CHAPTER SIXTEEN

April 28th

34 weeks

"Tyler!" Cat gasped, putting her hands out as Tori's son jumped towards her. "You can't do that to me anymore, it'll hurt the baby."

"Tyler," Tori warned. "You have to be gentle with Cat, she has a baby in her tummy."

"When's the baby coming?" Tyler asked.

"In about five weeks," Cat said, pulling him up onto her lap.

"How long is that?"

"A little over a month."

"Can I hold her when she's born?"

"Absolutely. I'll tell you what, after me and Robbie and April hold her you can be the first person to hold her."

"Is that good?"

"That's special," Tori said.

"Victoria, I want that yard cleaned up this weekend," Holly said as she walked into the house from the back door. "Hi, Cat. I didn't know you were still here, I didn't see your car."

"I'll get it done," she muttered.

"Hi, Mrs. Vega. I moved it so Mr. Vega could get out of the driveway." Cat said.

"How's the baby?" Holly asked.

"Great. She's a kicker. I think she's gonna be a soccer player."

"Soccer moms are the best moms."

"Grandma, can I go to the flower shop with you?" Tyler asked.

"No," Tori said.

"Well, I was gonna say 'yes'," Holly said.

"He's in trouble."

"Uh oh. What did you do?"

"He dropped Cat's phone in the toilet."

"I'm sure it was an accident, he wouldn't do it on purpose."

"He took her phone on purpose though, and he knows better than to touch things that aren't his."

"It was ringing," Tyler said.

"You should have told Cat that it was ringing, then; but you shouldn't have touched it. Now she doesn't have a phone to call Robbie."

"So?"

"So, it's important that she has a phone. She has to be able to call people when she needs to. Cat's baby has had a lot of bad things going on, so if something happens then Cat needs to be able to call an ambulance so she can go to the hospital. She can't do that without a phone."

"Oh..."

"It really was an accident, Tori. I'll just go by the Pear Store on my way home and get a new one so I'll have it in case something does happen," Cat said.

"I told you I'd pay for it. I can't do that today."

"Then pay me back. It's fine, Tori. Really."

"If you're sure. But I'll pay you back as soon as I can."

"Okay. I should get home, my mom'll kill me if I'm gone when she gets home from work," she said, standing up and putting a diaper bag over her shoulder. "Thank you for the diaper bag, Mrs. Vega, I appreciate it."

"Anytime, Cat. If you ever need anything just let us know," Holly said.

"I have some of Tyler's old baby clothes, too. I'll bring them over and let you go through them. There's some neutral things that'll work for her," Tori said.

"Okay. Thank you. Bye, buddy," she said, bending down and kissing Tyler's head.

May 10th

36 weeks

"Twins," Jade called out as she walked into the Valentine house. "I have homework for you."

"I don't want it," Cat said from the kitchen.

"Too bad. It's just history," the goth said as she met up with her friend. "It's only one chapter. Where's April?"

"Puking."

"Why?"

"She either took her meds on an empty stomach, she has the flu, or she's pregnant."

"Bet she's pregnant."

"I wouldn't doubt it, but we'll find out soon if she is."

"How's my baby?" Jade asked, kissing Cat's stomach.

"She's good. I wish she'd just come already."

"Me too, I wanna hold her."

"Yeah, well I promised Tyler he could have first dibs after me and Robbie and April, so you better make sure he doesn't see you."

"I think I trump a three-year-old."

"He's four."

"Whatever, same difference."

"He'll be five in December, that's almost a whole two years difference."

"Whatever. April says you guys picked a name. She was really excited, so I figure she's namesake."

"Her name is Ashley April Shapiro. But listen - you and Tori are my two best friends in the world. My next girls will be named after you guys."

"I'm not upset about it, I'm just giving you a hard time," Jade said, running her hand over Cat's stomach. "I know I've given you a lot of grief about this pregnancy, but I'm really proud of you. I don't know what it's like to be a pregnant teenager, so I don't know how hard it is, but you've gone through hell and I don't think I could be as strong as you."

Cat smiled. "Jade... I already knew all of that. I don't need to hear it to know. You're my best friend, I know you're not going to say anything bad about me."

"I did, though. When you first told us you were pregnant. I called you stupid. I said you wouldn't be able to do it."

"But you were right. I was stupid. We should have used a condom, we should've been more careful. We should have known the pull out method wouldn't work. We definitely won't be trying that again until we're older and ready for more kids."

"Which hopefully won't be until after college."

"But if it happens, then it happens and we'll handle it."

"Please be smart about it, Cat... One baby at seventeen is enough."

"Don't worry. I'm not gonna get pregnant anytime soon. I need to focus on Ashley first and foremost and if I'm worrying about another baby then I can't do that."

"Good girl," she said, kissing Cat's belly again. "Ashley... you better give your mom hell so she keeps her word."