#except sonny. he was able to sneak past mostly

[ripdiy]

hey everyone meet my family! they are all just minutes away from bleeding out!

[lovemesomerafael]

Best That You Can Do                       Chapter 5:  Reboot

Chapter 1  Chapter 2  Chapter 3  Chapter 4  Read it on AO3

The next morning, Kaitlyn looks like hell.  Not worse than William Dodds looked the day after he’d discovered his son was alive, but nearly as bad.  She’s wearing her usual crisp, professional suit, and she’s made an effort with her hair and makeup, but he suspects she scraped all her hair back into the unflattering, tight bun so she wouldn’t have to fuss with it, and no amount of makeup can hide the dark circles around her sunken eyes.

When she comes in for their usual morning stand-up meeting, he asks her to close the door.

“How are you doing this morning?”  He asks, waving her to one of the chairs in front of his desk while he remains seated. His look and the tone of his voice are soft.  Concerned.

Kaitlyn doesn’t answer right away, just sighs and sits heavily in the chair he indicated.  Dodds just waits.  

“I think I was in shock last night.  Because now that it’s starting to sink in, I feel…”  She shakes her head with a grimace.  “About a million different things.”

“Did you get any sleep?”

“A little.  Unfortunately.”

“Sorry.  I should’ve warned you about the dreams.”

Kaitlyn just nods.  

“I really hate whatever fucking no-name agency did this, and I especially hate that they seem to know what they’re talking about with that manual.  It makes me sick to think that they have enough experience to know how to handle this shit.”

“Mike’s alive.  I don’t understand why I’m so messed up about that!”  Kaitlyn’s voice breaks.  She’s really not doing very well.  “It’s good news!  Why am I not just happy?”

“I can tell you why, if you’re interested.  I ended up having to take that little State Department weenie’s advice and see a shrink about this.  I’ll give you his name, if you want.”

“I don’t know.  Maybe.  But the thing is, Chief, I don’t know if I’m ready to see Mike yet.  Is that weird?”  

“Not even a little bit. It’s why they don’t let you see him right away.  And if it makes you feel any better, that’s exactly how I felt.  Coffee?”

“No, thanks.  I’m not sure my stomach’s up to it right now.”

Dodds nods.  “Listen, you should know that he’s having his own issues with being back.  It’s not uncommon when you’ve been undercover, but this… this is a whole different ballgame.  So I don’t think you should plan on seeing him right away.  We just both wanted you to hear it from me before the news gets out. He’s still carrying a torch for you, you know.”

Kaitlyn actually grins a little at that.  “You’re relentless.”  

He grins, too, and shrugs.

“Can I ask you something, Sir?  You learned about this six months after they said he died, which is right about when you brought me back here.  Was that why?”  

“Yes and no.  I’d been thinking about it for a while, but I was ashamed.  I thought you’d be seriously miffed, and refuse to work with me again.  I honestly didn’t know how to fix what I’d done.  But then, when I learned he was alive, I just told myself it was as good a reason as any to try to correct my mistake in sending you away. Even if you didn’t know why.”

“I’m glad you did. Thank you again.”

“Don’t thank me.  It was purely selfish, and you know it.”

They share a quiet laugh, and William thinks Kaitlyn looks a little bit better than she did when she came in.  “Anyway, Mike’s working with a counselor, and she’s calling the shots right now.  It’ll be a few days, I think, before she lets him see anyone but me.  In the meantime, you keep just doing what you’re doing.  Work through it and talk to me.  OK?”

“I will.  But can you at least tell him I said hi?”  The hopeful light in her eyes almost immediately turns to doubt.  “Ugh, that seems so lame, nevermind.  I can’t…  Just forget it.”

“I’ll tell him.  It’ll make him happy.  He needs that right now.  Like I said, he’s struggling.”

 The next day, Chief Dodds comes into Kaitlyn’s office before it’s even time for their stand-up meeting. He’s grinning ear to ear, and he has a slip of paper in his hand, which he’s waving as if he’s getting away with something.

“What’s that?”  Kaitlyn asks suspiciously.

“It’s contraband,” he answers, full of glee.  “He doesn’t have permission to contact anyone yet, but he insisted, and he looked so happy about it that I agreed to smuggle this to you.”

“Oh, shit.  Is that… from Mike?”

With a ridiculous smile, Dodds hands the slip of paper to Kaitlyn.  It’s just a page from a small note pad, with a few words scrawled on it, but it feels precious.  Kaitlyn vaguely recognizes Mike’s handwriting from the countless birthday and Father’s Day cards the Chief’s displayed on his desk over the years.  She’s surprised to find that she’s shaking.  She’s actually holding a note from Mike Dodds, written the night before.  He’s really alive.  

I guess ghosts are supposed to say boo, but this one just wants to say hi back.  

See you soon,

Mike  

P.S. They didn’t give me a choice, but I’m sorry anyway.

Kaitlyn looks up from the note with a bright smile that’s at odds with the tears running down her cheeks. She stands up to hug Chief Dodds, who just looks smug.

************

Mike had actually come pretty close to learning what the U.S. penitentiary in Leavenworth looks like from the inside before he’d finally admitted that he wasn’t getting out of taking part in the operation the feds had abducted him for.  His rage at learning what they’d done to him and everyone who cared about him had been insurmountable at first.  It had actually hindered his healing for a while, until a guy with suits that made even his dad’s look cheap, whose rank Mike wasn’t allowed to know, had basically told him to sack up and deal with it.  After that, Mike had decided he might as well get on with it, since he wasn’t getting out of it.  

He’s always been good at undercover work, and following orders has never been a problem for him, so once he accepted his fate, he’d been all right.  He just tried to be the guy they’d turned him into.  He blocked out the thought of his parents – well, mostly his dad – believing he was dead and having to deal with all of that.  He tried not to think about his friends, either, although he did have a couple of morbid laughs at the idea of just showing up at Carisi and Barba’s door someday and scaring the shit out of Sonny.    

And that’s kind of the problem.  He hasn’t really been Mike Dodds for a year.  He’s intensely glad to be home, it’s just that it’s a little hard to feel like he’s home because he’d never seen this apartment before two weeks ago, and nothing in it belongs to him.  In fact, not much of anything belongs to him because, of course, his family got rid of everything when he died.  He doesn’t have a job, because he’s still sort of a secret until they finish putting together the plan to announce his resurrection, which is apparently a whole thing. He just wants this to be over, so he can be Mike Dodds again, whoever the fuck that is.

That’s why he’s been so grateful to get to hang out with his dad and talk about just normal shit like sports and what the SVU squad is doing, and memories from years ago that help him remember what’s real and what’s the lie he’s been living for the past year. It’s why he gets so excited when they let him sneak over to his dad’s apartment.  It’s the only place that feels even remotely like home, although he’s never lived there.  And it’s why he wasn’t about to take no for an answer when his dad said that Kaitlyn had asked him to say hello for her, and he got the idea to send her a note.  

When his dad tells him about her reaction to his note, Mike’s joy at the news is out of all proportion to the reality of the silly little exchange.  He’s tired of being cooped up in this strange apartment, with no visitors except for his dad.  He’s tired of not being able to work out or go running.  He’s really tired of being alone with his own thoughts.  He knows that’s a big part of his eagerness to see Kaitlyn, but it’s not the whole story.  Mike is certain that he was close to getting through to her before he was fucking kidnapped (they really hated it when he kept calling it that).  And he’s been pissed off for a whole year at being cock-blocked by the federal government.  

It’s a week before Mike is finally allowed to see Kaitlyn, and he’s started to think it will never happen. Everyone’s been told he’s alive, and they’re still in the time frame where they’re not allowed to see him, but Kaitlyn got the news early, so she’s ready.  Or as ready as she’s going to get.  He’s not at all sure what this is going to be like.

He’s had ten thousand fantasies about it.  She’s naked in a lot of them, but he’s actually not expecting anything like that, and not just because his dad’s going to be here.  The whole thing’s just so fucked up there’s no telling which way it’s gonna go.  He’s imagined tears and hugging about as often as he’s imagined yelling and face-slapping.

Kaitlyn and his dad are coming over for dinner.  He throws together some spaghetti sauce, adding some special touches he’s tried and found he likes.  He’s not much of a cook, but he figures everybody likes spaghetti, and the meal isn’t really the point, anyway.  

In a way, he’s kind of glad he has very little in the way of clothes, because that means he doesn’t have the option of worrying about how he’s going to look when they finally see each other. He just takes a shower and puts on jeans and a grey T-shirt.  And then he sits down to wait.  For as long as he’s been looking forward to seeing her again, it seems like another few minutes should be nothing, but that’s not how it goes.  The last half hour crawls.

*********

The Chief’s like a little kid, he’s so excited.  He’s chattering and smiling and hurrying Kaitlyn along, and it’s really annoying. Because she’s beyond nervous.  She’s sick with anxiety about what Mike will look like, and how she’ll feel, and what she’s supposed to say to a guy she treated like shit pretty much from the moment they met until the moment he died. Except that he didn’t die, and now she’s supposed to figure out the etiquette for that fucked-up scenario.

Kaitlyn can’t decide whether she’s glad Chief Dodds is here or not.  She’s a mess and she knows it, and hopefully he’ll be able to smooth things over if the wheels come completely off.  But she and Mike have basically jumped each other immediately each time they’ve spent any time together, so…  The whole thing is insane.  She’s been dying for this moment for a week, and now that it’s here, all she wants is for it to be over.  

They park in a dinky little lot behind a square, brick apartment building and Kaitlyn’s shaking legs carry her up four flights of stairs before the Chief knocks on a green metal door in an overlit, echoing cinderblock hallway.  

And then, just like that, Mike’s standing right in front of her.  His hair is longer, and he has a bit of facial scruff, both of which look ridiculously good on him.  His eyes, though… he looks like maybe it’s been a long year for him, too.  She’s imagined this moment incessantly since she learned he was alive, but she’s still surprised, because the one thing she didn’t expect is that he would still just be Mike.  And that’s the part that hits her like a freight train.  It’s like the last year never happened.  He’s just Mike, and she’s just Kaitlyn, same as they were the last time they saw each other.  

She thought maybe they’d throw themselves into each other’s arms at this moment.  Instead, they stand five feet apart and it’s awkward.  But only for a moment.  Because, suddenly, she realizes the ridiculousness of pretty much everything about what’s happened between them up to now, and she starts to laugh.  Instantly, as if he’s been trying to hold it in and she’s just given him permission he never expected to get, he bursts out laughing, too.  And that’s when they hug.  

In the few weeks they knew each other before he died, Kaitlyn and Mike had been plenty close a few times. But they’d never just hugged. Kaitlyn decides she’s glad about that. She’s glad she didn’t know how overwhelmingly good it is to be hugged by this huge, warm guy who smells like soap and masculinity, especially when he’s still laughing a little bit and she can feel it, deep and low in his chest, against her.  He’s big.  She’s forgotten how just plain big Mike is.  She’s standing on her tiptoes and she feels like he’s surrounding her.  She thinks hugging this man might just become her new obsession.

Kaitlyn can’t think of any words to say, and apparently Mike can’t, either.  Maybe there just aren’t any, or maybe there’s no reason to say anything.  So they just hug and laugh a little and Kaitlyn turns her head into Mike’s neck and just breathes him in, dimly aware of the lovely fact that he’s got his face buried in her hair.  It goes on so long that Chief Dodds is in the kitchen putting a pot of water on for the noodles by the time they relax their hold on one another.  They stand together, her hands on his shoulders and his on her waist, just looking at each other.

“You OK?”  Mike asks tenderly.

Kaitlyn huffs a little laugh.  It takes her a moment, shaking her head and making a face, before she says, “I don’t know what I am.  I just know how happy I am to see you.”

“You, too.  I missed you.”

“I missed you, too.” She sighs.  “And I need to tell you I’m sorry.  About the way I treated you.  The things I said.  I screwed up, Mike.  And I don’t just mean because Susan’s all over the internet enslaving poor what’s-his-name.  I knew it before that.  I’m sorry.”

“You’re seriously apologizing to me right now?  When I made you go to my funeral?”  

“You didn’t do that.  You didn’t have any more choice than the rest of us.”  Suddenly, she’s holding him again, and he’s holding her back just as tightly.

When they finally relax and step apart a little, Mike asks if she’s hungry, tilting his head a little toward the tiny kitchen where Mike’s dad is trying his best to be invisible. It’s only then that Kaitlyn realizes there’s a wonderful smell of cooking in the air.  

“Spaghetti,” Mike says proudly.  

“It’s the only thing he knows how to make,” the Chief says laughingly, unable to stop himself.

“Spaghetti sounds good.” Kaitlyn beams up at Mike.  “And it smells wonderful.”

Mike starts toward the kitchen and Kaitlyn sees that Chief Dodds has a dishtowel around his waist for an apron and his shirtsleeves rolled up.  It’s kind of adorable, and she appreciates how discreet he’s been, letting her and Mike greet each other however they needed to.  She stands watching as Mike opens a bottle of wine and the Chief puts together garlic bread.  For a moment, she just watches Mike – the play of muscles beneath his T-shirt, the way his hair falls over his eyes just a little – and realizes that she hadn’t been romanticizing his memory.  He really is that good looking.  She realizes something else, too.  She wants him bad, but raging desire aside, she likes him much, much more than she ever knew.  

Mike’s poured three glasses of wine, but the Chief shoos him out of the kitchen and tells him to go get re-acquainted with Kaitlyn while he finishes dinner.  Mike doesn’t argue.  He takes two of the glasses and settles on the couch with her, then holds up his glass.

“What are we drinking to?”

“Hmmmmm.  Well, L’chaim seems appropriate, but maybe resurrection might be closer to the mark,” Kaitlyn grins.

Mike looks skeptical. “Uhhhh, I only know of one guy who did that, and I’m sure the hell not Him.  Let’s stick with L’chaim.”  

His words are light, but his expression and his tone tell Kaitlyn that, whatever demons he’s been wrestling with, the match isn’t over yet.  She decides it’s way too early in their reunion to get into that unless he wants to, and he doesn’t seem to want to.  So she changes the subject.

“How much are you allowed to tell me about where you’ve been?”

“Nothing,” he frowns. “Can’t tell you where I was, or what I was doing, and I don’t even really know exactly who I was working for, although I know they were the good guys.  All I can tell you is, I’m proud of what I was doing.  What we got done.”

Kaitlyn smiles at Mike. “I know Rangers don’t say ‘Hooah’, but it seems appropriate.  There’s no doubt in my mind you were doing something great.”

He’s so damn adorable when he blushes and looks down like that!  Kaitlyn asks what the Chief has told him about how things have been in New York while he’s been gone.  She finds some amusing stories about things his dad has done and said that he hasn’t yet heard, and she tells Mike how kind Sonny Carisi had been to her at his funeral. It’s skirting a tough subject that’s best left alone for a while, but it is a nice story, and he seems pleased to hear it.  

“That sounds like Carisi,” he says, smiling quietly.  “He’s a good guy.  I’m lookin’ forward to seeing him.”

“He called me, you know,” Kaitlyn tells him.  “The day the squad was told you’re alive.  He called to see if I was all right, and we spent half an hour basically saying nothing but ‘holy shit’.”

“He would.  He sound like he’s handling it OK?”

“Oh, yeah.  He was ecstatic.  Apparently, Barba practically had to breathe into a paper bag, and I think being there for Rafael kind of forced Sonny to just focus on the positive.”

“He’d do that anyway.  He’s never down for long.”

Mike reaches over and takes Kaitlyn’s hand.  “You look good,” he says softly.

“You do, too.”  Before giving it a thought, Kaitlyn reaches over and cups a hand over his cheek, rubbing it back and forth on his scruff.  “This works for you.”

Mike laughs.  “It’s actually not a fashion statement.  I just couldn’t be bothered when they won’t let me go anywhere.”  

“Now, that’s just rude,” the Chief says, surprising them.  Kaitlyn’s been so focused on Mike that she had completely forgotten he was there, even though he’s been bustling around the kitchen and he set the table on the other side of the room they were sitting in.  “You knew you were going to see Kaitlyn tonight.  You could’ve shaved.”

Mike dips his head in acknowledgement.  “I should have.  I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be.  I told you, I like it.”

“Anyway,” Chief Dodds says, “Dinner’s ready.”

Mike and Kaitlyn get up from the couch and make their way over to the table.  Mike is the first to notice.

“Dad, you only set two places.”

“I know.  I’m not staying.”

“What?”  Kaitlin exclaims.  “Why not?”

“Because I was only here in case things were awkward.  They’re not. And I was actually texting with Olivia Benson while the noodles cooked, and we’re going to meet at Maxwell’s for a drink. So you two are on your own.”  

He looks entirely too pleased with himself, but Kaitlyn can’t find any room in her heart to hold it against him.  Mike doesn’t look at all unhappy, either.  

“You sure?  I made tons of spaghetti,” he urges.

“Son, I’m thrilled to have you back, and Kaitlyn, you know I like you.  But I’d rather have a drink with a beautiful woman than hang out here and be a third wheel with you kids.”

Kaitlyn notices that he’s removed the dishtowel from his waist and rolled down his sleeves.  She smiles happily as she hugs him.  “Thank you, Sir.  For being here.  It helped me be less nervous.”  

Mike hugs him, too, and sees him to the door.  “Have a good time,” he says to his father, a teasing lilt in his voice.

“You too, Son,” the Chief answers, and he’s not teasing at all.

Mike and Kaitlyn sit down together at the table.  It’s far more comfortable than Kaitlyn would ever have hoped in her anxiety-ridden daydreams about this dinner.  The excellent wine the Chief brought and the surprisingly good food help.  

“Mmmm.  If you only know how to cook one thing, I’m glad it’s this good.”

“I can cook other things, that was just Dad giving me shit.”

“Really?  What’s your specialty?”

“Well, OK, my specialty happens to be spaghetti.  But I also make a mean baloney sandwich.  And no one makes better mac & cheese from a box.”

“Ooh.  So if this whole cop thing doesn’t work out…”

“Right.  I’m opening a restaurant.”

The rest of the meal is fun and easy.  They talk the whole time, learning about each other and laughing more than not.  

“You know what I just realized?”  Kaitlyn wears a complex smile.

“What?”

“This is the most you and I have ever talked to each other.  Before, we didn’t… do much talking.”

She doesn’t know how Mike manages it, but his smile is both a little shy and a little suggestive.  “I guess that’s right.  C’mon.  We can talk while we do the dishes.  I’m afraid this palace doesn’t feature a dishwasher.”

While they clear the table and wash the dishes, they talk about Mike’s plans to return to SVU and to choose his own apartment.  He has no idea who picked this place, but he doesn’t like it much.  That conversation leads to more somber topics, so that by the time they’re once again sitting together on the couch, sipping the last of the wine, Mike is sharing some of the things he’s currently dealing with.  Kaitlyn listens sympathetically, although she has no experience from which to draw any wisdom.  

“I wish I knew something comforting to say.  I guess once you’re back to work, and you have your friends around you again, less time to just sit around and think…”

“Yeah.  I know you’re right.  It’s nice just being here with you.  I mean, my dad’s great and all, but he’s only one person.  And he’s nowhere near as cute as you are.”

Kaitlyn is sure she’s blushing.  “Can I ask you something?”

“Of course.  Anything.”

“Do you…  I mean, I know I messed everything up before.  I wouldn’t blame you if you wanted to just forget it ever happened.  But if not, if you maybe wanted to…  Would you want to maybe go out with me sometime?”  

She can see he has to stifle a laugh at that.  “You sure you wanna be seen with a dead guy?”

“Well, if you start to, like, decompose, we’ll have to re-negotiate. But you look pretty good right now.”

“So do you.”

The look he gives her turns her insides to hot mush.  Kaitlyn has no idea she’s leaning over to kiss Mike until he meets her halfway and she finds her lips pressed to his.  But it’s a different kiss than they’ve ever shared before.  Slower, quieter, a destination in itself.  He doesn’t move closer to her, but remains sitting next to her, at a bit of an angle, with only their knees touching.  

“Yeah,” he breathes.  “I’d like to go out with you.  I’d love the chance to do it right.”

“Yeah.  No dying this time.”  Kaitlyn enjoys their laughter at that, but she kind of regrets killing the romantic mood that was building.  

Mike sighs and lays his head back.  “Shit, Kaitlyn, this whole thing’s been such a mind fuck.  I feel really adrift right now.  Like I’m half him still, and half me.  I know that sounds really stupid.”

“No. You’ve been him for almost a year. You had no contact with anyone who knows Mike.  It makes perfect sense.”

“It feels like shit.”

“What can I do?  How can I help?”

Mike takes a deep breath and lets it out.  “I don’t know.”  He lifts his head and looks at her.  “Hold me, maybe?”

Kaitlyn’s closed the space between them and scooted her arms around him before he takes his next breath.  “Like this?”

Mike doesn’t answer, just sighs with what sounds like relief, and wraps her up, softly but securely squeezing her to him.  

“Did I ever tell you how good you smell?”  Kaitlyn asks.

“Uh-uh.”  She feels him chuckle a little.

“Well, you do.  Really good.  I could hold you like this all day.”

For the next two hours, they’re together on Mike’s couch, talking quietly, bodies pressed together and arms entwined.  They smooch a few times, and Mike feels so good Kaitlyn really wants to start something, but she doesn’t.  She’s sure she could get Mike to cooperate, but it doesn’t seem like that’s what he needs from her right now.  He asked her to hold him, and that’s what she’s doing.  If he makes a move, she’s all over it, but just being close and learning about each other is really, really good, too.

Over time, they’ve migrated so that Mike is half-lying, with his legs hanging off the couch.  He’s holding Kaitlyn on his chest, her legs curled on the cushion behind his thighs.  She’s full, and warm, and comfortable, which means she yawns.  She feels him lift his head and look at her.

“You tired?  Or bored?”

Kaitlyn lifts her head, too, and meets his eyes.  “Definitely not bored.  I just worked all day, is all.  My boss is kind of a tyrant.”

“Sounds like a bastard,” he grins.

“He’s all right.  Gets me dates sometimes.  So there’s that.”

Mike smooths his hand over Kaitlyn’s hair, which she’s worn down because she thinks that’s how he likes it.  He sighs deeply.  “I don’t want to let you go home.”

She drops her chin to his chest.  “I don’t want to go home.”

“Then don’t.  Stay here, with me.  I’m not making a pass, I promise.  I just want you here.”

“I’d be OK with you making a pass, Mike.  But what I really want is just to be where you are.  I really missed you.”

Kaitlyn gives Mike a long kiss.  

*************

Mike likes lingerie.  He likes it a lot, actually.  But Kaitlyn in his Jets jersey is sexier than anything he’s ever seen in a Victoria’s Secret catalog.  And the best part is, she seems to understand that he just wants to snuggle together. It’s been forever since he hasn’t slept alone – in fact, for a whole lot of reasons, Kaitlyn’s the last woman he slept with – and right now, what he needs more than anything is the pure, simple warmth and security of feeling her breathing next to him.  She’s soft in all the right places, and he definitely wants to slide his hands inside the jersey, but he doesn’t.  Based on the way she keeps starting to slide her hands over his chest, and then stopping herself, he thinks maybe he should have worn a shirt with the soft shorts he’s wearing, because she might be feeling the same.  

Mostly, he thinks she’s as happy as he is to be cuddled together in each other’s arms, and it’s not long before he falls into the quietest, deepest sleep he’s had since the day he was shot.

The morning is a different story.  They wake up with their limbs as tightly wrapped around each other as ever. Mike finds that his hands, of their own accord, have found their way inside the jersey Kaitlyn’s wearing.  She doesn’t seem to mind, given that her back’s pressed up against his chest, and she’s moving with him as he grinds against her backside.  Oops. He stops rubbing his half-hard cock against her just long enough to kiss the back of her neck where it’s right in front of his lips.  When she shivers and gives a soft moan, he starts again and moves his hands the rest of the way onto her breasts.

Kaitlyn slides a hand up Mike’s thigh to his buttock and turns her head enough that she can kiss him, although it’s an awkward angle.  Pretty soon, though, he’s fully hard and she turns around in his arms.  Their kisses this morning are much more intimate and intrusive than the night before. If she’d kissed him like this then, they definitely wouldn’t be wearing clothes now.  Which, he thinks, is something he really wants to change.  He reaches for the hem of her jersey and gets a jolt of electricity when she lifts her arms to help him take it off her.  Then he removes her panties and his shorts, and she moves to press the length of their bodies together as they kiss.

It’s different this time.  They’re moving more slowly, and taking time to make sure they’re making each other feel good, touching and stroking.  Mike pulls Kaitlyn on top of him and she moves against him, rubbing his body with hers, making sure to slide along his cock as she does, until he puts a hand on each hip and purposely positions her where he wants her.

She’s happy to give him what he wants, and she’s deliciously hot and wet, although he notices that she takes her time, working him in inch by inch, sliding up and down his shaft and taking a little more of him each time until he’s buried in her.  It’s the slowest they’ve ever fucked, and it goes on for a very long time.  After an eternity of her moving over him, he rolls them over and thrusts into her for a while, and they’re sitting up with her straddling his lap by the time they finally get serious about making each other come.  When they do, they’re looking at each other, with what are probably unconscionably gooey smiles, but it’s entirely right in the moment.  

Kaitlyn’s almost half asleep again, paying little attention to the way Mike’s moving because she assumes he’s just stretching, until she hears him speak.

“Hey, Dad, it’s me.”  There’s a silence.  “Good. Great.  But I’m afraid Kaitlyn’s not going to make it in to work today. Some kinda flu or something.”  

Kaitlyn’s eyes are open now.  

“Yeah, I’m sure she’ll be fine.  Probably a twenty-four hour thing.  Maybe forty-eight.  I’ll let you know.”  There’s another silence, after which Mike laughs a little.  “OK.  Thanks, Dad. See you.”

Mike touches the screen of his phone with his thumb and tosses it onto his bedside table.  He turns to look at Kaitlyn lying in the crook of his arm looking at him with an amused frown.  

“He says you’re fired, and he’ll see you Thursday.”

Kaitlyn thought she was worn out for the moment, but as soon as Mike starts kissing her and touching her again, she catches a second wind.