Stealing Cinderella's Crown

October 26, 2010

"Come on, come on , come on. I'm gonna be late for my piano recital." Cat was hopping around nervously. She hated being late.

"Hold on Princess, Janet has to get your sister ready, plus she has been feeling sick lately." William calmly explained to his 10 year old. "You don't want to get your pretty dress wrinkled, now do you."

"No Daddy, I've just been practicing really hard. You never hear me though, because you are not here during the day." 

William looked down, it was true, he had never heard his daughter play, he only heard his wife complain about how bad his daughter was. He wasn't around for his daughter anymore, he couldn't be- he had to work, plus his house was stressful, he couldn't spend time there and work effectively. 

"Let's go, where are the boys ?"

"Already in the car." He helped Cat into the car.  Sammi was in her car seat, but no one had buckled her in. He did that quickly then got into the passenger side, Janet came out a few minutes later.  They drove all the way to the church where the recital was being held. The girls watched a Disney movie while the boys were on their DSs. 

When they finally got to the Auditorium, Cat was so excited, because this was her first recital.

She sat patiently with the other students until she heard her teacher say, "Next up is Catherine Montgomery playing Ode to Joy and fur Elise.

Cat walked up to the stage sat down making sure she was sitting at the end of the bench just like she had practiced. She kept her eyes in front of her as if she had music and played both songs without any mistakes. She made sure to play the correct tempo and not speed up. When she was finished she stood up slowly and faced the audience. She looked down at her feet while saying in her head did I tie my shoes today. She then stood back up and walked to sit with the other kids who had finished their songs. When everyone had finished her teacher stood up in front of the audience and announced it was time for the awards. Cat waited patiently and it paid off.

"And now the last award of the night best overall pupil, and the award goes to Catherine Montgomery- who showed up every lesson with a smile on her face and didn't give up when she could have." 

Cat was so excited that she ran up to her teacher and gave her the biggest hug. Her Dad had gotten her a bouquet of pink roses. Janet was directing everyone to stand in certain ways so she could get pictures.  

" Cat hold your trophy up. Samantha look over here baby girl. Cat you did such an amazing job we are so proud of you. Where do you want to go to eat?"

"I want to go to Mike's, I really want a shake."

"Ok then princess ,that is where we will go." The whole family piled into the car and drove to Mike's.

They ordered and before they could start eating, Janet said, "I have a surprise..."

"Is it for me?" Cat interrupted.

" No Cat, not everything is about you. You need to learn this because there is gonna be another baby soon."

Everyone, including William, were shocked. Everyone in the family knew that they hated each other. The boys were old enough to know how a baby was made and their parents never did that. Cat didn't know the specifics, but her teachers had told her that babies were made when two parents loved each other very much and her parents didn't.

William's eyes widened and a frown settled on his face. Dammit he thought, they had been careful. And it only happened once in the past year. He didn't want another baby. He already had 4 children. He looked around at his children, Jason was talking excitedly to his mom, Steven was staring down at his lap, trying to disappear. Samantha was asleep in her stroller. Cat was rubbing her eyes and you could see the tiny tears roll down her face.  She was wiping them so no one would see. Another day that was supposed to be about her was ruined.