Abby hesitated at the threshold to Cate's bedroom. Cate was still barely speaking to her.

Abby had tried to make things right. She'd been extra nice to Cate, but Cate barely seemed to notice.

Abby had offered to cook dinner for Cate the last few nights. Abby was the only Cassidy with any skill in the kitchen. Cate and Laverne somehow managed to ruin everything. Even toast. Still, Cate had made it perfectly clear that she'd rather starve to death than forgive Abby.

Abby took a deep breath and knocked lightly on the open door before entering Cate's bedroom.

Cate was studying her reflection in the mirror. It looked like half her wardrobe was discarded on the floor.

Cate looked up and frowned when she saw Abby. "What do you want?"

Abby swallowed. "I just, uh, wanted to see if you're ready for school. I'm getting ready to leave."

"I'm still getting ready," Cate said shortly, her gaze focused on her closet, not her little sister.

"I can wait," Abby offered hopefully. "You look nice. What-"

"I'll be awhile. You can go ahead," Cate interrupted.

"OK." Abby disappeared down the stairs.

Cate knew what Abby was trying to do, but she wasn't ready to forgive her little sister for telling the whole school about Lux.

She also didn't want to discuss why she was trying to look nice today with Abby. The reason Cate had tried on every dress she owned that morning was that she was meeting Baze's mom for the first time after school. Ellen was taking her shopping for Lux's nursery.

Cate didn't know why she was so nervous. John was great. But in the back of Cate's mind she worried that Baze's mom would judge her. She knew his family was well-off.

What would his mom think of the girl from the wrong side of the tracks who'd gotten knocked up at sixteen? Cate blew out a breath, smoothing the black dress she'd decided on and adjusting her necklace. This was as good as it was going to get.

After school, Cate touched up her make-up in the ladies' room at Westmonte. She dabbed concealer on a zit.

Although she usually had pretty skin, Cate had broken out the week of Lux's surgery. Laverne said stress was making Cate break out and she would need to clean up her face if she wanted to be with a hot guy like Baze, Cate remembered angrily. Of course she'd been stressed out. Her daughter was having surgery.

Cate's skin was clearing up now. Knowing Lux would be OK was the best medicine. Now Cate wasn't stressed. Well, that wasn't entirely true. Cate was stressed about normal things like doing well on tests, not extraordinarily stressful things like her daughter living or dying.

Cate smiled as she examined her reflection. She looked pretty good if she did say so herself.

Cate dug directions to the Bazile's out of her purse and began walking. Cate turned off the main road into a subdivision consisting of nice two-story houses. She couldn't help but compare the posh neighborhood with her own. There was no way Ellen would think Cate was good enough, Cate thought miserably.

Cate double checked the address and took a deep breath before ringing the Bazile's doorbell.

A middle-aged blonde woman opened the door and smiled brightly. "You must be Cate. I'm Ellen. It's so nice to meet you."

Cate smiled and shook Ellen's hand. "It's nice to meet you."

Ellen led the way to the kitchen. It smelled like freshly baked cookies.

"Would you like anything to eat or drink?" Ellen asked politely. She offered Cate a plate of chocolate chip cookies.

Cate accepted a cookie. "Thanks."

This was just perfect. Baze's mom was born to be a mother, whereas Laverne was an alcoholic who didn't know how to boil an egg. Cate had never had a good example. How could she possibly be a good mother?

Ellen sipped a cup of coffee and studied the young girl standing across from her. Cate was pretty. The way Baze had described the mother of his child Ellen had been expecting a geek in glasses with headgear.

Between this girl and Baze, Ellen's granddaughter was bound to be a beauty. Lux seemed to take after their side of the family, though. The child had Ellen's hair. Ellen smiled at the thought.

"Would you like to see Lux's room?" Ellen asked.

Cate frowned. Lux's room would be at her house. Then she remembered John had mentioned they'd also have a room for Lux at their house and nodded.

Ellen showed Cate a beautiful nursery upstairs. Cate noticed that the room was larger than the master bedroom at Cate's house. The walls were painted pale pink with white trim. The bedspread and drapery were white with pink rosebuds on them. Toys and stuffed animals abounded.

"It's beautiful," Cate said politely, though she was thinking of the ancient crib in the corner of her own bedroom. Lux didn't even have her own room at Cate's house. Cate suddenly felt very inadequate.

"How big is Lux's room at your house?" Ellen wondered.

Cate blushed slightly. "Lux is going to sleep in my room."

Ellen nodded in approval. "Nate slept in our room for the first few months."

Cate smiled, declining to mention that Lux was sleeping in her room because her own house didn't have any extra bedrooms.

They got into Ellen's black Mercedes and drove to the mall.

"How long did you and Nate go out for?" Ellen asked conversationally. Nate hadn't given her very much information on Lux's conception. Ellen couldn't keep track of Baze's many girlfriends, but she didn't remember him mentioning Cate Cassidy at all.

Cate looked down, embarrassed. "We, uh, didn't actually go out."

Ellen pursed her lips. "How did this happen?"

"Lux was conceived on the night of Winter Formal," Cate said carefully.

Ellen frowned. "But Nate went with Mary." She knew Nate had gone with a cheerleader named Mary. The parents had met at the Bazile's to take pictures of the kids before the limo left.

Cate bit her lip. She knew Baze's date drank too much and had been taken to the hospital to have her stomach pumped, but she didn't know what his parents knew. She was surprised at her reluctance to get him in trouble. Not too long ago she would have jumped at the chance to get Baze in trouble. She knew he deserved it.

"Mary got sick," Cate fibbed.

"Oh," Ellen said. "Where was your date?"

Cate's cheeks burned. She didn't want to admit her own date had ditched her for another girl. "My date left early," she said. It was kind of true, she reasoned. Frankie had left Cate early.

Cate breathed a sigh of relief when Ellen pulled up to the mall. She hoped the interrogation was over. Cate was pretty sure Ellen was far from impressed with the mother of her grandchild.

Ellen led the way into one of the nicer department stores in the mall. They rode the escalator up to the second floor and easily found the furniture department.

"We'll need a crib, a dresser, a changing table, a rocking chair…" Ellen began listing off necessities for the nursery.

"I already have a crib," Cate said quickly.

"Oh. What else do you have?" Ellen wondered.

"Nothing," Cate admitted sheepishly.

"OK. Do you like this dresser?" Ellen gestured toward a small white dresser.

Cate studied the dresser, wondering how she would fit all of Lux's furniture in her bedroom. Cate's room was already pretty crowded with Cate's bed, dresser and desk.

Cate could probably get rid of her dresser. She could hang most of her own clothes and use a dresser for Lux's outfits. "Yeah," she finally said.

Ellen smiled and found a sales associate to order the dresser.

Changing tables were larger than Cate had thought. Truthfully, she hadn't really thought about changing tables at all. She'd been thinking all Lux would need was a crib and high chair. Cate felt unbelievably stupid. Lux needed a lot of things that had never even occurred to Cate. The changing table would take up more room than the dresser.

Cate forced herself to smile and nod when Ellen selected a changing table and asked if Cate liked it.

"You have a crib. Do you have bedding as well?" Ellen asked.

"No," Cate replied.

"OK. We'll get some," Ellen said, leading the way toward the bedding.

Ellen immediately headed for the pink bedding. The room Ellen had decorated in the Bazile's betrayed her preference for pink.

Cate wasn't crazy about pink, but she didn't want to hurt Ellen's feelings and Ellen was paying for everything.

Cate was drawn to a multicolored quilt with pink, green, yellow, turquoise and white patches. Ellen noticed and asked, "Do you like that?"

Cate smiled. "Yes."

Ellen grabbed the bedding and began finding decorations that matched the quilt. Cate forgot how cramped her bedroom was as they selected cute knickknacks for Lux. Cate smiled wide, imagining Lux at home with all of these beautiful things. Lux would finally be free of the hospital she'd spent her entire life in.

Cate gasped audibly when Ellen paid for everything. She hadn't realized how much everything would cost. They'd spent nearly $1,000.

Ellen looked at Cate curiously.

"I didn't mean for you to spend this much. I'm sorry," Cate said apologetically.

"Don't worry about it," Ellen said kindly.

"Thank you," Cate said.

"You're welcome," Ellen said, smiling.

Lux's furniture was delivered the following afternoon. The guys who delivered it felt bad for Cate and helped her move her old furniture around to accommodate the additions. It was definitely tight, but they managed to squeeze everything into the little bedroom.

Cate made the bed, carefully smoothing Lux's bedding and setting a plush bunny in the crib. Cate smiled at the end result. It turned out cute. She couldn't wait to bring Lux home.

Cate picked up the telephone receiver and dialed the hospital. She now knew the number by heart. She visited with the nurse who answered before asking how Lux was doing.

Cate smiled when the nurse reported that Lux was doing well. Lux had been in recovery. They had wanted to watch her for forty-eight hours before releasing her just in case there were any problems. The mandatory forty-eight hours were almost up.

Cate would be able to pick her daughter up the next day. Her world was about to change forever. Having a daughter she only saw during visiting hours was completely different from having a daughter she was responsible for twenty-four hours a day. Cate swallowed.

As excited as Cate was to be able to hold her daughter any time she wanted, she was equally fearful. She was only seventeen. She was still a kid. She didn't know how to take care of one full-time. Hell, she hadn't even known she would need a changing table.

What if Cate did something wrong? It was one thing for Cate's mistakes to affect her, but another entirely for the sweet little baby to suffer for one second because of Cate.

What if Cate was a terrible mother? She couldn't help but compare Ellen with her own mother. Cate cringed. What if she took after Laverne? Cate would hate herself if she did to Lux what Laverne had done to Cate and Abby their whole lives. Motherhood was too important to mess up.

Cate went down to the kitchen and approached Laverne. Laverne was sipping a glass of wine and skimming a tabloid magazine at the kitchen table.

"Mom?"

"Hmm?" Laverne barely looked up from her magazine.

"Can I borrow your car?" Cate asked.

"Sure," Laverne replied.

Cate got into the car and drove to the bookstore. She located parenting books and spent a good half-hour reading descriptions. She finally settled on two books about babies and paid at the cash register.

When she got home, Cate sat down in her bed and pored over the books. Before she knew it, it was after midnight. She'd been reading for hours, trying to commit every word to memory.

Cate had always been a perfectionist. She didn't do anything unless she thought she'd be good at it. She doubted her capabilities as a mother, but was determined to do whatever she could to be the best possible mother for Lux. Lux deserved a great mom.

She was going to be a great mom, Cate resolved. She didn't care what it took. She would read every parenting book ever written. She would get rid of her own furniture to make room for Lux. She would work to provide things for Lux. She wanted to be able to give Lux everything.