Cate woke up snuggled into Baze's arms. Baze smiled. "Morning."

"Oh my gosh. It's morning! I have to go to work. And you have to get out of here before Lux sees you!" Cate said frantically.

Baze frowned. Cate had yet to wake up and actually be happy to be with him. His ego was bruised.

"What are you waiting for? Get dressed!" Cate said as she got up and got ready for work.

Baze obeyed. He headed for the front door, but ran into Lux in the kitchen.

Lux was eating cereal at the kitchen table. "You have got to be kidding me!" She said when she saw Baze.

Baze turned to face Lux. "I can explain."

"This should be good," Lux retorted.

"I, uh…" Baze trailed off awkwardly, not sure what to say.

"What happened to Cate not being your type?" Lux asked.

"Opposites attract," Baze said.

Lux rolled her eyes.

Baze said goodbye and left hastily.

Lux finished her cereal and rinsed the bowl out in the sink.

Cate appeared fresh from the shower. "Good morning," she said brightly. She had no clue that Lux had seen Baze.

"You're in a good mood," Lux observed.

Cate blushed. "I'm going to work. I'll pick you up for school later."

When Cate arrived, Ryan was already in the radio station. She slipped in.

Ryan didn't say hello or acknowledge her at all. He shot Cate a meaningful look before speaking into his microphone, "The topic this morning is how long should you wait before moving on after a breakup."

Cate glared at Ryan, but spoke into her microphone, "Is it over when it's over? Or should you wait before moving on?"

"Most people wait at least, say 24 hours, before jumping into bed with someone else," Ryan continued, looking at Cate pointedly, "But is there a right amount of time to wait?"

Cate covered her microphone with her hand. "OK, is this how it's going to be from now on? You attacking me every morning?"

"The truth hurts, doesn't it?" Ryan retorted.

"You don't even know the truth because you won't let me explain!" Cate protested.

"Explain what? Why you slept with Baze? Why you lied to me? Why you ran straight into his arms after we broke up?" Ryan demanded.

"OK, I didn't sleep with Baze. I slept in his bed, but nothing happened! I shouldn't have lied to you. But, Ryan, I only lied because I didn't want to lose you. And I was only with Baze last night because we had parent-teacher conferences!" Cate explained.

"You didn't say anything about conferences yesterday morning," Ryan said. He didn't trust Cate anymore and thought it was odd that she'd never mentioned conferences.

"Yeah, because I didn't know! Lux didn't tell me. She's not doing well," Cate said.

Ryan frowned. "I'm sorry."

Cate didn't know what to say. She didn't even know if she wanted to make up with Ryan. "I have to take Lux to school," Cate said. She hurried out before Ryan could say anything else.

"After school I'll help you with your homework," Cate told Lux as she drove to Westmonte.

"I'm going shopping with Tasha after school," Lux said.

Cate frowned. "School is more important than shopping."

"So I'll do homework after," Lux promised.

"OK," Cate gave in reluctantly. "Do you need a ride to the mall?"

"No," Lux said. She grabbed her book bag and hopped out of the car.

Cate headed back to the radio station. She didn't know what she was going to say to Ryan.

He was a great guy. Any girl would be lucky to be with him. If that was true, why didn't Cate feel very lucky?

She knew Ryan had been great. How many guys would be OK with their girlfriend taking a teenager in? Ryan really cared about Lux, she knew.

He had every right to be mad that she'd lied. It was wrong. But, the way he'd been treating her since he found out really rubbed her the wrong way. She didn't know if she wanted him to forgive her anymore.

Cate sighed as she parked her car. She wasn't ready to face the music.

"How's Lux?" Ryan asked quietly, offering Cate a friendly smile.

"Fine," Cate said shortly. She picked up her microphone, hoping Ryan would get sidetracked if they took callers.

As soon as they wrapped, Cate grabbed her purse and all but ran out of there. She didn't give him a chance to talk.

"Hey." Lux grinned.

"Hey," Tasha replied.

They started walking through the mall. Tasha made a face as they passed Abercrombie. "What guy would wear a pink polo shirt?"

Lux smirked. "Definitely not Bug or Gavin."

Tasha led Lux into Hot Topic and made her way to the belly button rings. "What do you think?"

"Cute," Lux replied. "Only one problem. You don't have your belly button pierced."

"Gavin has a friend who can do it," Tasha said.

"Tash, it'll probably get infected if you let some random guy pierce it," Lux warned.

"He's not a random guy. He's Gavin's friend," Tasha said defensively. "Gavin thinks belly button rings are sexy."

Lux rolled her eyes. They left the store and continued walking. "Mmm," Lux murmured as they passed Mrs. Fields' cookie shop. "They smell so good. Come on."

Lux bought them each a chocolate chip cookie.

Tasha eyed the cash in Lux's wallet enviously. "Did Cate give you all that?"

Lux blushed slightly. "Yeah."

"Nice," Tasha commented.

Lux looked down. She never knew what to say when Tasha acted jealous of her.

They headed to one of their favorite stores. Tasha tried on a cute beaded top. "What do you think?"

Lux nodded in approval.

"Can you get the sensor?" Tasha asked.

Lux frowned. "No."

"You're better at it than I am," Tasha whined. "When I rip them out, it always leaves big holes."

"I don't know," Lux said hesitantly.

Tasha's face hardened. "What, are you above it now or something?"

When Lux didn't say anything, Tasha glared at her. "You used to do it all the time. Not everyone has a brand new mom to buy stuff for them, you know. Don't act like you're so much better than me."

"OK," Lux gave in, not wanting to fight anymore. She glanced around before tearing the sensor off.

Tasha hid the sensor behind the mirror in the fitting room and stuffed the top in her purse. They left before anyone noticed.

Or so they thought. The salesperson cleaned out the fitting room and found the sensor. She immediately called Security and described the two girls who had been in the fitting room.

Lux and Tasha were a few stores down when a police officer stopped them. He asked if he could check their bags.

Lux looked at Tasha nervously. Cate would not be happy if Lux got caught stealing again.

"No," Tasha said defiantly.

"You're going to have to come down to the station," the officer said.

Lux panicked, imagining Cate's reaction if she had to pick her up from the police station. She took off, running as fast as she could from the cop.

He chased her and cuffed her, leading Lux and Tasha to his car.

"Call your parents," the cop instructed them once they were at the station.

Lux bit her lip.

The cop sensed her hesitation. "Look, kid, you're not going anywhere until your parents come get you."

Lux sighed and dialed Cate.

"Hello?" Cate said. She didn't recognize the number that popped up on her caller ID.

"Cate?" Lux said nervously.

"Lux, where are you?" Cate asked.

Lux swallowed. "I'm in jail. You have to come get me."

"What? Why are you in jail?" Cate demanded.

"Stealing," Lux replied, her voice small.

Fern arrived to pick Tasha up before Cate got there. Fern frowned when she saw Lux. "Was Lux stealing, too?" She asked the officer.

"Yeah," the officer replied.

Cate hurried in. She didn't see Fern. She headed straight for the officer behind the desk. "I'm here to pick up my daughter. Lux Cassidy."

The officer handed Cate a form to sign. Lux followed Cate toward the exit, but Fern stopped them.

"Your evaluation is scheduled for a month from now. I think we should move it up. I want you and Lux to be in my office tomorrow."

Cate swallowed. "Tomorrow? What exactly will you be evaluating?"

Fern sighed. "I told you this arrangement with Lux was temporary. If you can't take care of her, I need to find someone who can."

"I can take care of her," Cate insisted.

"From where I'm standing, it sure doesn't look like it. We're in a police station because Lux was stealing," Fern pointed out.

Cate glared at Lux.

"This isn't Cate's fault," Lux said. She knew that it was highly unlikely she'd be allowed to stay with Cate at this point.

Fern turned toward Lux. "No, it's not. It's yours. But you need guardians who can control you. Guardians who you respect."

"But I respect Cate!" Lux protested.

"Apparently you don't respect her enough to stay out of trouble," Fern argued.

"I wasn't even stealing!" Lux cried out. She hesitated. She didn't want to throw Tasha under the bus, but it was Tasha's fault they were in this mess. "Tasha's the one who stole, not me."

"That's not what the police officer said. He said you were the one who ran," Fern said.

Lux looked at Tasha, expecting Tasha to back her up, but Tasha remained silent. Lux shook her head in disbelief.

Cate didn't say anything when she and Lux got in the car.

"I wasn't stealing," Lux said.

Cate didn't argue, but the look on her face told Lux she didn't believe her.

"I wasn't!" Lux insisted. "You have to believe me."

"I don't know what to think," Cate said softly.

"Why would I lie? I didn't lie last time," Lux pointed out.

"I don't know. Honestly, Lux, I don't know why you would lie or steal," Cate said angrily.

"I'm not lying," Lux said firmly.

"Really?" Cate asked skeptically. "Because you've been caught stealing twice before now. You forged my signature on your test. You lied about conferences."

Tears stung Lux's eyes. She couldn't believe Cate didn't trust her. They drove the rest of the way in silence.

Lux stomped up to her room. She was telling the truth and no one believed her. Her own mother thought she was a thief and a liar. Her best friend had betrayed her.

Cate called Baze without thinking. "Can you come over?"

"Of course," Baze said.

"What's wrong?" Baze asked when he saw Cate.

"I picked Lux up from the police station," Cate said.

"What?" Baze frowned.

"Yeah, she was caught stealing," Cate explained.

Baze made a face.

"She says she wasn't stealing," Cate added.

"What do you think?" Baze asked.

"I don't know. This isn't the first time she's been caught stealing. She forged my signature on her test and lied about conferences," Cate said doubtfully.

"What are we going to do with Lindsay Lohan?" Baze asked.

"It might not be up to us," Cate said miserably. "You haven't heard the worst part. Her social worker was there picking Tasha up. She moved our evaluation to tomorrow. She said that if I can't take care of Lux, she's going to find someone who can."

Baze buried his head in his hands.

"Maybe she's right. I can't take care of Lux. She doesn't respect me. She steals, ditches school, lies and she's failing. I suck at this mother thing," Cate said sadly.

"That's not true," Baze said firmly. "You're a great mom."

"Yeah, right," Cate muttered.

"You are," Baze insisted. "Lux had problems before you got her. Maybe she's not acting out because of you. Maybe she's acting out because of her past."

"Yeah, the past she had because I gave her up," Cate pointed out.

"It's not just you. I didn't exactly want a kid at sixteen either," Baze said.

Baze frowned. He hated seeing Cate this upset. He wiped a tear from her eye and pressed a kiss to her temple. She leaned in to him, closing her eyes.

Baze held Cate close. Cate kissed him, gently exploring his mouth as first. Eventually she kissed him harder, more desperately.

Cate fell asleep in Baze's arms.