"Ruthie wants to know if you and I could go out and get some plastic cups and plates for tonight. Luce, can you...Luce?"
Kevin noticed his wife staring out the window, not paying any attention to what he was saying.
"Lucy, what's wrong?"
"What? Sorry, I didn't hear you. What'd you ask, honey?"
"Lucy, why have you been so distant lately?"
"I'm just worried about the baby. I worry that everything I do will have some impact on it. It's just really stressful."
Kevin rolled his eyes. "Lucy, you and the baby are going to be fine. Why do you worry about it so much?"
Lucy stood, walking over to Kevin with her arms folded across her chest.
"Why am I worried ? Well, let's see. Maybe it's because I'm in a high risk pregnancy, and you don't seem to care. Or maybe it's because my father just had a heart attack. Maybe it's just that Savannah wants a baby sister or brother, and I'm worried that I won't be able to give that to her. Maybe it's because I'm so stressed about everything, that I can't seem to find ONE MINUTE of relaxation, especially when you don't seem to care about anything concerning me."
Lucy refolded her arms across her chest, which had been gesturing the entire time she'd been yelling at her husband.
"Lucy, I know you're stressed out. Do you think I'm not stressed?"
Lucy looked at her husband, lowering her chin. "You think I'm concerned about your stress level? Do you not realize that the more stressed I get, the better chance I have of losing the baby?" Lucy said, sitting on the bed behind her.
Kevin threw his hand in the air. "Your father's fine, the baby's going to be fine, and you're going to be fine. You have nothing to worry about," Kevin whispered, rubbing Lucy's back.
Lucy stood up from the bed, walking back down to the living room.
Kevin sighed, hoping it was just pregnancy hormones, and followed her.
"Mr. Camden, how are we feeling?"
"I don't know about you, but I'm feeling great," Eric said with a smile.
Dr. Elliot smiled in return. "Your charts look spectacular, Mr. Camden," he -assured- with a warm smile. "I think we'll be able to let you go home today. Is your wife here?"
Eric smiled, overjoyed. "No, but she's supposed to be coming by in about half an hour. I can tell her then. Thank you, doctor," he said, smiling.
"Well, when your wife comes in, I'd like to speak with the two of you, if that's alright."
"Whatever you need, Mark," Eric replied, calling the doctor by his first name.
Dr. Elliot smiled, walking out.
Eric sighed, looking up at the ceiling. "Thank you, Lord," he whispered, tearing up as he said it.
"C, where's our boarding passes?"
Simon and Cecilia, who'd recently found out they were having a baby girl, were heading back to Glenoak. They were going not only to help take care of their father, but for the New Year's celebration the family was planning on having this year.
"Oh, shoot. I just had them in here," Cecilia muttered, digging through her duffel bag.
Simon smiled at the attendee, who looked less than pleased.
"Oop, here they are!" Cecilia squealed, handing them to Simon, who laughed.
"Thanks," Simon muttered, after the attendee checked them.
"Matt, why would you want to move? I thought we were happy in New York. I mean, don't get me wrong, I'd love living back in Glenoak, but why are you springing this on me all of a sudden?"
"Sarah, don't you miss your parents, who you hardly ever see? Plus, we've spent a whole lot of our time in Glenoak lately, and barely any of it back home. Tyler's starting to wonder where we actually live. I think it's a sign to move back home. Besides, you and I still have our jobs here. Why not?" Matt questioned.
Sarah sighed, smiling. "I'd love to move back, but if we're going to move, we need to move soon."
"Why?" Matt asked, eyeing his wife.
All Sarah did was smile, watching the reaction that came across her husband's face.
Matt bent down to his knees, eye level with Sarah, who was sitting on the love seat in the living room.
"Are you pregnant?" he whispered.
Sarah nodded, smiling wide.
"Oh my god!" Matt screamed, pulling his wife into a bear hug. "We're having another baby!"
"WHAT!" the rest of the family screamed, seeing as how they were all in the same room.
"Are you pregnant, Sarah?" Annie squealed, her hands covering her mouth.
"Yes, I am, Mom!" Sarah exclaimed, giving Annie a hug.
The rest of the family exchanged hugs, kissing, handshakes, and all things of the sort.
"Ruth," Martin muttered, as his wife continued packing a fairly large suitcase.
"Ruthie," Martin said, a little louder this time.
Ruthie looked up. "Oh, sorry, hon. What?"
Martin smiled. "Why do you wanna wait to have more kids?"
Ruthie sighed. "I want some time to let these three grow up. Besides, Matt's not even two months old."
Martin cut her off. "Well, geez, Ruth, that's a little harsh. I mean, I know he's your brother, but," Martin said, smiling.
Ruthie stuck tongue out at her husband, continuing what she was attempting to say.
"I wanna wait a year or so before we have another. I thought we discussed this already," Ruthie said, pouting her bottom lip out.
Martin sighed. "It's just, with all your sisters and sister-in-laws getting pregnant, I just wish we could have another. A year seems to be a long time to wait."
Ruthie sighed. "Martin, I want more, too. I just think we should let our kids grow up a little bit, first. That way, when our fourth comes along, we'll be prepared for another."
"We're not prepared for another now?"
Ruthie let out a distressed sigh. "You're not being fair," she said, pouting her lip.
Martin snickered, hugging Ruthie. "I'm sorry, babe. I just love having little bundles of joy come into the world."
"Well, so do I, just not ten months after bringing one bundle of joy into the world."
Martin laughed, kissing Ruthie's forehead.
"We need to rent a minivan, please," Simon told the clerk behind the counter.
"Simon, why do we need a van?"
"Since we're having a baby, I figured we should get used to one of these, since we're buying one soon anyway."
"Congratulations on the baby. Would you like a Dodge Caravan or a Honda Odyssey?"
"Thank you, and we'll take the Dodge."
"Eric, what'd the doctor say?" Annie asked, walking into her husband's hospital room.
Eric smiled. "I'm comin' home."
"Martin? Ruthie? Anybody?" Simon yelled, as he and Cecilia walked in.
"Simon! How was the appointment?" Mary asked, hugging her brother.
"Well, we'll tell you once we find everybody and get them all in one room together."
"That won't be hard. Everybody's in the living room anyway," Mary said.
Simon and Cecilia followed her to the living room, where the Camden family was sitting, except for Eric and Annie, who were still at the hospital.
"Hey, Simon!" Ruthie yelled, giving him a hug.
The rest of the family sat quietly, waiting to find out the news.
Simon looked at his wife, lacing his fingers in hers, and told her to tell them.
"It's a girl!" Cecilia yelled.
They were again adorned with hugs, smiling and laughing with all of them. Simon and Cecilia were filled in on Sarah's pregnancy, congratulated them, and sat and talked with everyone for a while.
"Matt, I got an appointment with Marcus next week, so that we can confirm the pregnancy. You think we'll be home by then?" Sarah asked, putting Tyler on the spare mattress Martin and Ruthie had offered.
"Yeah, we'll be back by then. I was kind of hoping we could head out to New York, confirm it, and then fly back and start looking for places. While we're here, we could see about having Ruthie's doctor through your pregnancy, since we're gonna live here."
Sarah nodded, walking with Matt back down to the living room.
"Sarah, what signs did you start having?"
"Huh? Oh, you mean about the pregnancy?" Matt nodded, stopping her in the foyer.
"Well, I was having headaches, but other than that, not really anything too severe. Why?"
Matt shook his head. "No reason. I just never noticed anything different."
Sarah looked as though she was in deep thought.
"Sarah? Sarah?" Matt whispered, snapping his fingers in front of her eyes.
"Wha...oh, sorry," Sarah said, walking to the living room.
Matt, confused, followed her.
Kevin and Lucy had found a spare guest room where they could talk.
"Luce, what's bothering you? Don't tell me it's just the pregnancy, because I'm worried that it could be something else. What's wrong?"
Lucy sighed. "I just...I got really scared when Dad had the heart attack, ya know? It kind of made me realize that one of these days, he's won't be able to lead the church anymore, and I'll take over. I don't know if I'll be able to handle everything. It's a lot of work, Kevin. I'm..."
Kevin stopped her. "You went through college, pregnancy, and lead an abstinence class all at the same time. I'm sure you can be the mother of two children and pastor at the church. Your father lead the church with seven children," Kevin stated.
Lucy looked at her husband. "Maybe I'm not my father. I'm not so sure that I can lead a church. I don't have the kind of motivation my dad has. What if I lose members, or get a bunch of them shuffled off to Georgia's church?"
"Who the hell is Georgia?" Kevin asked.
"Simon's ex, Georgia. The one that was kind of a..."
"Oh," Kevin remembered, not needing for Lucy to use the word she was about to use, even though it was true.
"Kevin, promise you'll be here for me?"
"Lucy, I promised you that when I married you."
Lucy smiled, quickly pecking her husband's lips.
The two walked back to the living room, to await the arrival of their father.
"Mr. and Mrs. Camden, I'd like to speak with you a moment, about your husband."
Annie sat in the chair behind her, looking up intently at the doctor.
"Your husband hadn't been following the diet he'd been asked to stick to. That's one of the many contributors to his heart attack."
"Many...contributors?" Annie inquired.
"Your husband also has a condition where his heart isn't given the proper amount of blood that it needs to perform well, persay. Therefore, he's going to need to take a medication that will help with this. Mr. Camden, have you experienced any dizziness or fatigue lately?"
Eric had a faraway look in his eye, as though he was trying to remember something.
"Yes, actually, now that I think about it. I remember starting to feel out of it a lot, and I wasn't eating too well," Eric said, remembering his condition before the attack.
"Those signs are common. You'll need to start taking this medication, one pill a day, and you're condition should start to improve. It will probably be two or three weeks until you really start feeling better, but it will make a huge difference. You also need to eat better, and you should start feeling better than you have in a long time."
Eric smiled. "Thank you, Mark. I'll get my wife to remind me," Eric chuckled.
Dr. Elliot smiled. "After you turn in your forms, you're free to leave. You'll need to refrain from walking around a lot for a while, just until you get your strength back."
Eric nodded, as the doctor exited the room.
"Simon, since we're having a girl, what are we going to do about names?"
"Well, I thought I'd let you pick."
Cecilia smiled. "Really? Why?"
"So I can get dibs on names when it's a boy," Simon said.
Cecilia laughed. "How about we each pick a name, first and middle, and then we'll choose a few combinations, and decide which we like the most?" Cecilia asked, looking at her husband.
"I think that's a great idea. Let's go!" he said, pulling Cecilia by the wrist.
"Martin, do you have a pad of paper and a pen?"
Martin, befuddled (I love that word...) by the question, handed him a pad and pen from the junk drawer in their kitchen.
Simon muttered a thanks, and followed Cecilia into the formal dining room.
"Anybody home?" Annie yelled through the Brewer home.
Eric was in a wheelchair for the time being, but would attend physical therapy to get his strength back. He and Annie slowly made their way to the living room.
"Dad!" The family seemed to yell it all at the same time. Those who had children ran up to get them, so they could see their grandfather.
Eric was adorned with hugs and kisses from his family, and he'd never been happier to see them all.
"Ruthie, we need to get clothes for the kids. They're coming with us, remember?"
Ruthie frowned at the nearly full suitcase beneath her, mainly consisting of her things.
"Maybe we should go out and buy another one for their stuff," Ruthie whispered, not wanting to have to repack everything.
Martin laughed. "Already done," he said, pulling a suitcase out from under their massive bed.
Ruthie slapped his shoulder, smiling as she did.
"So, is that the name we're using?" Simon asked.
"Ashlynn Nicole," Cecilia whispered to herself.
"I think that's it," Simon said.
They both sat there smiling for a minute, at the name on the page below them.
Martin and Ruthie finally had an empty house. Everyone had returned to their homes, and the house had become much quieter.
The two sat on their bed, exhausted from dealing with nieces and nephews, brothers and sisters, and countless other family members.
"I'm going to sleep," Ruthie muttered, half asleep already.
Martin didn't respond, causing Ruthie to roll over. She smiled, as Martin lay with his mouth wide open, snoring.
"Night, babe," Ruthie whispered.
"Sarah, where's my shoes?" Matt yelled, digging through the front closet.
Sarah walked up behind him, holding them. "Here ya go, Sherlock," Sarah mocked.
Matt eyed Sarah, as he slipped them on.
"Thanks," he muttered, laughing as Sarah smiled.
"Why are you so happy?"
"We're having another baby, how can I not be?" Sarah asked, putting her hands on her hips.
Matt smiled, putting his arm around her shoulders and kissing her forehead.
"Tyler!" Sarah yelled.
Tyler came bounding down the stairs, and followed his parents into the car.
"Ruthie, get the tickets!" Martin yelled, dialing the number of the post office.
Ruthie, upstairs putting Matt in his car seat, rolled her eyes. "You have them!" she yelled in return.
Martin, back in the living room with the phone, frowned, not remembering having the tickets.
"Hello? Yes, this is Martin Brewer. I'd like to make sure my mail will be held. I turned in a form last week..."
Ruthie walked down the stairs, carrying a large suitcase in one hand, and Matt's carseat in the other.
She smiled as Martin debated with the person on the other end, and wondered how calling about the mail had turned into a baseball discussion.
"Eric, here's your lunch."
Annie walked into the dining room, where Eric had been anxiously waiting for some "real food," but the look on his face was anything but relief.
"Annie, what is this?" Eric asked, a look of disgust plastered on his face.
"It's tofu. Dr. Elliot listed it on your diet plan, so you're allowed to eat it."
Eric poked at it with his fork. "I'm allowed to eat it, but is it edible?" he asked, continuing to poke it.
Annie laughed. "Eric, you and I both know you need to follow doctor's orders. Please cooperate, and eat it."
"Can't I just eat something else on the list?" Eric asked, picking the handwritten paper up.
"Ooh! How about some fruit?" he asked, his eyes twinkling with hope.
"I thought about that, but since I knew you would want to never eat this, I figured that for your first day, you'd eat something you didn't like. Besides, the kitchen doesn't have any food in it. It's all gone from Christmas and New Year's."
"Yet, you could go out to Publix and buy me tofu? How touching," Eric muttered, slouching in his chair.
Annie sighed, shaking her head. "Please, just eat it. Besides, dinner tonight will be better," she said, trying to excite her husband.
"What are we having tonight? Cordon bleu tofu?" Eric asked with a French accent.
Annie picked a forkful of tofu up, forcing it into Eric's mouth.
"How is it?"
Eric didn't reply, but instead ran for the bathroom.
"Matt, Sarah, how are we?"
"Good, thanks. How's Lexi?" Sarah asked, referring to the doctor's wife.
"She's fine, thanks. She's been watching the kids the past few days. She still has a few maternity days, so she's using them," the doctor chuckled to himself.
"Alright, you two are just here to confirm a pregnancy, then?"
"Yes, we are. Baby number two," Matt said, laughing.
Marcus smiled, asking Sarah to follow him. "We'll take a blood and urine sample to confirm it. Shouldn't take too long," he said.
"We know. We're both in the same profession as you, Marcus," Sarah noted, laughing.
Marcus led Sarah into the adjoined bathroom, as Matt could lightly make out the doctor's directions. Matt went over them in his head, making sure Marcus took the correct procedures.
"Ruthie!" Martin yelled.
Ruthie, sitting in the van, rolled her eyes. "What?" she asked.
Martin ran into the garage. "Oh. I didn't know where you were," Martin muttered.
Ruthie laughed, handing a sippy cup to her daughter.
"Does everybody have their suitcase?" Martin asked, sitting in the driver's seat. The twins yelled a yes, and Martin laughed, looking over at his wife.
He and Ruthie shared a "moment," before Martin shifted into reverse, and backed out of the driveway.
"Eric! Get down here!" Annie yelled up the stairs.
Eric, hiding in his bedroom, sighed. He looked towards the ceiling. "Why, God? Why does my wife torture me?"
"I heard that!" Annie yelled, walking into the room.
She grabbed Eric's wrist, and pulled him back into the kitchen.
"Finish it," she hissed.
Eric folded his arms across his chest. "Why don't you taste it and tell me if you like it?" he challenged.
Annie's eyes grew dark. "Eat," she whispered.
Eric sighed, and began eating.
Matt and Sarah were waiting on their doctor to walk in with the results. They sat impatiently, for what seemed like hours, until he finally walked in with the results.
Matt and Sarah's smiles faded, as they noticed the look on the doctor's face.
"Marcus, what's wrong?" Sarah asked.
"You two came to confirm a pregnancy, right?" he asked, not looking up from his clipboard.
Matt looked at Sarah. "Yeah," he whispered.
"I'm sorry to tell you this, but it appears that you're not pregnant."
Matt's heart fell, as did Sarah's. "Wha...what?" Matt asked, choked.
"You're not pregnant. I'm so sorry," the doctor whispered. Marcus was close friends with Matt and Sarah, and knew how much they had wanted another child. It hurt him just as much to tell them that a baby wasn't coming yet.
"But...I took a test and it was positive..." Sarah whined, crying.
"It was a false," Matt whispered, holding his sobbing wife.
Marcus left the room, letting the Camdens cry alone.
"I wanted another baby," Sarah whispered, still crying.
"I did, too, sweetie," Matt whispered, kissing her hair.
