Well, this is After The Storm! If you've read Ten Long Years, you already have a good idea what this is about. If you haven't, go read it. Go on, I'll wait.

Done? Everyone all caught up? Good, here we go!

DISCLAIMER: If I owned Victorious, I'd be hanging out with the cast or taking a money bath, instead of sitting home alone on a beautiful day, writing fanfiction. Seriously.

"Okay, are you ready?"

Cat Oliver-Valentine squealed happily, her hands flying up to her blindfold again. Her husband, Beck Oliver, pulled her hands down. "Ah-ah-ah! No peeking!" he said. She squealed again, putting a hand on her protruding stomach to calm herself. "What is it? Where are we? Where are the girls?" she asked rapidly. Beck only laughed, took her hand, and led her farther inside.

"Stairs coming up," he said gently, guiding her up them. "Beck, are we in a house?" she asked curiously. He grinned. "I'm not telling you anything," he said smugly. He turned her around, opened a door, and led her inside.

"Okay…stop," he said. She stopped, putting another hand on her stomach. "Take off the blindfold," Beck instructed. Cat quickly tore it off and gasped instantly. "Oh, Beck!" she said in wonderment. He smiled and walked over to her. "You like it?" he asked. She hugged him. "Oh, I love it! It's perfect!" she said with a squeal.

Beck smiled, happy she liked it. He'd spent three weeks on it and the rest of the house, making it perfect in an attempt to cheer her up. He'd noticed that as Cat's stomach got bigger, she got sadder. He assumed that it had to do with what was now referred to between the group as "The Robbie Troubles". He wanted her to really feel like the new house was a new start.

Cat smiled again, walking over to the crib set up carefully in a corner. She looked up, and saw a mobile of family pictures. "Beck, it's so magical," she breathed, touching it lightly. Beck smiled.

"Nerina and Cadie were my little helpers," he said. "They wanted to make it special for their little brother." Cat laughed. "They did wonderfully," she said, walking to the drawers and touching the baby blue walls gently. The sunlight bounced off of the walls, making everything look brighter.

Beck followed her, relishing in her every smile. After a thorough inspection, she turned to Beck. "You are amazing," she said with a grin as bright as the sun. He put his hands on her stomach. "Anything for my little man," he said happily. She kissed him happily.

"I love you," he said, kissing the top of her head. She smiled. "Forever and always," she promised. Suddenly Cat's face twisted into one of great discomfort. She pulled away from Beck and leaned against the wall, panting heavily. Beck rushed over to her in concern. She waved him away. "I'm fine," she snapped.

Beck's eyebrows knit together concernedly. He knew that pregnancies were really hard for Cat-her tiny size made it difficult to have babies in the first place. To add to that problem, the doctors had told her that her new baby was sideways in her stomach. He couldn't imagine the pain she was going through, and it killed him when he couldn't help.

"Are you sure?" he asked. She nodded, still frowning. "Every time he kicks, he kicks really close to my spine," she said with a little sigh. Beck hugged her tightly, and she hugged him back. "You know he doesn't mean to hurt you," Beck said softly. "And the doctors said with any luck, he'll turn right side up in a month or two."

Cat sighed. "I know, it's just…lately I've been feeling so sad. I don't know what's wrong," she confessed. Beck kissed her. "It'll be fine," he said. "This is just like before." He took her hands in his and put her hand on her stomach.

"We've done this twice already-we're pros, remember?" he said. Cat smiled softly. "You're right, Beck, as always," she said with a little laugh. Beck smiled and knelt down to kiss Cat's stomach.

"We'll be fine, babe," he assured her as they left the new nursery. "We're fine."

BATBATBAT

Across town, Jade West was frowning down at a seating chart. Adjusting her reading glasses, she made a slash through something with her pencil. Next to her, her fiancée looked over at the chart. "Who are you moving?" he asked curiously.

"You can't have your college roommate next to my college roommate! They know the most embarrassing things about us! What if they team up to humiliate us?" Jade fretted.

He just laughed at her. Jade snarled and hit him with the heavy seating chart. "Ow!" he complained. "Why?" She put the chart down with a huff. "This is important stuff, Jared! Pay attention-we're getting married in a week and a half!"

Jared held up his hands in defeat. "All right! Let's go over it one more time," he said charitably. Jade took a deep breath. "Okay," she began. "At the Sweetheart Table, you and I are in the center, obviously. Then Cat is on my left, and Luke is on your right. Next to Cat are our moms, and next to Luke are our fathers."

Jared nodded. "Got it," he said with a thumbs up. Jade smiled. "We can go over the rest later," she said, standing. "Where are you going?" Jared asked. "I thought we were going to have lunch with my parents today." Jade sighed, taking off her reading glasses.

"Jared, you know I can't. I told you weeks ago, I'm meeting Cat to get the alterations done on her dress," she said in exasperation. Jared frowned, trying to remember. "Are you sure?" he asked. Jade kissed his nose.

"I'm sure, babe," she said. He nodded. "If you say so. Have fun with Cat, and tell her I can't wait to meet her," he said. Jade smiled as she walked out the door. "Will do!" she called behind her.

Alone, Jared groaned and pulled out his cellphone.

"Hey, mom? So Jade might not be joining us today…"

BATBATBAT

"So whose dress am I altering today?" the seamstress asked, her eyes focused on another bride in a too-big dress. Jade stood next to her, politely smiling at the other eight brides while trying to get the woman's attention. "My maid of honor," Jade said.

The seamstress looked up, her mouth full of pins. "The really tiny one with the red hair?" she asked in a muffled voice. "Yeah, that's her," Jade said as the seamstress went back to her work.

A bride turned to Jade. "I saw a glimpse of that maid of honor dress-it's beautiful! Such a lovely green!" she gushed. Jade smiled. "Thanks," she said. "That bridesmaid of yours is so tiny," the bride continued. "A double zero, and they have to take it in?" Jade smiled. "Yeah, they'll also have to let it out," she said with a little grin.

Suddenly Jade heard a squeal and whipped her head around. "Jadey!"

Cat stood in the doorway of Alfred Angelos, looking very excited and very pregnant. Jade stood quickly and raced over to her happily. The two hugged excitedly. "Cat, I missed you!" Jade said. Cat hugged her back. "I missed you too, Jadey," Cat said. The two pulled apart, and Jade led Cat over to the fitting area.

Everyone stared at Cat's huge belly, which jutted out in an almost unnatural fashion from her thin body. Jade stopped and put a hand on Cat's stomach. "Is he going to kick?" she asked excitedly. Cat smiled thinly. "If you wanna feel his feet, they're over here," Cat said, moving Jade's hand over to the side of her stomach.

"Is that normal?" Jade asked, concern in her voice. Cat laughed humorlessly. "No, but it happened," she said. Suddenly Cat's face twisted up. Jade took her hand off and took Cat's. "Are you all right?" she asked.

Cat put Jade's hand back on her side, letting the tiny hits Jade could feel against her palm serve as a proper explanation. "Ah," Jade said. Cat straightened up and was all business again. "Ok, alterations," she said with a serious face.

Jade led her to where the seamstress was still taking in a bride's dress. "Cat, this is Rosalie, the Alfred Angelo alterations specialist. Rosalie, this is Cat." Rosalie finally looked up, her eyes bulged and she dropped all of the pins in her mouth.

"Holy sh-" she stopped herself and looked at Jade. "You want me," she began, "to alter a double zero dress to fit that?" Cat nodded. "Yes, please!" she chirped. The seamstress shook her head. "There's no way," she said. Jade's eyes narrowed and instantly became hard as flint.

"I'm sorry, but I'm pretty damn sure I paid this store a crap load of money recently. And why? Because I seem to recall me asking you if you could let out dresses, because I knew Cat was pregnant, and your manager said, and I quote, 'no problem is too large'."

Jade pointed to Cat's belly. "Well, she's large, so I'd get to work or I'll call the corporate office and tell them that you discriminate against pregnant women because 'the work is too hard', despite the fact that you can clearly help other people who are the right shape for you."

She gestured around at the other brides. "Is this your art form? Twigs?" she snapped. Several of the brides threw Jade cold glances as she continued to berate Rosalie. "Well, if you ever want to do something more than sit in a cheap bridal store cutting pieces of lace, I'd expand your horizons. So I suggest doing Cat's alterations and not saying anything about it."

Rosalie looked outraged. "I didn't say-"Jade cut her off. "Firstly, let's not argue over did or didn't. You did, and I'm calling your ass on it. Secondly, hmm, let's think about Cat, huh? Let's do that. How do you think it feels to have a seamstress tell you she doesn't want to work on you, because you're too fat...oh wait, you don't have a choice because you're pregnant!"

Cat giggled as she watched Jade, happy that she had a best friend to stick up for her. "So next time you're six months pregnant with your third kid and have to walk down an aisle full of people when all you want to do is rest, because your best friend is getting married and you want to help her, then we'll talk. Until then, do the damn dress."

Rosalie sighed in defeat. "Get on the platform and I'll measure you," she said to Cat. Cat squealed and went up on the platform. As they waited for her to get the measuring tape, Cat turned to Jade. "Thanks, Jadey," she said with a smile. Jade took her hand. "You know I've always got your back," she replied.

"Friends forever?" Cat asked. Jade smiled and nodded. "Forever," she said.

BATBATBAT

In a restaurant across from Alfred Angelos, Andre Harris and Tori Vega were enjoying their favorite chinese food. "Man, ten years and the place never changed," Andre said, rubbing his stomach. Tori smiled at him. "I hope you didn't fill up on bread," she said.

"It's so good!" he protested. Tori laughed radiantly. "The food will be here soon, then you can eat more," she told him. Andre grinned. "Cool," he said. "Cause then I can show off my skill with these!" He pulled out some chopsticks, twirled them in his fingers, and began drumming on the table.

Tori looked amazed. "How do you do that?" she asked. "What, use chopsticks?" he asked. Tori nodded, holding up her own pair awkwardly. "I've never been able to do it," she said with a little pout. He leaned over. "Here," he said, moving her hands in the right position.

She blushed and smiled as he helped her pull her hands into place. By the time the food got there, they were having chopstick wars, laughing hysterically. "Your dim sum," Mrs. Wong said, pushing a strand of grey hair behind her ear.

Andre and Tori each took a piece of dim sum with their chopsticks and clacked them together. "To us," Andre said with a smile. "To us," Tori repeated. They laughed and began eating.

BATBATBAT

Down the street from Wok Star, Robbie was sitting in his living room, staring at a photo. It was of him and Cat, back when they had dated briefly in high school. He had his arm around her, and her face was turned to the side, laughing.

He kissed his hand and touched it to Cat's face. "Cat," he murmured. His eyes filled with tears. "You're the only good thing in my life." Rex came running up. "Hey, dad! I thought you should come play with me!" he said, holding out a baseball glove.

Robbie pushed him away lightly. "Not now, Rex," he said annoyedly. The little boy's eyes filled with hurt, and he glared at Cat's picture before running away. Robbie touched the picture again, remembering when he had Cat.

When he didn't need to be reliant on a rude puppet to express himself.

When he wasn't focusing on any of his family troubles.

When life was worth living…

When he had her.

So that was kind of a way to show you all where everyone is right now, and to show how closely everyone's lives intertwine now that they all live in the same place. So there's a button below this…you should click it. Really, click it.