CHAPTER EIGHT

A year later

Sara-Mae looked down at her stomach and frowned – she knew she had a miscarriage – her third.

She was into her third week of pregnancy when she lost the baby. Sara-Mae cried for days after the baby died. She knew it was silly to cry over a three-week-old thing growing inside her, so she stopped her crying.

"Maybe we're only supposed to have three children." Sara-Mae told Parker one evening as they glanced at the stars. Parker kissed her forehead and wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

"Let's not give up yet." He assured her, kissing her temple. "When you're ready, we'll try again."

Sara-Mae nodded and finished her orange juice. She set the glass down and looked at Parker.

"I'm ready." She announced.

"Sar-bear, are you sure?" Parker asked. Sara-Mae nodded and took Parker's hand. They went into the master bedroom and things only got better from there.

Three months later

Sara-Mae looked at the pregnancy test one more time, just to be sure it was correct. The pink line was vertical, which according to the box, meant it was positive.

"Parker! Get in here!" Sara-Mae called. Parker entered the bathroom ten seconds later.

"Are you okay?" Parker asked. Sara-Mae nodded and showed him the test. He kissed the top of her head and rested his forehead on hers.

As Sara-Mae began to show, she and Parker went shopping for baby clothes, since she had given Rachel, Derek and Greg's away. Rachel was now ten and the boys were seven years old.

One night at dinner when Sara-Mae was in her second trimester, she and Parker told the kids that they would soon have a little brother or sister.

Rachel raised her glass in a toast to her new brother or sister. Everyone agreed and clanked glasses.

The following day, Sara-Mae and Roger went to Sara-Mae's doctor's appointment. Parker, Jace and Mark would be taking the kids to the park and then to a movie.

Dr. Wooley smiled and entered the examining room. She didn't have Sara-Mae undress, just to roll up her shirt and get comfortable. Roger squeezed his daughter's hand as Dr. Wooley applied the special gel. Sara-Mae told Dr. Wooley that she wanted to find out the gender of her baby, just as she did with the others.

"Take a look at your daughter and granddaughter." Dr. Wooley told Roger and Sara-Mae. They smiled and looked at the little girl on the screen.

"Wow – she's beautiful." Roger announced.

"Another girl! I can't believe it!" Sara-Mae marveled, looking at the ultrasound screen. Roger kissed the top of Sara-Mae's head and helped her sit up as Dr. Wooley cleaned off Sara-Mae's exposed stomach.

"Sara-Mae, since you're older, I would like to schedule a C-Section, okay?" Dr. Wooley told Sara-Mae. Sara-Mae nodded and they agreed to have the C-Section a few days before the last little baby was born. "This will be your first, so would you like to be awake or asleep during the C-Section?"

"Awake, please." Sara-Mae answered. Dr. Wooley nodded and told Roger and Sara-Mae to have a great rest of their day.

Roger and Sara-Mae went to lunch across the street from the hospital. They had a table outside, since it was a lovely day.

"Here's to your first C-Section and your new daughter." Roger said as he toasted Sara-Mae. She smiled and toasted him.

They ate their lunches mostly in silence, but once in a while, there was conversation.

"I am so proud of you." Roger told Sara-Mae after they had their lunches and left the restaurant.

"Thanks, Dad." Sara-Mae thanked her dad. He helped her into the car and drove her home.

That night, Sara-Mae and Parker had dinner by themselves – Rachel was at a sleep over and the boys were at a friend's house.

"I have something to tell you." Sara-Mae told her husband.

"Really?" Parker asked, picking at his salmon.

"I found out we're having a girl." Sara-Mae said, taking a bite of salmon.

"I can't believe it – another girl!" Parker said. Sara-Mae could tell that his thoughts were elsewhere.

"Parker? Babe, are you all right?" Sara-Mae questioned.

"I'm just tired, that's all." Parker answered.

"Parker, honey. Talk to me. What's going on?" Sara-Mae wanted to know. She searched her husband's face, hoping to find an answer there.

"I got traded to another team. Over the summer, we need to move." Parker said after a long silence.

"Okay, baby. Where would we have to move to?" Sara-Mae inquired, hoping it would be somewhere in the area. If they moved out of state, Sara-Mae would have to find a different doctor and the kids would have to be enrolled in different schools.

"Florida." Parker answered. Sara-Mae frowned.

"Honey, when do we move?" Sara-Mae asked.

"In three weeks – that's when Spring Training starts." Parker told her. Sara-Mae nodded and kissed his cheek. The two of them never fought, or when they did, they tried to work it out privately.

Sara-Mae took a shower while Parker took care of dishes. The two of them watched a movie on the couch until the boys came home.

Shortly after the boys came home, Sara-Mae went to bed. Parker kissed her forehead as she fell asleep.

She felt Parker climb in next to her and hold her close. He kissed her face as his hands roamed her petite frame.

"Mmm, Parker. Not tonight – I'm exhausted." Sara-Mae told her husband. She opened her eyes and screamed.

That's when she woke up from her nightmare. She screamed and cried for Parker. He ran into the room, carrying a baseball bat.

"Honey, are you okay? Where's the intruder?" Parker questioned, his eyes darting all over the room for any signs of an intruder.

"There wasn't an intruder. I had a really awful nightmare." Sara-Mae sobbed. Parker put the baseball bat away and climbed in next to Sara-Mae, taking her in his arms.

"Shh, shh. I'm here now. It's all right." Parker soothed after Sara-Mae told him her nightmare. He rested his chin on the top of her head and wrapped his arms around her. He kissed the top of her head and held her the rest of the night.

Three months later

Sara-Mae was in the operating room, getting prepped for her C-Section. Only Parker was allowed to be with her, so Rachel, Greg, Derek, Roger, Mark, Jace, Alex and David waited in the waiting room.

Sara-Mae and Parker had picked out a beautiful name for their new daughter – Katarina Elizabeth Jordon. The name Katarina came from a character in a book that Sara-Mae had been reading. Elizabeth was for Parker's mother, who had died a year ago.

Two hours later, Sara-Mae was in recovery and Katarina was in the nursery. Parker headed to the waiting room, smiling, anxious to tell his family the news.

They all looked up, except for the kids – they were asleep on various chairs. Roger, Mark and Jace woke up the kids. Once everyone was awake, they turned their attention to Parker.

"We have a lovely little girl named Katarina Elizabeth. She was born at 3:30 this morning. She weighs 5 pounds, 6 ounces and is 16.7 inches long. She's in the nursery and Sara-Mae, or mommy, is in recovery. We can't see mommy right now, but we can see Katarina." Parker told the family.

Everyone followed Parker to the observatory outside the nursery and showed them Katarina. She was in the third row on the right hand side, second baby in.

"She's beautiful." Everyone said in unison.

Mark and Roger told Parker that the kids could stay at their house so that Parker could stay with Sara-Mae. Parker nodded and thanked Mark and Roger.

He told the kids to be good and watched them exit the hospital. Derek turned around and ran back to Parker, hugging him around the waist.

"When will mommy be home?" Derek inquired.

"The day after tomorrow. They had to cut open mommy to get Katarina out." Parker told his son.

"Daddy, can we call her Katie instead of Katarina? It's kind of a mouthful." Derek told Parker. Parker nodded and smiled, liking that idea.

"Yes, Derek. We can call her Katie." Parker told Derek. He smiled and ran off to join his family.

Parker went to Sara-Mae's room and smiled when Katarina was brought in. He carefully picked her up and held her while Sara-Mae slept.

He fed Katie her bottle and sung her a lullaby. By the time Katie finished her bottle, Sara-Mae was somewhat awake.

"Hi. How are you feeling?" Parker whispered, kissing Sara-Mae's forehead.

"All right." Sara-Mae responded, her voice hoarse and groggy. She looked at the sleeping baby in Parker's arms. "May I hold her?"

Parker nodded and carefully handed Katie to Sara-Mae. Sara-Mae smiled at Katie and looked into her sleeping face.

When Sara-Mae grew sleepy, Parker put Katie in her incubator and closed the lid.

"I'll take care of Katie tonight." Parker whispered in Sara-Mae's ear. She nodded sleepily and went back to bed.

Two days later, Sara-Mae and Katie were allowed to come home. Parker put Katie in the nursery while Sara-Mae slept. The kids took care of themselves, so that Sara-Mae and Parker could take care of Katie.

That night, Sara-Mae and Parker got hardly any sleep. Katie woke up at all hours of the night, keeping the couple busy.

Parker took over taking care of Katie when Sara-Mae slept.

"She's down for the night." Parker told Sara-Mae after he finished changing.

"Good." Sara-Mae mumbled, her face buried in the pillows.

Parker held Sara-Mae in his arms, afraid to let her go.