Timeless

Chapter 50

A/N: You didn't think I'd just LEAVE you with that did you? Please, I can be nice! That being said, I'm not going to be able to update tomorrow since i'm going home for easter break and going to be a bit busy! So I'll see you friday with an update haha!

December 27 1947

The Christmas of 1947 was spent bundled inside with weather so cold that the power was out on Christmas day. Seeing as how neither Bucky, Gale, or Kathryn was a fan of the cold weather, they had spent the day bundled up inside the Egan home and celebrating with Josie and baby Cathy—who just a week prior had celebrated her first birthday.

Most holidays were now spent without so much as a phone call to Judith or Eugenia—and neither Kathryn or the others really cared all that much. Judith still made the occasional visit to see baby Cathy. But she never dared to knock on the Cleven's door, finding Gale's words still scathing from the last time he had seen her and told her promptly to never speak to his wife again (Bucky was still quite proud of him for that).

Truth be told, Kathryn much preferred the simplicity of it all. It was smaller to scale and easier for her to focus on her other friends and the people that she had chosen as her family. She could focus on Poppy's upcoming nuptials and the fact that Annika had discovered back in September that she was pregnant. She could take her sweet time just enjoying life .

But on Gale Cleven's 29th birthday, Kathryn had realized that time had elapsed so quickly—and disappeared before she had even realized it was passing. It seemed like just yesterday that they had been flirting and skirting around one another back on Thorpe Abbot—and she was just barely 23 and practically a child .

Gale hadn't been wrong about that reminiscing. There were times when she felt damn old and there was just no fixing that. Most of it was humorous situations, where she just felt entirely out of touch with college students or young parents that she interacted with at the school.

Still, Kathryn was absolutely dead-set on having Gale's quiet and low-key birthday (he had absolutely insisted on no parties this year) turn out perfectly. She had taken the time to make his favorite meal and was just putting finishing touches on a small chocolate cake for him. No Bucky today, no Josie—just Kathryn and her husband.

And when Gale walked downstairs from working on paperwork (he had put it off during the holiday), finding the table all set and dinner ready, he couldn't help the soft expression that crossed his face. Taking in the sight of his wife standing there with a grin on her face, he just felt a burst of love and affection for her.

Gale crossed the floor, wrapping his arms around her. "Happy birthday, baby," Kathryn said, pulling him in for a gentle kiss.

Now this? This was much better than any loud party that he could be having with Bucky. It wasn't that he didn't love his best friend and brother-in-law—it's just that he didn't compare to Kathryn and the way that he loved her.

He grasped her around the waist, pulling her closer to him. She let out a breathless sigh against his lips and she felt as though electricity were spreading from her lips down to the tips of her fingers. She pressed another kiss to his lips, an affectionate brush that just feathered against him before pulling away.

"Now Mr. Cleven, I spent my time on this meal and I won't have you distracting me until later," Kathryn insisted in a mock-stern tone.

The laugh that spilled from his lips sent sunlight down her spine. "Yes, ma'am." He took a seat in the nearest chair—and before Kathryn could even go to sit down across from him, he was tugging her onto his lap.