Hello! :-) Here is the latest chapter I hope you will enjoy. Thank you, as always, for your kind reviews and comments. :-)

Chapter 8

A week later, Lucas and Jack sat on the living room floor putting together a small wooden puzzle while Elizabeth was at the library working on her novel.

"Daddy," Jack said, after Lucas had suggested a piece to his son that fit in the middle, "when baby come?"

"Oh," Lucas said, looking at Jack who was looking at him.

This was the first Jack had spoken about the baby since they'd told him the news. Lucas wanted to make certain he answered Jack's questions correctly to help him understand.

"Your brother or sister will be here in about seven months."

"When that?"

Lucas chuckled. "Remember when you learned about the months of the year?"

Jack nodded.

"Do you remember the name of the first month of the year?"

He thought for a moment and then shook his head.

"Do you remember this name? Janu…"

"ary," Jack said and smiled, proud of himself.

"That's right," Lucas said, his excitement on display. "Can you say that month?"

"Janary," Jack said.

"That's good, son. That's the month the baby will be born. So if we count from now until then, it's seven months."

"'Kay," Jack said, not really understanding his father.

He returned his attention to the puzzle.

Lucas realized he was losing Jack's understanding of the concept of when the baby would be born, but he did not want to lose his interest in talking about his sibling.

"What I'm saying, Jack," he patiently explained, "is that your brother or sister will not be here today or tomorrow or next week, but in a little while from now, he or she will be here."

Jack nodded. He put down the piece of puzzle he had been holding and climbed onto Lucas's lap.

"What I do?" he asked, looking up at his father.

"What do you mean? Tell me."

"For baby. What I do?"

"You mean what do you do as the big brother?"

When Jack nodded, Lucas hugged him and kissed the top of his head.

"Oh, well, Mr. Jack, you have a very important job."

"I do?" he asked with interest.

"Indeed. You will be able to show how much you love your brother or sister. The baby will be little. Remember that picture book your mama and I showed you with the family who had an older brother like you and a baby sister?"

Jack nodded.

"Well, the baby will be small like the one in the book, so we have to be gentle and kind. But you can show your love and your gentleness, and you can help your mama and me take care of the baby."

"How?"

"You can help us when we need something. You can talk to the baby, and you can tell your sister or brother how much love you have in your heart. Would you like to do that?"

Jack nodded.

"That's wonderful, Jack. Your mama and I want you to be included. We are a family. And as the baby gets older, you will be able to play the way you enjoy being with David. You know David is younger than you, but you two have fun, right?"

"Yes."

"Well, think about how much more fun you will have with your own brother or sister who will be here all the time. You will have a friend, Jack, who will also be your sister or brother. You two will have each other to play and do things with and be able to talk to each other anytime you want. Won't that be nice?"

"Yes. I big brother."

"That's right, Mr. Jack," Lucas said, hugging him. "You will always be the big brother."

"I like that," Jack said, wrapping his arms around his father's neck and hugging him back.

"Your mama and I like that, too," he said, feeling relief that maybe their son had come around to the idea of having a sibling. "We know you are going to be the best big brother, and while you are loving your brother or sister, guess what?"

"What?" Jack asked, looking at his father.

"Your sister or brother is going to love you, too, young man, because you will be the best big brother he or she could ever have."

Jack laughed when Lucas tickled him and then tried to get away like he always did. It was a game they played that Jack and Lucas loved.

"I love you, son," he said, when Jack had collapsed onto his lap in a fit of giggles from being tickled.

"I love you, Daddy. I be big brother. I like it."

Lucas hugged him once more, so happy Jack seemed to be all right with the idea of being the older brother. He couldn't wait to tell Elizabeth.

Elizabeth walked home from the library late that morning feeling good about the writing she had been able to accomplish. She'd had a minor breakthrough after rewriting a couple of her earlier chapters and thought she had found the right path to continue her story. She used the rest of her time to write down notes and ideas of where she wanted to take the story and then left the library to spend the afternoon with her son. She didn't realize she had been smiling until Bill approached her and commented on how happy she looked.

"Hi, Bill. How are you?"

"Not as good as you apparently. What's got you looking so happy?"

"I spent the morning at the library working on my novel, and I feel good about the progress I made. My writing has been stagnant lately, so I needed to get back on track."

"Good for you. You know we all can't wait to read your next bestseller."

Elizabeth smiled. "Thank you, Bill. Where are you headed?"

"To the café. Thought I would help Abigail with the lunch crowd."

"Nice. Isn't it wonderful having Abigail back?"

"Yes, it is. And I must say the café is doing quite well these days. Is your husband feeling the pinch?" he asked with a grin.

Elizabeth smirked. "The saloon is doing just fine, Bill. It's nice people have a choice of where they wish to dine."

"I know. I was teasing. We've coexisted this long. I don't see why that wouldn't continue."

"You're absolutely right, and it will continue."

They had arrived at the café.

"Tell Abigail I said hi. Enjoy serving that lunch crowd, Bill," Elizabeth said and grinned.

"Oh, I will. You enjoy your afternoon with my godson."

"Oh, I will," Elizabeth returned, knowing she had a fun time planned for her and Jack.

When Elizabeth arrived home, Lucas and Jack had just finished eating lunch. After greeting each other and their son, Elizabeth asked how their morning went.

"Very well," Lucas said and smiled. "We had fun putting together a puzzle and talking, didn't we, Jack?"

Jack nodded. "I big brother, Mama. I like."

Elizabeth tried to hide her surprise at his admission.

"Yes, you are, my sweet boy. And Daddy and Mama can't wait for that to happen."

"In a little while," he said, pointing at Lucas.

Elizabeth laughed and then answered.

"That's correct, Jack. After a while, you will be a big brother."

Jack walked into the living room, leaving Elizabeth and Lucas alone to talk in the kitchen.

"Productive morning?" she asked and smiled.

"Jack brought up the subject, so I tried to explain it as best I could. I didn't go into detail about what we want him to do before the baby comes. I thought you might want to talk to him about that when you feel the time is right."

"This is so great, Lucas," Elizabeth said and sighed. "He seems content. Whatever you two talked about, I'm grateful. I got some excellent writing done, too, which is making me very happy. Thank you again, sweetheart, for doing this for us. It means a lot to me and Jack that you are here every morning, spending time with our son. I'm ready to do my part."

"Are you kidding? I love it. But I do need to get to the saloon to help out with the lunch crowd."

Elizabeth grinned. "According to Bill, who I ran into on my way here, the café has the lunch crowd."

Lucas chuckled. "They do, but we get our fair share, too."

"That's what I told him," she said and smiled. "I love you, Mr. Bouchard. You have a great afternoon."

"I love you, too," he said, give her a chaste kiss that held the promise of more to come, "and you have an awesome afternoon with our son."

"I will. I'll see you tonight."

"Yes. I won't be late, but I won't be here for dinner, most likely."

Elizabeth nodded. "I understand. We'll be fine."

Lucas entered the living room and knelt down to say goodbye to Jack.

"You have a fun afternoon with your mama," he told him.

"I will," Jack said.

"I'll see you in the morning. We will spend more time together."

""Kay. Love you, Daddy."

"I love you, too, son."

Lucas stood and walked to the door where Elizabeth waited to say goodbye. They kissed once more and then he opened the door and waved to both his wife and his son before he began his stroll towards the Queen of Hearts feeling better and more hopeful than he had in the past two weeks.

As Elizabeth watched her son and got ready to spend the afternoon with him, she felt as though a weight had been lifted, at least for the moment, and once again, she had her loving husband to thank for taking such excellent care of both her and their son. With a grateful heart while already missing Lucas, she called Jack to come with her so she could show him the fun things she had planned for their afternoon together.

After leaving the Infirmary for the day, Francine stopped by the mercantile to pick up a few things for her and Allie. Ned said hello and told her she had two letters, one for her and one for Allie. Francine brightened as she looked at the handwriting on the envelopes, knowing they were from Nathan. From what Elizabeth had told her, she knew she shouldn't get her hopes up the letters would be long or informative, but the fact he wrote two separate letters encouraged her. She and Allie had written to him faithfully. Maybe they were both about to get rewarded.

After dropping off her items at Nathan's house, she walked to Opal's to pick up Allie. On their way home, she told Allie she had a letter waiting for her from her uncle.

"Yes!" Allie said, excited to read what her uncle had written. "He must have received our letters. I've never gotten a letter from him because he's never been away this long. I can't wait to read what he wrote."

Francine smiled at Allie's obvious delight her uncle had written to her.

"I'm looking forward to reading my letter, too," she said.

"Can we do it before we eat dinner?"

"Of course. This is a special occasion. I will cook after we see what your uncle has to say."

Carson locked up the Infirmary and then he and Faith began to walk to their respective houses.

"I'm exhausted," Faith admitted, as she linked her arm with his.

"You're learning a lot, Faith. It all takes time. You're doing great," he encouraged.

"Really? Because it sure doesn't feel that way. My brain is not picking this up as fast as I thought it would. I know book learning is different from real life experience, but I took to nursing so easily. I guess I thought becoming a doctor would be the same, but it's so different and so much more complex."

"Sometimes," Carson said, trying to couch how he wanted to present his observation to Faith, "You seem to go back to what you know as a nurse, which is fine, but there is other knowledge you are going to have to gain through practice to look at medicine as a doctor."

Faith sighed and leaned against Carson's arm. "I know. I am doing that, and I try to stop myself, but it's so easy for me to look at symptoms or medicine as a nurse. As a doctor, I'm having trouble."

"You haven't even been there two weeks, Faith. It takes time. You need to give yourself some breathing room. You know I'm there, and I am not going to let you make any major mistakes. Some mistakes I know you will learn from, and they're necessary, but I don't want you to fret because we both know you have a long learning curve, and that's fine."

"I guess I want to be helpful now, but I know that's not how this works. I will remain encouraged," she said, looking up at Carson, "especially with you as my mentor."

"Good," he said, squeezing her hands with his, "because I know you are going to make an excellent doctor, but it is going to take time, so the last thing you need to become is discouraged."

Faith nodded. She silently vowed she wouldn't, but she also knew she had a lot to learn and many long grueling days ahead of her.

Francine watched the play of emotions on Allie's face as she read her letter from Nathan. Francine had perused hers with the intention of reading it more thoroughly once Allie had gone to sleep. From the little she gathered from hers, Nathan indicated things were going okay but that he might be there longer than he originally thought. He also said something about a surprise for her and Allie when he returned.

"What did your uncle say?" she asked Allie, after she had returned the letter to its envelope.

She shrugged. "He said it's going okay, not great, and that he'll probably be there a while longer. He misses and loves me. I miss him, too. Oh, yeah, he ended by saying he has a surprise for both of us when he returns. What could that be?"

"I don't know. I gave my letter a cursory review, but I noticed he said the same thing. He's giving us something to look forward to with his return."

"I just want him home safe," Allie said.

"I know you do, and he will return safely. We have to keep the faith, Allie. C'mon. Let's see what I can cook for dinner that will satisfy us."

After Pastor Zeke left, Clara and Jesse remained seated on their sofa.

"How do you feel?" Jesse asked his wife, searching her face for signs of distress or possibly relief.

"Okay," she answered. "Thank you, Jesse, for letting me talk. I've bottled up my thoughts and my emotions. Pastor Zeke has such kind eyes and a gentle way about him. Once he got me to open up, I knew I couldn't stop until I spilled everything."

"I'm relieved you told him and me how you are feeling. I was scared you wouldn't and then, at some point, you would explode."

"You need to talk, too," she encouraged him. "Abigail and now Pastor Zeke have made me realize how much you've also lost. At our next session, you talk. All right?"

"Clara," Jesse said, tentatively wrapping his arm around her shoulders while inwardly sighing with relief when she didn't flinch or move away. It was their first physical contact in over a month. "I want you to be okay. If there's more you need to say to me or to the pastor or to both of us, I want you to have that opportunity. I have grieved in my own way. I am so sorry for what you are going through and that I couldn't help you. But I know you need time, and I don't want to push."

"Did you talk to someone?" Clara asked, loving and appreciating how gentle he was being with her.

She also found herself being comforted by his touch and had been surprised she hadn't instinctively moved away, as she had been doing since she'd lost the baby, when she saw his arm moving behind her shoulders. She missed their closeness, even as she had been the one who recoiled whenever she felt him approaching her. She knew that was something else she needed to work on. Maybe allowing him to touch her was a start to regaining trust in their intimacy.

"Carson," Jesse admitted. "We've discussed this in some detail, but not much. I haven't said anything to anyone, sweetheart. Carson saw me at the saloon and talked to me for a bit. Afterward, I realized I felt somewhat better, so I talked with him a little more at the Infirmary when no one else was around. He's a great listener."

Clara nodded. "I know. He is. He's a very kind and compassionate doctor and man."

"You should maybe see him," Jesse suggested timidly, not sure how she would react, "just to put your mind at ease about what happened to you physically. I'm so sorry you've been carrying this by yourself, Clara. I want to help. I just don't know what to do."

"I'm sorry, Jesse. I've pushed you away time and time again when all you've wanted to do is comfort me. Thank you for being so patient with me. This was a good start. We just need to keep working through this loss. Together. I need you, Jesse, and I love you. I think I lost sight of that in my mourning, but I don't want to push you away. I'm not ready to move forward just yet, but I want to get there. I do."

"I understand, and we will take whatever time you need. I'm here, Clara," he said, looking at her with love and compassion in his eyes, "and I am not going anywhere."

Elizabeth asked Jack who could be at the door when she heard the knock that evening and then smiled when she saw Rosemary, Lee and David enter her home.

"Hello," Elizabeth said. "Come in."

"We haven't seen you since you've been on your break from school," Rosemary said. "David's been missing Jack, so we thought we would stop by for a few minutes."

She set David on the floor in the living room next to Jack who said hi. David reached for one of Jack's stuffed animals and began to play with it while the adults settled in for a chat.

"I'm sorry Lucas isn't here, Lee. He's still at the Queen of Hearts. We've been taking shifts with Jack."

"That's okay," Lee said. "I'll watch these two fellas play."

"Taking shifts?" Rosemary asked, with a curious look. "That's new."

"I'm trying to make the most of my time off. I got behind with my writing, so Lucas is watching Jack in the morning while I go to the library to write and then I'm here in the afternoon."

"I'm sure Laura wouldn't mind watching Jack if you wanted to be here to write," Rosemary said.

"We wanted to give her a break since I'm not at the school. It's only for one more week."

Rosemary nodded. "I guess that makes sense. I'm sure Jack loves seeing his daddy in the mornings and you in the afternoons."

Elizabeth looked at her son and smiled. "We have been enjoying our time with him."

"We're trying to plan a vacation," Rosemary said. "We'd like to visit Lee's sister and her family, but it's not easy to travel with a small child as you well know from your trip to New York."

"We can make it work," Lee said. "We just have to allow more time."

"I had Julie, too," Elizabeth said, "who was a big help."

Rosemary nodded. "We're not giving up, right Lee?"

"No, we are not. We may just have to wait a bit longer. That's all."

"How is Julie doing?" Rosemary asked.

"She's fine. She and Alexander are enjoying each other and everything about living and working in New York. She's happy, and I'm happy for her."

"Any news about a possible engagement?" Rosemary asked with a grin.

"Not yet, but I remain hopeful."

"I can only imagine getting married in Manhattan. What a glorious wedding that would be."

Elizabeth chuckled. "If and when they do get married, Rosemary, I don't think it will be in New York."

Rosemary frowned. "I suppose that's true. Well, it would be fun to think about and imagine."

"I'm sure Julie has done that," Elizabeth agreed. "But hopefully, if that time comes, she or Alexander will think more practically."

"His family would have to travel regardless. England, New York, Hamilton. Julie is living quite the life, isn't she?"

"I would say so. I just want her to be happy and hopefully settled one of these days."

Lee watched David and Jack playing and smiled when Jack showed David how to hold one of his stuffed animals. David looked at him and giggled.

"Thank you, Jack," Lee said, "for helping David with his toy."

"I be big brother," Jack said proudly.

"Oh!" Rosemary said with glee while clapping her hands. "That's adorable. Jack thinks of himself as David's big brother. How cute is that, Lee?"

"Very," Lee said, looking from his son to the older boy. "Thank you, Jack, for taking such good care of our son."

Jack shook his head. "Daddy says in a little while."

"In a little while you will be David's big brother?" Lee asked, not understanding.

Jack shook his head again. "I be big brother. In a little while."

Rosemary looked at Elizabeth with definite curiosity and questioning eyes. "Why is Jack talking about being a big brother in a little while?"

Elizabeth shrugged, wishing her son had not chosen to speak about this particular topic. "You know children. They say things."

"That is something very specific," Rosemary said, unwilling to be deterred.

Her husband had to agree.

"I think," Lee said, "Jack is trying to tell us something."

"Mama," Jack said, standing and crossing to where Elizabeth sat. "I be big brother. Daddy say so."

"That's right, Jack. You are," Elizabeth told him, brushing his hair.

"In a little while," he said, looking at Rosemary and Lee.

Elizabeth sighed and then smiled at her dearest friends.

"Not that we didn't want you to know, but we were waiting until our monthly gatherings to share our news, but yes. Lucas and I are expecting a baby in January."

"Elizabeth!" Rosemary cried. "I'm so happy for you and Lucas and Jack. This is wonderful. He will have a sibling, and you and Lucas will have another child to love. Congratulations!"

"That is great news," Lee said, his smile reaching his eyes. "Lucas must be ecstatic. Congratulations to all of you. You were right, Jack. You are going to be a big brother."

"In a little while," Jack repeated, which made the adults laugh.

"I'm going to have to tell Lucas about this one," Elizabeth said, wishing he had been there to hear their son echoing his words in such a serious manner and to see the genuine happiness on their friends' faces.

"We won't say anything," Rosemary assured her.

Lee nodded.

"I would appreciate that," Elizabeth said. "I just found out a few weeks ago. There's plenty of time to let our family and friends know."

Rosemary leaned in closer to Elizabeth. "Speaking of family, might the Bouchards make a return visit? Or at least Lucas's mother? And what about your parents?"

"We haven't told any of them yet, but we will. I don't know. I wouldn't mind if Lucas's parents came for a visit. I think my parents might wait until the baby's born."

"What about Julie and Alexander? They could certainly visit, and Julie could help you and Lucas and Jack."

"That's true, but again, they have their lives in Manhattan. We'll be fine. We have time to sort through all of this. We just want to enjoy our time with Jack while we prepare for the baby."

"Of course," Rosemary said. "We understand. Right, Lee?"

"Absolutely. I will be happy to congratulate Lucas, though."

"I'll let him know about this when he comes home."

"You know what they say," Rosemary said, her melodious laughter on display. "Out of the mouths of babes…."

Elizabeth nodded, glancing once more in the direction of her son who had returned to play with David. "Yes, this is true."

As she watched Jack and David play for a few more minutes before the Coulters headed home, she couldn't help but to think about the day when Jack would be playing and conversing with his sibling. She looked forward to telling Lucas how his words had remained with their son and how he had used them to somewhat spill the beans before they had been ready to tell people. Why did she think her husband would find that scenario very amusing?

After Allie had said goodnight, Francine remained seated on the sofa, having read Nathan's letter twice. He had written more than she had expected, and his words left her feeling very hopeful, while also making her long for his return that much more. He told her how much he missed her and how being away from her, Allie and Hope Valley had opened his eyes to a few things. While he didn't go into detail about what those things might be, from the tone of his letter, she believed he was talking about how good and stable his life was in Hope Valley. She hoped she had contributed some to that thought process. She knew his life had not been an easy one and once Colleen had died, she knew his life had forever changed. She admired his commitment to remain a mountie, even though she knew that had brought hardships of its own when he had to take care of and be responsible for his young niece. The fact that Allie was so much like her mother had to be a blessing but maybe also a sorrowful reminder for Nathan of what he and his niece had lost.

Like Allie, she wondered what the surprise was he mentioned not once but twice in her letter, teasing her at the end with that reminder. She did not want to speculate because she knew it would do no good and would only drive her crazy. So, instead, she hugged his letter to her chest and prayed, once more, for his safe and speedy return.

Undetected by his wife, Lucas leaned against the door frame and watched as Elizabeth turned the pages of what appeared to be one of her journals as she sat up in their bed with light from the nightstand illuminating the room. Her beautiful features, including her long russet hair cascading about her, shone in the soft light. His heart constricted. He loved her so much that when he let himself dwell on his good fortune for longer than a moment or two, he still could not believe they were married and living the life he had always hoped and dreamed he would have with the woman he had been meant to spend his life with. And yet, here she was, his soulmate, in all her splendor, waiting for him to arrive home and join her. He knew he would never ever take these moments for granted.

She looked up and caught him unabashedly gazing at her while wearing a pensive smile. She offered him a tender one in return.

"What are you doing, Mr. Bouchard?" she asked, setting aside her journal and welcoming him into their bedroom.

"Watching and admiring my beautiful wife," he answered honestly, pushing himself away from the door frame to make his way into their room. "And being thankful, once again, you are my wife."

"Are you trying to make me cry?" she asked. "You know how emotional I am these days. Come. Join me. Please. I want to talk to you."

After he had changed, Lucas slipped under the covers to join his wife. He propped up one elbow on his pillow and turned to face her, the pad of his forefinger trailing down her right cheek.

"What do you want to tell me?"

"I told you I'm emotional, so I don't know why I did this, but I started looking through one of my journals."

"I thought that's what you were reading. Were you looking for things to write about for our son from your life with Jack?" he asked, even though that was not a subject he truly wanted to talk about that night.

She shook her head. "I was reading the one I wrote after I found out I was pregnant."

"Oh," Lucas said, unsure where the conversation was going but willing to listen carefully.

"Lucas, I was so petrified and so lonely. Thanks to you, I have forgotten, or at least been able to move most of that part of my life to one corner of my mind that I rarely let myself uncover, but reading my journal brought it all back to me. The long days and nights, the constant worry, the fear, the thought of raising my baby alone, having to go through my pregnancy without Jack and how terrified I was about giving birth to my baby. I shuddered when I read some of my entries. They were so dark and depressing. It's like they were written by a completely different person, yet I lived and experienced all of them."

"I'm so sorry you went down that road, sweetheart. May I ask why you chose that particular journal?"

"Two reasons. One was to remind myself how far I have come. Lucas, I don't have to go through any of those things this time. Do you know what an absolute blessing that is? As scared as I was four years ago is how totally happy and contented I am now. I have to remember that, no matter how tough things may get. I have you, my darling husband, and I know we will work together, no matter what life may throw at us. Right?"

"Absolutely. I was thinking the same thing while I was watching you."

"Why were you watching me?" she asked with a grin. "And just how long had you been standing there?"

He smiled shyly at having been caught and now being asked about it and then looked down. "Not long. I love to watch you when you are unaware of my presence. Elizabeth, I love everything about you. I was ready to come into the room, but you looked so beautiful and angelic with the light shining on you. I just wanted to enjoy the moment of pure pleasure watching you be yourself."

She caressed his cheek. "That's so sweet. I watch you, too, sometimes when you don't know it. I love it when I know your mind is working or something amuses you. You are fun to watch."

Lucas grinned. "I'm glad I entertain you, but it sounds like I need to be more aware of when you might be lurking."

"No," she said, shaking her head. "I love that we watch each other when the other doesn't know it. I think those moments add something special to our relationship."

He captured her hand in his and kissed the back of it. "I think you're right."

"There was another reason I read that particular journal."

"Tell me," he said.

"I was looking at the names I had written for the baby. If the baby was a boy, of course, I was going to name him Jack. That was a given. But I did write down some ideas I had for a girl's name. Would you like to hear them?"

"Sure."

"I like the names Sarah, Lily, Hannah, Victoria and Amelia. But now we have Catherine to consider, too. What do you think?"

"I would prefer not to have Catherine as the first name if we have a girl," Lucas admitted.

"Okay," Elizabeth said, reaching for his hand. "What about Catherine as the middle name? I would like to honor your late sister Lucas, if we have a girl."

"Middle name would be nice," he agreed. "Thank you, Elizabeth, for thinking of that. I have not given any thought to possible names."

"Do you like any of the girls' names I mentioned or do you want to think about it so we can talk another time? I'm just in a somewhat nesting mood and wanted to see what names I had come up with when I was pregnant with Jack."

"I like the last name you mentioned. Amelia. It's not too common but not too far out there either. Does that make sense?"

"It does. I think if I'd had a girl, Amelia would have been her name. Or Victoria. I really like Victoria, but Amelia Catherine Bouchard. I like that, sweetheart. What about you?"

"I like it. I think it works."

"We have to come up with names if we have a boy. I did not write down any of those."

"I will think about names."

"I will, too."

Believing their conversation was over, Lucas prepared to kiss his wife goodnight and get comfortable holding her so they could fall asleep when Elizabeth told him her other piece of news.

"By the way, sweetheart," she said, as she prepared the room to be in darkness, "Rosemary and Lee know we are having a baby courtesy of our son remembering and using your line, 'I be big brother. In a little while.'"

Lucas could only laugh and shake his head, knowing he and his wife would be having another talk. In the morning.