Time had somehow shifted them into July and Katherine still hadn't unpacked that last box. Instead she had tried to hide it in the closet, but given how organized the closet was it ended up sitting quite noticeably in the corner. Rafael hadn't said anything. He had definitely noticed it sitting there, but given her OCD's on everything having a place he felt there was a reason she hadn't opened it yet. Still, she had lived there for close to a month...
"Hey Katherine..."
"Yes." She smiled, poking her head in the closet from the bathroom where she had been brushing her teeth.
"Do you want to see if we can find something so you can unpack your last box while we're out today?" It was Saturday and the only plans they had were to run a few errands, but from the look that briefly flashed across her face he could tell she had hoped he had forgotten about the box.
"Umm... I guess."
Rafael's curiosity got the better of him. "Lets open it and get a feel for what's inside so we can get something everything will fit in. I'm sure you need another glance at it." He knew she didn't want to, that there was something in it she didn't seem to want unpacked, but she had also agreed to marry him... she should be able to share with him whatever it was she was hiding away in that box.
"Oh... umm..." Katherine stammered as she tried to think of a reason to procrastinate dealing with the box a little longer.
"What is in there that's causing you so much turmoil about me seeing it?" He chuckled, assuming he was why she had left it closed since he hadn't noticed an unpacked box at her old apartment.
Katherine exhaled and dragged the box to the middle of the closet. "Mementos," she shrugged, "do you have scissors or something?"
Rafael picked the box up and carried it out of the closet. "Let's open it in the office, you'll have more room to spread it out there."
Katherine took a deep breath and followed him to the office, sitting on the couch so she could reach the box from where he had set it next to the coffee table.
"Here." He smiled, handing her a pair of scissors as he sat next to her.
Katherine cut the tape and began pulling the contents from the box. Rafael picked up the first photo album and chuckled as he flipped through it. "How old are you in these?"
The one he had in his hands contained pictures of her and her friends when she was in elementary and junior high.
Katherine smiled. "That ones first through eighth grade."
"Who are these people?" He was looking at a group photo of her and her best friends while in junior high, the group had remained close through high school.
"That's Erin," she said pointing to the short red hair girl in the middle of the photo, "and that's Jessica, Dan, Rodger, Anna, Stacy, and me." She continued pointing to each person as she named them.
"I knew which one you were." Rafael smiled.
"They were my best friends all through high school and one of the reason I was so mad at my parents for moving me to Atlanta my senior year... One year was not enough time to make friends in a new school, especially when everyone was already set in their groupings and ready to graduate." Katherine grumbled, pulling out the album from high school and handing it to him.
"You're sitting on that Rodger guys lap." Rafael smirked when he flipped to a picture clearly indicating she and Rodger had been more than friends.
"Awe, yes... Rodger," Katherine smiled, "we were inseparable in high school. He was my first boyfriend... my first everything."
"Everything?"
Katherine turned pink, she hadn't really thought before she spoke, but he had been her first.
"How old were you?"
"Too young." She sighed.
"That didn't exactly answer my question." Rafael smirked.
"Fifteen. I mean at the time I had thought I was mature enough, but looking back I know I wasn't. How old were you?"
"Seventeen." Rafael answered without going into detail. "Was he a good guy at least?"
"He was... is... he's married now with three kids." Katherine shrugged.
"You keep in touch?"
"No, not really... When I moved, we all tried to stay in touch, but it was before social media and I didn't have a cell phone. We fell out of contact after a while. I've found most of them on Facebook, which is nice... I get to see where they are and what they did with their lives, but it's not the same... not like we actually talk or anything."
"Did you think you were going to marry him?" Rafael smirked.
"Of course I did, I was a ridiculous love struck teenager. We were seventeen when my parents moved me to Atlanta... I thought my heart was being ripped from me and left behind in Austin." Katherine chuckled. "I grew up though... had my heart broken a few more times since then..."
"I'm sure you broke a few yourself." He smiled.
"I doubt it." She shrugged.
Rafael furrowed his brow, wondering why should would think that, not knowing that Amanda had been right when she said Katherine went for obstinate. She was attracted to assertive, determined men... but up till meeting Rafael they had mostly turned out to be controlling assholes like Scott... Rodger being the one exception.
"Is this the reason you didn't want to open this box, because you were afraid to let me see the photos from your youth?"
"No." Katherine sighed, pulling a keepsake box from the bottom of the moving box.
Rafael had seen the box in the top of her closet but had never really been curious as to what was inside. The intricately etched wood on the box was what had caught his attention more than anything.
"I haven't opened this box in almost two years..." Katherine said, pushing it in front of him.
"You want me to?"
"I don't want you to wonder what's inside." She shrugged.
Rafael opened the lid and flipped through a few pictures. "You look happy." He said, pulling a picture out of the box. Scott had his arm around Katherine in the picture and they were laughing while walking along a beach somewhere.
"I was happy."
Rafael flipped through a few more pictures before noticing the small bag with a piece of jewelry in it. "You've kept your wedding ring in a box in the top of your closet?" He sounded a bit shocked, but only because he could roughly estimate the monetary value having recently purchased the one currently sitting on her finger.
"I didn't know what else to do with it," she shrugged, "it didn't seem right to sell it but it's not like I'm going to wear it again either."
"I just meant it should have been kept somewhere safer."
"Oh... I wasn't that concerned."
"I know you said selling them didn't feel right, but if you had hit a rough patch and needed money... have you had them appraised?"
"No, but I know roughly what he spent." Rafael furrowed his brow so she elaborated. "I picked it out."
"Oh..." He glanced at the ring and then the one he had given her.
"I like yours better."
"How, if you picked this one out?"
"Because you apparently know me better than I know myself." Katherine chuckled, but Rafael frowned. "I'm serious Raf. You actually thought about me... even if your intent hadn't been to look at rings that day. You still saw it and thought of me. Scott and I had talked about getting married at some point, but he never really asked. He just took me to a jewelry store one day and then handed me the ring when it was ready. And yes I looked at lots of settings and different cuts, but I hadn't really done research on what I wanted, just picked from what I was shown. I mean I loved this ring... but yours is better."
"Because I gave it to you?" He questioned, still not quite believing her.
"No, because if I had been choosing between the two, even then, I would have chosen the one you picked. It's softer... more dainty," Katherine grinned at her use of the word dainty as she held her hand up to look at the ring again, "and I love the flowerlike prongs. They give the ring a period piece feel without being to over the top."
"He really never actually asked you to marry him?"
"Not technically, no. It was just assumed I would." Katherine shrugged.
"I feel a bit better about asking during sex now." Rafael smirked.
"I'm learning that you're passionate and if you feel strongly about something it will come out of your mouth whether you want it to or not." Katherine chuckled, pulling herself closer to kiss him. "Once I realized you couldn't help yourself, I found your proposal endearing."
Rafael rolled his eyes despite the smile on his lips. "You can store your old one in the safe." He handed her the little bag she had the ring in and took her hand guiding her into the closet. "Six... five... thirteen..." He said aloud as he turned the dial on the safe.
"Six, five, thirteen, huh?" Katherine smirked, handing him the bag when the door opened.
"You think you can remember it?"
"I'd be hard pressed to forget it." She chuckled.
"Why is that?" Rafael was the one to smirk this time.
"It's the day I kissed you outside the bullpen."
"The day all of this started." He smiled.
"How long has the combination been that date?"
"Long enough." He smirked again, setting the little bag on a shelf so she could see where he had placed it. "You want to finish getting ready so we can eat?"
"Sure." Katherine smiled, taking his hand in hers. She felt better now that the box was opened and they had talked. It was just the items from her failed marriage that had concerned her. She hadn't wanted to get rid of the happier memories, but didn't want him to think she was holding onto something either. It was just, as with everything in life... not black and white. Rafael, thankfully, seemed to understand that.
Katherine woke up when Rafael did that Monday and decided to go up to her school to see what she could get done in preparation for the next year. It seemed the week after the Fourth of July had left the school desolate of teachers trying to get materials made for the next year, all preferring to be home or off travailing instead. This allowed her to get two class sets of pages for her science journal made and organized into the plastic file bin she dedicated for it. It would be one less thing she would have to wait around for the copier for in the afternoons. The janitorial staff had finished with the hall her room was on so she had spent the first part of her morning arranging her desk into groups to give her areas to spread work out as she started setting the classroom back up. Her room looked a chaotic mess, but that was normal. It would take the better part of a month for it to resemble her classroom again. She enjoyed this bit of time every year when she got to reorganize her room, always attempting to find some magical arrangement that would easily keep it organized all year... it never actually happened though.
This year her focus was less on changing the flow of her room and more on the decor. She had had the little owl decorations for years, having moved them with her from Atlanta in an effort to save money. She wanted a completely different feel to her room. The rug she spotted while she and Rafael had been looking for something to store her albums and other keepsakes in had prompted her to spend the rest of the weekend searching for things she could exchange on her walls to match. The rug was varying shades of brown and teal squares and was large enough to sit her entire class. She had never had a rug, always opting to let the kids just sit on the floor without one, mainly because the cost of a rug was something she couldn't justify spending. This one had been ridiculously priced at fifty bucks on clearance, but she assumed it was because no one in their right mind would buy it for their home. The design was kind of ugly, but the colors were muted and would tie in nicely with the things she had found at Michaels or ordered online to redecorate her room with.
Katherine had found a few different editable classroom decor off of teachers pay teachers and printed the color items out the night before and used the schools resources to print anything that was only black and white. Her plan was to cover the bulletin boards in burlap and trim them with teal and redo all the signage to have a chalkboard or wooden sign feel. All of this was laid out on one of the desk groupings. Light purple and green cardboard bins that were falling apart from years of use were replaced with metal pails of varying shapes and sizes, all ready for pencils, scissors, rulers... and other school supplies she tried to keep available for students whose families couldn't afford them.
Once everything was finished printing, she took the stack of signage along with a few task card sets and a new classroom rules anchor chart she made down to the workroom to laminate them. No one was waiting on her so she set the laminator to its slowest setting and took her time feeding them through. This would ensure the lamination adhered properly and she wouldn't have to waste time redoing anything. Once finished she rolled up the long length of laminated work and carried it back to her classroom so she could gather her things to meet Amanda for an early dinner. Katherine would be working in her classroom again the next day so the only thing she decided to drag back home with her was what she had laminated. She used binder clips to secure each end of the roll and tucked it under one shoulder while slinging her purse over the other.
"What the hell is that?" Amanda grumbled when Katherine set the roll of lamination next to her desk.
"Stuff I want to cut out tonight, I was hoping to leave it here while we ate."
"Why can't you just teach from a book?"
"Because I teach nine and ten year olds and they learn better when they are engaged." Katherine chuckled.
"What is that?" Amanda asked her voice more serious this time and Katherine looked to see her eyes settled on the ring Rafael had given her.
"Oh, umm..."
"He asked you to marry him?" She yanked Katherine's hand closer so she could look at the ring.
"Yes." Katherine wasn't quite sure why she felt so timid suddenly, she had been planning to tell Amanda at dinner.
"And you said yes?"
"Obviously." Katherine chuckled, pulling her hand back.
"When were you going to tell me?"
"At dinner, he only asked a few days ago."
"Isn't it a little fast?"
"Says the woman who told me to invite her to the wedding two months in." Katherine smirked.
"I was teasing you." Amanda said, her tone going serious again.
"I'm happy, happier than I've ever been. I love him. I really don't care if it's too soon." Katherine smiled, holding her hand a little higher to look at the ring again. Her mind not focused on the jewelry itself, but on the man who had picked it out.
"It's really pretty." Amanda smiled.
"What's pretty?" Carisi asked as he, Liv, and Fin entered the bullpen.
Amanda didn't actually respond just dragged Katherine closer to them by her left hand.
"He finally asked?" Liv grinned, leaning in for a better look at the ring.
"You knew?" Katherine asked.
"He nervously mentioned buying a ring when we were working late one night... that was a while ago though. It was never brought up again, but I was hoping he'd get up the nerve to ask you sooner or later." Liv smiled.
"How'd he ask?" Carisi questioned.
"Oh... umm... nothing over the top or anything. Just kind of intimately while we were at home the other night." It was close enough to the truth to make her blush, but not blush enough to raise suspicion that there was more to the story.
"Congratulations." Fin smiled.
"Oh, you actually congratulate the groom and give best wishes to the bride and, Oh. My. God. I just channeled my mother... Thank you, thank you is what I meant to say." Her mother had corrected so many people during her first engagement that it just kind of came out of her mouth without much thought and Katherine was now a bit embarrassed.
"You're marrying Barba, best wishes seems fitting." Fin chuckled.
"Have you told your mom?" Amanda laughed.
"No. I am not quite ready to discuss dates and themes and dresses yet." Katherine huffed.
"I'm so happy for both of you." Liv smiled, when Fin reminded her they still needed to finish up a few things. "I have never seen him this contented." She added before she and Fin headed to her office, leaving Carisi alone with Amanda and Katherine.
"You two going to dinner?" Carisi asked.
"We are, you care to join?" Katherine asked, smiling when Amanda rolled her eyes.
"Yeah, I mean Liv and Fin have some paperwork left on that case from last week but I..."
"Jesus Carisi, you don't need a reason. Just say yes." Amanda grumbled as she grabbed her bag and headed toward the elevator.
Katherine smiled and shrugged at Carisi, both of them following not far behind.
"Do you want a big wedding again?" Amanda asked once their drink orders had been placed.
"No. I want something small and intimate. I don't want it to cost a small fortune... hell I'd be fine with eloping. The look on my mothers face alone would be worth the fact that Rafael's mom might never forgive." Katherine laughed. She was joking though, she would never do that to Lucia.
"What does Barba want?" Carisi asked.
"We haven't talked about it yet." Katherine shrugged.
"I'm sure he'd be fine with whatever Katherine wants to do." Amanda added.
"I guess... I mean most guys probably just go along with whatever, but there are some of us that actually think about that stuff." Carisi said.
"You've planned your wedding then?" Amanda smirked.
"Not planned, no. I just know that I want to see her," he glanced at Amanda and then quickly looked at Katherine, "whoever she ends up being... I want to see her walk down the aisle in a dress she's super excited to wear."
"Ugh... I don't know if I want to wear a wedding dress again... it's weird to think about doing this for a second time..." Katherine sighed.
"You don't have to go traditional." Amanda suggested.
"Yes, but I've done the whole traditional wedding thing... parts of that was nice. What if Raf wants that and I take it from him because he's trying to be accommodating and just agrees to whatever I want?"
"Barba... accommodating?" Carisi questioned, furrowing his brow.
"He's apparently different with her." Amanda smirked.
"Amanda..." Katherine groaned at the lack of help she was getting.
"Just ask Barba what he wants." Amanda stated.
"Yes... communication. I can do that." Katherine nodded, somewhat laughing at herself.
"Oh and cake. I want to do the cake tasting thing." Carisi interjected.
"Could you be anymore random?" Amanda chuckled.
Carisi smiled at her and took a sip of his drink. "You're not drinking again."
"So?" Amanda huffed as Katherine's eyes widened almost in amusement.
"You just... you normally drink, that's all." He mumbled, glancing at her belly. The belly that she was using clothes in an attempt to hide the fact that she was clearly beginning to show.
"Don't tell anyone," Amanda sighed, "I don't want to be restricted to desk duty yet."
"Liv's going to find out." Carisi no longer seemed as light and carefree as before.
"I'll tell her... just not yet."
"Does Nick know?"
"It's not Nicks." Amanda shrugged.
Katherine watched as the two silently sat across from each other, Carisi fighting off asking who's it was and Amanda stubbornly refusing to give anything else.
"You should be drinking water." Carisi finally said.
"I'm tired of water... all I drink is water. Besides, the ginger ale helps settle my stomach with acidic foods." Amanda grumbled.
"Please tell me you ordered something healthy?"
"Really Carisi?" Amanda huffed. "And what are you smiling at?" She grumbled at Katherine.
"Nothing." Katherine grinned as she shook her head, not bothering to hide her amusement in the conversation taking place between her dinner companions.
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