November 25th, 2000

Doug came up behind Carol and wrapped his arms around her waist. She turned her head to smile at him and then they both looked back to their daughters. They were playing on the ground with a two year old Luke, who was trying in vain to get them to walk. But all that was happening was they would stand, wobble for a minute, then crash back down to the ground and Luke would groan loudly, causing the adults in the room to laugh.

'Imagine, one year old already' Doug said quietly.

'I don't need to imagine. I know all about it. This day last year was pretty dramatic for me' Carol replied, smiling down at the girls and their friend.

She heard Doug stop breathing and wanted to hit herself for being so careless with her words. 'Don't say it' she told him.

'I should have been there' he said and Carol cringed. She turned to look at him.

'How many times do we have to go over this? You weren't there because I asked you not to come. I know you wanted to be there, I know you love me, I know you love the girls-' but she was cut short when Doug planted a kiss on her lips, smiling.

'I know, I'm sorry. But man are you cute when you get flustered' he said.

Carol hit him and he laughed loudly.

'Lukey, stop pulling Katie's hair!' Erin's voice floated back to them and the couple turned to see Luke hurriedly remove his hand from Kate's head. But the one year old was not about to let her friend get away with that. She reached out when Luke wasn't looking, grabbed a handful of his hair and yanked it. Luke howled in pain and Kate giggled, happy with her revenge. The adults laughed and Tom said, 'That's what you get, son.'

Just then the phone rang and Carol hurried away to answer it.

'So, you up for a game of golf tomorrow, Doug?' Tom asked.

Doug chucked. 'I would have thought you'd want to give that up.'

Tom waved a hand dismissively. 'I'll beat you eventually, just need to get a bit more practise in' he replied.

'I'll be sure to have some ice packs ready for you when you get home' Erin said, smiling fondly at her husband. He just made a face at her, causing Doug to laugh.

Luke pushed himself up from the floor and padded his way over to his parents and tapped Erin's knee. 'Cake?' he asked.

'Not yet sweetheart. Soon' Erin told him.

'Hey, the boy's right! Let's have some cake already. Where's Carol? ...Carol!' Doug shouted. He leaned back in his chair to look back into the kitchen and found Carol leaning against the breakfast bar, still holding the phone to her ear.

'She's still on the phone. We'll have cake when Carol comes back, alright?' Doug said to Luke who grinned and nodded his head.

But ten minutes later, Carol was still on the phone without any intention to get off any time soon. Doug rose from his chair and made his way into the kitchen. He lifted up one of the two birthday cakes that lay on the counter top and waved his hand to get Carol attention. She looked over briefly and held up a finger, signalling one minute.

'I'm so sorry we're missing it. You must be so excited,' Carol was saying, smiling widely.

Doug came to stand next to her and mouthed, 'Who is it?'

Carol mouthed back, 'Elizabeth!'

Now Doug understood the long phone call. It had been almost two months since either of them had spoken to someone back in Chicago, the last time being Elizabeth also, to announce that she and their long time friend Mark Greene were engaged. The two women had spent almost an hour on the phone while Carol begged for details. How did he propose? What was the ring like? When will the wedding be? Never try to understand to workings of a woman's mind. When Doug eventually prised the phone from Carol's hand so he could speak to Mark, all he had to say on the subject was congratulations.

'Elizabeth, I'm so sorry we're not there! I mean you were there for me every step of the way. I wish I could do the same for you' Carol was saying now, which caught Doug's attention and he raised his eyebrows in silent question. But Carol just waved him away with her hand and went on blabbering to Elizabeth. Doug sighed loudly and leaned against the breakfast bar, making it clear both he and everyone else was becoming impatient.

'Sorry Elizabeth, Doug is standing here with a face. Let me just tell him what's going on' Carol said. Elizabeth replied and Carol laughed loudly. Doug just shook his head.

'Yeah, I know. Hang on one second,' she said and then rested the phone against her shoulder.

'Elizabeth is pregnant!' she said quickly, her whole face bright with excitement.

Doug's mouth dropped open in shock. He was not expecting that. Wow, Mark was going to be a father again. Doug was so pleased for his friend, he now fully understood why Carol was taking so long on the phone. This was big.

He held out a hand and Carol sighed. She placed the phone back to her ear and said, 'Doug wants to say congratulations, I think. I'll pass you over to him,' then handed him the phone.

While Doug chatted with Elizabeth and then Mark, Carol prepared the girls birthday cakes and went to refill Tom and Erin's wine glasses.

'I'm so sorry about the phone call. It's a friend from back in Chicago and she was calling to tell us she's pregnant' Carol explained to her friends.

'That's wonderful, is it her first child?' Erin asked.

Carol nodded. 'Her first yeah, but it's her fiancé's second. He has a daughter that's about thirteen now.'

'Wow, that's a big gap,' Erin commented.

Carol smiled. It was a big age gap between Rachel and the new baby but somehow, with everything that had happened to Mark over the years, his divorce and Susan leaving and then finally finding Elizabeth, it just seemed perfect to Carol that they would now have a baby together.

Just then, Doug shouted for her from the kitchen. Carol excused herself once more and rejoined Doug.

'Elizabeth just wants to say goodbye,' he told her and handed over the phone again.

While Carol and Elizabeth said their goodbyes and promised they would see each other soon, Doug took a lighter from the drawer and started to light the candles on the twins' cakes.

When Carol finally hung up the phone, she gave an excited squeal and hugged one of Doug's arms. 'I am so happy for them. And guess what, they said they might come to visit soon, isn't that great. I really missed them,' she said and Doug smiled.

'I know, me too. Now, let's get this over with because I don't know about everyone else, but I'm starving!' he said.

Carol laughed and took one of the cakes into her hands as Doug picked up the other one and they moved into the sitting room.

Everyone started singing Happy Birthday to the girls, who were grinning up at their parents like they knew exactly what was going on. Doug and Carol blew out the candles for them, everyone cheered and finally, cake was distributed.

But as the afternoon past on, Carol's thoughts kept straying back to her friends and their amazing news and found herself missing Chicago more than she ever had since leaving.

AN: Sorry about the long wait...busy life and all that. Hope you enjoyed it :)

(PS. It's my birthday today! :D Reviews as presents maybe? haha)