A/N: Before anyone reads Chapter 2, I just want to state for the record that I am a female author. I'm sure you all gathered that from my username, but I just wanted to make a point of saying that the arguments that are made in this chapter are not being made by a man. While I am absolutely for equal rights for women in society and in the workplace, I firmly believe, as a woman, that there are some major problems in modern-day feminism. I'm sure that what I have to say in this chapter won't be very popular, but I strongly believe it needs to be said whether people like it or not, and the last time I checked, we still had freedom of speech. So there you go.

Chapter 2: The Good Lord's Wedding Present

Edna and Howard returned to Peekskill the next day, and they enjoyed another two weeks in their new home alone together before the girls returned for the fall semester. During that time, as would be expected, they aired out the house since it had been closed up for the summer, and they started getting the shop, called Edna's Edibles, ready for its first official day of business. When the girls returned, everybody was happy to see each other, and they spent a good deal of time catching up on what happened during their summer vacation. While Edna and Howard certainly didn't go into details about everything they did together over the summer, they did tell the girls about how they enjoyed the quiet, beautiful simplicity of the country and the farm in Appleton, and the girls filled them in on all the things they'd done during their vacation as well.

Over the next four weeks, Edna, Howard, and the girls all settled into their new lives at Edna's Edibles quite nicely. Blair and Jo started off their college careers with an academic and a social bang, each doing excellently in their studies and becoming more involved than ever in extracurricular activities on the Langley campus when they weren't busy helping out in the shop. Natalie began her junior year at Eastland, and Tootie her sophomore year, and they also got off to a good start. School reporter Natalie was as active as ever in her spot on the school debating team and in her work on the school paper, and Tootie, ever the talented actress, quickly landed the starring role in the next school play coming up in late November. Although moving from the Eastland cafeteria to Edna's Edibles and adding Howard to the family was a pretty significant change for the girls, it didn't take them too much time to get used to it. And in fact, as Howard had told Edna, he really did love the girls and think of them as the daughters he never had, and they loved him just as much.

However, as happy as the newlyweds were in their new life together with the girls, those first few weeks back in Peekskill weren't all fun and games. For some strange reason, Edna started getting more and more and more emotional over every little thing. She also started getting dizzy spells, and she was constantly nauseous and fatigued. At first, Howard and the girls thought that Edna had simply come down with some kind of virus or the flu, but as the next several weeks passed and her symptoms persisted, everyone started getting concerned.

One Sunday night in late October, after Edna had sent the girls up to bed, she and Howard were sitting together talking on the living room couch. Howard could clearly see it that his new bride was having another bout of nausea as she grimaced and held her stomach, and he didn't hesitate to let her know that he was concerned.

"Edna, I think you've put this off long enough. I think it is high time you went to see your doctor about this."

After the nausea passed, Edna conceded, "You're right, Howard. I honestly don't know what has been going on with me these past few weeks. I haven't been myself at all. I'm always tired and queasy. I'm so emotional. Would you believe it? This afternoon after we got back from church and ate lunch, I sat down and turned on the TV and went through the channels, trying to find something to watch. I ended up watching a cartoon, and it actually brought me to tears. A cartoon! It's crazy."

"Well, some of those cartoons can really touch a person's heart. I still cry when I watch that episode of The Flintstones when Wilma gives birth to Pebbles," Howard teased, and Edna laughed. Howard then pretended to tear up and stated wiping fake tears from his eyes as he joked, "Pebbles was such a pretty baby."

Edna laughed again and shook her head, and she told her husband, "You are such a clown." In that moment, Howard chuckled at himself, and then Edna reached up and caressed his cheek, and she looked into his eyes and said, "That's one of the things I love most about you."

Howard smiled then, and he reached up and took her hand and kissed it.

In that next second, it hit her, and she cried out, "I know what it is! Howard, I just realized what's going on. I know what's the matter with me."

"What?"

"I'm finally going through menopause."

"You think that's what's causing all this?"

"I'm sure of it. I almost never get a period anymore. It's been around six or seven months since my last one. It would certainly explain a lot of my symptoms…the lightheadedness, the fatigue, the mood swings. I can't believe I didn't see this before."

"Well I still think you ought to go see your doctor just to be on the safe side."

Edna nodded and said, "You're right, sweetheart. I will. I'll call the doctor's office first thing in the morning and make an appointment."

"Good girl," said Howard, and then he gave Edna a big kiss. "Now let's go to bed and get some sleep, huh?"

"You don't want to go on another one of our 'adventures' tonight?" Edna asked with a raised eyebrow, and again, Howard laughed.

"Maybe later, hon. Let's wait 'til you're feeling a little better first."

"I don't think I'll argue with that," Edna said with a yawn, and then she and her husband got up and went upstairs to bed.

The next morning, Edna called her doctor, Dr. Hughes, and made an appointment to see him at four that afternoon. After leaving the shop in the girls' care, Edna and Howard left at three-thirty to go to the doctor's office together.

After doing some bloodwork, Dr. Hughes called them out of the waiting room once again and back to his office. They sat in a couple of leather chairs across the mahogany desk from Dr. Hughes, a bald, heavyset black man with glasses, and they waited for him to confirm the diagnosis they were already certain of. The newlyweds were in for the shock of their lives.

"Well, Edna, Howard, I've just gotten the results from the lab, and we have a diagnosis. I can say with absolute certainty that this is not menopause."

Edna and Howard looked at each other then, and it was clear they were both concerned.

"Dr. Hughes, if it's not menopause, then…what is it?" asked Edna.

He gave them a reassuring smile then and told them, "You can relax, kids. It's not fatal. You may want to brace yourselves, though. You're in for quite a surprise."

"We're braced, doc, so please quit beating around the bush and just tell us," said a rather anxious Howard.

"You youngsters are going to have an addition to the family. I guess this is the good Lord's wedding present to you. You're having a baby."

In that moment, Edna's lower jaw practically hit the floor, and Howard had to fight for air as he nearly passed out!

"Doctor, you can't be serious," Edna gasped.

"I'm very serious. The bloodwork proves it. I personally double-checked the test results. They're accurate."

"But that's impossible," Edna insisted. "I'm…I'm…well, let's just say I'm not in my thirties or forties anymore and leave it at that." That made Dr. Hughes chuckle. "This has to be menopause," she protested a couple of seconds later. "Look at my age. And I haven't had a period in so many months."

"Pregnancies of women in your age group are exceptionally rare. That's stating the obvious. However, no matter how old a woman is, as long as she is still ovulating, conception is possible. It doesn't happen often, but on very rare occasions, it does happen. You two are a pretty special couple. Congratulations."

"Uh, doc, hold off on those congratulations there for a second," said Howard as he held up his hand for a brief instant. "You know my wife suffers from hypertension. Given her age and her high blood pressure, do you really believe it's wise for us to go through with the pregnancy?"

"I understand your concerns, and you are right. I won't try to sugarcoat it. This is a very high-risk pregnancy. There's a much higher chance that your baby will have some kind of birth defect, and Edna, there are considerable risks to your overall health as well. There's an increased chance of complications like gestational diabetes and preeclampsia, not to mention heart problems. Given your age and your history of hypertension, there are a lot of things to be concerned about in a pregnancy like this. But as a doctor, I cannot tell you whether or not you should terminate the pregnancy. That's between God and the two of you."

Their talk about terminating the pregnancy – ending her baby's life – really stirred up anger inside Edna. She was certainly shocked by this news, but abortion was truly the last thing she would ever consider, regardless of the risks. In that moment, she told her husband and her doctor, "Now look, gentlemen, I know I'm no spring chicken, but that doesn't mean I'm in my autumn years, either. This gal is right smack dab in the middle of her summer years and she's still got a lot of pep left in her, and she can handle this. The bottom line is, I am not ending this baby's life just because I'm a little older than most mothers."

"But Edna, there are so many risks to your health," Howard argued.

"You don't have to tell me that, Howard. I'm a registered nurse. I know all about the risks involved when an older woman gets pregnant. I know the road ahead of us isn't going to be an easy one, but like I just said, I can handle it. Have some faith in me."

"I believe this is something that the two of you need to continue to discuss in private," said Dr. Hughes. "In the meantime, before you leave, I'd like to perform an ultrasound and have a look at the fetus, get an idea of how old it is, etc."

Edna's face really lit up when he said that, and she told him, "Oh yes, by all means, let's do that. Oh Howard, this is going to be so exciting. They didn't do ultrasounds on pregnant women when I was pregnant with Raymond and Alex back in the day. It'll really be something to actually get to see our little one on screen."

"If you do decide to go through with the pregnancy, I would recommend that you get with your gynecologist and schedule an amniocentesis in several weeks to make sure the baby's healthy."

"Yes. If there are problems, God forbid, we should know so we can be better prepared to care for the baby," said Edna as a very shocked and worried Howard merely stared down at his feet.

"Indeed," Dr. Hughes concurred, and then he got up from his seat, and Edna and Howard stood as well. "Now, why don't we take a trip to the exam room across the hall and do that ultrasound?"

"Of course, Dr. Hughes," said Edna, and in the next moment, he started walking out of his office. "Come on, Howard," she told him. "Let's go."

Howard followed behind them in stunned silence, and when the doctor performed the ultrasound a few minutes later, seeing the image of his unborn baby onscreen did nothing to change his state of fear and shock. He just stood next to the exam table without uttering a word while his wife laid flat on her back and stared at the image of their child in awe.

And indeed, it was more than obvious that Edna's state of mind was a perfect one-eighty to Howard's. She'd been pretty shocked herself when Dr. Hughes had told them the news, but she recovered from it much quicker than her husband did. Even though she was still pretty stunned and did have her concerns, inside, she was already beginning to accept and even rejoice in the fact that she was going to be a mother again.

And for Edna, all it took was that one glance at the image of her unborn child on the ultrasound screen that day, and that was it. From that point on, there would not be even the tiniest fraction of a thought of ending the pregnancy in her mind. She knew there would be risks involved. She knew there was a considerably higher chance of birth defects for the baby and serious physical complications for herself, but to her, none of that mattered because the bottom line was, this was her baby. This was their baby. This was their own unique, God-given miracle, and no matter what, she was going to love it and cherish it and care for it.

"Oh my goodness," Edna gasped as tears came to her eyes the instant the baby's image came to life on the ultrasound screen.

After examining the baby via ultrasound for the next couple of minutes, Dr. Hughes confirmed, "Good news. So far, everything appears to be perfectly normal. I believe the fetus is around seven weeks old, and even though we won't know for certain until you have an amniocentesis, from what all I can tell, the baby appears healthy."

Edna had to brush away a tear from her eye then, and she gasped, "I can't believe it. At my age, I'm having a baby. Me."

"Edna, I think this is something you and I really need to have a long talk about," said Howard.

Edna chuckled and said, "Oh, we have to do a lot more besides talk. We've got a ton of plans to make. We'll have to set up a nursery. We'll have to start saving for college. We've got a lot of work ahead of us."

Dr. Hughes laughed and said, "I think you still have a little bit of time. You're not even in the second trimester yet. You do have a few months, you know. You can take your time and just ease into it."

"Doctor, if there's any one thing I know, it's that time flies by at the speed of light. Right now, I'm in my first trimester, but it'll seem like it's tomorrow that this child is getting its driver's license and graduating from high school."

The doctor laughed again and said, "That's certainly true." He then took a towel and wiped off the gel from Edna's abdomen and told her, "Well, you're all done here. I'll have my secretary call your gynecologist and schedule an appointment for you. You're seeing Dr. Flowers, correct?"

After pulling down her blouse and sitting up on the exam table, Edna replied, "That's right. Dr. Jessica Flowers."

"She'll want to have a discussion with you both about your options."

"I think that's a very good idea," Howard said quietly. Then he and Edna exchanged the usual pleasantries with the doctor before they finally said goodbye and left.

For the next half hour or so as they rode together in the car, Edna couldn't stop talking about making plans for the baby. She happily prattled on and on about all the things they'd have to get, like baby clothes and a crib and a stroller and a car seat. She was lost in her own world and was utterly oblivious to the fact that her husband was clearly not happy about the pregnancy.

When they got back to the house at five-thirty that evening, the girls had already closed the shop and they'd all gone out, so mercifully, the couple had the house to themselves and some much-needed privacy. Natalie and Tootie had a killer French test coming up, and they'd each met their boyfriends at the Eastland library for study dates. A friend of Jo's was having trouble with his motorcycle, so she'd gone over to his house to try and repair it. And as always, Blair was out on a date with one of her multitudes of boyfriends. They already knew in advance that the girls would be gone when they got back, and their absence was something Howard was particularly grateful for because he really wanted – and needed – to talk to Edna now. And he needed to do it without four teenage girls overhearing them.

As soon as they walked through the door, Howard said, "Edna, you and I have got to talk about this. We've got to really talk about this."

"We have been talking about this, Howard."

Howard shook his head and said, "No, Edna. You've been doing all the talking. You've been talking about preparing a nursery and buying baby furniture and saving for college. I want both of us to talk, really talk, about this pregnancy."

"What about it?"

"Like you said back at the doctor's office, you're a registered nurse. You know how risky a pregnancy like this is, especially with you having hypertension. Edna, I don't mean to be dramatic, but you know it's a medical fact that this pregnancy could kill you. I'm just going to tell you point-blank that I don't think you should go through with it. I don't want you to go through with it."

Edna smiled, reached up and touched his cheek with her fingertips, and told him, "I'm sorry, Howard. I've just gotten so wrapped up in thinking about the baby that I guess I really haven't been listening to you. I know how worried you are. I won't try to pretend that I'm not scared about the idea of having a baby at my age because I am. But I don't make my decisions based on fear. I make my decisions based on doing what's right."

"Isn't it right to take care of your health? To make sure nothing happens to yourself so that you'll be around for all the people who love you and need you?"

"I will be around, Howard. Just because this is a high-risk pregnancy doesn't mean it's some kind of death sentence."

"It could be a death sentence, Edna. This really could kill you."

"Walking down the stairs could kill me if I trip and fall down and hit my head hard enough. Getting behind the wheel of a car could kill me if I'm unfortunate enough to cross paths with a drunk driver out on the road. There are all kinds of risks we take in life every single day, yet we don't just stay locked in our bedroom and hide under the covers and stop living altogether."

"That's not the same thing and you know it."

"All I know is, I am not going to take our baby's life – I am not going to murder this little life that I'm carrying – just because I'm afraid. This innocent little baby didn't do anything to deserve the death penalty and I will not do something so heartless and vicious and cruel. I know how worried you are about the risks, but do give me a little credit. I've always taken very good care of myself, and that's hardly going to change now. I'm going to listen to my doctors. I'm going to do everything I'm supposed to do. I assure you, Howard, that I am going to be extremely careful."

"I don't understand. What happened to all the lectures about women's lib and feminism and equal rights I had to listen to when I used to tease the girls that a woman's place was in the kitchen? Surely as a feminist, you would agree that you have the right to end this pregnancy in order to protect your health."

Edna shook her head, and then she told him, "Just because I believe in equal rights for women in society and in the workplace doesn't mean that I support abortion. Ordinarily, whenever there's a discussion about abortion, I button my lip because I don't feel like getting into all the drama and arguments and shouting matches that almost always happen, but the truth is, I believe that abortion is an atrocity for a number of reasons. I also believe, as a woman, that when women in the women's movement attached abortion to feminism, they really shot themselves in the foot.

"Think about it, Howard. When a couple has a baby and the parents aren't living under the same roof and sharing living expenses, the father is automatically expected by law and by society to accept responsibility for his child and pay child support until the child is legally an adult. But when a woman willfully chooses to have sex with a man and gets pregnant, according to a lot of feminists out there, she doesn't have to be an adult and accept any responsibility whatsoever for the life she helped to create through her own choice. She gets to get away with condemning an innocent life – her own child – to death because the child doesn't fit in with what she wants for her own life. Do you not see what a double standard that is? And furthermore, it sends a horrible message about women: that while women expect men to accept responsibility for choosing to have sex and choosing to create a baby, women think it's okay to resort to unbelievable levels of cruelty in order to shirk their responsibilities in their own choices about sex. And on top of that, abortion also enables men out there who are selfish and irresponsible to avoid accepting responsibility for their choices in the bedroom as well. If a man doesn't want to at least accept the responsibility of paying child support, abortion is his automatic get-out-of-jail-free card. Abortion enables him to have sex without giving a second thought to the grave responsibilities that go along with that decision."

"I hear what you're saying, but what about cases of rape or incest? What about all the women out there who didn't get a choice about having sex?"

"That's another conversation for another time. Right now, we're talking about us and our baby, and our situation has nothing to do with rape or incest. We're talking about whether or not a woman who did have the choice to have sex should also have the right to take her unborn child's life, and I say no. You never forced yourself on me when we were on our honeymoon in Appleton, Howard. You asked me if I wanted to make love and I said yes. That was my decision. I chose to make love to you. I chose to help create this new life that I'm carrying. We both did. And now we are responsible for the child that got created as a result of that choice. We don't get to run away from this."

"Yes, but we never dreamed this would happen."

"That doesn't matter. We still chose to make love to each other, which also means that we chose to create this baby. That means that we, both you and I, are responsible for this child. Equal rights doesn't just mean equal privileges. It also means equal responsibilities.

"That was a lesson that was lost on my ex-husband. He certainly wanted all the privileges of being a husband and a father. He wanted the sex from me – and from other women. He wanted the hugs and love and adoration from the boys when they were little. But he always had a real problem with the responsibility part. He didn't want to have to deal with things like work, bills, colds, temper tantrums, discipline, fidelity. That all fell on my shoulders. And now you're asking me to do something infinitely worse than what my ex-husband did. You're not just asking me to shirk my responsibilities to my child. You're asking me to end its life. You're asking me to commit murder. You're asking me to allow someone to reach inside me with cold instruments and literally rip our child's body apart limb from limb. That's what abortion is, Howard. Nobody likes to actually talk about it, but as a registered nurse, I know that that is the cold, hard truth. That is what is done to an unborn baby in an abortion. A lot of people on the other side of the debate like to try to claim that an unborn baby is just fetal tissue and not a human being so that they can tell themselves the lie that murdering a baby by ripping it apart and yanking it outside of its mother is no big deal. But I can never do that. I can never lie to myself like that in order to run from the truth about the cruelty and inhumanity of abortion. And anyway, who on earth gave me the right to play God and decide if someone else gets to live or die – my own child at that? That's Christ's domain, not ours. And I am not my ex-husband. I accept my responsibilities, Howard. I don't run from them. That's not who I am, and you know it."

Howard let out a long sigh, and finally, he said, "I know." In the next moment, he pulled her in his arms and gave her a very long kiss. He then stroked her cheek and whispered, "That's one of the many reasons why I'm so in love with you. I guess I don't have any business trying to convince you to go against your own conscience. And you're right. I can't ask you to play God and decide to end our child's life. That's up to Jesus, not us. It's just that I'm scared. Heck, I'm not just scared. I'm petrified. I'm worried to death about what this pregnancy's going to do to your health and I may be even more worried about becoming a father for the first time at my age. You? You have experience. You've raised two sons. You know what you're doing. Me? I don't have a clue. And on top of that, I'm not sure an old-timer like me can keep up with a little one."

Edna chuckled and told him, "First of all, you're not an 'old-timer.' You're only as old as you act and feel. You're full of life and love and joy…and mischief. You're many things, Howard Andrew Caden, but old isn't one of them. And I've seen you with the girls. You'll be a wonderful father. And second, I know how worried you are about my health. I'd be lying if I said I didn't have concerns, myself. I do. But even though I have my own personal fears about this pregnancy, I won't give in to fear and I won't sacrifice our child's life to cater to my fear.

"My father taught me an important lesson when I was young, and it's stuck with me my whole life. One day when I was a girl, he taught me about willow trees. Willow trees can bend into all sorts of shapes without snapping, and my father taught me that in order to survive in this world, we have to be the same way. Life is always changing, Howard. Terrible, wonderful, beautiful, insane, unexpected things are constantly happening in life. In order to survive, we have to adapt to whatever life throws at us without allowing it to break us, just like willow trees do. Clearly, neither one of us saw this change coming, but you don't have to worry about me. I can do some major bending when I have to. I won't break. I promise you. I can do this. We can do this."

Howard smiled and let out a sigh, and then with his arms still around her waist, he pulled her even closer to him and kissed the top of her head. A moment later, he said, "Edna, you are an extraordinary woman."

Edna looked up at him with a big smile, and then she said, "I won't argue with that."

They kissed once again, and then several long moments later, their embrace finally ended. When they let go of each other, Howard said, "Well, it looks like we have a lot of decisions to make, like where we're going to put a nursery for this kid; what college we're going to send it to; what we're going to name it."

"As far as the question of a nursery is concerned, we can turn part of our bedroom into a kind of small nursery for the baby. Besides, I want the baby to be with us anyway."

"That's a good idea."

"As for college, I think that should be up to our child when he's eighteen. It's his life, and I think he should go to any college he wants."

"What makes you so sure it's a he? It could be a girl, you know."

"That's true."

"And if this baby is a girl, I want to name her Pebbles," Howard teased. Edna had a good laugh at that, and she rolled her eyes at his silliness.

"And let me guess: if it's a boy, you want to name him Bamm-Bamm."

"Naturally."

Edna laughed again and shook her head, and then she said, "You've been watching The Flintstones way too much."

"I bet the girls would like it if we named our daughter Pebbles," he kidded.

"I wonder how they'll feel about having a baby in the house. I never will forget that time that Alison came to Eastland for a visit and she brought her baby Emily with her."

"Oh yeah, that's right. I remember you telling me about that. She took off and left her baby with you and the girls for the night, didn't she?"

"Yes, she did. When she left Emily with us, the girls weren't exactly helpful at first. They were perfectly content with the idea of spending a few minutes playing with Emily and then just going about their lives while leaving most of the work and responsibility in my hands."

"Something tells me that that attitude didn't last very long."

"It certainly did not. I let them all know pretty quickly that Emily was their responsibility just as much as she was mine. I've got to hand it to them, though. They may have gotten off to a rough start, but they really stepped up to the plate that night. I was very proud of them. But then again, that was just one night. How are they going to feel about having to listen to our baby cry every night at two in the morning? How are they going to feel about not being able to get a wink of sleep for about the next two years?"

"I think maybe you're underestimating the girls a bit. Those girls love you, Edna. They really do. And besides, after all you've done for them over the years, it's only fair that they be supportive and give back a little, and they know that. I don't think that they'll see our baby as an unwanted inconvenience. They'll love this baby because it's yours. They'll be happy for us. I'm sure of it."

"Yeah, you're probably right," Edna agreed with a smile. "But I don't think we should tell the girls about it just yet, or anyone for that matter. Since this is a high-risk pregnancy, I think it's best if we keep it to ourselves until I'm in my second trimester."

"That's fine with me. I won't say a word."

Edna nodded, and a couple of moments later, she wrapped her arms around Howard and gave him a long kiss. When the kiss ended, she looked up at him and told him, "I love you, Howard."

Howard smiled and responded, "I love you, too."

However, even though his face was smiling, inside, he was still very worried. He knew it in the end that Edna was right, and being married to such a strong, courageous woman with such great integrity truly humbled him. He wasn't sure if he was up to the challenge or not, but he was sure that he was going to give this great lady and their baby everything he had.