Wherever You Go

Chapter 2

AN: I'm becoming more obsessed with Hamilton every day. That is all.

The next morning, Katherine was still in the hospital room, hoping to be released that afternoon. Jack was sitting in the chair beside the bed and holding their daughter, who they had decided to name Anna. Jack looked perfectly content to just hold her in his arms. Anna was sleeping peacefully, and Katherine was about to fall asleep as well, until her father walked in. She quickly forced herself awake.

"Hello, Father." She said wearily.

"Hello, Katherine." He glanced at Jack. "Good afternoon, Mr. Kelly." Jack just nodded in acknowledgment. The baby had woken up when the door opened, and he was trying to keep her quiet. "Katherine, could I have a word with you?" Pulitzer continued.

"Of course."

"...Alone?" He added, throwing a pointed look in Jack's direction.

"Yeah..." Jack muttered, passing the baby to Katherine. "I'm just gonna go and do... something." And he fled the room as fast as he could without running. Katherine glared at her father.

"What do you want?" She asked coldly.

"Katherine I have something important to discuss with you, and you aren't going to like it."

"Then just say it already."

"Katherine... I can't allow you to keep seeing Jack, and I can't allow you to keep that child."

"Excuse me?" Pulitzer sighed.

"You are eighteen years old, and you just had a child."

"Don't you think I know that?!" Katherine snapped. She had been tired before her father came in, and now she was angry as well.

"You aren't married to the baby's father, therefore making it illegitimate. And I have a reputation to uphold, I will not have anyone finding out that my own daughter had a baby with a street rat she wasn't even married to!" Anna started crying as her Grandfather began yelling, and Katherine pulled her closer, trying to calm her down.

"I am not sending my child to an orphanage!"

"Of course not, Katherine. I'm not cruel. The baby will live with her father."

"How is Jack supposed to sell newspapers and take care of a baby at the same time?!" Pulitzer shrugged.

"I suppose he'll have to figure that out himself. And don't even think of trying to sneak out and see him, I have those Delancey boys watching you both like hawks."

"I don't care if they hurt me."

"Oh they won't be hurting you, dear. They'll be hurting Mr. Kelly. Now if you'll excuse me, I must be going." He said simply, and walked out. Katherine looked at her baby, and choked back a sob. She couldn't bear losing her, but she didn't have a choice. It had only been two days, and she already had to stop being a mother.

oOo

"He's making us what?!" Katherine had just told Jack what her father was planning on doing, and she had caught him a little off guard. Pulitzer had given them one last day together to figure things out, and they had been sitting on Katherine's couch in her apartment in silence when Katherine sprung it on him.

"He's.... he's making me stay away from you and Anna." She repeated.

"How's he planning on doing that?"

"He is still my father, he knows where I go everyday."

"So? He still can't stop you from seeing us."

"No, but Morris and Oscar Delancey can." Jack was getting more upset with the more information he received.

"Wait, wait, hold on. Pulitzer threatened you with the Delancey's?!"

"No, he threatened you with the Delancey's!"

"What?"

"He said that he'd have them watching us closely, and if they saw us together, they would hurt you."

"You don't think I can handle a couple of Delancey's. I've soaked them before, I can do it again."

"Not while taking care of the baby, Jack!"

"Oh... yeah I guess you're right." He sighed and looked at Anna in his girlfriend's arms. "So... Ace, how am I supposed to do this?" He asked. The more Katherine told him, the more worried he got. He didn't know how to raise a baby, especially not by himself.

"My father's agreed to give you enough money to buy everything you need, like diapers and bottles and a crib and such. And enough for an apartment of your own." Katherine explained.

"Why would he do that? He hates us"

"I think, whether he wants to admit it or not, he doesn't want this Anna to end up living out on the streets. She is his grand-daughter."

"Oh, sure." Jack rolled his eyes. "He cares if our kid gets left out on the street, but he don't care about the hundreds of other kids working on the street."

"Jack, let's fight one battle at a time, shall we?" Katherine knew he was trying to change the subject. He didn't want to talk about this, and honestly, neither did she, but they didn't really have a choice. They had to get through this conversation, because they might never get a chance to speak to each other again for a very long time.