Does Love Still Exist?

Nine at night and Henrik peaked into the bedroom he had been using while he stayed with Marc Staal to see that both of his son's were fast asleep. Closing the door, he walked back to the living room where he turned on the TV, which just happened to show the highlights from his wife's game while playing for team USA. In the postgame interview she was holding Noah since he was the only one of their son's to go to the game, but she had him facing away from the camera. He had to give her credit for that, Katrina had always tried to keep their son's privacy just that, private.

Hearing the front door open and then close, Hank looked as Marc walked in. “The boys are finally sleeping.”

“They sleeping in your bed?” Marc asked as he ran his hand through his hair.

“Yeah,” Hank said. “Noah put up a bit of a fight when I put him to bed, but they are both fast asleep now.”

“That's good.”

“You okay?” Hank asked, looking at Marc as he sat down in a chair. “You don't seem like yourself.”

“I saw Katrina tonight,” Marc told him. “At Sean's restaurant.”

“She said she might go out when I picked up the boys.”

“She was on a date,” Marc told him. “With some guy.”

“Kitty was on a date?” Hank asked, the shock apparent on his face and in his voice. “She didn't say anything about a date with anyone.”

“Would she tell you something like that?”

“She should have!” Hank said raising his voice. “Can you watch the boys? I need to go and talk to my wife.”

“Hank....”

“I'm just going to talk to her,” he promised. “I need to see her right now.”

“I'll watch the boys.” Marc said as he watched Hank grab his keys and wallet before making his way to the front door to head to what used to be the house he lived in with his family.

The drive to the house where he used to live took longer than he wanted. When he got there he parked his car behind hers and got out. Heading up to the door, he noticed that the porch light that was usually kept on was out. Getting to the front door, Hank knocked loudly on the hardwood door. After a few seconds, he knocked again. As he was about to knock a third time, the porch light came on and he heard the door unlock. As it opened up, he saw his wife in a pair of shorts and a tank that she would wear to training camp for team USA.

“Hank?” she asked in a sleepy voice. “What are you doing here?”

“We need to talk.”

“It's eleven at night,” Katrina said confused. “What couldn't wait until the morning?”

Once she moved to let him into the house, he turned and looked at her. “You never said anything about having a date when I picked the boys up.”

Her eyes snapped open. “What I do in my life isn't any of your business.”

“You're still my wife!”

“We are divorcing!” Katrina yelled back at him. “You gave me up the moment you cheated on me! I deserve better than that! I carried and birthed your children. Ever since I got hurt, I have taken care of them and you haven't been around. I want to be able to have a life.”

“I don't want strangers around my kids.”

“Our kids,” Katrina corrected him. “And he was never around the boys. Our first date was tonight and you've had the boys.”

“You should have told me.”

“How did you know about my date?” she asked him. “Who told you? Was it Sean or was it Marc?”

“It doesn't matter how I know,” he told her. “You should have been the one to tell me about it.”

“Do you tell me every damn detail of your life?”

“I'm trying to fix what we have but I can't do that if you go out on these dates and don't tell me!”

“I don't have to tell you about my personal life!” Katrina said with a glare as she looked at him. “But there is something that we do need to talk about.”

“And what's that?”

“The divorce.”

“I don't want one,” he told her. “We can work things out.”

“No,” Katrina told him. “I'm done with the lies and the cheating. I was faithful to you and you couldn't do the same thing. The only thing that I want is the house and my car. On a later date we can talk about your visitation with the boys.”

“Are you fucking kidding me?”

“I'm not asking much here,” Katrina said. “I just want-”

“You want to raise my kids away from me!” Hank shouted. “You have to be nuts to even think that!”

“I love you, but you have a tougher schedule than I do! It would make sense! I don't want to uproot them and move to another place. I want to keep them here. Where they know what is what.”

“This is stupid! I love you Kitty and I know that you love me!”

“Where are the boys?”

“Marc is watching them.”

“So Marc was the one to tell you.”

“And where is your date?” Hank asked, looking into her eyes. “Upstairs sleeping in our bed?”

“The only one that was upstairs sleeping was me before you came over,” Katrina told him. “I didn't sleep with him, not that it is any of your business. I think we are done here, you can show yourself out.”

Walking to the stairs, Katrina headed to her bedroom. Not bothering with the light, she walked over to the bed and just fell backwards on it. This was not how she thought this night would go. When she woke up, she had no idea she would be going on her first date since she married Hank or since she had kids.

Covering her face with her hands, Katrina just laid there like that until she heard a throat clear. Quickly moving her hands from her face, she saw Hank standing there. “What are you still doing here?”

“Just because you were done talking, doesn't mean I was.”

“There is nothing else to talk about!”

“What will it take for you to admit that you love me? For us to get past this?”

“Why?” Katrina asked. “Because once again, she turned you away and ran back into the arms of a man with the last name of Staal?”

“I don't want-”

“And yet you slept with her once again. This isn't the first time and I guess I just got so comfortable with thinking that I was it for you that I didn't think about how she could come back into your life and destroy the family that we had together.”

“The family we have. We can still work this out, please Kitty....I need you and the boys in my life.”

“I'm failing to see the point in this marriage anymore, Hank. Even in this relationship!” Katrina said. “I love you but that just keeps coming back to bite me in the ass.”

“So you do still love me.”

“How can I stop?” Katrina asked,, feeling tears prickle her eyes. “You gave me two beautiful sons and although you are a bastard for everything you've put not only me through, but those boys as well, I do still love you. I never stopped loving you. Is that what you wanted? Are you happy now?”

“Kitty....”

“Please,” she asked softly as she turned and wiped the tears from her face and got off the bed and made her way towards the bathroom. “Just don't, please.”

Grabbing onto her arm, Hank stopped her from leaving the room. Looking into her eyes, he was reminded of the woman that had looked at as she stared a pregnancy test in her bathroom. She wasn't the same woman that had moved from Los Angeles, but she was not used to the life of a New Yorker. But now she looked like she just wanted to revert back to the shy woman he had met all those years ago. The only thing stopping her from doing that were there kids.

Hank moved so they were close, closer than they'd been in months, their bodies almost touching. Kitty trembled as Hank cradled her cheek in his hand. "I'm never going to stop loving you," he told her as his lips grazed hers.

Kitty froze, scared out of her mind, yet filled with a need only hank had ever been able to fill. When his lips came down on hers again, a whimper escaped her, her eyes closed and hank kissed her like he owned her.

Holding her face in his hands his lips and his tongue moved in and rocked her world, and for a few glorious minutes there was no heartbreak, no infidelity, only Kitty and Hank and the passion between them that was undeniable.

After what seemed like an eternity of kissing, Hank separated himself from her and dropped his hand from her face. The urge to reattach his lips to hers was strong, there was never denying the sexual tension that they had since he fucked everything up. But instead of giving into his desires, he turned and left. He left without a word to her.

Katrina watched as he left, shock written as clear as day across her face. Placing her fingers upon her lips that had been covered by Hank's not even a minute ago, she backed up until her legs hit her bed. Sitting on her bed, she looked over at the picture on the nightstand before grabbing it. It was a picture of Hank holding Noah and kissing her while she had been pregnant with Kris. Letting the tears spill out of her eyes, she hugged the frame to her chest.

There were so many questions going on in her mind, but only one was sticking out.

“What am I doing?”