Ha! Didn't even take me two full months this time. Anyways, this is a good one, I think. I have a hard time writing Cat (which is too bad, she's a great character), but this turned out well enough. Enjoy!


Skipping town for a few days was definitely the right course of action. Instead of staying home, resisting the urge to rip Dale Squire's head and spine out Mortal Kombat-style, she just had to resist the urge to slap the fat TSA agent who gave her grief for having an eight ounce water bottle. It was even in the stupid plastic Ziploc bag and everything, but no, she had to throw it out because the limit is less than four ounces.

Oh well, at least she was here now.

The goth girl checked herself over one last time and knocked on the door to Cat and Robbie's apartment. It was a fairly nice building. 30 floors, a doorman and everything. They lived on the 27th floor, which had some larger units.

The door swung open and before Jade could even react there was a flash of red and a loud squeal.

"Jadey!" Cried out the excitable redhead, wrapping her arms around the taller girl and nearly knocking the two of them off their balance.

"Whoa, Cat. I'm happy to see you too." The raven haired girl tried to keep her footing.

The hug lasted a few more moments before the girls broke apart and Jade took a step back. Cat was wearing a yellow sundress, and for a mom, she still looked pretty damn good.

"Come in." The petite girl said with a wide smile.

They stepped into the apartment and Jade had a look around. It was fairly nice, definitely more spacious than her own apartment. But then, Robbie made pretty good money, plus Cat brought in more from whatever acting and singing gigs she could get.

"Hey, what's up Jade?"

Jade noticed Robbie for the first time, who was doing pull-ups on a pull-up bar over the doorway threshold to the hallway. And for a dad, he looked pretty damn good, too.

"Robbie, I will never get used to you being anything other than skinny."

The bespectacled boy laughed. It was true, though, that he looked quite different from how he did in high school. Then he'd been under six feet and whip thin, whereas now he stood at 6'2, and, because he was shirtless, Jade could see that he was sporting a six pack. The only part of him that was still obviously Robbie was his trademark glasses and jewfro.

He lowered himself down and moved into the living room. That was when Jade noticed the toddler, Cat and Robbie's son, Rodney. His father picked him up (which he was not pleased about, because he was more interested in playing with his toy cars) and carried him over to the goth girl.

"This is your auntie Jade. Can you say hi?"

The little boy stared up at the goth girl with his big eyes. He looked exactly like Cat, except his hair was jet black, like his father's.

"Jadey." He said with a wide smile. "Hug."

Robbie offered Jade the young boy, which she accepted, and she held him to her chest in a hug. She could feel her heart melting. She didn't like to admit it outwardly, but she absolutely adored little kids. Something about them reminded her that not everything in the world was crap.

After a few moments, she put Rodney down. He happily ran back to his toys and the adults sat down.

"That's the other thing I can't believe. You guys have a kid. That's crazy."

Robbie and Cat laughed. "I still have a hard time getting used to it." The dark-haired boy replied.

"You know, Jade… I have a kind of funny story." Cat added.

The pale girl looked at her oldest friend expectantly.

"I'm pregnant again."

While Jade's reaction to this news was mild surprise, it was nothing compared to the redhead's fiancé. As Robbie had been taking a sip of water, most of it had been expelled from his mouth at high speed – a proper spit-take.

"You're pregnant!?" He shouted indignantly.

Cat weakly nodded, but the slight smile on her face indicated to Jade that the girl had been planning on springing this on her significant other precisely this way.

"Why wasn't I told about this?"

"I went to the doctor yesterday while you were at work. The test paperwork is in our room."

"Jesus Christ." He said with a sigh (ironically, because he was Jewish).

By now, both women were laughing, and the not-quite-two-year-old on the floor looked at his father quizzically. "What's going on?"

Robbie calmed down a bit, the initial surprise starting to wear off and he addressed his son. "Oh, you're, uh, you're gonna have a little brother or sister, buddy."

"I want a turtle." He said in an almost off-handed way, going to back to his toys. The three adults in the room laughed. Robbie, no longer quite so angry at his fiancée, exhaled and shook his head in slight disbelief.

"I can't believe we're gonna have to go through all of this again."

"You nervous?" Jade asked.

"I mean… kind of? I think I'm more excited than anything else, cause I kind of know what to expect." He paused, thoughtfully. "I hope it's a girl this time." He added.

The goth girl looked over at the little boy on the floor. She smiled, internally and externally. Briefly, she entertained a thought in her head. She imagined having a kid with Tori, holding a baby close, the two of them growing old together and having a few more. It was a nice thought, but something like that was probably pretty far off.

She snapped out of it, having clearly missed the last bit of conversation between her two friends.

"Anyways, Jade, where are my manners? Would you like anything to drink?"

"Uh, sure. Coffee, if you've got it."

"Sure." The dark-haired boy stood up and moved walked over to the counter. It separated the kitchen from the living room and had bar-style seating on the living room side. He dug through the cabinets and put a pot of coffee on.

"So," he said, "I suppose we should talk business now, before Cat and I take you to dinner."

"You guys are taking me to dinner?"

"Absolutely. It's not every day you get to meet up with an old friend from high school. Besides, we've already booked a reservation and hired our usual sitter. When's the reservation, Kitty-Cat?"

"Seven." The redhead replied, now playing with her son on the floor. She giggled at her husband-to-be's use of her pet name.

"So. Business." He steered the conversation back on course. He poured some coffee into a cup and handed it to Jade.

"Yeah. I'm supposed to sign off on an equipment deal?"

"Yup, I've got the paperwork right here," He said, pulling a few documents out of his briefcase, which was next to the counter. "The terms have already been negotiated by your co-producers. Amanda Hartford and Clancy Donovan, right?"

"Yeah."

"And also the studio executive on the project… Jim Squires. He's not related to Dale Squires, is he?"

"Jim is Dale's dad. Dale's directing the movie."

"No way, seriously? That suuucks."

"Yeah, but it was how we got the deal we got. Anyways, this is all I have to do? Why the hell did I have to come all the way to Chicago to do it?"

"My boss – the CEO – has a weird thing about wanting all major contracts signed right here where the headquarters is. It's stupid, I know, but it's probably why he won't let me transfer to the Los Angeles office. He's kinda Sinjin-like in how he does things."

"You mean like a jar of fire ants and a power drill 'Just in case'?"

"More like a jar of porcupines and a jackhammer."

Jade let out a chuckle, then signed the papers and handed them back to her friend, now business partner.

"Great." He said, "That's all squared away. The gear should be where it needs to be pretty much as soon as I file this on Monday."

"Wait," questioned Jade, confused. "Doesn't the gear need to be shipped from Chicago to L.A.?"

"Nope. It's all there right now."

"So why did I have to fly out here again?"

"The answer to that question is locked safely away in the brain space of the CEO. Don't expect me to know why."

"That's incredibly stupid."

"Yeah, but look on the bright side! You get to hang out with us for a couple of days. When was the last time me and Cat saw you in person?"

"My wedding, I think."

"Exactly. So let us treat you to dinner tonight, and tomorrow we can do whatever you want."

Jade looked over at her best friend since childhood. Cat looked up at her and beamed. Jade smiled back. It was stupid, but at least she got to spend some time with good friends, and more importantly, away from Dale Squiers. This break, while not strictly necessary, was certainly deserved.


That concludes our Chicago-based interlude. Please tune in whenever I get around to writing the next chapter for our regularly (hah!) scheduled Los Angeles based content.

In all seriousness though, I'm curious to know what everyone thinks about what I've done with Cat and Robbie. I think I'm happy with it, but you know.

And as always, remember to follow, favorite, and review. Especially review, cause like I've been saying for literally four years (No seriously, it's nuts): Reviews are the purest form of feedback. Let me know what you thought, what you liked, what you disliked, what you think I could change to make it better. All feedback is very much appreciated.

Until next time,

/Yonz