"Awe, damn it, Cat. I'm sorry. I didn't mean to startle you," Liam says, taking her phone from her hand and cringing at the state of it. "I'll buy you a new one."

Cat snatches it back and shoves it in her pocket. "Don't bother. I'll fix it myself."

"Please, Cat. I really didn't mean to..."

"What Liam? You really didn't mean to what? Startle me? Cause me to break my phone? Ruined my relationship with Alex? Throw me aside like I'm yesterday's garbage. What?"

Of all the things she spat at him, one stood out in his mind. "Ruined your relationship with Alex? You're not with him anymore?"

"Don't act so surprised. Isn't that what you were after with your little macho display on the golf course?"

"You know Cat, you could take some responsibility for some of this shit," Liam says annoyed. Cat always had a way of getting under his skin like no one else he knew could.

"What?!"

"Why didn't you tell me you got engaged to him? Do you know how many times I see you throughout the day? Never once did I see a ring. You didn't say a word to anyone about you being engaged, where it could get back to me. How did you expect me to react when your Father throws Alex in my face as the perfect son-in-law?"

Cat's eyes dart back and forth as she tries to take in this new information. Liam is all ego. That would have been quite a blow. Then she realizes he is playing her again. Wanting her to feel sorry for him.

"Like it would have made a difference when you found out. You LIED to me. You said you'd get rid of those pictures of Alex. I deleted them from your phone. I kept my part of the deal and you then deliberately get them back? Don't act the innocent victim now. You were planning this all along!"

Liam ran his fingers through his hair. "I wasn't. I didn't... look, it's not like you're making it out to be."

"Oh, really. So Alex and I can be together and you will not try to take this baby from me?" When Cat says this, she pulls her shirt tighter as she ran her fingers protectively over her stomach and for the first time Liam can see the telltale baby bump.

The sight of her really pregnant snaps something inside his head. She keeps it so well hidden that it is easy to ignore the reality that she is carrying his baby. His baby...

"Cat?"

Cat watched as an array of emotions flicker across Liam's face: anger, jealousy, frustration but then he looks... lost. He stumbles back a bit and sits down in one of the porch chairs. Reality suddenly takes the fight out of him. Cat cautiously approaches and takes a seat across from him.

"Liam?"

"All this time, I've been fixated on the fact that you left me because of him. I couldn't get over that you could move on so easily when we've been together for years. You didn't even give me the chance to do the right thing. You know me. You know I'd screw this up at first. I'm not good with sort of crap, but you were gone. Everything I knew, everything I loved, disappeared in an instant. Like I meant nothing to you... ever."

"That's not true! I loved you for as long as I knew you, but our troubles started way before this baby," Cat says touching her stomach, drawing his eyes to it. "Long before Alex showed up."

His eyes flew upward to meet hers. "If that's true, then why didn't you stay? Why didn't you try to fix it? Why didn't you fight for us?"

"Because there wasn't an us to fight for."

"How can you say that? I love you! I've never stopped," Liam's voice rises as he declares it.

"You left me long before now. All those girls..."

"Didn't mean a thing," he interjects.

"To you... they didn't mean a thing - to you. But to me each story I heard, each girl who came up bragging to me how she made out with you, each time I had to explain to my friends why I stayed with you even though it was obvious you didn't care about me anymore just dug the knife a little deeper. Hurt me a little more. Eventually, I had to stop caring, if only to self preserve my sanity. We were together, but we were so far apart. And then I discovered I was pregnant, with our child and you wanted me to abort this baby."

Cat wraps her arms around her middle protectively. "I could never let that happen. I wish I could make you understand, but the moment I'd seen this baby on the ultrasound, heard its heartbeat... You were asking me to do something I couldn't possibly do."

Cat cries, and Liam stands up, crossing the short distance between them and kneels at her feet. He reaches out hesitantly, pulling her into his embrace. "I knew you were pulling away from me for a long time. I don't know why I started with those girls. The first time I was just too drunk to care, but then I kept it going because..."

He pulls away from Cat slightly. "Because I guess I knew it hurt you. I was just feeling like you didn't care about me anymore. And this was the only way I could get you to respond to me, even if it was in a totally negative way."

Cat wipes the tears from her eyes. "Guess we both screwed things up, then."

Liam smiles slightly, taking Cat's hands in his. "But it's not too late to fix them. We can still have it all. I'll step up. I'll be a good dad, a good husband. I promise I'll never stray again. Cat, we can be a family, you, the baby, and me. Please, give me another chance? I promise not to let you down."

Oooh, this was harder than she thought it would be. She had to do this right. "Liam," Cat pulls her hands away. "I'm sorry things didn't work out between us, and that I hurt you but..."

"You don't love me anymore?" Liam finishes for her, feeling like such a fool.

Cat reaches out and touches his face. "I'll always love you, but I want to be with Alex. He makes me... happy. He loves me so much that he left me because of your threat. He didn't want me to lose the baby because of him."

Liam looks away. He still feels angry that she replaced him so easily. It's been months and he can't stop thinking about her. It isn't fair.

Cat turns Liam's face back to look at her. "That doesn't mean you can't still be a part of my life, the baby's life. You can still be a good dad, we can still be a family."

"What sense is there to that if I don't have you?"

Liam stands up, and Cat did too. "So what happens now?"

Liam shrugs. "I don't know. I have to think about it." He turns to walk away but Cat stops him by grabbing a hold of his hand. "Are you still going to fight me for custody? Are you still going take this baby from me?"

"I can't stand the thought of him with you, touching you, kissing you. Its maddening, Cat. All my life I knew one thing for certain. That it was going to Cat and Liam, Liam and Cat, forever. You were the only thing I could count on. Now..."

"You can still count on me," Cat says, feeling panicked.

"You just don't get it. He gets everything and I'm just supposed to be okay with that? Well, I'm not, Cat. I'm not okay with that at all. I can't stop you from loving him, but I got a real problem with my kid being raised with him as a father."

"Then do what you said you were going to do and step up!" Cat fears morph back into anger. "You have a choice to be a part of this child's life, it's up to you if you take advantage of that."

"And what, the kid lives with you and him and now I'm some sort of every other weekend dad?"

"I would never keep this baby from you, Liam."

"You wouldn't but are you so sure Alex would feel the same? Am I to let him or her grow up in a household where Alex can talk trash about me? Turn my kid against me like he did you."

"Hold up, one minute there. Alex didn't turn me against you. You did that all on your own."

"Yeah, right? You keep telling yourself that, Cat. But there is one simple truth, if you never met Alex, you would have come back to me. We would have worked things out and been together. Instead, he comes off like some knight in shining armor and I'm some sort of beast. I'm not a bad guy, Cat, and I'm a little tired of being made to feel that way."

"Well, if you're trying to convince me of that, you doing a shitty job of it. You messed around with all those girls..."

"I didn't sleep with any of them."

"And that somehow supposed to make it alright? I tell you I'm pregnant and you don't even believe me?"

"You were on the pill! Of course, I'd think it was a prank."

"But you when figured out the truth, your first instinct is for me to throw this baby's life away."

"We weren't ready to be parents. Hell, we still aren't ready, but since your going through with this, I guess neither of us has a choice about it."

"You started rumors around school that the baby isn't yours. You'd rather believe people think I'm some sort of slut who sleeps around then face the truth."

"You shacked up with Alex the day you told me about the baby. What do you expect from me?"

"You knew I wasn't sleeping with him at the time!"

"And that makes it all right. Because of him, you forgot all about me. You didn't even try to make things better."

"Oh, and you did?"

"I called you over that first night to fix things, but you got violently ill."

"You were drunk texting me."

"I came by the fundraiser to talk only to find you with him!"

"You caused a scene that landed me in the hospital."

"I came back with your dad so we could talk things through on winter break."

"You came back with my Dad because you didn't want to tell him the truth about us."

"I said nothing because I didn't know what you may have told him. Then your brother started with me."

"Which landed me back in the hospital."

"HEY! Because of Alex, you got beaten up, and almost sexually assaulted! Do you have any idea what seeing those pictures did to me? When I thought Alex beat you up, I was coming over to make him eat pavement because I wanted to protect you!"

"But then you learned the truth."

"Yes, and I helped you spread that truth about him all throughout school, even though I HATE the guy."

"Only because you were getting something out of it. Only because I agreed to help you sort out your life."

"I could have figured it out on my own. I wanted more time with you. I was desperate. I wanted a way in. I'd do anything to get you back."

"Evidently since you tried to take advantage and kissed me right in front of him!"

"I didn't know he was going to walk in right then! And because he did, you stopped talking to me altogether. Did he put you up to that? Did he say he didn't want you hanging around me anymore?"

"No! Even though he'd have every right to. That was my choice. Damn it, Liam. I'm not your enemy!"

"No, what you are not is my girlfriend, my lover, or hell even my friend. Okay, I'll admit, I screwed up but so did you and you made me into a villain, Cat. And that's not me. I've thought about you every day since the day that you left. How long did you think about me before you jumped in Alex's bed?"

"I didn't just jump into bed with Alex."

"Only because you thought he was gay."

Cat couldn't deny that she wouldn't have been with Alex sooner if she knew he was straight. She had feelings for him way before they ever even kissed. Was she painting Liam as the villain in her story? Was the truth really that she was tired of their relationship and wanted out but was too scared to walk away? Did she really use this baby as an excuse to disappear and not look back?

Cat feels a wave of dizziness hit her. Liam immediately reaches out to steady her. Shit, he did it again. He picks her up in his arms like she's a feather and sits her back down on one of the padded porch chairs.

"You okay?"

"Just a little dizzy."

"Do you want me to call someone? Do you need to go to the emergency room?"

"No, I just need a moment to calm down."

Liam nods and takes a seat across from her. 

"Cat, I didn't come here to argue with you. In fact, I came here to let you know I was sorry about what happened at the golf course, and that I wasn't going to fight you for custody. I do want custody, joint custody, fifty-fifty, or whatever works out best for the kid." 

"It's a hell of a life to force him or her to live. It would be better if we... but you've made it quite clear that's not going to happen. But your having this baby, so that means I'm going to be a dad whether or not I'm ready for it. I just don't want this baby hating me before they even have a chance to get to know me."

Cat still felt drained, and sighed, "Why do you think the baby would hate you?"

"Oh, I don't know. Maybe because Alex hates me, your brother hates me, William hates me, Olivia hates me, your parents definitely don't like me anymore, and neither do you. So you tell me what's this kid going to hear about his dad? I'm going to have to spend their entire life trying to counteract what everyone else is saying."

"I wouldn't let that happen."

Liam smirks in a sardonic way. "It's cute that you think you can stop that from happening."

Cat hates to admit Liam has a point. "Come with me to my next appointment?"

This is not what he expects her to say. "What?"

"I have to go to an ultrasound and an echocardiogram. It's a big deal. They've discovered that there is only one artery instead of two going through the umbilical cord. Which means the baby could be in danger."

"In danger?" Liam sits up straight, suddenly alarmed. "How much danger?"

"It's a small percentage, but the tests can help narrow that down."

"What could go wrong?" Liam asks not liking this turn of events, not liking it one bit.

"Congestive heart failure, kidney issues just to name a few."

"Is there any risk for you?" Liam asks his face full of concern.

"I should be okay unless, of course, something happens to the baby. Then I would so not be okay."

"Why do you keep getting dizzy and passing out?"

"It's called preeclampsia when my blood pressure rises its bad for me and the baby."

"What will stop it?"

"Best treatment is delivery. I have to deliver by C-section."

"C-section?"

"Surgery."

Liam ran his fingers through his hair. This is a lot to take in. "Wouldn't you rather Alex be with you?"

Cat refuses to lie. "Yes, but thanks to you he thinks I'm better off without him."

"And you are," Liam says, and Cat gives him a 'Really?' face, and he chuckles.

"But he also is away right now because he has a family issue he needs to handle. So are you in or out?"

Alex is out of town. Cat is offering to spend time with him alone. It is an opportunity too good to pass up.

"I'm in."