SUMMARY: Sequel to "The Beast Within". After carrying on a secret affair with Vincent, Catherine makes a shocking discovery. How will her coworkers deal? How will Vincent deal? More importantly, how will she deal?
DISCLAIMER: I don't own the characters, nor am I affiliated with the show in any way, shape, or form. This story is purely for entertainment purposes. That said, enjoy!
A/N: Sorry it took me so long to update, but I've been in the process of moving lately and been without Internet since Sunday. Anyway, a very special thanks to all who patiently awaited the next chapter, to all who followed and favorited, and especially to all who took the time to review. :)
A/N #2: To adodcefa, hope you don't mind that while I didn't use one your ideas, I did take inspiration from it for the first part of this chapter.
When Catherine awoke the following morning, she was pleasantly surprised to find a single red rose on her nightstand, along with a note in Vincent's handwriting that read, "Catherine, you are my light in the darkness, and if you decide to keep it, our baby will be, too."
Smiling, she deeply inhaled the flower's fragrance, before tracking down a slender vase in which to put it. As she got ready for work, she found herself pausing every so often to admire it on her nightstand, her smile returning automatically as her mind turned to Vincent each time. During one such pause, though, she was snapped out of her thoughts by Heather's voice asking to use her shower.
"The hot water in my bathroom isn't working again," Heather explained.
"Sure," Catherine replied. However, as Heather headed into the bathroom and shut the door behind her, Catherine suddenly remembered that the box the pregnancy test had come in was still in the trash, in plain view of anyone who went in there. Eyes bugging out in alarm, Catherine called through the bathroom door, "Wait! Heather!"
Too little, too late, as she soon learned. Heather emerged, holding the cardboard box and beaming at her sister.
"Oh my god, you're pregnant?!" she shrieked, before pulling Catherine into the tightest bear hug she'd ever been in.
"Heather. Heather! Air."
"Oh, sorry." Heather finally let her go, before asking, "So...who's the father? It's not Evan, is it?"
"No, definitely not Evan," Catherine replied, suddenly finding the floor fascinating.
"Well, so, who is it?"
"Just this...guy I've been seeing," she reluctantly admitted, hoping Heather would leave it at that and at the same time, knowing that she wouldn't.
"What guy?"
"Just this guy."
"Well, what's his name? What does he do?"
"Vincent. And he's a doctor."
"Ooh, a doctor." Heather was intrigued. "Well, what's his last name?"
"Uh...Zalanski," Catherine lied, thinking of a childhood crush.
"Well, does he know you're pregnant? Are you two going to get married? I mean, not that you have to get married. Are you taking him to Dad and Brooke's wedding?"
"What is this, twenty questions?" Catherine laughed nervously.
"Well, does he?"
"Yes, he does. And to answer your other questions, I don't know. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to finish getting ready for work," she concluded goodnaturedly, glad for an excuse to put an end to this conversation, or at least, put it on hold for now. "Oh, and Heather?"
"Yeah?"
"Please don't say anything to Dad about me, about my...condition. I want to tell him myself."
"Right. Gotcha."
...
As soon as Catherine had arrived at work, Tess gleefully greeted her, "So, kitty Cat, what's the verdict?"
"Kitty Cat? Okay, first of all, you are way too perky for this time of day, and secondly, what verdict?"
"Oh, don't give me that. You know..." Tess trailed off, gesturing around her middle and looking pointedly at Catherine.
"Tess!" Catherine looked around, hoping none of her coworkers caught that.
"Well?"
Reluctantly, Catherine quietly informed her, "You were right. I'm pregnant."
"Yes! I knew it! Wolansky owes me ten bucks."
"Wolansky knows?!" Catherine asked, her eyes wide in alarm.
"Yeah, him and a couple others," Tess replied, shrugging. "But it's not like everyone wouldn't have found out eventually."
While Catherine glanced around at her coworkers, wondering which ones knew, her partner asked, "So, who's the baby daddy?"
"This guy I've been seeing," Catherine responded, hoping Tess wouldn't feel inclined to pry. However, when Tess looked about to say something, she realized that her luck wasn't going that great so far and quickly added, "His name's Vincent, and he's a doctor."
"Who's a doctor?" came Evan's voice from behind Catherine.
When Catherine turned around to reply to Evan, she was smacked in the nose with the smell of his coffee. Cop coffee, at that. She turned green around the gills, then, without another word, ran for the bathroom.
"Was it something I said?" Evan asked Tess.
Tess shrugged, playing dumb.
Handing Tess his coffee, he failed to notice the glare she directed at him as he followed after Catherine and waited for her outside the ladies' room. When she finally emerged, he asked if she was alright.
"Yeah, I'm fine," she replied.
"You sure? Because that's twice in as many days you've run off like that."
"I'm sure, Evan, but thanks for asking." Seeing that he wasn't going to let this go, she sighed, adding, "Alright. But you can't tell anyone about this; at least, not until I'm ready for everyone here to know."
Evan only nodded. That's when Catherine let him in on the secret: "I'm pregnant."
As Evan registered that bit of news, his features went from a blank kind of stunned to disappointed. Finally, he plastered a smile on his face, and said, "Well, that certainly explains your reaction to my cup of coffee a moment ago. And to the corpse yesterday. My congratulations. And to the father-to-be as well."
"Thank you. I will be sure to pass that along."
An awkward silence fell between them, before Evan suddenly remembered why he had approached Catherine and Tess in the first place. He explained that he found something unusual when examining Bill Garringer, and even showed her the contents of a file folder she hadn't even realize he'd been holding.
"Hunh, that is strange," she remarked, taking the folder from him. "Well, I'll be sure to tell Tess."
"Right," he replied awkwardly. "And I guess I better get back to work."
"Okay," Catherine said, so engrossed in the folder's contents that she was unaware of the awkward tone in his voice.
With that, he headed back to his lab, while she headed back to her desk, still studying the folder's contents.
...
That night, when Catherine arrived home, her phone rang right as she was walking in the front door, the caller ID reading 'Dad'.
"Hey, Dad," she answered, setting her purse on the counter.
She had a sneaking suspicion that despite promising not to, Heather had blabbed to their father about the little bun in Catherine's oven, and sure enough, that was the first topic of conversation.
Speak of the devil, she thought as Heather walked in just then.
"Hey, Cat," she greeted cheerfully.
Pointing to the phone and not looking particularly happy, Catherine mouthed the words, "It's Dad."
That changed Heather's features from cheerful to horrified, and sent the youngest Chandler sister heading for her room in a hurry. Silently rolling her eyes, Catherine returned to the conversation at hand.
"Well, Dad, he's a doctor, and his name is Vincent. No, Dad, I don't know if I'll be bringing him to your and Brooke's wedding. Well, he is a doctor, so I don't know what his schedule's going to be like. Besides, I don't know if I'm ready for him to meet the family just yet." She rolled her eyes again, this time at her usage of a cliched lie. "Yes, I realize that being my baby's father makes him practically family anyway. No, Dad, you don't have to worry about me."
Rubbing her temples, she was finally overwhelmed by the inadvertent guilt her father was giving her, and reluctantly agreed to 'see what she could do' about bringing Vincent to the wedding. After exchanging goodbyes, she and her father finally hung up, before she returned her attention to her baby sister.
Peeking her head out of her room, Heather asked, "How mad are you right now?"
Sighing, Catherine replied, "I'm not mad. I just wish you would've given me a chance to tell Dad in my own way."
Stepping out into the hall, Heather told her, "I'm sorry, Cat, but you know I have a hard time keeping secrets."
"It's okay," Catherine assured her, giving her sister a reassuring hug.
When they pulled out of the hug, Heather instantly perked up, pointing out, "Hey, look at it this way. At least, now the Cat's out of the bag."
Shooting Heather a sarcastic smile, Catherine replied, "Cute. Very cute."
TO BE CONTINUED...