Chapter 20

Catching Up With the Yoast Children

            I'm sure you're all bracing yourselves for what happens with this baby.  It's Alan and J's fifth, this one definitely wasn't planned, and so much happened with the other babies…so what happens?  Ooh!  Does J give birth on a football field?  That would be coo!.  But no.  Nothing out of the ordinary happens.  J's water broke in the middle of the night, they made their way to the hospital, and the baby was born.  It's that simple.

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            Kathryn Amy's birth made things a tad more interesting in the Yoast household.  Will was 12, Chrissy and Shay 8, and Caleb 5 when Kate was born.  In order to make room for the new baby, the attic was fixed up and turned into a bedroom for Will.  Caleb moved into Will's room, his room became Kate's, and the twins stayed where they already were.

            As Will grew, he reminded everyone more and more of Gerry.  An athlete to the core, he was always busy with sports.  Football in the fall, basketball in the spring, and baseball in the winter.  He met his first serious girlfriend, Lanie, through baseball.  Every May to close out the season, T.C. Williams held a boys baseball vs. girl's softball game.  Lanie was the pitcher for the girl's softball team, and she struck out baseball team star Will every time he stepped up to the plate.  A fierce rivalry followed by a blossoming romance ensued. 

            Chrissy started dating about the same time as her sister: early.  However, after a messy break up in the 7th grade, she refused to even consider the prospect of a boyfriend throughout the rest of her middle and high school career.  Instead, she focused on her academics and her art.  Things changed come her first day of college.  One class sitting across from the mysterious abstract painter Bryan, and Chrissy was head-over heels infatuated by the end of the day.

            As mentioned earlier, Shay started dating young.  She dated and dated, but never held a boyfriend for long.  It remains a mystery why to this day.  This went on for awhile, even continuing on into high school.  There, she found her extracurricular calling: debate.  It was debate that introduced her to her first steady boyfriend: Aaron.  Shay was on the late-bus heading home form a debate meeting when Aaron, fresh from band practice, sate next to her.  It was a high school romance from then on.

            Lastly we come to Caleb.  His introverted personality soon proved to stem from a mind so full of but still thirsty for ideas that he threw himself into his school work.  When he had free time, Caleb's time was consumed with either books or writing.  Caleb took advanced English courses all through high school and won himself a National Merit Scholarship for an essay he wrote early senior year.  It paid for every cent of his college tuition (one of those does exist, ya know ;)).  It came as a shock to everyone when Caleb came home one day starry-eyed and able to speak of nothing save raven-haired Abby.  Abby…the girl he met in Barnes and Nobles.  They both reached for the same book at the same time, and their fingertips brushed.  To hear Caleb talk about it was to get a long lecture on fate.

            A short chapter, I know *smiles sheepishly*  hehe…say hi to my math class, everybody!  Sorry…I'm bored.  Anyhew, I had to stop here because all that's left is Kate.  Now, I know that my characters are like my children and I'm supposed to love them all equally…but I'm slightly ashamed to admit that Kate is my favorite.  I can't really explain it; I can only take a stab at why.  The intrigue of creating an "oops!" baby caused me to lavish all the fun traits upon her, and make up all the fun stories that I really want to tell about her.  I love all the others, I really do, but Kate holds a special place in my heart.  If you really want to know more about Will, Chrissy, Shay, and Caleb, email me with what you want and I'll do my best to write something up for you.  On to Kate's story…