November arrived, and with it, the season's first snowfall. It came one Saturday afternoon when Doug, Jo, and Clay were home. Jamie had spent the night at Taylor's house and was still there.

Jo was in the kitchen baking banana bread when she saw the first flakes hit the window. "Doug! It's snowing!" she called excitedly. "Come see!"

Doug, who'd been in the living room watching football with Clay, came running. "Well, all right!" he exclaimed. He stood at the window silently watching the snow fall for awhile. "It's gonna be beautiful in the morning with a blanket of white covering everything," he said softly.

A few minutes later, the delicious aroma of the baking bread wafted through the house. Jo was sitting in the recliner reading a historical romance when the telephone rang.

"Hey, Mom, can I spend tonight here too?" Jamie asked her mother. "Taylor's Mom offered to take us roller skating tonight."

"You'll miss church," Jo pointed out.

"Taylor's Mom says I can go to church with them."

"But they're not even Catholic..." Jo sighed. "All right, but just this once."

"Looks like it's just the three of us tonight," she told Doug after hanging the telephone up.

"Mm. Well, nothing wrong with that, I s'pose." He hugged her from behind and kissed her neck.

After dinner was over and they'd cleaned up, he ran a bath for her, adding her favorite bath oil to the water.

"Aw, you didn't have to do that!" she said. He grinned and helped her out of her clothes and into the tub, where he washed her back. She blew soap bubbles at him and got him wet as well, and after helping her out of the tub, he took a bath himself. Afterwards they sat together by the fireplace, eating banana bread and drinking hot apple cider.

Suddenly they heard a howling wind outside and the thud of large clumps of snow hitting the windows. Doug sighed. "Sounds like a snowstorm."

"I wish Jamie were here." Jo frowned with concern.

"Aw, she'll be all right! Taylor's Mom will take good care of her."

Jo lay down on the sofa and put her head in her husband's lap. "I have another backache," she told him. "I've had one off and on all day, and now it's bothering me again."

"Aw.." Doug began to rub her back in slow, circular motions, and she moaned in contentment as she snuggled closer to him. She was almost asleep when a sharp pain ripped across her abdomen. It was so intense that it took her breath away.

Doug was instantly alarmed. "What is it?"

"I think it's time to go to the hospital," Jo told him.

"Are you sure?" It was six days past Jo's due date, and she'd already had false labor twice.

"I've been through this before, you know, thirteen years ago," Jo panted. "Trust me, this time it's the real thing."

Doug went to Clay's room and knocked on the door. "I'm taking Jo to the hospital," he told his son. "She says it's the real thing this time."

"It is the real thing this time!" Jo snapped. Another contraction had just hit her, doubling her over in pain. "Now hurry up, unless you want me to pop this kid right here in the hallway!"

They put on their warmest coats and dashed out to the car. The rapidly falling snow made driving difficult, so Doug had to go more slowly than he normally did. He was still several blocks away from the hospital when he turned onto an unpaved road and the car came to an abrupt stop. "I'm stuck in snow," he groaned.

"Oh, no!" Jo cried as another contraction began to wash over her. "This baby's not gonna wait much longer!"

"Don't you worry," said Doug. "I'll have us out of here in no time." He put the hazard lights on and went to frantically scoop snow away from the car's tires. Jo went out to help him.

"Get back in that car!" he ordered her. "I'll not have you putting yourself and the baby in danger!"

"But there's so much of it!"

"You get back in that car right now!" Doug bellowed. Wincing, Jo did as he told her to. She huddled in the car groaning in pain with every successive contraction for what seemed like forever.

Another motorist stopped to help Doug, and the two of them eventually had the car moving again. Jo, who was by now experiencing very intense contractions that were very close together, huffed and puffed desperately, unable to control her anguish.

"We'll be there real soon," Doug assured her.

"I'm not sure this baby's gonna wait that long," Jo groaned.

Once they arrived at the hospital, things seemed to happen very quickly. A stretcher was brought for Jo, who by now could no longer stand, and as soon as they were inside, she was examined. "The head is just about to crown," the nurse told her. "But don't push yet. Wait until the doctor gets here."

"But I have to push!" Jo gasped.

"I know it hurts, hon." Doug was right beside her, holding her hand. "But you have to do as the nurse says."

Through the hallway they rushed to the elevator, then up to the obstetrics floor, then to the delivery room, with Jo still panting and puffing the entire time. Unable to resist anymore, she groaned and bore down as hard as she could as soon as she saw that the physician on call was there.

"The head is already born," Doug announced shakily. He sounded as if he were about to pass out. As another contraction hit her, Jo bore down with all her might once again, and suddenly their daughter was there in Doug's hands.