Another part. A little heavy. And let's pretend Crane has a job. He's a museum curator or tour guide. He does something at the Historical Society.


They finished clearing out the guest bedroom yesterday. Now, they were at Baby's R Us, shopping for a crib and other furniture. They were just looking until they could save up enough money for everything. For now, they'd buy bottles, blankets, diapers, bibs, onesies, etc. Something to get started. Of course, Jenny, her dad, and Joe said they'd help with their baby's needs, too.

"Wouldn't our daughter look so dashing in this dress?" Crane said.

Abbie glanced his way from the rack she searched through. He held up a white dress with black polka dots. A little white headband with a black flower was attached to the hanger. It even came with matching shoes. Abbie smiled. He'd make the best father. She could see him enjoying shopping with their kid, especially if they had a girl. Just thinking about how Crane would hold their tiny newborn daughter in his huge hands and how he'd smile down at her with tears made her really giddy. It was like warm sea water repeatedly knocked against her ankles. It felt good.

"She would. Buy it." She walked up to him, touched the dress.

"We don't know what we are having."

She shrugged. "We'll get it anyway. There's always Baby #2 if this one turns out to be a boy."

Abbie didn't know if it was Crane holding this dress or if she really wanted another baby with him.

"Are you sure?"

"About the baby or the outfit?"

"Both." He placed it in their buggy and held her to him.

"I'm sure about the dress." She paused, played with his lapels. "Just seeing you in this element makes me want to give you another. You're going to do great."

He kissed her lips. "I surely hope so. I would be honored if you gave me more children. They'd be quite beautiful."

"How many do you want?"

"At least three."

"I'm closing shop at two."

Crane laughed. "Two it is then."

"Did you want a big family growing up?"

She knew he was an only child, but she didn't know a lot about his family besides how his dad treated him. He never talked about his mother. She never asked either.

"I almost had one." He looked at another rack. She skimmed through it with him.

"What happened?"

He picked up a blue short-sleeve dress with white strips.

"Crane?" She touched his back.

"She miscarried twice." He put it back down.

"Oh, Crane. I'm so sorry. I didn't mean to bring up—"

"I know, Leftenant."

She wasn't expecting to hear that and wasn't going to push him to share if he didn't want to. She grabbed his hand.

"She named them Claire and Nathan."

She put her head on his shoulder. They stared at the dresses.

"She was hopefully each time and devastated when she lost them both. I've never seen such sadness in a person. It's like she lost parts of herself. That was a void I could never heal. No one could."

"Do you know how she lost them?"

"I can't be certain, but the doctor said it was because she worked too much. She was a nurse and constantly on her feet. Then she had to come home and talk care of her family. Needless to say, it caused a bit of stress. That's what the doctor said. My mother blamed herself."

She bit her lip. Suddenly it made sense as to why Crane helped her so much. If she had known this is where that came from, she would have let him do whatever he wanted. She squeezed his hand.

"I haven't made this easy for you. I won't complain if you want to rub my feet or carry my laundry basket."

He chuckled. "So you say."

She smiled and picked another dress; this one was lavender with spaghetti straps. It had pink hearts on it. "I won't. For real this time. How did your father react?"

"He never talked about it. I think it did affect him though. He'd leave the room if she talked about them."

"What about you?"

"I was quite sad, but not as sad as my mother. I'd bring her flowers to make her feel better or put baby toys on their graves. I miss them. I would've loved to gotten to know my siblings."

What could she say to that? Hugging him was all she could do.

"I'm terrified that may happen to you. I would definitely hate for such tragedy to occur. I also wouldn't want to experience that with my own child either."

She kissed his chest. "We'll do everything to make sure it doesn't."

He nodded at her. They broke their hug. Abbie would definitely put aside her independence to calm Crane's anxiety. She didn't want a miscarriage herself and wouldn't like it if she did anything to put him through that again.

As they selected two more dresses, Abbie imagined her little girl in one of them. Crane embraced her against his chest. He'd have his lips and nose on her forehead with his eyes closed. Their daughter would sleep as Crane said little terms of endearment to her in French. She played with the material between her fingers. She wanted this image and was determined she wasn't going to lose their baby.