Catalina and Service
“Do we really need to go to church anymore?” Kat asked. It was too early in the morning, at least in Kat’s opinion, to go to church.
“Yes, you know how many of us were religious in our past life, Kat,” This was an actual surprise statement coming from Anne. Catalina does indeed do wonders on Anne. Cathy was starting to head down the stairs and greet everyone per usual. It was 6:30 AM, and the service started at 7 AM.
“Besides, it’s only one time,” Anna brought up as she put on her coat to bear against the cold weather in the UK. Jane was making sure everyone was comfortable.
“It’s a ten minute walk from here,” Jane was adjusting Kat’s coat as it was more loose than she thought.
“Jane, it’s fine. Let’s go before we are late,” Kat tried to cut off Jane by walking away further, but she crashed onto Catalina who was making sure Cathy was okay.
“Gatita, are you okay?” Kat nodded, apologizing to Catalina, who proceeded to tighten Kat’s coat herself.
“KitKat, are you sure that coat is nice and snug now?” Anne teased as she headed towards the door. She opened the door and was not prepared to have the feeling of the windy breeze hit on her face. It felt like winter had already entered their home, despite the thermostat being 22oC.
“Come on,” Anna rushed the group out as they walked towards the direction of the church. They were all talking, holding their respective partner’s hand. Anne and Catalina were holding each other’s hands as Anne spoke to Jane about baking and cooking. Anne gripped on her girlfriend’s hand a bit tighter. Something felt off, Catalina’s hands were colder than usual.
“Lina – Lina!” Lost in thought, Catalina didn’t notice the patch of ice on the sidewalk and accidentally slipped. She fell back onto her bums, but she was fine overall. Before she could say anything else, all the queens rushed to her; Jane and Anne got in front of her and asked if she was okay.
“Are you okay, chéri?” Anne asked as Cathy ran to go back home to get a first aid kit. Catalina could only nod as she tried to stand back up, but the pain on her face said otherwise.
“Ow — hey, what are you –” Anna picked up Catalina with ease (that surprised Catalina), “That’s it, we are heading back! You are injured, Schatz [darling]!”
The rest of the queens nodded as they all made a U-Turn and returned home. They were less than 300 meters away from the church. Anna carried Catalina all the way home as the other queens made sure that Catalina was okay. Anna was constantly adjusted to make sure that she wouldn’t drop the first queen. When they got home, Cathy was already prepared with the first aid kit and immediately started asking if Catalina was bleeding or if any other injuries had appeared.
“I don’t think so –” Then Kat pointed a large bruise underneath her left kneecap. Cathy immediately placed a bag of ice on top of the injured area as Jane held the bag in place.
“You need to be more careful, mon chéri,” Anne stated as she knelt down opposite of Jane. Anna made sure that Jane didn’t feel tired and offered to switch roles, but Jane was fine.
“I’m so–” Catalina was quickly cut off by the rest of the queens.
“Don’t be sorry. Accidents like this can happen,” Jane reassured her as she could feel the ice starting to melt already. Kat started helping the first queen take off her coat.
“Just be careful next time, ‘kay?” Anna requested. Cathy came from the kitchen and started to pass around the hot chocolate to all the queens. The scent of hot cocoa filled their noses as Kat came back with a bag of different size marshmallows.
“Oww…” All the queens immediately looked back at Catalina who was now on the verge of tears. They all looked back at the injured area with concerned looks. The bruise was swelling as the ice pack was dripping with water. Anna immediately ran to go get another ice pack as Anne held Catalina’s hand. Catalina squeezed Anne’s hand to relieve her of some of her pain. Cathy also came to Catalina’s side as they tried to comfort her. Catalina couldn’t focus on anything or anyone but the pain. It was a lot. There they all were sitting/laying in front of the doorway, the Sunday before Christmas. Catalina’s back was against the cold wooden floors as Anne and Cathy sat on either side of her. Jane and Anna tried to press ice against the bruise area as Kat tried to elevate her left leg. It was all too much for her to process; her head started hurting as she felt light-headed. Then, everything went dark.
It was a couple of hours later when she woke up, but she woke up in her room but not alone. Anne was wrapped against her in a bear hug like she was going to lose Catalina. Her cheeks were puffy as she tightened her cuddle. Jane and Anna were cuddling against each other on the foot of her bed while still holding the now dripping pack of ice. Cathy and Kat were in her office chair. Kat sitting on Cathy’s lap, fast asleep. It didn’t hurt anymore, but Catalina tried to move around. Huge mistake. Like a domino effect, everyone else started to wake up. Kat and Cathy then moved from the office chair to Catalina’s bed.
“Oh no, you don’t!” Anne shut her down immediately by hugging her tighter as the rest of the queens joined her in a hug, careful not to injure her more.
“At least fill me in on what happened!” Catalina pleaded with the queens before they lost their grips on their bear hugs. They were all clinging to her as if she was going to die soon. Jane and Anna hugged her legs while Cathy, Kat, and Anne were all over her torso.
“Fainted, we panicked, calm down, picked you up, Dame [Anne] changed you,” Anna went to look at Anne’s face as it went red, “mein Liebling [Jane] und Kätzchen [Kat] still help with your bruise, and Bücherwurm [Cathy] was doing research for you,” Anna basically summed it up as some of the queens looked at her crazy.
“What? The nicknames for you?” Majority nodded their head as Anna started explaining, “I call Anne, Dame, which translates to lady. Mein Liebling translates to my love/darling; it’s self-explanatory about why I call Jane that. Kätzchen translates to Kitten, and Bücherwurm translates to bookworm, which suits Cathy’s love of books.”
“What’s my nickname?” Catalina perked up and asked as Anna answered her, “Königin, which is queen.”
They went quiet as they tried to figure out what to talk about.
“Have you guys ever wondered about the nicknames I have given you?” Catalina asked the group as they nodded softly. Anne was slightly blushing, knowing the amount of stupid nicknames that her girlfriend had given her.
“Estrella [star],” Catalina looked at Jane, who made eye contact with her.
“You remind me a lot of the stars, estrella,” The gray eyes in Jane shined a bit brighter.
“Rebelde [rebel], Anna is like a rebel in my eyes,” Anna smiled as Kat bounced a little, “What about me?”
“Gatita,” Catalina teased, “Kitten.”
Kat pouted, “Are all my nicknames kitten-related?” The other queens giggled a bit.
“Well, KitKat , I could also call you chaton if you like,” Anne teased as Kat shook her head.
“KitKat is just fine,”
“Ok, chaton ,” Anne teased more as Kat looked at her.
“Annieeeee,” Kat huffed, “KitKat is just fine!” She stuck out her tongue towards her cousin, who just teased her more. However before another round of teasing could occur, the injured spoke up.
“Stop it, my bed isn’t a wrestling ring,” Catalina was firm with her answer as Kat gave Anne a look of ‘you should do it’. Anne gave her a smile as she went to face her partner. Catalina spoke as Anne waited for the perfect moment.
“Anyways, - hmph?!” Anne pulled Catalina into a passionate kiss to shut her up; the other queens groaned at the level of PDA that they were showcasing right in front of them, but the warmth in their eyes and the slight smile on their face said otherwise. Then, Anne pushed Catalina down, and Anna got one of Catalina’s stuffed animals and threw it at Anne.
“Keep it PG-13 while we are here!” Anna shouted as Anne pouted similarly to Kat. Jane pulled Anna into a kiss at the foot of the bed.
“You don’t say…” Cathy was embarrassed at the entire situation as Anna and Jane were going at each other until Anne coughed.
“PG-13?” Anne requested as she kissed Catalina’s hand.
“How about no PDA?” Kat asked as she pointed to Cathy’s red face.
“Is your bruise getting better, madrina [godmother]?” Catalina nodded as she gestured to the blue queen to come over near her. Cathy crawled to the Spaniard as the rest of the queen stared at them.
“Thank you, ahijada [goddaughter],” Catalina rested her head on Cathy’s shoulder as Cathy rested her head on her godmother’s head. They soon fell asleep as Kat laid her head down on Cathy’s lap. Jane soon came over to Catalina’s other side and rested head on Catalina’s shoulder. Anna laid her head down on her partner’s lap. Anne, being Anne, laid across Jane, Catalina, and Cathy’s lap/legs as she slept.
Needless to say, the next morning, Jane, Catalina, and Cathy woke up to their legs being asleep.