I'm so sorry it took me so long to get this chapter up! I've been really busy, but I finally got it finished and here it is!
CHAPTER FIVE
Two months later, Cat started getting nervous about going back to Hollywood Arts. She'd been doing independent study until she was completely caught up. Today Jade was over and they started talking about Cat being upset about the pregnancy, thus making her break down in tears.
"Cat… You had to have know that this was a possibility," she said.
"I did," Cat said. "I did, I just… I don't want the only possibility to be my brother. It's sick. It's demented."
"It's not your fault, hon…"
"I know, but still…" Cat was silent for a few seconds before Jade noticed the tears in her eyes.
Jade wrapped her arm around the read head, resting her own head against Cat's. It took a few seconds, but Cat finally broke down and started crying. Jade didn't know what to do except comfort her the best she could.
"It's going to be fine, Cat… I promise. I'll make sure of it," Jade said.
"You don't know that…" Cat sobbed.
"I'm telling you everything will be fine."
"What's everyone going to say? I'll be the talk of the town. Everyone at school is going to talk shit about me."
"No one at school is going to know because no one is going to say anything to anybody until it's absolutely necessary. And even when you start showing, you know you don't have to say a word to anybody. It's nobody's business," Jade said.
Cat let out a rack of sobs and shook her head, rubbing her eyes. "I don't know how to—to take care of a baby, Jade, I can't do this."
Jade hugged her, rubbing her back. "We don't have to worry about it for a while, okay? Let's go back inside and we'll have some bibble and—"
"I'm not allowed to eat bibble, I went through rehab," Cat reminded her.
"Okay, well we'll have some fat cakes and watch movies and stay up all night."
Cat sniffled and wiped her cheeks and nodded. "Okay…"
Cat sighed, walking into Hollywood Arts. It had been a while since she'd stepped foot into the building so it was a little weird and awkward for her. She walked slowly to her locker, trying her hardest to ignore the stares she was getting. She got what she needed out of the locker and went on her way to head to her first class, all the while hearing all the whispers.
"Oh my god, look at that baby bump."
"She's pregnant?"
"What was she thinking?"
"I thought she was a virgin."
"I knew she was a slut deep down."
By the time she got to Sikowitz's class she had tears falling down her face, so she sat down quietly and wiped the tears from her cheeks, before holding her binder in front of her stomach. She was more involved in trying to keep herself looking more normal than pregnant when she was startled by Sikowitz.
"Cat!" he shouted, hopping off the stage and in front of the redhead.
Cat looked at him, worried. "…Yeah?"
"What is behind that?" he asked, pointing to the binder.
"Um…" Cat moved the binder slowly, pursing her lips together.
Sikowitz looked at her baby bump for a few seconds before patting it lightly. "It's nice to meet you, Cat's baby," he said before patting Cat's head. "It's nice to have you back, Cat."
Cat smiled. "Thanks…"
She felt eyes on her again. She hadn't told Tori, Beck, Robbie or Andre yet so she knew they were staring at her.
As soon as class was over, she was pulled to the side by Robbie and she leaned against the wall, biting her lip.
"What is it, Robbie? I'm not in the mood to talk," Cat said.
"Why did you keep this from me?" Robbie asked. "Why wouldn't you tell me?"
"Because… I didn't want you to think anything bad…"
"You did nothing wrong for this to have happened, Cat. You're my best friend—you can tell me anything."
"I know that, I just… I didn't want anyone else to know yet… I wasn't ever going to really just tell anyone "I'm pregnant" I was just going to let it pass by and… I dunno… I didn't want you to think I was a slut…"
Robbie took her face in his hands. "Caterina Valentine, you are not a slut. You didn't do anything to deserve this. Nothing. Don't ever think otherwise."
Cat's eyes filled with tears and she looked away from him. "I don't know how to deal with it… I'm showing now, I can't hide it, and I can't just pretend it didn't happen," her voice cracked.
"There's no reason for you to pretend it didn't happen—it's your baby, Cat. I know you don't regret it."
"I don't, I just wish it was yo…" Cat stopped herself and sniffled. "I wish it wasn't my brothers…"
"Who were you about to say?"
She stared at him for a few seconds, shaking her head as she ducked under his arm to get away from the wall so she could start toward her next class. Robbie followed her and gently took her arm again.
"Cat," he said.
"Please let me go to class…" Cat said.
"Tell me."
Cat sniffled and looked at him for a few seconds. "…I wish the baby was yours."
Robbie looked at her for a few seconds. "Um… I—I gotta get to class…" he stammered before walking down the hall.
Cat watched him walk away and she slid down the wall, letting out a small sob.
"Cat."
Cat looked up, seeing Tori. She sniffled through a stuffy nose and covered her face with her hands as she let out a whine.
Tori sat next to her and moved her friend's red hair behind her shoulder. "Cat, what's going on?"
"I never do anything right…"
"That's not true."
"Isn't it?" she looked at her. "I'm pregnant with my brother's baby. My father and brother did terrible things to me and I let them because I couldn't get away from it—I'm just as sick and twisted as they are, and Robbie's probably never going to talk to me again."
"Cat, what else could you have done? Fought them off? They're a lot more powerful than you; your best bet was to let them so it would be done and over with quicker."
"My baby is going to be fucked up in the head…"
Tori had never heard Cat curse before. It took her by surprise, but she wasn't going to focus on it. "Cat… none of this is your fault. I don't want to ever hear you say anything like that again."
Cat let out a sob and Tori pulled her into a hug, running her hand through the other girl's hair.
"Everything is going to be fine; I promise," Tori said.
As Tori held Cat, she rocked back and forth with her, trying to soothe her friend.
"Tori—" Cat started.
"Don't talk, just cry it out," she said.
"But I really need to—"
"You don't. I don't need you to explain anything to me. I'm here for you no matter what, I will never not be here for you and I—"
Tori was interrupted by Cat abruptly pulling away from her, but not before vomiting on both of them. It was gross, but Tori suspected that's what Cat was trying to tell her so instead of freaking out, she held Cat's hair back.
After a minute or two, Cat was okay and Tori was helping her stand up.
"Are you okay? I'm so sorry, I should've listened," Tori said.
"I'm fine," Cat said with a raspy voice. "I'm sorry I threw up on you. I'm also sorry I threw up on myself because it's disgusting."
"It is, but it's alright. Let's go to the nurse. Maybe she'll let your Nonna bring you some new clothes."
"Good idea, I don't wanna wear pukey jeans for the rest of the day… We might need a janitor."
"Hey, Cat," Jade said, walking up to her and linking their arms together.
"Hi."
"Word in the halls is that you puked all over Vega."
Cat nodded. "Yeah. It was gross."
"It's priceless. Next time you need to puke, aim for Tori."
"No, it was messy," she said as they got to the asphalt café.
"Exactly. It'd be perfect," Jade said as they sat at their usual table.
"What would be perfect?" Andre asked.
"If Cat threw up on Tori."
"She already did that, thanks," Tori said, eating a French fry.
"I know. I told her she should do it again."
Tori rolled her eyes and she and Jade both looked at each other when they noticed Cat and Robbie look at each other just before Robbie got up and left with his food untouched.
"What was that about?" Tori asked.
"Who cares," Jade said, pulling Robbie's tray to herself and eating a fry.
"Things got weird for us earlier," Cat said.
"How weird?" Tori asked.
"Did he try to play pirates with you again?" Jade asked with a scowl.
Cat shook her head. "No… We were talking about the baby and I told him I'd rather the baby be his…"
"Oh," Tori said.
"Why in the hell would you want a child with that goofy doof?" Jade aked.
"Don't talk like that about Robbie, I like him… I'd rather this baby be anybody's rather than Max's..." Cat said.
"Hey, don't worry about it, Little Red," Andre said, putting his arm around her shoulders. "You're gonna be a great mom and that little kitten is gonna be loved by all of us. It's coming into a good world."
"You guys would love it?"
"Why wouldn't we?" Beck asked. "Cat, you're our friend—we would never not love your baby, no matter how it was conceived."
"Or who it was conceived with," Jade said. "You're beating yourself up. You need to stop that. You'll stress yourself out and you'll just make yourself sick. And you need to work things out with Robbie."
"I don't know if I want to after he just walked away on me like he did…" Cat said.
"He'll come back around."
"Cat!" Trina said, walking to the table.
"Hi, Trina," Cat said.
"I heard you were back and I heard—and saw—the news. I just got back from lunch and I wanted to give you a little something," she said, holding out a small shopping bag to Cat.
Cat took the bag and opened it, letting out a small gasp as she pulled out what was inside. It was a pink ruffle dress for an infant. "Oh my gosh, I love it, Trina—thank you!" she said, standing up and hugging the older Vega sister.
"Now you just have to hope it's a girl—since she doesn't know what gender the baby is," Jade said.
"I don't care what this baby is; I'm keeping this until I have a little girl so I can put her in it. God, I wish it was my size, I would totally wear this," Cat said. "Thank you so much Trina, this is gonna be the first thing she wears."
"I thought you didn't know what it was yet," Andre said.
"I don't, but I really want it to be a girl… I don't know how to handle boys."
"Caterina Valentine please come to the office," the intercom announced. "Caterina Valentine please come to the office."
Cat sighed and put the dress back in the bag, standing up from the table. "Wonder what I did now," she said.
"I'll walk with you," Trina said.
"I'll see you later, guys."
"Bye, be safe," Tori said.
"I'm walking to the office, I think I'll be alright," the redhead said with a laugh as she and the older Vega sister started walking.
"So, how are you adjusting to this whole thing?" Trina asked.
"To what, the baby?" Trina nodded. "Um… it still feels a little weird. I mean, I didn't imagine myself having kids at all, let alone getting pregnant at sixteen."
"I know how you feel. I felt the same way."
Cat looked at Trina for a few seconds. "…What? Were you pregnant?"
Trina nodded. "Yeah. The summer before you and the gang started school here. I had her a couple weeks before school started."
"Is that why you came back so late? Wait—why haven't we ever seen her? I'm at your house all the time."
"I didn't keep her. I gave her up for adoption."
"Oh… Well, there's nothing wrong with that. You gave her to a good family."
Trina sucked in a breath. "Yeah, I wouldn't say that. She's in foster care. They won't tell me what happened, but they did let me know she was in the system and said I could fight for her if I wanted to, but… it's a really tough decision. I love her more than anything, yanno, I just… I don't know if it's the right choice."
Cat nodded. "Do you want to, though? To get her back?"
"Honestly, I'm really thinking about it. It'll be like my second chance, but if I screw it up then I know she'd hate me for eternity."
"I don't think you'd screw it up. I think you'd be a great mom. You look after Tori like a mom would."
"Yeah, but Tori's my sister. Being a good sister and being a good mom are different. Different situations, different responsibilities."
"Well… if you get her back then I know you'll be fine. I think you'll do just fine. And you know, if our kids end up a little screwed up in the end, we can have weekly get togethers and drink wine and talk about how screwed we are because they have boyfriends we don't approve of," she said as they reached the attendance office.
Trina laughed and hugged Cat. "I'll look forward to it. Good luck in there, kid."
Cat walked into the office and went to the secretary's desk. "I was called in, I'm Cat Valentine."
"Oh… you have a friend here. She says it's important—you better talk to her," the secretary said. "She's in the principal's office, just go right on in."
Cat made her way to the principal's office door and walked in, closing the door behind her. She looked at the person sitting in a chair and immediately became concerned when she saw that the blonde was crying—which is something she'd never witnessed before.
"Sam?" Cat asked. "What… what's going on?"
"Caterina, there's been an incident at home," Helen said. "Sit down please."
Cat sat down next to Sam and looked at her for a few seconds before looking at Helen. "What happened?"
"It's your grandmother," she said as Sam held Cat's hand.
"What's wrong with Nonna?"
"She's in the hospital."
"What? Why?"
"She suffered a heart attack."
Cat's breath hitched in her throat, tears filling her eyes. "Is she okay?"
"We've been informed by the hospital that she's still having some complications—but she's alive and well," Helen said. "Your friend was the one to get the call from Elderly Acres."
"They found her in her room," Sam sniffled. "She wasn't breathing when they found her but they resuscitated her and got her to the hospital. They called me and I came here first, I didn't know what to do."
"You did the right thing, Sam," Helen said. "There's a police escort that's going to take you guys to the hospital to see your grandmother—but unfortunately because you're both minors they might not be able to or they might refuse to tell you anything about her condition. It's best to call the closest adult you know."
"I will," Cat said. "Can we go now?" her voice cracked.
"Go ahead. The police officer is in the attendance office."
"I don't care what your god damn policy is, she's my caretaker and I have every right to know what the hell is going on," Cat snapped at the registration nurse.
"Look, I'm sorry—but you're not 18. I can't tell you anything," the nurse said.
"The hospital is supposed to be helpful!"
"I'm sorry, ma'am."
"Yeah, I bet you are," she said, pushing a clipboard off of the counter and towards the nurse. "I'm not signing shit until you tell me what the fuck is going on."
"We can't tell anyone anything unless—"
"Cat?" a familiar voice asked.
Cat turned around, seeing Jade's mother. She felt new tears start falling down her face and she stomped her foot in frustration. "They won't tell me anything," she said with a sob.
Grace walked over to her and hugged her, kissing her head. "It'll be fine. You go sit down; I'll deal with this, okay? Jade came with me, go sit with her and the kids."
Cat sniffled and made her way over to the waiting room chairs, sitting next to Jade and laying her head on her shoulder, wiping her tears away from her cheeks.
"Do you know anything?" Jade asked.
"No… just that she had a heart attack. They won't tell me anything else because I'm not 18," Cat said, letting Tyler grab her finger.
"That's stupid. They don't know anything about being a human being."
"Cat, are you sad?" Joanie asked, climbing into Cat's lap.
Cat nodded. "Yeah, but I'll be okay when I know what's going on with Nonna."
"Is she sick?"
"A little bit."
"She won't die though right?"
"Joan Elizabeth," Jade snapped.
"It's alright," Cat said. "I don't know yet, Joanie. I hope not."
"Me too," Joanie said. "I don't want you to be sad."
"I'm gonna see if Mom got anything out of the nurse," Jade said. "Sit next to Cat, Joanie, she needs to hold Tyler."
As Joanie sat in the chair next to her, Cat took Tyler and kissed his cheek as Jade walked off. She watched him for a few seconds and smiled when he sucked on his fingers and babbled.
"Do your fingers taste good?" Cat asked.
Tyler babbled and looked at her with a grin, placing his hands on her cheeks, slobber and all.
Cat laughed and kissed his nose. "Are you hungry? Is that why you're eating your hands? Joanie, will you get in his diaper bag and get out his bottle, the water bottle, and the formula?"
Joanie got down from her chair and did what she was asked, placing everything on the chair. "Now what?" she asked.
"Fill the bottle up with water until you get to the number 6. Pour it slow so you don't make a mess," Cat said.
Joanie carefully poured the water into the bottle and put the lid back on the water bottle. "What now?"
"Put three scoops of the formula in it—but try to make it even, you don't want too much otherwise it'll be too hard to shake up the bottle."
Joanie did as she was told and screwed the nipple on the bottle, handing it to Cat and putting the water bottle and formula can back in the diaper bag.
"Thank you," Cat said, shaking the bottle up. As soon as she was done mixing the bottle up she handed it to Tyler and laid him down in her arms, staring at him as he closed his eyes and ate.
She didn't know how long she'd watched him sleep, but soon enough the bottle was empty and she laid him over her shoulder, patting his back to burp him.
"Jade said you're gonna have a baby," Joanie said.
Cat nodded. "I am."
"When will it be here?"
"In about five months."
"I think you'll be a good mommy."
Cat smiled and looked at Joanie. "Yeah?"
"Yeah. Tyler always cries when he has to go to sleep for Jade. He never cries for you."
"Oh, that's just because Jade gets impatient and Tyler can sense it. Jade will be a good mommy when she becomes one too."
"Yeah I know. She takes care of me."
"She does. And she does it because she loves you, not just because she's your sister."
"Cat," Jade said as she walked back to the chairs. "Mom's going to go with you to see Nonna."
Cat handed Tyler to Jade and stood up, walking to Grace. "Is she okay?"
Grace nodded as they started walking. "She's alert but they're still running tests to see if there was anything specific that may have caused the heart attack."
"Probably that disgusting, artery-clogging food they serve at Elderly Acres."
"I wouldn't doubt it. But she's alright for right now and they'll let us know what the tests say soon."
Cat's mind wondered as they walked down the hall. She'd never been in such a scary situation. Even finding out she was pregnant wasn't as scary as her Nonna having a heart attack. It was quiet the rest of the walk and when they reached the room she was in and Cat saw that she was sitting up, she ran straight to her and gave her a hug, her tears finally falling.
"Oh my god Nonna, I was so scared," Cat's voice cracked.
Nonna kissed Cat's head and ran her hand through her granddaughter's hair. "I'm fine, Cat, it was just a little heart attack."
"Heart attacks are not little!" Cat said, looking at her grandmother. "Heart attacks kill people Nonna, I thought you died—they wouldn't tell me anything about you and I was so scared that I lost you like I lost Mom and—"
"Cat, I'm fine. Calm down, I'm going to be fine. One of my arteries was blocked, but they removed the blockage in surgery and I'm fine."
"They did surgery? And they didn't tell me!"
"Cat, honey, calm down," Grace said.
"She could have—you!" she snapped, pointing at a doctor as he walked into the room.
"Uh… yes, me," the doctor said.
"Are you the one that operated on my Nonna?"
"I am."
"What the hell is wrong with you?! Why wasn't I notified? I have every right to know what's going on with her—I'm not an infant, I understand more than people think I do and I—"
"Can I get a word in edge wise?" the doctor asked.
Cat scowled and crossed her arms. "Maybe."
"I don't make the decisions to not let the family know. I just find the problem and fix it. I have no say in the hospital policy, but I assure you I've been trying to fight it against the boards."
"Not hard enough, apparently."
"I'm sorry you weren't able to get any information earlier, but your grandmother is right there and she's fine, you have nothing to worry about," he said before turning to Nonna. "You're perfectly fine now that we removed the blockage. Everything came back clear, the EKG, the blood tests, everything. We'd like to keep you overnight to monitor your vitals, maybe another night as well, but you should be good to go home by Wednesday afternoon."
Nonna nodded. "Thank you, doctor. I'm very sorry about Cat; she's just worried."
"Don't apologize for me, I'm not sorry about being scared," Cat said.
"Very well then… I'll come back to check on you later," the doctor said before exiting the room.
"Caterina Evangeline Valentine, what is the reason for being so rude to an innocent man?" Nonna asked.
Cat turned around to look at Nonna. "It's all great that you're fine and dandy right now Nonna, but you weren't when I was trying to get information. You weren't okay when I first got here, you weren't okay because they had to crack your chest open to unplug a block in your artery, you were not okay," she said before leaving the room.
