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Day Five - Sunday

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That morning, early

Kate moaned in her sleep as the torturous images of that fateful night in Germany once more flooded her mind. She felt herself pushed and pulled and prodded and -

All at once a hand reached into the images. Taking hold of hers, the hand pulled her gently but steadily out of her technicolor nightmare. Kate turned as she emerged from the images as one would emerge from the water. The images remained, but they were now behind her - no longer surrounding or within her. Kate breathed deeply with relief. Maybe she could beat this yet. She turned to face her rescuer.

Clay stood beside her, holding her hand. "I'm here for you, honey, always and forever." With that he turned and rebuked the nightmare. "You can't have her anymore. She has the support of her family, her friends, and her God. She can beat you."

Kate smiled up at him. "I have you too, sweetheart."

Clay gazed at her with a look of fierce intensity. "Say the word, darlin', and you'll have me until death do us part."

Eagerly Kate embraced him. "The word is given."

Clay returned the warm embrace, and Kate lay her head on his shoulder. Softly he began to sing Steven Curtis Chapman's song I Will Be Here. Kate's smile grew as she closed her eyes...

Slowly the dream faded as Kate rose to consciousness. Yet certain aspects of the dream remained, ever as clear and as vivid as they had been when she was in the dream. Kate gradually became aware of the reality of being snug and safe in a loving embrace. It also dawned on her that Clay's gentle singing was every bit as real as those arms.

Carefully Kate opened her eyes and lifted her head. She blinked as her eyes adjusted to the darkness of the room. In the silvery moonlight Kate could make out Clay's face near hers - his lips barely moving as the song breathed from his mouth. Looks like the rumors are true, Kate mused, he does sing in his sleep. She listened in amazement until he lapsed into silence.

For one brief moment Kate debated if it would be more honorable to return to her own bed or remain where she was. Then again, she thought to herself, he's got me wrapped up pretty good. I don't think I'm going anywhere for a while... Quietly she pressed a kiss to her fingertip and lightly touched it to Clay's lips. Ever so slightly he pursed his lips as though receiving a real kiss. With a slight, silent chuckle Kate lay her head back down on his shoulder. She closed her eyes again as she gave his chest soft caresses. Responding to her affectionate touch, Clay's embrace warmed as he kissed her on the forehead.

When Kate woke again, it was to slow, soft touches on her face. Feels nice, she sighed to herself and started to rub his shoulder.

"Honey, are you awake?" Clay whispered.

"I am now." Kate opened her eyes and looked at him. "Sorry hon - it looks like we feel asleep here."

Clay nodded. "We spent the whole night here... and unless I'm wrong, Kim has been through."

Kate smiled wryly at the blanket that covered them. "I noticed that."

"I'm sorry about that, honey. I know you hold some pretty conservative views on this sort of thing."

"Hey," Kate responded, "it happens. For one, it was an accident - we never intended to sleep together..." When Clay chuckled at Kate's impish melodramatics, she went on. "For another, all we did was sleep - neither one of us did anything to dishonor each other... unless you have a different set of memories from last night than I do."

Clay shook his head. "I don't remember a thing."

Kate nodded - she expected as much. He seemed out cold when she had woken earlier. "For another... somehow last night you chased away my nightmare." Clay gave her a puzzled look, and she told him about her dream. He gaped in amazement as she continued. "I know you weren't even aware that you had a part, but you did. Somehow you did. Maybe it was our amazing talk last night... but I actually had a decent night's sleep for once." Kate smiled slightly. "It's not a cure, but it's a start."

"Sorry to tell you this, honey," Clay murmured, "but sometimes it takes years for someone to work through an experience like what you went through."

Again Kate nodded. "I know - and I expect that. Who knows how my healing will unfold. At least I know that as long as God has his eye on me, there will be healing."

"Praise God for that," Clay responded.

A warm grin made Kate's eyes sparkle in the morning light. "G'morning, Clayton sweetheart."

Clay's smile easily matched her own as he gently stroked her cheek with his thumb. "Good morning to you too, Kate honey."

"You game for a wake-up kiss?"

Oo... "Always," he told her. Suddenly he bit his lip as he looked up at her. "I uh... have a strange request before we do."

Kate raised one subtle eyebrow. This ought to be good... "And that would be?"

Clay gently reached up and pulled at her ponytail. "I like your hair down better. Would you...?"

That's not a strange request. Instantly Kate reached back and slid the band off her hair, letting it fall down over her shoulder as she reached over to place the band on the end table with their glasses. Kate turned back to meet his bright smile with her own.

After a moment of gazing up at her, Clay started to thread his fingers through her hair. Kate closed her eyes, savoring the sensation to the fullest. With extreme gentleness Clay guided her face down towards his for a sweet and tender kiss. He broke after only a moment, continuing to stroke her hair as he opened his eyes.

Kate looked disappointed. "So short?"

"I know," Clay murmured sympathetically. "But I thought it would be a bad idea to get ourselves all riled up before church."

I hadn't thought of that, Kate mused as she gave her lip a guilty chew. "Yeah, I suppose not. It'd be different if we were married, but..."

"...but until then," Clay finished, "we'd better behave ourselves if we're gonna make it through the service with clean minds."

Kate snickered. Definitely hadn't thought of that. She raised an impish eyebrow at him. "Why, are you having kinky thoughts about me?"

Clay turned a brilliant shade of red. "I-I-I never said that."

Got him. She twisted the knife. "You didn't have to." She giggled as Clay's blush spread from his cheeks to his ears. "Sometime you'll have to share some of those thoughts with me. Who knows, I might like them."

"Really..." Clay considered her carefully. "What about you, darlin'? You have any of those kind of thoughts about little ol' me?"

Uh-oh. Kate flushed guiltily. "Um... I um... plead the fifth..."

"What, darlin'? Would you explain that?" Clay asked, pretending he didn't hear her.

"Uhhh..." Kate grimaced. "I uh... well..."

Clay giggled, knowing that he had caught her out as well. "I'd ask you to share, but I did just say that we don't want to get ourselves in that sort of mood before church..."

"Good idea," Kate answered dryly. "In fact, it would probably be a good idea not to share some of our um, more risqué thoughts as long as we're in the same room..."

"Why?" Clay asked, a thoughtful twinkle in his eye. "Are you afraid of what might happen?"

"Only in the sense that we're a new couple," Kate told him, "and that things shouldn't move too quickly for us."

Relief crossed Clay's face a moment later. "I hear you. The last thing I want to do is push you or push us into anything we're not ready for." He took her hand and kissed it gently. "I want a relationship that will last... and I'm hoping and praying that this is that relationship."

Wow. Kate gazed unblinking into his hopeful green eyes as if by doing that she could read his very thoughts and feelings. At last she placed her hand on his jaw and leaned down to give him a warm kiss on his serious mouth.

Their kiss went on for a few minutes until Clay once more halted it. "We'd better stop, honey," he drawled, his voice low, "or else I'm gonna need another cold shower this morning."

Kate chuckled and moved so that he could escape out from under her and the blanket. "All right, all right," she sighed as he stood. He extended his hand, and she took it to help her get up as well. Impulsively she wrapped her arms around him and gave him another kiss.

Clay returned the kiss, smiling wryly after Kate pulled away to lay her head on his shoulder. "If this is what you're like when we're only dating, then I'm looking forward to what you're like when we're married," he told her as he brushed his lips against her forehead. Leaving Kate gaping in shock behind him, Clay released her and walked down the hall go get ready for church.

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Later at the breakfast table

"You have got to be out of your mind!" Kim exclaimed.

Clay shrugged at her. "I want to take my girl to Disneyland! It's not my fault I've never been there."

"I never said it was," Kim protested. "But it is your fault that you're famous. It's not safe for you there, honey!"

Clay rolled his eyes. "I know the risks. That's why I'm taking four bodyguards."

Kate chewed on her lip as the argument continued. She wondered briefly if she should say something, but decided that sticking her nose into things was a bad idea. This is not the day to have filet of sole for breakfast, she thought as she studied her dress shoes.

The argument lasted until the end of breakfast - and since it was clear that Clay's mind was made up, Kim dropped the subject. But not happily.

As Kim swaggered back into her own room to finish getting ready, Clay scowled. "I don't know what she's upset about. I got four bodyguards lined up. We should be just fine."

Kate chewed nervously on the edge of her thumb. "She's just concerned for our safety, that's all."

Clay's scowl deepened - of course Kate was right about that. But this was not the time to debate the point. "Are you ready?" he asked a little too tersely.

"Sure," Kate told him gently, linking her arm through his. She smoothed the lapel of his dress jacket, giving him a warm smile. "I still say you're handsome..."

For the first time since breakfast a smile creased Clay's mouth as he chuckled. "Thank you, honey. And you are very beautiful." He leaned over and kissed her cheek. "I'm sorry I've been a bit snappish this morning. I just..." He sighed as he searched for the words he wanted. "I want to show you a good time, show you the sights of L.A., but I also want to keep an eye out for you. I guess it made me angry that Kim told me that I was out of my mind."

Kate shrugged. "Guys have a need to be trusted. But she's not the one who needs to trust you right now - that would be me. And from what I can tell, you aren't ready to take a foolish chance. You planned ahead." She shrugged again. "I trust you fine. And you trust your guys."

Clay nodded as they walked out the door together and towards Clay's convertible. "They've saved my grits more times than I care to count..."

Now that's too cute... Kate giggled.

"What?"

Kate grinned at him. "Just enjoying one of your regional sayings. I'm sure if you listen to me long enough, you'll hear a bit of Nebraskan lingo... if not my father's country drawl."

Clay snickered as he opened the car door for Kate. "I haven't heard that one yet."

She snorted. "I'm hoping that you hear it from him before you hear it from me."

"Aw..."

The pair rode in an easygoing silence to Clay's Baptist church in one of the quieter suburbs of L.A. Once they had parked, Clay came around to assist her out of the car. Extending her his arm, he walked side by side with her into the small-town type of church. Clay greeted the usher at the door, taking a bulletin for each of them as they found a couple of seats in the clean white sanctuary. While Clay read the announcements in the bulletin, Kate glanced around the church. It was a small crowd, and somehow Kate suspected that Clay knew most of them by name.

Kate tried not to fidget as she and Clay waited for the service to start. Although it was not unusual for her to be in church on Sunday morning, it was unusual for her to be at a Baptist church. The last time she had been at one of those was back in 1989, at a cousin's wedding. Of course Kate had heard all sorts of amazing stories of what to expect - everything from simple hymns and prayer to clapping and dancing.

The pastor greeted everyone heartily, and immediately Kate decided that she liked him. "Looking around this morning I see some visitors. Troy and Tammy Barnes have some visitors, and Clay has a visitor. Let's take a moment and meet our guests." Kate grimaced slightly. The pastor turned to the other couple and gave them the opportunity to introduce their guests before addressing Clay. "Would you introduce us to your guest?"

Don't suppose I can blend into the wallpaper... Kate sighed.

No suck luck - Clay stood and smiled down at her. "I'd like everyone to meet my lady Kate Kirche. She's from Kearney, Nebraska, and she's here for the week." As the congregation applauded, Clay encouraged her to stand. Kate blushed lightly as she stood close beside him. "She's kind of bashful," he giggled, grinning broadly.

"I can see that," the pastor quipped with a wry smile. Once the greetings and introductions were done, he began the service with prayer and the announcements of the day. Kate opened her service bulletin to see what the first worship song was, hoping that it would be something she was familiar with. She stifled a sigh at seeing the title of the song projected onto the screens off to the sides of the chancel area - she'd never heard of it. Should have known. Kate read the words printed on the screen in front as she listened to Clay singing strong along with the rest of the congregation. He makes anything sound good. I wonder what would happen if I gave him a phone directory...

After the song, the congregation sat down for the scripture readings. Clay placed his arm around Kate, and he absentmindedly caressed her arm as the two of them listened to the readings of the day. The readings were followed by another hymn. At least I know this one, she thought to herself with relief. This time Kate joined Clay in singing along with the rest of the congregation.

As the ushers passed around the offering plates, Clay leaned into Kate's ear. "You have a beautiful voice," he whispered to her.

Kate blinked several times in surprise. That was the last thing she expected to hear, especially coming from the man with the golden pipes. "Th-thank you," she whispered solemnly back to him.

He nudged her as the pastor invited the children of the congregation up for the children's sermon. "The kids here are so cute," he told her as a handful of children scrambled forward to join the pastor.

"I'll say," she acknowledged, watching them crowd around the pastor. With a snicker at one child's hyper antics, she turned to Clay with a grin only to see him already smiling back at her. "I only hope our kids are as well-behaved as some of these."

Clay nodded. "I hope ours will be," he whispered.

The pastor asked one of the young grade-school boys a question. "Brian, are you a pretty good jumper?" When Brian nodded, he invited him to stand on one of a pair of chairs directly facing each other. "Go ahead and jump from that chair to that one." Just before Brian jumped the pastor halted him. He pulled the vacant chair a few feet away from the one the boy was standing on. "Now try it." Again Brian prepared to jump, and again the pastor stopped him. This time the pastor placed the chairs a good nine or ten feet apart, a distance that the boy could have trained years to jump and still not have been able to reach it. "Think you can reach the other chair now? No? Well, that's what it's like for us when we try to find God on our own. At first we think, 'Oh, I can do it,' but then we quickly find out that the distance between ourselves and God is just too big. That's caused by something called sin. Sin is what makes us do bad things. But you can still get to that chair." The pastor stepped directly in front of the chair where Brian stood, and within moments was carrying the boy piggyback style across to the other chair where he put him back down. Once Brian climbed down off the chair, the pastor continued. "There was no way Brian could have made that jump on his own without help. And did you notice who did all the work? Exactly - Brian didn't do anything. It's the same way with Jesus. He did all the work to bridge the gap between himself and us by dying on the cross. There's nothing we can do on our own to make God love us any more. He did it all." The pastor wrapped up the children's sermon, and the kids hurried back to their seats with their families while he put the chairs back to the side.

The rest of the service progressed quickly - more music, prayers, the sermon, an altar call, and the benediction. Kate marveled at how conservative the doctrine of this congregation seemed to be. Normally she didn't see churches this conservative that weren't Lutheran or Catholic.

As the congregation stood to file out, Clay turned to her. "So what did you think?"

"You've got a nice church, from what I see so far," Kate acknowledged. "I kind of like it."

Clay nodded as he also stood and extended Kate a hand to help her up. "Some of the Southern Baptist churches in the area are a little more... um, active in their worship. A lot more clapping and raising of hands and swaying in the pews. There's some of that here, but not so much that it frightens the more conservative visitors."

"Like me," Kate grinned.

He nodded. "Like you."

"It works for a lot of people," Kate shrugged, "but I could never get used to it. I've always been sort of quiet and laid-back... even sedate, in my worship style. Between that and their doctrine, that's probably why I've always been more comfortable at Lutheran churches."

"Is that where you go now?" Clay asked. When she nodded, he smiled. "I'm looking forward to joining you for church when I come there in December."

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After church, back at Clay's place

Back in the solitude of the guest room, Kate turned her cell phone back on. Within moments it told her that Sarah had tried calling three separate times, and it also alerted her that she had voice mail. I would bet serious money that it's Sarah - she's probably wondering what in the world happened to me. Kate dialed her voice mail.

"Hey," Sarah's voice called out. "I couldn't get a hold of you - is everything alright? I know you were hoping to tell Clay everything, and I wanted to see how that went. Give me a call when you get the chance. Just make it before noon your time, two mine, and I won't call the FBI to file a missing person report. Talk to you later. Bye."

That's Sarah for you... Kate rolled her eyes. Even now she's still concerned about me, even if she does show it her own unique way. Bless my best friend and roommate... As she pulled out a change of clothes to wear around Disneyland, Kate dialed Sarah's phone.

"It's about time," Sarah answered dryly.

"And a sunny good morning to you too!" Kate giggled. "I'm sorry I didn't get back to you right away... since we were in church I had my phone off."

Kate could imagine Sarah's annoyed look from here. "I'll let it go this time, but you usually call me nice and early. I'm sure you had plenty of time before church. So how did your talk go, or did you put it off again and just didn't want to deal with another lecture from me?"

Sarah, Sarah, Sarah... Kate gave her lip a mischievous bite. Just for that, I'm gonna mess with your mind for a change. She raised an innocent eyebrow. "Sorry, sweetie. I left my phone here in the bedroom last night and I just couldn't hear it from that far away. Clay would have woke me if he had heard it."

Several moments of dead silence passed and Kate's eyes watered from the effort it took her not to laugh. "You'd better be prepared to explain yourself," Sarah muttered, "because it sounds to me for all the world like you two slept together last night."

Kate forced herself to keep a straight face and an even voice. "We did."

Another silence filled the air. "Okay, I know you - what's the punch line?"

Darn. I thought I could pull it off. Kate sighed. "I might as well start from the beginning."

"You do that." Sarah was probably frowning on the other end. "And it had better be good, it had better be detailed, and it had better include explanations about you telling Clay the truth."

"Hold your horses, dearie," Kate drawled. "I said I would explain things." Quickly Kate switched shirts, managing to pull them around the phone as she did so. "Remember how things had gone after the premiere? Clay had decided that if I was having that hard a time with things that he would break up with me until... I don't know, until I calmed down or something."

Sarah took in a sharp breath. "Oh, Katydid. I take it he didn't?"

"No, he changed his mind the next morning. He had accidentally fallen asleep on the couch, and when he woke up I was sitting on the floor beside him having my devotional time." Kate smiled wryly. "Reading Song of Solomon."

"You were reading WHAT???" Sarah asked.

"I was reading Song of Solomon... and once Clay woke up, we read a few passages from it together."

"Oh my gosh... Katydid... You were practically begging for a serious smooch or something by reading that book together. Holy hormonal heat, Batman."

Kate snorted with laughter. "Something like that..."

"So what happened? He obviously didn't break up with you."

"No," Kate agreed, "catching me reading that gave him hope. He also said that he couldn't break up with me until he knew what happened." Kate broke into a sentimental smile as she remembered something else. "He told me that he wanted to hold me close to his heart like no other man ever could and give me the love I've always dreamed of," she murmured with a deeply romantic sigh.

"Gak," Sarah said, "mucho mush alert."

"Hey," Kate complained, "I liked it."

"I'm sure you did," Sarah grumbled. "I've got to give him credit, he knows what to say to win you over. You were probably wrapped completely around his little finger after that line."

"Nah, just his waist." When Sarah made a noise of confusion, Kate explained how she had immediately hugged him. "Of course all this was after I had told him that it was my intent to tell him everything later on that day, after I had mustered up my courage a bit."

Sarah heaved a long sigh. "Good. So did you?"

Maybe I can still yank her tail a bit. Kate decided to ignore the subject for now. "Yesterday we found out that Clay is allergic to spirit gum."

"You're avoiding the question..." Kate could practically see Sarah's glare through her phone.

Kate snickered. "I'll get there."

"Mm-hm... You'd better. Go on..."

"We spent the morning at the Hollywood Wax Museum, and after lunch we were down at Santa Monica Pier. Since we didn't give enough notice to the boys, I bought a wig, a moustache and beard, and some spirit gum for our time at the pier. He wore that and went completely unnoticed... well, he went unrecognized at any rate. We were getting a lot of stares when he kept kissing me all over my face in the line to the carousel... but that's because some people didn't care for all that PDA."

"Ooo," Sarah cooed. "So he was in one of those moods, hm?"

"After Song of Solomon, I think we both were." Kate giggled and bit her lip. "Cuz I know how much I was enjoying him doing that..."

Sarah snickered once. "Good for you. Did you kiss him back?"

"Our turn for the carousel came up before I could get a kiss or two in," Kate explained. "But since we were still... feeling kinda romantic... we sat on a bench seat in this oversized swan instead of picking out horses or whatever to ride on."

"Just like the tunnel of love..." Sarah giggled.

"That was exactly my thought," Kate responded, "and I don't think the analogy was lost on him either. We cuddled for the whole ride."

Sarah sighed deeply. "I don't know how much more of this I really want to hear. You guys are making me horny."

Kate gaped. "Sarah! I don't believe you!"

"Whatever. You know me well enough by now. Spill the rest of it, dearie."

"Like I said," Kate continued, "we found out he is allergic to spirit gum. The beard had been driving him crazy with the itchies all afternoon, and when we got back here he begged me to get it off him. I took it off slowly, enough to see the red all along his jaw."

"Eeyoo, he was allergic," Sarah muttered. "He's lucky he didn't break out."

"I think it's because he didn't have it on that long." Kate chewed on her lip. "Um... when I was ready to pull all the bobby pins out of his hair, I told him to shut his eyes... because if he hadn't, he would have gotten a close and nasty view of my flat chest."

Sarah snorted. "You are not flat... just not as well-endowed as I am. But methinks that he would have enjoyed the view just fine if the gentleman in him had let him look." Kate blushed furiously as Sarah continued. "I assume that he closed his eyes?"

"Of course," Kate responded. "He's a gentleman, just like you said. But he sure seemed to like it when I stood that close to him, and when I ran my fingers through his hair to try to straighten it a bit."

"Oh?"

"Believe me, I could hear it, and he didn't say a word."

"Mm," Sarah hummed thoughtfully. "So is he a breather or a moaner?"

"Uhhh... he did a little of both." Kate winced as Sarah snickered on the other end. "Of course I was still in a mood myself, so when he responded the second time it did way too much for my imagination..."

"Really," Sarah purred. "What did you imagine?"

Kate turned a brilliant pink. "Sitting on his lap giving him one heck of a passionate kiss."

"Hee hee," Sarah giggled, "it seems that your imagination works just fine, Katydid. I bet the sexual tension in that room was thicker than molasses."

Kate frowned. "I thought the saying was fog or pea soup."

"Yep," Sarah acknowledged, "but from the sound of things, those things wouldn't be thick enough. So I came up with my own."

Only Sarah. "Well, you're right on the money. Since the moment we met there has been plenty of sexual tension between us, and it was definitely there last night. We ordered in a pizza, and after dinner we talked. And talked, and talked! We talked for hours, Sarah... about our youth, about Christmas, about what we're naming our kids and how many we want to have - "

Immediately Sarah pounced. "Our kids?? As in, his and yours??" Sarah spoke again, rapidly. "Katydid, I know the two of you have talked about the families you want to have some day, but I don't remember you ever mentioning that you two talked about these families being the same family. Are you saying that last night you were talking about them in this way?"

Kate nodded. "Last night and this morning in church both."

"Katydid," Sarah giggled, "think about it: you've just let him know that you see a future together for the two of you."

Suddenly the magnitude of it all came crashing through Kate's mind - she had indeed, and nothing Clay said last night or this morning had refuted her unwitting revelations... if anything, they had reinforced the idea of the two of them having a life and a family together. Oh my... "Sarah... what have I done?"

"Only let him know that you are having serious thoughts about him," Sarah offered gently. "Go on. You were talking about anything and everything last night."

"It was right after we talked about kids and names that the conversation turned to what happened in Germany," Kate said somberly. "Sarah, I told him everything. Everything! This is the first time since it happened that I've talked about it in that much detail with anyone."

Sarah took a deep breath and released it slowly. "How did he react?"

"Sarah, he accepted it... accepted me..." Kate breathed, "... and seemed quite ready to take on Viktor, if you catch my meaning."

Sarah made an odd guttural noise in the back of her throat, imitating Yoda from Star Wars. "Ready to defend his lady fair to the death, this young knight is." With a brilliant blush, Kate giggled delightedly at Sarah's antics. "I told you he was a gem."

"A diamond in the rough," Kate sighed wistfully. "Once I told him everything, I ended up bawling my eyes out. I am such a wimp..."

"No you're not, and it's about time," Sarah said quietly. "You went through a lot, and you've just been put off dealing with it for way too long. Last night with Clay was the first time you opened up about it, and it didn't take much for the emotion to come rushing to the surface. How'd he take it?"

"Hugged me," Kate responded, "and cried right along with me."

"Oh my..." Sarah breathed. "My my my..."

"My amazing, wonderful, incredible man..."

"You're lucky," Sarah told her.

Kate nodded. "I am so blessed to know this man... blessed to have him in my life."

"Even this morning I can almost feel all the emotion wrapped up in that moment." Sarah whistled. "And considering that you admitted that both of you were in one of those moods, I am ready to bet that I know what happened next. Did you finally let him kiss you?"

"I didn't let him," Kate said firmly. "I asked him."

Sarah gasped, and Kate was almost sure that Sarah was repressing the urge to cheer or dance in the middle of the living room. "Did he?"

"Yes... after giving me plenty of chances to stop him if I decided I wasn't ready. He gave me the sweetest, tenderest kiss I've had yet." Kate sighed deeply, and Sarah echoed the sigh with her own. "If I could have frozen that moment in time and just lived there for about four or five years or maybe the rest of my life... But then again, if I did that, we'd never get married."

"And I'm getting an idea about how much you really want that."

Kate gave a sheepish chuckle. "Guilty as charged. I did tell you that the day I found the man who could accept the truth about what happened, that would be the day I found the one man whom I could fall hopelessly, madly, passionately in love with for the rest of my life."

"Gak," Sarah said. "Just one adverb would have been enough there."

"Sorry..."

"No you're not."

Kate grinned wryly. "Okay, so I'm not."

Sarah clucked. "So you've had your first kiss with him..."

"It certainly wasn't our last..." Kate purred under her breath to herself.

However, Sarah heard every word. "Aha! I knew there was too much sexual tension in that room!" Sarah giggled with glee. "Tell! And there had better be an explanation as to why in the world you tried to make me believe that the two of you slept together last night... because I know you didn't."

Kate grunted. "Er, well, we're both still virgins, at any rate."

"Hagehemala..." Sarah sputtered. "YOU'D BETTER EXPLAIN THAT, AND FAST!!!"

"Okay, okay already!" Kate acquiesced. "He told me that was the only kiss he was giving me last night. The only kiss he was giving me... after inviting me to cuddle with him, he said that I was welcome to give him as many kisses as I wanted or as deep as I wanted."

"OH MY GOSH!" Sarah shrieked. "You did, didn't you!!"

"Oh yeah, and did I ever..." Kate drawled. "We had ourselves quite the steamy make-out session."

Sarah cried out in shock. "Oh... my... Kate... you're healing just fine. We're still going to find you a reputable therapist, but you're off to a good start if you were finally able to connect with Clay. I'm not sure I want to know," Sarah hinted, "but how far did it go?"

"All we did was kiss," Kate acknowledged, "and we followed the three rules." Kate had three simple rules for showing physical affection outside of the marriage relationship: 1 all items of clothing (not counting shoes) stay on, 2 no hands or anything else goes underneath the clothing, and 3 don't touch any parts that would normally be covered by a swimsuit. As long as a couple followed those three simple rules, Kate figured that everything else was fair game. She had discussed her three rules with Clay months ago, so he already knew about them... and not only respected them, but agreed entirely. "So you know how far it didn't go."

Kate swore she heard a sigh of relief from Sarah. "I am so glad to hear that. All the things I've ever heard about rape victims hint that after their experience they either become really loose or really tight... and you had me worried there for a moment, especially since you still haven't answered my question about the sleeping together reference. You're just pulling my leg, right?"

"Actually," Kate admitted, "no. I'm quite serious. After we had finished kissing, we lay on the couch cuddling some more. The next thing I knew I was waking up at who-knows-what hour still lying on the couch wrapped up in Clay's arms. And - don't ever tell a soul, especially my parents, because they'll wonder how I know - but he really does sing in his sleep."

"Oh my gosh," Sarah breathed. "You guys really did sleep together..."

"But all we did was sleep," Kate replied. "Our clothes stayed intact, and nothing happened... but sleeping. Until both of us woke up, then we shared a few more kisses..."

"Ack!" Sarah responded.

"Sarah," Kate drawled, "he told me that if I was that affectionate while we were merely dating, then he was looking forward to our married life together. And although neither one of us admitted it, it's pretty obvious that we've both had kinky thoughts about each other."

"Eeyah..." Sarah stuttered. "Didn't need to know that..." She made a frustrated noise with her lips. "It was all right to think that way about him when he wasn't dating anyone, but now that he's involved with someone (and moreover with my best friend) it somehow loses something..."

Kate giggled. "Sorry, sweetheart."

"I'll get over it."

Maybe if I fixed her up with someone... Kate decided it would be a bad idea to voice that opinion, so she kept it to herself. "It would take me very little time to get used to the idea of falling asleep and waking up next to him... or better yet, in his arms."

"Mm," Sarah sighed. "At the rate you're going this week, I'm going to hire Pastor Sullivan to marry you two off to each other when he comes for Christmas."

"Sarah, don't tempt me." Kate chewed her thumb. You have no idea how tempting that really is. For her own sanity she changed the subject - quickly. "Today's the day he wants to take me to Disneyland - we're going after lunch."

"Call me a doomsayer, but I don't like that idea." Sarah heaved a heavy sigh. "All the reports I've heard about the last two nights say that Clay and Ruben's movie has sold out at most every theater it's been showing at, and people are going to multiple showings. This movie is breaking some serious records. If Clay and Ruben aren't careful, their movie could become one of the top-grossing and top-ranking movies of all time, both in ticket sales and in depth of story."

"Depth of story?"

"Kate," Sarah said quietly, "with few exceptions, every review I've run across absolutely raves about it. They had an amazing script to work with, and it is a very good movie... yet it didn't come across like a musical, which one would expect from two professional singers. I think one thing that helped it is the fact that although their music is a big part of the film, they don't actually sing it as part of the movie a la musical theater... it's background music, but everyone knows full well that those two are doing the singing. It seems to make it more believable for the viewers."

"That was one thing that I liked," Kate admitted, "although I've always been a fan of musicals."

"Seriously, Kate, their movie is mega-popular right now. Maybe it's because he's been away from all the news while he's been spending time with you, but I don't think Clay has the foggiest idea just how big it is becoming. You two watch yourselves."

Kate nodded solemnly. "I'll find an opportunity to warn the boys when Clay isn't paying attention."

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Later in the back yard

Kate stuck her tongue out at him in a noisy raspberry, quickly jerking it back in seconds later. He licked his lips idly. Once more Kate produced a raspberry, and he licked his lips again. When Kate leaned closer for a third raspberry, her opponent snatched the opportunity to lick her on the nose. "Thanks, pooch," Kate drawled, wiping Raleigh's slobber from the tip of her nose. Laughing wickedly, she gave him a vigorous ear rub. Raleigh snorted and lunged forward, knocking Kate flat on her back in the grass to cover her with more wet, sloppy kisses. Kate screeched as Raleigh slurped her ear, scrambling to bathe the rest of her face as well. "Augh! Kissy dog! Kissy dog!"

Clay's amused laughter filled the air as Kate continued to wrestle with his dog Raleigh. "Now that was the perfect moment to capture on film."

"Clayton Holmes Aiken, don't you dare!" Kate giggled as Raleigh bounded over to Clay... who did indeed have a camera in his hands. Her camera. "You didn't."

"I did," he chuckled as Raleigh circled him. "That's what you get for laying your camera on the picnic table where an ornery guy like me can find it." When Kate stuck her tongue out at him, Clay shook his finger at her. "Be careful who you point that thing at, darlin'. When you did that to Raleigh, all he did was lick you on the nose. Who knows what I might do." Kate gaped at him, and he looked innocently up at the sky. Setting the camera back on the picnic table, Clay grabbed a ball that was lying nearby in the grass. Holding it up to catch Raleigh's attention, he tossed it away. Taking off at a dead run, Raleigh retrieved the ball and brought it back to Clay, who had sat down in the grass beside Kate. Clay and Raleigh played this game for several minutes before Raleigh tired and lay panting in the grass beside them. Giving his dog an affectionate tummy rub, Clay reclined on the grass. He turned to Kate with a smile. "I guess I'm as ready as I'm going to get."

Kate looked up from petting Raleigh to Clay, once more wearing casual attire in hopes of blending in to the crowd. She kind of wished that he hadn't been allergic to the stage makeup - this would have been the day to wear it. After all, it was Disneyland... and according to Sarah's news, Clay's movie was breaking some rather amazing records already. He was all the more likely to be recognized now. Meanwhile Kate was still counting on her relative newness to provide her with a sense of anonymity today. "Looks fine, sweetie."

"Thank you," Clay nodded. "You should be fine, honey. People are still getting to know you, and won't be as likely to notice you as they might me. That should afford you some protection."

Some days, Kate thought, I swear we're connected at the brain. She glanced back down at Raleigh and giggled as the dog kicked his hind foot contentedly. "What is it about dogs and scratchin' their bellies that just gets that foot a-goin'..."

Clay shrugged. "I don't know, honey."

"And all the cats I've ever met up with..." Kate shook her head as Clay gave a mild shudder. "Whenever you rub their ears, they sort of lean into it..." She gave Clay a nudge and a wicked grin. "Would you do that if I rubbed your ears?"

Clay's eyes twinkled at her with mischief. "I dare you to try it and find out."

He's messing with the wrong gal, Kate smirked. You don't dare me to do anything. She turned her attention to Raleigh, watching as Clay continued to rub his stomach. Gently Kate scratched Raleigh's ears, and Raleigh heaved a contented sigh. From the sides of her eyes she noticed Clay glance at her and back to Raleigh again. She watched as Clay decided that she was not going to follow through on her tease and once more focused on Raleigh. Wait... wait... Kate gave him a few minutes of rubbing his dog's stomach to get settled and comfortable. Now. Surreptitiously reaching behind his head so that he wouldn't see her coming, she brought her hand up to his ear. With feather-light touches, she started to rub his ear.

Clay snickered. "Kate honey, you aren't serious..."

You just wait... Kate continued the gentle motions with her fingers.

"I can't purr, if you're hoping for that."

Kate raised an eyebrow and moved her fingers to the back of his head. "Oh, we'll just see..."

Clay sighed as Kate gently ran her fingers through his hair and kneaded the back of his head. Ohhhh, that feels good. Raleigh looked up at his master with confusion as Clay's eyes shut and his head dipped. Kate had brought her other hand up to his shoulder and was now working the knots out of his shoulders. On second thought, he moaned, I might end up purring if she keeps this going. Slowly Kate worked her way down his back, rubbing out the tight muscles. Suddenly Clay sat upright with a jolt as Kate tickled him in the sides. "Don't." He heard a gentle chuckle as Kate continued to tickle. "Honey, you're gonna get yourself in trouble if you keep that up."

"Bring it on, mister," Kate giggled.

He snatched at one of her hands, frowning when she pulled it out of his reach to tickle up and down his spine. "Why you little..." Clay twisted around to grab one of her wrists. Returning the favor of a tickle to her, Clay smirked. "Now what are you gonna do?" Borrowing one of Raleigh's tricks, Kate tackled him. Clay grunted in surprise as he hit the ground and Kate pinned his arm with her own body weight. "Hold on there, Kate honey!" he giggled as she continued to tickle him.

"I warned you that I could lick you, given half a chance."

But I'm not even half trying. With a maneuver that surprised them both, Clay leveraged a complete reversal of their positions. Kate squawked as Clay pinned down one of her hands and made a mad grab for the second. "You're a slippery one, darlin'," he panted, "but keep in mind I have two brothers I wrestled with over the years. I have a few more tricks up my sleeve." At last Clay snared her other wrist and pinned down the second hand. Settling his weight to pin her bodily, he gave her another smirk. "Once more I've got you covered. And you said you could lick me..."

Kate wiggled for a moment underneath him before finally giving up and lying still. Taking a moment to debate her options, she blinked thoughtfully as a sudden realization washed over her. Well... at least this time I know better than to make some stupid comment about a cell phone. Kate carefully looked up at him, still smiling smugly down at her. And how badly do I want to get myself in trouble...? Very, very slowly Kate leaned up and licked him on his lips.

The expression in Clay's eyes turned from mischievous to amorous in an instant. Taking her face in his hand, he kissed her solidly on her mouth. He breathed her name as he kissed her face over and over again before once more capturing her lips in a prolonged kiss.

Raleigh whined plaintively, and Clay broke the kiss. Looking up into the confused eyes of his dog, he sighed heavily. "You really know how to spoil a mood, you know that?" Frowning deeply as Kate caught her breath, he moved from his position on top of her to help her up. "We'd probably better go in anyway - 'the boys' are going to be here any minute."

Kate giggled. He still gets a charge out of that.

Once they were inside, Clay and Kate sat holding tight onto each other on the couch until the buzzer sounded. Giving her hand an affectionate squeeze, Clay stood up and walked to the door to answer it. He opened the door to admit Jerome, Will, and two more massive bodyguards. "Kate honey, this is John, and this is Roy. Guys, this is my girlfriend Kate." Kate greeted them pleasantly as the four bodyguards filed into the room. "How are you guys doing this morning?"

Each of them in turn shook Clay's hand. "We're chillin'," Jerome responded.

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Will asked Clay.

"You too?" Clay growled. "I want to show my girl a good time! What's wrong with that?" Annoyed with everyone second-guessing him, he turned to Kate and extended his hand. She took it, and Clay indicated the door. The bodyguards all exited first, followed by Clay and Kate.

The drive to Disneyland was uneventful - and surprisingly quiet. Clay pulled out an oversized hat and put it on, hiding his crop of reddish-blonde hair. "I am ready," he announced as he also put on a pair of sunglasses, "if you guys are."

Jerome nodded. "We called ahead, dude, just to be on the safe side. A few of the powers that be are in the know."

Clay sighed - they really did mean well. "Thank you." He opened the door of the minivan and extended his hand to Kate. "Let me give you a hand out of the car, honey."

"Thank you," Kate told him as she took the offered hand and stepped out of the minivan. As Clay shut the car door, Kate slipped on her own sunglasses. I wish I had thought of a hat - that sun is bright. Of course Clay had probably also brought it to help him blend into the crowd... and Kate could give thanks that she was not that well-recognized. Give it time, her mind told her, and you just might well be.

Once all of them were out of the vehicle they walked towards the gates, Clay and Kate holding hands. Upon seeing the large crowd that had already gathered, Kate's stomach started complaining nervously. I wish I felt better about this... Kate chewed her lip in speculation. It was never a good sign if both she and Sarah had a bad feeling about something. Of course I'm probably just feeling that way because of my phone conversation with Sarah. Briefly she shut her eyes and tried to follow the feeling to its source. Upon further examination, she realized that it was more than just a general uneasiness from Sarah's warning... she had a bad feeling of her own, which made Kate all the more uneasy.

Most of the women on her mom's side of the Kirche family tree had an exceptional gift of extra-sensory insight that drove all the men around them absolutely nuts. Sometimes it showed itself in a simple way like grabbing a last-minute supply that turned out vital on a family trip, sometimes it showed itself in a more profound way. On that fateful night in Germany, Kate's mother Patricia had mysteriously dropped everything and fallen to her knees in deep prayer. Her mother had spent the next hour in earnest prayer while Kate's father had watched in great confusion - until Sarah called from Germany. With that incident and more under her belt, so far Patricia was the Kirche woman whose gift had proved itself the strongest... but within the last couple of years Kate had started to show signs of having the gift herself. Kate had meticulously avoided telling Clay about it until she thought it was the right time to share it with him - hearing about it tended to make people uneasy. Kate reflected on the sensation she felt now. Great, I wonder what this means. I guess I'm just going to have to be extra watchful, Kate thought, and tell Jerome or Will at the first free moment with them.

The six of them paid the gate admission and entered the park. Clay turned to Kate as they walked down Main Street USA. "Where would you like to go first?"

"The Indiana Jones ride," Kate responded immediately. "I've heard it's excellent, once you wait through all the lines."

Clay nodded. "Indiana Jones it is," he said and led the entourage towards the Adventureland section of the park. Surprisingly the line wasn't as long as they suspected it would be since it was after lunch on a Sunday afternoon, and they went through the main entrance fairly quickly. Within a short time the line wove past things like a giant obelisk, a "flooded" corridor, bat caves, a room full of spikes, and into the movie room. Once in the movie room, Clay breathed a sigh of relief as the six of them sat in a group, Jerome and John at his side, Will and Roy at Kate's. "This is kind of fun," Clay grinned at her, rubbing her hand with his thumb.

Kate nodded. "So far so good."

The movie clip was of Indy's friend Sallah warning the crowd not to look into the eyes of the idol - "for it will be dangerous, very dangerous!" After a few other miscellaneous clips, the group wound their way up the stairs to the main ride itself. The "jeep" simulator only held four people, so Jerome and Will sat in back of Clay and Kate while John and Roy took the next simulator. The foursome immediately found themselves on a wild and bumpy off-road style of ride through the Temple of the Forbidden Eye. Most of the "creepy-crawlies" made Kate squirm but not jump in any significant way - much to Clay's disappointment. I was kind of hoping she'd get scared and I'd get to comfort her.

Suddenly a giant snake popped up and Kate shrieked in surprise, jumping backward into Clay and nearly knocking off his hat. Immediately Clay took her hand to reassure her. She quickly buried herself into Clay's neck and shoulder, clinging to him and trembling. "Oh yuck! I hate snakes! Blech!"

Clay rubbed her back and murmured soothingly to her. Works for me.

After the ride was finally over, Jerome leaned in to whisper into Clay's ear. "You enjoyed that way too much," he teased with a glance at Kate, who was whispering earnestly with Will. Blushing lightly, Clay bopped Jerome on the arm.

John and Roy quickly caught up with them, and the six went off on other adventures in the Tomorrowland section of Disneyland - Space Mountain, Star Tours and Honey, I Shrunk the Audience among them. After terrorizing several high-paced, high-excitement attractions in Tomorrowland, Kate begged for something a bit more laid-back. Clay nodded thoughtfully - he knew just the thing. Going there will take us that much closer to Thunder Mountain Railroad... I'm looking forward to that one too.

Clay led them back through Adventureland on to New Orleans Square. "Here we go my lady, gentlemen..." he said as he indicated a quiet little café with music from a Dixieland quartet filling the air. "Let's find some seats, and we'll get a little something to drink before we move on."

The six conversed quietly over iced tea and sodas before deciding to take in more adventure at the Haunted Mansion and the Pirates of the Caribbean attractions.

Immediately upon exiting the last of those two rides, Clay turned to Kate. "Are you game for trying the Thunder Mountain Railroad, honey?" he asked, trying in vain to hide his excitement.

The uneasy feeling that Kate had been feeling earlier returned. "I don't know... I think so."

With a little gentle nudging Clay persuaded Kate and company to get into the line for Thunder Mountain Railroad. As they were waiting, he wrapped his arms around Kate and held her close.

"When was the last time," Kate asked, looking up at him as she caressed his hands, "that I told you how amazing you are?"

Clay bit his lip. "This morning, I think."

Kate gently kissed his jaw. "Did I also tell you how wonderful you are, and how lucky and blessed I am to have you in my life?"

"Um..." Clay said. "I think I would remember that one."

"All right." Kate kissed his jaw again. "You're amazing, and wonderful, and so completely loving, and I am the luckiest and most blessed woman to have you here with me."

Clay flushed. "Wow. Wow, honey, that's sweet. I'm honored."

Very gently she guided his ear down so that she could whisper into it. "And I still think you're handsome... and downright smolderingly sexy."

With an embarrassed giggle Clay shook his head. "I'm sorry, honey, but I just don't see it."

"And that's one of the things that makes you sexy, hon... your humility. You don't have an ego the size of Mars - for which I am very grateful - and you are refreshingly open, honest and sincere... and down to earth. Along with some of the other things I've already mentioned, those are the qualities that make you beautiful and so very sexy."

Giving it another moment's thought, Clay shook his head. "I still don't see it."

"That's fine," Kate shrugged. "It's my job to think you're sexy, not yours. You're supposed to think that about me... which is a lost cause."

"Lost cause?" Clay sounded confused.

Kate gently shook her head. "I'm warning you now, hon - there isn't a sexy bone in my body."

"You really don't believe you're sexy??" Clay asked incredulously. "I saw you dance the other morning - I know better!" He gave Kate a sheepish glance. "Your dancing, um, well... made me feel very male. That's why I was... having such a hard time behaving that morning."

Kate's jaw dropped. "Are you serious?" Glancing up at his embarrassed eyes, she knew he was. Then again, she had discovered the evidence for herself - even if it took Sarah to clue her in on part of it. "I was just dancing... there was nothing sexy about it."

"I beg to differ," Clay murmured in ear, giving her earlobe a not-so-innocent kiss.

A shiver rippled down Kate's back, leaving a warm tingling sensation in its wake. Oh, honey, what you do to me... she sighed deeply.

Will scowled at them. "I can't believe you two are having this conversation in the middle of Disneyland..." he muttered.

Kate turned to him with a raised brow. "Do you mind? It's supposed to be a private conversation."

Will raised his hands in defeat. "Fine. See if I care. I give up on you two."

Clay snickered and glanced at Kate, whose gaze had turned distant. "Honey?" He gently nudged her. "Honey, are you all right?"

Someone's watching us... but who... Kate blinked out of her reverie. She forced a smile. "I'm fine..." she began.

"But...?" Clay asked, watching her as she scanned the crowd.

He's gonna think I'm crazy. Kate shook her head slowly. "I'm at a loss to explain." She continued to glance around, hoping to find the prying eyes quickly.

Clay cocked his head to one side as he considered her. In Katespeak that meant any number of things, including, Don't ask any more questions, because I won't tell you anyway. "You sure you're all right?"

Kate grunted. "Where are you...?" she hissed under her breath, forgetting that Clay was trying to ask her a question about how she was doing.

Suddenly Kate closed her eyes and slowly turned her head from side to side as if honing in on a signal that only she could hear. Clay blinked as she all at once stopped, opened her eyes, and focused sharply on a point in the crowd. This is a side of Kate I've never seen before. Clay frowned deeply but said nothing else. Instead he rested his chin on her shoulder and continued to hold her close.

At last they were able to board the ride, and the coaster went at a breakneck speed around, over, and through the mountain. All too soon it was over again, and Clay pleaded with Kate to ride it again. "Come on, honey. You have to admit that was a lot of fun."

Kate sighed. It was very difficult to say no to Clay. "All right."

Upon exiting the ride they looped around in order to rejoin the line to enter. Clay bounced along holding Kate's hand. It had been a long time since he had enjoyed such an amazingly laid-back, natural week, and he was the most relaxed he had been in ages.

All at once someone yanked his hat from his head. Clay's hand reflexively went to his head, touching his now uncovered shock of distinctive red-blonde hair as the offender shrieked hysterically. Immediately Kate whirled around and frowned at the person behind them - from the sharp look in Kate's eye, she seemed to recognize the face. "I knew it," a young girl's voice said from behind them, getting more and more shrill with every passing moment. "I thought it looked like him but I wasn't completely sure. Ohmigosh, it's Clay Aiken, it's really Clay Aiken!"

Kate glared at the speaker. "You did that on purpose," she accused as she held out a hand for the hat.

"I just wanted to know for sure," the girl whined - but didn't relinquish the hat.

"Oh my gosh," someone else exclaimed, "it really is Clay Aiken."

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Several horrific moments later, at a backstage location close to Thunder Mountain Railroad

Clay sat silently shaking and trembling on a chair. "Shhh..." Kate shushed as she gently rocked him, one arm wrapped around him from her stance behind him. The other hand gently caressed his mussed hair as she held him close, her cheek pressed up reassuringly against his. "Shhh... You're safe now. No one's going to find you here. Shhh..."

Holding onto Kate as if hanging onto life itself, Clay pinched his eyes shut. Kim warned me, he thought as he bit his lip hard. She warned me, and I didn't listen.

Once his presence had been brought to the crowd's attention, a small mob had immediately pressed around them, and the four bodyguards had surrounded the pair. After that, things got crazy in a hurry. It had taken very little time for his sunglasses to get lost in the melee, a treasured souvenir to some crazed fan. Moreover, he never got his hat back from the girl. In spite of the protective circle of bodyguards, Clay had still felt the occasional hand touching him or tugging on his shirt and his hair. Worse yet, Kate seemed to have been at the receiving end of the fans' attention as well - he had looked at her in time to see her sunglasses ripped off her face. Kate... Clay had pulled Kate close to himself in a protective embrace as he took in a deep breath. Fortunately his men had been ready - and so, it turned out, were the Disneyland security. Coordinating their efforts as a well-drilled team, the bodyguards and a handful of plainclothes Disneyland security members within moments had maneuvered the couple through the throng of people and across the street from Thunder Mountain Railroad towards a building that had all the appearance of a fort. Kate had taken Clay's hand in hers and led him after Jerome into a door (guarded by none other than Mickey Mouse himself and several other Disney security personnel) that magically appeared in the fort. Thanks to the bodyguards and the Disneyland security, they were safely out of the prying eyes of the public.

As the memories flashed through his mind, Clay suddenly had the distinct impression that Kate had been carefully looking out for him. Even as the crowd had swelled around them, she had remained impressively calm and focused. "How'd you know?" Clay gasped at her, stroking her arm and holding it tight across his chest.

Kate continued to run her fingers through his hair, turning her face just enough that her lashes brushed his cheek in a gentle butterfly kiss. "I talked to Sarah. She told me a few facts about your hugely popular movie... and warned me that it might be very hard for you to go unnoticed today."

Clay shook his head. "No. You knew, beyond a shadow of a doubt. Somehow you knew that it was going to happen. You didn't think that, oh, maybe this might happen if we're not careful. You knew it was going to happen."

Kate gave her lip a guilty chew before deciding to play ignorant to the accusation. "I have no idea what you're talking about."

"Kate, you make a lousy liar." Jerome frowned at her before addressing Clay. "Your little lady told us that we were all supposed to be on our guard overtime today, 'cuz she knew something was going to happen. She promised she was going to be watching out for you too."

Clay's eyes narrowed. "Really." Turning an annoyed look towards Kate, he raised an eyebrow. "You care to rephrase that a bit?"

"Um... well... I don't think you'd believe me if I told you the truth..."

Clay rolled his eyes. "I've heard that one before." He heaved a deep sigh. "When were you going to tell me about whatever-it-is you're hiding now?"

Kate winced. "I guess I deserve that. Only this time it's nothing I'm ashamed of... I was waiting until I thought you were ready to hear it."

Oh really... Clay watched her chew her bottom lip guiltily. "I'm ready to hear it now, darlin'."

"All right - but don't say that I didn't warn you." Kate brushed her lips gently against his cheek before explaining to Clay the gift of insight that seemed to run in the women of her family, a completely random and unpredictable insight that could read people and future events alike.

"You have no control over this?" Clay asked her with amazement. When Kate shook her head, he went on. "You're saying you had one of these... hunches earlier?"

"Yes. I've had it ever since we arrived at Disneyland, but it seemed to get worse outside Thunder Mountain Railroad. I can't explain it, honey, I wish I could. Because it's a rather creepy feeling to just know things that don't seem to make sense but you know that you'll regret it if you don't believe them in faith..." Kate shrugged, at a loss.

"Which is why you told Jerome and Will to be watching out for us." Seeing Kate nod, Clay went on. "Was that also why you seemed so distant in the line for Thunder Mountain Railroad?"

"Sort of, but not really. I could sense that someone was watching us while we were standing in line." Kate continued to run her fingers through Clay's hair. "Once I was able to tune everything else out, I was able to close in on where it was coming from. And it was the same chick that swiped your hat. I wasn't sure whether she actually recognized you or not the first time around, but I was so afraid that she did..."

Clay heaved a shaky sigh. Kate had picked up on some subtle signals that he and possibly even the bodyguards had somehow missed. Clay found the thought sobering - although everyone was fine right now, someone could have gotten hurt. "Kate honey," he breathed, "I endangered you today. You could have been hurt, mauled, or worse - and I would never have been able to forgive myself if that had happened to you. Can you ever find it in yourself to forgive me for what almost happened?"

"Clay," Kate murmured, gracefully sliding around him to sit down on his lap. She held his face in her hands. "Of course I forgive you. You meant me no harm, and you tried to make plans to prevent anything from happening. That's why you brought four bodyguards, remember?" When Clay gave her a weak smile, she went on. "If anything, you were in more danger than I was... and if any forgiveness needs to be given to you, it needs to come from you."

Clay bit his lip. "Thank you." Kate winked at him and traced the line of his jaw from his ear to his chin with her fingertips. "I always thought," Clay scolded gently with a twinkle in his eye, "that the man was supposed to take care of the woman."

Kate heaved a guilty shrug. "He does... but some days she takes care of him." She smiled. Carefully Kate stroked his cheek. "Last night was your turn to take care of me. Today just happened to be my turn to take care of you."

"I'm glad you can see it that way."

"That's as it should be," Kate told him, lightly kissing one cheek followed by the other. As Clay watched her carefully, Kate placed another kiss right between his eyes.

"Maybe," Clay said quietly, "you can take care of... these..." He touched his lips, his eyes pleading up at her to show him one more kindness.

Kate chuckled under her breath and leaned in to give him a tender kiss on the lips.

"Hey now," Will scolded. "None of that." Ignoring him, Clay wrapped his arms around Kate and pulled her closer. Will frowned as the two continued with their amorous show of affection. "Fine, don't listen to me..."

The security guard that had been standing by with them gestured with the walkie-talkie in his hand. "The crowd outside has been dispersed. We should be able to let your group return to the park... with some additional security added to your group."

Jerome nodded. "Thanks for working with us."

"No problem," the security man nodded. "We were glad to meet with you this morning. This is one of those things that we hope never happens, but we always try to be prepared in case it does."

"Thanks." Will shook the man's hand. "We'll be on our merry way... as soon as we can pry these two apart for some air."

Carefully Kate broke the kiss. "We can always finish this later," she promised with a whisper. Clay nodded, and Kate stood up. Giving both of her hands to Clay, she helped him stand upright. "We're coming, Wilhelmina."

Will gave Clay a nasty glare. "I am going to get you for that, man."

With brand-new hats and sunglasses supplied by kind-hearted Disneyland personnel, Clay and Kate followed the bodyguards and the security guard through the door and back out into the streets of Disneyland proper. This time Clay's group was led into Thunder Mountain Railroad through the exit, a courtesy extended to celebrities.

"What next?" Kate asked when they exited the ride. "The Matterhorn?"

Clay nodded. "You read my mind, honey."

Led again into the ride through the exit, the group boarded their bobsleds. Jerome was in the first bobsled with some of the Disneyland security, Clay and Kate took a second along with Will, and the remaining two bodyguards took a third. As the smallest of their group Kate was given front seat, and Clay climbed in behind her. Immediately he wrapped his arms around her waist while Will climbed in behind Clay. "Lovebirds," Will muttered.

"You're just jealous that I have a girlfriend and you don't," Clay teased.

Will snorted over Kate's amused snicker. "Whatever, man."

For a while longer the group continued to enjoy the rides before deciding to call it an evening. The security detail escorted the group through one of the staff entrances, and within minutes they were back at the minivan. Jerome and Will each gave the security guard's hand a shake. "Thanks again, man."

"No problem."

Clay also shook the man's hand, and blinked with mild surprise as Kate gave him a grateful hug. "I owe you and your coworkers big time," he told him, "you saved us a lot of grief in there."

The guard nodded. "That's our job, and we're happy to help out."

Clay assisted Kate into the minivan before he himself climbed in and sat beside her as John and Roy climbed in. Will shut the passenger door of the van behind Clay, and climbed into the passenger seat beside Jerome. "Everyone in?"

"If not, we're in trouble," Kate drawled. "Need me to count heads?" With a wicked grin, she mussed Clay's hair up further. "One..."

Clay snorted. "Very funny, darlin'."

"Sorry."

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Early evening, back at Clay's house

With a heavy sigh Clay leaned his head on the back of the door. Home at last...

Kate gazed at him with no little bit of sympathy. Finally she smiled and extended him her hand. "Come on. I've already figured out what we can do for the rest of this evening." Clay opened his eyes back up. He placed his hand in Kate's and allowed her to very gently lead him over into the kitchen. "You told me that you plan to spoil me," she reminded him. "Don't be surprised if from time to time I return the favor... like today."

Clay nodded - it didn't surprise him at all, considering Kate. "What do you have in mind?"

A slight smile crossed Kate's face. "I'll make dinner tonight as long as you agree not to be impressed..." Clay snorted as Kate continued. "After dinner I can make you my famous honey-lemon hot tea... and I can give you a massage."

"Oo," Clay murmured at the mention of the massage. "That sounds good already."

Kate giggled. "You don't care what else we do, you want the massage..." When Clay nodded vigorously, she giggled again. "I never said my massages were any more impressive than my cooking."

Clay raised an eyebrow. "Well, considering I've tried both your cooking and your massages, I'm not worried about either one."

Kate snorted. "Brave man. My cooking isn't fancy but you won't starve. And my massages... well, they beat nothing, but they're far from impressive."

"I don't know," Clay smiled wryly, "I kind of liked the one you gave me this morning - until you started the tickling."

"I'll leave out the tickling this time," Kate promised, "and see what I can't do to give you a real massage. That definitely was not my best work."

Clay shrugged. "Mine aren't anything to brag about either."

"You convinced me," Kate retorted. "We take turns with the massages. I'll give you one first since your day was more stressful, then you can give me one in return."

"All right." Clay smiled. Any excuse for us to have our hands on each other is fine with me. Two seconds after that thought flew through his mind, Clay was immediately glad that he hadn't said it aloud. He would have had a lot of explaining to do for that one.

Kate rummaged through the refrigerator and cupboards for something to prepare before she settled on simple pasta with chicken strips grilled in olive oil. In addition to cooking that, she made a vegetable and some garlic bread while Clay set the table for both of them.

"Wow, honey," Clay said as he looked over the main course and the side dishes she had prepared. "If this is your idea of 'nothing fancy', then I'm curious to see what your idea of 'fancy' is."

"Anything that takes longer than 30 minutes," Kate responded, "or more than 3 or 4 ingredients."

Clay laughed. "I'll have to remember that."

Dinner progressed with simple conversation about the day they had enjoyed at Disneyland before Clay brought it back around to the confrontation and Kate's hunches that helped keep the day pleasant.

"I really don't care about the hat or the sunglasses," Clay confessed. "It's the idea that some people don't respect another person's privacy or safety. I mean, it's just me." When Kate raised her eyebrow with an amused smile, he shrugged at her. "Just Clay."

Kate sighed as she gazed warmly into his eyes. "Very few people see just Clay." She chuckled once. "And I will admit that I never see 'just Clay'... I have always seen someone amazing. I have always thought that you are a very amazing Christian man." A wry smile crept onto her face. "People see that there's something special about you whether they can pinpoint specifics or not."

Clay snorted. "But I'm not anything special."

"Believe that if you want, sweetheart," Kate shook her head, "but I do see someone special. Perfect, no. Human... oh yes, very human, lumps and all. Beautiful and amazing, since you are formed in God's own image... yes. That right there makes you special, even if nothing else does."

Slowly Clay shook his head as a smile crossed his features. "I guess I can't argue with that." He took her hand and gently caressed it for a few moments before returning to the conversation. "I suppose we had better clean up the table," he sighed.

Kate nodded. "That would be a good idea."

They put the few leftovers they had in the refrigerator and most of the dishes in the dishwasher. Clay filled the sink with water and soap to clean up the pots and pans that Kate had used. Conversation continued as the pair washed and dried the dishes.

With the last dish dried and put away, Clay emptied the sink as Kate turned back to him. "Cleanup always goes fast when you do it as a team."

"Yep," Kate answered. "It's a snap."

The dishtowel cracked and connected on Clay's backside, and he jumped. "You tryin' to get yourself in trouble, honey?"

Kate smirked. "Bring it on, mister," she teased.

I like a good challenge. Clay advanced on her, mischief twinkling in his eyes. When Kate snapped the towel a second time, he deflected the blow with a hand. "Watch it..." Kate giggled, her nose wrinkling with amusement. Clay continued to advance, and Kate slowly retreated step by step. She went to snap him a third time, and Clay grabbed the towel as he stepped that much closer. Kate took another step backward and suddenly found herself backed against the wall. A slight smile turned the corner of her mouth. With an impish smile of his own Clay took the last few steps to stand directly in front of her. Placing one hand against the wall on either side of Kate, he cornered her there.

I can smell his cologne, she thought as she noticed exactly how close to her he was standing. Kate's heart beat rapidly as she looked up into Clay's eyes. She raised one eyebrow, hoping to sound calm and nonchalant instead of nervous or eager. "All right, so you have me where you want me," she purred. "What are you planning to do about it?"

Clay watched as Kate's eyes glanced ever so briefly at his mouth and back again. If that isn't a cue, I don't know what is. In place of an answer he leaned even closer and kissed her. After a moment he pulled back, deep in thought. "Why don't we move into the living room? This can't be comfortable for you."

"No," Kate admitted as he reached up and stroked her cheek with his hand. "Sexy, yes. Comfortable, no. Besides, I just remembered that I promised you one of these anyway," she said, pointing to his hand that had worked its way into her hair and was now massaging the back of her neck.

"That's right," Clay mused as he led her over to the couch. "We did promise each other..."

After a gentle reminder to him that she was going to give him one first, Kate slowly started to work the tension out of Clay's neck, shoulders, and back. Using gentle motions, she rubbed along his back first with her palms, then with the edge of the base of her thumbs.

As Kate continued to run step by step through the range of her massage techniques on his back and shoulders, Clay sighed with deep contentment. He could feel the knots melting out of the muscles in his back and shoulders. She's a lot better than she gives herself credit for, he thought. Next Kate turned her deft hands to the back of his neck and head, and Clay's eyes glazed over. His eyes rolled back in his head, and he closed them with a euphoric moan.

"Thank you for the compliment," Kate said, amusement in her voice as she continued to massage the back of his neck. "I'll remember that you like that."

The tension in his neck dissolved as her fingers slowly did their magic. Oooh yeah, that's what I'm talking about. Kate's hands moved up into his hair, gently massaging his scalp. If she keeps this up, Clay sighed deeply for what seemed the hundredth time, I won't be awake to give her a massage. Very gently Kate pulled Clay back to lean on her lap before turning her fingertips to his forehead and sinuses. She's thorough. Briefly Clay wondered if she gave full-body massages before deciding that was a question for another day.

Kate's hands tired and she took a break, wrapping her arms around Clay's chest before depositing a few short, sweet, gentle kisses on his forehead and the closest cheek. Clay opened one eye as she reached back up to rearrange the stray wisps of hair that had been shoved out of place by her scalp massage. He sighed again, somehow at a loss for words to respond. "That's right," he said at last, "I was going to give you one too."

Shaking her head, Kate chuckled under her breath. "Don't worry about it."

Clay shook his head and sat back upright. "We agreed. Turn around, honey." She obeyed, and Clay returned the massage as slowly and tenderly as she had graced upon him.

At last Clay finished and pulled her back in his arms to lay close against his chest. He felt Kate sigh deeply as he caressed her cheek and jaw. She opened her eyes and looked up at him, blinking lazily. Clay gazed lovingly down at her, unable to break eye contact. He stroked her cheek a few times with his thumb before leaning down and placing a light kiss near her eye. Heaving another deep sigh, he caressed her cheek again as he gazed upon her face. Kate shifted in his embrace to face him, once more returning her attention to his lips. Needing no more hints, Clay leaned back in for another kiss, this one directly on her lips and slightly longer than the first. Kate reached up to trace his cheekbones and his eyebrows with the thumb on one hand, and Clay closed his eyes to soak in the sensation of her gentle touch. When Clay opened them again, Kate's own expressive eyes mirrored the passion that he knew was reflected by his own. Without a word, they melted into each other's embrace for another kiss.

For several minutes they held onto one another, gently drinking in each other's lips as if it was the very breath of life. Clay shifted his kisses to other parts of her face, and Kate closed her eyes in order to build up her courage to do what she had in mind next. When Clay moved to kiss her on the mouth again, Kate braced his face in her hands. Carefully she took his bottom lip in both of hers, alternating between soft nibbles and gentle tugs. Kate heard his breath coming harder by the moment and slowly released his bottom lip. Clay leveled a hungry gaze at her, and the couple captured each other's lips with fierce intensity. All at once Kate felt Clay pull her closer, felt her lips parted by Clay's. An instant later his tongue was dancing in her mouth, sending electric shivers shooting throughout her entire system. With a moan Kate added hers to the dance, grasping a handful of the back of his shirt as her head started to swim.

Several passionate moments later Clay broke the kiss with a gasp, crushing her to his chest and panting for air. "I've got to stop," he breathed, his voice resonating lower than Kate had ever heard it. "If I don't find something else to occupy my hands, I'll never be able to take them off of you."

Kate clutched tightly onto Clay, knowing that if she let go now she would tremble uncontrollably. "We'd probably better get some munchies to keep our mouths busy too."

Clay gave a shaky chuckle as he rubbed her back. "Probably." He heaved a deep sigh as they continued to hold each other close. "I suppose we could always break out your deck of cards..."

Kate snorted. "As long as the game isn't strip poker," she drawled, "we should be fine."

Instantly Clay's imagination provided his mind with plenty of fuel for his dreams tonight. He shook his head sharply. "Kathryn Kirche!" Clay exclaimed, his voice cracking. "You're not helping!"

"Sorry," she apologized. "It's just that... I could feel that kiss all the way to the bottom of my shoes. I have never felt that way with a man before, and I'm having a hard time thinking clearly right now."

"I know what you mean," he admitted as he gave his head another shake.

After the two of them recovered a bit more of their steadiness and their dignity, Kate pulled out her cards while Clay prepared popcorn and sodas for them. They immediately started with a quick few rounds of blackjack in order to provide both of them with the chance for their hormones to subside before going on to other card games.

During their seventh hand, Kate caught herself staring at him again. This isn't working, she thought ruefully. I need a different game. "Would you mind," she asked gently, "if we played something different... preferably something where we actually have to think."

Clay snickered and gave his bottom lip an amused bite. "You having problems too, hm?"

Hon, I wish you wouldn't bite your lip like that right now, she thought as she felt her heart stir within her. The last thing I need is to see you do something sexy when we're both trying to get out of the mood. Kate nodded. "You might say that," she squeaked.

With a smirk he collected the cards and started shuffling them. "What should we play next?"

Stifling the impulse to request poker, Kate gave the matter some thought. I really wish I had my Scattegories right about now. Now that would force us to think a bit. At last she suggested one of the many versions of rummy she knew.

Clay shook his head. "I don't know that one," he confessed.

Kate heaved a sigh of relief. Teaching him the game would take time and effort, and brainpower on both of their parts. Patiently Kate started to explain it to him, taking him through a practice round to help him learn it quickly. In no time at all, they had started a real hand of the game... at which Clay was beating her soundly.

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Several hours and a thorough trouncing later

"I give up," Kate giggled. "My luck is nonexistent tonight."

"I'm sorry, honey," Clay shrugged. "Beginner's luck, I guess."

Kate snorted. "I guess! It's been years since I've lost that badly."

Clay glanced at his watch. "Before we crash... in our own separate beds, no matter how tempting it is to repeat last night... we should probably make plans for tomorrow."

"Mm," Kate mumbled with a nod. "What do you have in mind?"

Heaving a sigh, Clay leaned back in his chair. "After this afternoon I had a little more private, laid-back sort of day in mind. How would you like to go for a hike?"

Kate nodded. "I can handle that, as long as we don't go too fast or too far."

Clay considered the options. "I know just the place." A slow smile crept across his face. "Maybe tomorrow night we should have our dancing date."

"Our dancing date?"

He nodded. "To see which one of us is the better or worse dancer." Clay stood and walked over to place his hands on her shoulders. "After our hike we can shower and get dressed up, and I'll take you to somewhere really nice for dinner..." He leaned down and gently kissed her temple before going on. "Somewhere we can dance the night away."

Kate couldn't resist a sentimental, romantic grin at Clay's suggestion. She placed her hands on his. "Formal, or just nice church clothes?"

"Nice church clothes should be fine, where I have in mind for us to go."

"Deal."

The two of them took a few minutes to clean up the table and the rest of the kitchen before turning out the lights to the kitchen and living room. Clay walked her down the hall to her bedroom door. Pulling Kate into his arms for a warm embrace, Clay heaved a deep sigh - he didn't want to wish her goodnight only to go to his own room alone. Oh, to be able to fall asleep in each other's arms again... Finally he said the words he didn't want to say. "Goodnight honey."

Kate played with the tips of his hair. "Goodnight to you too, Clay. Sleep well."

Clay pulled back from her and stroked her face. "No more bad dreams."

"I'll try," she giggled. With both of them making great effort to keep it short and sweet, Clay and Kate gave each other one last kiss for the night before Kate entered her room. She watched as Clay walked down the hall to his own room. When he turned back to steal a last glance at her door, she wiggled her fingers at him in a silly wave. Clay giggled and returned the wave in kind before they shut their doors behind them. Kate sighed as she leaned her head on the door. I am so head over heels for him...

Go to the next day, Day 6

Go back to yesterday, Day 4

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