Chapter 40

Richie toyed with the dark strands of hair that were spread across the pillow. Kara was still asleep. He slid the covers down and traced light circles on her shoulder. Turning on his side, Richie wrapped his arm around her, resting his hand on her stomach, his fingers brushing idly at the butterfly nestled at her navel.

A light tickling sensation dragged Kara from her dreams. She turned as she came fully awake, nestling in closer to Richie, resting her forehead against his chest. “Good morning.”

Richie kissed her head, “good morning princess.”

Kara pressed a kiss to the center of his chest, “how long have you been awake?”

He shifted and their legs tangled together under the blankets, “long enough to watch you sleep for a little bit.”

She lifted her head and pressed a kiss to his adam’s apple, “that had to be about as much fun as watching paint dry.”

He shook his head, “I’d lie here all day and watch you sleep; nothing boring about it.”

Her fingers coasted over his chest, “if you say so. What time is it?”

Richie lifted his head to look across to the night table, “10:30. Why, you in a hurry to go somewhere?” He didn’t want to get out of bed yet, he was enjoying just holding her in his arms.

Kara shook her head, “not at the moment, but I do have my normal Saturday stuff to do; laundry, bank, Stop & Shop.”

He rolled her over, “sounds like a pretty full day. Got room for one more thing?”

She traced his face with her fingers, “depends on what that one more thing might be.”

He trailed light kisses across her collar bone, “Jon invited us to dinner tonight.”

Her eyes widened, “what did you just say?”

Richie smirked against her chest, “you heard me princess. Jon invited us to dinner tonight.”

She pulled his head up so she could look him in the eye, “why did he do that?”

Richie rolled over onto his back and pulled her with him, “because he’s my friend and he wants to get to know the woman I’m spending most of my time with.”

Kara sighed “I don’t suppose I could not go. Is that an option?”

Richie pushed her hair off her shoulder, “now why would you not want to go? Don’t you want to meet my friends?”

She shook her head, “it’s not that Richie, not at all. It’s just that he’s the parent of one of my students. It just feels a little weird. I’ve never had a meal with one of the parents before.”

Richie tugged her over on top of him so she was straddling him, “don’t think of him as one of the parents, he’s just Jon, my friend.”

Kara sat up, letting the sheet pool at her waist, “can we stop talking about your friends now?”

He slid his hands up and down her sides, caressing her breasts before resting his hands on her hips. “What do you want to talk about?”

She rolled her hips and leaned down, her mouth hovering over his, “I don’t want to talk anymore.”

When they finally got out of bed they took a leisurely shower and Richie made them breakfast as Kara started the laundry. By the time they got back to Kara’s place after all her errands, they had gone to the bank, the dry cleaner, ran her car through the car wash and stopped at the Stop & Shop, it was late afternoon. Richie stretched out on the couch as Kara put away her groceries and hung up her clothes.

While Richie was ‘recharging’ as he called it Kara wandered into her spare room. Taking a look around she decided that it was time; time to put the past in the past and leave it there for good. She opened the curtains to let the late afternoon light in, dusted off the piano and shelves and sat down. Her eyes landed on the few small boxes that were stacked against the far wall of the room. They contained all her mother’s sheet music.

Richie found her stacking the music on the shelves a little while later. “What’re you doing?”

Kara turned, “something I should have done a long time ago. Did you have a nice nap?”

He chuckled, “I did not nap, I told you I was recharging. You wore me out today.”

Kara laughed, and patted his arm, “its okay babe. It must be hell getting old.” Richie started to say something and then stopped when he noticed the shelves that had been empty the night before now held stacks of music.

He walked closer and thumbed through the piles. “Where did all this come from?”

Kara set the last stack down, “it belonged to my mother. It came with the piano.”

Richie nodded and looked around, “you cleaned in here.” It wasn’t a question.

She looked up at him, “I decided it was time.” She glanced at her watch, “now its time to get ready to go meet your friend.”

Richie smiled, “am I ever going to meet your friends?”

They walked out of the room together, leaving the door open behind them, “I think if I introduced you to my friend Jen, she just might have a heart attack. Either that, she may try to have her wicked way with you. Quite possibly both.”

Richie laughed, “I’ll be gentle. But, seriously, I do want to meet your friends princess.”

Kara paused at the bathroom door, “I’ll call Jen tomorrow and see what she’s got going on.”

The ride to Jon’s was short and uneventful. Kara was impressed by the house and grounds that spread out before her as they passed through the gate. Waiting for someone to open the door, Kara gripped Richie’s hand. She had never socialized with parents and/or students outside of school and she was slightly nervous. Before she could focus on that too much they heard the pounding of running feet and the door was thrown open. Kara found herself looking down into Jake’s startling blue eyes.

“Ms. D’Angelo, what are you doing here?!”