"Tenth grade..."
MJ sighed, dropping her spoon in her bowl of cereal. "Would you stop saying it like that?"
"Like what?" Katherine frowned into her coffee mug.
"Super sappy sounding." MJ smirked.
Katherine rolled her eyes. "I just doesn't feel that long ago that you were in my class."
MJ chuckled, "it wasn't."
It had only been four years since MJ started fourth grade, a student teacher relationship that began rocky at best, but had quickly shifted when Katherine had been the first teacher to challenge her. Most of her previous teachers had either avoided confrontation and let her do as she pleased, or continuously butted heads with her in a need to show who was in charge. Katherine had acknowledged her intelligence and pushed her to work on assignments that she had to actually think about, assignments she actually enjoyed working on.
MJ looked up to see Katherine watching her eat her cereal. "What?"
"I can't believe how grownup you're becoming."
"You two need a baby or something..." MJ grumbled, shoving another bite of cereal into her mouth.
MJ had no idea they were trying, but Katherine was in a good place with the process of conceiving and simply grinned at MJ's grumble. The ovulation test she taken showed she was ovulating which was a good start. She'd brushed aside the last year as circumstantial since they hadn't really been monitoring anything, and had resigned not to freak out again until after giving it another six months.
"I'm serious, it's crazy to think that in three years you'll be going off to college."
MJ sighed, pushing a few soggy squares around her milk. "I don't feel very grown up."
"Don't take this the wrong way, I love Izzy, but you're a lot more mature than she is."
MJ chuckled lightly. "I know, for as smart as she is she can act really childish at times." Still, it wasn't Isabel she was referencing. "The other kids don't feel quite as immature though."
Katherine furrowed her brow. "You act more mature than I did in high school."
"But I look twelve..."
Katherine chuckled, covering her mouth as she tried to apologize with her hand while stifling her laughter. "You're thirteen, you allowed to look twelve."
"A lot of the girls on my classes look way older than twelve..."
MJ had taken more academic based classes than was necessary each semester and while she was classified as a sophomore she was taking classes with juniors and seniors as well as classes at a local community college.
"Is that why you don't want to graduate any earlier than you already are?"
MJ exhaled, setting her spoon in the bowl. "I can handle being a sixteen year old college freshman... fourteen or fifteen feels way too soon."
"Especially if you go off somewhere out of state," Katherine nodded.
"How does college work?"
"What do you mean?"
"I... well..." MJ closed her eyes and took a breath, "if I don't get enough scholarships to cover everything?"
"All you need to do is focus on school, Raf and I have talked about when you go to college."
"You have?"
"Of course we have."
MJ looked concerned, her eyes bouncing about as she fretted over where she'd ultimately like to attend college. "What if I get into Harvard or Yale, but don't receive any scholarship money... I know Rafael makes a nice living, but that tuition is too much. Not to mention room and board, and..." her concern had shifted to full on panic.
"We get a little money each month from the state for you. It's not a lot, but we also don't really need it to cover day to day expenses, so we've put it in a college fund."
"You have?"
"Yep, and we add to it at Christmas and on your birthday. My parents, Lucia, and Catalina make contributions as well."
A smile tugged at MJ's lips. "I have a college fund?"
"It's not large enough to cover Harvard... it's not even enough to cover state school, but it's a start and we can do more once we see what scholarships you do receive."
"You think I'll receive enough scholarships?"
Katherine grinned with her nod. "There's not a doubt in my mind."
"Ever the optimist." MJ chuckled, taking her bowl to the sink, quickly leaving the kitchen so she could get ready to spend one of her last days of summer with Isabel.
They were seated at a restaurant around the corner from Katherine's parents new place. Natalie and William had officially moved into the apartment the week before, but Natalie had yet to invite Katherine to the place to see the renovations she'd had done. Katherine hadn't pushed, she knew her mother well enough to know she wanted to be completely unpacked before having anyone over.
"How are you two settling in?" Rafael asked once the waiter had taken their drink orders.
"The location is great. I've already found an independent bookstore that has all sorts of hard to find editions and the owner said he can source out things if I'm looking for something specific." William smiled.
"Three bedrooms and one is dedicated to his books," Natalie muttered.
MJ on the other hand lit up at the idea of Williams haphazard piles of books being shifted to a location closer to her. "You can just throw a cot in that room for when I sleep over."
Natalie harrumphed slightly. "You'll have a proper room to sleep in, not a cot crammed into the corner of his room of books."
"Every wall is covered in bookshelves and there's a large chair just for reading closer to one corner." William smiled at MJ. "You'd love it."
"I take it you've had to downsize." Katherine took a sip of the mimosa that was placed in front of her.
"I've had to downsize..." Natalie took a sip of her own mimosa looking rather perturbed at her husband.
"Everything is yours, all I have are my books and clothes."
"He has a point." Katherine chuckled.
Natalie eyed them both. "He could have parted with a few books..."
"I would find it easier to choose a favorite child."
Katherine snickered, shaking her head at her father. "You only have one child."
"Star in the sky then?" William smirked.
"You told me your favorite star was the sun because it provided our ability to survive as a species."
"When did you start actually listening to the things I say?"
Katherine chuckled again. "I've always listened to you, I just chose to selectively let you know I was listening."
"Yes... so you can use it against me when opportunity arise." William grumbled.
She smiled at her father, but mostly because he knew she was teasing him, and that he didn't actually care.
"What are your plans for retirement?" Rafael lifted his coffee cup to his lips while he waited for Williams' response.
"To travel" Natalie grinned, "I have a trip booked for Australia in October."
MJ had been making a list of places she'd like to go the following summer, Australia and New Zealand sitting at the top of said list. Her only hesitation was her concern that it would be winter during her summer break and it seemed like a place you'd want to visit during warmer months, not that she didn't have a list made of winter activities. "You'll have to let me know what you really enjoy once you get back." She could always make plans to visit during the summer, even if she didn't know when that trip might happen.
"I definitely will," Natalie smiled. "How were the Balkans?"
Shortly after Sonny and Amanda's wedding; Rafael, Katherine, and MJ left for Southeastern Europe. While all three of them had a list of places they wanted to see in the countries they'd visited the year prior, they'd also wanted to travel somewhere new. Katherine's vote had been for Greece, leading to lots of research on both Greece and its neighboring countries. They ended up spending the better part of three weeks traveling up the Adriatic Sea. The trip started in Greece, then they took a plane to Bosnia and Herzegovina, a road trip to Croatia, another drive to Montenegro, and their last stop had been Slovenia.
"Breathtaking." MJ breathed, her mind drifting back to the scenery surrounding them in the rowboat they'd rented to paddle out to Bled Island on Lake Bled.
"I took so many pictures I had to buy another memory card for my camera." Katherine had brought her laptop to download the pictures at the end of each day, but had managed to fill the cards she'd brought before making it back to the hotel.
"What was your favorite part of the trip?"
MJ's eyes widened at Natalie's question. "That's like Mr. Morgan trying to pick a favorite book."
Natalie waved her hand dismissively at Williams chuckle. "Fine, the places you think you'll remember the longest."
"Definitely Lake Bled, that place was gorgeous."
Katherine nodded in agreement. "Like stepping into a real life fairytale."
"Lovcen National Park in Montenegro was stunning as well." MJ said, pausing to think as the waiter approached to take their orders.
"I enjoyed walking the walls in Dubrovnik." Rafael stated once the waiter had left.
"That's where they filmed Kings Landing in Games of Thrones, correct?" William asked.
"It is."
"Vintgar Gorge in Triglav National Park was fun too."
Natalie furrowed her brow, at a loss for a mental image to go along with the last place MJ mentioned. "A gorge?"
"Yeah," MJ nodded, "it was carved by the Radovna River and you walk on these wooden boardwalk trails through canyons, crisscrossing back and forth over the river. It was beautiful."
"So beautiful, that when we reached the end we turned around to walk back through it." Katherine chuckled.
Rafael huffed slightly at the memory. "That was a mistake."
"It was?" Natalie questioned.
Katherine nodded. "We arrived at Vintgar Gorge when it opened and enjoyed a nice walk with a few other people. By the time we made it back to the main entrance the path was packed, leaving barely enough room for two way traffic to pass easily."
"You spent a lot of time outside." Natalie tone sounded almost judgmental, but Katherine, for the life of her, couldn't figure out why.
"Is that a bad thing?"
"No." Natalie glanced at Rafael who was wearing a nice button up shirt with black slacks. They'd all dressed a little nicer than they normally would have for a Saturday morning, but it was also a nicer restaurant. "Rafael just didn't strike me as outdoorsy."
"That's because you've only ever really seen him in suits." Katherine chuckled.
"I've seen him in jeans." Natalie huffed.
"Yes, but never in shorts and a t-shirt."
Natalie stared at Rafael, trying to picture the outfit on him. "Nope, can't see it."
"He has great legs." Katherine grinned, ignoring the eye roll from both Rafael and her mother.
"Mom!" Katherine whisper-hissed at Natalie as she stood from her chair.
Natalie huffed her annoyance, "honestly Katie, don't be such a pushover."
MJ grinned as Katherine rolled her eyes when Natalie left the table to track down their waiter. It had been thirty minutes since they'd finished their glasses of mimosas, and even longer since the waiter had bothered to stop by their table. The blond bartender he'd been flirting with seemed far more interesting than actually doing his job.
"At least we already have our food." Rafael appeared just as amused as MJ at Katherine's discomfort.
Katherine smirked toward his coffee cup, "hope you didn't want a refill."
Rafael froze the fork inches from his mouth, his eyes shifting to the half empty cup that was Luke warm at best. "I hadn't thought about that."
MJ watched Natalie who was pleasantly smiling as she spoke with the waiter across the room from them. "I don't see what the problem is, she's super nice."
"Not to waitstaff, with them she's either rude and dismissive, or haughty and condescending."
"Be nice." William said pointedly.
"It's true..." Katherine grumbled.
"I'm still not sure what you think is going to happen." MJ's brow was furrowed, but she was pretty sure the waiter wouldn't suddenly become confrontational.
Katherine closed her eyes and exhaled. "I probably watched the movie Waiting too many times in my mid twenties..."
"Is that why you never send anything back?" Rafael chuckled.
"I may be overly paranoid, but I have a system."
"A system?" He barely choked the words out past the chuckle.
"Yes," Katherine nodded ignoring his amusement, "if the service, food, or cleanliness are lacking enough to warrant complaint I will give the restaurant three chances to see if I caught them on a bad day or if it's the norm. Cleanliness being subject to how dirty the place is... I have walked out before even ordering a few times." She cringed at the memory of tiny bugs crawling around a basket of chips at a Mexican restaurant she'd gone to with Amanda in college. They'd both looked at each other with wide eyes and scooted immediately out of the booth, neither venturing back to said restaurant again.
"Does that mean if Lennard's suddenly has a couple off days we will no longer be eating there once a week?" Lennard's was a restaurant less than a block from their home that they frequented, if not weekly, at least biweekly.
Katherine smiled at MJ's look of concern. "No. It applies to new restaurants, not ones I've already established that I like."
"Here," Natalie sat a full flute of mimosa in front Katherine, "I watched as they made it so I can assure you it hasn't been spat in. I also asked for our check," Natalie spread grape jelly on a slice of toast, "lord knows we'll be finished with our food by the time he brings it."
"Ewww..." MJ muttered softly, Natalie's comment had connected more dots than she'd wished it had.
"Just wait till you're old enough to watch the movie." Katherine smirked.
Natalie's eyes bounced between the two. "What movie?"
"Why can't I watch it now?" MJ didn't intentionally interrupt Natalie, she was simply perplexed as to why Katherine had said she wasn't old enough, she'd been allowed to watch rated R movies before.
"Uh..." Katherine glanced to Rafael for help, but he merely smiled at her waiting to see how she'd dig herself out of the hole she'd made. "Well..." How did one explain the penis game the waitstaff played without actually explaining the penis game? "There's explicit content that I feel isn't exactly suitable at the moment." The explanation covered both the game and the more vulgar aspects of the movie in general. The more she remembered of it, the more she wished she hadn't brought it up.
"Ok." MJ shrugged, she wasn't really a movie person, she had merely been curious as to why she couldn't see it.
William watched the interaction in mild disbelief. "Where's the twenty minute argument?"
"Would Kate have argued at my age?" MJ grinned.
"Adamantly." William chuckled.
"Not helpful dad." Katherine muttered.
"It's nice that MJ gets to see both of her pseudo grandparents in one day." Katherine's hips continued to bounce on her husbands, her hands resting on his chest for support.
"Yep, very nice." Rafael clipped.
Lucia had taken MJ to sleep at her house like they normally did before church on Sunday. Katherine had used one of the ovulation test that morning, and while it wasn't showing peak ovulation, it had indicated the beginning of their window. This resulting in more scheduled than impulsive intimacy between them, not that either were complaining, but the lack of fervency normally leading to the activity had left Katherine extra chatty.
"If this works our baby will have both sets of grandparents too."
"Yep." Rafael's grumble went unnoticed.
"That will be really nice, won't it?"
Her eyes met his and he couldn't help but smile at how excited she was. "It will be really nice."
"My parents will love it too, my mom's always talked about spoiling a grand baby."
"Katherine..." She glanced at her husband again, furrowing her brow at the somewhat annoyed tone he'd used with her name. "Can we maybe not talk about our parents while we have sex?"
"Oh," Katherine chuckled with her nod, "I'll stop talking." Her chest pressed against his when she laid down so she could kiss him, her hips more grinding than bouncing.
This felt like the first month they were actually trying. After Sonny and Amanda's wedding—her small meltdown—they'd talked about trying, but her cycle didn't work out that way before their trip. Since MJ had shared a hotel room with them, limiting their privacy, Katherine had decided to wait until they'd returned home. They'd caught the tail end of ovulation upon return, but she hadn't been terrible surprised when her period arrived. This time felt real.
"Will we look for larger place as soon as I become pregnant or do you think we'll wait a while?" It seemed like a safe enough subject and she was forcing herself to stay positive. She didn't like the word if—it was too circumstantial, the idea of not becoming pregnant wasn't something she was willing to entertain.
Rafael's chuckled when she pushed back up, her hips resorting to bouncing as she pressed her hands against his chest again. "I'll put us on a list for a four bedroom in this building as soon as you test positive."
"Do units turnover often?"
"I don't know," Rafael smirked, "I haven't looked since I bought this one."
"The baby will sleep in our room for a year anyway, so we'll have time." Katherine began moving faster, Rafael lifting his hips to match her speed. "I think a four bedroom will be the perfect size. MJ will be heading off to college in three years, but I wouldn't want her to have to share a room with a toddler. She should also have a place that's her own when she comes home for breaks or if she decides stay in New York to go to NYU or Columbia." They'd already discussed the need for a home office, a quiet place for both of them to work.
"Katherine..."
"Yeah." Her pace hadn't slowed, but his had.
"I don't want to talk about MJ either."
Her hips paused, sinking onto him while she fought back a chuckle. "Sorry."
Rafael smirked at her squeal when he flipped her beneath him. "We can talk about our future living arrangements after."
"What you're really saying is you want me to sh..." Katherine chuckled against his lips when they pressed against hers, effectively silencing her.
Your friendly reminder to vote.