Tony no longer had a key to his parents' house so he was forced to knock on the door like a visitor. Well, that's all he was now, if he was honest with himself. He listened for approaching footsteps but heard none. The house was silent. He knocked again, then wandered over to the gate. It was locked, but he could climb over it easily. He threw his bags across and climbed after them, settling in a deck chair to wait for someone to arrive.

The verandah was the same as usual, filled with various sized boots laid in a neat row along the wall. He frowned at the sight. That neatness indicated the owners were not using them regularly. Surely they hadn't all gone away? He got up and peeped through the windows, examining the living room. Nothing lay out of place. He couldn't remember the room being that neat before. Unease rose inside him. He peered into the kitchen. That was neat too, yet he spotted a coffee mug half full lying on the window sill. He sighed in relief. Someone was certainly home then. He would just have to wait.

Tony wandered into the garden and stopped, grinning. A baby swing was attached to their old swing set. He shook his head, amused. Jane's baby wasn't due for another two weeks yet – it really seemed as though his parents couldn't wait.

'Tony' his mother cried, opening the verandah door and hugging him fiercely. 'I didn't know you were coming home.'

'It's a surprise,' he told her, hugging her back.

'Oh, pet, you've been outside in the cold,' she said, distressed.

Tony burst out laughing. 'Mom, it's not really cold. It's at least 50 degrees! There's no snow!' He had been enjoying the sight of greenery since they had arrived back in LA just after lunch.

His mother shook her head. 'Let's go inside. I was just going to make some coffee.' He picked up his bags and followed her in. 'You must be really sick of snow' she told him, filling the coffee maker.

'Sick to death of it,' he agreed, closing the door. 'How come everything's so tidy?'

'Pet, there's only Joey and Maria at home now, and they're in Chicago visiting Grandma for the holidays. It's just Papa and me at the moment.'

'And I come along to spoil your first time of real peace since I was born,' he said, his eyes sparkling with amusement.

'Oh, Tony,' his mother hugged him again. 'Truth is we're a little lost in this silence. Sure it looks nice and tidy, but really, no…….'

He nodded, agreeing with her. 'Well, you're going to be a grandma soon. I bet you're going to have this baby dumped on you more often than you like.'

'I sure hope so,' she told him. 'Tell me about Alaska. Were you very cold?'

'Only when I went outside,' he told her, grinning at her expression. 'Inside it was nice. We watched lots of TV.'

'And outside, when you did go out?'

He shook his head, ashamed. 'Well, I wore all the clothes I had piled on top of each other under the coat. The wind just blows through it all. And it's always windy coz it's a small island. If I never see snow again, it's too soon!'

His mother laughed. 'Maria was probably more excited to see snow than to see Grandma' she said, giving him an apologetic look. He grimaced, shaking his head.

After the coffee he went upstairs and folded his clothes away neatly. He had three whole weeks at home, and he was going to enjoy every single day. 'Mom,' he called, finding her folding away the children's washing, 'can we go see Janey tonight? And Anna?'

His mother laughed. 'One or the other, not both. We'll go see Janey, she's very tired nowadays. I'm a little worried about her.'

He nodded, holding up a finger. 'What about "what's his name?" Will he be there?'

His mother shook her head at him, laughing. 'Tony! No, Robert is in New York on business this week. You'll have to wait till next week to see him.'

'I'll try to get through the time,' Tony told her, with a deadpan expression.

'Tony'. He turned, grinning at his father. 'You're back! Thank God. I was so worried about you out there in that terrible cold. I kept worrying you'd freeze and lose your fingers or toes.' He hugged Tony tightly.

Tony shook his head. 'No. Koskinen reckons I had around another twenty minutes.'

His father's face paled. He poured a few drinks and handed them round. 'Tell us.' He was able to talk about the assignment and related getting caught in the blizzard. It felt great to be home and fussed over by both parents. Tony decided he would go to bed early that night and watch TV in bed.

'Tony, Papa and I will visit Jane now for a little while, but afterwards we're invited out to dinner. Will you be OK if we leave you with her?'

'Sure,' he replied. 'She can drive me home when she gets sick of me.'

Jane was as thrilled to see him as his parents had been. She hugged him tightly, refusing to let him go, insisting he sit beside her on the sofa. His parents had to leave fairly soon so they were left alone together, chatting about the previous six months. Jane dragged him upstairs to see the nursery, proud to show him her hard work setting it up. The breath caught in Tony's throat as he looked around. 'It's lovely.'

'I painted it, I made the fairy border, I bought the shelf full of dolls, and the fairy castle.'

'This baby better be a girl' he told her, grinning.

'Oh, they're pretty certain she is. Look here, I….' She paused, sitting down hurriedly in the rocking chair.

'Janey, are you OK?' he asked, anxiously. He didn't like the sight of her, cramped and in pain. For a while she remained silent before nodding. He helped her back downstairs, settling her comfortably on the sofa. 'Can I get you anything?' he asked.

She shook her head, leaning back against the sofa. 'No, I'm fine.' Suddenly her face paled again and she gasped aloud.

Tony rose in a hurry. 'Janey, you need to see a quack now. Come on, I'll drive you over to the hospital.'

Jane stared at him in despair. 'She can't be coming yet, Tony. I don't know where Mom is, and she promised to be there.'

'I'll be there,' he reassured her, leading her to her car. At the hospital he gave her a quick hug before sitting in the waiting room while she was examined. Soon the door opened and he hurried in. 'What did they say?'

'They said the baby's definitely on the way,' Jane told him, excited and nervous. 'Will you stay till Mom gets here?'

'Sure' he replied. He went with her to a quiet room and settled in the chair beside the bed. 'You OK?'

'Tony, I'm so scared. People die all the time on the TV,' she told him.

'Hey,' he exclaimed, taking her hand. 'That's just the TV. Come on, we've seen Spiderman gliding through city streets, that's not real either. You'll be fine. You'll have a cute baby who'll be just as big a nuisance as we were.' He searched his brain for a story to amuse her, to help her to relax. 'You never slept when you were a baby. I remember once Mom wanted to plant tomatoes, and you were screaming all day, so she took you out in your pram, you were about a year old then, and we hoped you'd go to sleep in the verandah, but you didn't. She asked me to rock the pram a little. Hell, I think she was just sick of my "help" with the tomatoes. I rocked your pram for a while, but you didn't sleep, so I decided to take you for a walk to the park, just like Mom used to do. I remember pulling the chair over to the gate and opening it.'

Jane burst out laughing. 'Did you take me out?'

Tony nodded firmly, pleased to see her looking happier. 'I sure did. All the way down the driveway, along the sidewalk, across a little road, and right along to the park. I had to look sideways coz I couldn't see a thing past the pram. We went to the playground.'

'How come Mom never told me about it?' Jane wandered.

'Oh, I don't think she likes to think about it,' Tony replied. 'She came later, running, she was crying, and she just picked us both up and kept hugging us.' He got up. 'I'll give her another call; she'll probably be home by now.'

He called her, delighted to hear her answer. She came half an hour later, two hours before the baby. Tony and his father waited outside, joined by Anna who came rushing in, dragging John by the arm. 'Tony, it's great to see you.'

John shook his hand warmly. 'Welcome back. How long have you got?'

'Three weeks, then we're heading back out to the Gulf. I don't know where yet exactly.' He hoped it wouldn't be under General Petersen. All the other officers had treated him decently with the exception of Colonel Burrows in Kuwait, but the colonel had not been personally unpleasant to him, he just wanted a job done and was willing to use any threat to make sure he carried it out. He desperately hoped never to see General Petersen again.

A nurse appeared with a tiny pink bundle. They all crowded round, thrilled. She was passed from one to the other before Tony carried her back. 'Jane, she's gorgeous! I've never seen such a cute baby before. You got a name for her?'

'Sure, she's called Alexandra Jane Manning. What do you think of that?'

Tony grinned down at the tiny bundle in his arms. 'Sounds like an awfully long name for such a tiny thing. I'll call you Sandy,' he told her, stroking her cheek gently with his finger 'and anytime you need something, you just call your Uncle Tony, and he'll go get it for you! Day or night!'

They celebrated with champagne at home, toasting the arrival of the first grandchild, hoping for dozens more. Tony watched Anna and John. He was relieved to see a genuine affection between them as they teased each other ceaselessly. Anna caught him watching her across the table. She laughed merrily. 'Yep, Tony, I'm happy. John's a great guy.'

'I have to be. Your brother threatened to blow my brains into the next world if you ever stopped smiling,' John replied, helping himself to more champagne. Tony heard his mother's gasp and saw his father's amused expression.

'I didn't say that to you, John, and you know it. I said it about….'

'Yeah, we can all guess,' his mother interrupted hurriedly. 'Tony, would you go get that ice-cream cake from the freezer. I think we'll have it now.'

That had proved the best visit home he had during his military service. He had gone to the hospital every morning to visit Jane and little Sandy, taking her armfuls of new toys. Four days after her birth he drove them home, pausing at the beach. Jane allowed him to carry the baby out to show her the waves for a few minutes, wrapped warmly in her blanket. Tony held her carefully, explaining about the ocean, and promising to take her swimming regularly when she got a little bit older. He placed her back in her capsule, telling Jane she already loved the beach.

Tony shifted restlessly in his corner. He was supposed to take Sandy to Disney World next weekend. He would have picked up Rita's sons at the airport and taken all three children. They had really looked forward to it. Playing favorite uncle was one of the joys of his life; he really adored all the children, though Sandy was his firm favorite. She had to all intents and purposes lost her father through no fault of her own; had nearly lost her mother, and now lost her favorite uncle, the one who took her out to places.

He really was cold, shivering under the blanket. Something was wrong, he never got this cold thinking about Alaska, and he hadn't even been thinking about it for a while now. He felt his forehead, not surprised to find it warm and clammy. It appeared as though his fever was on the rise again. He groaned aloud. The doctor had left nothing for fever as he had none after his cold shower, and by now he seriously doubted whether any guard would bring him anything as innocuous as an aspirin. He pushed the blanket to the side and went to put cold water on his face and arms, drinking a little cold water with difficulty, cupping his aching hands together. Feeling colder by the minute he returned to the corner, propping his head backwards and tucking the blanket round himself. He would think about some warm place next, to take his mind off his shivering.

The steel door opened at the end of the corridor and footsteps approached his cell. The guard who had forced him to remain inside the icy shower walked past, pausing in amazement at the sight that greeted his eyes. He moved over to the bars and banged them with his night stick.

'Prisoner, rise!' Tony moved as slowly as he dared, drawing his knees up to his chest and pushing the blanket to the side. He moved to the middle of the cell and placed his hands behind his back. 'What do you think you're doing, prisoner? That blanket belongs on the bed. You will replace it immediately.' He pointed to the blanket and clicked his fingers.

Tony remained where he was, exhausted. The blanket was heavy, and he had enjoyed its warmth. He really needed it where it was now.

Slowly the guard's face grew red. 'Prisoner, I have waited long enough. I'll put you on report for failing to obey a direct order. Now move that blanket immediately.'

Tony's temper rose. He was already on report for the second time since his punishment, and he really didn't see why the blanket couldn't remain where it was. The floor was at least as clean as the bed, being mopped everyday. He moved back to settle in his corner, drawing the blanket right up to his neck. He closed his eyes, enjoying the guard's stutter of fury.

'Prisoner, get up IMMEDIATELY. I said get up now. Do you hear me, prisoner?' Tony ignored all his instructions, resting, aware there would be consequences to his actions but feeling too angry to care. He wasn't causing any trouble; he had the right to rest where he felt most comfortable. 'PRISONER, GET UP.' Tony pulled the blanket over his head, feeling his heartbeat increasing. His shivers increased as well. He frowned under his blanket. It would never do to be sick for tomorrow.

When he next removed the blanket from his head the corridor in front of his cell was deserted. 'The guard's gone to report me,' he thought, tired of being ordered around the entire day. 'When will they just leave me alone?'