The next morning, DJ woke up and made her boys breakfast. Stephanie could sense the tension as she served the boys pancakes.

"Deej?" Steph inquired, "Can I see you in the living room?"

"Sure. Boys, we'll be right back."

Steph grabbed her hand and dragged her to the other room. "You okay? You're taking on so much and you seem really stressed."

"It's just hard right now, Steph. I'm trying to manage the pet clinic on my own, I'm trying to keep up with my own kids, and I'm trying to play mom to Kimmy's daughters...and it's just not working."

"Ramona and the baby have a mom."

"I know but...I just feel like I owe it to Kimmy to step in and be the best I can be for her girls. Since she's not able to be there for them at the moment, I feel like I need to step in."

Steph nodded, "Why don't you spend the day at the clinic, I'll take the boys and Ramona to school and I'll ask if Steve can come watch Tommy. And I will go see Kimmy and the baby. I will spend the whole day with them."

"Steve is busy with his podiatry practice."

"Steve knows what is going on, and he said if we need him to just call. There's another podiatrist that can cover him."

"You wanna go meet the baby?" DJ asked.

Steph smiled and nodded.

"You're sure Steve will take care of Tommy?"

Steph nodded, "I sort of already asked him over text."

DJ smiled and nodded. "Thanks, Steph. I needed that."

"I'll leave the hospital in time to pick up the kids from school, so don't you worry about a thing!"

After breakfast, Stephanie hurried the kids to school and DJ left Tommy in Steve's arms as she headed off to work.

When Stephanie arrived at the hospital, she had a single text from DJ.

Just remember, she is tiny, and we haven't held her yet.

Steph walked to the NICU and paged for the nurses. She gave her name and was led to a small incubator.

"You can touch her if you'd like." The nurse smiled at her and left her alone.

Steph reached one finger in and met with a tiny grasp. "Oh my god. You're gorgeous." Stephanie said, as a tear fell down her face, "Aw...hunny...Kimmy would love you..."

"Nobody really knows this...but...I had a little girl." Stephanie said, "I had a daughter."

"She was beautiful and perfect just like you, but...she was born even earlier than you. She was four months early. There was just no way she was going to make it."

"That was the hardest thing I'll ever have to do in my lifetime...watch my baby die. And in the days that followed, things went wrong. Things went really wrong. The doctors told me I shouldn't have children because it could kill me."

"So then I moved in with my sister, and with your mom. And we focused on raising my nephews, and your sister."

"Your mom has been so excited these past few months. All she's been thinking about is the day she could hold you and see your face, and now that the day is here, well...she's not doing too well..."

"Hopefully she's able to meet you really soon, but in the meantime I don't mind moments like this. I'm not her, and I could never replace her, but I don't mind filling in gaps. I know what it feels like to be a mom without a baby...I can only imagine it's hard being a baby who has never met their mother, especially after spending so long with her..."

"Let me tell you about your daddy too...you're his first baby. He has been just as excited about it as your mom. Now, he's juggling time to be with you, and time to be with your mom, and he's still trying to work when he can. This whole thing has just devastated him. He's a great guy. Your mom deserves great."

"And as long as I'm telling you about everyone...there's Aunt Dj, too. She's my sister. She thinks because she's a mom and because she's Kimmy's best friend, she should try to spend as much time with you as she can. I didn't tell her about my baby. I told her I can't have children, but I didn't tell her the rest. I don't really have the heart to tell my family. My dad would've loved to have had a granddaughter. Anyway, DJ is so kind, but she had taken on too much responsibility with working, raising her three boys, and trying to help with you. That's why I came today. She was going to come and see you, but she is so stressed out lately I told her I'd come hold you for awhile."

"Ok...I'm gonna go see what's going on with your mommy. I promise I'll be back in a little while..."

Steph smiled and walked away from the baby. She slowly made her way to Kimmy's room. She sat down and grabbed her hand.

"Hey Kimmy...I just met your daughter. Your second baby girl. She's beautiful. She looks so much like you, and so much like Ramona."

"She's doing really well...but she needs you. We all kind of need you. Who else am I gonna make fun of?! And who else is going to be my sisters best friend? You've been there for her so many times when she needed you. I don't think I ever told you how much that means to me. Thank you for always being there for my sister."

"Hey...you've got a lot to wake up for. You've got a gorgeous husband...and he's a great guy. You've got two beautiful daughters...and you've got a lot of parties to plan and if you don't wake up soon I'm probably going to screw them up..."

Kimmy's hand squeezed Stephanie's. Stephanie paused for a moment.