Liz stood up and glared at Cat. "YOU DID WHAT?" she screamed.
"We went to Vegas and got married," Cat said, leaning toward Justin. He wrapped an arm around her.
Liz plopped back in her seat. "Why the hell did you do that?' She thought of something. "Please tell me you aren't pregnant."
"If I was when we went to Vegas, you'd all know. So no I'm not."
"We went to Vegas because neither of us wanted a huge wedding with a whole bunch of fuss," Justin said. Liz and Lex glared at him.
Chris turned to Joey. "Didn't you go so nothing like this would happen?" he asked.
Joey held up his hands. "I was given a plane ticket and told to the board the plane. I didn't know."
"What about when they announced the flight? I'm sure the person said where it was to," Lance said.
Joey looked at Justin nd Cat. "Okay, I did. But I couldn't stop them. It would have been like trying to stop the sun from rising." I'm sure they'll understand why I couldn't lie, he thought.
"When are you going to announce your marriage?" JC asked, trying to move the subject to a safer one. Not that it was safer; Cat and Justin hadn't even told the media they were dating, or engaged.
"We figured we wait until after the honeymoon," Justin said. They were going on a cruise in the Aegean Sea, then touring Europe. They'd be gone for six weeks. Justin explained that to everyone.
"You might want to announce it before you go; otherwise the tabloids will start rumors, along the lines of 'Secret Affair between Justin Timberlake and Cat Hallbrooke,' or something like that," Lance said.
"We'll see," Justin replied.
"You're going to announce your wedding as soon as possible," Liz said. "I can just picture the tabloids, if they see the two of you together. 'Famous author, Cat Hallbrooke, and N'Sync Justin Timberlake, entering his house. Fans wonder, what's going on?' Your names will be dragged through the dirt."
"We'll talk to our publicist and see what she says," Justin supplied.
Liz and Lex were still in shock. Liz looked at Cat. "Tomorrow, you're coming over and we're going to talk."
"I was going to go shopping. We're leaving in four days."
"Fine, we'll go shopping, but you still have explaining to do."
Cat shrugged. "Fine with me."
~~~~~~~~ Early February 2007 ~~~~~~~~ Late one night
The phone rang. And rang. And rang. it rang 8 times, stopped for a minute. Then it started to ring once again.
"God, can't people take a hint?" Cat mumbled. She reached over Justin, who was dead asleep, and picked up the phone.
"Took you long enough," Joey said.
"Joey, it's two in the fucking morning. I just went to bed. Why did you call?"
"Lex is in labor."
"That's...... What?..... She's in labor?" Cat sat up. "Is she going to the hospital?'
"Yeah, her and Lance are on their way. Chris and Liz have already left. I'm leaving in a few minutes.
"Okay. I'll get Justin up and we'll head over. See you later."
After hanging up with Joey, Cat shook Justin. "Justin, wake up. We've got to go to the hospital."
"Why?" Justin mumbled.
"Lex is in labor."
"Oh." justin sat up. "Is she okay?"
"I don't know. Joey called. Lex and Lance left for the hospital a few minutes ago."
"Okay. Let's go then." He hopped off the bed and headed out of the room.
Cat started laughing. "You might want to get dressed first," she called.
Justin walked back in the room; he was dressed in boxers. "Yeah, that would be smart."
They went to the hospital, everyone else was there. Lance was pacing the waiting room, a total wreck.
12 hours later, Lex gave birth to twins- a boy and a girl, named Brian Scott Bass and Bethany Serena Bass.
"I shouldn't have let her pick out the names," Lance said , looking at his son and daughter. Everyone laughed.
~~~~~~~~ Middle of March ~~~~~~~
Cat, Lex, and Liz were at Lex's house. The guys were at the studio, Liz didn't want to be by herself, and Cat wanted to visit Lex and the babies.
"Even though pregnancy will be torture for me, I want to have a baby," Cat said. She was rocking Bethany.
"No, you don't. It's hell," Liz said. She was due in a week.
"Yes, I do."
"Why would pregnancy be torture for you?" Lex asked. "Ti wasn't that bad for me."
"My mom, her mom, her mom, and every other woman on that side has gone through terrible pregnancies. My mom couldn't keep anything down for the first three months; she didn't have morning sickness- it was all day sickness. And she went through 36 hours of labor and a C-section."
Liz shuddered. "I feel sorry for he. If her pregnancy was that bad, why do you want to have a child?"
"Yeah, why? You never did before. You always said you weren't having any kids," Liz said.
Cat smiled. "I wasn't in love then,"Three days later, Cat and Justin were again rushing to the hospital in the middle of the night. Liz was in labor.
Liz's labor wasn't as bad as Lex's. It only lasted 10 hours. Liz also had twins, a boy and a girl. She named them Destiny Elexis Kirkpatrick and Alexander Christopher Kirkpatrick.
She was being released three days later, a Monday. Cat had a doctor's appointment that day at two, so Cat decided to go up to Liz's room after her appointment.
Cat walked into Liz's room. The doctor knew she was there, and promised to call the room when all the results came back. Lex was in the room, and her and Cat spent the next 45 minutes talking. Liz was drowsy and cat-napping.
At 4:30, the phone rang. Liz answered it.
"Hello," she said.
"Yes, can I talk to Cat Timberlake?" Cat's doctor asked.
"Hold on." Liz handed the phone to Cat.
"Hello," Cat said.
"Mrs. Timberlake, I have your results here. Congratulations, you're pregnant."
"Oh, fuck," Cat whispered, her hand flying to her mouth.
"Yes, that's what caused it," the doctor laughed.
"Very funny."
The doctor quit laughing. ""I'm writing your prescriptions and will leave them with my secretary. Pick them up before you leave. And, because of your family history, please follow my directions."
"Okay." Cat handed the phone back to Liz, who hung it up.
Lex was staring at her. "Anything wrong?" she , worried. Cat a glazed look in her eyes.
Lex's question brought her out of her shock. "Oh fuck," she whispered once again.
"Yeah, that's probably what you and Justin do all the time," Liz said.
"We will continue to do that for the next six months or so, but after that, not for another four," Cat replied, hinting at what the doctor had just told her.
Liz didn't catch on. Lex looked at Cat for a long minute, thinking. Then she exclaimed, "You're pregnant?"
Cat nodded her head, a huge smile on her face. She wanted a baby so badly. And so did Justin, which was why they'd quit using protection.
Liz heard Lex and opened her eyes to see Cat nodding her head.
"Oh my God," Lex gasped. she hugged Cat. "Congratulations. I'm so happy for you."
"Catherine Alexandria Hallbrooke Timberlake, you're what?" Liz exclaimed.
"Don't use my full name. I'm pregnant."
"Catherine, I don't have to stop using your full name. And if you have any huge complications, I'm gonna kill Justin."
"Kill Justin? Why?" Chris asked, walking in the room.
"Cat's pregnant," Lex answered. Justin walked in just as she said it.
Chapter Eighteen