I woke up disoriented. It took me a moment to realize where I was and that someone was pounding on the door. I got up rubbing my eyes and padded my way over to the door. I opened it to find a miracle on the other side.

Cat was grinning at me. "You know when your fiancé calls you with good news it's usually customary to call her back to find out what it is?" she reproached me in a teasing tone.

I couldn't say anything to overwhelmed at the numerous emotions hitting me upon seeing Cat here I just reached out and crushed her to me.

"Hey, are you okay?" Cat said wrapping her arms around me and somehow sensing I just needed her close. We stood there like this for several minutes, until I felt capable of pulling away.

Cat looked up at me her face full of concern. "What's going on?"

I took her by the hand, to lead her inside and shut the door. I refused to relinquish her hand as I led her over to the sofa. We sat down together and she's staring at me, brows furrowed. Cat stroked the side of my cheek like my mother had when we last sat here together. Cat's eyes were searching.

"Alex?" Cat probed gently.

"I hardly know where to begin," I told her.

"You look like you haven't slept in days." Both hands on my cheeks, she turned my face left and right. "When was the last time you've eaten?"

I shrugged, but then remembered. "When you and I were talking on the phone."

"That's over 8 hours ago. Do you want me to make you something to eat? Where are your mom and Tina? If they're here I'm sure I can make something with enough food for everyone," Cat offered.

I leaned back against the sofa and pulled her with me. Cat didn't fight, she instead snuggled in. "You have me really worried about you, Alex, but I can't help you if you don't tell me what's wrong."

"I know. I just need a moment." Every time my brain tries to answer her questions it shuts down. Like to go through it all again, even just to tell the story, means going through the emotions it may invoke and my brain just won't allow it to happen.

Cat cuddles me up like she would one of her stuffed animals and holds on tight. Which brings a smile to my lips as I kiss the top of her head. "I have the time off from school," she told me. "That was my good news. I'm here until Monday if want me?"

I squeezed her a little tighter. "Your all I've ever wanted, Cat. You have no idea what you being here right now means to me. I'm not sure I'd survive another day without you."

Cat pulled away and gave me a stern look. "Okay, now you have me concerned on several levels."

"I know. I'm sorry. I've just somehow come home and walked into my own personal hell and I don't see a way out."

"There's always a way out. It's picking the right exit that's important," Cat said and she sounded like she spoke from experience and I guess she was with what she had to deal with Dillion going to prison, her dad, and Liam.

I sat up and looked at my phone to see the time. It was now 9:30, there was no getting back to the hospital, as visiting hours were over. Tina would have to wait until the morning for her glasses. Funny how you can get over 3 hours of sleep and still feel exhausted.

"My mom and Tina aren't here. It's just you and me," I told her cautious about how to break it all down in a way that I can say it without falling to pieces.

"Okay, then let me make you something to eat and you can tell me what's been happening as you feel ready. Deal?"

"Do you mind if I make some phone calls first?"

She looked like she thought the question odd but shrugged. "Sure, the kitchen is?"

I pointed her in the right direction. "Thanks." She walked out of the room.

There were a few more things I needed to handle and just that little bit of time with Cat kicked in those brain cells. I called the criminal lawyer again. He never called me back, and left another message. I called the hospital to get the fax number to send over my mother's healthcare information. I asked to be transferred to billing to take care of Tina's bills but I was told I wouldn't be able to reach them until morning.

I called Officer Kenny. "Hello?"

"Officer Kenny, this is Alex Bragin."

"Alex, how are you doing, son?"

"I'm hanging in there. I got to talk to Tina about what happened."

"Yes, I did too."

That surprised me. "You did?"

"Yes, I called her shortly after you left, it would seem."

"So... my mom, is everything... okay?" I didn't know how to formulate the question.

"Ms. Worthington is not pressing charges. She explained what had happened. Your mother had pushed her, but taking into account her mental state at the time, I don't see a need to take this further."

"So, I can bring my mother home when she is released?"

"Yes. Though I would take into serious consideration the evaluation the doctors tell you when you do. She may not be safe on her own, Alex."

I knew he was right. I still had to finish school. There was the company too, I would need to be involved in and Cat. I was starting a family. With so many responsibilities I wasn't sure what to do about my Mom. I wanted to take care of her but at the same time I couldn't help but feel that I was completely unqualified for the job.

"My father has already made arrangement for her in his will. I just don't know if I'm ready to let her go just yet."

I heard him sigh. "Son that choice may already been made for you. You're mother, she's not the woman you know, not anymore. Spend all the time with her that you can but remember her safety needs to come first."

I knew he was right but it felt like turning my back on her. I know I had already done that when everything happened with Aiden. I didn't want to do it to her again, especially now when she needs me the most.

"Thank you, Officer Kenny. I will."

"Take care, Alex."

"Yeah, you too."

I came down the stairs after I faxed the information the hospital required and my nose was assaulted by the most delicious smells. My stomach growled in response.

As I walked into the kitchen I found Cat busy at work. She too moved around the kitchen like she'd been living here forever. She didn't ask me one question the entire time she was cooking on where to find something. Cat smiled at me upon me entering the room and I smiled back.

"You seem quite at home here. Find everything okay?"

"Whoever put this kitchen together is a freakin' genius. Everything is placed exactly where you would logically think it should be. I had everything I needed at my fingertips. Got me thinking of how to reorganize our kitchen when we get home."

I laughed. So maybe Tina and Cat didn't have some sort of superpower I lacked. They just understood the place better than me. Cat beamed at me when I laughed a look of relief flooding her face. I must have her so worried.

"Cat, I'm sorry this whole thing couldn't be happening at a worse time. I so want to be there for you and I feel like I'm failing miserably."

Cat took some baked chicken from the oven and turned off the boiled vegetables before draining them. "Alex, you've got this all wrong. I'm the one that should be here for you. You've been there for me through everything when I felt my life was falling apart. You've been stuck here on your own, dealing with ... well God only knows what but it's evident, I should have been by your side this whole time. No excuses."

She pulled out plates and dished the food upon them. We sat at the kitchen table although such a meal seemed better suited for the dining room table, but I preferred her sitting by my side just like we would at home. Somehow the normalcy of such a small gesture seemed to calm my mind.

Cat and I ate in silence for a little while mostly on my part because I was enjoying the meal. I imagine on her part it was patiently waiting for me to open up to her.

"May I ask some questions now?" Cat asked turning her chair so she could look at me.

I took a deep breath and nodded. "Ask away."

"What's happening with your Father's funeral?"

I was so grateful she started off with the easiest question first. "I've talked with the lawyer. I have the will. My dad's body will be released to the funeral home tomorrow. Once he's there I'll be able to settle the rest of the arrangements. I'm hoping I'll be able to hold services and bury him this weekend."

Cat nodded. "Any way I can help with the arrangements?"

"I don't think so but I haven't really gotten into it yet so, maybe?"

Cat seemed satisfied with my answer and then said, "You said your mother is sick, the kind of sick she won't recover from. Is it cancer?"

Okay this one was harder. "No. Its Alzheimer's."

"Oh, Alex!" Cat reached out and took my hand in hers.

"Yeah, it's come as quite a blow. She's already in the advance stages. Once she thought I was Aiden. She was telling me how much my father loves me and she didn't want me to give up on him."

A tear slid down my cheek, I hadn't realized it until Cat reached up to wipe it way.

"So, where is she now?"

This where it gets a whole lot harder.

"I called home after talking to the lawyer. I wanted to give my mom the good news that we would be able to start making arrangements soon for my dad's burial. She... she didn't remember that he was dead. She left the room and Tina was here with her. I heard a crash and then Tina rushed off the phone."

Cat's eyes widened with surprise. "My God, what happened?!"

"Tina had tried to calm my mother down but got seriously hurt in the process. I came home to discover her being taken out of the house by EMTs unconscious and bleeding. My mother had no recollection of what happened."

Cat appeared stunned by everything I was revealing to her. I guess it did sound a bit like a retelling of some late-night crime show.

"Tina is in the hospital?!"

"She's okay. I've gotten to speak to her. She had to get stitches from the cut from where here head hit a mirror and they'd done an MRI but I don't know what the results are yet."

Cat let out a long slow breath. "And your mom?"

"She had to be taken to the hospital too."

"How did she get hurt?"

"She wasn't...well she was but it was minor. She had to be taken to the psych ward. They are holding her for evaluation. They weren't sure if criminal charges would be pressed and they had to find out if she'd even be competent to stand trial."

Cat eyes darted as she stared at me. I'm guessing this is a lot to take in even if you're just hearing what had happened. It's a lot to process for anyone.

"She's not going to go to jail is she?"

"Thankfully, no. That's one of the phone calls I needed to make while you prepared dinner. Tina isn't pressing charges so they will release my mom to me when they are through with her evaluation. Only now I'll have decided whether or not I'm capable of caring for her or if I need to let her go. My father's made arrangement as a home that deals with people with Alzheimer's and Dementia, so she'd be taken care of, I just don't know if..." I choked back my tears and Cat pulled me into her embrace.

She pulled away only slightly, "We will figure this out, together. I'll stand by any decision you make. You're not in this alone. Okay?" Cat said her palms holding my cheeks as she stared into my eyes so I can see and feel the truth of her words.

"Cat, I'm scared," I admitted.

"Of what?"

"That I'm in over my head. That I'm going to screw this all up. That I'm going to lose everything. I've already lost so much. I don't think I take anymore."

Cat drew me towards her and kissed my lips. The kiss was brief before she pulled away and she leaned her forehead against mine. "You can do this. We can do this," she corrected. "You just have to remember, one step at a time."

I wound my arms around her and pulled her close. I'm so grateful to have her in my life. Just having her near is a salve to my wounded heart. "You said you were freed up until Monday? Can you stay here with me?"

Cat smiles. "My bag is in my car. I didn't want to just assume."

"I need you. I need you here with me," I reassured her.

"Then I'm all yours," Cat said.

We finished our meal and cleaned up the dishes together. I got her bag from the car and showed her around my house. We settled in my room together.

I came back from the bathroom ready for bed and found Cat snuggling with the stuffed toy I had bought her that she left behind. She was listening to the baby's heartbeat and her eyes met mine.

"I should have never left," Cat said playing with one of the furry ears on the kitten.

"I was so mad at you. The thought that you could so easily walk away, but I was so wrong it wasn't easy."

"No, it was the hardest decision I ever had to make until recently."

"I'm sorry."

"It's not your fault, Cat. Liam and his father should have never put us in that position. It's obvious they both hate to lose but the threat was real and I couldn't stand between you and the baby being together, even though it would kill me to lose you."

"That's just the thing, Alex. You have that much strength, yet you doubt yourself and your abilities. A man that can do what you did for me, and do anything."

I sat beside her and took the toy from her hands. "Cat, a loss is loss. It doesn't matter if it's for the right reason, the wrong reason or for no reason at all."

"What do you mean?"

"I'm not... strong enough to take this many blows. I left you because it felt like the right reason. I didn't want you to lose your baby to Liam and his father, but it killed me to think I wouldn't be a part of your life anymore. I left my parents because I thought it was the right thing to do, to take a stand and show Aidan he's loved, but I've lost Aidan, my dad, and now my mom. Aidan's death was completely senseless and I lost so much time living because of it. I can't get any of them back nor the time that I lost with them."

"No, that's true. Had your life not taken those twists and turns we may have never met. I've learned life is under no obligation to take care of you, Alex, but it will give you what you need. If, you're open to accepting it."

I put the stuffed toy aside. "I'm concerned about my sleeping here tonight, Cat. My dreams, they've gotten worse under all this pressure. I had my first episode in the middle of the day when I almost caused Tina to crash her car when she took me to the phone store. I'm scared I may hurt you."

"Let's just wait and see how this goes before we start worrying about what might happen. If you start thrashing about, I promise I'll not try and wake you. I'll leave the room and go sleep downstairs, but if what normally has happened, happens then my being here may help you sleep, and you need your sleep, Alex. So, don't turn me away, okay?"

"Okay."

We get under the covers and she snuggles in. Cat kisses my cheek and I stroked her hair as her head settled on my chest. "Sweet dreams, Alex."

I kissed the top of her head. My whole body relaxed having her near. "Sweet dreams, Tiger. I love you."

"I love you, too."