After lunch, everybody made their way back to the hospital. They discovered that Mrs. Garrett was still asleep, and that Alex and Raymond had already left. "How could they just abandon their mother like that?" Jeff asked.

No one really knew the answer, but Natalie did offer a possible explanation. "They have not been very close since she married Bruce. I don't think they ever really liked him."

Then Tootie continued. "Yeah," she said. "When they thought she was dying, they were ready to let bygones be bygones. Now that they're sure she'll make it, they are still holding a grudge."

Dr. Stein came out and smiled at the group. Blair couldn't help but notice that what Mrs. Garrett had said about the man was true. He was about forty, with brown wavy hair and a perfect smile. He was quite handsome. He began to update them on Mrs. G's progress. "She is resting now," he said. "She is worn out from all of the visitors. In a few days, if she continues to make progress, we'll remove her from ICU and put her in a regular room upstairs." He could tell how happy he had made this woman's family. "For now," he said, "I would suggest you all go home. She won't be up to seeing visitors for the rest of the day."

They were all a little disappointed to be sent home, but felt tremendous relief that Mrs. Garrett was making so much progress. They prepared to leave. "So," Jo turned to Blair, "Mrs. G was right. Don't you think?"

Blair turned to her, unsure of what she was talking about. "What do you mean?" she asked.

Jo laughed a little. "I mean," she continued. "He is quite the catch. And don't tell me you didn't notice." Blair's face turned red. Then she laughed a little too.

"Why don't you all come over to the house," Beverly Ann suggested when they reached the parking lot. "It will be nice having company. The house seems so empty." She looked pleadingly at them. She did not like being alone in that house. She missed her sister too much. Everyone agreed.

As they were loading into the cars, Ricki asked if she could ride with Blair. Jo didn't care, but she looked at Rick to see if he would protest. "Please," Ricki continued. "Our car is too crowded and I keep getting poked by Jordyn's leg braces. Besides, I love Aunt Blair's car…please!"

Rick smiled at his daughter, "I guess it would be okay," he said looking at Blair, "I don't see why not."

Everybody loaded into vehicles. Ricki was going with Blair. Natalie, Snake, Tootie, Jeff, and Ontario were all loading into Beverly Ann's Winnebago. Although they did not know why she had brought that thing up to the hospital, they were glad to save on cab fare. Andy and Gina were in his car, and Jo, Rick, and their three youngest daughters were in theirs. They were on their way.

"What was that all about?" Jo asked Rick, as they made their way down the somewhat familiar Peekskill streets.

Rick glanced over at her, "What?" he asked.

Jo grinned a little. "You let Ricki go with Blair?" she questioned. "It just surprised me, that's all."

Rick knew Jo was shocked by his actions. He looked back and saw Katie and Charli looking at books and Jordyn listening to headphones. He figured it was safe to have a serious conversation because the kids were not listening at all.

"Well," he said. "I figured that you trust her enough to move in with her and be roommates again. She would never do anything to hurt one of our girls. She loves them. You have forgiven her. I might as well forgive her as well. In fact, at the restaurant, we had a little chat. I told her I appreciated her telling you the truth. She is still so hurt by everything. It is hard to blame her when she is crying and asking for forgiveness."

Jo could not believe what she was hearing. Blair had asked Rick for forgiveness and he had given it to her. He had thanked her. "I appreciate what you're doing," she said. "I know it must be hard for you to forgive Blair. It was hard for me too, in a lot of ways. But I love her and I need her in my life. Thank you for understanding that she did not mean to hurt us."

Rick reached over and put his hand on hers. "I never really blamed Blair for the hurt we experienced. I mean, she was easy to put the blame on, but deep down I knew it wasn't her fault."

Jo looked at him. She felt a lump in her throat and tears in her eyes. "Do you mean it was my fault?" she asked. "Because I didn't trust you?" She wiped a tear from her cheek.

Rick had not meant that at all, and felt guilty for upsetting her even more. "No honey," he said. "Of course not. This was not your fault. If you didn't trust me, it was only because I gave you reason not to. I know I was always irresponsible and that made me look guilty."

"But you weren't and I should have believed you," Jo replied. "I don't know why I didn't. You never gave me reason to distrust you." She was crying a lot by now, and was unable to hold back her tears.

Rick hated to see her like this. "Jo, calm down," he tried to soothe her. "It wasn't anyone's fault. It was just life. That's all." He paused briefly. "Please calm down. It's not good for you to be so upset. We can talk about this more later."

By now, Jo and Rick had captured the attention of their children in the back seat. "What's wrong?" Charli asked.

Jordyn looked almost knowingly at her parents. "Mom's just a little sad," she said to her sister.

Jo looked back at her daughters. "I'm fine," she said, stopping her crying although it was hard. "Just a little emotional." She wiped her eyes, "I'm gonna have a baby and sometimes that makes women cry when they don't even have a reason to be sad." She couldn't believe she was telling her kids that she was hormonal because of the pregnancy when she hated other people saying that to her, but she couldn't tell them the truth.

"Why is the baby making Mommy sad?" Charli asked, confused.

Rick smiled weakly, "The baby isn't making her sad," he explained. "She's just tired and not feeling well right now, but everything will be okay soon." He looked at Jo and sighed, "It will be okay..."

"I hope so," Jo nodded. "I really do."