What if?

Charter Twenty

Rick slouched down in his big computer chair, his laptop screen burning into his eyes in the ill lighting. It was far too late to be up writing. 3:57 AM to be exact. Rick sighed again and rubbed the bridge of his nose. He looked over the past chapters he had just wrote.

With a heavy sigh, Rick hit the "control" key and then the "a" key. The story highlighted blue. His index finger hovered over the "delete" button. Slowly he set it on the button, not applying pressure, just resting.

With a jerky, quick motion, Rick hit the "delete" button and the text disappeared. His heart cramped and he nearly clicked the undo button before angrily shutting his computer and shoving it back on his desk. The sun was just starting to rise, not yet visible, but casting out weak rays. He stood, stretched his tight muscles and ascended up the stairs. Royal trotted over to Rick and gave his hand a little lick. Rick smiled and rubbed between Royal's ears, earning a wag of the dog's tail. Rick climbed the stairs with Royal at his heels. He stuck his head in the first door on the right of the hallway. Inside slept a lanky boy, sprawled across his bed, sheets thrown in all directions. He snored lightly and rolled over, his arm draped across the edge of the bed. Rick smiled at the boy and retreated out of the room. To the room across the hall lay a beautiful young lady, hair messily framing her face like a caramel brown halo. She wore a slightly oversized "Property of NYPD" shirt Kate had passed down to her.

There were two rooms left in the hall, one door on the right, one door straight ahead. Rick chose the one on the right and looked in. Two boys, both sprawled out on their beds like the first boy. One with a semi long chocolate brown mess draped over his eyes, the other with shorter, spikey sand blond hair. The one snored lightly and flipped over. Rick turned to leave when a soft, "Dad?" was heard behind him.

He slowly turned. "Yeah bud?"

"What are you doing?" The boy's voice was thick with sleep. Rick wondered if he was even really conscious. Rick looked at his youngest son.

"Couldn't sleep. Woke up from a dream and went down to write for a little while." Rick walked over and pushed back the boy's dark hair from his eyes before placing a kiss on his forehead. "Go back to bed, Royce. I'll see you in the morning."

Rick headed back to the hall and looked around. His heart swelled as he thought about all his wonderful kids. He padded to the door at the end of the hall, walking straight in. His heart flip flopped in his chest as his wife came into view, burrowed under the comforter, wavy brown hair pushed up into a high bun. Royal was already snuggled up at the foot of the bed. He lifted his head and Rick gave him a good scratching. Rick slipped under the comforter and molded himself to Kate, contouring himself to her every curve and dip. She stirred and rolled over. Her eyes stayed shut though she gave Rick a sleepy smile. He brushed the pad of his thumb across her lips before lightly kissing them.

"Goodnight, love." He whispered into her ear and gave her kiss on the tip of his nose. Kate's smile faded and her breathing evened out. Rick smiled watching her sleep. Her beauty was incomparable to any other woman. Her features while awake were quite striking as she radiated confidence and authority. But while she slept, she gave off a polar opposite effect, seeming more vulnerable and childlike.

Rick felt his eyes grow heavy as he continued to watch Kate. He soon realized his eyes were shut and opened them with a start, not remembering shutting them. He couldn't decipher exactly when he fell asleep, although he found himself reopening his eyes again without recalling closing them. Thoughts of his deleted book and Johanna Beckett danced on his brain until he finally fell asleep, Kate in his arms. Royal nestled up atop Rick's feet.