A Baby Changes Everything
By Hanabella Louise
Chapter 4- Revenge
Cassie woke up on a cold, rainy Monday morning with a sickly feeling in the pit of her stomach, which was caused by two things. One, she was pregnant with her and her boyfriend, Danny's, baby, and two, she was nervous about seeing her sister Kirsty at work today. Cassie's only sister, Kirsty, was dating Danny's older brother, Scott, but due to Cassie becoming pregnant, and because it wasn't working anymore, Scott had broken up with Kirsty. Kirsty was blaming her breakup with Scott on her sister, and the last time Cassie had seen her sister this mad at her, she'd ended up with a broken arm. She was nervous about how Kirsty was going to be with her today, nervous that she and her unborn child might end up getting hurt.
"Cassie?" Scott said, snapping Cassie out of her train of thought. Cassie was standing in the kitchen, holding a pot of freshly brewed coffee in her hand. She was making herself and Danny, who was in the shower, some coffee.
"You alright?" Scott asked, taking the coffee pot out of Cassie's hand and grabbing another cup, before pouring the freshly brewed coffee into the three cups that were on the kitchen side and handing one to Cassie.
"Yeah, sorry, I was a million miles away. Thanks" Cassie replied, giving Scott a small smile before taking a sip of her coffee.
"I noticed. What's up?" Scott said, putting two pieces of bread into the toaster.
"Kirsty. She was so mad at me the other day. It's not over, Scott. She's thinks it's my fault it's over between you two. She's not gonna let me get away with this. I'm scared, really scared, Scott" Cassie said as the finished toast popped up. Scott grabbed them.
"Cassie, listen to me. Dan and I aren't gonna let Kirsty touch you. I'll come and see her on my lunch break. Don't worry" Scott said, as he got the butter out of the fridge and took off the lid before sticking his knife in.
"You don't know Kirsty like I do, Scott. Trust me" Cassie said, putting down her now empty coffee cup, as Danny walked into the living room in his suit, while Scott buttered his toast.
"You ready to go?" Danny asked with a small smile.
"Yeah, let's go. See ya later, Scott" Cassie said, pulling on her coat and walking out the front door.
"Is she okay?" Danny asked Scott as he slipped on his jacket. Scott took a bite of his toast and shrugged.
"I dunno, mate. But she's worried about Kirsty. Really worried" Scott said, sitting at the kitchen side eating his toast.
"Danny! Taxi's here, babe! Hurry up!" Cassie shouted from outside. Danny sighed and grabbed his bag.
"See ya later, Scott" Danny said, walking towards the front door. Scott just waved before finishing off his toast. Danny shut the front door behind him, and walked down the steps. Cassie was already sitting in the taxi waiting for him. He climbed in and shut the door behind him. Cassie smiled at him, before turning her attention to outside the window. She let out a small sigh.
"Babe, what's wrong? You know you can tell me anything, right?" Danny said with a small smile. Cassie turned to face him, and gave him a kiss on the lips.
"I know, baby. Don't worry, I'm fine" Cassie said, giving him a reassuring smile, before resting her head on his shoulder for the rest of the journey to work.
"Cassie, babe, we're here" Danny said, gently shaking her. Cassie had barely slept the night before, so she was surprised that she'd fallen asleep on the way to work.
"Sorry" Cassie said, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes before climbing out of the taxi, followed by Danny, who stopped to pay the driver as Cassie yawned. The cab pulled away as Danny put his arm around Cassie's waist.
"Don't be sorry, babe. You were up most of last night worrying. It's gonna be okay, I promise" Danny said, kissing her cheek as they walked into work.
"I hope so, baby. I really hope so" Cassie said with a sigh as they climbed the stairs up to Jo's office. Danny opened the door to the little reception area outside Jo's office for Cassie, who gave him a small smile before stepping inside, where she was greeted with Kirsty and Jo deep in conversation. Cassie gulped to swallow the lump that had formed in her throat. Danny took her hand and squeezed it gently, before going to sit at his desk.
"Cassie, my office, please. I need a word" Jo said, as Cassie went to sit at her desk. Cassie turned to look at Danny, as Jo opened the door to her office and stepped inside.
"You've done nothing wrong" Danny mouthed at her with a tiny smile. Cassie let out a sigh before stepping into Jo's office, shutting the door behind her.
"What have you done, Kirsty?" Danny asked, his voice laced with concern, as Kirsty bit on the pencil she held between her teeth before giving Danny a wicked grin, which he knew meant trouble was ahead, and all he could do now was wait for Cassie to step back out of Jo's office.
"Take a seat, please, Cassie" Jo said, as she put the papers that were sprawled across her desk into a heap on one side. Cassie did as she was told, and sat down in the chair across from Jo. Cassie felt like she was fourteen again, back in the headmaster's office after being set up by her half-sister. Kirsty had always been out to make Cassie's life a living hell, and sitting here now in Jo's office, waiting for Jo to speak, was another of Kirsty's attempts to make Cassie's life horrible, and this time, it was actually working.
"Have I done something wrong, Jo?" Cassie asked, breaking the uncomfortable silence that had settled in Jo's office.
"Who said anything about you doing something wrong?" Jo asked with a confused expression painted across her face.
"Nobody. It's just you've never called me into your office before, so I just thought I'd done something wrong" Cassie replied, forcing a small smile.
"Don't worry, Cassie. You're not in trouble. I just wanted to talk to you about maternity leave" Jo said with a smile, and Cassie's heart dropped. Her mind was racing a million miles an hour. She knew that Kirsty had told Jo she was pregnant, and she wasn't ready for her boss to know about her unborn baby just yet!
"Maternity leave? For who?" Cassie asked with a nervous smile.
"For Kirsty. She's pregnant with Scott's baby. She was showing me the scan this morning" Jo said, handing Cassie a small, black photo. Cassie looked at her, hoping it was a fake, but she saw her sister's name in the right hand corner, and she saw yesterday's date.
"Kirsty's pregnant?" Cassie asked in disbelief.
"Yeah, so when she goes on maternity leave in a few months. You and Danny are gonna have to take over her workload" Jo replied with a smile.
"I can't" Cassie said, putting the photo back on the table. Jo looked at her in disbelief.
"I'm sorry, what do you mean 'you can't?' You work for me; you do as I say" Jo asked, as Cassie dug into her bag to pull out her own scan picture. Kirsty wasn't the only one who'd had made that visit to the doctor's.
"I can't, because I'm pregnant too" Cassie replied, passing Jo her scan picture across the desk. Jo looked at it for a second.
"Well, that's a bit of a shock. I was shocked when Kirsty told me that Scott had gotten her pregnant, and now you're telling me Danny's gotten you pregnant too! Don't you find it strange? You and Kirsty are sisters, and you're both pregnant at the same time, and the fathers of your babies are brothers! It's crazy. Guess I'll need to get in some extra help then, for when you and Kirsty go on maternity leave" Jo said with a sigh. Cassie let go of the breath she didn't even know she'd been holding.
"You're not gonna sack me then?" Cassie asked. Jo looked at her, a little confused.
"Why would I sack you?" Jo asked. Cassie looked at Jo for a second before she spoke.
"Scott doesn't know that Kirsty's pregnant. He dumped her a few days ago, after me and Dan found out about our baby. She's mad at me. I thought she might try and get me fired as revenge. I dunno, Jo. She's got me spooked" Cassie said honestly, as a single tear rolled down her cheek.
"Cassie, Kirsty didn't mention you when I was talking to her this morning. She just told me about the baby. Nothing and no one else was talked about, other than her telling me she was pregnant and asking about her maternity. You want my advice? I think you're worrying for nothing. Now, get back to work please" Jo said, picking up one of the files that rested on her desk, Cassie didn't say anything, just got up and walked towards the door, opening it and stepping into Jo's reception, where she was met by Danny's questioning eyes as she closed the door, but Kirsty was nowhere to be seen.
"What did Jo want?" Danny asked as Cassie came and sat next to him. Danny took Cassie's hand and gave it a gentle squeeze.
"She wanted to talk about maternity leave for me, and for Kirsty. Dan, you need to call Scott and tell him to come in at lunchtime. He needs to speak to Kirsty about their baby" Cassie said, standing up and letting go of a speechless Danny's hand.
"Oh my god, I'll call him now. Um, babe, where are you going?" Danny asked, as he saw Cassie walking towards the door.
"To find Kirsty. I know she's mad at me, but I need to know she's okay. Do you know where she went?" Cassie asked.
"Photocopying room on the first floor. Babe, I think you should stay away from her. She looked really mad, and she broke your arm once. What's to stop her from doing something worse to you and the baby?" Danny asked, pulling his phone out to send Scott a quick text.
"Dan, trust me, please? She's my sister. I need to talk to her. I'll be five minutes. If I'm not back in five, you can come looking for me, okay?" Cassie replied. Danny went to say something, but stopped and just nodded. Cassie smiled at him, and kissed his cheek before going in search of Kirsty.
"We need to talk" Cassie said, as she found Kirsty at the top of the stairs to their office block.
"We've got nothing to talk about" Kirsty said, pushing past her sister. Cassie grabbed her arm.
"I know you're pregnant. I'm sorry, okay? I know you hate me for getting with Danny. I didn't plan on falling in love with him, it just happened. We're sisters, Kirsty. I love you, and I didn't break you and Scott up. He broke up with you because he didn't love you anymore. It happens, couples fall out of love all the time, but he'll be there for the baby if you tell him. Please, can't we just make up, and try and be friends for once?" Cassie asked with a tiny smile.
"No, I'll never forgive you" Kirsty said, pulling her arm away from Cassie, which made Cassie lose her footing, and Kirsty watched as her sister fell down the stairs to the bottom of the second level. Kirsty looked down to see her sister lying in a heap on the floor, with a very nasty wound on her head, and blood all over the floor. Kirsty didn't even flinch. She gave her sister one last look before walking back to the office, with no intention of helping her now unconscious sister.
Next Time: Will Danny find Cassie? What will happen to Cassie and her unborn baby? What lies in store for Kirsty and Scott, now that's Kirsty's carrying Scott's baby?