Six months had passed. Rose had put the whole baby thing behind her, and Jack was happy to see Rose doing better. Josie was so happy, and was doing great. She loved her parents, and knew that they loved her too.
Jack and Rose had stopped trying to have a baby. They were both happy with their life the way it was. But one day, Rose had a routine doctor's appointment, so she left Jack alone with Josie.
Rose returned from her doctor's appointment to find Jack spread out across the couch, reading a book. "Hey, how did it go?" he asked with a hopeful smile. She leaned down and kissed him.
"It was okay, stressful, but okay," she said as she set down her bags. "Is Josie asleep?"
"Yes, I read her five books and finally she agreed to go to sleep. So what happened?"
"I'll tell you all about it," said Rose. "But before I do, look at the shirt I got Josie today."
"Rose, I love you, but guys don't go nuts for baby clothes." Jack said, while taking the shopping back and removing the shirt. He gasped. He removed the shirt from the bag.
The shirt was a small tee that said "Best big sister" in giant letters. Rose looked at him tearfully and smiled.
"We're having another baby?" Jack asked, still shocked. He stood up and wrapped his arms around Rose's waist.
"We're having another baby," said Rose. She wrapped her arms around Jack's neck and kissed him deeply.
After they separated, Jack put a hand against her soft cheek. "Don't worry," he said.
"What?"
"I know you're worried about this pregnancy being like the last one. But it won't be; I'll do everything in my power to make you comfortable."
Rose kissed and hugged him. "Thank you."
"Of course," said Jack. They sat down on the couch. "How are we going to tell Josie?"
Rose cracked a smile. "I have absolutely no idea," she said. "But do you remember when we were pregnant with Josie, how I said I didn't care if it was a boy or a girl?"
"Yes, why?"
"Well, I lied," she said. "I really wanted a girl. But now, I don't know. I want to give you a son, and I want to give Josie a sister."
Jack lifted her hand and kissed it. "Don't worry about me."
"You know I do," she said.
They went upstairs, got ready to go to sleep, and then were in bed. "I'm so happy, sweetheart," said Jack, placing a hand against Rose's belly.
"Me too," said Rose, "and you were right."
"About what?" Jack asked.
"You said that I would get pregnant when we least expected it. And you were right."
Jack smiled. "I guess I was."
It was the next morning. Jack had decided to let Rose sleep in, his first attempt to make Rose as comfortable as possible. Finally, Rose woke up and went downstairs. Josie was eating breakfast, and Jack was drinking his coffee. "Good morning," said Rose.
"Good morning, Mommy," said Josie with a smile.
Rose kissed Josie's cheek, and then went and gave Jack a kiss. She leaned over to his ear. "Should we tell her?"
Jack smiled. "If you want to," he said.
Rose went over to the shopping bag with the tee shirt from the day before. She brought it over to Josie. "Josie, darling, I got you a present."
Josie looked up from her breakfast. "What is it?"
Rose handed her the tee shirt. "Can you sound out the words?" Rose asked.
"B… be… st… b-bi…"
Rose couldn't handle the suspense. "Can I help you, darling?"
Josie smiled. "Yes please."
"It says best big sister," said Rose with a smile.
Josie looked perplexed. "But I'm not a big sister."
Rose looked at Jack, then back at Josie. "But you will be, darling, in six months."
Josie gasped. "I'm going to be a big sister?"
Jack laughed. "Yes, sweetheart, you're going to be a big sister."
"Thank you Mommy," Josie stood up and wrapped her little arms around Rose. She then walked over to Jack. "Thank you Daddy." She skipped out of the room singing "I'm going to be a sister."
Rose smiled and laughed. Little tears of joy trickled down her cheeks. She leaned over and gave Jack a deep kiss. "She's going to be a great sister, don't you think?"
Jack smiled and pressed his forehead to Rose's. "Yes, I do."
Jack had driven Josie to preschool, and returned a few minutes later. He brought her some breakfast, which to both of their surprise, didn't make Rose sick.
"You know what's weird?" Rose said. "I was thinking about my mother. I was thinking about how she would love Josie. But that's just the hormones, right? I mean, she was a horrible mother."
Jack sat next to Rose. "I don't know. It's not weird that you were thinking about her. And I'm not sure if it's just the hormones; being a grandparent is definitely less pressure than being a parent."
"I guess," said Rose. She shook her head. "I just always thought she would make a surprise reappearance. But she didn't."
"You did threaten her with a restraining order, so I'm not surprised." Jack looked at her, trying to figure out what she was thinking. "Do you want to find her? Talk to her?"
Rose shook her head. "Yes. No. I don't know. What do you think?"
"This isn't about me, Rose," said Jack. "It's about you, and whether you want to talk to your mother."
"You're my husband. I want your opinion," said Rose.
Jack sighed. "I think… you should talk to her."
"Really?" Rose said, surprised.
"Yes. I think that if you don't, you'll always wonder what could have been." Rose was thinking about what he was saying. "Listen, you see her, you have lunch, that's it. The worst that can happen is that she tries to bring you back. We're married now, and we have your family's money. She can't do anything anymore."
"I guess," said Rose.
"But all of this means nothing if you don't want to do it."
Rose smiled. "I do."
