The Babysitter

~26. Stay for me.~

A/n: I'm sorry in advance...

*Cate's POV*

Earlier this day...

The softest kisses were planted all over my face. My jawline. Cheeks. Forehead. The tip of my nose and lastly my lips.

With closed eyes, I bathed in the heavenly feeling of my wife's touch. Her tender and full lips were everything I needed in the morning and every other time of the day.

Fluttering, my eyelids opened and I glimpsed through tired orbs at Vee's tangled chestnut curls, which hid her soft features. My fingertips stroke the strands out of her face and her head rose.

"I need more of your kisses." I whispered, meanwhile Vera turned around in my arms.

She flashed a mesmerizingly beautiful smile. Her smile.

"Do you, now?" The brunette giggled out and the little rasp in her morning voice allowed me to beam from ear to ear.

"I do." I nodded and in a swift move my wife straddled my hips.

She lowered her head and I quickly pulled her face onto mine. Lips met lips and other than all the previous times, Vera didn't allow me to deepen the kiss. Her fingertips skimmed along the sides of my face, causing tingles to spread across my skin.

Fast, I realised the intimacy we shared. The love. The homely feeling. This touch was not meant to turn heated or sloppily. It was- She was my home.

The love of my life. It has always been her. In this life and every other one.

The kiss broke and without another thought or word, her body was pulled onto mine, chest onto chest, the brunette's head rested in the crook of my neck. Hot air hit my collarbone.

Our breathing synced. My brunette's upper body lifted, the same time as mine did.

My arms captured her and it was so different from all the times before we had hugged and cuddled. Even kissed.

"I can't wait for you to be my wife." Vera mumbled into my skin, before her lips placed a kiss on my neck.

"Me neither, my angel."

A couple of hours later, the sounds of our kids playing and running through the house lingered in the air, whilst I stood at the stove and prepared the dinner.
Out of nowhere my phone vibrated, which threw me out of my dreamy state of mind. I dried my hands off in my apron and fiddled with my phone, before I caught the message on the screen.

A lump formed in my throat and my skin heated up.

"Seriously?!" I cursed.

These goddamn fucking tickets are gonna be the death of mine. Why did they cancel the flight?! None of this worked and I'm so gonna go nuts.

"Fucking internet."

She deserved these tickets. The beach. But what the fuck?!

"Bullshit. Fucking bullshit." I kept cursing and began to exhale through widened nostrils. Breathe.

For another twenty minutes, I attempted to fix this fucked up mistake, yet it didn't work. The whole website kept closing and not a single thing seemed to work.

So, eventually I decided to keep on preparing the food, yet as I was about to begin with the stuffing for the turkey, the onions were nowhere to be found.

I rummaged through the drawers in the kitchen, for whatever reason, because why would they be in any of them? Perhaps the kids placed them there?

Vera took a seat on the kitchen island, not looking up form today's ultrasound pictures. She did notice I was upset, didn't she?

In a far more aggressive way, I pulled the drawers and cupboards open in attempt to find the stupid onions. They were no where!

~

"You're apologizing on the phone?" Vera attempted to joke.

"Jesus, Vera! I just wanted to know you're safe for the love of god! The snow is thick and I can't see much. Really, can't you just please, for once—" A loud crash cut the call off and my breath was caught in my throat.

"Vera? Hello?! Veronica?" I screamed into my phone, whilst my face went blank and completely white, all of a sudden. As if a switch was turned. My heart sunk.

I tried to call her for the next minute, yet her phone didn't even ring. My heart began to pound rapidly and my breathing quickened as well.

She could be alright. She has to roll onto the driveway every moment.. I stayed put at the windows in the kitchen. My eyes glued to the driveway. She will be here. She has to.

"Common..."

The big tree. She said she was there. She should be here.

As if I was on autopilot, I left the house in a rush. The coldness didn't matter. It was almost as if I didn't feel it. The snow, the wind all of it hit me, yet I didn't quit running down the street, screaming for Vera. The snow made it unbelievably hard to see and it felt, as if I was running in circles.

"I'm really not in a mood for jokes, so come here!" I spoke sternly, to cover the fear, my heart and brain were telling me to feel. Suddenly, another noise made its way into my ears. It was somewhat close to the most quiet moan, I've ever heard. This became stranger with every passing moment.

Just when tears were threatening to well over my eyes, I caught our car on the street. "VERA?!" I began to scream all over.

My feet dared to give up underneath me and my heart was exploding inside my chest, but I pushed past it and reached the car. My lungs ached, but I swallowed the pain. The door was open widely. The windshield was crashed and the glass was laying all over the seats. My head was playing the most horrifying scenarios. I kneeled onto the seat and a wetness began to damp the fabric on my knee.

My eyes caught her phone in between the seats. She doesn't have it with her.

I stepped out of the car and caught the red stain on my knee, as the cold wind blew by.

My body froze.

No— "Cate...?" An unbelievably soft and weak voice was carried through the wind, making me turn on my heels and gaze around. There were drops of blood on the white ground underneath and although I hoped, with every fiber of my being, it wouldn't lead me to her, my eyes were met with a body on the ground only moments later.

Her body.

My heart stopped beating and my lungs hold a breath. An unbearable pain stung inside my chest, whilst tears formed and immediately left my eyes again. There was blood. A lot of it.

I threw myself onto the frozen street and grabbed her face, moving it, so I was able to see her pale and clammy forehead. There were small cuts all over her precious face. My arms pulled her body closer. "I got you. I'm here."

"Cate—" When my fiancé sobbed my name, I broke down completely.

"Vera! No! No, no, no, no, no..." I cried. "Hey, hey!" I tried to get her attention, whilst rummaging through my pocket, with one hand and pulling her body onto mine, to keep her warm. "Please stay awake." Her green eyes barely opened. "You have to stay with me, okay?" I tried to explain, whilst sniffing and crying. "For fucks sake, where is this goddamn phone?!" Big drops of water fell onto Vera's cheeks, whilst I tried to shake her once more to help her to stay awake. Finally, I found my phone and while I dialed 911, my eyes never left her almost closed ones. "Angel, hey, hey." I shook her body. "You have to stay with me."

"Stay for me... I'm begging you." I sobbed and shakily embraced her cold cheeks. "Please, my angel."