Time goes by

by sandis86

A Story about Doug, Carol, Tess and Kate, visiting Chicago to tell some news to their families and old friends. Sorry for the bad English...

Time goes by
© by Sandy

Chapter 1 – Chicago – here we come!

"Did you pack the pajamas?" Doug asked as he went to the girls' room, where Carol was packing. "I did! We thought about everything!" she answered as she closed the suitcase. "Well, then we're ready to go!" Doug said and hugged Carol. "You're so nervous Doug!" she said and ran her hand through his hair. He grinned. "Yeah. I wasn't there for five years!" "It won't be that bad! My mum already forgave you!" laughed Carol and gave him a little kiss. Doug nodded. "But Kerry Weaver and Mark will kill me, if I put one foot into the ER!"

"Mommy…daddy…mommy…daddy!" a little four-year old girl squealed as she ran into her room. "What's going on Katie?" Carol asked as she bent down to her daughter. "Can I take Benny wif me?" Kate asked and looked at her mother with her big brown eyes. "Can you?"

Kate punched herself a little on her head and laughed. "Mommy, I mean...may I?"

"Of course you may!" Carol answered kissing her daughter on the cheek. "Would Tess like to bring Lenny too?" Doug asked then. Little Kate shrugged. "I dunno that, but I fink yes!"

"You should ask her then!" Carol said. Kate nodded and in this second she ran out of the room.

In the meantime Carol took Lenny and Benny, the girls' soft toy rabbits and put them into the girls' backpacks. Suddenly Tess and Kate were coming back quickly to their room. "Yes…yes I wanna take Lenny to where we goin!" Tess said nervous and out of breath, as she took a seat on her bed. "Alright!" Carol answered grinning. Kate was now sitting beside her sister. "Where are we flying again?" she asked.

"Chicago, little honeybee!" Doug answered grinning. "Where's that?" Tess now asked. "That's where your grandmothers are living!"

"Have we been there?"

Carol was laughing. The big questioning was there again. "Yes, you two were there, when you were little babies. And your dad and I were living and working there!" she answered. "And why don't you live there now?" Tess asked. "Well, because then you two would live alone here in Seattle!" Doug answered and tickled his daughters. The twins were laughing loud and were rolling on the bed. "Stop daddy! Stop!" they were calling and Doug stopped tickling them. "Will we be on a biiiig plane?" Tess asked again when they were quiet again. "A very big one!"

"Are we afraid of flying?" Carol and Doug were grinning. "We will see that soon!" Carol answered.

Some hours later they were on the way to the airport.

Carol took Kate and Doug took Tess and both tried hard to take their suitcases and stuff into the airport. Finally they checked in and now they had some time until the plane was ready. "Daddy? Are all of them flying to Chicago?" Kate wanted to know when she saw all the people at the airport. "No honeybee…not all of them. Just a couple of them!" "And where are the others going to?" "I don't know sweetie. Maybe to New York or Europe, or Australia!" Doug answered. "Where's that?" "What?" "You said anyfing wif new and the other one I can't remember!" Kate answered proudly. Doug couldn't remember when his kids were so nervous about something. They really were. "That's all over the world and you can get there with the plane!" he answered and prayed that Kate would be satisfied with this answer. "Can we go to there sometime?" "Where to?" "All over the world!" Kate answered rolling her eyes. Doug grinned. "Of course. But you two have to be older for that" he answered and ran a hand through Kate's hair. "Why do we have to be older daddy?" now Tess asked. "Because now we have to go to Chicago and the next year or in some years you're older and then we can fly to New York or Europe!"

"Maybe to the Fiji Islands…" Carol dreamed and she rested her head against Doug's shoulder. "Where are the Fishi Islands?" Kate asked again. "It's Fiji, sweetie. They are on the other side of the world!" Carol answered.

Finally the signal for boarding was on the screen. The twins were jumping like little fleas. "Their first flight?" a woman asked Carol when they were going to their seats. "It's their second, but they don't remember the first one!" Carol answered with a smile.

They found their seats and everyone made themselves comfortable. Except of Kate. "I have to pee!" Kate whined. Carol closed her eyes. This flight could become cheerful.

"Daddy? Why are you sitting so close to the window?" Tess asked in the meantime. "So you can sit beside Katie!" he answered and Tess nodded. "But you won't fall out, right?" "No sweetie pie, the windows aren't open!" "Are we able to breathe then?" "Of course!" "But how?" Tess didn't want to stop with her questions. "You're breathing now, don't you?" Tess took some deep breaths and smiled. "Yes daddy! It works!" she said and smiled satisfied.

Some minutes later the plane was high up in the sky. The twins were drawing in a coloring book, while Carol and Doug were reading in some magazines.

"You want something to drink?" a stewardess asked. "Please…can we have some orange juice in this cups?" Carol asked as she showed the cups with the names of the twins on them. "Of course!" the woman smiled and poured some orange juice in the cups. "Kate?" she asked and the little girl looked at her. "I've got some orange juice for you!" the woman said and gave the cup to Kate. "Fank you!" Kate said smiling and took a nap of the juice. "Tess? You want some orange juice too?" Tess nodded and took the cup from the stewardess. The twins were very happy, that the woman knew their names.

"Mum? Why does this man have no hair?" Kate asked as she stood on hear seat and looked at all the people. Carol took her and put her back into her seat. "Shh sweetie…Daddy and Tess are sleaping!"

Kate looked at them and frowned. "But it's still light outside! Why are they sleeping now?" she asked. Carol shook her head and grinned. "Maybe they were tired…don't you want to sleep a little bit?" Kate shook her head. "I'm not tired at all mommy!" Carol nodded and sighted. She didn't have anything against it, if Kate would sleep a little bit. Both of them were so curious all the time, they wanted to know everything.

"When are we there?" Kate asked again. "One hour and 30 minutes!" Carol answered and continued reading. "How long's that?" Kate looked to her mother with her big brown eyes. "Not much longer sweetie!"

Suddenly Kate saw a little boy in front of their row who looked at her. "Hello. Who are you?" she asked. She wasn't afraid of foreign people and was speaking in the minute she saw them. Tess was shyer and she always needed some minutes to get warm.

"I'm Mike. Who are you?" the little boy asked grinning. "My name is Kate Ross! Where are you flying to?" Kate asked. "Chicago!" "What are you doin there?" "I'm living there and there is my kindergarten!" "I'm living in Seattle and there is my kindergarten!"

"And where are you flying to?" Mike got curious. "To where you are flying!" she answered because she already forgot the name of Chicago again. "Your sister looks just like you and you're wearing the same clothes!" Mike said as he looked to Tess. Kate nodded. "That's why my mommy had two babies in her stomach! They say we are twins!"

"I have a sister too. She's in Chicago. But she wasn't in the stomach of my mommy when I was!"

"Why isn't she here now?" Kate asked. "She doesn't want to fly!"

"Why not?"

Mike shrugged. "I have no idea!"

Carol listened to them while they were speaking. They were very entertaining. As they were continuing talking, the time went by fast and the plane was landing.

Carol woke Doug and Tess to tell them they had to fasten the seatbelts. "Katie sweetie, the plane is landing. You have to fasten your seatbelt!" Carol said and Kate took a seat. "Are we there now?" she asked joyful and Carol nodded. "Hooray!" Kate called and clapped her hands.

Doug looked outside of the window and smiled. He missed Chicago…yes, it was time to come back to their city. "What are we doing then?" Tess asked as she looked to Doug. "We're going to visit your grandma!"

"Are we living there then?" Kate asked. Doug nodded. "Grandma will be thrilled to see you!" he answered laughing. "Jav too?" Tess asked. "Yes, Javier will be thrilled too!"

Finally the family was in the airport, waiting for their suitcases. Doug assed around with the girls again. He put them on the suitcases that came out of the treadmill and took them back down when they were far ahead. Carol rolled her eyes smiling. Now it was her who got nervous.

Somehow they managed to get out of the airport. Nothing had changed much there. "Bye bye Mike!" Kate called to the boy. "Good bye Family Ross!" Mike waved to them.

Finally they got a car and everything was settled. Now they were driving to Helen's house. On the way to there nobody was speaking but the girls. They were talking about everything right now.

"Where are we now?" Kate asked again. "In Chicago, sweetie!" Carol answered as she looked to her daughters. "Yeah, right!" "Are we going to visit Grandma Sarah too?" Tess asked. "Yes, we are visiting Grandma Sarah too!" Doug answered smiling.

"Grandma Helen! We're here!" Tess and Kate called as they opened the door to Helen's house. Helen ran from the kitchen to the door and hugged her granddaughters quickly. "How nice you're here! And how big you two got! How are my little sweeties?" she asked and kissed Tess and Kate on the cheek. "We're okay!" Tess answered grinning. "How was flying?" "I don't know…I was sleeping!" said Tess. Helen looked to Kate. "We were high up in the sky and the toilet is strange!" Kate told smiling. "And, where are mum and dad?" Helen asked as she stood up again.

"We're here!" Carol called. Doug and her were putting all things out of the car and then to the house. Helen went to Carol and hugged her smiling. "I'm so glad you're back! You look great!" Helen said excited as she looked to Carol. They didn't see each other for two years. Since Helen visited Seattle the last time, they hadn't a chance to meet again.

"Doug! Nice to see you!" Helen called to Doug as he went to the door and they hugged. "Nice to see you too! How are you Helen?" Doug could still not believe it, how normal he was speaking with Helen. "I'm great! Javier is at the bowling club this evening, but he sent his greetings. And no okay from me. Tell me all news!" Helen smiled and they went inside for coffee and cake.

"There's not much to tell Mum. Work is going great and the kids are as hyper as always!" Carol answered as she looked at her daughters. "I can imagine this!" Helen laughed. "We now have most of the house ready. Your guest room is now totally livable!" Doug told her. "But you can sleep in our room!" Kate called who was listening to the adult talk. "And what about Javier?" Carol asked her. "He can sleep in our room too mommy!" Kate said smiling.

"The girls are wonderful! But it's getting harder to tell them apart!" Helen said as she looked to Tess and Kate. "Yeah. They also want to wear same clothes now. But just look at Tess' eyes…she has Doug's!" Carol answered and she grinned to Doug. "At least something!" Doug murmured. "C'mon, they have your charm too!" Helen smiled. She was so happy to see them all again. "Now tell about here…what happened in the last years?" Carol asked, happy to be back to Chicago and to see her mum.

"Your house has been sold. "Oh, really?!" Carol answered sadly. That house was everything to her back then. "Yeah…and I've got a lot of things from you stored!" Helen told. "What things?"

"All you didn't take to Seattle. I put it in the attic!"

"There it is saved well!" Carol answered smiling.

"Mommy, what are we doing next?" Tess asked, bored of doing nothing. Carol took Tess and seated her on her knees. "We're going to have dinner afterwards, sweetie pie!" "To McDonl?" Kate called excited, but Carol shook her head. "No honeybee. We're not going to McDonald's. We're going to a restaurant!" "Where to?" Kate, Helen and Tess asked together. Doug and Carol grinned. "It's a surprise! We have something to celebrate!" Doug answered mysteriously.

Chapter 2 – Family dinner

Carol and Doug dressed up perfectly and also the kids were cute in their dresses. Although Kate didn't like her dress very much, she preferred trousers and all the time she picked on the dress. "Stop it Katie!" Carol insulted in the car when Kate picked on the dress again. "I don't like the dress!" Kate whined. "It's only for this evening okay?" Carol said and Kate nodded huffily.

"Mum? What's a resterant?" Tess asked curious. "That's a place where you can eat and drink!" Carol answered. "And why can't we go to McDonl?" That's a resterant too!" Everybody was grinning now. "McDonald's isn't open today sweetie pie!" Doug answered. "But tomorrow?" Kate looked to everyone with her big eyes. "Why do they love that place so much?" Carol wondered.

On the way to the restaurant they picked up Sarah, Doug's mum. Doug, Carol and the kids were standing in front of Sarah's door. Doug pushed the doorbell and within two seconds Sarah opened the door. With teary eyes she hugged her son quickly.

"But Grandma Sarah! We're here!" The twins almost couldn't believe it, that they weren't the first to be welcomed. Sarah smiled and she hugged her granddaughters too. "Glad you're here sweeties!" she said smiling. "Nice to see you Sarah!" Carol said and they hugged too. "Carol, hi!" Sarah answered and again she wiped away some tears. "You all look great!" she told them and Kate smirked her face. "But the dress is siiiilllyyy!!!" Kate frowned but after that Sarah had to laugh. Finally they were on the way to the restaurant again.

"So…what do we celebrate this evening?" Helen asked who was sitting besides Javier. "I think we should order first!" Carol said with a mysteriously tone. "I wanna have spaghetti!" Kate called loudly and jumped on the seat. "Hey missy, I'll call you kingcup if you don't stop with that! Take a seat!" Doug told his daughter as he sat her on her seat again. "Yeah Katie, stop that!" Tess said too and everybody laughed. Kate was a very active, smart girl, what she showed very often. "Come to me sweetie!" Sarah said and little Katie crawled on Sarah's lap. "So you want spaghetti…and what do you want Tess?" Sarah asked Tess. "Pancakes!" "Sweetie pie…you can have pancakes for breakfast!" Carol answered smiling. "Okay, so then I want hamburger and fries!" Doug grinned. "Just like McDonald's!"

All were ready with their dinner and very satisfied. Kate looked like a little piglet…all over her dress was ketchup sauce, but she ate everything up. Also Tess didn't leave a crumb. "Can we tell it now?" Tess asked because she didn't want to wait longer. "Not yet. First we need wine!" Doug told her and he ordered a bottle of red wine.

Finally they got it and everyone was already curious. "So?" Helen asked, waiting for the answer. Tess and Kate looked to Doug and Doug nodded.

"Our mommy will finally marry our daddy!" both of them called synchronal and were clapping their hands.

Everybody looked at Doug and Carol with big eyes. "Wow! It's already time, isn't it? Congratulations!" Javier said and held his glass up. "Cheers!" all of them said and chinked glasses. Helen couldn't believe it. "Sweetie…finally you get it, don't you!" she said and she hugged her daughter. Sarah hugged Doug too. "I'm so happy for you both!" "Thanks mum! Hey pumpkins, tell them how it worked to get mommy to say yes!" Doug told his kids. Carol smiled.

"I tell it, I tell it!" Tess called happily, but Kate looked at her angrily. "We tell them both okaaaay?" she said and Tess nodded.

"Okay. First, daddy had woken us veeeeery early in the morning!" Tess began. "Yeah, it was dark outside!" Kate said. "Mommy was sleeping like a baby!"

"And then daddy took the video camera and we actored!" Tess said. "You acted, sweetie!" Carol corrected her.

"Yeah, we made a movie, all three of us!" Kate grinned. "And daddy said, that he needs our mommy like the air he needs to breath and that he's still in love with her and that he loves when they go to bed and she snores!" Tess joked but Carol looked at her offended. "That's not true sweetie pie!"

"I know…I was just kidding!" Tess laughed. "Daddy said that he loves to sleep beside mommy and that he loves to wake up beside her!" Kate continued.

"Then he held a princess ring to the camera and he said: I'll try it the second time".

"Why the second time daddy?" Tess asked Doug. The twins looked at him. "Because I wanted to marry your mum some years ago!" Doug told them. They looked at him wondering. "It didn't work!" he told them. "Why not, hem?" Kate asked. "I didn't have a princess dress!" Carol answered and with that the twins were satisfied. "Continue with the story!"

"Daddy said that he tries it for the second time, because he can't wait to see mommy in a princess dress and he said: Do you want to make me the happiest man on the world and marry me?" Tess said and she looked like she was in love with someone.

"And we both were yelling: Yeeees, marry him! Marry him! And then we brought the video in their room to the recorder and when mommy woke up we played the video!" Kate said smiling.

"Mommy looked like an owl to the TV, but when she saw the video, she was wide awoken! Daddy sat beside her and grinned like a bread and dripping!" she laughed again.

"Then mommy started to laugh and she hugged daddy and they kissed!" Tess laughed and formed a kiss with her mouth.

"Hah…very entertaining our little ones!" Sarah answered laughing.

"And she yelled: Of course I'll marry you! Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, absolutely! I love you so much! I love all of you!" Kate couldn't sit now and she jumped up. "And she cuddled us and kissed us and she cried and she told us that she is soooooooooooo happy, because honeybee and sweetie pie and her love are here and so on and so on!" Kate took a deep breath now and she was sitting again.

Carol grinned to Doug and they kissed. "That's so fantastic! When is the wedding?" Helen asked while she was pouring wine into the glasses.

"On August 8 in Seattle!" Carol smiled. "Wow…that's only one month away!" Javier said.

"Yes, and we will be flower girls!" Tess smiled happily.

"Wow…that's awesome!" Helen said and she cuddled Kate.

Carol took a deep breath. "As we're speaking of news…I have another one. I thought I'll wait to tell it, so all of you are here to hear it!" She smiled looking to Doug and took his hand. "Doug…I'm…we're going to have a baby!"

All of them looked with big eyes, especially Doug. He couldn't believe it. Finally one of his biggest wishes came true. Finally he could be there, from the beginning till the end. Slowly a smile hushed upon his lips. He took her face in his hands and he kissed her passionately. Then they hugged and he whispered a "thank you" in her ear. Then he looked to his daughters. "Did you hear that? You'll get a brother or a sister!" He was so happy. "A little baby?" Kate asked and Doug nodded smiling. "Hoooorrrraaayyy!" the twins yelled and jumped up and down. All of them were happy and congratulated Doug and Carol. "I have another question please!" Sarah said. Doug looked at her. "Why honeybee and sweetie pie?" Carol grinned. "He calls them so since he had first seen them. He held Kate in his hands and said: Hello honeybee. And the same with Tess, only that she was sweetie pie. And that lasted till now!" Carol smiled. The kids loved being called with their nicknames. "How will you call the new baby?" Tess asked. Doug shrugged. "We will see that!"

Later in the evening, when the kids took a bath and were sleeping then, Carol and Doug lie in the bed too. He smiled at her and stroked her cheek. "I can't believe it Carol!" he said and kissed her. "Since when do you know it?"

Carol grinned. "Four days ago I went to Dr. Blackman. She confirmed my guess!" Carol told. Doug put his hand on her stomach. "Wow…that's just…I'm so happy!" "I'm happy too Doug!" she answered and kissed him again. She knew that he wanted to be there, when she was pregnant with the twins. He told her very often. Honeybee and sweetie pie were the world for him, he adored both and the twins adored him. And now he could be there. The pregnancy, the birth and the growing up of his child.

He grinned. "Sweetie pie and honeybee will be great…I already see them fighting for the baby!"

Carol nodded and smiled. "Today they were great! I loved how they told your proposal!"

"They're always great! I love you, you know that?" "Yeah baby, I know that! And I love you too…every day more!"

"Mommy, daddy, mommy, daddy!" the twins called when they came to their parents room. Carol looked at them sleepily. "What's going on at half past three in the morning?" "Can we go to McDonald's tomorrow?" Kate whispered because Doug was sleeping heavily. Carol grinned. "We can, but you still have to sleep some hours!" Carol answered. "Come here!" she said and the twins crawled under the sheets. "Good night mommy!" Tess whispered and she kissed Carol on the cheek. "Good night sweetie pie!" she answered and kissed her daughter too. "Same here!" Kate said and kissed her mother too. "A good night to you too honeybee!" Carol answered. She put a hand over her daughters and then they soon fell asleep.

Chapter 3 – McDonald's and County

Doug woke up three hours later. Sleepily he looked around and found his daughters lying between him and Carol. He grinned at this sight. The three women he loved the most could always be beside him. Then he had an idea. He stood up quietly and went to the bathroom.

After taking a shower he left the house and drove downtown until he found a flower shop. "Good morning. Can I help you?" the shop assistant asked. Doug looked around. "Yeah…I want three of this beautiful flowers here!" he said and showed her the flowers he wanted.

"Good choice! Are they for your wife?" she asked. Doug shook his head. "For three of my wives, to be honest!"

The shop assistant looked shocked. "Oh…for my fiancée and our twin girls!" he explained grinning. The woman nodded and gave him the flowers. He paid them and then drove back home.

He went to the bedroom to find Carol and the twins still sleeping. He took a seat in the bed and waited for them to awake.

It took only some minutes when Carol opened her eyes. First she saw Tess and Kate and she grinned. Then she looked to Doug, who was grinning at her. "Good morning, beautiful!" he smiled and bent himself to kiss her. She smiled at him. "A good morning to you too baby! How long are you awake?" she whispered so the twins wouldn't awake. "Half past six. Stay in bed till the two here wake up!" he answered and she looked at him wondering. "Just do it. I'm waiting too!" he said and laid himself down. "What do you have in mind to do?" she asked and she took his hand in hers. "Nothing special!" he answered smiling. Carol nodded and looked at her girls, who seemed to sleep through the whole day. Carol's curiosity became bigger. "Doug?" she whispered and put her head up to see him.

"Hm?"

"They won't wake up now. C'mon, tell me!" Doug shook his head. "No…I'll wait!" Carol rolled her eyes. She wasn't very good to educe something from him, so she waited too.

"When did they come to our bed?" Doug asked. "Half past three because they wanted to go to McDonald's!" Carol smiled and Doug laughed. "Looks like we're going to McFat today!" he answered and Carol nodded. "When will we go to the hospital?" she asked and looked at him again. "Never?" "Oh Doug, c'mon…" "Yeah…I know. We can go whenever you want to!" he interrupted her. "Well…maybe we can go after McFat!" she thought. "Whatever…hey! Good morning honeybee!" he said as he saw Kate opening her eyes. "Good morning daddy!" she answered sleepily and crawled on his stomach to sleep again. "She's not awake yet!" he said to Carol. "I am. I just want to cuddle daddy!" she murmured and Doug answered with an "okay". Carol grinned when she looked at them.

Tess opened her eyes soon. She was sitting in the bed now and stretched herself. "Good morning sweetie pie!" Carol said and ran a hand through Tess' hair. "Mornin' mommy…mornin' daddy!" she said and kissed her parents on the cheek. "Katie…come down there…we have to get up!" she told her sister and shook her. Kate turned her head to look at Tess. "Hey Tessy…how are you?" she murmured again. She wasn't as much awake as Tess. "I'm great. Now get up!"

Kate crawled down to Tess and Doug sat up in the bed. "You all awake?" he asked and all three of them nodded.

Then he took the flowers up from the floor and gave them to his girls. "For the most beautiful girls in the world!" he said grinning. "Wow…thanks baby!" Carol answered and kissed him. "Yeah…thanks baby!" the twins repeated and smelled the flower. "You're welcome!" Doug answered grinning. The four of them cuddled in bed before Helen was ready with breakfast.

"We're coming grandma!" the twins called and ran downstairs. Carol and Doug stayed in bed. He stroked her cheek and smiled. "Can you imagine how much I'm in love with you?" he asked. He still managed to bewitch her. And she still managed to make him happy. "Can you imagine how much I'M in love with YOU?" she asked back and put her hands around his neck. "It's still amazing!" she whispered and he looked at her wondering. "What?" "Well…we know each other for so many years now, but I fall in love with you every day more!" she answered and kissed him. "So the butterflies are still in your stomach?" he asked kissing her again. She nodded. "You don't?" "They're big planes already in my stomach!" he answered smiling.

"Hey you two…breakfast is ready!" Helen called upstairs and both stood up. Carol wrapped herself in the blanket as usual. Doug grinned. "What?" she asked grinning. "It's summer, Carol!" "I know…bad habit!" she answered and then they went downstairs.

"Carol…there are at least 20 degree outside!" Helen said as she saw her daughter. Carol grinned. "Bad habit!" Doug answered and he took a seat beside his daughters. They were already drinking cacao and eating bread with chocolate butter. Carol got a cup and poured herself some coffee.

"So, what are your plans for today?" Helen asked and took a seat too. "We're going to McDonl!" Kate smiled and she high-fived with her sister. "McFat!" Doug murmured and the twins shook their heads. "It's McDonl daddy!" Kate corrected him and he nodded smiling.

"Can we go now pweeeeease?" Tess called as they finally decided to go to the fast-food restaurant. "Yeah sweetie, we're going when your sister is ready!" Carol answered and took Tess in her arms. "You need help Katie?" she asked and looked at her daughter. "No. I can do this alone!" Kate answered fiercely while she fiddled around with her shoelaces. Finally she surrendered and she looked at her mum. "I can't do it alone. Mommy, can you help me please?" she asked lovely and looked at her like a puppy. Carol put Tess down on the floor and kneeled down to Kate. "Of course I can help you sweetie!"

A word and a blow. Everybody was ready, but Doug wasn't there. "Daaaaaaaaddddyyyy!" the twins called impatient. Suddenly Doug jumped from behind the corner and scared them both. "Boooooh….here I am!"

The twins jumped back shocked, but then they were laughing loudly. "That was nasty daddy!" Tess giggled and he put her up in his arms. Carol took Kate and soon they were leaving the house.

Doug now had Tess on his shoulders and she played with his hair. "Hey missy! You're ruining my hairstyle!" Doug said and he put his hands up to tickle her a little bit. "Hihi…stop it! I'm falling down!"

Carol was still holding Kate and she was snoozing on her mother's shoulder. It looked like she was falling to sleep soon. "Sweetie…we're almost there!" Carol whispered and Kate looked at her sleepily. "What?" "We're almost there!" Carol repeated and suddenly Kate was wide awake.

Appreciatively the twins were eating hamburger with fries and eve Carol and Doug were eating some fast-food.

"Are you two happy now?" Carol asked murmuring with a piece of McChicken in her mouth and the twins and Doug nodded. "It isn't that bad!" Doug said and took a bite again. "Don't say that too loud!" Carol answered thinking that the girls wanted to go more often to McDonald's then. Doug nodded and took a sip of his coke. "Can we have a McFlurry too?" Kate asked impatient. "Can you?" Kate rolled her eyes. "May we have one mommy?" she asked again.

"First you have to eat this up!" Doug answered and gave Kate a napkin because she had all the ketchup in her face. "I want ice cream now!" Tess whined and she folded her hands on her chest. "Me too!" Kate said and did the same face as Tess. Both were pouting.

Carol and Doug looked at each other grinning. "Honeybee and sweetie pie look like night owls!" Doug joked about them smiling. "Yeah, I think they need the big shot in the hospital afterwards!" Carol told them and the twins made big eyes. "So, eating up means ice cream, no eating up means the big shot!" Doug said and the twins answered with a shy "okay". "What are we doing there?" Tess asked and put her last fries in her mouth. "We're visiting our friends!" Carol answered smiling. "Are they sick?" Kate asked and she scratched her nose. "No sweetie…they're working there!" Carol laughed.

Some minutes later both got their McFlurries and they were leaving McDonald's. Doug took Carol's hand in his and the twins were strolling in front of them. "You think there changed much?" Doug asked Carol and looked at her. She grinned. He was really nervous. "I don't know. We'll see that!" she answered and smiled.

They were standing at the ambulance bay now and the twins played tag. Carol looked around. Everything looked so familiar and for one moment she wished to go in and out of that door with her pink scrubs. "C'mon now…let's get in!" Doug said who recognized that she was thinking about old times. "Sweetie pie, honeybee! We're goin' in!" Carol called and the twins were the first ones who were at the door. They went in quickly without any fear.

"Hello!" Kate said when she was standing at the admin desk where she saw Mark. He turned around and looked at the twins. Of course he already knew who was standing there, but…what did they do here?

"Tess and Kate Ross…how…what are you two doing here?" he asked them. "We're going to visit you!" Kate told him and suddenly she hugged him. "Hi uncle Mark!" Tess said and she hugged him too. "Hey you sweet bees! Where are your parents?" he asked again, still dumbfounded. He couldn't believe to see the twins. It felt like ages since he last saw them.

He looked around to find Doug and Carol hand in hand entering the ER.

"Oh my god…hah…that's unbelievable!" he smiled and hugged his old friends. Carol stroked his back. "Hey Mark!" she said and they separated again. "Wow…you look great!" Mark told her. "And what about me?" Doug joked grinning. Mark hugged him again. "Hey pal…you look amazing today!" Mark joked.

"OMG…OMG! Guys, Doug and Carol are here!" Haleh called around the admin desk when she saw them. Carol smiled when Haleh came to them and they hugged too. "Welcome home!" Haleh told them. Carol smiled. What a nice thought.

"Where are your babies?" Haleh asked and she looked around. "Babies...good joke! They were here some minutes ago!" Carol said and looked around too. Tess and Kate were standing in front of a trauma room and looked inside with big eyes. "Tess, Kate, come here please!" Carol called them and the twins ran to her. Haleh knelt down to them. "Oooh…hey you cuties! It's me, aunt Haleh!" "Hello aunt Haleh, how're you doin?" Kate asked smiling. "How adorable you two are! How do you tell them apart?" Haleh asked Carol. "That's very easy. I'm Kate and this is Tess!" Kate smiled. "Now you know it!" Carol laughed. "I don't know why…but I always know it!" she told and Haleh nodded. "That's the maternal instinct!"

"Man…how long has it been since you were here the last time?" Mark asked who was now talking with his old friend Doug.

"I was here five years ago!" he answered and looked around. Everything looked still so familiar and he imagined to work still here.

"How's Seattle?" Mark asked again. He was really amazed and he was happy to see his friends again. "Seattle is…not the same as here, but great! We're both working at the Medical Center in Seattle, twins are in kindergarten. It's so good to have them Mark! They're so great!" Doug told him as he looked at his loved ones.

"Yeah, and not a little bit shy! Kate recognized me as soon as she entered the door!" Mark smiled. "That was Tess!" "Oh" Mark murmured, but Doug shook his head. "They look so much alike, but they're totally different!"

"How long are you staying?" Mark asked. "Only this week. We have so much to catch up here!" Doug answered smiling.

Kerry Weaver went out of the trauma room and saw the big meeting at the admin desk. "What's going on here? We have some work to do!" she murmured without looking up from her patient's paper.

"Hi Kerry!" Carol said and suddenly Kerry looked up at her. "Carol…ahm… what are you doing here?" she stumbled. "We're visiting…just wanted to say hi again to all of you!" Carol answered smiling. "Hello!" Tess called who was standing beside Carol and waving to Kerry. "Hello!" Kate did the same when she came from Doug to Carol.

"Hey you two! You got big!" Kerry said as she looked at them. Doug noticed that Carol was speaking with Kerry and he went to them. Now he was really nervous. "Hi Kerry!" he said smiling a little bit. "Doug…what a surprise!" Doug noticed that the words failed her. "Yeah…it was Carol's idea to come here since I wasn't here with her the last time!" he murmured and Carol rolled her eyes. "It's not that bad to come back here, is it?" Kerry smiled to Doug. He didn't expect this. He didn't know what to say. "No. Not really!" he answered shortly. "It's nice to see all of you again!" he continued smiling.

"Yeah…it's nice to see all of you again too!" Kerry answered but with that she was away again to see at her next patient.

"Yay…you're still alive!" Carol said and hugged Doug. She looked into his eyes. "She changed!" Doug said. "Maybe" Carol answered and kissed him. Suddenly Luka was entering the ER. Carol didn't see him the last time she was here. She remembered her time with him and how she left so suddenly. She wondered if he was in a relationship again or not.

"Luka!" She called and he turned around quickly. He looked in her eyes directly, not saying one word. Then he smiled. "Carol…nice to see you! Are the twins here too?" he asked.

"Yeah…they're here too!" Tess said and both she and Kate were giggling behind Luka. Luka turned around again to see them. They looked so much like Carol, but he didn't know Doug, so he couldn't say it rightly. "Tess and Kate! When I saw you the last time, you were soooo little!" he said smiling. "Why did you see us sooo little?" Kate asked. "You lived here with your mother!" Luka answered. Tess and Kate looked at Carol with questioning eyes. "Yeah you lived here with me!"

"And why not now?" Tess asked. "Because we're living in Seattle now, remember?" Kate told her and Tess nodded.

"Nice to see you!" Carol said to Luka and she hugged him. Luka nodded without answering. "How're you?" he asked instead. Carol smiled. "I'm happy. I'm great…how are you?"

He smiled. "I'm fine. You look happy!" he answered. "Yeah…"

Doug looked at them. He didn't know Luka yet, but Carol told him about Luka. He thought he should go to them. Carol smiled at him when he was coming to them. Then she looked back to Luka. "Luka, may I introduce you to Doug Ross? Doug, Luka Kovacs!"

"Hi! I heard a lot about you!" Luka said and held his hand to Doug. Doug nodded and they shook hands. That weren't sure not the best things he heard. But before Doug could answer him, Luka had to go to work. "I have to go now. See you guys later!" he said to Carol and he disappeared in the lounge. Carol turned to Doug and looked at him. "What?" he asked smiling at her. "What are you thinking?" Doug shrugged. "Hm…he seems to be nice, that Mr. Luka!" Carol rolled her eyes and they were going to the others again.

Carol knelt down to the twins. "You having fun here?" she asked. "Mhm…but it's boring!" Kate answered and Tess nodded.

"Who paged me? What's going on here? OMG!" Susan Lewis couldn't believe it when she came from the elevator and she saw Carol. Carol jumped up when she heard Susan. Her best friend, who left Chicago some years ago and now standing again in front of her, with a white lab coat.

"Susan!" Carol said with teary eyes and they hugged. "Mommy, why are you crying?" Tess asked as she saw her mother. "Are you both sad?" Kate asked too. Susan turned around and she saw the twins. Then she looked back to Carol. "So, it's true that you got two daughters! Hard to believe!"

"Susie, Susie, Susie! What's so hard to believe about this?" Doug said as he saw Susan and he smiled. "Dr. Ross!" she called and they hugged too. "Oh man…what a day! I can't believe you're here! What are you doing here?" Susan asked and she took a seat beside Carol. "What are YOU doing here?" Carol asked.

"I'm living here again. And I'm working here again!" Susan answered smiling. "Wow…that's great Susan! We're only here this week for some holidays. Well…for on certain thing to be honest!"

"What certain thing?" Susan asked curious. "Honeybee…will you tell them all to come here?" Doug asked his daughter and Kate ran around to tell them all.

When all were here again, Carol stood up and stand beside Doug.

"Okay. The occasion why we are here is…we want to invite you to our wedding!" Carol told them smiling. "You don't want to waste time, do you?" Carter joked. "When is the wedding?" "On the 8th of August in Seattle. We would be glad to have you there!" Carol answered. "I'll be coming for sure! I don't want to miss that!" Susan said and she hugged Carol again. "I have to go back to work now. We could go for a coffee tonight!" Carol nodded. "Would be great!" "Okay, I'll pick you up at seven ok?" Susan asked. "Alright! We're living at my mum's!" Carol answered. "I know that place!"

Doug and Carol got many congratulations in the next minutes. Everybody was waiting for their wedding already. Doug knew that the nurses made bets again, when it would be.

After some caught up talks the four said good bye again. "See you soon!" Chuny called and waved to them as they were leaving the ER.

Carol took Doug's hand. "That was nice, wasn't it?" she asked and Doug nodded. "You're right. It was really great. We should do that more often!" he answered. "And, you're meeting Mark today?" Doug nodded. "Yeah. We'll go to Smith's Bar, watching the Bulls game! You meeting Susan?" he asked back. Carol nodded. "Yes. I think we have a lot to tell us!"

"And what about us?" Tess asked. "You're staying with grandma. And tomorrow we'll visit little Ella!" Carol answered and picked Tess up. "Hooray!" Tess and Kate called again happily. They were excited about Ella and aunty Lizzy.

Chapter 4 – Visiting old friends

"Well…tell me about Seattle!" Mark said when he came back with two beers. "Seattle is wonderful Mark! There isn't that much rain as I thought…the house is almost ready. The twins are great…they're doing fine in kindergarten. And Carol…" he smiled thinking about her. "She's pregnant again. We get another baby!" Doug answered enthusiastic. Mark gasped. "That's…wow! Great! Congratulations!" "Thanks Mark! I still can't believe it on my own!" Doug smiled and they hugged.

"Man, you're always surprising me…you're marrying and a baby is on the way…if somebody told me that some years ago, I'd asked him if he had a screw loose!" Mark laughed. Doug looked funny at him. "I wasn't that bad, was I?"

"No…no. Since we've been to Barstow I knew that you and Carol would stay together forever…you two are…soul mates!" Mark answered smiling. "How romantic you are! How's it going with Liz?" Doug asked. "Everything's fine! Ella's already waiting for you to visit! And Lizzy can't wait to see you again! Too bad she's in New York today!" Mark answered and took a sip of his beer. "Tomorrow will come soon!" Doug answered and they chinked the bottles again.

"I can't believe it!" Susan said and she shook her head. "What?" Carol asked. "You're going to marry Doug Ross…you have twins with him…all of this is unbelievable!" Susan answered giggling. "And another baby is on the way!" Carol continued smiling. "What?" Susan asked excited. "Yeah. I'm pregnant!"

Susan nearly jumped to Carol to hug her. "That's so great! All my best wishes Carol!" she said and smiled again. "Thank you Susan. I want you to be its godmother!" Carol answered and waited for Susan's reaction. "What? I? Oh man…of course…that's a great honor!" Susan answered excited. "That means a lot to me…I mean…you were my best friend back then and since you were gone, I missed you all the time!" Carol told her. "And when I came back, you were gone to Seattle already!" Susan told. "Phoenix was great. I loved it to be with little Susie, she was great. But she didn't need me after some time, so I thought about leaving again. I was scared to come back here, but I knew that this was my home!" Susan said remembering the time back then. "And Mark was here!" Carol continued. She knew that they both were in love back then. "We wrote us in the beginning and visited for one time. But we both knew that this wouldn't work. I'm over it and he married Elizabeth and they have a daughter. But now enough of me. Tell me about Seattle!"

Carol smiled. "I'm loving Seattle! I mean…I can't tell you, how much I miss Chicago some times. I miss work here and my mum and Sarah and my friends. But Seattle is my home now. I love our house, our garden, the lake. I love to be together with Doug and to have the twins around. They're so great Susan! They surprise us every day anew. Work is great too…we found great new friends, but it's totally different than here in Chicago!" Carol told her. "You could come back!" Susan suggested. Carol grinned. "That's a great idea Susan! But…no…we were choosing Seattle. Our home is there. We'll be getting married there and raise our kids there. Seattle is our home!"

"Oh man…Carol; you're really happy, aren't you?" Susan asked and she took Carol's hand. "Yeah…I am!"

Carol came back home late. She really enjoyed the evening with Susan. After all this years it was so nice to have a great talk with her again. She really missed that. They talked about god and the world…about everything that came in their minds.

Carol went to the guest room where the twins were sleeping heavily. She was sitting on Tess' bad and looked at them smiling. She thought about the time when they were back here in Chicago…their birth and the time afterwards. How fast time went by…when she closed her eyes, she still could imagine how she held them in her arms, smell their baby scent and she talked to them like they could understand everything. Now they were four years old already. Carol was excited for the new baby and for the most of it, that Doug could be there. Softly she put her hand on her still flat belly. "Love you in there!" she whispered and then stood up again. Silently she went to Tess to give her a kiss on the cheek. "I love you sweetie pie!" Then she went to Kate and gave her a kiss too. "And I love you honeybee!"

As silent as she entered she left the room again. She went to the bathroom to brush her teeth and to put on her pajama. Then she finally went to Doug.

She crawled under the blanket silently. "You don't have to be that silent…I'm still awake!" Doug whispered. Carol turned to him smiling. "Hey baby! Thought you were already sleeping! How was your evening?" she asked and then kissed him.

"Oh…it was great! It was a typical Mark-Doug-Evening. We drank beer, talked about this and that and we watched the Bulls game! We had fun!" Doug told her smiling. "How was Susan?" "It was wonderful! We talked a lot too and time went by too quickly!" Carol told and stroked his cheek. "We can go back to the ER before we're flying back!" Doug suggested and he kissed Carol again. "That's a good idea!" she answered smiling. "I love you!" Doug said and stroke over her belly. "I love you too papa Ross!" she answered grinning, before kissing him again. With that they fell into a great sleep and a wonderful day found its end.

"Mommy…mommy!" Tess whispered as she toddled through the room and kneeled down in front of her mum. Carol didn't hear anything, she was sleeping like a baby. "Mommy!" Tess said now louder and Carol opened her eyes dozily. "Baby…what's going on?" she asked while yawning. Tess sighted and Carol helped her into the bed. "C'mon…tell me!" "Okay mommy. You're getting a new baby, right?" Tess asked and Carol nodded smiling. "Yeah sweetie. You're excited about the new baby?" she asked. Doug woke up from their talk and he turned around to them. "Mhm…I'm excited…but…will you like the baby more than us then?" Tess looked sadly to her parents. "Why no, sweetie! We love you two just the same as the new baby!" Doug answered stroking Tess' hair. "In the beginning the baby will need us very often. But…you two are the big sisters then and you can help me if you like that!" Carol told her daughter. "What have we to do then?" Tess asked. "Well...you could take care of the baby, while I'm cooking, or going to the toilet…help me feed it, or bath it…that's the job of big sisters!" Carol told her again and Tess was no fully excited. "Yeah…I want to do that!" she smiled. "You want a sister or a brother?" Doug asked. Tess shrugged her shoulders. "Just a new baby!" she answered smiling. Then she kissed her parents and ran back to Kate.

"So…you want a girl or a boy?" Carol asked now Doug. Doug shrugged exactly like Tess did. "Just a new baby Carol!" he answered and laid himself down again. "Okay, then we either will get an Addison or a Jared!" Carol meant and she put the blanket over her again. "We'll talk about this okay?" Doug asked and kissed her one last time before they fell asleep again.

Chapter 5 – Good bye, Chicago

Carol rang the doorbell to Mark's and Lizzy's house while Doug was taking care of his nervous daughters. They were so hyper because they got to see Ella. Inside they heard footsteps and Lizzy opened the door. "Ooooh…you're really here! Welcome guys!" she smiled and she hugged Carol. "Hi Lizzy!" Carol smiled. The twins were running away from Doug. "Ella, Ella, Ella!" they called excited and ran into the house. "Hey you two…come back here immediately!" Carol called them and the twins stopped. They turned around slowly and then went back to Carol. "Say hello to aunt Lizzy!" Carol said and the twins smiled. "Hello aunt Lizzy!" Tess said and held her hand to Lizzy. "Hi Tess! Nice to see you!" Lizzy answered in her well known British accent and they shook hands. "Hi aunt Lizzy!" Kate did the same as Tess and she shook hands with Lizzy too. "Is Ella here?" Lizzy grinned at Kate's question. "She's in the living room I guess!"

Lizzy hardly finished her sentence but the twins were running in. "Nice to see you Lizzy!" Doug said and he kissed Lizzy on the cheek. "It's great you're here! Come in…I made coffee and a cake!"

"Wow! The house is beautiful Liz!" Carol said as they took a seat in the dining room. "Thanks! We worked hard on it!" Elizabeth answered.

"You have fun there?" Mark asked who was coming from upstairs as he saw the kids playing in the living room. "Hi uncle Mark! Ella has great Barbie dolls!" Kate answered. Mark grinned and waved them before he leaved to the dining room

"Hey guys!" he said as he saw Carol and he kissed Carol on the cheek. "Hi Mark!" Carol grinned. She knew that Mark didn't tell Lizzy about the wedding or the baby. So they waited for Lizzy to be ready and took a seat on the table.

"Tell me all news!" she insisted. "How long has it been since we last saw each other?" she asked thinking. "Not much news…" Doug murmured but smiled then. "Hah! I know that look! C'mon…tell me!" Lizzy was so curious now. Carol took her bag and got an envelope out of it. She passed it to Lizzy, who opened it immediately. "Ooooh man…not really?!" She looked up to Carol and Doug. "Finally it's happening? You're not kidding, are you?" Carol smiled. "No kidding!" Lizzy hugged Carol quickly. "That's great, congratulations!" Lizzy hugged Doug too. Carol was glad to have such good friends. "I want you to be my witness!" Carol said and Lizzy looked at her shocked. "Really? I?" Carol smiled again and nodded. "Really. If not, it's okay…I mean, it's no big deal…" Lizzy interrupted her: "Of course I will!" she answered smiling. Lizzy was so happy for them…they waited all so long for their wedding. "We have another surprise Elizabeth!" Doug told her and Lizzy listened to him. "Sweetie pie…come here for a second please!" he called to the living room and soon Tess ran to him. "What? We're playing family!" she told him nervously but Doug told her something in her ear. Tess smiled and turned to Lizzy. "Our mommy's got a bun in the oven!" she repeated laughing. Lizzy laughed with her. "That's funny!" Tess smiled, but then ran back to Kate and Ella.

"That means you're pregnant again?" Lizzy asked and Carol nodded. "Wow…congratulations again! That's great!" Lizzy was happy.

Carol and Lizzy were now chatting about the old times and some news they had while Doug and Mark were outside, playing basketball. But soon the time was over and they had to say good bye again.

"We'll see us at the wedding then…I can't wait for it!" Lizzy said and hugged Carol. "Yeah, me too! We'll call each other in the meantime okay?" Carol answered and Lizzy nodded.

"Mum…can't Ella come with us?" Kate asked who didn't want to go home yet. Carol bent down to her. "No sweetie. But she's coming to Seattle in August, for the wedding!" Carol told her. Kate nodded sadly and ran to Ella again, to say good bye.

"See you guys soon!" Doug called from the car, after he put the girls in their children's seats and fastened their seatbelts. He waved to Lizzy, Mark and Ella and then he and Carol got into the car too. When they were driving away, nobody was speaking. The atmosphere wasn't the best right now. This holiday was over too soon…the next day they had to fly back to Seattle.

Once again they made a stop at County. "Why do we have to go there again?" Kate whined. "We have to say goodbye, sweetie!" Carol answered without turning around. Somehow their mood didn't change. And somehow they were sad because they had to leave soon.

When they were parking the car and got out of it, the twins ran away into the entrance of the ER. "Seems they do like it here!" Doug suggested and he brought a little smile over Carol's face.

"Aunt Haleh!" Kate called and Haleh turned around. She picked up the little girl smiling. "Who's here again?" she asked and cuddled Kate. "It's Kate!" Kate answered smiling. Haleh put her down to the floor again. "Nice to see you sweeties! Hi Tess!" Haleh said and cuddled Tess too. Haleh really liked children and the twins thought that she was very nice. "Are mommy and daddy here too?" Haleh asked them. Tess and Kate nodded and pointed to the door. "They aren't as quick as we are!" Tess answered. "Well, okay then! You wanna help me?" Haleh asked and the girls' eyes lit up. They nodded in awe. "You could help me putting this stuff here away!" The kids were excited. Finally they had something new, interesting to do here.

In the meantime Carol and Doug got inside. "It's somehow odd to come in here and do nothing…" Doug murmured silently. Carol didn't say a word, she just nodded. It was odd for her too…she really missed this place. Now that they were here everything got worse. She loved to be in Seattle with Doug and the kids, but she could never forget County, Chicago. She had so many memories here. She met Doug here…she remembered this day like it were just yesterday. How he looked in her eyes while calming down the baby in his arm. They were staring to each other and nobody was saying a word. She remembered that her knees got weak and she had to sit down, without looking away from him. Love at first sight.

Here she was rescued from her suicide attempt. Here her daughters were born.

"Carol? You okay?" Doug asked as he noticed that Carol was thinking. She looked at him and smiled. "Yep…everything's okay! Let's get Tess and Kate!"

Haleh was busy putting bandages and stuff away with the girls. "Alright…and this one comes up here!" she said and picked Tess up so she could put the package on the top of the shelf. "Look at them…future nurses!" Carol said happily. Doug grinned. "Nono…they'll be pediatrics!" Carol looked at him. "Who says that? It's their decision!" Carol answered. "Hey Haleh! Were they okay?" Carol asked when she was entering the supplement room. "They were lovely and really a great help!" Haleh answered and the twins were proud. "Can we stay a little longer mommy?" Kate begged and Carol nodded. "We're going around here anyway for a while!"

"Carol…Doug! Nice to see you again!" Susan called when she saw them. "Wanna go for a coffee?" she asked and Carol and Doug were okay with that. So they went to Doc Magoos.

"When are you flying?" Susan asked. "Tomorrow morning…3 a.m.! That'll be fun I guess!" Doug smiled.

"Too bad! You could've stayed longer!"

"Yeah, would be great, but we only have one more week off and we want to spend it with the girls at home!" Carol answered. Home…how accustomed she got to that word already.

"Yeah…but we see each other soon again! I still can't believe it that you two have children and you're going to get married!" Susan answered shaking her head smiling. "Why's that so unbelievable?" Doug asked grinning. "Well…Carol once told me that she'll never ever start with you again…and now look at you both!" Susan said. "Yeah…times are changing!"

The three of them were small talking until Susan's beeper went on. So they were going back to the ER.

"Doug?" Carol asked. "Hm?" "Let's go downstairs!" Doug smiled at her and took her hand in his.

"Wow…now that's not possible…still like we left it couple of years ago! Look, the candles are still here!" Doug said, as he laid himself down on the bed that was still standing there. "Yeah…and it smells still bad in here!" Carol answered laying down at the other bed. "Was great here, wasn't it?"

"You mean the sex?" Doug smiled and Carol rolled her eyes. "Sex is always good with you baby…but I also mean the talks we had in here!"

Doug nodded. "You really miss everything here, don't you?"

"Doug…I…"

"No…it's alright. I feel the same…I mean, we worked here very long and we have so many good friends here!" he told her. "I realized that by coming here again. It's totally different than Seattle…" he paused for a while. "If we wouldn't have met Ricky I think we would still do our shifts here!" He smiled a little bit.

"It's not your fault Doug and you know that. You just wanted the best for Ricky…Joi was very thankful, remember?" Carol answered. Doug nodded and looked up to the ceiling.

"Yeah…but I was as asshole. I left everything here. Work, my friends…you! The twins…"

Carol took a deep breath. "Let's forget that okay? I could've come with you, but I was stubborn too, to be honest! But now we're both in Seattle and I love it! Seattle is great! I love you and I love our daughters! Sure I miss everything here…we have so much memories here! Everything started here! But now all this doesn't matter anymore. I don't want to come back here. I want us…I want Seattle! If we didn't meet Joi and Ricky, yes, we may be still here and everything would be the same as always. But it isn't so. But I'm happy as it is and I don't want to change anything!" Carol smiled and took his hand in hers.

"I'm sorry for how things went. I was just a jerk! This one year without you in Seattle was like hell. I just had to think about you and the twins all the time. I felt bad…really bad! I couldn't sleep. When I closed my eyes, I saw you. I hated myself for being not with you and the girls! But suddenly you came and…man I was so nervous when I saw you! I couldn't believe it until we kissed. And now…I'm the happiest man in the world! We have the most beautiful, sweetest girls in the world. We're engaged and another baby is on the way!" He smiled, thinking about the times to come. "I love you Carol…and I don't want to lose you ever again!" Carol smiled and then they kissed passionately. Then they both had to grin. "I think we better stop this here!" Doug said and Carol nodded smiling.

****

"Doug! Come up here! There are really a lot of things from us!" Carol called from the attic. The twins were painting with their grandmother.

Doug climbed up the ladder and found Carol sitting on the floor with a book in her hand. "What you've got there?" he asked, taking a seat beside her. "That's my yearbook from high school. Didn't read that for a long time!" She answered smiling.

Doug looked through another box and he found a lot of baby things from Tess and Kate. Cuddly blankets, baby socks, sweaters, skirts, trousers. Everything was so small, so cute. He looked at the baby things again smiling and then he looked to Carol, who was still reading that book.

****

"I want to sleep!" Tess whined and she turned around in her bed again. "Get up…the plane is waiting for us!" Carol said when she was trying to wake the girls up. Slowly both crawled out of the bed. "Fine, you're awake! Cacao is waiting downstairs!" Carol smiled and left the room.

"Be careful okay? And call me when you're there!" Helen said and hugged her daughter. "I love you mum!" Carol answered smiling. "Bye Doug! Take care of those girls!" Helen said and they hugged too. "I will! Thanks for everything!" Doug answered. "Where are the girls now?" Carol asked and she looked around. Tess and Kate made themselves comfortable on the suitcases and they were already sleeping again. "We just carry them to the car!" Doug said smiling. "We don't have another choice!" Carol answered and she went to the suitcases.

"Good bye!" Helen and Javier called when Doug was driving away with the car.

Carol was sitting in the plane and she looked out of the window. Everybody was silent. The twins were sleeping heavily and Doug looked out of the window too. Carol said good bye to Chicago for the second time. She smiled a little bit and then looked to Doug. "I can't wait to be at home again!" she said. "Yeah…me too!" he answered. "Go to sleep baby! You look tired!" Carol nodded and she cuddled herself to him. She closed her eyes and soon she was asleep.

"Psst…Tess! Wake up!" Kate pushed her sister a little bit, just to wake her up. Tess looked at her sleepily. "What? Why can't I sleep for one time?"

Kate grinned mischievous. "Mommy and daddy are asleep. Let's go around here!" Kate suggested. That would be another adventure for both. "Oh yes…maybe we see the flightman!" Tess answered smiling.

"It's called the pilot and you two will stay here! Unless you have to go for little marshmallows!" Doug told them grinning. The twins were really disappointed because their daddy had woken up. Both rolled their eyes and they took a seat again. "Flying is really boring!" Kate said and he put a hand around Tess' shoulder. "You're right sis!" Tess answered yawning. Doug grinned. The both were very funny.

Chapter 6 – The wedding

"Mum…where are my flowers? My flowers are gone. Tess and Kate are gone. Is anyone still here? Hello?" Carol whined nervously in her room. "But we're here mommy!" Kate answered picking on Carol's wedding dress. "Oh you two look cute! Cutie pies!" Carol smiled while kneeling down to them. Kate was okay with her dress for the first time in her life. "You look like a princess!" Tess answered. Carol hugged her babies. "Here are your flowers! And don't be nervous! It's just a wedding!" Helen answered giving Carol the flowers. "Ya…it's just a wedding…there are only over a hundred people in our garden…how could I not be nervous?" Carol said while sitting down again. Tess and Kate looked at her with questioning eyes. Carol smiled a little bit at her daughters. "Why are you nervous mum?" Kate asked while scratching her nose. Carol shrugged. "I don't know. I'm just excited. It's a very big day for daddy and me, y'know?!" Carol answered. The twins nodded. "Daddy is nervous too. He said earlier that he can't wait to see you because you'll be so beautiful!" Kate told her mother. "Am I?" Carol asked. "Of course you are!" Tess and Kate said synchronically. "Aww…thanks girlies!" Carol answered. "How much longer?" she asked her mother now. "Relax honey! Just some minutes!" Helen answered who was already irritated by Carol's nervousness. "Well…if it's only some minutes more…" Carol murmured and she bit her lips again.

"Wow…you look awesome! Perfect!" Lizzy and Susan told her when they were coming inside. "Thanks guys! How's Doug?" Carol asked nervously. "He won't admit it, but he's really nervous!" Susan answered smiling.

"Carol…let's get started!" Monica, Carol's sister, called from the door. Helen smiled at her daughter. "Go ahead…the band begins to play!"

Carol closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She knew how everything would be…after all she had been a bride already. But this was totally different. This time it was for real. She would marry her big love. She smiled and looked to Tess and Kate. "Sweeties, let's get ready! You know what you have to do, right?"

Tess and Kate nodded and they were standing in a row. First Tess and Kate, then Lizzy and Susan and then Carol. This time she would be going alone. Once again she took a deep breath, before the music began to play. It was a wonderful, sunny day in Seattle. As if the weather god knew that this was a special day. Carol opened her eyes and she saw the twins beginning to throw the flowers. Her eyes looked far ahead. Doug was standing besides Mark and he watched his daughters. He seemed very proud of them and now Carol knew that she didn't have to be nervous. As long as Doug was here and her daughters were here, everything was okay. She didn't need more on this world.

Slowly she began to walk and her eyes were still at Doug.

Doug looked at her and he thought an angel was coming along the aisle. She was wearing a wonderful white dress and her dark curls were hold back with a white band. When you looked really closely, her little pregnant belly was seen.

Their eyes met and in this moment it seemed that they forgot the world around them. There were just the both of them. A small smile hushed upon Carol's lips when Doug took her hand and they were standing towards each other. He'd love nothing better than to kiss her right now…she was so beautiful in his eyes. He smiled back at her and then the priest began with the ceremony.

Doug and Carol always looked each other in the eyes and it seemed as they were communicating just with their thoughts. They didn't need words.

Then it was time to say their vows. They wanted to do them together, because they were a together.

"I look at you and the sun is rising. Every new day with you is luck. You laughter fills my heard if there wouldn't be anything more beautiful. I hold you close; I'm with you all the time. Together we're going this way, hand in hand with sweetie pie, honeybee and No. 3!"

Now everybody had to smile and Tess and Kate were very proud to appear in their vows. Grandma Helen and grandma Sarah were crying like babies and the twins wondered, why they were sad at this moment.

Carol and Doug smiled at each other again and then continued:

"I'll give you strength when you're weak. I'll give you happiness when you're sad. I'll hug you when you need a shoulder to cry on. I'll give you the whole world. Because I love you!"

Susan and Elizabeth now had tears in their eyes too. Carol and Doug still looked at each other and then turned to Tess and Kate. The twins were now running to them. Carol picked up Kate and Doug picked up Tess.

"Carol, do you want to marry Doug….blablabla marriage talk…" the priest spoke and he looked at Carol.

"I do!"

"Doug, do you want to marry Carol….balblabla marriage talk again…" the priest spoke again and looked to Doug.

"I do!"

"I know pronounce you as husband and wife! Doug, you may kiss the bride!" the priest said and the guests were clapping.

Finally Doug could kiss her. Their lips touched and you almost could see the lightening between them. As if now their love was getting stronger.

Everybody hugged them and congratulated them. Then the big party could begin.

Carol and Doug were dancing their first dance as husband and wife. "You're so beautiful Carol!" Doug whispered in her ear and she smiled. "And you look so sexy in that suit!" she answered and looked at him seductive. "Oh man…this is the first dance…we have to be patient for some hours!" Doug answered whining and Carol nodded smiling. "I'll control myself!"

"Aunt Val…can we go dancing?" Tess asked Carol's sister. Valery stood up from her chair and took Tess' hand. "Of course little mouse!"

Kate saw that her sister was dancing with aunt Valery. Of course she was very jealous then. So she asked Monica and she was happy when she was dancing too.

Carol's sisters were both living in New York and they were seeing each other rarely. They just came together at special occasions. The twins took them into their hearts very quickly and they also were good friends with their cousins. Also Ella was coming with Mark and Elizabeth and all the kids had a lot of fun.

"It's such a great wedding! I said I wouldn't cry, but I failed!" Lizzy said as she came back from the buffet. "Yeah…finally Doug got married! I tell you…I thought this day would never come!" Mark answered grinning.

Susan nodded. "He was such a womanizer and the women loved him! But those two found each other!"

"Remember when they first met?" Haleh asked and Mark nodded. He started with the story: "It was my turn to show Carol around the ER on her first day. Doug was examining a little baby. Carol and me were going into that exam room and Doug had the baby on his arms. He turned around and then they looked at each other for maybe four minutes without saying a word. Until the baby vomited on Doug's shoulder!"

Everybody was laughing and then they remembered Carol's suicide attempt. "Lucky she came out healthy!" Carter said and everybody nodded. "Did she tell anyone why she did it?" Lydia asked. "I once asked her if she wrote a letter and she said no. She didn't know what to write. No matter why it was…we should be happy that it didn't work!" Haleh answered and she lifted her wine glass. "Cheers to the bride and groom!"

****

For the Chicago guests it was now time to say goodbye to the newlyweds. Carol and Doug were soon going on their honeymoon. Therefore Tess and Kate were going with their grandmothers to Chicago. "Where to will you be flying?" Kate asked curiously. "Around Europe honeybee!" Carol answered excited. "And why can't we come with you?" Tess asked huffily. "Because in this hotel where we are going only brides and grooms are allowed!" Carol tried to satisfy them. "Okay, but we're coming with you the next time!" Tess said and she folded her arms on her chest. "Of course you will! Have fun in Chicago and behave yourself! No silly things Katie!" Carol said while she was hugging her daughters. Even if she could spend some time alone with Doug she would miss her twins.

"Honeybee and sweetie pie…don't turn Chicago into a mess okay?" Doug said too and the twins were grinning. "How should we do that?" Kate asked and rolled her eyes. Doug smiled and hugged his daughters. "You two were great today! I love you!"

"Good bye and have fun in Europe! It was such a nice day today!" Helen said and she hugged Doug and Carol. "Thanks for coming!" Carol answered smiling. It was really nice to have all their loved ones here.

"Bye honeys! Come for a visit soon okay?" Sarah said to her son and her daughter in law. "Of course mum!" Doug answered kissing his mother on the cheek. "Thanks for everything Carol. Everything was perfect!" Sarah told Carol. "I have to thank you! You were such a big help and thank you so much for coming!" Carol answered and she hugged Sarah.

Carol took Doug's hand when the twins were getting in the taxi that was driving to the airport. "That'll be the first two weeks when they are not with us!" Carol said thoughtfully. "I know. But they are in good hands! They didn't share a tear right now!" Doug answered and smiled to his wife. He stroked her cheek and kissed her.

"Oh man…this kissing will never stop, will it?" Susan asked as she came to say good bye. Carol grinned at her stupidly. "That's because he's such a good kisser!" she answered glibly. "I can't tell that…I never tried to kiss him!" Susan answered. "We'll catch up on that one time okay?" Doug joked and Carol rolled her eyes laughing.

"Take it on your word! Bon voyage! And call me one time okay? I mean, when Dylan arrives I want to be the first to know! I want to know everything!" Susan said and she hugged her friends.

"Dylan?" Carol asked and Susan nodded. "After two girls it has to be a boy!"

"Maybe…but Dylan?" Carol smiled. "Dylan is a beautiful name!" Doug answered. "Well, we'll have a lot of time in Europe to think about that!" Carol answered smiling.

Afterwards they said good bye to all of their friends and they still had some hours together before the plane was leaving for Europe.

Chapter 7 – Welcome aboard!

The months were passing by quickly. Carol just had one week until her delivery date. But she didn't feel anything, so she thought it would take some weeks more.

Doug and her still had no name for the baby. They were both really lazy with all that stuff.

Carol was sitting in the living room reading a book about baby names. Tess and Kate were watching some cartoons on TV. "What do you think about Taylor?" Carol asked when she looked up from the book. "Who's Taylor?" Kate asked with a puzzled face. Carol couldn't refrain from grinning. "I mean the name sweetie! Would that be okay for the baby?"

Kate shrugged. "I don't know mommy. I like the name Susan much better!" she answered. "Only because that's your best friend's name!" Carol answered and continued reading.

"I got it! I have the perfect name!" Doug stormed into the room enthusiastic and he kissed Carol. She looked at him with questioning eyes.

"Robin! Robin is the perfect name!" he answered and took a seat besides Carol. Carol didn't look as excited as Doug. "I don't know Doug…I don't want to name our son Robin…that'll always remind me of Robin Hood!" Carol answered. "Not for a boy's name…for a girl! Robin Lily…or Robin Taylor…" "Hey…I thought of Taylor too! Robin Taylor Ross…Robin Taylor Ross…Robin…it isn't that bad!" Carol answered smiling. Doug nodded. "I'm the names master!" Doug answered proudly and Carol nodded. "But we still need a name for a boy!" Doug nodded and looked at her. "Well, I was already thinking about some!"

Carol couldn't believe it. Suddenly Doug was fully into that game now. "Tell me!" Carol said.

"Tyler Lucien or Dylan Elias!" Doug suggested. "God, I love Lucien! I'm for the first suggestion!" she smiled. "Yeah, but we have to put in Dylan somewhere since it was Susan's suggestion and she's becoming godmother!" Doug answered and Carol nodded. "It's easy. Tyler Lucien Dylan Ross!" she answered calmly but suddenly she looked up to Doug. "Tyler Lucien Dylan Ross…now that's an awesome name!"

Doug laughed loud. "It really is!"

"So it's Robin Taylor or Tyler Lucien Dylan. Hey baby…you can come out now!" Doug said as he bent down to Carol's belly and laid his hand on it. He didn't get more than some kicks at the moment.

Doug and the twins were in the new room for the baby to get some things done. Soft toys were laying around everywhere which was the idea of Tess and Kate. The baby needed friends too just like the twins had Benny and Lenny. The twins were already really excited for their new sibling.

"Daddy?" Tess looked at him with big eyes when he was positioning the mobile on the crib. "Yeah sweetie pie?" "When is the new baby finally coming?" Doug grinned. He knew that the twins couldn't wait any longer. "It could be every minute!" he answered and took a seat beside his daughters on the floor. "Can we come to the hospital with you then?" Kate asked. "Of course sweetie! You would be home alone if you wouldn't come with us!" he answered and Kate nodded.

"Dinner is ready!" Carol called to them upstairs and the twins were running downstairs. "Slowly please…you'll hurt yourselves!" Doug called to them but it was too late. Kate tripped and fell down some stairs. Tess looked at her shocked when Kate started to cry loudly. Carol ran out of the kitchen and Doug ran downstairs to look at her. "What happened?" Carol asked shocked. "Honeybee…what's going on? Did you hurt yourself?" Doug asked and he cuddled Kate in his arms. "Noooo…I'm not hurt….but Benny lost an eye!" Kate cried. Carol rolled her eyes and Doug smiled. "You scared the hell out of us all sweetie!" Doug said and put Kate down on the floor. "Next time you two are going down the stairs and not running, heard?" Carol said and she made her way back to the kitchen, followed by Tess. "Such a crybaby…" she murmured. Carol looked at her daughter. She wondered where her five year old daughters caught such Phrases. Actually Tess was the one who cried more often. Kate was the one who was easier with everything. "Just wait for the baby. It will be crying a lot!" Carol said and smiled to Tess. Then she put the dinner on Tess' plate. Tess looked at it deadpanned. "What's that?"

"Vegetable soufflé!"

Carol went to the door to get Doug and Kate. Doug was busy stitching the eye back on Benny's face. "Hey…dinner's getting cold!"

Kate looked up at her mum. "We're in the middle of a surgery mommy. We'll need some more minutes!"

Carol laughed shaking her head. She went back to Tess who was picking in her food. "Did you try it at least?" Carol asked and Tess shook her head. "Then do that please!" Carol answered bugged.

Tess rolled her eyes and took the fork, just to take one bite. She chocked it down so she hadn't to spit it out. Carol rolled her eyes. Her daughters were too comfortable with fast food already. "Finish this or otherwise no TV for this evening!" Carol answered calmly.

The twins were in bed already and sleeping heavily. Benny had his eye back and Kate was happy again. Both had eaten up that soufflé and noticed that it wasn't that bad.

Carol was lying in bed too, exhausted from that day. Due to her big belly she almost couldn't move herself. Doug crawled to bed too and kissed her cheek.

"I quit!" she damned. "Hm?" Doug murmured. "I don't want to be pregnant anymore! I'm tired of it! I'm fat, I can't move like I want and everything hurts already. I'm so tired of it!" she whined and Doug grinned. He wished he could help her a little more, but he so loved it to see her pregnant. "It won't take much longer babe. It will be here soon!" he answered and turned to her again. "Let's hope so, by goodness!" she answered yawning and she closed her eyes. Doug grinnen and he tried to sleep to.

"He heard our prayer!" Carol said as she tried to wake up Doug in the middle of the night. "What? Hm? What?" he murmured sleepily. "The baby is coming. We have to go to the hospital. Wake up the twins!"

It took only some seconds and Doug was sitting in the bed. Now he was nervous…really nervous. Carol was calm like nothing to come. She grinned at him. "Shall I wake them?" she asked and he shook his head quickly. "No, no…I'm going! Okay…you need help?"

Carol shook her head. "Don't panic Doug! It will take some time!"

Finally all four of them were sitting in their car. Tess and Kate were sleeping in their seats. They were excited when Doug had woken them up, but tiredness won. Doug looked to Carol every five seconds. She already had contractions and she winced because of pain. Doug put his hand on her thighs. "We'll be there soon sweetie!" She looked at him and smiled. "You're really nervous, aren't you?" she asked and he nodded. "Yeah…I mean, I see such things almost every day, but this is different!" he answered. "I know…but calm down. Everything's going to be okay!" Carol answered and he smiled at her.

****

One loud baby cry filled the room. "It's a boy! Congrats!" Dr. Sarah Maltini, a good friend of Carol and Doug, told them. She laid the baby to Carol. "Hey sweetie!" Carol cried because of happiness and she kissed the baby on the head. Doug's feelings were going crazy. Never ever he experienced such a wonderful thing. He was there when his son took his first breath. It was stunning. "God he's so beautiful!" he said and stroke the baby's cheek while he wiped away some tears in his face. Then he kissed Carol. They looked each other in the eye smiling.

"You want to cut the umbilical cord, daddy?" Sarah asked him smiling and Doug nodded. "You know how to do it!"

Doug did everything full of proud. "You have a name already for him?" Sarah asked when she took the baby to wash it and weight it and all this stuff. Doug nodded. "Marshmallow!"

Carol grinned. He already had a nickname for his son. Sarah laughed. "That suits with honeybee and sweetie pie!"

Sarah brought the boy back to Carol and put it in her arms. "Tyler Lucien Dylan Ross!" Carol said and she kissed her son again. She was tired but all this got her stay awake. Doug looked at Carol and his son. He was so happy. Carol looked at him smiling. Now she knew the feeling to have the man you love here, when your baby is born. She knew that Doug still was bothered because he hadn't been there, when the twins were born, but the only thing that mattered right now was that he was there now. "I love you Doug!" she whispered. "I love you too!" he answered smiling.

"Tess, Kate, this is your little brother, Tyler!" Doug said when he found the twins again. They were playing with a nurse while this whole excitement. Finally Carol was sleeping too and now he could show the new family member to his daughters. "Hey little baby, I'm your big sister Tess!" Tess said and she touched the baby's hand. "I'm your big sister too, but I'm not as big as Tess yet!" Kate said smiling. "He's really small!" Tess said as she looked at the baby. "You've been that small too once! But you'll see that marshmallow will get big very quickly!" Doug answered. "Now take a seat there so you can hold him!"

The twins were really excited to hold their brother for the first time. Doug laid the baby between Tess and Kate and they were holding him carefully. "Now look at me and say cheesecake!" he joked while he made a picture with his cell. The twins were smiling lovely but Tyler was sleeping heavily. "Great pic! Shall we send this to our friends and grandmas?" Doug asked and the twins nodded in excitement. So Doug tipped the mail and the twins were carefully looking after their brother.

"Hey aunt Susie! This is our little brother Tyler Lucien Dylan Marshmallow Ross. He weighs 7.53 pounds and he's 49 cm small! Mum and dad are very proud and we're very excited! We're looking forward to your visit! Best wishes to Chicago from Family Ross!"

"Dear grandma Helen and Javier! That's our little brother Tyler Lucien Dylan Marshmallow Ross! Everything went fine, he weighs 7.3 pounds and he's 49 cm small. Mommy, daddy and we are very excited and we hope that you'll visit us soon. Many kisses from Seattle! Sweetie Pie, Honeybee, Marshmallow, Doug and Carol!"

"Dear grandma Sarah and Howard! That's our little brother Tyler Lucien Dylan Marshmallow Ross. We already love him so much. He weighs 7.3 pounds and he's only 49 cm long. If you're able too, come visit us! Manny kisses from Seattle sending you Sweetie Pie, Honeybee, Marshmallow, Carol and Doug!"

"Dear ER gang! Today was the day – our little brother Tyler Lucien Dylan Marshmallow Ross came into the world! We're really excited! He weighs 7.3 pounds and he's 49 cm small. Best wishes to Chicago from Family Ross!"

****

Carol slowly opened her eyes. In front of her bed were the twins and Doug with Tyler on his arm and they looked with a bright grin to her. "Good morning mommy!" Tess said excited and she jumped to Carol on the bed. "From me too!" Kate said and she did the same as her sister. "Good morning sweeties!" Carol said sleepily and she kissed her daughters. "Good morning mommy!" Doug said too and gave her a kiss too. "Good morning daddy! How's our little sunshine?" she answered and stroke Tyler's cheek. He was wide awake then and Carol looked into his eyes for the first time. "Oh my god…like he stole yours!" she said to Doug. "What?" "The eyes. Look at them! They're just like yours!" she answered smiling. "And he has a lot of hair…just like mommy!" Kate said grinning. "Or like you two have!" Carol answered and she stroked Kate's head.

"By the way…we got 1000 of calls. Your mum called. She was beside herself with joy and she told that she'll come here as soon as possible. My mum called. She wished us luck and joy and healthiness and everything. Susan called!" Doug told her. "Yeeeeaaah and she said, heyyyy you picked my naaaaaame!" Tess laughed. "We talked with her mommy!" Kate told Carol.

"It's great…everybody's happy!" Carol answered smiling. Everything was just perfect.

Chapter 8 – 10 years later

How time flies…Tess Ross and Kate Ross were already proudly 15 years old and with their dark curls on their heads they looked just like Carol. They were doing great in school, after all they wanted to go to college and therefore they studied really hard. Tyler Lucien Dylan Ross was 10 years old now. He was a very sporty boy, as often as possible he was playing basketball, baseball and in winters he was even snowboarding. And then there was Elena Robin Ross. She was eight years old and a big surprise back then. She was the silent one of the family, although she never got bored with anything. The four siblings were great together although there were some silly fights here and there. But that was family business…

The alarm clock was ringing. Tess pushed it off sleepily and then sat in her bed. "That's not possible…I just went to bed!" she whined and then got out of the bed. It was very dark in her room and she didn't see anything. She almost fell over her backpack. "Oh fuck!" she damned while she was looking for the light switch. When she was able to see everything she took her things and went to the bathroom.

When she was ready with everything she went to the kitchen and drank a cup of coffee. Right after that she ran out of the house. It was her morning ritual, to jog around the neighborhood with their dog Jake. Tess thought that the morning was the best part of the day. She loved the silence and the fresh air.

When she came back to their house everybody was awake, except of Kate who was always sleeping very long, when nobody had woke her up. She put her iPod on the shelf in the hallway and went into the kitchen. "Morning all!" she called and took a bite of a bagel. "Morning! You were running again?" Carol asked who took a seat at the table. Tess nodded. "Yeah…and now I want to take a shower!" she answered. "Dad's in the shower!" Tyler answered and Tess sighed. "Well great. I'll be late for school!"

"Today is Saturday!" Elena smiled. Tess looked at the calendar and rolled her eyes. "Great. And I learned half of the night!" "Your fault!" Tyler answered laughing and punched her brother on his arm. Carol and Elena were laughing. "When will dad be at home after work?" Tyler asked. "He'll only come tomorrow morning. Double shift!" Carol answered. "Oh man…I thought we could start with the model aircraft!" Tyler whined. "No worries, you'll get around to do it!" Carol tried to cheer him up.

Some time before lunch Kate woke up. She was well rested and she danced down to the kitchen, where she found a note on the fridge. "Went to McDonald's. If you like you can come too or put the pizza in the oven! Kiss, mum!"

She never ever was so quick with washing herself and putting clothes on. Quickly she fed Jake who was waiting for his food already. The kids were pleading for a pet, so they also had to look after it. Then she jumped on her mountain bike and wheeled away.

"Wow…now you were quick!" Carol said as Kate came to their table with a menu in her hands. "Well, I can't miss lunch at McDonald's!" she smiled and kissed her mum on the cheek. "Hey you!" she said to her siblings and then was shoving that burger into her mouth. Carol remembered that the twins always wanted to go to McDonald's when they were little. She smiled and it seemed as if it was just the day before. Now they were teenagers already. "What?" Kate asked as she saw Carol smiling. "Nothing. I just remembered you two when you were little. You always wanted to go to McDonl…you always were just worried that we wouldn't go there!" Carol told. "And nothing was different with you two!" she continued and looked to her two youngest. "Yeah, we just love fast food!" Tyler answered grinning.

"Kate, can you help me today with my presentation?" Elena asked her. "Sure…what do you do?" Kate asked. "And why Kate and not me?" Tess asked jealously. "Because Kate knows everything about music!" Elena answered quickly. "Oh yeah, I love music!" Kate answered proudly. "Only because she's able to play the guitar and some songs on the piano, doesn't mean that she's good at it!" Tess countered. "She is good Tess!" Tyler barged in and Kate nodded thankfully. "You know Johnny Cash right? I have to do the presentation about him!" Elena said. Kate didn't think long and she was singing silently "I fell into the burning ring of fire…"

"I think that answers your question!" Carol answered smiling and Elena nodded. Tess only rolled her eyes.

"Hey dad! We brought you a hamburger!" Tyler called when the five came to the hospital to see Doug. "Oh thanks, I'm starving!" he said after kissing Carol hello. Tess and Kate soon leaved them because they wanted to talk to Juan, the beautiful med student. Carol looked at them. "Oh no…they are already flirting…"

Doug grinned. "You're wondering about this? Look at them…they are beauties and talented and nice and the boys love them!"

Tyler rolled his eyes. "Hah…it will come to you too buddy!" Doug laughed and clapped his shoulder. "And I'm marrying Johnny Depp one day!" Elena smiled and everybody was laughing. Sure she knew all of the actors and music starts because of her bigger sisters.

Carol then was leaving to the lounge to finish some paper work. Tyler followed her because there was baseball on TV and he wanted to see that.

"Do you have anything interesting to do Juan?" Tess asked smiling. "I only have to stitch some wounds…I'm not allowed to do anything more interesting right now!" Juan answered and smiled back. "You'll be a great doctor!" Kate said, not moving her eyes from him. The twins were head over heels in love with Juan. They couldn't believe that so much beautifulness only belonged to one man.

"Look…this is a broken shin. See it?" Doug said when he showed Elena some x-rays. Elena looked at the picture bored. "Dad?" she asked and he looked at her. "Would you be disappointed if I don't become a doctor?"

Doug grinned. "Why should I be disappointed? It's your decision sweetie! We won't tell you what to do but we'll support you in everything you have in mind!" he said. "I want to become a zoo keeper!" she answered smiling. Doug nodded. "You'll be a great zoo keeper Eli!"

****

Finally. Finally Doug arrived at home. He was tired and exhausted from his double shift. But he hadn't a lot of time to relax. It was Sunday, a day that he wanted to spend with his family. He promised Tyler to work on that model aircraft. He wanted to drive around with the boat with Tess and Kate. And he promised Elena that they would go to the park with puppy Jake. He didn't know if all this was possible in one day, but he wanted to try. He could sleep later on.

"Hey guys! I'm home!" he called as he entered the house and the kids were running to him already. "Hey dad! When can we begin?" "Daddy, are we going to the park now?" "Dad, can I drive the boat today?" He was bombed with questions. He grinned. "Well, nice to see you too! And yeah, thanks I'm fine!" he joked. "Please…everything one by one! Where's your mum?" he asked. "In the living room!" she called as she heard him. Doug first went to her and kissed her. "I missed you!" Carol said and stroked his cheek. "Think I only have time for you this night!" he smiled and kissed her again. Carol looked at him smiling. "Well…then I'll have some relaxing time for the rest of the day!" she said and leaned back comfortably.

Doug had all hands full. The model aircraft was almost ready, only the painting had to try. Tyler couldn't wait to try it out.

So now Doug and Eli took Jake and went to the park. Elena loved to play with their new dog. The puppy Labrador was very playful and she enjoyed that. Doug played haunting with Helena and Jake and they also tried to learn the dog retrieving. He really enjoyed the time with his youngest daughter.

In the afternoon it was time for the boat trip. Kate was the one who was driving it now and Tess was the one who was allowed to drive back home. The weather was perfect for this trip. There was no wind out on the lake and the three of them took a sunbath on the boat. They talked about god and the world and Doug enjoyed the time with the twins. He was very proud of his sweetie pie and honeybee. He remembered their childhood…the nonsense he did with them and how much he loved them. And the twins loved Doug. He was always there for them when they needed him and the twins were really thankful to have such parents as Doug and Carol. No one in the family had secrets to each other.

Doug also wanted to watch some old videos they made about the kids. Carol and he didn't do that for a long time. They had so much…from every child in their family. Maybe they could do this that night, when the kids were sleeping and he had some time with Carol alone. Sometimes he wished to turn back time, just to have the kids as little ones again.

Finally they arrived back at home. The house seemed to be empty, because it was very silent inside. So they went to the backyard where Carol was reading her book and Tyler and Elena were playing basketball. Tess and Kate went to them just to join in the game. Now the three girls fought against Tyler. He didn't have problems with that; he learned some good tricks from his dad.

Doug took a seat besides Carol and he watched his kids.

"Eli, you'll make that one!" Tess called and she threw the ball to her little sister. Elena dumped the ball neatly. "Yeeeeeeeeeeeeeah!" the three girls called to Eli and all of them were happy.

They were playing along and had a lot of fun.

Carol looked to Doug who was still watching the kids. Then he looked to her. She smiled. "We did a great job with them, didn't we?" she asked and he nodded. "Yeah…we did!" he answered and took her hand in his. "I love you!"

"We love you toooooo!" the kids called synchronistic and now Carol and Doug laughed with them.

The two joined the game with the kids and so the six of them had a lot of fun before the sun went to sleep after such a wonderful day.

….The End….