A/N So, Arnold and Helga are finally that family of four that they've so desperately waited for. You will see the term "Rainbow Baby" mentioned in this chapter, and for those of you that are unfamiliar with that phrase I would like to give you a short description taken from Wikipedia which is as follows:

A rainbow baby is a term for a child born to a couple who have previously lost a child due to miscarriage, stillbirth or death during infancy. These subsequent pregnancies can bring "strong feelings of anxiety, guilt, and even fear" but also "immense joy, reflection, healing, and mixed emotions"

I want to take a moment to respond to a couple of reviews before getting on with the story. First to Envy, I'm glad you liked the intenseness of the last chapter, that's exactly what I was going for so I'm happy that you picked up on it. I do have to say, that I've known since before I even finished Slice the exact way Helga was going to have this baby, and I've been chomping at the bit to get it written down, so that chapter was great fun to finally write! Second, to GreenGyal, When I wrote the dream sequence what I was envisioning in my mind was a sort of "Huck Finn" type of feeling, which I had hoped was portrayed with the whole crawdad thing. Thus the straw hat, bare feet and him being shirtless under a pair of bib overalls. I wanted their meeting to be serene yet surreal. Finally, to Sunmoonstarssky, thank you SO much for your kind review. It's a really good feeling to know that something you do is bringing happiness to someone else. I may not have the biggest following, but I do appreciate each and every person that finds my work good enough to keep coming back to. That's what gives me the inspiration to keep going. Thank you all. Oh, and before I forget, to Kryten, thanks for the shout out in your story First Encounters!

Now on a last note, I want to deeply apologize for the long stretch between chapters. I am currently in the process of planning a two week trip to Japan come the end of April, so right now my mind is filled with dealing with things like air flights, hotel reservations, train tickets, money exchanging and prioritizing the things we want to do once I get there, along with trying to teach myself how to read basic Hirigana and Katakana. Unfortunately, all that is leaving very little time for writing. So please be patient if my chapters become few and far between for a while. But on a lighter note, while I'm there I will be paying close attention to all there is to do while in Japan, so perhaps once I'm back I will have a good idea as to where I will be taking a certain couple on their honeymoon. ;)

Now, with all that said and out of the way, please enjoy . . . . .

As Time Goes By

Phillip looks down at his baby sister and screws up his face while taking in her features. "Are babies apposed to look all pinks and squishies?"

A quiet chuckle spreads through the group while Helga pulls the boy closer to her. "All babies are a little wrinkly when they are first born, Phillip. Give her some time and she'll fill out just fine."

"Okay, Mommee. If you say so." He reaches out and gently touches the top of her head. His eyes grow wide as his brain registers the downy softness of her hair. "She's soft, just like Mr. Cheezy."

Helga takes offense at the comparison. "Ugh, do not compare your sister to a rat!"

Phillip defends his statement. "I didn't means nothing wong. Anyway, Mr. Cheesy's not just a wat, he's my fwiend."

Arnold reaches down and takes Phillip from his mother. "We know you weren't being mean, Phillip. Now how about we make room and let everyone else have a turn to look at your sister."

With his hurt feelings appeased for the moment, Phillip rests his head on his father's shoulder and looks on as the others get their chance to meet Joy.

There is a combined chorus of oo's and ahh's as everyone gazes down at the small bundle that sleeps peacefully in Helga's arms. Miriam clasps her hands to her chest and leans in close to her husband. "Well will you just look at her, B. She's the spitting image of Helga at that age."

Bob narrows his eyes and studies his granddaughter. "You know, Miriam, I think you're right. Look at her, she's got the Pataki eyebrow, that's for sure."

Helga rolls her eyes and gives her child a regretful look. "Oh, brother, sorry about that, Joy."

"Hey, hey, hey, hey! What's wrong with looking like a Pataki?" Bob asks, starting to take insult at Helga's words.

Helga rolls her eyes for a second time. "Nothing, Dad, I survived it and I'm sure Joy will too."

"Well if you ask me," Samuel interrupts while wrapping his arm around Olga's shoulders, "I happen to think there's nothing more beautiful than a Pataki woman."

"I couldn't agree more." Arnold says as he looks down at both mother and daughter.

The doctor in Phoebe can't help but come out as she observes Helga and Joy. "I must say that I'm impressed at how well the two of you are doing after going through such an ordeal. It's not everyone that can deliver a baby with no medical help at all and be sitting up accepting visitors so shortly afterwards."

Gerald just folds his arms across his chest and slowly shakes his head. "Mm-mm-mm, and I have to say, that I have now seen everything. Never in my entire life would I peg my man Arnold as someone who'd be with it enough to actually deliver a baby with his bare hands."

Helga narrows her eyes at Gerald. "Hey, I had just a little bit to do with that too, ya know!"

Arnold is quick to agree. "That's right. If it weren't for Helga keeping a clear head through it all I would have probably fallen apart."

Helga raises an eyebrow at him. "Probably?"

A flush comes to Arnold's cheeks. "Well, more like most definitely."

Helga smiles smugly. "That's more like it."

As soon as the words leave her mouth, they are followed by a large yawn, signaling to their guests that visiting hours have come to an end. Phillip climbs into Helga's bed, reluctant to leave until Auntie Olga reminds him that Santa won't stop by the house if he's not tucked away in bed.

He gives his mother a confused look before getting off the bed. "Aren't you coming home too, Mommee?"

Helga shakes her head. "No, not tonight Sweetheart. Daddy and I need to stay here with Joy while you go and spend the night with Aunt Olga and Uncle Samuel."

Phillip ponders this for a moment. "But if I stays at Auntie Olga's, how will Santa know where to find me?"

Arnold places a reassuring hand on his son's shoulder. "Don't worry, Phillip, Santa will still stop by our house, so I'm sure he'll just leave whatever presents he's brought with him there."

"That's right." Helga adds, "And when Joy and I are ready to come home we can have our Christmas then as a family. Okay?"

Phillip thinks about this for a moment then gives a quick nod of his head. "Okay, I can waits till then I guess."

Helga gives him a tight hug. "Thank you for understanding."

Phillip gives his mom a quick kiss and a hug before jumping off the bed. "It's okays."

He runs to the other side of the bed, and gives his new sister a soft kiss on her round head. "You be good for Mommee, okay, Joy, and don't cries too much."

Arnold scoops Phillip up in his arms and follows everyone else into the hallway to say a final good-bye. By the time he's made it back into the room Helga is fast asleep, with little Joy snuggled close into her side. He picks up his daughter, being careful not to wake Helga up.

He sits in a chair, holding tightly to his precious rainbow baby. His shoulders begin to shake as the tension that he has been holding onto for the past eight plus months begins to slowly drain from him. He takes a moment to finally acknowledge the feelings that he has so expertly kept from Helga in an effort to be a pillar for her to lean on. He thinks about the loss of their second child and the pain that they went through as they sat helpless in that hospital room, unable to stop the inevitable. He also thinks about the day they found out Helga was finally pregnant with their third child and the great joy that the news had brought to them. He relives the stress of the passing months as they did all that they could to assure that they would have a healthy baby while all the while knowing that the ultimate outcome was out of their hands.

He holds his daughter up so he is able to rest his cheek on the downy softness of her baby fine hair and he closes his eyes as he breathes deep the scent of her. He gives thanks to whatever guardian angel was there with them in the back of the Packard that night as they let nature and pure instinct take over. He stops for a moment and winces as he wonders just what sort of mess is waiting for him in the back seat of that old car.

Now that he's had a chance to relax, the past few hours finally catch up to him and he catches himself starting to drift off. He gets up and tucks Joy safely into her bassinet, pushing it close to the side of Helga's bed. With a stretch and a yawn, he kicks off his shoes and lays down on the room's second bed, pulling the covers up to his chin, and settles in for some well-deserved sleep.

xxxxx

Time passes by in a blur as Helga and Arnold await Dr. Johnson's okay for Helga and Joy's release from the hospital. Due to Joy developing a slight case of jaundice, their stay is prolonged by a day in order to give their child some extra time under the Bili lights. Now, after one final check, Joy is given the all clear and Helga anxiously waits for Arnold to finish loading up a cart with the various flowers and nick-knacks they have received from their good friends and family. Phillip sits on a chair in the corner of the room, playing with a large bouquet of balloons that was sent from Arnold's work mates at Hillwood High. He gives the ribbons that hold the balloons a sharp tug, then watches as the colorful bundle slowly rises back up towards the ceiling. He does little to hide the boredom that covers his face, and his voice is tainted with a bit of a whine. "I'm bored, how much longer do we has to wait?"

Helga picks up Joy from where she was laying on the bed and holds her close to her chest. "We'll be leaving as soon as everything's packed up. Why don't you help your daddy and bring him that plant that's sitting over by the spare bed."

Phillip lets out a frustrated sigh as he lets go of the balloons. Taking the plant in both hands, he walks it over to Arnold. "Here Daddee, don't forgetted this."

Arnold smiles down at his son while taking the plant from him. "Thank you, Phillip, I didn't even see that sitting there."

He adds the plant to the cart then turns to give the room one last scan. "Well, I think that's everything. Why don't you and Joy have a seat in the wheelchair and I'll go get a nurse."

Helga gives a grumble as she and Joy settle into the chair. "I don't see why they have to make such a fuss every time someone leaves the hospital. I'm perfectly capable of walking out on my own two feet."

Arnold shakes his head as he heads towards the door. "Come on, Helga, you know they don't want to take the responsibility of you tripping and falling or something before you make it out of the building. Now just hold on for a sec and I'll be right back."

Phillip walks over to her with the balloons he was playing with and Helga gives him a concerned look. "Are you sure you can manage those balloons all by yourself? It's an awfully big bouquet."

Phillip gives her a sharp nod of his head. "I'm sure Mommee. I's can handle dem."

They are saved from further debate when Arnold comes barreling back into the room. A grin spreads across his face as he steps aside to reveal a special guest that catches Helga by surprise. "Pheebs! What are you doing away from the ER?"

Phoebe smiles down at her. "I heard you were leaving today and since things are pretty slow right now I thought I'd sneak up here and give you a proper send off."

Phoebe walks around to the back of Helga's wheelchair and starts pushing her towards the door, ignoring Helga's final attempt to leave the hospital on her own accord. "You know, Pheebs, you don't have to do this, I am capable of walking out on my own."

Phoebe just keeps on pushing. "Now, Helga, you know the rules. It's hospital policy to make sure our patients make it out safely. Besides, I wanted an excuse to see that adorable baby one more time before you take her home."

At the mention of Joy, Helga gives up the fight and smiles lovingly at her daughter. "She is pretty cute, isn't she?"

"Cutest baby I've seen since Phillip was born." Phoebe says, eliciting a smile from the boy.

Finally making it to the lobby, Phoebe heads to the front of the hospital and pushes her charge through the automatic doors and to the Packard that sits waiting for them. Arnold loads the trunk with the various plants and flowers, as well as the large bouquet of balloons, before coming to the side of the car to help Phillip into his car seat.

Helga walks up to the other side of the car and peers in, giving Phillip a smile. She checks out the back seat, surprised at how clean it is. "Wow, you did quite a job cleaning up the car, Arnoldo. I was afraid the mess from Joy's birth wasn't going to come out."

Arnold looks past Phillip to his wife. "Well, the blanket we put down got the brunt of the mess, and I hope you weren't too attached to it. There was no saving it, so I threw it out."

Helga stares at him wide-eyed. "You threw it out? Why? We could have just washed it."

They both stand up and look at each other over the top of the car. Arnold adamantly shakes his head. "Uh-uh, there's no way all the goop was gonna come out of that blanket." He gives a little shudder, "That blanket was stained beyond repair, and it would creep me out every time we pulled it out to use it."

Helga rolls her eyes at Arnold's squeamishness. "Oh brother." She turns to Phoebe before getting into the car. "Thanks for the push, Pheebs, it was a nice surprise to see you."

Phoebe gives her friend a hug. "It was my pleasure, Helga. Now you and Arnold be careful driving home, and I'll call you in a day or two to see how you're holding up."

Helga slides into the Packard's passenger seat. "Thanks again, Pheebs."

She waves to her friend as Arnold pulls away from the hospital's drop-off area, and throws a worried glance into the back seat of the car. "Perhaps I should have squeezed myself inbetween the two car seats so I could keep an eye on Joy. I hate that she's facing away from me."

Phillip looks from his mother to his sister. "It's okays, Mommee. I cans watch her for you."

It hadn't occurred to Helga to have Phillip watch his sister and she wonders why she wasn't the one to come up with the idea. "Well, I guess you're right, Phillip. Tell me, what's Joy doing now? Does she look stressed out or anything?"

Phillip gives his sister a good look. "Uh-uh."

"Well, what's she doing then?"

Phillip looks at Joy again. "She's sweeping."

"Oh, okay. Well, thank you, I guess."

Helga turns back towards the front of the Packard and stares out of the windshield. Arnold reaches over to pat her leg. "Well, it looks like Phillip is taking his role as big brother seriously."

Helga gives him a small smile. "Yeah, I guess he is."

Arnold knows his wife, and can tell when something is on her mind. "Hey, what's wrong? You look upset."

Helga does her best to hold back a sniffle. "It-it's nothing."

Arnold doesn't believe her. "Now come on, Helga. I know that look. What's going through that head of yours?"

Helga's hormones start to get the best of her and there's a quiver to her voice as she speaks. "Well, it's just – it's Phillip."

A confused looks comes to Arnold's face. "What about Phillip?"

Helga's voice shakes a little harder. "Well, he – he's not my little baby anymore." She hides her face in her hands. "He's all grown up."

After three babies, Arnold knows post-pregnancy hormones when he sees them, and braces himself for the long rollercoaster ride that they are about to embark on. He rubs Helga's shoulders in an effort to try and clam her. "Oh, Helga, now you know that's not true. Phillip has quite a few years ahead of him before we can consider him grown up."

Phillip notices Helga's distress from the back seat and questions Arnold about it. "What's wrong with Mommee, Daddee? Is she sick or something?"

Arnold tries to catch Phillip's eyes in the rear view mirror. "No, Phillip, your mommy isn't sick, she's just, well, tired is all."

"Oh." Phillip says, even though he doesn't quite get it. "Well if she's tired then she shoulds take a nap when we gets home."

Arnold lets out a little chuckle while giving Helga a side glance. "I think you're right, Phillip. Mommy needs a nap."

Helga removes her face from her hands to give Arnold a glare. Her voice is low and she speaks through a grumble. "What's so funny?"

The smile immediately vanishes from Arnold's face. "Uh, nothing, nothing at all."

They spend the rest of the ride in relative silence until they pull into the garage of the boarding house. Putting the car in park, Arnold rushes out to help Helga out of the car while Phillip lets himself out of his car seat and runs into the house with Arnold trailing close behind. Helga removes Joy from her car seat and follows both her men inside.

Phillip calls out to his mother as he runs through the kitchen and towards the living room. "Mommee, Mommee, you has to come see. Santa was here when you and Joy were in the hospital!"

Helga follows Phillip into the living room. Arnold had kept his promise of making sure to have it look as if Santa had indeed visited the Shortman household on Christmas Eve. She looks at the gifts that sit strewn around the tree and gives her husband a kiss on the cheek. She hands Joy to Arnold and sits down on the couch. She motions for Phillip to come to her and pulls him close when he does. She hugs him tightly as she talks. "I'm so sorry you've had to wait so long to open your presents, honey."

Phillip pulls away and looks her in the eye. "It's okay, Mommee, I hads to wait cause it wouldn't be Christmas wiffout you and Joy."

Helga feels herself beginning to lose it again and stands up before the dam has a chance to break. Well, I tell you what, if you can wait just a little longer, I'd like to take a little nap and then we can finally have our Christmas. Is that okay?"

Phillip nods his head. "Yeah, that's okay. I'm going to go watch some cartoons while I wait."

Helga watches Phillip's back as he runs out of the room, and walks over to Arnold. She takes Joy from him and heads upstairs, which causes Arnold to place a hand on her shoulder to stop her. "Hey, where're you going?"

Helga looks from his hand to his face. "Um, to the bedroom to nap, doi. You have a problem with that?"

Arnold removes his hand and steps in front of her to block her way. "Don't you think Joy should sleep in her crib? You know, to start getting used to it?"

Helga sidesteps him and continues to walk. "Um, no. It's her first day home, I want her close to me until she gets used to her surroundings."

Arnold catches up to her as she hits the stairs. He wraps an arm around her shoulders and gently guides her towards the nursery. "Yeah, but, I really think you should bring her to the nursery instead."

Annoyed now, Helga starts to raise her voice as Arnold pushes her towards the nursery. "No, Arnoldo, I'm bringing her with me to the bedroom. Besides, the nursery isn't even set up yet – "

Her words are cut off once she steps inside the nursery and takes a look around. She sees that someone has set up the crib with the new sheets she had bought for Joy's arrival. On a shelf next to the crib sit stuffed characters from her Arlo's Adventures books. The window over Joy's changing station are adorned with curtains that match the sheets on her crib. She is touched by the thoughtfulness of whomever it was that did this, but it is when she looks at the painted mural that sits on the wall across from the crib that her heart truly skips a beat.

She stands in quiet awe as she looks at the familiar figures that have greeted her since Phillip himself was a baby. It's the same bright, cheery scene, but with one major difference. There, smack dab in the middle of the mural sits a bright, colorful rainbow. It starts from the top of the waterfall, and gracefully trails down to disappear into the blue-green waters of the waiting pool.

She walks up to the mural and reaches out a hand. Her fingertips barely touch the wall as she runs them down the arc of the rainbow. She asks her question without taking her eyes off the wall. "Who – who did this?"

Arnold walks up next to her and places his arm around her shoulders. "Olga did it the day after Joyce was born. She says it's in honor of Joyce." He tries to read the expression on Helga's face. "You do like it, don't you?"

Helga opens her mouth, but no words come out. She holds Joyce close to her chest and slowly nods her head. "Y-yes, I – I love it."

Arnold lets out a relieved breath. "Oh, good. I was worried there for a minute when you didn't say anything. Anyway, I wanted you to see this before you laid down for your nap."

She looks at Arnold and gives him a loving smile. "Thanks, Arnold. I'm glad that you did."

He smiles back at her and starts to head towards the door. "Yeah, I'm glad that you like it. Come on, let's get you that nap now."

Helga says nothing as she nods her head and follows Arnold out of the room. She takes one last look at the updated mural before closing the door behind her. Once in bed, with her baby at her side, it is with a full heart that she drifts off into a dreamless sleep.