-Joe's POV-
As she left the kitchen I felt as if Cee had kicked me in the stomach, I could tell she was hurting and needed to talk but I knew that after our little come to Jesus meeting at school I was probably the last person she wanted to talk to. I immediately dialed Nick who practically blew me off telling me he would be home soon but that he and Cat were still 'working things out' ...I am going to kill him, how dare he blow things up at home and then just leave me to deal with the wreckage. Hanging up with a frustrated sigh I quickly dialed Kevin, it took him only minutes to arrive.
"Hey man, what's up?" Kevin questioned as he entered the kitchen, his face worried.
"Cat is pregnant" I said simply. Kevin's mouth dropped and his eyes widened in shock.
"Shit..."
"Yea...and that's not all," I said nodding in agreement, "Cee knows, she is really upset, I asked her if she wanted to talk about it she said 'What's there to talk about? She is pregnant, he is going to move...I'm used to people leaving by now.'" Kevin's face contorted at Cee's words and I could tell he got that same 'kicked in the gut' feeling. "Can you talk to her? I really laid into her today at school for her attitude so I am pretty much the last person she wants to talk to right now."
"ME? Where is Nick? This is his mess, he should have to clean it up." Kevin spat sounding slightly childish.
"He is off working things out with Cat," I explained, "They are fighting...which is what Cee walked in on apparently."
Kevin ran a hand through his hair in frustration, "Yea, ok...I'll go talk to her" he conceded, "I am going to kill Nick."
-Kevin's POV-
Walking upstairs, I tried running through my mind what exactly I was going to say to her but kept coming up empty. I took a deep breath before knocking on her door. I heard a tired 'come in' before twisting the handle and walking through. "Hey."
She looked up at me before shaking her head. "I called that one . . ."
"What one?" I asked taking a seat on her desk chair.
Pushing herself up into a sitting position, she shrugged. "Figured Nick would still be gone and Joe wouldn't know what to say to me since he handed my butt to me earlier so of course they would call you to come clean up the mess."
"Cee, I know you're upset ..."
"Don't pretend to know how I feel . . . you have your own family that you can go home to every night. It's just me living with two brothers who obviously have their own lives and it's a struggle to find where exactly I fit in." I shot her sad eyes as the guilt rose in my throat making it hard to swallow. "It's fine...that's what brothers are supposed to do, they are supposed to grow up and start their own families and only see eachother on holidays. It just really sucks because you guys are all I have." She threw herself back down on the bed in obvious frustration, her eyes wet with tears.
I sighed realizing just how much she was hurting. "It's not fine, not when it hurts you like this. Nick has a lot of explaining to do but I guarantee you he will be here for you just as much as he always has been, moving or not."
"What? Like you are?" Cee sneered, "Kevin, beyond family dinner nights, the only time I see you outside of school is when the boys call you over to hand out a punishment or a lecture when they can't handle me. Nick's time outside of school will be consumed with his REAL baby...he isn't going to have time for me, I'm going to be pushed aside just like I was when the girls were born. It's fine . . . I'm used to it."
Her words hurt, mostly because a lot of what she said I knew to be true. She gave me a faint smile before a few tears streaked down her cheeks and she quickly wiped them away with the back of her hand. "I'm not going to lie and tell you things aren't going to change because they will, that is life; I can however tell you that one of those changes will be my involvement in your life. You're right, I haven't been around much and I am so sorry, that will change I promise. The issues you have with Nick and this new baby will have to be discussed with him, however, being a dad I can offer a bit of wisdom on the subject of babies."
"And what wisdom is that oh wise procreator," she teased.
I smiled, "When Maddie was born, I remember thinking how crazy it was that I could love someone so much I just met...my love for her was almost too much to handle, like my heart might explode...so when Dani got pregnant with Ellie I got scared."
"Scared? Why?" Cee asked cocking a brow in confusion.
"I was worried that I wouldn't be able to love the new baby as much as I did Maddie...I mean, she already consumed 100% of my heart, to the point where I felt it might burst...but when Ellie was born I loved her just as much. My heart simply grew to accommodate and I know when this new baby comes it will do the same. You and Nick have always been very close, for as long as I can remember you have had this special bond that none of us could touch and this new baby isn't going to change that...this baby will not replace you...do you understand what I am trying to say?"
Cee shrugged "I guess so..."
"Good, now what can I do to make you happy again?" I asked cocking a brow in her direction.
Shaking her head, she curled up in her bed. "I don't want to be happy...I wanna pout."
"Well too bad baby girl...I was sent up here to fix you and that is what I intend to do...you can participate willingly or by force...your choice." She made no attempt to move. "Alright, by force it is." I said scooping her up from the bed and throwing her over my shoulder before walking out of her room.
"PAUL KEVIN JONAS PUT ME DOWN!" she squealed trying unsuccessfully to stifle a fit of giggles as she beat her fists jokingly against my back as we descended the stairs.
"What's all the racket?" Nick asked walking in from the direction of his room, his mood clearly foul. "Kev put her down."
Putting her on her feet, I smirked at him. "She wouldn't get happy so I had to revert to other methods."
"Well she doesn't need to be squealing through the house like a banshee." Nick growled.
Cee frowned. "I'm not in the mood for this," She said before running upstairs.
"Way to go ass," I spat looking at my younger brother before looking upstairs. "I finally had her in a good mood and you just had to go and ruin it. I did you a favor dude, you made quite a mess of things and I was here trying to do damage control."
Nick put his hands up. "It's not like we were intentionally trying to get pregnant."
"Well, clearly you weren't actively trying NOT to get pregnant either." I countered. "Don't even try to defend your irresponsible behavior to me, which is something we will talk about at length later, your concern right now should be Cee and the fact that she is feeling abandoned. You are helping raise her Nicholas, your actions don't just effect you, they affect her as well, so maybe you should lose your attitude, stop overlooking her bad behavior because you feel guilty, man up and be the authority figure you are supposed to be."
Chapter End Notes:
It's Mother's Day and I couldnt help but have my little Ubers on my mind, a present for you. In other news...Kevin just handed Nicholas his ass with a bright red bow...
PLEASE VOTE VOTE VOTE your little hearts out ubers!!! XOXO!