It wasn't long after that when I met up with an even bigger surprise at the hospital. "Trina's back," Misty told me one day right after I'd clocked in. She'd decided to work right up until she went into labor, like I'd done. By now she was very large and ungainly, so much so that I didn't see how she could even walk around without constantly tipping over forward. Vaguely I wondered whether she might be carrying twins as well.

"What!" I gasped, shocked. "But I thought they said she was permanently brain-damaged and moved her to a long-term care facility."

"They did, but her doctor decided that he needs to operate on her skull to relieve pressure on her brain, so he sent her back here."

"So she's here in the hospital right now?" Please let it not be so, I prayed.

"That's right. The surgery's scheduled for tomorrow morning."

I breathed a sigh of relief that I was off the following day. By a stroke of luck, Maxim was off as well, and we spent a relaxing morning with the twins, taking them to the park and then to a diner for lunch before Seth and Morgan got home from school.

I struggled over whether or not to tell Maxim about Trina and in the end decided that I just couldn't keep it from him. "Trina's back in the hospital," I said as we were eating at the diner.

He gasped. "So is she out of the coma now?"

"No. They did surgery to relieve pressure on her brain this morning."

He got really quiet after that. "I'm sorry," I said as he was driving us home. "I shouldn't have brought it up. I guess I ruined what would have otherwise been a very pleasant outing."

"That's all right," he replied. "As I've said many times before, you can say anything at all to me, Lace. Don't worry about upsetting me. I'm always here for you. I could tell there was something on your mind, and I'm glad you shared it with me."

"But are you OK with it?" I asked him.

He shrugged. "What choice do I have?"

Not that there was much time to worry about Trina anyway, as both the holiday season and Andy and Laura's wedding quickly approached. Both the older kids were very excited, as Seth was to be the ring bearer and Morgan, the flower girl. Before we left the house, I gave them the obligatory speech in preparation. "You know that you both have to be on your best behavior at all times. A lot of people will be watching you, and I know you want to show them how polite and well-mannered you are."

"I'll be good, Mommy!" Seth promised.

"Me too!" Morgan added.

"All right, then," I said. "Let's go!"

As it turned out, I didn't have to worry about them at all, as they both performed their functions perfectly. After the ceremony was over, Laura sought me out and embraced me. "I'm so happy we're sisters now!" she exclaimed.

"So am I," I told her. "I've always wanted a sister." I got along fine with Maxim's sisters, but since they all lived in Russia, I only saw them on rare occasions.

For their honeymoon, they went to Las Vegas. "I've always wondered what it would be like to go there," I mused.

"Perhaps we'll go someday, when the kids are a bit older," Maxim replied. "But you know you've been a very naughty girl lately."

"So what's gonna happen to me?" I asked as a mixture of excitement and trepidation bubbled up inside me.

"I'm gonna give you a spanking you'll never forget." I didn't even notice which paddle he grabbed. "Bend over," he growled, and I obeyed immediately. I felt my skirt lifted and my pantyhose and underwear yanked down, and then the blows began to come.

"Ow!" I moaned, clutching to the side of the bed.

"I'm just getting started," said Maxim. Whap! Bang! Pow! He pummeled my poor bottom until it was good and sore, then stepped back.

"Pull your pants up," he ordered. I pulled my pants back up.

I had to sit down very carefully for a couple of days.

I was at work the day Misty went into labor. She and I were sorting supplies together when suddenly a pool of water appeared at her feet, soaking her scrubs. "Oh, shit!' she cried.

I knew that her water had broken, so I helped her to the maternity floor and into a room as quickly as possible. As soon as she was resting comfortably in bed, I examined her and found that she was only dilated two centimeters. "It's gonna be awhile," I told her.

"Oh, shit, I don't know how much more of this I can take," she muttered.

"Would you like some Demerol?" I offered.

"Please!" I injected the medication into her IV line, then informed her physician that she was in labor and returned to my duties. A few minutes later, I saw Ilya enter the hospital, his face a picture of excitement mixed with anxiety. Misty was still in labor when I left that day.

When I returned to work the following morning, I couldn't wait to find out what had transpired during the night. "Have you heard anything about Misty?" I asked Danielle, who was all smiles.

"She had a little boy, born about two in the morning," she told me.

"Are they both all right?"

"They're fine! I haven't been up to meet him yet, but I've heard he's a real beauty."

As soon as I had a free moment, I headed up to the maternity floor, where Misty sat in bed nursing her new son while a beaming Ilya sat in a chair beside her bed. "Congratulations, you guys!" I exclaimed.

"Thanks!" they replied together.

"I think he's almost finished, if you'd like to hold him," Misty offered. A few seconds later, she burped him and then handed him to me.

"He's beautiful!' I exclaimed. He had soft skin, and his head was covered with fine hair that was very dark brown, almost black. His eyes were very dark as well. He was the spitting image of his father.

"What's his name?" I asked.

"Jesse Aaron," Misty told me.

As much as I would have loved to linger and visit some more with little Jesse and his parents, I knew that I had to return to my duties, so I did. I'd hardly reached my station when who else should enter the hospital but Lily, who was obviously in an advanced stage of labor. "I kept trying to get her to come to the hospital, but she kept insisting that it wasn't time yet," explained Chad. "I was so scared I was gonna end up having to deliver the baby myself in the parking lot!"

"Please, Lacy, will you deliver my baby?" Lily gasped. "We've been best friends forever, and I just don't want anyone else there but you...except for Chad and the doctor, of course."

"Well...sure!" I was a little surprised, as she'd never really discussed it with me before. "Let's get you into a delivery room. From the looks of things, it won't be long at all."

I helped Lily into a wheelchair and took her up to the maternity floor. She cursed and complained about the pain for the entire journey, and if I hadn't known better, I would have been genuinely afraid the baby would fall right out of her and land on the floor before we could even get there. Once we reached the delivery room, both Chad and I had to help her into bed. I checked her and found that she was already dilated eight centimeters. "It'll be about forty-five minutes, an hour at the most," I told Chad, who turned even paler than he already was.

"Please give me something for this godawful pain!" Lily moaned.

"I'm sorry, but it's too late for that," I told her.

"Nooo!" she howled.

"Remember your breathing , Lily," said Chad. "Hee hoo hoo, hee hoo..."

"That doesn't help at all!" Lily screamed.

Somehow the three of us made it through what had to be one of the longest forty-five minute periods of my life, and then I checked Lily again. "You're ready," I told her. "When the next contraction comes, push as hard as you can."

By that time Dr. Brown had arrived and taken over, and with gratitude I returned to keeping track of Lily's vitals. With each contraction she bore down with all her might, and at last the baby's head crowned. Dr. Brown delivered it, then maneuvered it so that one shoulder, then the other, popped out. "You're almost there," said Dr. Brown. "Give me one more big push."

Lily gave a loud groan and did as he told her, and the rest of the baby's body slid out. "It's a girl!" Dr. Brown announced.

"Oh, let me see her!" Lily cried. I saw that there were tears in her eyes, and I felt them well up in my own as well.

"Lily had her baby today," I told Maxim later that night as we lay cuddling together in the afterglow of making love.

"Wow! Did you help deliver it?"

I nodded. "She told me that she wanted me to be there."

"That's quite an honor! How did it go?"

"She was already far along in labor by the time they got to the hospital. They were lucky they made it there in time, but she and the baby are both fine. She had a little girl."

"So Ilya and Misty have a boy, and Chad and Lily have a girl. How did Chad take it?"

"Fine, as far as I could tell. He seemed really happy. She's a beautiful baby. The only thing is..." I looked away from him for just a moment. "She looks just like Ilya, Maxim. None of us mentioned it, of course, but we all could tell. Her hair, her eyes, the shape of her face...everything."

He sighed. "I thought it might turn out that way."

When I went back to work the following day, I went to visit Lily and her new daughter as soon as I got a chance. The little girl was asleep in her mother's arms, and to me she looked just like an angel. "Her name is Julia Rose," Lily told me.

"What a beautiful name!" I exclaimed.

"At last I feel that my life is complete, almost."

"Almost?"

I saw the deep hurt in her eyes. "Trina woke up from her coma last week," she mumbled.

"What?" After all that time, I'd just assumed her coma was permanent.

Lily nodded. "A couple of weeks after her operation, she opened her eyes and asked for something to drink. She's been getting physical therapy since then, and Chad tells me she's progressing really well. They're talking about possibly releasing her to go back home in a few weeks, and..." She looked as though she might cry. "She wants Luke back, Lacy. Chad says she really misses him and keeps talking about all the things she wants to do with him when she gets him back."

"But that's not fair!" I protested. "You and Chad have been just like his parents since he was just a couple of months old! He doesn't even remember her!"

"I know, but since she never signed away her parental rights, she's still his legal mother."

"But surely there's something you can do..."

She shook her head. "All that has to happen is for the doctor to tell the judge that she's capable of taking care of him again, and we'll have to give him back."

"But couldn't you apply to permanently adopt him, or something?"

She shook her head again. "Not unless she signed away her parental rights, and that's sure not gonna happen."

I felt so badly for Chad and Lily that I could hardly think about anything else for the rest of the day. Maxim could tell that something was really bothering me when I got home that evening, and I told him what was going on. "Lily's right, you know," he replied. "As long as Trina hasn't signed away her parental rights, she still has legal custody of her son."

One Friday evening, Maxim came home with a surprise. "Rodeo tickets!" I gasped. "I haven't been to a rodeo in ages, and Seth and Morgan have never been to one at all, so they'll have a blast!"

"I was just thinking the same thing," he replied.

As I'd imagined, the two older kids were both thrilled with the idea. We arrived early to get a good parking place and then climbed the bleachers in search of a good seat. "I want to sit way up there at the top!" Morgan crowed.

"But then we'll be too far away to see anything," Seth objected. We found a seat about halfway up and sat down and waited for the rodeo to begin.

First was the tie-down roping. Seth and Morgan cheered when the cowboy roped the calf and then tied its legs together. Next was team roping, and then steer roping, which didn't go quite as had been planned. Things were fine until the cowboy dismounted from his horse, when the steer rammed into him and then stepped on his leg. The audience gasped, and Morgan began to cry. "It's all right, baby," I said in an effort to comfort her.

"Is the cowboy dead?' she sobbed.

"No, he just hurt his leg, but he'll be OK." Soon the ambulance arrived, and the injured cowboy was loaded onto it in a stretcher. The rodeo went on, but Morgan was still troubled about the incident. "What's gonna happen to the cow now? Are they gonna kill him for hurting the cowboy?"

"I don't think so," I told her. "It was just an accident."

The rodeo ended and we went home.

"Now it's time for us to have our own rodeo," Maxim informed me as soon as we were all alone and the door was shut. I waited to see what would happen.

"Bend over!" he ordered. I did so, and felt him remove my pants and panties. He pulled up a chair so that he was sitting right behind me, then began to spank me.

"Ride 'em, cowboy!" he cried, spanking in time to the words.

When he was finished, he told me to stand up, then unzipped his pants and pulled his dick out.

"On your knees," he ordered. I quickly slipped to my knees in front of him. "Suck."

I took as much of him into my mouth as I could, then began to suck and lick him until he started thrusting inside my mouth.

"Good girl!" he said. "Now it's time for your reward." Gently he lifted me onto the bed, where he spread my legs and began to lick my clit, while thrusting with his finger inside me. I came almost right away.

Later that night, I awakened to the sound of Morgan crying. I went to comfort her and found her sitting up in bed, wiping away tears. "I had a bad dream Mommy!" she told me. I held her and rocked her until she went back to sleep.

For our three-year wedding anniversary the following month, Maxim rented a cozy little cabin in woods. We left the kids with my folks for the weekend and drove there Friday afternoon. The sun was just beginning to set, bathing the woods in an orange glow. Maxim parked the car, and we held hands as we walked through the woods and heard the dry crackling of the leaves beneath our feet.

The cabin itself was absolutely charming. The walls on the inside were painted with clear varnish, and just above the windows, they gently sloped to a point in the middle. In the center on one side was a fireplace with a pipe sticking straight up through the ceiling for the smoke to escape. The fireplace was surrounded by bricks, and several small paintings hung above it. On one side of the fireplace was a closet door with a full length mirror attached to it, and at the other end was a small doorway that led to an adjoining room, in which I could see a desk and chair. Beside the closet was a cute little dresser with several drawers, and beside it was a window with a lamp in front of it. Beside the window was the bed, which had a brown coverlet with black wolves stitched onto it, and across from the bed was a rocking chair.

"I love it!" I exclaimed.

"Well, what do you want to do first?" asked Maxim.

I yawned. "How about a nap?"

"Sounds good to me!"

I took my shoes off and got underneath the cover of the bed, and Maxim joined me a moment later. He wrapped his arms around me in a spooning fashion, and soon we both were asleep. When we awakened, the position of the sun had changed, and the cabin's interior had darkened. "I'll go ahead and start the stew," I announced. I opened the cans of stew we'd brought and heated them over the fireplace, and we spread a quilt on the floor and opened the crackers we'd brought and got canned drinks out of the cooler.

"Ah, this is the life!" Maxim sighed as he spread his legs out in front of the fireplace.

"I could stay here every night," I agreed.

"I wonder how they're managing without me at the police station."

I laughed. "Wonder how they're managing without me at the hospital!"

He put his arms around me and held me close. "Well, Nurse Lacy is all mine tonight." I rested my head on his shoulder and cuddled closer.

When we were finished eating, we toasted marshmallows and chatted. "It's so nice to be here with you, just the two of us," I remarked. "And it's so quiet and peaceful out here."

"I've waited far too long for this, and we both deserve it," he agreed. For awhile we just sat cuddling together, watching the flames, and then he fetched the battery-operated CD player and slipped in a Michael Buble CD and we began to slow dance. Suddenly feeling playful, I slid my hand down to cup his crotch as we moved together.

He needed no further encouragement. Right away his lips were on mine, his tongue seeking entrance to my mouth as his hands caressed my entire body. A moment later, his lips moved to graze my nipples, teasing them until they were hard and straining against the material of my bra and shirt.

The next thing I knew, he'd relieved me of both and picked me up and carried me to the bed, where he ripped the rest of my clothing off with abandon. Seconds later, he was naked as well, and we proceeded to have one of our hottest lovemaking sessions ever. I wasn't one bit tired afterward; instead, I was energized and wanted to dance some more. We began to act goofy, making ridiculous moves while completely naked, until the wee hours of the morning, when we tumbled onto the bed, exhausted, and slept until almost noon the following day.

We really didn't want to leave, but neither did we want to be charged for an extra night, so with reluctance we packed our stuff up and left, stopping at a diner for breakfast on our way home. Still in a playful mood, we fed one another scrambled eggs and pancakes, giggling as we did so.

Our mood quickly changed when we got home and saw Mom holding a wailing Caitlin, who was pulling on one ear. "She was up all night long, crying," Mom told us. "I took her temperature, and it was a hundred and two."

"Oh, no," I groaned. "Here we go again. This is exactly how Morgan's earaches always started," I explained to Maxim.

"Poor baby." He held his arms out to her. "Come to Papa." She went to him with no hesitation and seemed content as long as he was holding her, but when we put her into her car seat to go back to our house, she became cranky again.

When we reached the house, Maxim took Courtney and the two older kids into the house while I rushed Caitlin to the emergency room. We waited several hours to see the emergency room physician, who quickly examined Caitlin. "Just as I suspected," he announced. "She has an ear infection. I'm prescribing Amoxicillin for her. Give her one teaspoon three times a day for ten days."

"Her older sister had to have tubes put in her ears when she was two and a half. Does that increase the chances that Caitlin will have to have the same thing in another year or so?" I asked.

"Not necessarily. She might not have another ear infection for six more months. You can just never tell."

Relieved, I thanked him and went to get Caitlin's prescription filled and back home.