casey nodded.

"She did." Gary said sarcastically as he rolled is eyes. "How about we see if it fits?" Gary
took the box from Kaitlyn's hand and pulled out the ring. "Will you marry me?" He said as
he slid the ring on her finger.

"Yes." She whispered as she threw her arms back around his neck and kissed him.

"You know what?" Gary said as he pulled away. "We need to call my parents."

"Are you sure?" Kaitlyn asked.

"Yes. I'm happier than I have ever been in my life and I want to share that with them."
Gary quickly kissed her, went over, picked up the telephone, and dialed.
 

Chapter 8

"Hello." Gary heard the sound of his father's voice. "Dad." He said.

"Gar, how you doing son? Hold on a second, let me get your Mom." Gary could hear his
father yell, "Hey Lo, pick up the phone it's Gary."

Within seconds he heard his mother pick up the extension.

"Hi, honey. How are you?" Lois said.

"Hi Mom. I'm doing great." Gary said as he winked at Kaitlyn.

"Well you sound happy. Please tell me that has something to do with Kaitlyn." Lois said.

"Mom maybe you better sit down." Gary said with a smile on his face.

"What's wrong Gar?" Bernie asked.

"Don't get worried. There is nothing wrong, in fact everything couldn't be more right."
Gary said. "Mom, are you sitting down?"

"Yes, Gary, please just tell us." Lois said. Gary could hear the insistence in her voice.

"Mom, Dad, Kaitlyn and I, well, we're back together, and well, we're getting married."
Gary stuttered.

"Gar, that's great!" Bernie screamed. Gary could hear his mother crying.

"Thanks Dad. Mom, Mom don't cry." Gary pleaded.

"Oh, Gary I am so happy for you. Your father and I are coming to Chicago." Lois said.

"Yeah, Gar, we'll pack up the Grey Ghost and hit the road. If we don't hit a lot of traffic,
we can be there in a few hours. Gar, we'll see you later." Bernie said as he hung up the
telephone.

"Mom, you and Dad don't have to come to Chicago. Kaitlyn and I, well, we haven't even
talked about setting a date yet." Gary looked at Kaitlyn with a look of "I told you so."

"Oh, Gary there is so much to do to plan a wedding." Lois said

"Mo." Gary tried to cut her off, but his mother continued to talk.

"She is going to need all the help she can get. We'll just talk about it when we get there.
Bye, honey." All Gary heard was the click of the telephone.

"Oh, boy." He said as he hung up the telephone.

"What's wrong?" Kaitlyn asked.

"They're on their way. My mother said it takes a long time to plan a wedding and you are
going to need all the help you can get. They're never going to leave." Gary groaned as he
sat down at the table.

"Oh come on. I bet it's not going to be as bad as you think." Kaitlyn said as she wrapped
her arms around his neck and kissed him on the cheek.

"That's what you think. You see I have known my parents for 35 years. I know what their
like. I know my mother loves me, but she is smothering. She is going to want to take
control of everything." He said.

"Honey, I love your parents." Kaitlyn said as she ran her fingers through his hair. "Gary,
she is your mother and our children are going to be very lucky to have her as a
Grandmother."

Gary looked at her out of the corner of his eye and sighed. "Don't say I didn't warn you."
He said as he pointed his finger at her. "I have to go and take care of the paper. Is it
alright if I take your car?"

"Sure." She said taking the keys off the peg and handing them to him. "Be careful, okay."
Kaitlyn gave him a quick kiss.
 

Chapter 9

Gary got to the railroad crossing in plenty of time. He blocked it off with the Jeep, stood,
and waited for the car the paper had described. When he saw the car, he stopped it short
of the tracks.

"Hey buddy, get out of the way." The man driving the car said.

"Sir. My car stalled. You're going to have to turn around and go another way. I'm waiting
for a tow." Gary said as the train came through the crossing.

"Now I'm going to be even later for a meeting." The man said angrily.

"Sorry." Gary said shrugging his shoulders.

The man turned his car around and headed in the opposite direction. Gary pulled the paper
from the front of his coat. The story had disappeared. Gary smiled, started to whistle, and
walked to the jeep.

After a stop at McGinty's to go over some things with Marissa, Gary headed back to
Kaitlyn's. As he drove down the street he saw his parent's truck and camper parked in the
driveway. "That's record time." He mumbled as he pulled up in front of the house. He
walked in the front door to find his parents and the Kelly's in the living room.

"There he is." Lois said as she walked over to hug him.

"Mom, Dad, you made it here awful quick." Gary said.

"Congratulations Gar." Bernie said giving him a hug.

"Honey, we have been having the best time talking about the wedding." Lois said.

"Really?" Gary asked skeptically. "Where's Kaitlyn?"

"Oh, she's in the kitchen." Lily said.

"I'm going to go and see her." He said as he walked towards the kitchen. He could hear
the conversation pick up and continue right where it had left off without skipping a beat.
Gary found Kaitlyn in the kitchen looking out the window, watching the girls playing in
the backyard.

"Hey." He said as he walked over to her taking off his jacket and throwing it over the
chair.

"Hi." She smiled as she put her arms around his waist.

"How come you're not participating in the wedding planning activities?" Gary asked
jokingly.

As Kaitlyn opened her mouth to answer him, Lily and Lois came into the kitchen. Lily was
holding a calendar in her hand.

"Kaitlyn, how does June sound?" Lily asked.

"June is such lovely time of the year for a wedding." Lois said smiling.

"June?" Gary asked. "We're not waiting." Kaitlyn cut Gary off before he could finish.

"Gary and I, we'll talk about it and let you know, okay?" Kaitlyn said smiling as she
squeezed Gary's hand.

"Well, you know sweetie, if you're going to book the Chicago Hilton for the reception,
June is probably the earliest you will be able to get it." Lily said as Lois shook her head in
agreement.

"The Chicago Hilton?" Gary asked in disbelief as he looked at Kaitlyn.

"Honey, how about we take a walk? Mom will you keep an eye on the girls?" Kaitlyn
asked.

"A walk?" Gary asked skeptically.

"Yes, a walk." Kaitlyn said though gritted teeth with a smile on her face. She grabbed
Gary's hand and his coat and headed for the door.
 

Chapter 10

Gary and Kaitlyn walked in silence until they got to the small playground that was down
the street.

"I'm not going to say I told you so." Gary said. "But, I did tell you so."

"Okay, okay you were right." Kaitlyn said. "The bigger question is, what are we going to
do about it? My mother has been as bad as your mother with this whole thing."

"I don't know." Gary said as he sat down on the bench. Kaitlyn sat down next to him.

"I know that they just want us to be happy and share this with us. But." She said as she
looked at the ground.

"I don't want to wait until June to get married." Gary said angrily. "That's eight months
away."

"I don't either." Kaitlyn said as she looked up at him.

"You don't?" Gary asked.

"No. I am ready for us to start our life together, now. Not eight months from now."
Kaitlyn said.

"Well, why don't we just elope?" Gary asked as he turned towards her and took her hand.

"Elope?" Kaitlyn said.

"Yeah. Just you and me." He replied. "We can fly to Vegas."

"Vegas? I don't think I want to get married in Las Vegas. Anyway, I don't really think
that's fair to our mothers. I think they would be heartbroken if we did that. Besides, I want
our family and friends to be there when we get married." Kaitlyn said. "I just don't want a
huge formal wedding."

"I don't need that either." Gary said as he rubbed is face in frustration. They sat in silence
for a few minutes both trying to think of a solution. Gary spoke first.

"How about next Saturday?" Gary asked quickly.

"Next Saturday? For what?" Kaitlyn asked.

"For what? For a wedding. We have plenty of time. We could go and get our blood tests
and have Mike expedite the results so we can apply for the license. I'm sure Reverend
Manning would perform the ceremony. We can have a small get together at the house
afterwards. There is plenty of time. I think October 28th is a pretty good day for a
wedding." Gary said.

"That's only ten days away." Kaitlyn said softly. "Well what are we going to do about our
parents?"

"We won't tell them." Gary said.

"What?" Kaitlyn asked alarmed.

"We won't tell them until Saturday." Gary said as a sly smile spread across his face. "Well,
I'll have to tell Chuck so that he can come to town, and Marissa. You have to tell your
sisters, because we might need their help putting this all together."

"You know I think this could work." Kaitlyn smiled.

"Of course it will work." Gary said boldly.

"You don't think they'll get mad do you?" Kaitlyn asked.

"Well maybe at first, but, they are going to be so happy for us. We'll just tell them that this
is what we wanted and well I'll play the grandchild card with my mother and she'll get over
it quick." Gary smiled.

"I never knew how cunning you were." Kaitlyn smiled and leaned in putting her lips as
close to his as she could without touching. "I think I like it." She whispered right before
she allowed their lips to meet for a passionate kiss.

Suddenly she pulled away. "What about the paper?" She asked.

"What about it?" Gary said as he caressed her cheek. "I will promise you that nothing is
going to stop me from marrying you on Saturday." He leaned in and kissed her. When
they parted he said, "So, do we have a date?"

"We definitely have a date." Kaitlyn said with a huge smile on her face.
 

Chapter 11

Kaitlyn's sister Emily got the first flight out of New York the next morning. Kaitlyn
arranged for Megan to pick her up at the airport. In order to keep her visit a secret, she,
and her husband, Greg, were going to stay with Marissa and Emmitt.

Later that day, Gary and Kaitlyn headed to the airport to pick up Chuck and his wife Jade
who were flying in from Los Angeles. On the drive to the airport, Gary filled Kaitlyn in on
Chuck's shortcomings.

"Chuck is just Chuck. You have to get to know him to love him." Gary said with a smile.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Kaitlyn said.

"He has a tendency to get involved in situations before he thinks the consequences
through. Don't get me wrong, he has a good heart. His head misleads him sometimes. I
know in time that you'll see the good side to him. With Chuck it just might take awhile."
Gary said. Kaitlyn looked at Gary confused.

"Well, I visited him while he was in the hospital, you know?" Kaitlyn said.

"You did?" Gary asked.

"Yes. I wanted to thank him for what he did for Casey. He seemed all right to me. He had
nothing but nice things to say about you." Gary looked over at Kaitlyn and smiled.
"Besides, I don't care what kind of mistakes he might make. I'll always be grateful to him
for what he did." Kaitlyn said with a smile.

"Well, Jade isn't without her flaws either." Gary said.

"Okay, you know what? I think I'm afraid to ask what that means." Kaitlyn said as she
stared at Gary.

"She's an ex-jewel thief." Gary said under his breath.

"She what?" Kaitlyn asked.

"She's an ex-jewel thief." Gary said louder.

"A jewel thief." Kaitlyn repeated. "A jewel thief?" She asked in disbelief.

Gary spent the rest of the ride telling Kaitlyn about how he met Jade and her past
profession. Kaitlyn couldn't believe what he was telling her. Of course, she had plenty of
questions, which Gary tried his best to answer.

They made it to the gate just in time to see Chuck and Jade come off the plane. Chuck had
on a brown turtleneck sweater, tan slacks, and a pair of sunglasses. Jade was also dressed
to the nines in a tight black sweater and black stretch pants.

"Gar!" Chuck screamed as he spotted Gary. He walked over, dropped his bag, and hugged
him.

"Hey, buddy how ya doing?" Gary asked.

"Me, I'm fine. You, you I can't believe. Gar, you're getting married." Chuck said as he
hugged Gary again.

"Chuck." Gary pulled away. "Do you remember Kaitlyn?" Gary said.

"Are you kidding me? You think I'm going to forget a beauty like this?" Chuck said as he
grabbed Kaitlyn and hugged her.

"It's good to see you again Chuck." Kaitlyn said as she smiled at Gary.

"Jade how are you?" Gary said.

"I'm doing good Gary. Congratulations." Jade said as she awkwardly kissed Gary on the
cheek.

"Jade, honey, this is Kaitlyn." Chuck said.

"It's nice to meet you." Kaitlyn said as she extended her hand.

"You too. You're one lucky lady." Jade said as she looked at Gary who, Kaitlyn noticed
was obviously uncomfortable with the compliment.

"What do you say we go and get your luggage." Gary said trying to change the subject of
the conversation. The foursome headed for the luggage claim.
 

Chapter 12

The paper went easy on Gary over the next few days. He and Kaitlyn had time to go to
Mike's office and have their blood work done. They went and applied for their marriage
license and visited the jeweler to pick out their wedding bands.

Gary was able to take care of the paper in between running wedding errands with Kaitlyn.
He liked the fact that she was by his side. When he was called upon to break up a fight
between two women in a toy store over a limited edition Barbie doll, Gary was getting no
where fast trying to tell the two women they were being ridiculous. Kaitlyn stepped in and
stopped the entire confrontation, with a gentle voice and a smile as she handed a Barbie
doll to one of the women. Both women left the store with smiles on their faces.

"Where did you get that?" Gary asked.

"See that guy standing over there?" Kaitlyn said as she pointed to a man down the isle.

"Yeah." Gary said.

"I talked him into giving me his." Kaitlyn said with a shrug.

"How much did that cost me?" Gary asked.

"Nothing. I just gave him a sob story about how my daughter really wanted that doll for
Christmas. So he gave it to me." Kaitlyn said nonchalantly as Gary looked at her and
smiled.

"Should I be jealous?" Gary asked.

"No!" Kaitlyn said as she smacked him in the chest. "Come on lets go." She said as she
grabbed his hand and lead him out of the store.

Kaitlyn was sitting in the church office waiting for Gary it was 1:25. They were to meet
with Reverend Manning at 1:00 to talk about the wedding date. She knew that he had
some things to take care of with the paper. Gary had promised her, he would be there in
plenty of time for their meeting.

"Can I get you something to drink?" Reverend Manning said.

"No, thank you." Kaitlyn said as she looked at her watch. "Maybe I should reschedule.
Gary is obviously running late and I don't want to hold you up. I'm sure you have other
important things that you have to take care of.

"Oh, no don't worry about that. My schedule is open for this afternoon." He said with a
smile. "We could start without him. If you want?"

"Okay." Kaitlyn said.

"What date were you considering?" He asked.

"October 28th." Kaitlyn said.

"Next year?" He asked.

"No, this October 28th." Kaitlyn said.

"A week from tomorrow?" He asked.

"Yes." Kaitlyn said.

"Your mother was in yesterday. She thought you would be looking at something in June."
He said.

"Well, well, see, Reverend I'm going to be up front with you. My mother isn't aware that
we want to get married so soon. You see, um, Gary and I decided we want a small
ceremony with just close family and friends. My mother wants this huge wedding and it
has become sort of a fiasco. That's why we haven't told our parents. We're going to tell
them the day of the wedding. But, we don't want to wait until June. We want to get
married now. Is that a problem?"

"Kaitlyn, since you moved here you have been a very important member of this Church.
You have been through some tough times, enough for a lifetime." He hesitated. "I have
gotten to know Gary these last few months as well. What is the reason for the rush."

"Reverend, I appreciate everything that you and the members of this Church have done for
me." Just as she was about to finish, the door to the office opened and in walked Gary.

"I'm sorry. I got held up." Gary said.

"It's okay Gary." He said. "Please have a seat. Kaitlyn was just filling me on the situation."
Gary gave him an awkward smile. "We were discussing why there is such a rush for a
wedding."

"Well, we're ready to get married." Gary could tell that the answer he gave was not what
the Reverend wanted to hear. He continued. "Kaitlyn and I love each other very much. We
both have been through not so pleasant marriages before." Gary looked at Kaitlyn and
took her hand. "From the moment I met her my life has been complete. I want to start that
life with her now." He turned to the Reverend. "For me, there is no reason to wait."

The Reverend hesitated for a moment. Looking at Gary then at Kaitlyn and back at Gary,
he finally smiled and said, "That's a good enough reason for me. I think that we already
have a wedding scheduled for next Saturday. But, let me just go out and check the book
to see if we can work something out." He said as he headed out the door.

After the Reverend had left, Gary pulled the paper from his pocket. "We've got to wrap
this up." He said.

"What?" Kaitlyn asked.

"I have a fire I have to get to." Gary said. "We just have to wrap this up." Reverend
Manning came back into the room carrying his appointment book. Gary quickly closed the
paper.

"Well, we already have a wedding scheduled for 1:00 next Saturday." He looked at
Kaitlyn and saw the disappointment on her face. "But, we could do something around
11:00."

"11:00 would be perfect." Gary said quickly.

"Kaitlyn is that okay with you?" Reverend Manning asked.

"That's fine." Kaitlyn said.

"Then we'll see you at 11:00 on Saturday." Reverend Manning said.

"Is that it?" Gary asked.

"Unless there is something else you would like to talk about?" He asked.

"No. No, I don't think so. You ready, honey?" Gary asked Kaitlyn.

"Thank you." Kaitlyn said.

As she and Gary walked out the Church door he turned to her and said, "Give me your
keys."

"You can drive, but I'm coming with you." Kaitlyn said.

"Oh no. Fires are nothing to fool around with." Gary said. Kaitlyn stopped walking and
put her hands on her hips in frustration.

"The only way you are going to get there on time is if you take my car. If you take my car
you take me." Kaitlyn said.

"Fine." Gary said as he took the keys from her hand.
 

Chapter 13

They got into the Jeep and started out of the parking lot. Gary looked over at Kaitlyn and
saw that she was upset. They drove in silence for awhile until Gary spoke first.

"Why are you so upset with me?" He asked.

"Why? Gary you told me that you were going to be there on time. You were almost a half
hour late." Kaitlyn said.

"It couldn't be helped. I got tied up." Gary said.

"You could have called." Kaitlyn said. "We could have rescheduled. Then we had to rush
out of there. He probably thinks were nuts. Wanting to get married so quickly." Kaitlyn
said as she crossed her arms.

"You know what? Maybe we are nuts." Gary said in frustration as he stopped the car.

"What is that supposed to mean?" Kaitlyn asked angrily.

"I don't have time to argue with you about this right now. I'm already late." Gary said as
he handed Kaitlyn the cell phone. "Call 911 and report a fire. Stay here." He said as the
slammed the car door.

Kaitlyn watched Gary run across the street and head into the apartment building. She
dialed 911 and reported the fire. After she hung up, she looked out the window. She felt
awful. She knew what a great burden of responsibility the paper was for him. She felt
terrible for coming down on him so hard. She would have to apologize and make it up to
him, she thought to herself as she got out and stood by the car.

Gary headed into the building. He was late. At this point, he knew he couldn't stop the
fire. He just had to hope he could get everyone out safely. It was a small apartment
building housing 10 apartments, 5 apartments on each floor. He looked at the paper. The
fire was to start when an elderly man passes out with a cigarette in his hand. The only
problem was Gary didn't know which apartment the fire would start in. He decided to pull
the fire alarm. When he pulled it, nothing happened.

"Great." He said disgusted.

He started knocking on doors and getting people to evacuate the building. He was in the
process of evacuating the first floor when he heard smoke alarms going off. He got
everyone out of the first floor. As he headed up to the second floor, people were already
coming out of their apartments and heading down the stairs. He stopped a woman
carrying a young child.

"Where does the old man live?" Gary asked.

"Last apartment on the left. My brother is trying to get him out." The woman said as she
hurried down the stairs.

Gary ran into the hallway, which was already filled with smoke. He ran into a man.

"I can't get him to open the door." He screamed as he coughed.

"I'll get him." Gary said as he headed down the hall.

"Hey buddy, the smoke is to thick." The man screamed then ran down the stairs to exit the
building.

When Gary got to the door, he was able to kick it in. The smoke was so thick he couldn't
see anything. He got down on his knees and began to crawl into the apartment. The smoke
was overwhelming and before Gary knew it, he collapsed on the floor.

Kaitlyn was waiting by the car when the fire trucks arrived. She saw a man run out of the
building, pull a firefighter aside, and tell him something. She then noticed flames shooting
from a second floor back window. As the firefighter headed into the building, she crossed
the street and grabbed the man she saw talking with the firefighter.

"Hey, my fiancie went in there. Did you see him?" She asked frantically.

"He was trying to get Mr. Hanson out." The man said. "I told him the smoke was too
thick. He didn't listen."

As she turned toward the building, she saw the firefighters carry someone out and place
him or her on a paramedics gurney. They headed for the ambulance. She ran to the
ambulance only to see that it was an elderly man.

She ran to the firefighter, who brought out the old man and said, "My fiancie is in there.
He was trying to get him out."

"The hallway wall collapsed as we were trying to bring him out. They're getting him out
now." He said.

"Is he okay." Kaitlyn screamed.

"I don't know, ma'am." He said.

"Oh, God." She cried as she saw them carry Gary out and lay him on a stretcher.  She ran
over to the paramedic.

"Is he okay. Please tell me he is okay. Gary!" She cried as she stroked his hair.

"Ma'am he can't hear you he's unconscious." The paramedic said as they headed towards
the ambulance.

"What hospital are you taking him to?" She asked.

"Chicago Memorial." He said as he put Gary into the ambulance.

Kaitlyn stood and cried as the doors closed and the ambulance pulled away. She ran over
to her car and followed as closely behind as she could. On the way to the hospital she
called Marissa at McGinty's and told her what had happened. She asked her if she could
get in touch with Gary's parents and have them meet her at the hospital.
 

Chapter 14

As she sat alone in the hospital emergency room, she replayed her last conversation with
Gary over repeatedly in her mind. The last words that she spoke to him were out of anger
and frustration. Why did she let him go into a dangerous situation and not tell him that she
loved him? Now she may never get the chance. She covered her face with her hands and
sobbed. The only thing that brought her out of her breakdown was the sound of Lois
Hobson's voice.

"Kaitlyn, honey. What happened?" Lois said as she put her arms around her.

"He went into that apartment and when he didn't come out." She broke down in tears.

"Have you talked to a doctor yet?" Bernie asked.

"No. They haven't told me anything." Kaitlyn cried.

"I'm going to see if I can find out anything Lo." Bernie said as he headed for the
information desk.

"Gary is going to be fine, honey. I just know he is." Lois said as the tears now fell freely
down her cheeks. "He has too much to live for. He has you and the girls and a whole new
life ahead of him."

Kaitlyn looked up at her. "We were fighting right before he went in there. Why did I fight
with him?" She sobbed.

"It's going to be okay, honey." Lois said as she held her close.

The next hour seemed to crawl by at a snails pace. Marissa, Chuck, and Jade had also
come to the hospital. They all sat in the waiting room for any word on Gary's condition.
The nurse had told Bernie that they were running some tests and that they would send a
doctor out to speak with them. As Kaitlyn paced the room, she played with the
engagement ring on her finger.

"Kaitlyn, why don't you sit down." Chuck said.

"No, I don't want to sit. What is taking them so long? Can't they at least tell us if he is
okay?" She cried.

"How about some coffee?" Chuck asked.

"No thank you." Kaitlyn said. She turned as she heard someone say, "Mr. and Mrs.
Hobson?"

"I'm Dr. Jansen. I've been seeing to Gary." He said. "I'm sorry it took us so long to get
you some information, we've just been swamped back there.

"How is our son?" Lois asked as she took Kaitlyn's hand.

"Well, he is going to be okay. However, we are treating him for some smoke inhalation
and a concussion. We just got him back from radiology. We did a CAT scan on him to
make sure that he didn't have any internal injuries due to the wall collapsing on him. He's
very lucky. He seems to only have sustained a slight shoulder bruise."

"Oh, thank God." Lois said as she squeezed Kaitlyn's hand.

"He has some minor cuts and scrapes on his face. We will want to monitor him for the
next couple of days, because he was rendered unconscious and because of the smoke
inhalation. We will have to do some oxygen therapy on him." He said.

"Can we see him?" Kaitlyn asked.

"He's a little groggy right now. However, you are welcome to come and see him. I
wouldn't overwhelm him right now though. I would keep the visitors to a minimum maybe
until tomorrow. As soon as we get a room ready, we're going to move him upstairs." He
said.

"Thank you." Bernie said as he shook his hand. Lois grabbed Kaitlyn and hugged her.

"I told you he was going to be okay." Lois said. "Come on let's go see him."

"You go ahead and go and see him. He's going to want to see you." Kaitlyn said.

"Well honey, he's going to want to see you too." Lois said.

"I don't want to upset him." Kaitlyn said.

"Hey Bernie, why don't you take Lois on back to see Gary. Marissa and I want to talk to
Kaitlyn." Chuck said.

"Okay." Bernie said. "Come on Lo."

"Jade, honey, why don't you go and get us all some coffee." Chuck said as he kissed her
on the cheek.

"Okay." Jade said as she headed out of the waiting room.

Kaitlyn sat down on the seat next to Marissa and put her head in her hands. Chuck
squatted down in front of her.

"Hey, Gar is a fighter. He's going to be okay." Chuck said as he put his hand on her knee.

"I think I'm the last person he is going to want to see." Kaitlyn said.

"Why?" Marissa asked.

"We had a fight before he went into that apartment." Kaitlyn said.

"Gar and I fight all the time." Chuck said. "I'm still his best friend."

"All this happened because of me." Kaitlyn said. "If I wouldn't have fought with him, he
probably would have made it there on time and none of this would have happened."

"You don't know that." Marissa said. "Kaitlyn, Gary loves you very much.

"I love him, but it's hard to get used to him dealing with this paper. Maybe our relationship
isn't what's best for him." She whispered with so much doubt in her voice.

"Kaitlyn, Gary has had six years to deal with the paper. I think there are times that he isn't
even used to it." Marissa said.

"Listen, we've known Gary for a long time, and I'm here to tell you that neither of us have
ever seen him this happy before. He's usually Mr. Mood and Brood. But, since you he's
actually 100% happy." Chuck said.

"Go on and see him." Marissa said. "Tell him all the things that you wished you would
have said before he went into that building."

Kaitlyn shook her head in agreement, then leaned over, and hugged Marissa. She got up
out of her seat and hugged Chuck.

"Thank you. Gary is very lucky to have the two of you as friends." Kaitlyn said.

"Well, we're your friends now too." Marissa said.

"Yeah, and once you got us you can't ever get rid of us." Chuck joked.

Lois and Bernie returned to the waiting room.

"They're taking him up to his room. Room 912." Bernie said.

"Kaitlyn, honey, he's asking for you." Lois said. "Why don't you go on up and see him."

"I going to go now." Kaitlyn said as she headed out of the room.

"Hey, why don't the rest of us go on down to the cafeteria and get something to eat."
Bernie said.

"Yeah, hopefully we can catch Jade. I sent her for coffee." Chuck said as they all headed
to the cafeteria.
 

Chapter 15

When Kaitlyn got to Gary's room, the nurses were still getting him settled. She stood out
in the hallway and waited until they were finished. When she walked into the room, Gary
was lying in bed on his back with his head turned toward the window. Kaitlyn stood in the
doorway and watched him. When he turned his head, he saw her standing there staring at
him.

"Hey." He said, his voice a whisper. He picked his hand up and reached for her.

"Hi." Kaitlyn smiled and walked over to the bed. "You look like you got into a fight and
lost." Kaitlyn joked.

"That bad, huh?" Gary said.

"You're still the most handsome man I've ever seen." Kaitlyn said as she took his hand and
sat down on the bed facing him.

"Mr. Hanson is going to be okay." She said. "He has some pretty bad smoke inhalation,
but the doctor said he's going to make it."

"Good. I was worried about that." Gary said.

They sat for a while and just looked at each other. Kaitlyn finally broke the silence.

"Gary, I was so scared when you didn't come out of that building." Kaitlyn said as the
tears flowed down her cheeks.

"Shh." Gary said as he pulled her head down on his chest. "I'm okay." He said.

"I love you so much." Kaitlyn sobbed.

"I know that." Gary said as he stroked her hair. "I love you."

"I'm sorry I fought with you." Kaitlyn said as she looked up at him.

"Hey, I'm sure it won't be the last time we'll have a disagreement." Gary said as he started
to cough.

"Are you okay?" She asked concerned. He shook his head yes as he continued to cough.
"Do you want some water."

"No." He said when he finished coughing. "Come on lay down here with me." Kaitlyn laid
her head on his shoulder and he wrapped his arms around her.

"I think I like that raspy voice." She reached up and kissed him. "It's kind of sexy."

"Yeah." He smiled as they fell asleep in each other's arms.
 

Chapter 16

Gary spent the next two days in the hospital. Bernie and Chuck took care of the paper.
When he was released, Kaitlyn insisted that he come home and stay with her. She wanted
to take care of him. After two days of home rest, he told Kaitlyn that he was ready to deal
with the paper. She reluctantly agreed, only on the condition that Chuck go along with
him.

It was Thursday and everyone involved in the wedding planning was meeting at Marissa's
for dinner. Kaitlyn's sisters, Marissa, and Jade had everything for the wedding planned
right down to the flowers by Wednesday evening. They just wanted to go over some last
minute details with Kaitlyn. Marissa was taking care of the luncheon following the
ceremony. While the women were in the kitchen talking about the wedding, the men were
in the living room.

"Well Gar." Chuck said as he put his arm around Gary's shoulders. "The bachelor party
will be tomorrow night."

"Oh no. No. No. No." Gary said emphatically as he removed Chuck's arm from his
shoulders. "There will be no bachelor party."

"What do ya mean?" Chuck said. "We can't give you a send off into marital bliss without a
bachelor party."

"Absolutely not! No Chuck, no!" Gary said.

"Come on Gary, it won't be that bad." Mike said. "From what I hear Chuck has a great
night planned."

"Yeah, I could use a night out." Greg said.

"Me too." Emmitt agreed.

"You guys don't seem to understand something. You see Chuck and bachelor parties,
well, there is a history there that I really don't want to elaborate on." Gary said as he shot
Chuck a look.

"Gary! Buddy! That was a long time ago." Chuck said turning to the other guys in the
room. "You see, I hired these strippers.." Gary quickly cut him off.

"No! Chuck no bachelor party. I'm going to spend the evening with Kaitlyn." Gary said as
he looked at Chuck. "Sorry guys." He said to the other men.

Later that evening, as the guys listened to Greg tell baseball stories. Chuck approached
Kaitlyn, who was in the kitchen talking with Jade and Megan.

"Ladies." He said in a low voice as he came through the door. They started to laugh. He
walked over and sat down next to Kaitlyn.

"Chuck, I'll give this to you, you definitely have a way about you." Kaitlyn laughed.

"You have no idea." Jade joked.

"All right, all right." He said as he put his hands in the air. "Just let me say my peace and
I'll leave. Kaitlyn, I'm going to need your help with something."

"What?" She asked suspiciously.

"Well, it seems that your fiancie doesn't trust, me, his best man and best friend, I might
add, to throw him a get together tomorrow evening." Chuck tried to put it delicately.

"A get together." Jade said. "I believe the right words are a bachelor party." Jade said to
Kaitlyn.

"Call it what you will. He's telling me no. The guys, they're counting on me to come
through for them. Now, because he is unwilling to cooperate, I'll be letting them down."
Chuck said.

"What exactly do you have planned?" Kaitlyn asked.

"You know, just guy stuff. A little drinking, a few movies." Chuck said innocently.

"And women." Jade said interrupting him.

"Honey. I am disappointed in you." Chuck said. "You are the love of my life. Other
women need not bother." Jade looked at Kaitlyn and rolled her eyes.

"What exactly do you need from me Chuck?" Kaitlyn asked.

"All I need you to do is tell him that you have plans for tomorrow night. Maybe a night
out with the girls, or something." Chuck said. "Come on Katie, the guy needs to have a
little fun."

"You're not going to get him into any trouble are you?" Kaitlyn asked skeptically.

"Scouts honor." Chuck said as he raised his hand.

"I don't believe you were a scout, Chuck." Jade teased.

"Where is this little get together going to take place at?" Megan asked.

"A little club downtown." Chuck said under his breath.

"All right." Kaitlyn relented. Chuck hugged her.

"Gary does not know how lucky he is." Chuck said. Kaitlyn laughed and turned to Jade.

"Looks like you and me are going to have dinner tomorrow night." She said as they all
smiled.

On the way home from Marissa's, Gary as expected, asked Kaitlyn to have dinner with him
the next night.

"I can't." She said innocently. "I already told Jade that I would have dinner with her."

"Jade?" Gary asked.

"Yeah. I figured you would want to go out with Chuck. I thought it would be nice if Jade
and I got to know each other better. I mean she is married to your best friend. I think she's
nice." Kaitlyn said.

"So you're going to have dinner with Jade and I have to go out with Chuck?" Gary asked
and Kaitlyn nodded.

"Oh that can't be good." He said under his breath.

The next night when Gary opened the door to the loft he not only found Chuck, but,
Mike, Greg and Emmitt.

"Chuck I thought I told you no bachelor party." Gary said.

"Gary, Buddy. We're going to a fine establishment. It's just us guys going out for a nice
night." Chuck said as he patted his friend on the back.
 

Continued in Installment 2
Skip to Installment 3

Email the author: radomsrcr@prodigy.net
 

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