Beverly and Alfred had one more year until they both received their Ph.D.'s. They should know by now that things don't always go as planned. One day, Beverly came home and went to find her husband. He was outside pushing Michael in his baby swing.

"Hey honey, what did the doctor say?" Beverly had been throwing up and really sick lately.

"I'm pregnant," she answered in a cool manner.

"What?!" Alfred turned towards his wife but got hit by his son's swing.

Beverly stopped the swing, "are you alright?"

"Yeah, just hit my arm. No big deal. You're really pregnant again?"

"Yeah, is that a problem," Beverly said sadly.

"No," Alfred smiled and took his wife in his arms, "it's wonderful."

Beverly's second pregnancy was nothing like her first. It was worse and she hated it. She was always sick and having a difficult time keeping up with her school work. Ed and Marcy began helping out more with Michael so that their daughter-in-law could finish school now that she was so close to finishing. She did crave sweets and that gave Alfred a whole new set of skills.

"Alfred, wake up," Beverly said at two in the morning.

"What's wrong?"

"Do we have chocolate cake?"

"No, but I have a feeling that I'm about to make one."

"You are such a wonderful husband."

"Yeah, yeah," Alfred made the cake and his wife ate half of it.

A week later Beverly woke her husband up again and this time she wanted Apple Pie. Alfred also learned how to make different kinds of cheesecake and ended up stocking up on ice cream. This pregnancy was going to kill him before the baby was even born.

Three months after Michael's second birthday, Beverly gave birth to a baby girl, Liliana Marcelle Hofstadter.

"How did you know my name is Marcelle?" Marcy asked.

"Alfred told me when we were dating. I just love both of your names." The elder Mrs. Hofstadter was named Marcelle Liliana and those were also the names of two neuroscientists Beverly was studying. She felt the same way Alfred had with Michael. They were looking for baby names and all of a sudden they were studying people in their fields with the same names as his parents. It was almost as if it was meant to be.

Beverly and Alfred received their Ph.D.'s two weeks after Lili was born. Alfred's was in anthropology and Beverly actually received two. One was in psychiatry and the other was neuroscience.

"I feel like such an underachiever," Alfred told his wife that night.

"Why?"

"You received two doctorates on time while going through two pregnancies and giving birth to and caring for Michael. I got one," Alfred explained.

"You worked hard. You had a job, took care of me and Michael, and went to school. Don't sell yourself short."

"I knew I married you for a reason," Alfred kissed his wife good-night and for the first time in four years, they didn't have to deal with school and children.

Beverly was so happy to have two healthy and happy children. She did the same things with both children that she had done when it was just Michael. She still would yell for Alfred whenever Lili was about to hit a milestone.

"I'm gonna get you," Beverly said as she chased her little ones around the house. Michael and Lili giggled and that was Beverly's favorite sound. Eventually, they sat down together and played with toys. She would play whatever her kids wanted. If Michael wanted to play with racecars then they would play with racecars. If Lili wanted to play with dolls then they played with dolls. Beverly taught her children that they could play with each other's toys as well. She would catch the two playing with Michael's racecars or Lili's dolls together.

"Mommy, play?" Michael would ask his mother on occasion.

"Sure," Beverly put her file away and got on the floor with her children. It wasn't uncommon for her to do that. Sometimes she would tell her children that when she finished something she was almost done with that she would play then.

Beverly and Alfred would take their kids to get ice cream every once in a while or get it from the ice cream truck when it was in the neighborhood.

"Michael, Lili, do you want to help me and grandma bake Christmas cookies?"

"Yay," the two ran towards their mother and followed her into the kitchen.

By the time they were done making cookie dough, the kitchen and the four of them were a mess. Once the cookies were in the oven, Beverly took her children to wash up while Marcy started cleaning up the kitchen. Once the children were clean then Beverly would help her mother-in-law.

It always made the adult Hofstatders smile to watch the young ones enjoy the holidays. They loved baking cookies, opening presents, searching for their Easter eggs and baskets, and making holiday-themed art. Beverly, in particular, found her children fascinating and was amazed by their learning and their reactions to everything. She would soak up these moments because the children wouldn't be this little, innocent, or curious forever. She only saw her children as her children. Beverly enjoyed science, school, and research, but she loved her children.