Julia looked down at their joined hands and then back at Kat, lowering her
voice earnestly "I'm sorry, kitty kat.. I shouldn't have brought him back
up. How about you go with your mom now.. and I'll come up later when you're
ready to go to bed and we'll talk a little then?"
She could tell Kat was upset and the term slipped out without her even
realizing it. She gave Kat's hands a reassuring squeeze and reaffirmed her
promise "I'll answer everything I can, hon, but I think your mom needs some
time with you too." Julia smiled a little and leaned her forehead against
Kat's, whispering "And they're even closer than the stars. They're right
here," she raised their hands and touched Kat's heart before Julia nodded at
Rachel "And right there. And when you really need them, when you're feeling
especially lonely and needing help... they're right next to you."
And, it brought a memory back to Julia and she knew what she was going to be
bringing with her when she talked to Kat later.
"Well okay," Kat said hesitantly. "Promise you'll come though." Kat slid
off the couch letting go of Julia's hands and taking her mothers. She still
felt like it was too early to get ready for be, though it had been dark for
several hours now. She really hated bedtimes. She had friends that didn't
have any bedtime at all and thought they were so lucky. As they started to
leave she stopped and let go of Rachel's hand going over to Nick and giving
him a hug. "Goodnight," she said to him realizing that she might not get to
see him again before morning.
Kat
