Chapter 7

As predicted, in some ways the time moved very quickly as the two of them prepared for the coming baby. It was mainly during the times that she spent alone that the hours, minutes, and seconds seemed to crawl by. It was then that she was able to tune in on Vincent's feelings and she knew there was something very wrong. Not only was there the sadness and grief over their parting, but there was something else going on as well. There was a deep abiding feeling of aloneness. This was something she hadn't felt at the beginning of their time apart so she could only guess that something had happened later. But since Vincent had told her that it should be a clean break between them and that she shouldn't return Below, there was no way she could know what it was. She prayed that there hadn't been a death Below. From the feelings of aloneness she was getting from Vincent, Catherine worried that it was Father or maybe Mouse.

Peter was no help at all in discovering what was going on, because after her first appointment with him, when she told him what had happened between Vincent and her, he had refused to go Below again. That had been a very interesting visit.

Jenny had taken some time off work to stay with her friend through those first awful days. She had stayed by Cathy's side, never leaving her alone. The only minutes Cathy had to herself was when she or Jenny was in the shower or very late at night once Jenny had fallen asleep out of sheer exhaustion. She tried to stay awake to be there for Cathy every minute, but Catherine's sadness was so overwhelming that she was hardly sleeping at all.

It was mid-week before Cathy felt up to trying to get out, and when she called Peter to explain it was important she see him, he told her to come to the office on his lunch break. Catherine arrived at Peter's and he knew at once something was up. He had, after all, delivered her so after her father's death he was the one person who had known her the longest in the world.

"Cathy, what is it?" was his greeting rather than the normal 'hello' she usually got.

"Hello to you too!" she said with a half grin.

"Okay Cathy, I know you well enough by now to know when something's wrong. You've lost weight and your eyes are so bloodshot that they look like road maps!"

"I guess I'll get right to the point then, I'm pregnant and Vincent has ended our relationship."

Peter blinked once as he quickly processed that information and then asked, "Is that because the child is, or isn't, his?"

Catherine frowned at him and replied, "Vincent is the father, but he doesn't know it. He doesn't even remember the night it happened."

"I see, so why did he end things between you? I take it that it wasn't what you wanted?"

"No, the night I went to tell him about the baby he told me that I deserved a better life than he could give me and he sent me away."

"And because of that you didn't tell him about the baby."

"Peter! I want him to want us to be together because he loves me, not because I'm pregnant!"

"You misunderstood me Cathy, I respect and applaud your not telling him at that point. Many women would have used that as leverage against a break up they didn't want. So I need to ask you a few questions." At her nod he went on, "You do want to keep the baby, right?"

"Yes!"

"Okay, and from the sound of what you said about Vincent not remembering 'the night' it happened, I'm guessing you have a pretty accurate conception date?"

"Fifty-two days ago."

Checking his calendar Peter told her, "That should put your due date somewhere around June 28th. But remember, with Vincent's unique DNA that could be off in either direction. I'll want to keep a close eye on your progress. Have you thought about what you'll do if you and he aren't back together by your delivery time?"

"The baby can't be born Below, if that's what you mean. Vincent told me I'm not to return to his world."

"WHAT?! Does the Council know about this?" Peter demanded.

To be continued….