Chapter 46 - Cat
Cat
We lie together, comfortable in the silence that holds us instead of pressing down.
Our legs are entangled, my arms are wrapped around her, and her head rests on my chest. Every now and then I press my lips into her hairline and breathe in her scent.
The gentle smell of honey prickles my nose, and I frown.
“When did you get a new shampoo?”
She lets out a soft chuckle and moves her head so she can look at me. Her fingers keep trailing lines over my arm, and the sight of her pink, swollen lips makes me want to lean in and kiss her again.
“Yesterday, at the new boutique shop. Do you like it? It’s made with all-natural ingredients, so it’s less harm—”
I cut her off by pressing my mouth onto hers and running my hand through her hair, grabbing a fistful. When we break apart, she is panting slightly, and I let out a low chuckle.
“I love it.”
“I… got that impression.”
She nuzzles my neck and presses her body closer.
A soft hum escapes me, and I hold her a little tighter, not wanting to ever let go of her again.
I close my eyes and focus on the warmth of where her skin touches mine, her wetness against my thigh, her breaths against my collarbone. My whole world, right here in my hands.
“Baby?”
“Sí, amor?”
“What does siempre mean?”
I blink my eyes open, startled at the question. I don’t move, she is far too comfortable, but my heart starts to beat just a little faster.
“It means ‘always,’” I admit quietly.
“You said it to me when—”
“I did.”
“Why?”
This time I do move, forcing her to look at me.
I tuck her hair behind her ear and kiss her forehead.
My throat closes up, choking me with emotion.
Her question is so tender, so full of genuine curiosity that it’s almost scary to hold.
I’m afraid it will shatter if I don’t carry it the right way, but I simultaneously know that I am the only one who can.
“Because the thought of a world without you in it no longer makes sense.”
I feel her shiver in my arms and see the gleam of tears in her eyes before she turns her head away. Her muscles roll under my fingers, and I feel her throat bob as she swallows.
“Está bien, amor. I don’t expect you to—”
“One of the things I love most about you is that you pretend to be all sharp and tough, while you are actually soft and filled with so many feelings that you have to push them out sometimes so you won’t get hurt.”
Her voice quivers slightly, but her fingers continue stroking my arm. Her eyes find mine again, searching to see whether I am hearing her. Even though my blood is roaring in my ears right now, I am. My eyebrows pull together, but I dip my chin.
“Ever since I first saw you, I’ve felt this pull toward you.
I am not sure if I had the right words for it or quite knew what it was at the time, but it was there.
Undeniable,” she continues, choosing her words carefully.
“Those few days in the beginning when we didn’t speak…
they felt horrible, Katherina. I hated every second of it. ”
My lip trembles, and I can only nod. If I speak now, my tears will fall, and she will want to comfort me, but I don’t want her to stop speaking. What she is telling me now is everything. She is everything.
“I didn’t plan to come back to you, you know?”
I nod. I know. I’ve always known. And right now I’m more grateful than ever that I went to see her.
“I don’t do second chances, Cat. I never have.
But you… You make me feel safe. When you text me one of your short messages between surgeries, it feels like a tiny hug.
It feels like you are kissing my cheek,” she whispers while she blinks back her own tears.
“And when we talk? It is as if you wrap your arms around me and hold me close to your heart, even when we aren’t in the same room. ”
“Amor,” I reply in a hoarse voice, but she shakes her head.
“I love it when you are in doctor mode, but I also love it when you come home to me. When you take off that mask and turn playful and teasing. I never want you to stop teasing me.”
“I won’t,” I rush the words out, and she smiles through her tears.
“Querida… you fill my heart. Every single day, it expands just a little further because of you. When I think it can’t grow any bigger, you do or say something so beautiful that it cracks and expands again.”
I press my fingers against her cheekbone, catch the tears with the pad of my thumb, move it to my lips, and drink them in. Tears of love, tears of us. She grasps me tighter as she watches me, and I hear her breath hitch. Good.
“You got under my skin and into my heart… I want to laugh with you, flirt with you, enjoy the magic of us. And I never want that to stop.”
I move a little so that I can take her face in both my hands and really look at her.
“That, mi amor, is what siempre means.”
“Siempre,” she whispers back, as if she is tasting the word on her tongue.
It comes out so pure that it tugs at something inside me.
I understand that my brain is triggered and it’s sending a rush of dopamine throughout my body, but that’s not what I feel.
That’s not what this is. This is Mary carefully feeling along the edges of this next step, exploring what it means. To her and to me.
I pull her back into my arms and press my mouth against the top of her head.
“Siempre,” I murmur again, into her hair, and this time I feel her body slacken against mine.
Home. We are finally home.
***
I grab my phone with more spite than I should, but the blaring is louder than I’m used to, and I don’t want to disturb Mary, who’s working right next to me.
We are snuggled up under the blankets against the sudden cold that came along with October, and keep ourselves warm with tea, coffee, and a lot of make-out sessions.
Mary shifts slightly when I bring the phone toward my face, but the screen comes up empty. What? It takes me an additional two seconds to realize the sound is coming from hers. We both frown while she reaches for it, and she mutters an apology before pressing the accept button.
“Hello?”
I hear a faint rambling on the other end of the line, and Mary pushes herself up to sit straight. Her eyes are big as she stares at the wall in front of us. I follow her example and look at her with a raised eyebrow, but she doesn’t seem to register my confusion.
“Robyn, slow down.” She frowns, her eyes finally finding mine. “What exactly are you saying?”
Her agent doesn’t slow down but instead picks up speed, and her pitch shifts higher.
Mary struggles to keep up. Her brow furrows further.
She nods and shakes her head a few times, and her lips part as if she wants to say something but doesn’t.
There are a few times when I want to step in, especially when it looks like she is becoming overwhelmed.
The urge to protect her sits right there at the edge.
But this is her world, her OR, and I just know I can’t intervene.
She is in charge, and I have to trust her to give me directions when she needs me.
“Wait, what?” Her voice shoots up.
“Maria?” I whisper, and she instantly grabs my wrist.
She doesn’t look at me, not yet, but I know she keeps me right there with her.
“Repeat that, please?”
Now the voice drops to a low buzz, and her breath stops somewhere halfway down her throat.
Mary lets out a strangled sound that is somewhere between an agreement and an acknowledgement before she hangs up the phone.
She clutches the device against her chest, which is now moving up and down with such speed that I worry she’ll start to hyperventilate.
“Maria?” I try again, and the fingers of her free hand curl around my wrist even tighter. “Amor, dime?”
Right as she looks up, her phone pings, and the screen lights up with a message from Robyn. She hands it over to me without even opening it. For a moment, I am confused, but then curiosity wins, and I swipe upwards.
05:04 p.m. – Robyn Sachs
Sent 1 link.
My fingers tremble when I press it, the URL a dead giveaway for what to expect, and still… I hold my breath as the page loads, and suddenly it’s there.
7 NEW THIS WEEK
CHILD OF SNOW
By: Mary V.A. | Rainbow Delights
“Amor,” I whisper in complete awe, unable to tear my eyes away from the screen. “Amor… this… this…”
“I know,” she whispers just as quietly.
“It’s only been out for two weeks.”
“I know,” she says again, this time with a soft huff.
“Amor…”
She slowly turns her head toward me, her face twitching. For a beat or two, I don’t know what to think, but then she starts to huff out short puffs of air until they turn into a full-on giggle.
“I know,” she says as her eyes start to brim with tears.
“Amor!”
I can no longer contain myself and toss the phone away.
I lunge forward to kiss her deeply and hard, unsure where to go with all the emotions that are now flooding my system.
She did it, just as I knew she would. Two weeks.
That’s all it took for people to recognize her amazing talent. And that is just the start of it.
“We have to tell the mamá y papá, y the sixers,” I pant in between kisses, and she nods frantically.
Her cheeks are wet with happy tears. Mary’s, mine, both mingled together.
I grab my phone again, but instead of typing out a message, I aim the camera at us and press record.
I don’t care that we are in bed, I don’t care that our faces are tear-streaked, I don’t care that we look a little less than feral right now. This is our family.
“Hey everyone, Maria has some exciting news to share with you,” I say grinning at my own image, and I feel her chuckle next to me. “Amor?”
“I just got a phone call from my agent,” she says, her voice still thick with emotion. “Child of Snow has achieved seventh place on the New York Times Bestseller list.”
“That’s right,” I sigh proudly as I press a kiss against her hair. “Mi amor is the best writer in the world because this… this is only the beginning.”