“I’m here for the whole month, baby,” Justin said excitedly. Kathryn laughed at the look on his face as he pulled her in for a hug.

“I know,” Kathryn said as she pulled away from his embrace. “Go put your stuff in my room, since dinner is on the table.” She pushed him in that direction and closed the front door. Kathryn went into the dining room and Justin came in shortly after. Justin said grace and they ate.

“When is BJ going to be back?” Justin asked.

“On the 24th,” Kathryn answered. “And the girls get to come next weekend so we can go get their dresses?”

“Uh-huh,” Justin answered. “So what should we do this week?”

“I have to work, and the school is throwing me a retirement party Thursday afternoon. You are invited of course,” Kathryn said. Kathryn had decided to retire from her job after 21 years. It was mostly because Justin traveled a lot still, and she wanted to be able to spend the time with him.

“Sounds like fun,” He responded. “What time is that?”

“Right after school lets out. So at 3:20,” Kathryn answered. “It probably won’t be more then an hour.”

“That’s fine,” Justin said. “What do you want to do tonight?”

“Hang out,” Kathryn answered. “We could watch some movies or something. Church is tomorrow so I am going to get up early for that.”

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“Have a good nights sleep and I’ll see you kids tomorrow,” Kathryn said as her students filed out the door. It was Thursday afternoon and she had a couple of minutes before she needed to be in the teachers lounge for her party.

She picked up the lose papers that were on her desk and put them in her drawer. Kathryn found the ones she needed to take home to be graded and put them in her bag.

“Are you going down now?” Emma stuck her head in Kathryn’s room.

“Yeah,” Kathryn answered. She quickly shut her computer down and followed Emma. “Have you seen Justin at all? He was going to come by for the party.”

“No, he’s probably in the lounge.” Emma said. “So are you excited?”

“It’s kind of sad actually,” She said, “leaving the profession and especially the kids. But being with Justin all of the time will be worth it.” Kathryn opened the door to the room and smiled at several of the teachers who were already in there. She spotted Justin in the back of the room talking with the music teacher and waved to him.

Kathryn walked over to a table that had food on it and picked up a few snacks. She was drawn into a conversation with some of the other teachers in the room. Kathryn made her way around the room and eventually got to Justin.

“Can I have everyone’s attention?” The principal, Mr. Davis, said when everyone got there. “I just want to say something.” The room quieted down. “Kathryn, you have been at this school longer then anyone who is in this room now, including myself. In 21 years, I figured this out; you have taught over four hundred students. I’m sure that each one of them has taken away something special from you.

“I know that this was a hard decision for you to make, but it is the best for you. God has blessed this school greatly by sending you to us. Thank you for all of your hard work over the years and we will certainly miss you more then you know.”

“Thank you,” Kathryn wiped her eyes quickly, “I want to say something as well. I prayed so much about this decision, and I know it’s what our Father wants from me. He has blessed me in so many ways over the years, first with my late husband, Travis, my beautiful son, Brasen, and now Justin.

“I am going to miss walking through these halls everyday and seeing the kids faces as they learn something new. The amazing thing about this job is giving them the opportunity to come closer to God.” Emma handed her a tissue. “Thanks,” Kathryn said as she wiped her eyes again.

“I’m getting the opportunity to spend some more time with Brasen, and with my new family. I’m getting three for the price of one, and I want to thank Justin for that, he has two beautiful girls himself.” Kathryn smiled at Justin. “Maybe in a few years I will go back to teaching, but right now I need to be with my family.

“I am going to miss all of you of course. You’ve been apart of my lives and I will keep in touch. Good luck next year; I will be around for the next couple of weeks. God bless you all and you will be in my prayers.” Justin kissed her forehead and gave her squeeze.

There were a few gifts for her by a cake. Kathryn opened them and then they had the cake. The party emptied out soon after that. Kathryn and Justin helped to pick up the room after everyone had gone. There were a few pieces of cake left so they decided to take it home. They went back to her room to get her bag and then headed for home.

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“Do you girls like cake and ice cream?” Kathryn asked. Justin had picked his daughters up from the airport earlier that evening. She pulled the leftover cake out of the fridge and grabbed the ice cream too.

“Yes,” Claire said. She and Kelsey were in the kitchen talking to Kathryn while Justin ordered a movie for them to watch on Pay-Per-View.

“Yeah,” Kelsey answered.

“Okay,” Kathryn said. “Get out some spoons from that drawer there.” Kathryn pointed to a drawer near where Kelsey was standing. Kelsey grabbed four spoons and set them on the counter. “Thank you.” Kathryn had gotten out the bowls and started to put pieces of cake in each of them. “How many scoops?”

“Can I have two?” Kelsey asked.

“Of course,” Kathryn answered.

“Me too,” Claire said. She scooped the ice cream into the bowls and handed them to the girls with a spoon. Kathryn served hers and Justin’s bowls and then followed the girls into the living room.

Justin was already sitting on the couch. Kathryn sat down next to him and handed him his bowl. Claire sat down on the floor at Justin’s feet and Kelsey took a seat in one of the armchairs. The four of them ate their desserts and watched the movie together.

When the movie was over Justin sent them off to get them ready for bed, since it was getting late.

“Could me and Kelsey come and live with you and Dad after you are married?” Claire asked. Kathryn had come in to say goodnight to the girls after Justin had.

“I think you’re Mom wants you to be with her,” Kathryn answered.

“Sometimes she says we should be with Dad,” Claire said. “Do you not want us to live with you?”

“I would love for you girls to live with us, but that’s something you need to talk to your Mom and Dad about. Okay?” Kathryn said. Claire nodded. “Get some sleep girls. We have a busy day tomorrow.” Kathryn turned off the light as she left the room and headed into the living room. Justin had found something else to watch on TV and Kathryn settled in next to him.

“Did you know that Claire wants to live with us?” She asked.

“Yeah,” Justin nodded.

“Why didn’t you say anything then?” She watched Justin shrug. “Do you not want them to live with us?”

“I would love it if they could, but Stacy is weird about them even spending time with me. She has unresolved issues from our marriage and feels the need to take it out on them, by not letting them live with me for long periods of time. But she also knows that I would take her to court if she didn’t let me see them.”

“Well if anything ever happened and they had to come and live with us, I wouldn’t mind one bit,” Kathryn said.

“Good,” Justin smiled and kissed her head. “What do you think about having more kids?”

“I’d love too,” Kathryn paused, “but it would be hard for me to get pregnant.”

“There are always other options.” Justin said.

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“All right girls, you can pick out anything you want as long as it is plain and preferably a light color,” Kathryn said. She and Justin had taken the girls to the mall to pick out the dresses for the wedding.

“Can I wear white like you?” Claire asked excitedly and grabbed Kathryn’s hand.

“Yeah,” Kathryn answered.

“Can I just go and look over there by myself?” Kelsey asked pointing in the other direction.

“Whatever you want to do,” Justin said. Kelsey skipped off in the other direction leaving the three in the little girls department. “You don’t mind?”

“Of course not,” Kathryn smiled and looked down at Claire. “Let’s see what we can find for you Miss Claire.” Justin smiled at the two as they moved ahead of him quickly. He pretty much stayed behind them as the two picked out several different dresses and went into the dressing room. Claire came out in each dress and playfully modeled them for her father.

“I definitely like this one the best,” Justin said when Claire came out in a white dress. He bent over and tugged on the bow that was on the back. “Get this one. You look like a little princess.” Claire giggled as he kissed her cheek.

“Go put your clothes on and we will find Kelsey,” Justin said. He watched Claire go back into the fitting room. Kathryn came out and put the dresses they weren’t going to buy back on the racks. Claire came out just as she was finishing and the three of them walked over to where Kelsey was.

“Did you find something K?” Justin asked.

“Yeah,” Kelsey answered and showed him the dress. It was similar to the one Claire had picked out only it was light blue instead of white. “Do you want me to try it on for you?”

“That’d be great,” Kathryn smiled. Kelsey disappeared into the fitting room and came out a few minutes later with the dress on. “I like that. What do you think Justin?”

“Very nice,” Justin said.

“Does she look like a princess, too Dad?” Claire asked. Kelsey blushed in embarrassment.

“Yes,” Justin answered with a wink. Claire giggled and Kathryn shook her head. “All right let’s go pay for these dresses girls and get something to eat for lunch.” Kelsey went into the other room to change back into her clothes. Kelsey handed the dress to Justin who was holding Claire’s as well and they walked over to the nearest cashier. Justin paid for the dresses and then they went out to the car.

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Justin hummed under his breath as he watched Kathryn pack some books into a box. He was leaning against the bookshelf next to the one she was at. Kathryn sat on the floor and looked at each book one by one deciding whether or not she wanted to keep it.

“What?” Kathryn asked looking up at him. The girls had gone home to Memphis earlier that day and it was just the two of them again. Justin shrugged and she shook her head and looked back down at the books in her hand.

“Need some help?” He asked and sat down across from her.

“Not really,” Kathryn glanced up at him quickly. They sat there quietly as she continued going through the books. She had been packing up a few things off and on. Most of it was going to stay in the house since Brasen would be getting it once Kathryn officially moved in with Justin. “Are you just going to sit there and stare? It’s a little unnerving.”

“Yes I am. I enjoy watching you.” Justin answered honestly. They didn’t say anything else for a few minutes. He inched closer to her every few seconds and had to move the box out of the way.

“Are you sure you don’t need something?” Kathryn asked. She sounded a little annoyed.

“I think I do,” He answered. Justin reached up and put his hand on her cheek, before leaning in a kissing her. “There.” He said. Kathryn smiled and leaned into him again so she could get a kiss. Justin gladly kissed her. “I love you.”

“Love too,” Kathryn giggled and Justin chuckled at the way she sounded. They kissed again before Justin left her alone to finish going through her books. He sat down on the couch to watch TV. “Do you want to see if you want any of these books?” Kathryn asked. She pushed the box of books that she was going to get rid of over to the couch and sat down next to Justin.

“I’ll look later, so what do you say we go out for a nice dinner tonight?” He asked. His arm snaked around her shoulders and he pulled her closer to him. Justin placed a kiss on the top of her head.

“Sure. BJ is supposed to call tonight, so we can go after he does.” Kathryn said. “He’s supposed to let me know what time he is coming in on the 24th. Oh I am taking off early on Tuesday so we can go to the chapel and talk to the pastor. Plus I wanted to stop by the florist and caterer to check in on that stuff.”

“Sure. Where should we go out tonight?” Justin asked. It always amazed him how they seemed to have two conversations at once. Kathryn settled in next to him and they flipped through the channels for the next couple of hours. The phone rang once they settled on an interior design program, after some debate.

Kathryn stood up and walked into the kitchen. She picked up the cordless phone in there and put it to her ear.

“Hey sweetheart,” Kathryn said into the phone.

“Hi Ma,” BJ responded. “What are you and Justin up to today?”

“Just watching some TV and I was going through my books earlier getting rid of some of them.” Kathryn answered. She walked back over to the couch and sat down next to Justin again. “How were your shows this week?”

“They went good. I wish you could have been out for the one in San Diego, though. It was a disaster. Everything that could go wrong went wrong.” He sighed over the phone.

“You should have called me Brasen,” Kathryn looked over at Justin and he raised his eyebrows hearing her tone. “He had a bad show in San Diego.” She said to Justin. “I wouldn’t have minded if you called me. Is everything running smoothly again?”

“Yeah. And I would have called but I didn’t want to interrupt you and Justin,” BJ said.

“You wouldn’t have interrupted anything,” Kathryn rolled her eyes and chuckled. “Isn’t Seven out there with you, for the week?”

“Uh-huh. Why?” He asked suspiciously.

“I was just wondering,” Kathryn paused, “if she was going to be your date for the wedding? Is she there? Let me talk to her.”

“Yes she is, and no she isn’t here right now.” Brasen answered and changed the subject. “My flight comes in at 10:36 in the morning on the 24th … ummm … gate 12. You are going to pick me up right?”

“That is the last day of school, so I’ll send Justin to get you. Is that okay?” She asked.

“I got to go, Seven and I are supposed to meet for an early dinner she went out shopping with some friends. Anyway, I’ll call you sometime this week I guess.”

“All right, I love you Brasen and say hi to Seven for me,” Kathryn said.

“Love you too. Bye Ma,” Brasen said and hung up the phone on his end. Kathryn followed suit and set the phone down on the coffee table.

“Is everything going okay for him?” Justin asked.

“Yeah,” Kathryn answered. “Just a bad show. Seven is going to be his date for the wedding.”

“That’s cool. So I am picking him up from the airport?” Justin asked her as she stood up.

“Yeah, let me write down the information before I forget and put it on the fridge.” She grabbed the phone and walked back to the kitchen. He could hear her moving around in there. “What should I wear tonight?”

“Something sexy,” Justin answered.

“I don’t know if I can do sexy, but I’ll see what I can do.” Kathryn said and stepped out of the kitchen. She leaned over the couch and kissed the top of Justin’s head. “I’ll be getting ready.” Kathryn disappeared down the hall.