"Is this little booger yours?" Elizabeth turned to see a salesman carrying a crying Max, whose arms were reaching for her.
"Oh, thank you!" she exclaimed, taking her son into her arms and holding him close. "I swear, Paul, I honestly thought he was still playing at my feet! I'd just checked on him!"
Paul chuckled. "It's all right! No major damage done, was there, Sport?" He chucked Max under the chin. "But I think it's about time we headed home now. What do you say?"
"Definitely!" Elizabeth agreed. "As long as Aimee and Roger are finished shopping," she quickly added.
"I'm ready to go." Aimee yawned. "I'm shopped out for the day."
They returned to Roger and Aimee's apartment, where they thanked the couple for their hospitality and then headed home. When they got there, Elizabeth cooked dinner and fed her husband and son. Later, she was in the bedroom reading when Paul walked in and retrieved a package from the closet. "I wanted to show you what I bought today," he told his wife. He opened the package and took out the baby dress he'd shown her in the store.
"Oh, Paul!" She took it from him and ran her fingertips over the lace. "I hope we get to use it!"
"So do I, but that's not all." He reached back into the package and took out a strawberry print sundress.
Elizabeth gasped. "I love it!"
Paul smiled. "You should be able to wear it by next summer."
"I sure hope so!"
He laid the dress across the foot of the bed, then kissed her lips. "You will."
In December, Paul and Elizabeth celebrated Christmas with Elizabeth's family. Jason and Toni brought eight-month-old Roy, and Mary Ellen and Jonesy brought John Curtis and baby Katie.
"She reminds me so much of Max when he was little like that!" Elizabeth exclaimed. "Can I hold her?"
"Of course!" Mary Ellen handed the baby to her, and she cuddled the infant close, resting Katie's body on her own enlarged abdomen.
"How do you feel?" Mary Ellen asked her sister.
"I feel great now! I don't feel tired and queasy all the time anymore. Now I just want to eat everything that isn't nailed down!" Both sisters laughed.
"It was that way for me, too," said Mary Ellen.
"Would you like to hold Katie, Paul?" Elizabeth asked her husband after awhile. Paul smiled and held out his arms, and Elizabeth placed her infant niece in them.
"Hello there, little one!" Paul cooed, and Katie beamed up at him.
"Aw, she likes you!" Mary Ellen exclaimed.
"So you like your Uncle Paul, do you?" Paul asked the baby, and she laughed and waved her arms.
After a few minutes, he reluctantly handed her back to her mother, then patted Elizabeth's belly. "So, what would you like to call her?" he asked his wife.
"Maybe 'Laura' for Laura Ingalls Wilder," Elizabeth suggested. "I loved her books when I was younger, but we'll need a boy's name too, you know."
"We might not!"
Winter became spring, and one bright Sunday in April, Paul and Elizabeth decided to have a picnic after church. By now, Elizabeth's belly was so large Paul had to help her onto the blanket. Max toddled over to her and patted her abdomen.
"Baby brudder is in there," he said solemnly.
"Or baby sister," Paul suggested with a smile.
"No! Baby brudder!" Max insisted. His parents laughed.
Elizabeth picked up a drumstick and slowly tore the meat from it with her teeth, then reached for her fork. She was about halfway through her serving of potato salad when she felt a twinge in her back and winced.
Paul frowned. "Are you all right, hon?"
"I think so." She took a couple more bites, then felt a much more intense cramp that went all around her middle, as if she were being pinched in half by a vise. She gasped as she gripped her back. "I think it's time."
Paul lost no time in helping her to her feet and back into the house, where he helped her into bed. After making sure she was as comfortable as possible, he left to take Max to John and Olivia's and fetch Dr. Banion.
Elizabeth lay still on the bed, patiently riding each contraction out as she'd done before. After what seemed a very long time, she heard the sound of the door opening and closing followed by footsteps approaching.
"My God!" Paul sounded terrified.
"We have to get her to the hospital right away!" exclaimed Dr. Banion.
"What happened?" Elizabeth began to cry.
Paul gathered her into his arms and held her close. "It's going to be all right, Lizzie. Everything's going to be all right..."
She was vaguely aware of being carried outside and placed into a vehicle, of the sound of sirens. The police? The next thing she knew, she was being placed onto a hard surface and rolled into a large room with bright lights and several voices talking at the same time. A mask was placed over her face, she smelled something strange, and everything went black.