The Cast

by Danielle Steel

  She bought the tree and had it delivered, and brought out the same decorations she used every year. She decorated the mantelpiece, and put the wreath on the door. She wrapped the gifts the night before her family arrived. They were coming the morning of Christmas Eve and spending one night, and then Tommy, Maribeth, and the kids were joining Hank in the Caribbean as they always did on Christmas night. Frank and Stephanie had decided to take a belated honeymoon, and were going to Florida to be with Frank’s cousins. And this year, Kait had plans of her own on the night of the twenty-fifth. She had invited the principal members of the cast to her house for a party. Maeve was coming and bringing Agnes. Zack was in town, and she had invited him. Abaya had said she would come and asked if she could bring a date. Charlotte had accepted and said she was ready to pop. Lally and her partner were coming with their baby, who would be three months old on Christmas Day. They had to bring him because Georgina, “Georgie,” was nursing. And Nick was arriving to see her, and she had invited him to stay with her once her kids left on Christmas Day.

  The cast was her second family now, and instead of feeling abandoned when her children left for their vacations, she was expecting a second wave. She was going back to Wyoming with Nick for two weeks, and going skiing in Aspen with him for a week before they came back to New York to go back to work.

  As Kait finished wrapping her gifts for her children, inevitably she thought of Candace, who was going to miss another Christmas with them, and Kait was trying to make her peace with it. She turned off the Christmas music so she didn’t get too nostalgic, and on Christmas Eve morning, when her family arrived, they said the house looked beautiful and the tree was perfect. That night at dinner, they talked about the show again, and the rave reviews it had received. People were already addicted to it, and Maribeth said that all her friends in Dallas watched it and loved it.

  “Season two is even better,” Kait said proudly. “And Nick is in it.”

  “How’s that going?” Tommy asked her, giving her a quizzical look. Nick was the first man he’d seen his mother with for a long time, and it was easy to see they were crazy about each other.

  “We’re having a good time,” she answered primly.

  “Why didn’t you invite him tonight?” he asked. He liked him, and Nick was fun to have around.

  “Because this is family,” she said, thinking of Candace. “I’m having a party for the cast tomorrow night. He’ll be here then.”

  “You left him alone on Christmas?” Stephanie teased her. Marriage was agreeing with her, and she looked happy. They had gotten their house and were moving in after the trip to Florida.

  “He’s spending it with friends. He said he doesn’t mind. I’m going to Wyoming with him for two weeks, and Aspen, before we go back to work. And he still wants you all to come out to his ranch next summer.”

  “Sign me up,” Tommy said enthusiastically, and Stephanie and Frank nodded. And Maribeth was game. “Is it serious, Mom?” her son asked her.

  “I don’t know what that means at my age,” she said honestly. “We’re spending time together. We’re going to work together. We’ll see what happens. He’s a major movie star and likes being a bachelor. And I’m set in my ways. What will happen remains to be seen. You have your own definitions about relationships these days, so do we. Nothing is quite the same as it used to be,” though Tom and Maribeth had a traditional marriage, but Stephanie and Frank didn’t. The doors were open now to create the relationship one wanted.

  “I’m glad you’re having fun, Mom,” Tom said quietly, and a little while later, Kait went to get the cookies and milk ready for Santa with Merrie and Lucie Anne, and the carrots and salt for the reindeer. They loved their rituals and traditions. At midnight she was in her room. Nick called to say good night, and tell her he loved her.

  “Merry Christmas,” she said softly, and wished that he could be with them, but it hadn’t felt right to her, or to him either, especially so soon after losing Candace. Maybe next year. Thanksgiving was meant to include friends. But Christmas was about family and more intimate.

  “Merry Christmas, see you tomorrow,” he said, enjoying the anticipation. He still couldn’t believe his good luck at having found her.

  In the morning, Kait and her children and grandchildren opened their presents, and the children opened their gifts from Santa. And after their traditional leftovers-in-pajamas lunch, they all got dressed and, after much kissing and hugging, left for their other destinations. Instead of feeling bereft as she had for so many years, Kait raced around the apartment, tidying up, throwing away wrapping paper and bits of ribbon, and lighting the lights on the tree. She jumped in the shower, and Nick came over to spend the afternoon with her and brought his suitcase. They made love, and exchanged gifts naked in bed. She had bought him a sturdy Rolex watch he could wear every day. And he had gotten her a gold bracelet, and black alligator cowboy boots that fit her perfectly. They showered and dressed together and at seven-thirty her guests arrived, and she looked glamorous in black velvet pajamas with black satin mules. And he wore a blazer and jeans and his own well-worn alligator boots.

  Charlotte was the first to walk in, and her enormous belly preceded her. Kait thought she had never seen anyone so pregnant.

  She settled uncomfortably onto the couch and reminded Kait of Agnes Gooch in Auntie Mame. “We had a DNA test, it’s not his baby,” she said, referring to the suspected father who had turned out not to be, “so now I don’t know who the baby daddy is,” she said but didn’t seem upset about it, which was definitely an example of new wave motherhood to Kait.

  Maeve and Agnes arrived together, and Maeve said her girls had left that afternoon to go skiing in New Hampshire. Becca was away too and had gone to Mexico. Zack walked in and gave Kait an enormous hug and started talking to Nick, who had been chatting quietly with Maeve.

  “You know, I was very jealous at first when I heard the rumors about you two, if they’re true,” Zack said. “For about five minutes, I thought Kait and I were going to have something when we met last year, but then she wrote the bible and we started working together, and missed the boat by becoming friends.”

  Kait was intrigued to hear it because she had felt an undercurrent initially too, but it had petered out just as quickly, and he was always in L.A. Now he was like a brother to her, a wonderful person to work with, and they were friends.

  “I’m happy to hear you ‘missed that boat,’ ” Nick said with a slightly possessive glance at Kait. “I would have been very upset if you hadn’t missed it.” He looked at them both with relief, and Kait laughed as Nick put an arm around her, staking out his turf just in case Zack needed to be reminded of it.

  Lally and Georgie arrived with a mountain of equipment and their baby sound asleep in his car seat. He looked just like Lally so they knew whose egg had won out, since they had both contributed. And Abaya stunned them all when she walked in with Dan Delaney. She looked more than a little sheepish, and said he had “reformed.” He’d come to Vermont and begged her for another chance, and she’d finally agreed.

  “One slip and he’s out, though,” she said, looking at him sternly, and everybody laughed. It was Christmas and Agnes said that everyone deserved a second chance but no more than that. None of them believed Dan could stick to it, but they wished the best for Abaya. He was off the show now since he’d only been signed for the first season, and the character he played, Anne Wilder’s older son, Bill, was dead now. He said he was auditioning for a part in another series.

  The baby woke up then and Georgie went into Kait’s bedroom to nurse him, while Lally wrestled with the port-a-crib so they could put him down after his feeding.

  Nick helped Kait pour eggnog and serve wine. She had hired the same caterer she had before, and there was a buffet in her dining room, and the same Christmas plates she had used for the family dinner. Everyone was chatting and talking and l
aughing. She put the Christmas music on and Nick smiled at her, and kissed her when they met in the kitchen.

  “Nice party,” he said admiringly. “Beautiful hostess.”

  “Great cast, incredible leading man. Just don’t fall in love with Maeve during your next love scene with her. I think I’m already a little jealous,” she admitted.

  “Good. Because I don’t trust Zack for a second. You’d better stay away from him.” He laughed as he said it.

  “You have nothing to worry about,” she promised.

  “Neither do you,” he said and kissed her again. He could hardly wait for the others to go home so they could make love again. He was having a good time, though, and had come to like the cast he’d be working with, and felt comfortable with them. They were all good people.

  It was after midnight when the guests started leaving. Someone commented that there was more major talent in the room than at the Oscars, and it was true.

  “I hope we win a Golden Globe or Emmy with the show,” Kait said, and Zack said he did too.

  Dan and Abaya were the first to leave, for obvious reasons. They couldn’t keep their hands off each other and had been glued together all night. Maeve took Agnes home. Zack left to go to another party and meet up with his latest girlfriend. And Lally and Georgie were getting the baby ready to leave. Kait had the feeling he had been nursing all night, when Charlotte came out of the bathroom with a towel wrapped around her and a look of panic and astonishment.

  “My water just broke. It’s all over your bathroom. I’m sorry, Kait. What am I supposed to do now?” She looked like she was about to cry, and Lally stared at her in amazement.

  “You don’t know? Didn’t you take any classes?”

  Charlotte shook her head. “I didn’t have time. I’ve been learning my lines since Becca sent me the new scripts. Everybody yelled at me when I missed my lines this season, so I’ve been working on it early this time.”

  “You’re having a baby, you needed to pay attention to that too. Are you having contractions?” Lally asked, as Georgie finally got their baby into his snowsuit and back into his seat and strapped him in. He looked drunk from nursing.

  “I think so. Kind of like really bad cramps, right? I’ve been having them since this morning. I thought it was something I ate last night.”

  “Oh my God, you’re in labor. Call your doctor. Do you have his number with you?”

  “It’s in my phone,” she said and then couldn’t find it. Nick and Kait took the couch apart looking for her phone, and finally found it under a chair. Charlotte was looking more like fourteen than twenty-three, and Kait couldn’t imagine how she had been through this before and knew so little about it, but that was eight years ago and she was just a kid then.

  “Georgie and I can take you to the hospital if you want,” Lally said, trying to be kinder. “I don’t want to take the baby inside, but we can drop you off. Where are you having it?”

  “The birthing center at NYU,” Charlotte said, clutching her enormous belly, which looked like a beach ball under her dress.

  “We’ll take you there on the way to Brooklyn,” Lally said as Charlotte struggled into her coat. She had to sit down before she got it on. Kait had been watching the exchange between them. She couldn’t just let them drop her off alone.

  “I’ll go with you, Charlotte,” Kait said quietly. “Give me your phone, I’ll call your doctor.” All she got was his answering service, but she left Charlotte’s number. “I’ll get my coat,” she said and went to tell the caterer that she was leaving to take one of the guests to the hospital.

  “Was it a problem with the food? Is it an allergy?” He was instantly panicked and Kait pointed at Charlotte, sitting at the edge of a chair, wincing and clutching her belly.

  “I don’t think the food did that to her,” she said, and he looked shocked.

  “She’s having the baby?”

  “Looks that way. Just close the door behind you. I’ll be back soon. And everything was perfect.” She had already paid him before the party.

  As she turned, Nick handed Kait her coat and put on his own. “You’re coming with us?” Kait asked Nick. “You don’t have to.”

  “This is our first baby,” he said seriously. “I’m not letting you go to the hospital alone.” Kait burst out laughing, and they helped Charlotte into the elevator as she leaned on Nick’s arm. Lally and Georgie had already left by then, when Kait said she’d take her. And the doorman got them a taxi. Kait timed Charlotte’s contractions on the way to the hospital. They were regular and two minutes apart. Nick raised an eyebrow with a question. This was all new to him. “We’re cutting it pretty close,” she whispered as Charlotte started moaning and clutching Kait’s arm with every pain.

  “Wow, this is awful,” she said through clenched teeth. “It wasn’t this bad last time…it really hurts like hell.” Kait didn’t want to tell her that this baby was probably bigger. She was huge. “Could we go a little faster?” she said to the driver.

  “Is she gonna have it in my cab?” He glanced at Kait.

  “I hope not,” Kait said, keeping an eye on her. The contractions were a minute and a half apart now, and they were still ten blocks away.

  “Am I going to have to deliver the baby?” Nick asked her. “I played a doctor in a movie once. I was pretty good at it. And I help deliver horses all the time.”

  Charlotte was crying and had screamed with the last pain as the driver ran two red lights, and three minutes later, had them in front of NYU.

  “Get a nurse and a gurney…fast!” she told Nick, and hung out the window to call after him. “Make that a doctor.” An attendant ran out with a wheelchair a minute later. They were parked in front of the ER, and Kait helped get her into the chair, and they sped her inside with Charlotte screaming.

  “It’s coming…it’s coming!” They got her into an examining room, pulled up her dress, and took her underwear off as Kait stood with her. Nick waited outside, and Charlotte let out one long never-ending ear-shattering scream worthy of a horror movie, and the nurse caught the baby girl that slid out from between Charlotte’s legs, and held her up as the baby cried and so did Charlotte. “Oh my God, I thought I was dying,” she said to Kait.

  “You have a beautiful baby girl,” the nurse said to Charlotte, wrapped her in a blanket, and placed her in her mother’s arms as Charlotte looked at her in wonder. “She’s so beautiful,” she whispered. “She looks like me.” With that, two doctors and a nurse ran into the room to examine mother and child, and cut the cord. Kait kissed Charlotte on the forehead and smiled at her.

  “You did a great job.”

  “Thank you for coming with me,” she said, and looked gorgeous despite mascara and tears on her cheeks. Kait nodded and made a quiet exit to find Nick waiting in the hall.

  “My God, that sounded awful.” He looked shaken. Charlotte had screamed like she was being murdered.

  “The baby must weigh nine or ten pounds. Anyway, she did it. God knows who the father is, but she has her little girl. We can go home soon,” Kait said and hugged him. Charlotte was going to call her mother and have her fly in from Southern California, and she’d be fine at the hospital until then.

  Nick was vastly impressed by what he’d seen Kait do that night. She had gone from perfect hostess to labor nurse in the blink of an eye, and nearly midwife. And she laughed when she told him what Charlotte said when she saw her baby, about it being beautiful and looking just like her.

  “That’s about right for an actress. The kid will probably grow up to be an actress too or a serial killer.”

  Kait was still laughing when she looked at him. “This is a little bit like having fifty kids. I used to say I missed my children. I don’t have time to now,” except Candace, “I have a whole cast of them.”

  “You’re a very patient woman, or a born mother or bot
h. Where were you when I still wanted to have kids?”

  “Busy with my own. And don’t ask me to have a baby now. I gave at the office. And we have the cast to deal with.”

  “I don’t want to have a baby, and I never did. I like things the way they are,” he said as he put an arm around her.

  Kait went to say goodbye to Charlotte and admire the baby, who was already at her mother’s breast. Charlotte reminded Kait that she was going to have a boob lift when she stopped nursing.

  When they got to Kait’s apartment, the caterer had left and everything was immaculate. Kait and Nick got undressed and climbed into her bed, exhausted after the emotional night, and she smiled at him.

  “It was a beautiful Christmas, Kait. Even the little bit of it I got to spend with you. I love you.”

  “I love you too,” she whispered as he turned out the light. It had been a beautiful night. For Charlotte too, and her new daughter. She had said she was going to call her Joy. It was the perfect name for a perfect day.

  Chapter 19

  Nick and Kait spent New Year’s Eve at Sam and Jessica Hartley’s New Year’s Eve party that she went to every year, where she had met Zack the year before. Zack was in Sun Valley by then, with a new woman he had met recently. Meeting him had changed Kait’s life. The partygoers were shocked to see her walk in with Nick Brooke. Everyone in the room recognized him. And it was obvious to anyone who saw them that Nick and Kait were a couple. They exuded that quiet, unspoken intimacy that couples have when they get along and are in sync with each other. Jessica whispered to Sam that they looked very much in love.

  Once Sam told everyone at the table that Kait had written the story The Wilder Women was based on, they all told her how much they loved it, and had been glued to it since October.