"Going somewhere Mr. Lyman?" Scott asks as we open the door.

"Just helping Finn unload the car."

Scott doesn't look thrilled but just follows me out to the car. Our protocol isn't as extreme as the First Family's. I could even get the mail if I wanted to.

The back of Finn's car is completely full.

"How long are you guys staying?"

Finn laughs at me. "Just through Monday. I told you, kids come with a lot of stuff."

He hands me two duffle bags, which I throw over my shoulder then a huge box of diapers. "How many diapers does one baby need?"

"A lot. I'm just so glad Marco is potty trained. I have friends who had two in diapers at once!"

Finn throws a couple bags over his shoulders then grabs a small backpack and a brown rectangluar bag with Graco printed on the side. Then grins at me. We are men. We did it in one trip. I follow him into the house and up the stairs. Scott resumes his spot just inside the front door.

I look around the room and set the box of diapers on the desk. The room is pretty much a masculine version of Donna's. Finn drops the bags on the bed and I follow suit. He unzips the Graco bag and pulls out a contraption.

"This is a pack-n-play. Basically it's a portable crib. Sometimes we call it "baby jail."

He's unfolding it while he's talking. Once it's open it doesn't look very secure. Is he sure this thing is safe?

"Okay. You have to lift all the sides until they click into place. Then you push down this locking thing in the middle. Then you put this mattress down." Once he's does he gives it a shake.

"You want to make sure none of the sides will come down with a kid in it."

"This is the bassinette part. It's only good for a few months, but it saves your back during that time."

"Where is Marco going to sleep?"

Finn grabs another bag. "We just got this. It's pretty cool."

He pulls out an air mattress and a battery operated pump and a few minutes later Marco has a little bed. That is pretty cool. I wonder if Donna knows about all this stuff.

"Thanks for the lesson, Finn. I'm going to go find Donna."

When I find Donna in the living room, I pause a moment. Seeing her with an infant in her arms takes my breath away.

"Come in and meet Kate." Donna calls out to me.

"Wow. She's so little."

"She's going to seem huge when the little Bean gets here. Do you want to hold her?"

"Um . . .. " Not really. I haven't had a lot of experience with infants. Although I did hold one of Toby's twins once when they were about this age.

"Come on, it'll be good practice."

I sit down next to Donna and she transfers the baby into my arms. "I gotta pee." She says as she walks out of the room.

"Well, hello" I coo to baby Kate. "I'm your Uncle Josh. When you need help with AP Government and letters of recommendation to Harvard, I'm your guy."

"Harvard, huh?" Julie chuckles at me as she comes back into the room. I'm pleasantly surprised when she takes the chair across from me without immediately reclaiming her baby.

"You look good with a baby in your arms."

"Well thanks. You've got a pretty cute kid here if she can make me look good."

Julie laughs lightly.

"So how are you feeling about impending Fatherhood?"

"Well right now, it seems doable. You know, while I'm holding your sleeping baby. And Finn just showed me how to set up the pack-n-play so I can check that off my list. But the rest of it is a little terrifying, in between worrying that Donna's not going to make it to the end of this in one piece. I don't know how she can go on like this. She's barely keeping any food down." Even as I say it, I feel my blood pressure going up. I can't lose them.

"Hey. Those feelings are normal. Really. Talk to Finn, or Sean, or Jim. They'll tell you. But let me tell you something us girls are a lot stronger than you give us credit for. Donna and the baby are going to be fine."

"Speaking of Donna, where did she go?"

"Lottie made her sit down and drink some tea and have some toast with peanut butter on it. I think she's got a sandwich in there for you too. Here, let me take the baby. I'm going to get my kids in bed then I'm going to sleep too. This one will be ready to eat again in a few hours."

I follow Julie out of the room and head toward the kitchen. I'm relieved to hear that Donna is eating. I really could stand something myself.

Donna's at the kitchen table sipping tea. Her toast has a couple bites out of it. Across from her is a plate with the Turkey Sandwich and chips that Lottie offered to make for me right before Finn arrived.

"Thanks" I say as I slide into my seat. I tried calling her Mom at Christmas, it just didn't really work very well. I'll use it as a title over her name but I tend to just not say it at all. I have noticed that Julie and Becky refer to her as "Gramma" if there are any kids around, so that might end up working for me once the little Bean is here.

"So, um, Gramma & Grampa? Is that what you'd like to be called?"

Lottie looks at me a bit oddly. "That's what the other grandkids call us. I can't imagine why yours would be any different."

"Right."

Having a conversation with Lottie Moss is not the easiest thing in the world. But, I think as I take a bite of my sandwich, she is good with food.

"So . . . what will your Mother be called?" I swallow and grin. I guess we are going to at least try to converse.

"Oh, probably Savta, which is Hebrew for Grandmother. Or maybe Bubbe, which is Yiddish."

"What did you call your Grandparents?"

"My Father's parents were Bubbe and Zayde. My mother's parents died before I was born."

"Oh, I'm sorry to hear that."

"Yes, I guess I understand a little better now, how my Mother felt. I'm sorry my Father won't know my children, and they won't know him."

I look over and see Donna crying. Oh god. I didn't mean to make her cry. I get up and wrap her in my arms. As she sobs softly into my shirt I rub her back, and her Mom slips out of the kitchen. I look down and see that her tea and toast are gone. I think she's just done for the day. I hold her until the crying stops. Her eyes are closed and her head is resting on my stomach. Normally, she'd look up at me a little sheepishly and blame the hormones, but I think she actually fell asleep here. It's definitely time to put my loves to bed.

"Donna" I whisper softly "come on, baby, it's time for bed."

She sighs deeply once. I wish I could just scoop her up in my arms and carry her, but there is no way my back could handle it. I'm pretty sure we'd both end up getting hurt.

"Come on, let's go." I unwrap her arms from my waist and take a step back. Donna opens her eyes and yawns loudly.

Once we get up to her old room she heads straight for the bed. I really wish she had put something comfortable on before Finn and Julie got here.

"Hold on a second, let's get you into some pajamas." I help her get her suit jacket off, and start to unbutton her blouse. She plops down on the end of the bed. She's barely got her eyes open while I slip the blouse off her arms and undo her bra.

"So beautiful." I can't help but running my hands around her sides and caressing her breasts as I pull the bra off.

"So tired." She mumbles.

"I know, baby, it's almost time to sleep." I turn to our suit case to pull out a t-shirt and pajama pants. When I turn back around she's laying on her back with her eyes closed. I smile to myself as I take of her shoes and socks, and then unzip her pants and slide them down her long legs. I ache for this woman. But my desire for her to be healthy far outweighs my sexual urges.

If we were home, I'd just tuck her into bed naked. But she's probably going to need to get up and use the bathroom at some point and since it's in the hall, she's going to need these pajamas. I slide the bottoms up as far as they'll go. Then I lean down and whisper in her ear.

"Lift your hips up, sweetheart." I'm really happy when she complies. After I get the pajama bottoms the rest of the way up, I take her hands and pull her back up to sitting.

"Almost done. Let's just get a shirt on."

"This is backwards" she mumbles again. "Supposed to be getting me out of my pants."

I give her a kiss on the mouth and she opens her eyes for a second.

"You're killing me here, baby. Come on, get under the covers."

She crawls over and puts her head on the pillow. As I pull the covers up around her, I kiss her forehead and just barely make out the last thing she says.

"Helen says lots of sex in the second trimester."

"I'm looking forward to it."

Once I get her suit hung up, I strip out of mine. I hang it up in the closet as well. Seeing our clothes hanging side by side gives me a little burst of pleasure. It's an odd thing to be happy about but I embrace it. I put on some sweats and hoodie and head back downstairs.

I find Finn and Jim in the den. They each have a bottle of beer. I'm shocked. Lottie Moss doesn't allow food or drink outside of the dining room and kitchen. Jim chuckles when he sees my face.

"The girls have all gone to bed. Once she's down for the night, I'm allowed to have my beer in here in peace as long as I clean up after myself. Care to join us?"

"Sure."

"Great, bring us each another beer too, would you?"

I end up just grabbing the rest of the six pack from the fridge and bringing it into the den. I'm really glad that Finn remembers to bring good beer. I wonder when his birthday is? I'm going to enroll him in beer of the month.

I set the beer down on the coffee table and sit down on the couch across from Finn. After twisting the top off, I take a long drink. That tastes really good.

"So what are we watching?"

"Flipping between the end of the Timberlakes v. Knicks game and Sports Center to get all the baseball highlights."

"Excellent. The Mets won today. They're 4 and 0. How're the Brewers doin?" I needle Finn and Jim a little. The Brewers lost today. They're 2-2 and I know it.

Finn gives me a look then slyly says-
"So, Donna let's you have beer while she's pregnant? I thought at Christmas she said she was going to make you give it up when she had to."

Jim sits upright. "Donna's pregnant?!" Shit. I thought she told him earlier. Finn grins at me.

"Um, yeah, I thought she told you. She's due in November."

"So, you knocked up my baby girl AND eloped?!

"Well, in all fairness, I did wait until after we eloped before I knocked her up." I grin at Jim. Now that I understand his humor I can play along.

"Well, then, good man."