Count on Me

Chapter Twenty-Five: Happy Valentine's Day

Katrina sighed stepping into the house, she had spent the afternoon in the hospital keeping her father company while her mother went back to the house to prepare him something to eat. 

The hospital food was terrible and Maria wanted nothing more than for him to eat well while he was in hospital recovering from his heart attack; his surgery had been a week earlier and it had gone well. 

Setting her bag down on the counter, Katrina ducked down to greet the two dogs that were running around her feet; she was glad to be home to have a break. 

Things had been stressful recently and Katrina wanted nothing more than to relax and forget about all her problems; she wanted nothing more than to lay down and get a bit of sleep. 

"You're home," Mesut mused stepping into the hallway, he was pleased to see that she was home and he had wanted to surprise her with dinner; he felt horrible that there wasn't anything he could do to help her father while he was in hospital. 

It had been a shock that Kostas had suffered a heart attack two weeks ago, Mesut had done his best to support Katrina and her family; he wished that he could do more to aid his future father-in-law. 

"Sorry I'm late," Katrina mumbled feeling bad that she had kept him waiting this long, she was sure that he had something planned for the evening. 

Mesut shook his head and wrapped his arms around Katrina, he couldn't fault her for looking after her father when he needed her; he would do the same thing if it was his mother in that situation. 

He was just glad that Kostas was going to be okay, he didn't know how Katrina would have handled it if he hadn't made it through his operation or the weeks around it.

***

"You didn't have to do all of this," Katrina whispered admiring the decorated dining room, she hadn't been expecting him to do all of this when he had told her that he'd planned dinner for the two of them. 

She felt bad for not putting more planning in for their first valentine's day but things had sort of gotten away from Katrina with her father being in hospital and helping her mother out. 

"I had to make up for missing your birthday somehow," Mesut replied with a shake of his head, he sent down dinner in front of her with a smile; he wanted to do something special for tonight and he had opted against taking his fiancée to some fancy restaurant. 

He had racked his brain for weeks trying to figure out what he was going to do, Mesut had wanted it to be special and any suggestions that he had gotten from his friends just hadn't felt right. 

Katrina smiled and shook her head, she didn't blame him for forgetting and it was just nice how calm things were here compared to what was going on in her life right now.

It was stressful enough trying to balance her job and making sure that she visited her father at least once a day while trying to keep her mother sane. 

If it wasn't Mesut then Katrina was sure that she would have snapped and broken down, she had no idea how she had managed to stay so sane with all of this going on. 

"After dinner... I have a nice hot bubblebath planned," Mesut said sitting down, he had shut Balboa and Capone in the kitchen so that they wouldn't be disturbed while they were enjoying their dinner. 

The two pugs didn't seem to mind since they had enjoyed snacking on what Mesut had given them before he had ducked out of the kitchen to join Katrina.

He had refused to allow her anywhere near the kitchen while he prepared their dinner for them, he wanted to cook her something special for tonight.

A smile formed on Katrina's face, she hadn't forgotten the bubble bath that they had taken together for her birthday and she had a feeling that Mesut hoped to do the same again. 

However, Katrina had different plans for tonight, she had something that she had been saving for a special occasional and she was hoping to surprise Mesut with it; she had picked it up ages ago when she had been out shopping with her sisters. 

Athena and Toula had been more than helpful when they had helped her pick out some little surprises for Mesut; they hadn't been able to stop smiling when they had forced Katrina to try some things on. 

"I like the sound of that," Katrina mused trying to not give away what she had planned for tonight, she wanted it to be a surprise and she knew that if she smiled too much then Mesut would realise what she had planned. 

Mesut smiled and started to eat, he wanted Katrina to relax and he hated that there wasn't more that he could do to help her and her family right now. 

Kostas would be in hospital for at least another month and things weren't going to get any easier; Mesut just wanted to make sure that Katrina didn't burn herself out. 

It wasn't going to do her any good if she was too tired to do anything, Mesut could see that she was frightened that if she took a moment for herself then her mother would be angry with her. 

Tonight was about them and Mesut hoped that Kostas would recover soon, he didn't know what would happen if the man had to stay in hospital for longer than a month.

***

"Are you okay Liebling?" Mesut called through the bathroom door, she had been in there a while and he was starting to get worried; he wanted to settle down to bed and cuddle with her after a wonderful evening together. 

Things had gone well for the two of them and Mesut was glad that they hadn't gone out to dinner; it had been nice that they had been able to relax without having people stare at them or harass them. 

Mesut sat on the bed and wondered what she was doing in the bathroom, he was starting to worry since it was so quiet and he hoped that things weren't going to be weird. 

Since Katrina had moved back in with him, Mesut was relieved that things were working out so well for them; he couldn't imagine his life working out any different for them. 

"I'll be out in a moment," Katrina called back making Mesut smile, he leant back on their bed and waited for her patiently; he would give her another ten minutes before he went to see if she was okay in there. 

He didn't have to wait long before the bathroom door opened and Katrina stepped out dressed in a black halter babydoll; she smiled at the look on Mesut's face hoping that he liked her surprise. 

It had been interesting to say the least keeping this from him and Katrina couldn't help but worry that he wouldn't like what she was doing; she had no idea what he was going to say about any of this. 

Mesut opened and closed his mouth for a moment, Katrina looked beautiful and he couldn't believe that she had dressed like this for him. 

"Rina..." Mesut whispered with a shake of his head, he got to his feet and slowly walked over to his fiancée; he kissed her and pulled her close knowing that this was so much better than he imagined. 

He had never thought that this was how things would be when his timer ran down, it was so much better than he had ever dreamt and he had no idea hoe people could turn their backs on their soul-mates and lose something that would make them so happy.