Daniel Swan looked out across the bay from the bench he sat on. It was a cool early autumn evening, just before eight. He looked at the bunch of white roses in his hand, lifted them, and sniffed them. She was not coming, he knew. Rachel would stay away. He placed the roses on the bench.

“See you next month, my darling.” It was his ritual, every month, at eight in the evening on the fourteenth he would place twelve white roses on the bench. Two and a half years ago, on valentine’s day, her hands accepted them, her finger accepted his ring. She had breezed into his life through a coffee shop door that hit his full cup of coffee as she lost control of the door, and he ended up wearing a latte. She had raven hair and blue eyes that slammed into his heart with no mercy. By the time they had found some stability in the chaos, her furiously wiping at his shirt, he was in love. He was twenty-one, and regarded one of the most eligible bachelors, with his light brown hair and bright green eyes, and of course his hundred million dollar trust fund.

Daniel was a shrewd businessman at that age, his father had given up when Daniel was ten and just allowed his son to be in his office. Daniel learned a lot there, but he did not learn about the devastating effect of true love. That came to him just under two years ago. He had been inseparable from Rachel almost from the start, and he knew she was the one. It was as if she knew him intimately, knowing when to touch when to smile. Daniel had never felt as complete. It had been at a party, where she was in a bathroom, practicing her lines. She was trying to get into acting, so she used a voice recorder to record herself as she looked in the mirror. Daniel loved that she grabbed every moment she could to work at her passion. That evening her voice recorder was forgotten on the shelf, and it caught an ominous conversation. The moment she heard it she sent it to the authorities. She told Daniel, and he held her as she shook in fear. It is not every day your record a murder confession by a powerful man to an associate, both men stood to gain hundreds of millions.

They had realized she knew, but not that the information was already in the hands of the FBI. Two days later, as Daniel had sent her on a private jet to Milan as a treat, to the fashion week, the plane crashed. The wreckage was found in the Atlantic, the recorders telling a tale of a mid-air explosion. The men were arrested, and charged with five murders. One admission on the voice recorder, and the other four were passengers and crew on the plane. Rachel had her best friend Leona with her, a vivacious blonde woman. Daniel loved her energy, and she brought laughter everywhere she went.  Now it was a long time ago, and Daniel looked out across the Atlantic. Somewhere there his Rachel’s spirit was living.

Daniel looked at the flowers, then walked to the Maserati. He drove home, a thirtieth-floor penthouse with five bedrooms and a private pool. He smiled softly. Catherine was there, probably in sleepwear, being seventeen to the fullest. She was a good girl, choosing to skip the wild part of being a teenager, yet still making sure Daniel would be grey in a year or two. She was the only one he loved like Rachel. He opened the door and Cath squealed as she barrelled into him. She knew where he was, knew the deep pain he carried. She held him close, then kissed his cheek softly, before licking his face from chin to temple.

“Gross, Cath. What if a bird shat on my face?” Daniel laughed at her face, then kissed her head. He held her for a while and she let him. Then she felt her shoulder get wet as he cried. He was her foster uncle and her guardian. Her foster mother was his sister, who was almost thirteen years older than Daniel, and Cath was fostered when she was six. The bond between her and Danny was instantaneous. Danny was as amazing a guardian as she could have dreamt, except for the evenings of the fourteenth every month.

“Danny, I made you hot chocolate, and we have popcorn, watch a movie with me please?”

“You just want to be touched.”

“So?” Cath cocked an eyebrow. Her love language was touch, and the way Danny scratched her back was both soothing and lately also helped her as she missed her foster parents.

“Okay, set it up, I want to quickly shower.” She got the treat almost three times a week, and he shook his head at her excitement. She never took it for granted, she never took anything for granted, he had realized. Not even his love for her. Cath was blonde, with mesmerizing blue eyes, five-six, and a slight curve to her hips. She was a swimmer, and put in three hours a day, the best in her school.

Daniel showered and dressed in pajama pants and a t-shirt. He was barefoot, as was she. It was the time they shared their silence, as they mourned the death of her parents, his family. Daniel had no idea how he managed the death of three people he loved, but he knew Cath was a big part of his coping. After an evening like they planned now, his pants would often be wet as she also cried with her face on his thigh. They never judged each other’s grief, their arms were open to each other’s grief. The tabloids and social pages are forever hinting at Daniel needing to move on, but he did not care. Neither did Cath. They watched a spaghetti western tonight, laughing at the poor voice-overs. Daniel’s hand kept moving on her naked back, her t-shirt pulled up. Sometimes he used the flat of his hand, and sometimes his fingertips. Catherine always loved her back being rubbed as she chatted about her day. It was purely by accident that they discovered this, he was putting lotion on her back at his sister’s pool when Catherine asked him to not stop. It was their thing, the family knew. Cath would let others do it when Danny was not around, but he was her preferred back rubber.

“Do you have a swim meet this weekend?” he asked.

“Yes, the last one. Can you come?”

“Yes.” She always asked, even though he can count on one hand the meets he had missed since she arrived. Cath knew she had him wrapped around her little finger, and would use it for fun, but he never felt manipulated.

“Thanks, Danny. I always swim better when you are there.”

“And I love watching you swim better.” He kissed his fingers and touched her lips, and she kissed his fingers too. He carried on rubbing her back, the movie long over. Cath chose a music channel, classical. They both loved the soothing sounds. She pulled her shirt down and flipped on her back, and looked up at him. This time she kissed her fingers and touched his lips, and kissed her fingers.

“I love you, Danny,” she said with her devastating smile.

“I love you more, Cath, I am older.”

“Pffft. Not buying it.” She fetched his hand from the backrest of the couch and interlaced her fingers with his on her stomach. They would sit like this, chatting about life, often about what the tabloids were up to. Neither cared much, except for the entertainment, because more often than not they knew the real story. They went to a limited amount of events, charity balls, and birthdays mostly.

“Daniel?” He frowned. She never used his full name if it was not serious.

“Yes?”

“Can I come with you next month, please?”

“Sure, I just sit on a bench and feel sad.”

“So, I can also do that.”

“Okay, Cath, yes.”

“And tell me about her then.”

“I will bring the Kleenex.”

“I will.” She yawned and they got up, turning everything off. Daniel went to the kitchen, and broke off a block of dark chocolate from a slab in the fridge, and walked to Cath’s room. She was getting in bed, he waited for her to settle, then gave it to her. It was just one of their rituals to make each other know they mattered. She knew she could have some for herself, but Cath loved that he brought her a small piece every night. In the morning she gave him coffee in bed, and they would drink together, talking about the day coming up. Now he watched as she savored the taste. It had started six months ago when she was pining for chocolate as he tucked her in, and he fetched her a block because she was lazy. The next evening she pouted, so he did it again. Now it is their thing. He kissed the top of her head, then checked that her phone was on a charge, as well as her laptop. It was nothing new for him to get a frantic call from her that her devices have died at school. Maureen, his PA, was highly amused as he would put serious opportunities aside to rush around for Cath.

“Night my sweet,” he said as he kissed her head again. She was seventeen, and way too old to be tucked in, but she asked him to do it once, and he complied. She just never stopped him after that. He hated when she slept over with friends, so she stopped. All her sleepovers happened at their house now, and her friends liked it. They also liked Daniel a lot. Daniel walked to his bedroom. He checked his emails, replied with short instructions to two of them. Some he forwarded to Maureen, but she knew if she dared open one this time of the night he would be irritable with her.

“You have work hours. If I need anything outside work it is my fault, I planned poorly.” She nodded with a smile, and he shook his head. Maureen loved her boss, he was as old as her oldest son, and she mothered him sometimes, seeing his gentle smile after he scowls at her. Daniel closed his laptop and turned his light off. It is a fifty-fifty chance that he would wake with Cath behind his back. On bad days he sought her bed too. There is nothing remotely sexual, it was just intimate, and Cath knew Daniel felt everything deeply. She did not come to his bed, but she woke him with his coffee.

“Can you drop me, please?”

“Of course.”

“Thanks, I just want to be around you a little longer.”

“Sure, Cath.” It means she had a dream that upset her, she would never tell him, just want him near. He would walk her to her first classroom as well. That part Cath really loved, because all her friends wanted a piece of him, he was a beautiful man. She had often laughed at how obtuse he was to their very overt advances. Some were eighteen already, but Cath knew he was not like that. She smiled as she thinks of the sleepovers, where they would be practically naked, and Daniel’s absolute perfect behavior.

“I will make breakfast, you make sure all your stuff is packed,” Daniel said as he got out of the bed. Cath stayed until he took his shirt off, she liked to see the results of his two hours a day in the gym, including Taekwondo. He seemed skinny, but there was some serious muscle under his shirt. She bounded off and Daniel undressed. She would not come in now. He dressed in his black slacks and black polo sweater. He would put on a jacket, almost always a three quarter leather jacket. He wore combat boots. Maureen had tried her best to get him to dress like an executive, but he flat refused. He would wear the same to events unless Cath dressed up, then he would honor her. She had very much the same taste as him though.

He made them toast and eggs, cutting her crusts off. He would eat them for her. He smiled, amazed at how much they covered each other in a very natural way. He always wanted an extra piece of toast, so one day he munched on her crusts, and that became a thing. The toaster only made four pieces at a time. The schoolgirl came in and they sat to eat. He gave her orange juice, knowing how absent-minded she could be. He went to her room and smiled. Her laptop was on her desk. He picked it up, and then grinned. There was a note under it.

‘I love you, Danny’ he took it and put it in his pocket, then he put her laptop in her bag on the table next to her.

“Love you too, Cath.” She smiled at him. They left for school, and she was chatting a hundred miles an hour, often interrupting herself to yell at another driver. Daniel had realized she had serious road rage. She also did not want a car, using either a car service or Danny, the latter her preferred method. He walked her to her classroom, and pulled out a piece of paper, which he unfolded, and placed the piece of chocolate in her mouth.

“Have a nice day, Cath. I will miss you.”

“You too, Danny,” she said as she chewed, her eyes sparkling. Other people in their status group would go all out with gifts worth millions, but the mere fact that he surprised her with a piece of chocolate was something Cath loved. Danny could buy her whatever she wanted if she wanted it. She liked her plain jewelry, her very plain Cartier watch, her small Tiffany necklace. He shook his head when he bought it for her, it cost just under five thousand dollars, sharing a display case with necklaces upwards of one hundred thousand dollars.

“I don’t need trinkets to be pretty,” she stated haughtily, and they burst out laughing. Danny agreed though. Now she was chewing chocolate as she watched him leave.

“Please tell me you have had a piece of that ass, Cath,” Angela Manning, one of her friends, said as she joined Cath in looking at Danny leave.

“Wouldn’t tell you if I did,” Cath teased.

“Asshole.” Angela laughed. She also knew Danny is the one guy she could be stark naked in front of and he would not even ogle her. But she has caught him looking, in a nice way, when they sleep over.

Danny immersed himself in work, calling the two manufacturing plants he owned to discuss backlogs and solutions. He manufactured parts for military drones.

“Mitch, would you like me to step in?” His production manager at one of the plants was having raw material supply issues. He did not usually step in, but sometimes the suppliers disrespect his staff, and that is one thing Daniel never tolerates.

“No Danny, I’ve got it. Give me twenty-four hours.”

“Okay, say hi to Gwen. Cath asks about Simone.”

“Oh, that kid, she is so smart.” Simone was his ten-year-old daughter, and Cath loved the kid.

“Yes, she is something. I hope she is to you what Cath is to me now.”

“Still doting on her?”

“No way not too, she forgot her laptop, and I pick it up to find an ‘I love You’ note under it.”

"Simone does that with Gwen and me, we do the same with her. Cath told her about it.”

“Give her a kiss from me.” Danny hung up. It was lunch already so he walked across to a coffee shop. He had at least four men on his security detail. He ate lightly, knowing in an hour he would regret a heavy meal as he hit the gym. He rarely worked in the office in the afternoons. He did a little more work after lunch, then drove to the gym, where he worked hard. After a shower, he drove to Cath’s school and walked to the pool where he sat with his laptop as she swam laps with the team. She knew he was there; he always was this time of the day. She smiled as she swam, it was amazing to see how their routines just fitted without effort. She also knew he was in for a rough night, Angela and Denise were sleeping over. They had adopted some of the mannerisms she and Danny had, like their hand-kissing, and Denise also loved a backrub. He waited patiently as they vanished into the locker room.

“Oh hell,” he muttered as he saw the three girls approach. Cath had not bothered tying up her hair again, and it was all over the place, and she saw Danny appreciate it. He loved her naturally, as he did with Rachel.

“Danny, sleepover,” she said as she kissed his cheek. He pulled a piece of chocolate out for her, and he saw her eyes soften, this was twice the surprise for her.

“Thanks, Danny, you are the best.” She chewed slowly as they walked to the car, Angela and Denise pumping him about his day. Cath snuck her hand into his as they walked. At home, he turned on the water heater for the pool and closed the roof over it. It would warm up nicely, and the girls will definitely want to swim. He made them pasta, at their begging. They floated in the pool, and Danny laughed a lot as they mimicked teachers, and told of their escapades. These were good girls, none of them were the typical hot mean girls. They washed the chlorine off and then Danny sat on the floor so he could get to Denise and Cath’s backs. He sat back against the couch between Angela’s knees, and she rubbed his shoulders and played with his shoulder-length hair.

“You are the luckiest guy ever. Surrounded and pampered by three hot girls,” Denise teased.

“Yep, spoiled brat,” Angela said and he heard her kiss her fingers, then her hand appeared and he kissed her fingers. They eventually retired and Danny took three pieces of chocolate to the bedroom for the girls. He saw a shadow in Cath’s eyes so he leaned down.

“Come to me if you have to,” he whispered, then kissed the three heads. They giggled as he checked their devices to make sure they are charging. Then he left.

“Cath, that is the dad of the year there. He misses nothing.”

“He values people, so he sees what they might need.”

“I need him to scratch my itch,” Angela teased. She would not mind a night or hundred with Danny, and Denise agreed, but neither would want to lose his respect for them. Cath did crawl in behind Danny at three, and soon the other two also joined. He turned to Cath and pulled her into his arms and felt his shoulder get wet. This would be a typical day for them. Two weekends later Danny flew them to Monaco for the weekend, Denise and Angela over the moon. They tanned in skimpy bikinis on the deck of the yacht he rented. They only flew back on Monday evening. Danny’s approval rating was high, but he kept seeing a shadow behind Cath’s eyes.

“What is eating you, Cath,” he eventually asked.

“Just my future, I think. I want to be with you for a very long time.”

“Then you stay.”

“But if you get a girlfriend?”

“Well, that is something we look at then, but I will not allow you to be pushed aside, Cath, I love you too much.”

“Thanks, that is just something, especially knowing how my friends fawn over you.”

“Are you jealous?” Cath looked at him and saw no mischief.

“A little, maybe. We have our thing, and they are also taking it.”

“So, we need to do a thing they cannot copy. Think about it.”

“Okay.” Cath smiled brightly. That was a plan. She was a lot jealous actually, but she also knew Danny loved easily. The fourteenth came around, and she had her plan for their own ritual. She studied the photographs of the night and bought a similar outfit.

“Wow, that is nice,” Danny commented as he saw her. On the way to the bench, he saw that Catherine had something on her mind.

“I was reading about role-playing to help with grief. Can we try, just a little?” Cath asked.

“Uhm, let’s see, Cath. We can try.” Daniel felt unsure.

“Okay, thanks. Danny, trust me. I will not make you hurt for nothing.”

“I know, so I will stop you.” He bought the flowers and they drove to the bench. Cath watched him start the grieving process.

“When did you give her the flowers?” she asked.

“She came from there, and I was right here,” he said. He watched as Cath walked away, then approach him, smiling happily. His heart clenched, but he stayed the course. He kissed her cheek and gave her the flowers.

“You look beautiful, Rachel.”

“No, call me Catherine, Daniel. I am not her, we are role-playing just a little.” She smiled gently, "I am not replacing her."

Daniel nodded once, understanding.

“You look beautiful, Catherine.”

“Thank you, Daniel, and you don’t look half bad.” Cath smiled as she kissed his cheek again. He smiled.

“Where did you sit?” she asked.

Danny arranged them and they chatted for a while.

“What happened next?”

“I asked her to marry me.”

“So, ask me.”

“Catherine?”

“Ask me, Danny, here.” She handed him her mom’s engagement ring.

“This is too much.”

“Please, Danny, trust me,” Catherine pleaded.

Danny thought about it, then knelt in front of her.

“Catherine, god. I love you. I need to spend the rest of my life with you. Please marry me?”

“Of course I will, Daniel.” She held her hand out and he slipped the ring on. She leaned down and kissed his lips softly. His eyes widened, and he looked around.

“I assume you kissed?” Cath asked.

“Y…yes.” She came in again and he froze as she kissed him again, her lips slightly parted. He kissed back a little, then he dropped his head in her lap as he started to sob bitterly. Cath stroked his hair as her tears fell for him, for his grief. She hoped she eased some of the pain. He stopped and she wiped his face with her sleeve.

“What then?”

“We walked to that restaurant and ate.” He pointed to a nearby Indian restaurant.

“Then let’s go, Daniel.” She pulled him up and they walked, not before he watched her kiss the flowers and place them on the bench. That night Rachel took them with, but Danny understood why Catherine left them. They walked to the restaurant and found a booth. They chatted and laughed a little, both raw. Cath did not even bother with her bed that night. She spooned Daniel. He woke with her tangled in his arms. It was far more intimate than they had ever been, but it felt fine to him. She woke up and got up, returning with their coffee.

“There you go, fiancé,” she chuckled.

“Really?”

“That is our thing now, they cannot be your fiancé.”

“So still playing?”

“Yes.” She kissed his lips again, just a peck. “Sleep well?”

“Very, you?”

“Very well too.”

“Last night did help Cath, thanks.”

“And we will never forget her, just change how we remember her, Daniel”

“Why?”

“If you meet someone who is intimidated by the immensity of your love for Rachel, then she needs to move on. I find it incredible that in this day and age someone chose to love so completely. That is precious, and Rachel is part of that. Next month I will go with again, and the next, and the next.”

“Thanks, Catherine, so maybe not be too vocal with our ‘engagement’.” Daniel grinned, and Catherine felt the relief when she realized he was not going to stop the game.

“No worries, outside our private spaces we are who we are, otherwise we are engaged, and I expect fiancé treatment.”

“Do I ever treat you differently?” Daniel teased. He put his mug down and pulled her so she lay back against him. “I love you, Cath. You are the best thing in my life. Rachel was a little intimidated because I loved you so much, and you are so beautiful. I worked a little to make sure she felt love.”

“I love you too, Danny.” She held his hands around her waist. He made breakfast and drove her to school, where she took the ring off and put it on her necklace. She kissed his lips, then he walked her to her classroom. She grinned excitedly as he took her chocolate out, and feed it to her.

“I hope you have a stunning day, fiancé,” he whispered and smiled before leaving. He missed Cath blushing deeply. Maureen had a good laugh when he told her of the evening.

“And, did it help?”

“Yes, just the idea that I could be engaged again helped.”

“Catherine is an amazing girl, Danny,” Maureen said as she turned and left.

“It’s just role pl…” Danny shrugged as she was already out of earshot. He called Mitch, the supply issue had been sorted and then some. He told Mitch of the evening.

“That girl is a good fit for you, Danny, she makes you so happy.”

"It is just role play.”

“Riiight, Danny. Roleplay.” Mitch chuckled.

“Perhaps you should get the family here for the weekend,” Daniel grumbled

“Cool, I will come back to you. I need to meet this fiancé.”

“Asshole.” Danny grinned as he heard Mitch laugh. Cath would love it if Simone visited. He realized he would love it just as much. They hung up, and he left for lunch. He grinned to himself as he bought a dozen white roses. He went to the gym and then to the school. He sat with his laptop, the roses next to him. Cath finished and came running to him.

“You look beautiful, Catherine,” he said and gave her the roses, her eyes got wet.

“Thanks, Danny, you don’t look half bad.” She kissed his cheek and dragged her lips over his as she pulled away. She smelled the roses, then hooked in with him as they walked to the car.

“I bought roses because I realized I don’t know your favorite flower.”

“Yellow roses, I just love how happy they look.”

“Next time.”

“Thanks, Danny. How was your day?”

“Better. You helped me.”

“Good, mine was also a lot better.” He watched as she put the ring on at the car then get in. In the car, she kissed him on the cheek, “Hello, fiancé of mine.” She grinned as he chuckled.

“Mitch and family are coming.”

“Please don’t be joking. Today I was melancholic for Simone.”

“No jokes, but he is being an asshole, I told him about our engagement, now he wants to meet my fiancé.” Cath laughed loudly, then swore at a truck that pulled out in front of them. “Fiancé has a potty mouth,” Daniel commented.

The rest of the week he had to admit, he was having fun with the game, and Cath definitely was also enjoying it. They fetched the family from the airport using a company SUV, and the car was chaos as Cath and Simone got re-acquainted at the top of their voices. At home, Danny got the chance to give the slight ten-year-old all his love, and she took what he gave. Cath decided that there will be no dining out, as it stole too much time. Saturday morning she and Simone dragged the parents and Danny out for some shopping, and the two of them found a costume store, where they bought a whole box of old theatre stuff. That afternoon Cath and Simone played dress-up. Danny was in the dining room area pouring wine, barefoot and in sweatpants, as were the rest, except for Simone and Cath, who had tried most of the costumes. Simone tickled Cath, then ran away. Cath was wearing a black wig and a flowered blouse, trying to mimic Audrey Hepburn. She chased Simone and ran into the dining room. Danny dropped a full glass of wine. Cath saw he was barefoot.

“Just stand still, I will come.” She put on slops and then came, and swept up the glass. She saw the shock on his face as he watched her. “All done,” Cath said as she bowed low to see if there was any more glass.

“Can I have a picture of you, in that?” Danny asked, and Catherine saw the strain on his face. She fetched her phone and leaned back into him as she took a selfie. Danny asked for a normal photo too, and she posed for him. They saw the family off on Sunday with tears. Cath saw Danny was preoccupied after that weekend. She left it because she saw by the end of the following week that he was putting a lot of effort into her, almost romancing her. She wrote it off to the game, except for his stress, and she knew she was right in the middle of his emotional battle. She made a decision.

Danny was at work, he had to miss the gym when his phone beeped. A charge at a lawyer’s firm, one he used often. He called Catherine.

“Shouldn’t you be swimming, fiancé?”

“I just had to run an errand, Danny, I am coming to the office, I see you are there.” She had asked him to turn on his location services, and he did not mind.

“Okay, want food?”

“No, I ate.”

She arrived and Danny frowned as Maureen hijacked her. The glances in his direction made him even less relaxed. They went home later.

“So, what was the lawyer for?”

“Just stuff, fiancé, okay?” She put her hand on his knee as they drove. It was snowing lightly, winter was here. Danny looked at her and lost his heart every time. She had come with to every visit to the bench, and the next one was two weeks away. That evening they heated the pool and lounged around in it. He was standing chest-deep, and she floated to him. She was wearing a light blue one-piece swimsuit. He opened his arms and she floated into them, then he folded them around her.

“Hey, fiancé,” she whispered, and kissed him softly, her lips parting. Danny knew he had to resist, she was seventeen, but there was no resistance to be found in him. She pulled back.

“Do not deny your fiancé, okay?” she whispered, then kissed him again. Danny pulled her against him, felt his body respond, and he panicked. She lifted slightly and trapped him in the junction between her thighs. She knew, and she did not mind.

Cath kissed him for longer and felt his resolve fade. She pulled back and looked into his eyes. The strain was gone. He pulled her in and kissed her, and she felt his tongue touch her lips, and she met him with hers. It was not a slobbering French kiss, just a little tussle. She pulled back and watched his face, he was at peace with what she just did, and she saw that bottomless love for her. She kissed him lightly and swam away, getting out.

“Backrub in ten, fiancé.” She chuckled. Danny got out and dashed to his bathroom, where needed to find relief. He showered and met her in the lounge. She started a black and white movie and lay on his lap. The conversation was normal, and none of the intense sexual energy was present, though both knew of its existence. Danny made up his mind during her second kiss. It also answered the question that was nagging him. The bombshell was the next weekend when Catherine told him she had herself emancipated, so the kiss was fine. For Danny it just changed his timeline, the plan was in place. The fourteenth came, and he called her.

“I cannot come to fetch you, but go home, I bought you something to put on, then the car will bring you to the bench.”

“But isn’t it still way too early, Danny?” she asked, it would be just after four, still light.

“I want it, please fiancé.” She chuckled. Later Danny waited at the bench, her location service on her phone said she was five minutes out. He was wearing a tux. It was cold, but he had shoveled the snow around the bench, then dried it off. Then she arrived and his breath caught. He had bought her a powder blue skirt and jacket, something Audrey Hepburn would have worn. She was stunning, and Danny knew the choice was right by the way her eyes found him.

Cath walked up, and saw him in an old-style tuxedo, his hair loose around his face. She knew, this was her man, and felt complete as she saw him look at her. He pulled a dozen yellow roses from behind his back. Cath knew that it was about her then, not Rachel. He gave them to her, then pulled the ring off her finger. She felt naked and panicked. Is he fake breaking up with her?

“In my whole life, I have never been so in love with anybody, Catherine,” he started. “You are everything I couldn’t even dream of.” He sat her on the bench and knelt.

“Catherine, you are the only woman I have ever loved, from the time I first saw you. Then I loved you as that little bundle of passion, but it grew in me to this. I will never want to stop loving you.” Catherine frowned, what about Rachel. But he was absolutely sincere, and she believed him.

“Will you marry me, my love?” he asked.

“Yes, Daniel, in a heartbeat. I have loved you since we met on the steps of my parent’s house, then as a big lumpy friend and now as a lover. I will marry you.” She kissed him softly. He pushed the ring on her finger and she looked at it. It wasn’t her ring, this was a mix of diamonds and sapphires, all in the shade of her eyes.

“Is this real, Daniel, are you asking me for real?” She barely got the words out.

“Yes, Catherine, I have only ever loved you, and you will understand why soon.”

“Then I say yes again, for real.” She kissed him deeply. And pulled him up to sit next to her, slipping her hand into his. They watched the ferries, as she had with him so many times as a young girl, on this same bench. She started with her stories as she touched her ring.

“I think that one has a fat guy that has a bulldog as a pet,” she said.

“Maybe, but that ferry there has a skinny fifty-something classy lady with a greyhound that wears a knitted sweater, flower motif for sure.” He would bring her here since she was ten, all the way to when he met Rachel, and they would make up stories as they ate ice cream, and laughed. This bench was their moment in time. On this bench she could be a girl clumsily in love with him, and on this bench, he broke her heart when he told her about Rachel, she was just at the end of thirteen, and now, on this bench, he made her a promise she knew he would never break, not her Daniel. They sat for two hours in the cold, then went to the restaurant. He proudly displayed her ring, he was definitely not hiding this time. They ate and went home.

CIA Officer Elizabeth Downes looked at the feed from the security camera for a while, satisfied. She called. She headed the investigation into the five murders.

“Sir, it seems he moved on.”

“Good, Elizabeth, I leave it in your hands though.”

“I will have a plan for you soon, we can discuss timing.”

“Good, I trust you. Well done.”

“I really hated the fallout though, the pain.”

“That is why you are the best, your sense of compassion in a very harsh world.” Elizabeth hung up, rewound, and watched it again, it was so beautiful. She messed her long blonde hair up in front of the mirror in her office, then grinned stupidly.

“Danny, uhm…” Cath shifted uncomfortably, they were both in their sleepwear, after getting home from dinner.

“Sleep in my bed if you want, but we have all the time,” he said, and she felt peace. She was always wanting to lose her virginity on her wedding night, to Danny. She slept in his arms, and they both woke up completely at peace, then he spoke.

“Did you sleep well?” he said and they realized they were both sick, which made them laugh till the tears fell from the pleasure. The rule was, blow your nose, then kiss, because there was no way they were stopping their kissing. He took her to school, and they were made fun of. Angela did not miss the ring though.

“Danny? He asked?” she whispered in shock, close enough to catch a cold.

“Yed. Id wad perfect.” Cath grinned under her red nose.

“I am so glad.” Angela chuckled at her sick friend.

“He daid I wad the firt and only one he lubbed,” Cath said. Angela frowned.

“And Rachel?”

“Apparently I will underdand doon.” Angela started laughing at Catherine's silly face and knew her friend would be happy.

At the office, Maureen was less circumspect and screamed in joy when he told her. She called Mitch and told him. She also prepared a press release.

“I knew she had emancipated herself because I told her to.” She explained the reason she knew of the emancipation. The school was a bit difficult when they found out a senior was engaged, but the promise of renovation of their gym by Danny quietened them. He was going to do it in any case. At home, Danny had opened the gates of his love to Cath, and she was shocked at how deeply he loved her. It was early spring when they sat on the bench again. He had never again bought white roses, and they would go to it at all times now, laughing like idiots at the stories they made up.

“Explain to me, how can I be the only woman you ever loved, when I saw you, how much you loved Rachel.”

“That day, when we waited for you, I was so excited. I had seen my father change so many lives, and now I was going to see a little girl's life changed, and I would be involved. My thirteen-year-old heart was pounding as that government car drove up. Then that CPS official led this tiny six-year-old out, and I loved you so much, Catherine. That was the day I decided that I will have children. She led you up to us.”

“And I made for you, hugged you first, then I cried. Because you made me feel safe, Danny.”

“Yes. There was no way I could not love you, I felt this immense need to be your protector, your uncle.” he kissed her softly. "It was part of my struggle the last three months."

“I loved you as well, but it changed sometime after I turned sixteen. I thought it was a crush, but the last year I knew it was real. All my knowledge of you started to change into love for you in a very different way.”

“Sorry for breaking your heart. I was so blind at the time.”

“You fell in love.”

“I was in love, with you.”

“But Rachel.” Cath kissed him, so he knew she was not combative.

“A month before I met her there was a security breach, the information had been stolen, top-secret information. The government was difficult with me, but I allowed the investigation by Homeland Security as well as the CIA.”

“I remember something like that.”

“Then I met Rachel, and I fell hard for her, so I thought.”

“Wait, you thought?”

“Yes.”

“What changed your mind?”

Daniel pulled the photo of her in the black wig up. “This.”

“That was just fun.” Daniel swiped to a photo of Rachel and showed Catherine, and her jaw dropped.

“Fuck, Daniel, we look identical.”

“Not look, you were. She was you in every sense, Catherine. Her look, her laugh. She knew when to touch me or slap me when to smile when to cry, what jokes to make.”

“So she knew you?”

“No, she knew you, Cath. I suspect it was to do with the investigation.”

“She was undercover?”

“Yes, so I never loved her, because she presented me with you. I was comfortable with you, trusted you.”

“So, you have actually never loved another.”

“No, what she did is shatter the glass wall I was putting my love for you behind. She unlocked everything for you in me.” Daniel kissed her again. "The last few months I have had to sort out what I was feeling, and if there was anything inappropriate because you were so young. Part of me felt so guilty because my love for you was changing."

“I understand your words my love, but it sounds convoluted, this whole thing with Rachel.” Catherine kissed him again. "And I never felt any form of sexual pressure at all, I loved you but you were also my very best friend. Not once did I feel you wanted sex with me, until that evening in the pool."

“Yep. I am grateful because when I saw you in that black wig everything in me knew, you were my forever love. You stopped being my foster niece.”

“I will give you that one. So, Rachel was a ghost?”

“Yes.”

“Do you think she is alive somewhere, breaking another heart?”

“Maybe, you know with these guys you could never tell.” Danny looked at the camera mounted on the pole. This was where they studied him and Cath, through that camera.

Danny worked with Cath through her final year of school, and she graduated in the top ten. Two weeks after graduation they got married, and Danny felt his life make sense as he waited for his angel. He also remembered looking down the aisle as they were presented, and saw the beautiful blonde woman sitting there. He kissed his fingers and opened his hands, she touched her fingers to her mouth. Catherine caught his motion, but not who it was for.

That evening as they stayed in the flat waiting to leave for their honeymoon Daniel carried her over the threshold. He gently laid her down on the bed, then started to kiss her softly. This time he started to slowly take her clothes off and Cath would watch as he studied her body with reverence.

He finally pulled her dress off and then started kissing her body again, her arousal driving her over the edge. He gently licked her mound through her lace panties and Cath had her first orgasm by another. She shrieked loudly as Daniel kept licking, then he moved higher ad took her bra off. He kissed her nipples and Cath found her pleasure ascending again. Daniel kissed her soft lips again, whispering his love for her over and over. Then he moved lower again and pulled her panties off. Cath almost passed out as his tongue plunged into her womanhood, his lips then nibbling her clit, and she thought the orgasm will never stop.

Daniel left her and she watched as he stripped, and then she blushed as his hard manhood appeared, but she was not shy. This was what she desired. Daniel's essence was her quest, and she reached for him, touching him and stroking him clumsily, her innocence evident, yet Daniel realized he had never felt anything better. Then she felt him start to part her lower lips, and Cath orgasmed just as his head popped into her. He journeyed deeper until he touched her innocence.

"It will hurt my love." He said softly, kissing her.

"I know, just do it." She felt him push again, and her hymen gave way. he sank all the way into her, his base mashing her clit the moment his tip touched her cervix. Cath writhed through another orgasm, which lubricated her, so Daniel started to pump slowly, his strokes short.

He started to make longer strokes and eventually, Catherine was hanging on to him as she spasmed through two more orgasms, then it happened. She felt the heat as he flooded her cervix. She turned his face to her, and they started to cry softly, the moment completely overwhelming. They kissed, Daniel still hard in her. They started again, and Cath knew what to expect. Her orgasms were more pronounced when they came, and she waited for them, allowing them to take her into a world of pleasure. Daniel eventually flooded her again. They flipped over, and Catherine pushed him into her before he softened.

"Oh shit, Daniel, it is hard again." She giggled, and she started to gently flex her hips on him. This was no rush anymore, Cath wanted to never have him outside her again. Daniel drowned in her eyes as her face expressed her pleasure, this was his wife, his forever love. He put his hands on her perfect butt, feeling her muscles move as she flexed. He came hard in her and held her on him. They fell asleep, Cath still impaled. They made love when the sun rose, then showered. Daniel and Catherine did not dress. She was sore, but they loved touching each other's naked bodies and loved the naked hugs.

They traveled to Europe for a month and spent the last week in Monaco. On their second to last day of bliss, Catherine opened the door for their breakfast, and shrieked as her what-could-be twin pushed the cart in, then she recognized Rachel.

“Daniel! Please, baby, come here.” She panicked and started retreating into Daniel’s chest.

“Elizabeth Downes, not Rachel,” Elizabeth said, and she smiled.

“It’s okay, Cath, I promise,” Daniel whispered to his wife. She turned into his arms.

“I am so sorry for your pain, but I am also grateful you realized your true love,” Elizabeth said, as she motioned to the table. “I cannot yet enter your lives as I desperately want to, because a fiancé coming back from the dead would almost immediately destroy my undercover career.”

“I understand, but why now.”

“Peace of mind to the full for us.”

“You?” Catherine said. “You told me at the pool the day after you got engaged that I will have his full love, that I will understand, and that you will also love me,” Catherine said, and Danny frowned.

“I saw her incredible pain, Danny, that was three days before I staged my death. It was so hard to do though. I knew you had an incredible love for who I pretended to be. But to give up my just won connection with Catherine was the hardest thing ever.”

“Then tell her, Elizabeth, tell her everything.”

“You might not remember, Cath, though you know. You have an older sister, Catherine. You both went into the system. You were adopted, I wasn’t. I had it rough, but the CIA spotted my cunning ingenuity, as they called it. I was recruited.”

“You are my sister, really?” Catherine said, and she flashed into Elizabeth’s arms. “Of course you are.” Daniel watched as Catherine touched Elizabeth’s face. He had realized it but knew if Catherine had any idea, she would lose herself. He was just grateful the reunion happened now, this soon.

“Cath, I will make contact with you, but I still have a lot of work undercover. My bosses have agreed that I need you guys more, so maybe a year.”

“Okay, not sooner?”

“I will see. I also want it right now. I missed you so much, but my research tells me Danny was always going to be your husband, which was why I asked for the assignment. I looked like you and I could mimic you. He fell in love with you, never with me.”

“Maybe just a little, Elizabeth,” Danny said.

“Maybe, but I knew he would find his way to you, Cath. There was just no other way, especially after seeing how honorable he was.”

“You were jealous of me though.”

“Hell yes, my little sis bagging the most incredible man I have known up to then, and you still hold that title.” Elizabeth kissed Catherine’s nose. “You are so beautiful, Cath.”

Daniel smiled softly, his wife now has her family, and they are his family.