When Elizabeth came in, Rosemary was sitting on her bed, breathing heavily. "Oh Elizabeth, thank goodness you came. I was worried I was going to be all alone. What took you so long?" She bit her lip as another contraction came through.

"Sorry Rosemary, I brought Little Jack to Nathan's before I came here."

"When will Lee be here? And Faith too. This baby is coming soon." Pain crossed Rosemary's face.

Elizabeth could tell that the contractions were coming pretty regularly, and getting more painful. "Rosemary, let's see if we can get you more comfortable in bed." She directed her friend to lay back down, and propped the pillows up for her.

Just then, the door crashed open and slammed shut as footsteps sounded up the stairs. Lee appeared in the room first, followed by Faith and then Abigail. Faith got to work right away, directing everyone what to do. As Rosemary's pains grew more intense, she did her best to resist the urge to scream. Sometimes, against her better judgement, it came out anyway.

Lee wasn't sure if he should stay or go, but Rosemary seemed to need someone's hand to hold, and she kept yelling at him. So, he just let her squeeze his hand and scream when the urge came.

A couple hours passed, and Rosemary was still going hard. Finally, though, Faith could see a head. "Push! Push!" He urged.

"I am…pushing." Rosemary argued back, panting breathlessly. But push she did, once and then twice, and out came the baby.

"I think it might be a boy." Faith remarked to Abigail as she grabbed the baby, then handed it off to Abigail for her to clean.

"It's a boy." Abigail announced. She wrapped him up carefully and handed him to Lee. "Here you go."

"Wow." Lee looked down at the perfectly shaped human being.

"I'd like to see him." Rosemary said from the bed as Faith and Elizabeth were working with her.

"Of course." Lee brought him over to her, and gently settled him in her arms.

She kissed the baby's forehead and smiled. "He's perfect. We should name him."

"What do you think, sweetheart?" Lee came to sit beside her.

"What about Aaron?"

"I like it. What about Aaron Jacob?"

"Aaron Jacob Coulter." Rosemary beamed. "It's perfect."

"We'll get out of your way," Faith said as she swiftly cleaned up everything. In a few minutes, the house was quiet and Lee and Rosemary were left with just their little family.

"At least Vivian's asleep." Rosemary said softly.

Lee chuckled. "I guess this proves she can sleep through anything."

"We'll have to put Aaron in Vivian's room for the first little while," Rosemary continued. "But he can just sleep right here with us tonight." She sighed contentedly and looked down at the nursing baby. "He's even more perfect than I thought he could be."

Lee looked down at the baby and nodded. "That he is." Then he looked back up at his wife. "You did wonderful, Rosie."

"Thanks." She smiled.

Aaron's first night wasn't too eventful. He woke up a couple times and so Rosemary had to feed him. The next morning, both of them were woken up by Vivian running into their room. "Mama! Papa!" The door banged open. "It's late." She came up to the bed. Lee and Rosemary sleepily opened their eyes. "What's that?" Vivian asked, pointing to the still sleeping bundle beside Rosemary.

Rosemary pushed herself up and then carefully picked up the baby. "This is your new brother, Aaron."

"Oh." Vivian crawled up into the bed and sat on Lee's lap. She looked over Aaron, then back to Rosemary. "Can I touch him?"

"If you're careful." Rosemary nodded.

Vivian reached out a careful hand to stroke his clenched fist. "He's really tiny." She whispered, then nodded. "I like him. We can keep it."

Lee and Rosemary looked at each other and chuckled. "Well, that's good." Lee teased. "I was worried." He leaned against the bed. "Why don't I go make some quick breakfast and then we can eat it up here?"

"I like breakfast in bed." Vivian said.

"Sounds delicious, sweetheart," Rosemary agreed. Just then, Aaron twisted and started crying. "I'll feed him." Rosemary spoke louder over his cries.

"Okay. Vivian, can you go get dressed?"

"Yup." The six-year-old nodded importantly. "I'll be back soon." She said as she slipped off the bed and ran out of the room. Lee gave Rosemary a quick smile, then headed out after Vivian.

In a few minutes, Aaron was fed and he drifted back to sleep. Lee brought up breakfast, and Vivian came back, dressed in a purple dress with pink socks. "Breakfast for three!" He announced as he set the tray on the bed.

"Mm, looks delicious." Rosemary said as she surveyed the options. "I'm starved."

The next few days passed quickly as Rosemary and Lee adjusted to being parents to a newborn and a six-year-old. Lee took time off at the mill, but he still had to go into town sometimes for his mayoral business. Under Rosemary's direction, Robert was able to put out the next edition of the Valley Voice, and so the Coulter family stayed home together. They received many well-wishers and meals over the next couple weeks, which helped Rosemary greatly. Aaron was a good baby, but he was still up multiple times a night. So, Rosemary slept during the day while Lee tried to keep Vivian occupied. Elizabeth came over a few times to bring Rosemary the news of the town, and overall, they just rested and enjoyed being together.

One morning, Elizabeth stopped by on her way to Abigail's. Lee and Vivian were gone to get groceries, and Aaron was sleeping in his crib while Rosemary sat on the couch. "Good morning." Elizabeth said as she pushed the door open.

"Morning." Rosemary looked up at her friend. "Do you need something?"

"Actually yes. I was wondering if you and Lee had talked about Vivian going to school."

"Yes, we did. We've just been so busy lately that I forgot to tell you." Rosemary sighed. "We're going to let her go."

"Good." Elizabeth smiled. "I'm sure she'll enjoy it."

"I hope so. It'll help me get used to parenting two children too. I'm pretty sure she hasn't had any formal schooling, so if we need to do extra work with her, we can do that."

"Well, when school starts in a couple of weeks, I'll let you know." Elizabeth nodded, then stood. "I have to be in town, so I'll see you later."

"Alright." Rosemary nodded, then smiled. "When you want to talk about wedding details, I'm here."

"I know." Elizabeth chuckled. "We'll talk," she promised as she closed the door behind her.

Rosemary was left in the house. Just as she leaned her head back, she heard Aaron beginning to cry and so she pushed herself to get up and get him. When she came into the room, he was screaming his lungs out and his face was all red. "Come here, buddy," she said softly as she picked him up.

Almost immediately, he settled down. Rosemary brought him downstairs and fed him. As she finished, the door opened wide and Vivian came running in. "Hi Mama," she said, running towards Rosemary. "Come outside! Papa and I have something for you."

"Alright," Rosemary stood up and cradled Aaron in her arms. "I'm coming!" She followed an eager Vivian outside and down the steps. Standing in their front yard was Lee, with a big smile on his face. "So, what's this surprise?"

Vivian was bouncing around them. "Show her, show her!"

"Do you feel well enough to come with me, sweetheart?"

"Of course. Where are we going?"

"You'll have to get in the car…it's a little ways away." Lee winked at Vivian, who giggled.

"Alright. Here, take Aaron." Rosemary carefully handed him to Lee as she got in, then took him back. Vivian climbed in the back, and Lee got in beside Rosemary. "Are you sure you can't tell me anything?"

"You'll see when we get there," Lee promised. They drove through town and then headed up the road to a large meadow which overlooked the town and the forest. Lee stopped on the side of the road and helped Rosemary out.

"What are we doing here?" Rosemary asked, chuckling.

"Do you like it?"

Rosemary looked all around them. "Well, yes, it's beautiful. But why do I need to like it?"

Lee looked at Vivian. "Vivian, do you want to tell her?"

"It's ours!" Vivian exclaimed.

"Ours? No it's not, we have the…" Rosemary's voice trailed off as she looked from Lee to Vivian. "Ours?" She asked softly. "How can it be ours?"

"Papa bought it!"

"Really?" Rosemary looked up at Lee, who was beaming.

"She's right. It's ours. I bought it from Bill this morning, and I plan to start building on it right away. Do you like it?"

"Like it? I love it!" Rosemary exclaimed. "I was just thinking that we needed more room, and here we are…this is so exciting!"

Lee gave her a big hug. "I'm glad, sweetheart."

"We have to look at plans, and figure things out, and start building." Rosemary began making plans.

"Whoa, hold up. I have some plans that we can look over, and then we can start. I want to start as soon as possible, so we can get the roof on before it snows."

"Well, we have so much to do then!" Rosemary exclaimed again. She wouldn't stop making plans as they got into the car, drove back, and went inside. "I have to tell Elizabeth right away!" She said as soon as they were sitting in the living room.

"I'll watch Aaron and Vivian," Lee said.

"Thanks. You're the best," she called as she drifted out the door. In a few minutes, she returned with a huge smile on her face. "Did you know that Nathan is building Elizabeth a house too?" She asked as she pulled Vivian onto her lap.

"Yes, I did." Lee nodded. "He came to see me a few weeks ago about lumber prices."

"I hope you gave him a good deal."

"Of course, I did, sweetheart."

"Elizabeth told me that their plot of land is really close to ours."

"Yes, I believe it is." Lee gently patted Aaron's shoulder. "Your mommy is very excited, isn't she?"

"I'm excited too!" Vivian piped up.

"Of course, I'm excited." Rosemary smiled. "I just can't believe it."

"Can I hold Aaron?" Vivian asked, breaking the conversation."

"Absolutely." Lee replied.

Vivian sat on the couch between them, and Lee gently placed Aaron in her arms. Her whole face lit up as she carefully held him tightly to her. "I love him," she declared softly, as she smiled up at Lee and Rosemary.

"We love you too," Rosemary wrapped her arm around Vivian.

"We love both of you." Lee agreed.

Aaron opened his eyes and yawned, and Vivian laughed. Then he flexed his hand, and Vivian cautiously put her finger in between his fingers and they latched right onto hers. "Look, he's holding my hand!"

Lee and Rosemary just chuckled and looked at her, then smiled at each other. Neither one had to say it, they both knew what the other was thinking. They were so blessed. A beautiful boy, a sweet girl, and they had each other. Their little family was complete. And to think that they would have a new house – yes, they certainly were blessed.