Chapter 18: Home

In her ninth month Cassandra's baby bump still looked no bigger than a basketball shoved under her shirt.  By all appearances she seemed like a completely happy and cute pregnant woman.  Looks were deceiving; the daily strain on her ligaments caused severe back pain.  Some days she didn't want to move,  though laying or sitting in one spot hurt almost as much. Cassandra visited the spa every day for a prenatal massage to help with the pain.  On one of those days she noticed a new face leaving as she was heading in for her appointment.  Since Cassandra was early and had time to spare she decided to introduce herself and welcome the stranger to town.  The woman introduced herself as Zephyr Sim, who recently moved to town after being hired at the offices.

After her appointment Cassandra went to view the new exhibit at the art museum.  As she walked past the grocery store the fruit display caught her attention.  Contemplating stopping to feed her apple craving Cassandra walked right into a man as she passed by the store.  Horrified by her lack of awareness Cassandra apologized profusely.  Cassandra knew everyone in Sunset Valley but found herself before another new face.  She could tell he was older, though not as old as her parents.  She was captivated by his smile and the way he firmly held her hand as she regained her footing.  His features were rugged yet smooth; a contrast that made Cassandra wonder about the complexity behind the smile framed with a hint of creases and his warm eyes that flashed with intensity as if he could see beyond her exterior and melt her soul.  Cassandra stood mesmerized for a moment before her surroundings jolted her back to her senses.  She released his hand and let out a deluge of explanation and nonsense in an attempt to flee the situation.

He had seen her come around the corner in a hurry but obviously distracted.  Before he could get two words out to warn her, she crashed into him.  He was just glad she didn't fall to the ground after the impact.  As a new resident of Sunset Valley he didn't know anybody and was out taking in the town.  He had spent the first week unpacking and getting settled.  The woman in front of him teetered as she chattered on in embarrassment.  He gently smiled and took her hand again to keep her from walking away before he had a chance to introduce himself and get her name.

As she took a breath, he took the opportunity to get her to relax a little.

"No harm, no foul.  I'm just glad you are not injured.  I'm Don Lothario," he interjected.  "I've recently moved here and haven't really met anyone yet."

"Oh, sorry, my name is Cassandra... Cassandra Goth.  It's nice to meet you and welcome to Sunset Valley."  His soft spoken patience had her flustered.

"I'm actually very pleased to have met you Cassandra.  Your husband has recently hired me at Doo Peas.  I start next week."

"My husband?" questioned Cassandra.  Then it dawned on her, "Oh, you must mean my father Mortimer Goth.  He's my father, not my husband."

Don chided himself for making such an assumption and attempted to make a smooth recovery by offering to escort Cassandra to the art gallery for the afternoon.

Cassandra considered his offer for a moment, "I'd love to but I'm actually meeting my mother before heading over, though I'd love to introduce you to the real Missus Goth.  I could show you around another time if you'd like."

As Bella came out of the grocery store Cassandra waved her over.

"Mom, I'd like you to meet Don Lothario.  He just moved here after dad hired him for the office."

Bella reached out for a handshake, "Hello Mister Lothario, I hope you've been feeling welcomed to our neighborhood.  I can imagine it has been an adjustment."

"It is my pleasure Missus Goth.  The neighbors have been friendly and the neighborhood seems like a great place to raise my son.  I look forward to getting into the office and getting settled."  The Goth women and Don stood around chatting  for a bit before Don excused himself to return home.

Cassandra got a head start to the gallery while Bella arranged for the groceries to be delivered to the manor. For the last week Cassandra had been feeling under the weather but she could not put a finger on what was causing her mood.  Then the day before she seemed to have gotten a burst of energy and was starting to feel more like herself.  Again, Cassandra was feeling kind of off.  Meeting some new people was the bright spot of her day.  While she normally loved the gallery, she couldn't help but to think of heading home afterwards and crawling into bed for the rest of the day.  She hadn't gone more than block before her stomach became hard and the pain stopped her in her tracks.

Bella hailed a cab to take Cassandra to the hospital.  She held Cassandra's hand and started breathing exercises to get through the contractions.  In between contractions Bella called the police station and told Darryl it was time to meet them at the hospital.

Cassandra was doing well in the first three hours of labor but then the baby's heart rate was plummeting dangerously low with each contraction.  Dr. Jolina told Cassandra it was time to get the baby out now and took her to the operating room for a c-section.  Only one person was allowed to go with her.  Looking apologetically at Darryl, Cassandra choose her mother to go with her. 

Cassandra had a couple of extra days in the hospital to recover from the surgery and to make sure the baby was okay.  The baby went to the NICU for the first 24 hours, but was released back to the maternity ward afterwards.  Darryl stayed by the baby's side because Cassandra couldn't make it to the NICU so soon after the surgery.  Bella took some time off of work to take care of Cassandra.  At home she updated the family as best as she could.  Bella told them she suspected Cassandra would bring the baby home, though they were all unprepared because Cassandra had not started to buy any baby stuff since she never made a decision.  While Floramaria was fishing with her dad she told him that she wanted to get things ready for Cassandra and the baby.  Mortimer was proud of his daughter for such a thought and took her out to pick out all the stuff she need.  Then Floramaria got the house ready for her sister to come home.

Cassandra contacted a social worker before her discharge.  Cassandra asked her mom and Darryl to leave while she talked about the baby.  They discussed her option for putting the baby up for adoption.  The social work told Cassandra with frank honesty that the baby would be placed in a foster home until  a suitable family could be found, and that had she contacted them earlier then they could have found an adoptive family during the pregnancy.  Cassandra and the social worker talked for quite sometime before the social worker invited them back into the room.  Cassandra told Darryl and her mother that she intended to bring Betsy home.

Floramaria had to wait two weeks before Cassandra could use stairs and see her surprise.  When Cassandra was ready everyone headed upstairs for the big reveal.  Floramaria led the way, Bella carried Betsy, and Mortimer and Damen helped Cassandra up the stairs.  Floramaria had painted and wallpapered the alcove to match the rest of Cassandra's room since the baby was girl.  She had picked out a crib and swing, put them together and decorated.  Cassandra was overcome with gratitude and since her hormones were still balancing out she burst into tears.  Everyone gathered around and got Cassandra and Betsy settled.

Adjusting to a new baby was exhausting.  Cassandra was familiar with babies because she was the oldest of her siblings but it was different when she actually had to be the one to get up in the middle of the night for feedings and diaper changes.  After several nights of little sleep she held Betsy and cried, wishing she could just drop her off with Darryl for a couple of days.  Then she cried even harder thinking she was an awful mother for having such thoughts.  Cassandra's love for Betsy was growing day by day but the longer she went with little to no sleep the more fragile she felt.

Cassandra and Darryl decided to co-parent Betsy, but since they were not married or together they decided to have everything worked out in a legal document.  They decided to have joint custody while Betsy was a baby and toddler and then shared custody once Betsy became a child.  Since money was not an issue neither of them wanted child support.

Darryl made sure to call every day and visit often after Cassandra finally told him that she was getting overwhelmed with being a mother.  At first Mortimer and Bella did not think it was setting the right example to have Darryl stay the night to help out, but they realized Cassandra needed a break and allowed every once and awhile.

After six weeks Cassandra was set to head back to the offices.  Between her parents' schedules she did not need to hire a nanny for Betsy's care.  On her first morning back to work she hugged her daughter tight thankful she was going to be in the care of her grandparents during the day.  Bella even offered to bring Betsy up to the offices if Cassandra needed her to.  Cassandra kissed her baby girl's soft head and set her back into the crib.  she checked herself in the mirror one last time.  Cassandra was nervous about taking her spot in the offices when they had expected her a year earlier.  She was dismayed when the executive board decided she needed to spend some time in the lower levels for some business experience, but she was going to do what needed to be done to make her grandpapa proud. 

Don had taken Cassandra under her wing at the office since he was hired to hold the Goth interest in the company until Cassandra could take over.  At first they Cassandra and Don were professional with each other but then they started having working lunches at the office.  After awhile they started leaving the office for lunch and though they still discussed work they started to get to know each other personally. Cassandra talked to Don about the past few years and growing up in Sunset Valley.  She discovered he was a widower and single father and that he moved to Sunset Valley after her death.  After one of their business lunches Don asked Cassandra out to dinner, with the rule of no talking about work.  He wanted a date.  Cassandra agreed to join him for dinner.

Cassandra and Don started dating.  Mortimer was not happy about the turn of the relationship but he kept quiet about it.  Cassandra hired Damen to babysit on the evening she went out.  Damen soon became Betsy's favorite person, other than her parents, and Damen got a kick out of his niece.  Of course Damen was getting paid for watching Betsy but she was getting passed around by her aunts and uncles and grandparents.

Bella's elder birthday was there before she knew it.  Her family insisted on catering her birthday but since she was a celebrity chef she really wanted to make her own dishes for everyone.  Bella served lobster thermador, angel food cake, and fruit parfaits in addition to the birthday cake.  Mortimer had invited friends and family from the neighborhood and even Donna attended the party.  The family feuds could not keep the best friends from celebrating together.  Bella looked around at all the people she loved and got ready to blow out the candles on her cake.

Bella became an elder with the party-goers cheering wildly.  Bella was accomplished in her old age.  She had become a celebrity chef, she had a loving husband for all these years, she had five beautiful children, and a gorgeous little grand-daughter.

The party continued well on into the evening.  The guests eventually started to disperse to their homes.  Mortimer and Bella started to clean up from all of the festivities when Mortimer surprised her with a beautiful pink diamond necklace.  Now they were both elders they had new things to think about.  At the top of their list was starting to look into purchasing a new home once all their children had grown.

Jada had missed the party because she was scheduled to work but she rushed home as soon as her shift was over.

"Happy birthday Mom!" she yelled as she ran in the door.  "I'm so sorry for missing your party but I have something to make up for it!"

"My darling Jada thank you the birthday wishes.  It's okay to be at work.  As your mother I'm very proud of how responsible you are."  Bella smiled at her daughter.  "You are growing into such a lovely young lady."

Jada smiled sheepishly, "I got you something anyway.  I've been saving up money and I got a discount, but I bought you a session for a mud facial.  They are amazing!"

Bella hugged her daughter tight then sent her off to do her homework.

Cassandra and Don had become close over the months.  Cassandra was pretty sure she was in love with him.  They hadn't discussed being exclusive with each other but Cassandra had decided fairly quickly that she couldn't date anyone while with Don.  He was everything she could have asked for.  There were times in her head when she worried that he didn't feel the same.  Cassandra couldn't have been more surprised when the were on a stroll in the park after a dinner date when he turned to her and told her that he loved her.  Cassandra felt her heart melt and admitted that she loved him too.

Cassandra and Don sat in the park cuddled on a bench ignoring the brisk night air.  They talked long into the night and early morning.  Sunset Valley was still and quiet in the background.  It was as if they were alone with each other in the world.  Their conversations already included their wants and desires for the present and they were becoming a team to reckoned with in the boardroom.  For the whole night in the park they opened up to one another about their dreams and plans for the future and where they saw themselves in the years to come.

Mortimer had been pissed when Cassandra didn't come home for the entire night the last time she went out.  Bella wasn't as mad but she admonished Cassandra for not calling  to ask Damen if he would watch Betsy for the whole night.  Cassandra confided in her mother her growing feelings for Don and their plans for the future including each other.  Bella was happy for her daughter but cautioned her to take her time and think out her choice before fully committing to something so serious.

Later in the month Don surprised Cassandra with exclusive access to a new exhibit at the art museum.  After they were done viewing the new pieces Don ask Cassandra if she would move in to his house.