Blame it on the Stars (The Blame Game) (24 page)

“
Shit, I thought we were going tomorrow!” Nick complained.

Craig shook his head
. “Sorry. They need us for pre-tour interviews and a media blitz. We’ve got to take off tonight to get it all done.”

Nick wrapped his arms around Catlin.
“I’m glad we had last night, then.”

She smiled
. Was his comment for Craig’s benefit, to make it sound like they’d had a romantic evening? She wasn’t sure, but knew things would be easier once they were gone. She sucked in a breath and tried to be affectionate. “Yeah. Last night was great.” She still felt a little nauseous, and wasn’t sure it was because of the baby.

They spent the day packing Nick and Craig for the tour, and
Chris to go to Marshall. They closed down the house, and by nightfall everyone was ready to go. A taxi picked up Nick and Craig to go to the airport. Nick hugged Chris, and then Catlin. “I’ll call you when I can. Take care of each other.”

“
Bye,” she told him “Have a great trip.”

She hugged Craig, and the
y took off. Catlin looked at her son. “Let’s go home.”

He hugged her, and they squeezed into
the Jaguar, loaded down with Christmas presents and Chris’s stuff.

He fell asleep once they hit the highway. Catlin turned the radio on low, and
glanced over at her son. Thoughts flooded her mind. She was glad Nick was gone for now. It’d give her a chance to get over Steve and get acquainted with Chris.

Nick
will be gone for three months
. She’d be pretty big when he got back. What kind of a relationship would they have? She needed to get used to the idea of this new life.

She left
Chris sleeping in the car when she got home, and unloaded just what they’d need that night. The first thing she noticed when she walked in were two keys lying on her kitchen table. She looked around, and saw lots of her things. She realized they were the things she had left at Steve’s. She looked to see if there was a note, but there was nothing.

She would have to take him his things.
She
would write a note.

But when she started looking around, she realized Steve had taken his things. She ran to her closet and threw the door open. His clothes were gone, but for the one sweater. It was there, by itself, in the middle of the
partially empty closet. She touched it, smelled it, and moved it to the back. Far enough back that she didn’t have to see it every day, but she would always know it was there.

Catlin turned down the bed sheets on the twin bed she had squeezed into the front room. It wasn
’t ideal, but it would work until she found a bigger place. She went out to her car, and woke Chris. “We’re home, honey. Come inside.”

The sleepy boy let her lead him in
to his bed, and he fell into it. She pulled off his shoes, and covered him up. It was late, that would have to do for tonight. She shut the lights off and went to bed.

Tired as she was, she couldn
’t sleep.

She made breakfast for
Chris the next morning, and told him they were going to church. He didn’t argue, just asked what he should wear. Catlin helped him pick out some clothes, and went to get dressed herself. Once again, she found herself dressing for Steve instead of the Lord. She picked out the sexiest dress she could get away with in church, and put it on. She laughed to herself all the way there.

Catlin saw his BMW parked on the stre
et. She parked a few cars away. “Come on, son. Looks like we’re late.”

She led
Chris into the back of the church, where mass was just beginning. Catlin peered through the crying children windows to see if she could spot Steve. He and his whole family were sitting in their usual section. Catlin looked around some more and spotted Jim and Jetta a few rows in front of Steve. There were empty seats next to them.
Perfect!

She removed her coat and carried it over her arm. Pulling
Chris with the other hand, she whispered, “Come on, honey.” They headed down the aisle. Catlin put a little extra swing in her hips. They got to the Craft’s row and stopped.

“
Hey!” Jetta smiled up at her friend, and nudged Jim to scoot down.

Catlin moved in next to them. She kept her arm around
Chris, sitting on the end.

“
What are you dressed for, the Oscars?” Jetta whispered to Catlin.

“
The Naughtons,” Catlin answered, and Jetta looked at her.

Jim leaned over
to them. “Shh!” He caught a glimpse of the ring Catlin was wearing, and lifted her hand. “What in the world?”

Jetta
’s eyes popped out.

Catlin shook her head
. “I’ll tell you later.”

The mass went on, and when it was time to shake hands with the people around them, Catlin found herself looking back at Steve. He looked tired and grouchy.
That made Catlin happy.

After mass, she sent Jim to find out what had happened to the Naughton
’s ski trip.

Jim said
, “I’ll go, but first I want an explanation about that ring. We need details, woman.”

“
Well,” Catlin inhaled “Chris’s father and I got married after Christmas.”

Jetta
’s mouth dropped open, and she sat back down in her seat.

“
Oh, Jetta, Jimmy, this is my son Chris. Chris, these are my best friends Jetta and Jim Craft.”

“
Hi, kiddo.” Jetta smiled at him.

“
Hi,” Chris said shyly.

“
Well, hello.” Jim shook hands with Chris. “How are you?”

Chris
nodded. “Fine.”

“
That’s some haircut you got there.” Jim ran a hand over the spiked top.

Catlin realized how long it had gotten in back, while she hadn
’t been paying attention.

“
It’s just like my dad’s,” Chris replied with a touch of defensiveness.

Catlin said
, “I was thinking a trim might be in order. Boys in Marshall don’t usually wear their hair that long.”

Chris
looked at her. “I’ll think about it.”

She
hugged him sideways. “You do that. She looked at Jim. “Ski trip?”

He rolled his eyes
. “Be right back.” He exited, and Catlin slipped on her coat. “Man, its cold in here.”

Jetta started to comment about Catlin
’s dress, when Jim returned.

He
grinned. “This is
so
seventh grade. Steve says that dress is not appropriate for church. And they’re leaving today for the ski trip. They’ll be back Saturday. If you want to know anything else, he’s sitting out front in his car.”

“
Hmpff.” Catlin rolled her eyes.

Jim smiled at Jetta.
“See, this is all going to work out. They just need a little more time.”

“
And two divorces,” she reminded him.

He scratched his head.
“Oh, yeah.”

About an hour after they got home from church, Catlin received a phone call.

“
Hey, honey, it’s Jimmy.”

“
Hi!” she answered “What’s up?”

“
I think I made a mistake. I just wanted to let you know.”

“
What, Jimmy?”

“
Well, Steve called. He was pumping me for information about you, the same way you were.”

“
Really?” Catlin was surprised.

“
I told him, I’m all for getting you two back together, but if you’re both going to be married to other people, I don’t see much chance of that happening.”

“
Oh shit. You told him that?”

“
Yeah,” Jim admitted. “Sorry.”

“
What did he say?”

“
He wanted to know what I meant, so I told him you got married to Chris’s father. Our conversation ended shortly after that. He sounded pissed.”

Catlin swallowed
. “Oh well. He was going to find out when school starts anyway. I’m using my married name now.”

“
Oh, you are? Well, what the hell is it?”

“
Prescott. Catlin Prescott.” She smiled at her son.

“
Okay, I’ll pass that along to interested parties.”

“
You’re the best, you know?”

“
Yeah, I know. See you.”

“
Bye.” She hung up, and faced her son. “Well, shall we see if we can fill up this dresser I got for you? Try to empty a few of these suitcases?”

“
I think we should hook up the Nintendo.” Chris smiled hopefully.

She laughed.
“Ah, now I’ve got a bribe going for me. After we get everything else unpacked, then we’ll hook up the Nintendo.”

“
Ohh!” Chris moaned, but the unpacking went really fast.

Chapter Sixteen

Catlin and
Chris had a full week together before school started up again. They rang in the New Year with pizza and videos. She convinced him to cut his hair, it still reached his shoulders in back, but she thought it looked better with layers. They talked with Nick and Craig a couple times on the phone; the band was in New York, getting ready to head to London for their first stop.

The Monday that school started up again, Catlin walked
Chris to the fourth grade room in the elementary school at St. Joseph’s. It was across the street from her school, and Chris would walk to her classroom when he was dismissed. He was happy and didn’t seem nervous, which made Catlin glad, because she was very nervous, for him, and herself.

Her first stop in her building was to speak with Frank.

“Miss McCall. How are you? How were your holidays?” Frank motioned her into his office.

“
Fine. How about yourself?”

“
Very good. Kids got spoiled rotten by Santa and all that jazz. You know how it is.”

She sat down.
“Actually, this year I do, Frank. Have you got just a moment? I need to tell you something.”

“
Of course.”

“
Well,” she started “I got married over the holidays.”

“
No fooling? That’s wonderful! I knew you two were a match, I could just tell—”

“
Frank,” she interrupted him. “I married an old boyfriend from home, Nick Prescott.”

“
Oh.” Frank’s face fell. He tried to recover, and smiled quickly. “That’s nice. I’m sorry Catlin, I just thought you and Steve—well, you know.”

“
I know. But Steve’s wife is back. Apparently they are together again.”

“
No!” Frank face registered true surprise.

“
Yes. And there’s one more thing I need to tell you. My husband and I have a son. Nick’s been raising him, but he’s living with me now. I enrolled him across the street. I thought you should know.”

The surprised expression lingered
. “All right. Thank you for telling me. My, you did have a busy holiday, didn’t you?”

She laughed, and shook his hand.
“Yes I did. It’ll be good to come back to school and get some rest.”

In her classroom, Catlin wrote in big letters on the board
, “Mrs. Prescott.” When the yearbook staff reported for first hour, she noticed Dana was absent. She made some holiday small talk, then told the students, “I guess I should tell you, I got married over vacation. My name is now Mrs. Prescott.”

Clint fell back, like an arrow had been shot through his heart.

She smiled at him. “You’re young, you’ll recover.”

He frowned.
“You’ll always be the ‘Divine Miss M’ to me.” He looked around to make sure no one else was listening. “I sort of figured the new last name would be Naughton. This is a surprise.”

“
To lots of people,” Catlin replied flippantly. “Apparently Mrs. Naughton wasn’t through with her husband. Dana’s mother is back in the picture. Didn’t she tell you?”

“
No.” Clint shook his head. “I mean, we were finally starting to be friends again, when right before Christmas she became surly as hell. I figured she was going through something at home, so I’ve given her some space.”

Catlin nodded.
“We all were.” She looked around the room “Any idea where she is?”

Clint shook his head.

“Oh well. Better get cracking. There are new winter dance pictures back there to work with.”

“
Yes, ma’am.” He nodded and got busy.

Catlin made her name change speech for each of her classes. She now had David Naughton in her American Literature class third hour, and she hoped he wouldn
’t cause any problems.

She
was passing out novels to the class, when she heard David mutter to several boys around him. “She thinks she’s so frickin’ hot.”

One of the other boys said
, “Have you seen her car? Now that is hot.”

David
snorted. “It’s no big deal. She better be careful, though. Bad things can happen to cars in the school parking lot.”

Catlin slapped David
’s copy of the novel down on his desk in front of him. Her eyes met his. “Nothing bad has happened to it
yet
. I guess if something does, Mrs. Craft’s husband and the rest of the police department will know where to start asking questions.”

David
gazed at her innocently and shrugged.

Sh
e walked back up to the front of the room, hating the angry feeling he gave her. For just a moment, she wondered how they would make it through the semester.

Dana was in her English class, but she wouldn
’t look at Catlin. She talked out loud to her friends when Catlin turned away, and was generally obnoxious. Catlin’s head started to pound.

The bright spot of her day was when
Chris walked through her door at three-fifteen.

“
Hey!” She smiled at him. “So, how was it?”

“
It was great!” He sat down to tell her about his classes and a couple new friends he made.

Relief washed over her as he bubbled on an on.
Oh, to be nine years old again
. When life was good—or at least, a lot less complicated.

After they talked and Catlin finished a lesson plan, they gathered their things and walked to the parking lot.

“What sounds good for dinner?” she asked as she unlocked the car doors.

“
Pizza!” Chris grinned.

“
We can’t eat pizza every night.” She drove home.

“
Maybe just this once, to celebrate the first day of school?”

S
he relented. “Pizza it is. Remember where the coupons are?”

He nodded, and when they got home, he ran for them.

Catlin looked around the crowded living room and sighed. “I’m sorry this place is so small, honey. I wish you had a real room.”

Chris
shrugged. “I like it. I can play Nintendo from my bed. And you can’t send me to my room!”

She laughed
. “Like I would have to. You’re such a great kid, you know?”

Chris
hugged her. “I love you, Mom. I’m so glad to be living here with you.”

Catlin looked at him. It was the first time he had told her
‘I love you’. Tears welled up in her eyes as she hugged him tightly and whispered, “I love you, too, baby, very much.”

Catlin was cautiously optimistic the next day, when David was quiet and civil in her class. She intended to treat him like anybody else. She hoped he would show her the same respect.

Dana missed yearbook again, but came to English.
When Catlin asked why she had missed, Dana replied, “My mom phoned me in as excused.”

Catlin didn
’t press the subject, but wondered where it was heading.

The week ended peacefully, and Catlin and
Chris spent a quiet weekend at home. It snowed, and they built a snowman. Catlin decided it might be easier to concentrate if they went to mass Saturday night, so they did. She felt content, happy, and she felt well, because her morning sickness was finally gone. Nick called from England, Chris was happy to talk to him. Catlin was counting her blessings when she climbed into bed Sunday night.

Monday morning, there seemed to be a buzz going through the school. Catlin was earlier these days, since she had to get
Chris around, too. Before first hour, she stopped in the lounge for her soda.

“
Hey.” She smiled at Jetta, and headed for the pop machine.

Jetta looked at her.
“Lifestyles of the rich and famous.”

“
What?”

Jetta toss
ed a magazine on the table.

Catlin looked down at
it and saw her own face staring back at her. She set down her soda and picked up the issue of People. It was their wedding picture, with her, Nick and Chris smiling for the camera. She read the caption.

JINGLE BELL ROCK— The Wave drummer Nick Prescott kept busy over his Christmas vacation. He married Catlin McCall, younger sister of lead singer Craig McCall, in a private ceremony held in Kansas City. The pair were high school sweethearts in their hometown of Kincaid, Kansas. They have one son, Christian, and word has it another child is on the way. The Wave leaves this week for a ninety day tour abroad, which will encompass over seventy cities.

Catlin’s heart sank. “Oh my God!” She stared at the photo. Craig was the only one with a camera.
How did People Magazine get this picture?

Jetta said softly
, “Were you going to tell me, or just start to show?”

Catlin s
ank into a chair next to her friend. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I just didn’t know how to tell you.”

“
Why?” Jetta smiled sadly. “Because I can’t get pregnant, and you can’t
not
get pregnant?”

Catlin
looked down sheepishly. “I feel so stupid. It’s not like we didn’t use protection. I don’t know what happened.”

“At least things are becoming clearer for me now. I know Steve joked about not wanting more kids, but don’t tell me he didn’t want the baby?”

Catlin shook her head.
“It’s Nick’s baby. My husband and I are having a baby.”

Jetta nodded
. “Just keep telling yourself that, sweetheart, and maybe you’ll start to believe it. But I won’t. And Steve won’t. Don’t tell me Steve
doesn’t know
about the baby?”

Catlin looked at the magazine.
“I guess he does now.”

“
Catlin!” Jetta hollered at her in a hushed voice. “How could you not tell him? What were you thinking?” Jetta stopped. “Oh, God. That’s why you were so sick.”

Catlin nodded.
“I tried to tell him. The day I went to see him and his wife was there. I just couldn’t.”

Jetta stood up.
“Well, I can. This is ridiculous!”

“
No!” Catlin stood up and faced her. “Jetta, you have to promise me to stay out of this. I’m handling things the best way I know how. I’ll be lucky if I don’t lose my job. I just have to get through this semester, and then I’ll take some time off.”

“
Steve would want to know!” Jetta insisted.

Catlin got in her face.
“Jetta Craft, I love you like a sister, but I swear to God. If you tell Steve anything about my baby, I may never speak to you again.”

Jetta stared at Catlin for a moment,
then walked out with saying a word.

Frank stuck his head in the lounge.
“Oh Mrs. Prescott? May I have a word with you, please?”

“
Shit!” Catlin threw the magazine down on the table and followed Frank into his office. “I’m sorry, Frank. I don’t know how this happened.”

“
What, the pregnancy or the picture?”

She had to smile at that.
“I know how the pregnancy happened,” she told him. “Dumb stupid luck. I could be their poster child.”

“
Catlin, the school board will have fits over this. When are you due?”

“
September,” the lie rolled off her tongue. “I was hoping to keep this under wraps a little longer. I know I won’t be able to come back next year, but I’d really like to finish this semester.”

“
This is a touchy issue in a Catholic school. You’re one of my best teachers, and I’ll go to bat for you. But I’m not sure what even I can do when this hits the fan.”

“
The thing is, no one can prove I was pregnant before I got married. The wedding was in December, and the baby is due nine months later. I really don’t see how someone can cause trouble about that.”

He jotted down a few notes.
“That’s your story and you’re sticking to it?”

She gave him a look.
“That’s my official statement.”

He studied her for a moment, then nodded.
“I think you’ll be okay. We’ll handle what comes together.”

“
Thanks, Frank. I appreciate it.”

She turned to leave.

“What does Steve say about the baby?”

Catlin looked
back at him. “It’s not Steve’s concern. My husband and I are very happy.”

“
Understood.” Frank looked skeptical, but let it drop.

Catlin walked through the lounge to gather her things. Her mind
raced as she went to her classroom. No one in yearbook mentioned the magazine or the baby. No one in David’s American Lit. class mentioned it either. She made it through her other classes and was starting to relax when Dana’s English class started. Dana wasn’t there. Catlin went to the board and started writing the day’s lesson.