Keeper of my Heart! Chapter Seventeen By Sharon Holtz ______________________________
And so Catherine returned with their refreshments, and they enjoyed the rest of the evening, sitting by the fire, sipping tea, and enjoying the cheese sticks Catherine had baked for them.
Vincent then acknowledged, how much he enjoyed her cooking for him, and appreciatively, he added, "This gives me insight into your nurturing heart."
Thoughtfully, Catherine then replied, "I do enjoy it, and cooking helps me express how much I care for you."
Wanting to ask about Mary and Rebecca, and of how they seemed to care about him too, Catherine playfully asked, "Speaking of nurturing, I couldn't help but notice you have quite a fan club in Mary and Rebecca."
As Vincent thought back on the recent chain of events with Brigit, he privately pondered that yes, though they are nurturing, they can be a bit intrusive as well!
And so with a smile in his eyes, Vincent replied, "Yes, its true Mary and Rebecca do care for me, and seem to enjoy looking out for my...well, shall I say, for my welfare as well?"
Catherine raised a brow, and agreed saying, "Yes I had that impression by the questions they were asking me."
Vincent replied, "Well I am pleased to see you so beautifully survived their grueling inquiry."
Smiling, as she then noted, "They were not so bad, but being in the profession where asking and answering questions is imperative, well let's say I have been trained for such a session."
As Vincent caught a glimpse of Catherine's decorated toes, without mentioning them, he thoughtfully revealed, "You beguile me so..."
To which Catherine questioned, "Hmmm, beguile sounds sort of ominous, like I have the ability to put a magic spell on you or something."
In thoughtful reply, Vincent assured her, "You do Catherine, by all you are, do, and say."
As the two sat together for a moment, looking into each other's eyes, silently they spoke to one another's heart.
And so as the time came for Vincent to say goodnight, he told Catherine, he would be waiting for her below, by the apartment's basement's threshold early tomorrow.
Catherine took a deep breath, and said smiling, "I believe I am all ready Vincent, I have my pies baked, and I have the whipped cream ready to go too."
Vincent amusedly looked downward, as he shared, "I must tell you, it was only but a while ago, Father spoke of the whipped cream you will be bringing. He expressed how he wished he had some to top the Cobbler William had baked tonight."
Catherine smiled, and said, "Awe did he really? Sweet!"
And as a thought struck Catherine, she retrieved a can for Vincent to take with him, and said, "Please give this to Jacob for me. Then he could still enjoy his Cobbler with some whipped cream tonight."
Vincent nodded, and said, "Thank you Catherine, knowing this is from you, will mean so very much. Although, I do believe another go round at dessert tonight would be ill advised, as he has had two servings already."
After sharing a smile over the subject of Jacob and his love of sweets, they then said a lingering, loving goodnight to one another, and were both looking forward to tomorrow.
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Meanwhile, as Vincent entered his Father's chamber, he stood silent for a moment, as he was wanting to make certain that he was still awake.
As Jacob's voice broke through the quiet, he worriedly noted, "You are back early again! Is everything all right between you and Catherine?"
To which Vincent ironically tipped his head, as he graciously said, "Everything is fine between Catherine and I, and as far as returning early, well it was upon your very suggestion and request that I did so."
With a nod, Jacob laughed as he answered, "I suppose I am not used to anyone taking my advice, which is why I questioned you so."
It was then, Vincent presented the canister of Whip Cream to Jacob and said, "Compliments from Catherine Father."
Taken aback by this token of affection, Jacob smiled, and humbly asked, "For me?"
Vincent reminded him, "I mentioned to Catherine of how you would have enjoyed having some for your cobbler earlier, and thought if she sent a ration of the whipping cream with me, you could still do so tonight."
To which Jacob warmly said, "Well you must thank Catherine for me, or I suppose I shall thank her myself tomorrow!"
Jacob then firmly professed, "Hmmm, as tempting as that sounds, I daresn't! Indeed, I CAN, and SHALL wait for tomorrows Holiday Festivities for any such indulgences!"
Jacob then raised his voice a pitch as he explained, "Sometimes it is good to deprive your self of indulgent pleasures Vincent! Yes denial, DENIAL I say, strengthens the soul!"
Jacob then instructed, "So, if you would be so kind to drop this off at the kitchen, as you leave me. Yes, I do believe it is time to retire."
It was then Jacob thought to share some news, and so he sadly said, "I received word from Michael in regards to his attending our Thanksgiving Dinner..."
In anticipation, Vincent asked, "And?"
To which Jacob scratched his chin, and shared, "He has acquired a job in a local store, and will be picking up all available hours...ahh, though I told him I am proud of his tenacity, I expressed that he will be sorely missed."
Vincent raised a brow and said, "Sorely missed indeed Father...well, it will be hard to share this news with Mary and the others, Brooke in particular..."
With a nod, Jacob replied, "Yes, well I already had, thought it would be best to dispel any hopeful expectations as quickly as possible."
In accordance, Vincent agreeably said, "How was the news received?"
In reply, Jacob said, "Mary took it harder than I would have thought, letting go of a fledging is difficult, however Brooke, did have a heads up this may occur. Evidently when she last visited Michael, he told her of his new job, and how his busy schedule, between school, home work and his job, left little time for anything else!"
With an accepting manner, Vincent found himself feeling much like Mary. Letting go was difficult. But knew this was Michaels path, and was very proud of him.
So as Vincent picked up the whipped cream, he said, "Goodnight and sleep well Father, I will drop this off."
Vincent then made the detour to the kitchen as Jacob had asked, and placed the coveted canister in the cooling basin.
As he did so, he could hear some talking in the Dining Hall!
As Vincent quietly stepped forth to investigate, he saw it was Rebecca and Mary.
So upon joining them, Vincent asked, "Such a late night meeting, is there a problem?"
In reply, a very anxious Rebecca, said, "Yes, there is a problem Vincent! Mary and I are trying to figure out, how many candles are absolutely needed for Thanksgiving!"
She then explained, "You see, I kept waiting for more supplies from Benny, but now I cannot wait any longer! It is clear that the Thanksgiving candles, will cut into our supply for the Winterfest candles!"
To which Mary added, "I am supposing that because of the monetary hardships which have hit Benny's family this year, he is not able to supply us as generously as he has in the past. So, we are just trying to figure out how few candles we can get by with tomorrow. So upon our last counting, Rebecca and I were thinking maybe the bare minimum would be three candles per table."
To which Mary added, "After all, we do want to see what we are eating!"
Looking upwards, Vincent offered, "Perhaps we could add some additional wall mounted torches..."
It was then Rebecca tearfully expressed, "That would help, but its the candles that give us the warm ambiance...Oh Vincent, this is terrible! I wanted this years Thanksgiving celebration to look especially festive, since Catherine will be joining us."
Stalwartly, Vincent put his arms around both the ladies, and confidently said, "I am sure we can find a solution. Our resources are many, and we shall find a way to provide enough supplies for both occasions."
He then soothingly said, "It is late, and perhaps after a good nights sleep, we will come up with a viable solution."
The two woman smiled up at Vincent, admiring, and appreciating him for his calm.
And as they walked out of the Dining Hall, under his protective embrace, Vincent suddenly stopped, because he was certain he had heard a noise!
And at the same time, Mary also asked, "Did you hear that?"
To which Rebecca nodded, and insistently whispered, "It came from the kitchen!"
All three looked at one another and surmised it was most likely Arthur!
To which Vincent calmly suggested, "I will go get him, and you both go on to bed. And then in the morning, we will present the candle supply dilemma to Father."
The two women bade him goodnight, and headed for their chambers.
As Vincent then quietly approached the kitchen, he stood tall as he came upon the culprit! And so he asked, "Father, are you looking for something?"
With a start, Jacob turned around trying to hide his bowl of fruited cobbler, which was generously topped with whipped cream!
Feeling a bit befuddled, Jacob blushed and said, "I was merely checking on a few things."
Vincent was quite aware of the kitchen espionage which was taking place, but feigned ignorance, as he inquisitively asked, "Anything I can assist you with Father?"
To which Jacob irritatingly said, "No, no Vincent, nothing I cannot handle myself, now off to bed with you!"
As Vincent gave Jacob the impression he had bought into his story, he replied, "Very well then Father."
As Vincent turned to leave, he suavely handed his Father a cloth, and with a smile in his eyes, said, "Only a suggestion, but you may want to wipe some of that "Denial" off of your chin!"
As Jacob accepted the cloth from his son, he chuckled guiltily, as he gave his chin a swipe, and said, "Ah Vincent, if your offer to assist, is still good..."
Jacob then presented his bowl of whipped cream topped fruited cobbler, and noted, "...perhaps this IS more than I can handle...care to join me?"
Vincent almost said no, but then thought twice, thinking the fruited cobbler with whipping cream sounded pretty good just then.
And so by the light of a single burning candle, unbeknownst to another living soul, the Father and the Son, sat in the darkened kitchen, secretly snitching a midnight snack.
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Thanksgiving morning in the tunnels was hectic to say the least, and as Rebecca and Mary caught up with Jacob, who was walking along with Vincent and Mouse, they relayed to him the dilemma of the candle making supply shortage.
Thoughtfully, Jacob brought his hand to his chin, as he said, "Vincent had told me about the supply shortage earlier. So since Benny is not able to send anything more down to us, what I believe the best course of action is to..."
And because the supplies had actually been delivered, Mouse excitedly announced, "You are wrong, the supplies were delivered last week!"
And so to clarify, Mary anxiously asked, "So Benny did send additional supplies to us?"
To which Mouse assuredly nodded, and proudly said, "Yep! Sure did! I know cuz I unloaded Benny myself!"
And so since the supplies were delivered, the next question would be, where are they? And so helping the story along, Jacob then asked, "And so...where did you take them after you unloaded Benny?"
Realizing he had dropped the ball, Mouse grew timid, as he reluctantly admitted, "Guess I left them at the dock...it started to snow, and I wanted to go see, and then there was a snowball fight with topsiders...and well, guess I forgot to give them to Rebecca..."
After hearing this good news, both Mary and Rebecca rejoiced, and Mary then said, "Bless his heart...even with his hardships, Benny came through for us."
And although Mouse's faux pas did cause much unnecessary worry, Rebecca felt so relieved there would be enough supplies to span both of the upcoming celebrations, she didn't even think to be upset with Mouse.
Jacob, however, in a scolding manner, reminded Mouse, "Snowball fight, or no snowball fight, communication is very important within our community Mouse! And supplies must be delivered in a timely fashion!"
And so guiltily, Mouse said he understood, and offered to not only fetch the supplies immediately, but to also help Rebecca in any way he could, to make up for his goof, saying, "Don't want Rebecca mad at me..."
Sweetly Rebecca told him, "Well Mouse, we all make mistakes, and I am not mad at you. But, if you would go and get the supplies for me now, I could use your help in pouring the rest of the candles for the Thanksgiving tables."
With an over eager demeanor, Mouse replied, "Sure! Be there in one minute with supplies from Benny!"
So as the two walked off, both with pep in their steps for different reasons, Jacob smiled an ironic smile, as he noted, "Mouse was so eager to make up with Rebecca, he completely forgot he was to take these boxes to the Dining Hall for me!"
Stepping up, Vincent offered to deliver the supplies Mouse forgot about, and then thinking he needed a little exercise after his late night binge, Jacob decided to help too, by saying, "What the hay, give me one of those boxes Vincent! Perhaps I better make some room for todays feast!"
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Meanwhile above, Catherine took Noodles outside for a little walk, making sure she stayed close to the other pet owners, who were also walking their dogs.
And after returning inside, as per routine, they played throw the ball a bit, before Catherine prepared his dishes of food and water for the day.
And as she sat petting him, she assured him she would be back later on. And so after boxing up the pies she was taking below, along with the rest of the containers of whipped topping, and a bag of apples for Mouse's pet raccoon, she was ready to go below to the tunnels for Thanksgiving.
As she closed the door to her apartment, Catherine with excitement in her heart, waited for the elevator, which would take her to the threshold of Vincent's world.
It must have been mere minutes after Catherine left, that her phone rang. And the phone call was from her Dad, who left a message, saying once again...his and Peter's plans had been changed!
On the message, Charles explained, "Hi Princess, Pauline's grandson Petey, had a bit of a relapse, and cannot travel. Nothing too serious, but Peter and Pauline wanted to fly back and check on him. So of course this means I will be returning with them, and having dinner with them too. Now don't change any of your plans. I just wanted you to know what is going on. I will be at Peter's until 7 or 8, so if you return early, you can call me there. If it is any later, then I will be at home snug as a bug in a rug and I will hopefully see you tomorrow."
Meanwhile, Catherine moved the crate, that was covering the entrance to the tunnels, and saw Vincent was already there at the foot of the ladder waiting for her.
As she passed the boxes down to him, she then climbed down the rungs, and into Vincent's enchanted world.
Once she was on the last step, she turned to Vincent, and softly said, "Vincent...Happy Thanksgiving."
As he looked back at her, he in turn said, "Happy Thanksgiving Catherine." To be continued Chapter Eighteen