I don't own Trophy Wife and never will. No copyright infringement intended.
Author's Note: The idea for this actually came from Brad Whitford, who mentioned it in an interview with Zap2it recently. Hope you enjoy!
On the morning of Mother's Day, Kate woke up feeling great but that quickly changed. Diane and Jackie were talking in the kitchen when she walked in and she did a double take. "Why am I still surprised when you two show up out of the blue?"
Jackie shrugged, but Diane answered. "Didn't Pete inform you last night? It's a bit of a tradition here. On Mother's Day, we show up here and the kids fete us. It's a big day for us."
"Pete and the kids go all out." Jackie smiled and went back to drinking her water.
"We probably should sit down so they don't yell at us when they wake up." Diane and Jackie headed towards the couch and sat down. Kate shrugged and followed them.
When Pete and the kids woke up (at different times) in the next hour, they headed straight to the kitchen and got to work. Kate, Diane, and Jackie talked amongst themselves during this time and waited for their breakfast.
"Happy Mother's Day! Although we should celebrate you more than just one day out of the year." Bert handed the tray to Jackie and kissed her on her cheek before hugging Diane.
"Thank you." Jackie patted her son on the head and then watched as he walked away to do something else.
Hillary and Warren walked in and set Diane's tray down on her lap. "Happy Mother's Day. We love you." Hillary grinned at her mother and waited for her to take a bite. She was thrilled when Diane seemed happy with the meal.
"We hope you'll be happy with your present this year. I wanted to get you something else, but nobody agreed with me." Warren shrugged and then hugged Diane. They went to join Pete and Bert in the other room.
Kate knew she was just the kids' stepmother, but she was a little hurt they ignored her. She was a big part of their lives, too. Why couldn't they serve her breakfast? She felt a little petty and immature about it, so she tried her best to get past it (which included being passive-aggressive to Pete, something which confused the hell out of him because he wasn't sure what was wrong).
"Kate's acting really weird today, Dad." Hillary had an inkling about what was wrong (and felt a little guilty about it), but she wasn't sure if her suspicions were correct.
"Doesn't she always act like that?" Warren stared at his siblings and father in confusion.
"No. Pay attention, Warren!" Bert couldn't stay mad at his older brother for too long, however, and hugged him before going off to join the women in the living room.
"Are you sure you're okay? You've been acting off all day now." Diane hoped Kate wasn't getting sick. She didn't want the day to be ruined by an illness that could have been prevented.
"Yeah, you've been really weird lately." Coming from Jackie, neither of them paid any attention to her comments. She didn't seem to mind, though, since she got caught up in the movie Warren put in the DVD player.
"I'm fine. Don't worry about it." Kate waved off their concerns and tried to concentrate on the movie (it wasn't exactly easy). She tried to push her hurt to the back off her mind so that she wouldn't ruin Diane and Jackie's day. This was about them, not her. She tried her best to believe it. She had been a part of their lives for a while now and thought she meant something to them, but maybe she was wrong. Maybe she really was just their stepmom and they were waiting for the day her and Pete's marriage ended (she might be acting irrationally about it, but was too far gone to care at the moment).
Pete was worried about his wife. He couldn't pinpoint why she was so upset (he'd feel stupid later for not realizing it sooner, or else he would have done something) and it was bothering him. He hoped to figure it out sooner. "Okay, you guys, we have an amazing dinner coming up soon. You ready?"
"I am pretty hungry," Jackie admitted. She always loved what Pete and the kids cooked for dinner – it was always better than breakfast to her.
Diane felt the same way. Dinner was amazing, something she hated to admit any other day of the year. They celebrated Father's Day like this too. They were a united front during the holidays. Any other day of the week? It was anything goes for the whole family.
When Diane and Jackie sat down to eat, they were served by their children. Kate had to get her own plate, which irrationally pissed her off, but she still refused to say anything. This wasn't about her (unfortunately).
"Is the food okay?" Pete questioned Kate. He waited expectantly for her answer.
She nodded. "It's so good. You four put together an awesome meal. I really like it. Good job, guys!" Kate was faking her enthusiasm now, but she wasn't about to ruin anyone's day, especially after they had worked so hard.
It was when Jackie and Diane were opening their presents that Kate disappeared. Pete thought nothing of it at first, but noticed when his wife didn't return.
"Kids, help me find Kate." He figured if they split up, it'd make it easier to find her. Pete didn't have to look for very long, though, since he found her in their bedroom. "Hey, what's wrong? You've been acting strange all day."
She shrugged. "It's nothing."
"Kate, don't lie to me. What is it?"
She sighed and finally said what had been on her mind all day. "I know I'm just the stepmom, but I was really hurt and felt left out when the kids ignored me. It's not that big of a deal."
Pete sighed. "I am so sorry. We didn't intentionally try to hurt you. It's our first Mother's Day with you and I guess we weren't thinking. You should have said something earlier instead of hiding it and then disappearing on us."
This time, Kate sighed. She had another reason for disappearing that she was excited (but scared) to share with him. "I have something to tell you."
He cocked his head. "What is it?"
She handed him a positive pregnancy test. "I'm pregnant. Are you okay with this?" Kate was terrified that he didn't want another baby, that he was past this point in his life.
Pete was shocked, but thrilled. "Okay with it? I'm more than okay with this. I'm really happy! I love you." He threw the pregnancy test down on the bed, unwilling to touch something his wife had peed on, and kissed her.
Kate was relieved he was happy about the pregnancy, but scared about what the pregnancy entailed and raising a baby. She was having a hard enough time with the teenagers.
They called Diane, Jackie, and the kids in, and shocked them with the pregnancy reveal (although Diane had started to suspect that was the case only two hours into the day). Kate was celebrated with her own meal and a present they had forgotten to give her for Christmas. The following Mother's Day, a five month old joined the celebration and all three women were feted the whole day.