Over the next few weeks, everyone slowly adjusted to Jack's absence, though Elizabeth knew the kids and she wouldn't ever fully adjust. More and more was being collected for the Lenten Drive and Clara and Jesse's wedding plans were coming along nicely. The Cantrells were preparing for Phillip's adoption ceremony and construction of both the Thornton and Coulter houses were progressing as they should have been. It helped that Harry had decided to spend a few weeks in Hope Valley helping out since Jack was no longer present to help with the building.
One Saturday morning, March 20th, 1920, Faith was preparing to go to infirmary for the morning when she heard a knock on the bedroom door, "Come in!" she called.
Phillip poked his head into the room hesitantly, "Uh, Mommy?" he questioned.
"Yeah," she turned around to face him.
"I was wondering, since you like searching for bugs, I was wondering if you could help me find some worms outside. It's for a school project about changes in the spring."
"Um, maybe later, sweet boy. I have to go to the infirmary this morning," she answered.
"Why?" asked Phillip.
"I have to assist Dr. Shepherd with a check-up for Mrs. Coulter and her baby," said Faith.
"Oh," said Phillip.
"Maybe you can get Daddy to help you," said Faith.
"Daddy is with Mr. Gowen, Mr. Stonewall, Mr. Flynn, Mr. Hickam, and Pastor Frank helping build Mrs. Thornton's new house," said Phillip.
"Now?!" asked Faith in shock. Shane hadn't told her about going to help on the construction that morning, "I told your Daddy I had to work in the morning," Faith muttered frustratingly to herself, "Tell you what, since you can't be alone by yourself, why don't I take you to work with me and then we can come home and search for bugs?"
"Promise?" asked Phillip.
"Promise," said Faith.
Phillip followed Faith downstairs, "What do I do when we get to your work?"
"Well, Mr. and Mrs. Coulter are bringing Lilly and Aaron with them and they usually go in and out of the exam room. Maybe they can play with you some," said Faith.
"Sounds good," said Phillip.
Saturday morning at the Coulter house was quiet, which was unusual. Rosemary was up earlier than she usually was, so she decided to let her husband and kids sleep before they all had to get up to go over to the infirmary for her twenty-week maternal check-up. Thankfully for Rosemary, the morning sickness was dissipating again and her appetite was returning. Of course, with the return of her appetite came the unusual cravings and strange food combinations. Rosemary put on her robe and slippers and went downstairs to find something to eat for breakfast. Juliet was already downstairs, though she didn't come over to greet Rosemary when she arrived in the living room. Instead, Juliet continued to pace back and forth and groom herself. Rosemary started a pot of coffee for Lee and poured a glass of orange juice for herself, now what to eat? The traditional breakfast foods honestly didn't appeal to her, so she went rooting through the cupboards to find something. She found a jar of peanut butter, that looked good. She went to find some crackers, until she realized all of the crackers were upstairs in case she woke up with a nauseous stomach. She glanced down and ran a hand over her growing baby bump. No way was she going up the stairs again unless absolutely necessary! Her protruding abdomen was already starting to get in the way of everything and was disrupting her (and Lee's) sleep plus going up stairs made her winded at this point. She had honestly forgotten how inconvenient lugging around a basketball on the front of you was. She searched the cabinets more and found a jar of pickles. Oh the sourness of the pickles combined with the sweetness of the peanut butter sounded Heavenly to her. But what to put it on? Well, there was some cheddar cheese that needed to be eaten soon and the baby was sending her signals that he or she wanted that too. Rosemary sat everything down on the table just as Aaron was coming down the stairs, "Morning Mommy!"
Rosie turned around to face Aaron and smiled, "Morning, Bud," she scooped some peanut butter onto the cheese, placed a pickle in between two slices of cheese, and promptly began to eat. Aaron glanced over at his mother and wrinkled his brow a little, but he was too nice and polite to say anything, "What do you want for breakfast, sweetheart?"
Aaron shrugged, "Lilly was right behind me. I'll let her decide."
Lilly bounced down the stairs, where Juliet was still pacing and grooming in front of them, "Morning Juliet!" she reached out for her and Juliet hissed at Lillian, "Okay, I thought you liked me!" she threw her hands in the air. She skipped over to the dining room table, "Morning Mommy," she smiled and then her face became the picture of revulsion when she saw Rosemary's choice of breakfast foods, "Are you actually eating pickles, cheddar cheese, and peanut butter TOGETHER!?" she asked incredulously.
"No," Rosemary replied though a mouthful of food. She swallowed and said, "I didn't want them. The baby did," she answered.
"Oh. Right," Lilly said sarcastically, "Well, I want something less gross for breakfast. How about pancakes?"
"With blueberries!" Aaron chimed in happily.
"Alright, blueberry pancakes it is," Rosie gathered the ingredients for the batter and then looked in the fridge for blueberries, though there were none there at the moment. Curse the pregnancy brain! She had meant to pick up more yesterday at the mercantile and forgot, "Uh guys? I think we're out of blueberries."
"Why?" asked Aaron.
"Because I ate what we had the other day…"
"With what? Hot dog relish?" asked Lilly.
"And I forgot to pick up more yesterday at the mercantile," Rosemary ignored her daughter.
Lee came down the stairs, fully dressed, unlike Aaron and Lilly, "Good morning everyone."
"Morning Daddy!" the kids happily hugged and kissed him.
"Morning sweetheart," he kissed Rosemary and then licked his lips curiously, "Is that peanut butter and pickles I taste on your lips?"
"And cheddar cheese," chimed in Lilly.
"Okay then," said Lee and noticed the coffee pot boiling over, "Rosie, I think the coffee…"
"Oh no, oh dear!" she rushed over and turned it off, "I completely forgot about it!" she began to cry, "Now I have all of this mess to clean up and…"
"Honey, why don't you go get dressed, I'll finish the pancakes and clean up the coffee," he smiled.
Rosemary took a deep breath," Okay."
She disappeared and Lilly turned to Lee, "Daddy, is Mommy okay?"
"Yeah, she's fine, Princess," he confirmed.
"It isn't that sad sickness you told us about is it?" asked Aaron with a look of concern in his eyes.
"No, at least, not right now. Growing a baby can sometimes make Mommy a little…emotional and forgetful," explained Lee, "Now go upstairs and get dressed. We'll all eat breakfast and then head over to the infirmary together."
Once the Coulter family arrived at the infirmary, Faith and Phillip were waiting for them in the lobby, "Hi Mr. Coulter, hi Mrs. Coulter," waved Phillip.
"Hey Phillip, how are you?" Lee waved back and Rosemary smiled softly.
"Pretty good," said Phillip.
"Rosemary, you can have a seat. Carson will be out shortly," instructed Faith. Rosemary nodded and took a seat while Lilly and Aaron went to play with Phillip. Lee was about to go have a seat next to Rosie when Faith stopped him, "Hey, Lee, can I talk to you for a moment?"
Lee scowled a little but nodded, "Uh, sure," he stepped outside with Faith and asked, "What's going on, Faith?"
"Did you ask Shane to work on the houses today?" Faith crossed her arms over her chest.
Lee shook his head in the negative, "No, why?"
"Because I told him I had to work this morning and Phillip mentioned he was working on the Thornton house. That's why Phillip is here with me," Faith explained.
"Oh," Lee said, "No, I never mentioned anything to him. He probably just forgot."
"Yeah, probably," Faith sighed. By the time they both reentered the infirmary, Carson had taken Rosemary back to one of the exam rooms. He checked her height, weight, abdominal growth, heartbeat, breathing, temperature, and blood pressure and everything was as it should have been for twenty-weeks.
He invited Lilly and Aaron into the room in time to listen to the fetal heartbeat, "So has your appetite been improving? You mentioned during your last visit that your morning sickness had returned," said Carson.
"Yes, my appetite is increasing," Rosemary confirmed.
"She was eating pickles, cheddar cheese, AND peanut butter this morning," said Lilly.
"Lillian," warned Lee as Carson laughed.
"Well, as long as it continues to be only food, then bizarre pregnancy cravings are perfectly normal at twenty weeks," chuckled Carson. He found the heartbeat and motioned for Lilly and Aaron to come over.
They both went to jump up on the stool at the same time and Lilly looked over at Aaron, "Why don't you go first," asked Aaron.
"Mmhm," Lilly hopped up onto the stool.
"Okay," said Aaron joining his father's side.
Lilly put the earpieces in and grinned from ear to ear when Carson placed the stethoscope on Rosemary's abdomen, "So that's my baby sister?"
"Or baby brother," added Lee.
"She's really hoping for a girl. Can you tell?" asked Rosemary sarcastically.
Lilly stepped off the stool and looked at Aaron, "You can actually hear a heartbeat this time."
Aaron took a listen and laughed a little at the sound, "It sounds like a trotting horse."
Once Aaron finished taking a listen, Carson said to Lilly and Aaron, "Okay, guys, your Mommy and Daddy wanted to talk to me alone, so why don't you wait out front with Nurse Cantrell and Phillip?"
"Okay," Lilly grabbed Aaron's hand and dragged him out of the room and Faith left the group of three alone.
Carson turned back to Rosemary and said, "So, you wanted to talk about the possibility of postpartum depression returning after the birth, is that correct?" asked Carson softly.
Rosemary nodded, "We told the kids about it a few weeks ago, but I want to try to prevent it if it's possible. I really don't want them to have to see me like I was after Lilly was born."
"Well, the odds increase by 50% in subsequent pregnancies and some factors of developing it again are out of your control, like your baby's temperament or how the labor and delivery goes. But reducing stress, getting adequate sleep, exercising, and leaning on your support system can help, though I'm pretty sure everyone in Hope Valley is always willing to lend a hand," Rosemary and Lee smiled and nodded in agreement, "But, at this point, you both also know the signs, you know when to ask for help, you have your support system, and Dr. Brown still has his clinic in Calgary. If at any time after the birth you feel you need to see him, tell me and I can get you an appointment. Okay?"
"Okay," Rosemary answered softly. Lee helped Rosemary off of the exam table, "Well, we promised the kids lunch at Abigail's so we better get going."
"Alright. Have a good afternoon," smiled Carson.
The Coulters arrived home around mid-afternoon to find the basket of dirty towels speard all over the corner of the living room, "What the…?" questioned Rosemary, "Who tore apart my laundry basket? I was going to wash those towels!"
Lee glanced around the room and noticed Juliet frantically pacing, panting, meowing, and dragging the towels plus the morning newspaper (that thankfully, Lee had already read) gathered in the corner, "Uh Rosie?"
"Yeah," she called across the room.
"I think Juliet's in labor."