Blame it on the Stars (The Blame Game) (23 page)

“
No way!” Nick seemed surprised.

She
looked at him dully.

He
shook his head, barely suppressing a chuckle. “Why didn’t you say something when you got here? We should have confronted him about this.”

“
We took care of it.” Craig puffed on his smoke. “Chris was trying to get his parents back together. Catlin handled it.”

“Okay.” Nick nodded. “Good. So where does this leave Steve?”

She sighed again.
“Steve gave up on me rather easily. I’m afraid he’s not the person I thought he was. He welcomed his wife back into his home, and they are getting ready for a lovely Christmas.”

“
That sucks.”

“
Yeah,” she agreed. “It really does.”

“
So,” Nick said, “What are you going to do now that you’ve got a kid on the way and no husband in sight?”

She coughed and choked on that one.
“Gee, that was subtle. Well, I guess I’ll stay home and live on welfare and child support. I certainly won’t have a job when I start to show.”

He
grinned. “So is that what you want, welfare and child support?”

“
Have you got any other suggestions? I’m open to hearing them.”

“
As a matter of fact, I do. Why don’t you marry me?”

She laughed out loud.
“Yeah, sure. Let’s do the Time Warp again,” she sang.

His expression remained stoic.
“I’m not joking. It might be a marriage of convenience, but it certainly would solve your problem.”

She
stared at him. “You’re serious?”

Nick nodded.

She looked at Craig.

Craig nodded.

Catlin laughed. “Why would you want to marry me? Wouldn’t that cut down on your action, so to speak?”

Nick
grinned. “Not necessarily. I mean, I’ll give you some creative control over the situation. If you’re interested, we could have a real relationship. If it’s too soon or you just don’t want to go down that path again, we could have what they call an ‘open’ marriage.”

Catlin tried to wrap her mind around what Nick
told her. “Again, I have to ask, why? Why would you consider such a thing?”

“
Well, for Chris, of course. He could finally have the family he’s always wanted. Plus, it solves your little problem. We get married, you announce you’re pregnant in a month or so, what can they say?”

“
If they do they math, they can say plenty. The doctor says I’m due in June. That means I was pregnant before we got married.”

“
So.” Nick shrugged. “You fib on the date a little. Tell them you’re due in September. You finish out the school year. The baby is early. By that time, who cares? You take the next year or so off with the kid....”

Craig spoke up
. “Sounds plausible to me.”

She nodded
thoughtfully, her mind spinning. “I guess it would solve my problem. But I don’t know.” She’d never let herself think about her wedding to Steve, but in the back of her mind she envisioned herself in a beautiful, sexy dress with lots of flowers and her friends around her. This seemed so...
not
what she had hoped for.

“
You can think about it,” Nick was saying to her. “But there is one other thing. You’ll never have to be on welfare. I’ll make sure you’re taken care of, whether you marry me or not.”

She smiled
gratefully.

Craig said
, “That jackass in Marshall has more than enough money to take care of you, too. You’ll want to hit him up for major child support.”

Catlin shook her head.
“No. Steve can’t know about the baby. I don’t need that in my life, for damn sure.”

Craig chuckled as he puffed his smoke.
“Didn’t you say you teach his kids? I think they might realize you’re getting fat.”

She
shot him a look. “Didn’t you say
one
smoke? That’s about three, I think.”

Craig
waggled his brows.

Catlin looked at Nick
. “So, if I marry you, do we have to take him on our honeymoon?” She pointed her thumb at her brother.

Nick smiled.
“Will there be a honeymoon? That sounds too delicious to be true.”

Catlin
laughed. “We’ll see about the honeymoon. But I guess I accept. It sure would make my life easier.”

“
Yeah!” Nick jumped up and high-fived Craig, and then dropped down on to the sofa next to Catlin. “You’ve made me very happy. And I’m going to make you very happy.” He put his head on her shoulder and looked so much like a little boy, she had to laugh.

She said
, “So, how shall we do this? When shall we do this?”

Craig spoke up
, “Monday, you two go get your marriage license. There’s a three-day waiting period before you can get married. Tuesday night’s Christmas Eve, we’ll celebrate Christmas. Thursday you can get yourself ready, and Friday you tie the knot. Chris and I can stand up for you.”

Catlin looked at him.
“Too bad you haven’t given this any thought,” she said sarcastically.

H
e nodded. “It’s going to be perfect.”

Catlin wrung her hands nervously.
“What about your parents, Nick? Don’t they want to see you and Chris for Christmas?”

“
We had an early Christmas with them. I didn’t think you’d want to spend a lot of time with
Ramona
.”

She laughed
. “Or maybe she didn’t want to spend time with me?”

Nick
waved his hands in the air and shrugged.

Craig
puffed away.

Their first Christmas together was as wonderful as Catlin could have imagined. Chris was thrilled with all his gifts, and having his parents together. It was only in the evenings, when Catlin was alone in her room, that she let herself think about Steve. She cried herself to sleep every night.

The day after Christmas,
Craig announced, “I’m taking you shopping. We’ll get you something beautiful to wear for the ceremony.”

Catlin shook her head.
“It’s a Justice of the Peace. I don’t have to wear anything fancy.”

Nick touched her chin.
“Yes, you do. I am, anyway. So you might want to keep up.”

She
grinned. “What are you wearing?”

“
I’m not telling. Just let Craig buy you something special.”

Catlin agreed, a
nd she and Craig found a long pink strapless dress with layers of ruffles that fell from the waist to the floor. It had a sheer, long sleeved jacket that made it just perfect for the cooler weather.

“
This is it.” Craig nodded. “You look amazing in ruffles.”

They found a pink headband that matched, and they made her an appointment the next day to have her hair styled and a manicure. She changed into her pink dress, and the girls in the shop helped her primp.

She was feeling very pampered and beautiful when Craig picked her up.

“
Look at you!” She smiled at Craig in a tux. “You look fantastic!” He had his hair pulled back slickly into a ponytail. “Where are your curls?” she teased.

“
I didn’t want to look too much like you today.” He grinned. He drove her to the courthouse, where she expected to be married in some dingy little office. But right next to the courthouse there was a small park, and Catlin was surprised to see Nick, Chris and the judge there.

Her heart melted seeing
Nick and Chris in tuxes matching Craig’s. She had to wipe at her eyes to keep the tears in. It was cold, but the sun was shining so it didn’t feel too bad. Catlin and Craig joined the others, and Nick smiled at her.

“
You look beautiful.”

“
So do you.” She hugged Chris. “So do you, my handsome guy!”

Chris
beamed. “You’re the best looking mom I’ve ever seen.”

“
Thank you.”

Nick
introduced her. “Catlin, this is Judge Green.”

“
Hello.” She smiled again.

T
he judge said, “I second your son’s opinion. It’s a pleasure to meet you.” He shook her hand. “Shall we get started?”

Nick handed Catlin a bouquet of flowers, and she
fought back tears. He’d thought of everything.

The judge started the ceremony, and when he got to the part about the rings, Catlin made a face at Nick. She
hadn’t
thought about rings since she’d given the teardrop back to Steve.

Nick reached in his pocket. He pulled out a large round diamond ring with a thin silver wedding band attached to it.

Catlin gasped at how huge it was. The stone was much bigger than teardrop diamond. “Oh Nick, you shouldn’t have!”

“
Shh.” He slipped it on her finger. He handed her his plain silver band, so she could place it on him.

The judge said
, “You may kiss the bride,” and Nick smiled. He reached for Catlin and drew her into a soft kiss. They both jumped when they were grabbed around their waists by Chris, who was beaming from ear to ear, hugging his parents.

“
Pictures!” Craig called out, and they posed for some shots that Craig snapped. They thanked the judge, and gathered their things. “Chris,” Craig said. “You’re coming with me, bud. Mom and Dad are going on their honeymoon.”

Catlin looked at Nick in surprise.
“What?”

He
shrugged. “Just one night at the Plaza.”

She
suddenly felt nervous.

“
Don’t worry,” he whispered, and kissed the side of her head. “No strings. Just dinner, relaxing, quiet. It’ll be fine.”

Craig handed her keys to Nick.
“Your suitcases are in the car. Have fun, and we’ll see you tomorrow.”

Catlin hugged her son, then her brother.
“Thank you,” she told Craig.

He touched her cheek
. “You deserve to be happy.”

As she got into her car she wondered why she felt so lousy.
Deep down she knew why, but she wouldn’t let herself think about Steve.

Their hotel room was beautiful, with flowers, champagne, and sparkling grape juice for her. Catlin changed into jeans and a sweater, as did Nick. She looked at him.
“I feel like a teenager again. But I just keep thinking, what now?”

He smiled.
“How about dinner? I ordered room service. It should be here at six.”

She nodded.
“I could eat.” She looked at the ring on her finger. “Holy crap, Nick. You must have spent a bundle on this ring.”

He laughed.
“Half a bundle, maybe.”

She waved it around in front of her face.
“I guess I can pawn it if I get desperate.”

“
Hey,” he scolded her. “You’re never going to be desperate again. You’re my wife now, and we have money.”

She laughed as she sat down and kicked her feet up.
“We never used to have money. We had to sneak into the movies half the time.”

“
Nah.” He waved his hand at her. “We had money. I just liked to sneak in because it was sexier. Doing it in the balcony was twice as dangerous if you didn’t even have a ticket.”

Catlin laughed again.
“Dangerous, your middle name.”

There was a knock at their door, and
the room service waiter brought in dinner. They ate steak and shrimp, two of Catlin’s favorites. She was feeling comfortable and happy when dinner was over, and Nick dimmed the lights.

“
What are you doing?” She was nervous again.

“
Just going to put on some music and relax,” he informed her.

“
Cool.” She leaned back and snuggled into the sofa.

They sat quietly for a while, it was peaceful and relaxing.

“
I’m sorry,” she finally whispered.

“
I told you, no strings. Unfortunately, the honeymoon suite only has one bed. I can ride the sofa.”

“
Or I can. It’s pretty big.”

He shoved her shoulder lightly.
“Take the bed. I mean it.”

“
Thanks Nick. You’ve been a stand-up guy about all of this. I can’t tell you how much I appreciate it.”

“
I know.” He winked.

When they arrived home the next day, Craig informed them of a change in plans. The band would be leaving that day for New York.