“I can’t take credit for it, it’s all Ava’s doing.”
“I didn’t think you would invite me.”
“I didn’t, Ava did. I know how you feel, you’ve made yourself perfectly clear.” It hurts to know how she feels about her own grandchild and me.
“Cat, can we talk?”
“We’re talking now.”
“No, I mean face to face. What I need to say should be said face to face.”
“Look, if you’re not happy about the invitation rip it up and throw it out. I’m sorry if it bothered you or upset you—”
“Cat, no, you don’t understand.”
“Understand what?” My eyes feel the beginnings of tears coming on by talking to her.
“Cat, don’t get upset, please. I only wanted to say…I’m glad you invited me. I have a lot of things I want to say to you. I know I said some things I shouldn’t. I overstepped, I’ve been looking at this invitation for three weeks thinking about you and the baby.”
“So what?”
“Would you please come and see me? You’re my daughter and I want to be a part…I want to try and make things better. Can you come over?”
“I don’t know about that.”
“I won’t keep you long. These are things I need to say to you face to face. I want to see you, I miss you. I promise it won’t be like before.”
“Nick’s not here. I’m not sure when he’ll be back, he won’t like it.”
“Nick needs to get over himself. I’m your mother, he should respect that.”
“He’s the father of my child, you need to respect that. When everyone else in my family deserted me, he was there for me and he hasn’t left my side. Trashing him is not the way to talk to me.”
“I apologize. Please, it won’t take long—call a cab and I’ll pay for it to wait for you.”
“I can pay for my own cab. Nick takes care of me. Isn’t that what you wanted, a man to take care of me?” I won’t be using Nick’s money. All I want her to know is he takes care of me in every way.
“I’ll see you when you get here?”
I end the call and sit up on the bed. Nick will go through the roof if he finds out I went over there. I want to hear what she has to say. Isn’t this what I wanted? Her to accept me and the baby? I don’t want to get my hopes up too much and be disappointed again. But I wouldn’t consider going if I didn’t think she was sincere and things could be somewhat the way I want them to be in my mind. One thing to do, call Nick so as to stay one step ahead of him.
“Hey, babe, how’s the meeting going?” I say nonchalantly.
“Good. Are you all right?”
“Yeah, I missed you.” It’s not a lie, I do. “When do you think you’re going to be finished?”
“Unfortunately I think it will be about two and a half hours, then I need to make a stop by the office. He’s a slow eater and his companion is ordering half the menu. I better get back before she orders the other half.”
I giggle. “All right, see you when you get home.” I end the call and put my shoes on.
“Phew. I can make it to Brooklyn and back before he gets home if I leave now. God willing traffic is on my side.” If I don’t make it back before him there’ll be big trouble. I’ll have to take cover if the shit hits the fan. I’m taking a huge risk but it’s a chance I have to take to bring my two families together.
I’m so tired I fall asleep in the cab. When I open my eyes we’re pulling up in front of my parents’ house. I walk up the steps and the door opens before I knock. Then I remember, shit. Is Kate there?
“Hi, Mom.”
She does something she hasn’t done in months. She hugs me and gives me a genuine smile. I’m still a bit skeptical but I’m giving her the benefit of the doubt. I look past her when she steps aside to let me in.
“What’s the matter, aren’t you going to come in?”
“Is Kate here?” She has to know by now about me and Nick. I haven’t asked and no one has said anything. That means she didn’t take it well.
“No, she won’t be back for some time. If she comes by at all.”
I follow her upstairs to my father’s office. “I’m not sitting, I can’t stay long.”
“Okay. You look good. Pregnancy suits you.”
“Thanks.” Whoa! A compliment. I can’t remember the last time I got one from her. “Where’s Dad?”
“He’s not here. I wanted to talk to you alone first. I’m glad you came.” She looks at my stomach and her eyes come back to my face. “Boy or girl?”
“We don’t know yet. We decided to wait and be surprised. That’s the theme of our relationship. We figured we might as well keep the surprises coming. Why stop now.”
“I missed you and your sarcasm.”
“Did you really? Thought that was one more thing I did wrong, like falling in love.”
“Falling in love is not the problem. I think choosing the wrong man is.”
“Mother, he’s right for me, I don’t want a yes man, if I wanted that I would have gladly had you pick one for me. He gives me what I need, if I yell there’s a chance he might yell back, if I give him shit he’s going to call me on my bullshit. But I know he loves me unconditionally with all my faults and I love him the same. I’m not apologizing anymore for what I’ve found, love—real love. Not the way you want it to be, not exactly the way I want it to be. The way it’s supposed to be. What it’s supposed to do, make me happy.”
“Cat—” She touches her throat clearly uncomfortable and the doorbell rings.
“Go get it,” I say quickly. “If it’s my cab tell him I’ll be out in twenty minutes or less depending on what you have to say.” She looks at me and my stomach. I run my hand over it and she opens the door. I close my eyes and blow out a breath.
She’s been down there for a while it’s almost time for me to leave if I want to get back to Manhattan before Nick gets home. My legs are starting to cramp from standing, and I know my feet are swelling, I don’t even have to look. I might as well go into my old room where I left my panther necklace that Nick gave me. That’s the other reason I came here. I can’t seem to get the thing whenever I come here. I get it fast because I don’t want to think of the last time I was in there. That was horrible. My time is up, I have to leave. She’s going to have to talk to me over the phone. I need to get back before Nick does. I reach the hallway, my feet touch the first step and I hear her voice behind me, cold and hard as winter. I freeze.
“What the hell are you doing here, you lying cheating bitch?”
This is not happening. I turn with my back to the railing and hold on with my heart in my throat. I try to step up on the landing but she walks up so close to me I can’t.
“I didn’t know you were here, Kate.”
“I bet you didn’t. Good thing Dad asked me to drop something off for him. You thought you were going to come in here and slink back out unscathed? I have a lot of things I want to say to you, little sister.”
“You’re hurt and angry. I didn’t get to say it before, I’m sorry.”
“Shut your filthy lying mouth. You’re not sorry! You’ve taken everything away from me. Look at you. From the moment you came back everything changed, it all shifted. I can’t stand the sight of you. I should be the one pregnant. My baby is supposed to be here now with me.”
“I’m sorry you lost the baby, Kate, I wanted to talk to you but you were so angry. I didn’t want to upset you more. I didn’t want any of this to happen.”
“You wanted him and you took him. You took the life that was supposed to be mine.”
“That’s not what I wanted. You’re talking like you won’t find love again or have kids, you will.”
“That was my second chance. I was pregnant before for Michael, but he didn’t want to have kids. He said he wasn’t ready and we would have more kids one day. Funny how that worked out—he has a baby on the way next month. December must have been a good month for everyone except for me. Nick and my baby we
re my second chance. I didn’t plan it, if that’s what you’re thinking. You want me to be the bad person, I’m not.”
Her voice is getting louder and louder the more she talks. I believe the mere sight of me is driving her mad. Months upon months of pent-up anger toward me is spewing out of her mouth rapidly.
“I didn’t say you were. I’m not accusing you of anything, Kate.”
“It was all ripped away from me—right out of me—for everyone to see. I was left empty with nothing. You took what should be mine, you have it. You’re living with him, you have the baby that should be mine, is he going to marry you next? Where is it, Cat? Where’s the damn ring?”
She makes a move for my fingers. I move my hand away out of her reach and have to grab ahold of the banister again to steady myself on the steps. “Kate, I need you to back up, please! You’re scaring me.” I look down quickly to the side, my back firmly pressed against the railing. If I make the wrong move I could go flying down the stairs head first, and worse, injuring the baby. Oh my God, I can’t believe this is happening. She’s upset so I have to try to stay calm and not rile her up, igniting her fury more than it already is or this isn’t going to end well. I hear my mother scream her name at the bottom of the staircase.
“Kate! What are you doing? Stop this right now.”
“It’s all her fault, Mother, all of it! I hate her, she’s going to get what she deserves.”
“Kate, move back and let her come down,” my mother says in a calm albeit strained uneasy voice. She sounds almost fearful. She sounds the way I feel but I’m more fearful for my baby than myself. I don’t want anything to happen to my baby.
She’s blocking me at the top of the stairs, I’m afraid to make any sudden moves to go down the steps with her so close. I look down at my mother and I can see she’s worried.
“They were always so concerned about you. Poor little Cat, what’s she doing, who’s she with, where’s she at. Poor Cat, forget about me who gives a shit, right! That is until they saw the real you: a lying, manipulating bitch with her legs spread far and wide. You finally showed them you are more than capable of taking care of yourself.”
“Kate, honey, you need to calm yourself and let her come down,” my mother says calmly, her hand griping the banister, her fear clearly evident at this point.
“She took what was supposed to be mine!”
“I didn’t take him from you, he wasn’t yours to take. He wasn’t even mine. He chose to be with me, we chose to be together. If he was yours I wouldn’t have been able to take him.”
“I hate you!” She screams down on me grabbing my left arm off the banister and I scream the same time I hear my mother screaming at her to let me go, her footsteps coming toward me. It’s all happening so fast my heart is frantically beating out of my chest. My other hand loses its grip. I see the wild uncontrollable fury in Kate’s eyes, she’s angry and out of control.
“Kate! I’m sorry, I’m sorry, please. Please let me go, the baby please!” I cry, screaming at her frantically. “Don’t do this please!”
I hear it before I feel it. My mother’s screams, total chaos crashing down around me. Three separate screams that would stop the bravest man dead in his tracks and put the fear of God into the bravest of hearts. I’m weightless, light as air, free-falling when my foot leaves the step and Kate releases my hand. No time to think about anything: not life, not love, not getting back home in time to see Nick, not the precious child I’m carrying.
Nothing but blood-curdling fear gripping my insides making me scream. Not thinking because I’m screaming for it all. Screaming for everything I might lose because of the love of keeping my family together and fixing what’s broken. The imperfect flaws.
Darkness washes over me. All I hear is voices all around me. People talking, yelling, and shouting. Voices I don’t recognize and words I don’t understand. I don’t know what’s going on.
“Please! Save my sister! Please, I didn’t mean it! Cat, wake up please! Open your eyes!”
“Ma’am, please, you have to calm down and let us help her.”
“She’s my daughter.”
“How many months is she?”
“I’m not sure, I...think she might be eight, seven months.”
That’s my mother and Kate, they’re crying. My head. I feel like I’m being pulled back. I’m so weak…please…God…
Nothing. Silent darkness.
Nick
She has to be okay. She has to be okay. I burst through the hospital doors at top speed, heart hammering, passing the elevator and the blur of people. I take the stairs two at a time. The only thought screaming in my head is, the baby and her are fine. This can’t be happening again! God wouldn’t do this to me. He wouldn’t give them to me and take them away, not like this. This could be my nightmare but I’m wide awake this time.
The only person I see is Cat’s mother pacing in the hallway, arms wrapped around her. When I get closer she holds her head up and I see her eyes are red and her face is stained with tears. My heart drops with each step I take toward her. No, I can’t think like this, I won’t think like this. They’re going to be fine. They’re going to be fine. I silently chant in my head willing myself not to think the worst. I don’t know what really happened—all I heard on the phone through her mother’s crying was falling, ambulance, and rushed to the hospital. I left the restaurant without a word to my client slamming on the gas so hard I nearly got into two accidents, people flipping me off and cursing me the entire way. Good thing the old saying a cop is never around when you need one was true today.
“Where is she?” I say to her mother, her eyes bloodshot and red like she’s been crying for days.
“She’s in the room, the nurse is in there with her.” Her voice doesn’t go above a hoarse whisper, she doesn’t look directly at me. She turns and looks behind her. “She’s stable now, she’s not awake yet.”
“And the baby?” I hold my breath not able to hear what she’s going to say next. I think she doesn’t hear me when she doesn’t answer right away and she keeps staring at the door to Cat’s room. I hold her arm and turn her around. Her eyes come up to mine and the tears roll down, my heart seizes up, and I brace myself for the worst.
“I’m sorry?” She holds her hands over her face.
“The baby didn’t make it?” I say unbelievingly, not able to move a muscle. Her head flies up from her hands and she vigorously shakes her head, her words rushing out together.
“No! No! That’s not what I mean, they’re both in stable condition now, you can see for yourself.”
I almost knock her down moving past her to Cat’s room. I stop short in the doorway when I see her in all white, her head bandaged, lying in the bed, her eyes closed. What the hell happened? She was fine, sitting on the bed smiling at me telling me she loved me only a few hours ago. Why and how is she here? The nurse moves to the side and looks up at me.
“Excuse me, sir, are you family?”
“Yes, I’m her boyfriend. Is she and the baby going to be okay?”
“Right now they’re stable. I’ll be back in a few minutes to check on her. If she wakes up try to keep her calm.”
I sit down beside her and take her hand. Sitting closer I can see the faint black-and-blue marks around her eyes and a bruise on her cheek. She looks fragile, I’m afraid to touch her. I lightly brush a finger over her bruised cheek and put my hand on her stomach, my eyes not leaving her face, careful not to touch the wires from the machines she’s hooked up to that are beeping steadily.
“Baby, what happened to you? You’re supposed to be at home waiting for me.”
I can’t stand seeing her lying here like this. I stroke the unbruised side of her cheek with my hand, her eyelids move and slightly open. Her head moves into the palm of my hand and I smile. I love her so much. I can’t talk, I clear my throat and wait for her to open her eyes fully.
“Nick,” she says in a whisper, sounding like her mother.
“Baby
, I’m here.”
“Where am I?”
“You’re in the hospital.”
“The baby?”
She tries to move and the monitors start beeping faster. I press my hand against her cheek to make her look at me. “Shh, the baby’s fine, you’re fine. You have to calm down. Don’t move.”
“Whwhats all that beeping, something’s wrong!”
“If you don’t calm down you’re going to make yourself and the baby sick.” I take her hand and put it over her stomach next to the strap checking the baby’s heartbeat hoping that will calm her down. It seems to work. “See, the baby’s fine, as long as you stay calm and don’t upset yourself. Okay?”
She looks at me and blinks. “Okay.”
“You scared me.”
“I’m scared.”
“You’re going to be in big trouble. Why aren’t you where I left you?” She looks at me and doesn’t say anything, her lips quivering. The last thing I want is for her to start crying and get upset again. “You don’t have to say if it’s going to upset you. I won’t be angry. I don’t want anything to happen to you or the baby.”
“I don’t remember a lot. I was at my parents’ house.”
“Why?”
“I don’t quite remember why. All I know is I was at the top of the steps and Kate was there. She was holding my arm, I think we were struggling and, I have the feeling she was angry, so angry. She was looking down at me, I was scared.”
“I’m here with you.”
“I shouldn’t have gone over there. I put the baby’s life in danger, it would be my fault if something happened to the baby.”
“No, it wouldn’t. The baby is going to be fine.”
“I don’t want anything to happen to the baby. Promise me, Nick.”
“I promise. You need to rest. You’re upsetting yourself and it’s not good. Hold my hand.” I squeeze her hand and she’s crying. I look at the machines when I hear the beeps steadily increasing with each sob leaving her. Oh my God! “Cat!” Her eyes roll back in her head and she’s shaking uncontrollably, the machines go off like crazy pinball machines pinging and beeping. Nurses and doctors rush into the room pushing me out the way and I yell her name. “What’s wrong with her?” A nurse shouts at me to move. So many people are around her I can’t see her. Another nurse steps in front of me blocking me from getting to her.
Imperfections Come To Light (The Imperfection Series Book 2) Page 27
