206 Kate and the white board
Shawn woke up all groggy in the morning with the sound of his phone alarm. He opened his eyes and saw the cute bundle of joy sleeping next to him and a smile crept on his face at that very instant.
He kissed lightly on her forehead and then slowly slid his hand which was under her head, all careful not to wake her up. His hand was completely numb, but he didn't mind.
The only thing that he was worried about was upsetting Katherine by sleeping off in Kate's room. He seriously had no idea that he would doze off. He tiptoed his way out to check up on Katherine.
But he had hardly taken a couple of steps towards Katherine's room when he heard her voice from downstairs,
"Well now that you are up, would you care for some breakfast?"
He took a deep breath and looked down.
She was almost done with making the breakfast and was just making some cold pressed orange juice. Shawn climbed the stairs one by one slowly, dreading her temper. He didn't want her to misunderstand him. He was extremely worried that she might think that he deliberately distanced himself off after getting to know about her health condition. But he was shocked to see her all cheery and unfazed. But nevertheless he still decided to clear things up.
He came close to her and said,
"I am sorry, I don't know how I just dozed off. I guess I was too tired with my shift. Trust me, it had nothing to do with the conversation that we had yesterday night. I swear on anything possible on earth Katherine. You gotta trust me on this".
"I do", she said extending a glass of juice towards him.
Then she turned her back towards the stove and said,
"I have stacked some toiletries that you might need in my washroom. So you can go ahead and freshen up. Meanwhile, I will set the breakfast table", Katherine said without even turning back to have a glance at him.
Seeing her cold demeanor, Shawn left the counter and went upstairs without even touching the juice.
When she heard his footsteps receding from the kitchen, she turned back and saw him going upstairs and took a deep breath. She assumed that he would take some time to freshen up and come back but within a few seconds, she saw him coming downstairs with his bag in his hand.
"Where are you going? Aren't you going to have breakfast with us?", Katherine asked looking at him.
"No, I have work", he replied curtly wearing his shoes.
From his voice Katherine could sense that something was wrong and she switched off the stove and came close to him and asked,
"Just a few seconds back you were all fine !!! What happened now?"
"Probably I should ask you the same question Katherine. Just a night back everything was fine. What happened now?"
"You are not answering me Shawn".
"I think you need to figure out the answers for yourself first, Katherine".
"Do you think its easy for me to accept everything that comes my way. Do you even know how I feel when I let my guards down and show my vulnerable side? No you don't know because you have no weakness. You won't even know how naked and how helpless you feel when you don't even know how you will be taken by people. You don't know Shawn. You just don't", Katherine said and threw her apron out.
Shawn took a deep breath and came close to her and said,
"You want to know my weakness. You want to know my vulnerabilities. Then come and see".
Saying that he opened the buttons of his shirt and then pulled it out. He then took her hand and placed her palm on top of his chest and said,
"This is me being vulnerable here. This here is my weakness Katherine. My heart can't survive without you. It just can't. From the first day that I have met you till now, you are the only person because of which it beats. Do you even know how I felt for all these years, not being able to have you in my arms?", Shawn asked looking deep into her eyes.
Katherine slowly started tearing up and he could feel her hand tremble slowly.
"I don't know about anything else in the world, except for loving you with all my heart. You are all that I have to survive this life. I survived the last eight years just with our happy memories Katherine. So how can you think that such a thing will affect me? I really don't care if we have a kid together or not. I really don't care Kat !!! All I need is you and nothing else. And we have Kate in our life and trust me I will try my level best to be a good father for her".
She immediately looked up into his eyes and asked,
"What are you trying to say Shawn?"
"You still don't understand?", Shawn asked and then took a deep breath and said,
"Miss Katherine Walker !!! Will you marry me, Please !!!".
She felt her heart lit up by a thousand candles in a second. But taking a moment, she said
"Shawn !!! You are doing this in haste, I want you to think about.."
"I have waited for you for eight years and eighteen hours counting now. But I can't even think of waiting eight minutes more !!!"
He said and pulled her close and kissed her lips. Her fists clenched initially, thinking if they were doing the right thing, but as his touch started melting her slowly, she raised her hands slowly and embraced him back.
Then holding her face in his hands Shawn said,
"I am not doing it out of impulse Katherine. This is what I have wanted, for like ALWAYS. Just say yes".
She looked into his eyes, trying to read them, trying to figure out if she was doing the right thing and then suddenly her eyes moved up and saw Kate near the stairs. She was holding her white board in which she had written,
"Please say yes Mommy !!! "
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