Meanwhile, Vincent ventured toward Mary's chamber to take her yarn to her, saying, "Mary, may I come in?"
Upon seeing Vincent at her threshold, Mary happily greeted him, saying, "Of course Vincent..."
As Vincent entered, he handed Mary the bag-o-yarn, and softly stated, "Sophia sends her regards..."
To which in response, Mary warmly smiled as she opened the canvas bag, and marveled at Sophia's generosity! As the bag was filled to the brim, with yarn, in just about every color of the rainbow.
And so as Mary did a quick assessment, she joyfully stated, there was enough yarn for the last afghan, and to start on next years Christmas "Scarf" project as well, saying, "Looks like there will be scarves for everyone in the Tunnel community and for some special helpers too."
As Mary looked up from her bag of goodies, her smile quickly faded as she detected the mood Vincent was in. And so with concern she asked, "Is everything all right Vincent?"
Lowering his eyes, Vincent forlornly shook his head, and worriedly relayed, "I cannot stop these feelings I keep having about a man Catherine has befriended..."
And so with a knowing look, Mary clarified, "Is it the same man she was once engaged to?"
Upon hearing the tone in Mary's voice, Vincent began to pace as he replied, "Yes it is, and I know you are going to ask the same question Father has asked me...wondering if it is jealousy within my heart causing these feelings?"
To which Mary curtly asked, "And...is it?"
And because of Mary's insinuating question, Vincent stopped, and as he looked over at her, he honestly answered, "I would know if that were so! And though Catherine says she will be more guarded with this man because of my warnings, I sense she is wondering if my suspicions are generated by jealousy as well."
In response, Mary then assertively suggested, "Well then Vincent...all you can do is be extra vigilant for Catherine's sake, and try not to alienate her in the process."
Nodding, Vincent thoughtfully, and agreeably said, "Yes..."
With a motherly embrace, Mary then said, "Now try not to worry so...and Vincent thank you for the yarn...I realize getting it for me, well, I imagine it must have cut your visit with Catherine a bit short."
Appreciating Mary's astute intuitiveness, Vincent admitted, "Perhaps a bit...however this is a busy time for Catherine, and because of this fact, I must be mindful not to over stay."
Upon hearing how Vincent has so much consideration for Catherine, Mary responded, "Awe....so thoughtful...always so thoughtful."
And because Mary herself was the most thoughtful person Vincent knew, he carefully broached the subject of his Father and Jessica, saying, "We hadn't a chance to talk since Jessica was here."
To which Mary turned her back to hide her feelings and tried to sound natural, as she asked, "What's to talk about Dear?"
Hesitantly, Vincent approached Mary, and as he stood behind her, he revealed, "I saw how Jessica being here affected you Mary..."
Turning to Vincent, Mary with emotion admitted, "It was terrible that I acted like that! Just like a school girl! I hope I didn't cause you any concern...its just that her visiting was unexpected."
To which Vincent tenderly asked, "So the tea was not for Father and Jessica..."
In reply, Mary's voice trembled as she admitted, "No...it was not..."
But because Mary found strength in the fact Vincent was available to confide in, she then sweetly said, "I am over it now Vincent...I can accept Father's friendship with Jessica is important to them both. And as far as I am concerned, I shall cherish the time I am able to spend with Father, and hope for nothing more...end of story."
And as Vincent was about to say something encouraging, to bolster Mary, she cut him off, and said, "Really Vincent...knowing you are there for me is enough...and I thank you for caring, but I really don't wish to speak about this any more...however...there is a pressing matter at hand..."
And so Mary mentioned, "I DO wonder how the girls are doing watching Lukey tonight...I intended to check on them earlier, but golly, the time got away from me."
Picking up on Mary's concerns, Vincent offered, "You stay on task Mary, I will check on them."
With appreciation, Mary kindly replied, "Then I shall continue onward with my next, and LAST afghan!"
With a "you are welcome" nod, Vincent was about to leave Mary, when he turned, and saw her wipe a tear away, and so he stepped back to give her a sweet tender hug, and without a word left, to check on Brooke, and Jamie...and it was a good thing he did, as Lukey would not go to sleep.
And so playfully, Lukey grasped Vincent's finger, and cooed as he smiled up at him. The warmth of this small child touched Vincent's heart, and with a loving gentleness, said, "You shall win over the world with that smile Luke..."
Jamie who was holding the little boy at the time, laughed as she told Vincent, "At least you got a smile from Luke, he started to cry when Father spoke to him."
Sorrowfully, with a sympathetic giggle, Brooke said, "Yes poor Father, I believe Luke hurt his feelings."
Vincent sadly agreed, saying, "I am certain if Luke cried as Father spoke to him, it would have vanquished him...he delights in this child so, as we all do. Perhaps Luke was in a vexatious mood at the time."
As the little fella held out his arms for Vincent to hold him, Jamie passed Luke over to him, and said, "Maybe so, because after Father left, we did have to change his britches."
Vincent smiled one of his rare smiles, as he now held Luke in his arms, and concurred saying, "That must have been the reason then."
And then jokingly, Vincent expectantly asked, "You did say you had changed his britches?"
Laughing, the two girls assured Vincent that Lukey was now fresh as a daisy!
And so after this little bit of levity, Vincent then noted, "It is very kind of you two to watch over Luke for Kanin, and Olivia."
Devilishly, the two girl's smiled at each other, before Brooke replied, "I guess it is a good deed to be sure, cuz he is a handful, and we sure understand why they needed a little break. Besides, I couldn't say no, when Olivia asked us to keep him for the night."
And then Jamie shared, "And it was funny, because, Kanin asked me the same favor earlier in the day too, saying he thought he had been neglecting Olivia, and wanted to pay her some undivided attention! Which translates into only one thing..."
Fearfully quizzing Jamie on exactly what she felt that translated into, Vincent asked, "And that "one thing" would be..."
Raising a brow, Jamie expounded, "A night of romance of course!"
To which Brooke shockingly said, "Jamie!"
Looking back at Brooke, Jamie shouted, "What? You just said the same thing to me a minute ago!"
Shyly looking downward, Brooke said, "Yes but that was to you...not to Vincent! Oh my! What you must think of us talking that way Vincent."
And because he wanted to put Brooke at ease, Vincent assuredly replied, "To be honest, that would have been my speculation as well..."
The girl's started to laugh, and as Luke laid his sleepy little head of curls down on Vincent's shoulder, the girl's hopefully said, that thanks to Vincent, maybe they could FINALLY get him settled down for the night.
To which Vincent lovingly patted him on his back and softly whispered, "I will lay him down..."
Silently they motioned to where he would be sleeping, and so gingerly, Vincent bent down to put a sleeping Luke into the cozy little spot they had fashioned for him. Pulling the little down filled quilt up to cover him, Vincent silently stood, taking an extra moment to look down, and marvel at this small boy, pondering all of the possibilities, that lay before him.
The two girls, meanwhile, in an awing fashion watched, thinking what a cute sight it was, as Vincent took care of Lukey.
Slowly Vincent then turned to walk toward the threshold, humbly accepting the girl's gratitude for lulling Luke to sleep for them.
Vincent then noted, "Now perhaps, you two may get some sleep as well. Don't hesitate to send for me if you need to. Goodnight."
The two girls hugged Vincent good night, and with gratitude, cheered him once more.
As Vincent entered his chamber, he stretched out on his bed, and as he did, he thought all about what Mary had said, and made the conscious decision to heed her advice. Yes, Vincent would keep his feelings about Steven to himself from here on, but remain vigilant watching over Catherine in the process.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Meanwhile, Catherine sat lamenting the way Vincent left, and hating how Steven seemed to pop up at the worse of times.
However, getting on task, Catherine organized all of her most significant list of contacts for Harvey. Feeling satisfied her list was complete, she then got ready to move on to her next undertaking. And so after she checked off the desired criteria one by one, Catherine was finally able to snuggle into bed!
And as she laid there, Catherine's thoughts wandered, and settled on what Vincent had said, about not trusting Steven again. As she examined the vibes she herself at times picked up from Steven, she wondered if maybe deep down, she didn't sense something ominous too...
All she could do, was be cautious, as she helped him through this time in his life, as he needed to prepare for his death.
Rolling over in her bed, she had nearly drifted off to sleep, when the phone rang!
Wondering, who in the world would be calling at this time of night, Catherine's heart raced, as she deduced it could only be a call about something bad!
And so frightfully, she answered the phone, and on the other end, was an irritated Steven, who grumpily asked, "Why didn't you return my call, I have been waiting by the phone all night!"
To which Catherine in a stunned daze, replied, "I was going to call in the morning, you said to let you know before 10:00 a.m."
Upon hearing Catherine's answer, Steven sternly replied, "I would have definitely preferred a call from you tonight! Don't you understand? These things need planning!"
Being totally caught off guard, Catherine started to reasonably say, "I suppose I would have called right back, but you sounded so laid back about it."
To which Steven shouted back, "Laid back? Are you crazy? I have been on pins and needles, praying you will go! How thoughtless of you Cathy! You must know what it would mean to me for you to go!"
And as Catherine gathered her bedazzled wits about her, she realized how rude Steven was being! And so she then stood her ground and told him, "And you must know inviting me for such a trip, would never be a possibility, especially this week! And calling this time of night is very thoughtless of you! I thought something may have happened to my Dad, and then to hear your shouting at me really makes me wonder about this friendship we are supposed to be re-establishing."
Calming himself, Steven realized he better check himself before he turned Catherine totally away! And so he took in a breath, and tried to sound apologetic as he said, "Honestly I am sorry Cathy. It's just that I wanted you to go so badly, and I was just like a little kid, feeling so eager to hear back from you. And now to hear you say going would never ever be a possibility, well wow, all I can say is that totally blows me away!"
And then in an effort to gain some sympathy, Steven mournfully continued, "Guess I have almost destroyed our friendship..."
And because Catherine knew Steven's meds may cause mood swings, she tried to be understanding, but honestly said, "I have to say Steven, your tone has set me back here tonight, and I'm not sure if what we have is a friendship."
Pulling out all his aces, Steven pleaded, "I know my tone has been deplorable, I am sorry Cathy, I guess knowing my time is limited, I just feel so anxious! I want to do it all, see it all, and I'd like to do it with you Cathy...my only friend."
Knowing the door was open to cut down any possible expectations, Catherine said, "You understand, a friendship WAS all I was offering you Steven..."
Upon hearing Catherine's choice of words, Steven pleaded, "Awe don't say WAS Cathy! Sounds like you are taking your friendship away from me! If you do that, I will have nothing left to live for!"
To which Catherine replied, "I have no choice Steven, you don't seem to be able to accept anything less from me. I feel like you are not listening to me."
Seizing his last chance, Steven begged, "I can accept it now Cathy, I promise! And I hear you loud and clear! Friends, pals, amigos ONLY! One more chance...PLEASE!"
Feeling she had no other recourse but to comply, she hesitantly said, "One more chance Steven...and I will be here only to aid in appointments and such."
Pleased to have won out, Steven with childish enthusiasm, said, "Hey thanks Cathy! I'll call you when I return home...FRIEND!"
To which Catherine responded "Safe travels Steven."
As Catherine walked back to her bed, an uneasy feeling settled in, knowing she will definitely pull back her relationship with Steven, and time will tell if he has changed.
Finally, as Catherine was able to steady her racing heartbeat, sleep came to her at last.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Meantime, it was then Vincent suddenly sat up in his bed, sensing a sort of a tumultuous feeling from Catherine, which seemed to vanquish away as quick as it came! And so Vincent checked and rechecked the bond that connected him to Catherine, and because there was now a resolute calm, he himself was able to confidently drift off to sleep too.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The next day, Catherine knocked on her Dad's office door, and then stepped in to ask how he was doing.
To which Charles said, "Ya know honey, just taking the afternoon off like I did yesterday, did me wonders! Thank you for suggesting it. I believe I now have a fully charged battery."
After giving her Dad a squench, Catherine told him how happy she was to hear this. And then she filled her Dad in on the weekend plans with Gerty and Robert, and of how anxious they were to see him too!
With a smile, Charles said, "Well that will be great to see the kids, and good for you too honey, it's important to stay connected to family."
And it was then Catherine asked, "So do you think we could come over and hang out with you on Saturday night? Maybe play some Dominoes for old times sake?"
To which Charles said Dominoes sounded like great fun, and he would ask Willie if she could whip up a dish for supper too.
And then a thought suddenly struck Charles, and so he reached into his desk drawer, and pulled out an envelope containing some entertainment tickets. But before he offered them, he checked to see what they were for, and for when!
So after seeing the date was for Saturday night, Charles nonchalantly asked, "Unless you would rather go see The Phantom of the Opera?"
And because Catherine couldn't believe what great fortune this was, she teasingly replied, "Let me think...the Phantom instead of Dominoes....like YES!"
And then Catherine excitedly asked, "How did you manage to get the tickets?"
In reply, Charles said, "A client gave them to me weeks ago, before we went to Florida. And well, I tossed them in the drawer here, and kinda forgot about them. In fact, I wasn't even sure what they were for! They could have been for the fights for all I knew!"
Feeling so happy they were for the Phantom, and not the fights, Catherine ironically relayed to her Dad, "Gerty mentioned how she wanted to see The Phantom, but realized how impossible it would be to get tickets on such short notice. But still I did try, I called everywhere and everyone...everyone but you!"
As Charles playfully splayed out the tickets, he knowingly nodded, as he said, "One of these days Dear Daughter, you'll learn."
They both laughed, and then because Jennifer will be a part of the weekend plans, Catherine hopefully asked, "Any chance there is a ticket for Jenny too?"
And because Charles wasn't sure, he counted them and said, "Yes, enough for the five of us counting Jennifer, and then I have an extra. Maybe Willie will want to join us."
To which Catherine happily said, "Oh Dad, thank you so much! I cannot wait to tell Gerty, she will be so excited! You know, I am really looking forward to the weekend."
And as Charles safely tucked the tickets back into the drawer, he replied, "Me too kiddo, me too."
As Catherine heaved a sigh, she announced, "Well off to work I go. Harvey is undoubtedly looking for me. He is quite punctual, and as we both know, very efficient too."
With a nod Charles smiled as he agreed, and though he hated to acknowledge his daughters tenure was nearing its end, he couldn't ignore the elephant in the room any longer, and so he asked, "How is the changing of the guard going?"
To which, Catherine, with a tone of melancholy, shared, "Really well. You know this transition would have been so much more difficult, if Harvey wasn't so great. I know I am leaving my position in very good hands."
And then with remorseful regret, Catherine added, "Maybe even in better hands Dad. Harvey does love corporate law...much like in the way you do."
To which Charles stood, and walked around the desk to tell his daughter, "Don't sell yourself short Cathy...you have done a great job here."
But because Catherine was such a good lawyer, they both knew, she could have given this branch of law, a real run for its money, if only she would have loved it like Charles did. But instead of discussing the "what ifs" they simply let the subject die away.
And so, with appreciation, Catherine tearfully replied, "Awe, thanks for that Dad."
And as the two shared a hug, Catherine tried to shake off the emotions, as she said, "Well, I'll see ya later on."
And in reply, Charles too with a bit of emotion, said, "Sure thing honey..."
But before Catherine left, Charles thought to mention, "Oh, I almost forgot to tell you, guess what you AND I received in the mail yesterday? An invite to The Grand Winter Gala! Guess the old man still has IT, I made the list along with you this year."
With a slight giggle, Catherine said, "You will always have IT Dad..."
And then Catherine suspiciously questioned, "Are you wanting to go?"
With a wave of his hand, Charles said, "Nah, I'm over mixing with that hifalutin bunch, but it is nice to be asked. But what about you?"
Agreeing with her Dad, Catherine replied, "I am definitely over those kinds of parties too Dad. Well talk to you later."
And so Catherine and Harvey went to task, and the next couple of days, were quite hectic, filled with work, work and more work for Catherine. And though she was very busy tying up the lose ends, she thought of, and missed Vincent immensely...
And also throughout the week, Jennifer called daily wanting to meet for lunch. And it wasn't until Thursday, that Catherine was finally able to get away, agreeing to meet at Pai's, telling Jennifer that Lin, will be happy to see her again.
And so as Catherine settled in the back seat of a taxi she joyfully watched the holiday decorated city whiz past her, on the way into China Town.
With a little time to think of something other than work, Catherine realized how quickly Christmas was approaching, and so she thought about what she would be getting for Vincent. Knowing she wanted to get him something other than a book from Mr. Smythe, or a keepsake statue, but rather....something totally unexpected. And because Lin was a very good friend to Vincent, Catherine decided to ask her for some advice on a gift idea.
Meantime, consequently, because the traffic was quite crazy, Catherine was a wee bit late. And so by the time she arrived, Jennifer was already at a table, happily chatting away with Lin.
Upon seeing her old friend, getting along so wonderfully with her new, Catherine loved the fact they seemed to have so much to talk about! However, little did Catherine know...she was the topic!
So as Catherine approached the two, Lin looked up, and sweetly said, "Hello Catherine...welcome."
Greeting her friends, with warm embraces, Catherine took off her coat and sat down, saying, "Sorry I ran a bit late, hope I didn't miss too much."
And so after taking a sip of her tea, Jennifer then coyly asked, "Well all I will say, err rather ask is, were your ears burning?"
With a suspicious giggle, Catherine looked back at Jennifer and hesitantly asked, "Jennifer...you haven't been telling Lin stories have you?"
To which Jennifer brought her hand to her heart and innocently asked, "Me?"
And then in an attempt to rectify Catherine's impression, Lin in polite response, quickly said, "Actually, we were just saying what a lovely person you are."
Upon which, Catherine looked at Jennifer, and although the two of them were as close as any two friends could be, she could not imagine Jennifer complimenting her in that fashion.
And so shockingly Catherine asked, "You were? You too Jen?"
Widening her eyes for affect, Jennifer expounded, "Yes me too! What do you think?"
To which Catherine sheepishly answered, "I don't know, you just...well we just never really express our feelings about each other like that."
Upon hearing Catherine's comment, Jennifer knew it was true, and then definitively said, "Well then we should start. As Lin just told me, life is too short not to speak from our hearts! So from now on, I am going to be more open!"
To which Catherine thought to herself, "More open? If Jen were any more open, the world could be in trouble!"
And because she thought better of teasing Jennifer about her openness, she kept this thought to herself, and in agreement said, "Well then yes...be more open, and speak from our hearts? Well if you are going to, then I will too! And I want you both to know, I feel the same about you two too."
Upon hearing herself, Catherine reprimanded herself saying, "I am sure there is a more grammatically sound way to say what I am feeling, but hopefully, you both know what I mean."
To which Lin sweetly said, "Yes, and I thank you."
Lin then poured more tea, and asked, "Well shall we order? Henry insists I take a lunch break today, so I may enjoy the company of my two new friends."
In agreement Jennifer looked at the menu and said, "Yes let's order I am starving, hmm...I am at a loss, everything sounds so good right now."
To which in response, Lin gingerly took charge, and offered, "If you permit, I shall order for us."
As Catherine heard Lin's offer, she closed her menu, and conclusively said, "Sounds perfect Lin, I am tired of making decisions today."
Just then Henry came to the table and graciously greeted Catherine, and warmly received Jennifer, before he asked, "May I take your order lovely ladies?"