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Abby's life started to get back on track after that. She started working regular shifts, and she maintained a happy disposition at the hospital. Meanwhile, at home Abby and Carter tried again to conceive a child, but with no success. As Abby became more and more frustrated, Carter tried to be more and more supportive. He would come home almost every day and find her passed out on the sofa, with a parenting book in her lap. One morning he woke up and found her in the kitchen carelessly spinning her cereal around in its bowl.

"Why isn't anything working?" Abby asked as she heard John's footsteps in the kitchen.

"We just have to be patient." John said, coming over and gently kissing her cheek before starting to fix his own breakfast.

"I've tried being patient. It hasn't worked. I'm getting old. Maybe that's my problem."

"Abby, you are not old." Carter said, shaking his head.

"Don't lie to me. I'm not the young hot chick I once was."

"You are definitely the youngest hottest chick I've ever seen." Carter said, smiling this time.

"Haha. You always know how to make a girl smile." Abby responded by looking at John and smiling.

"Come on. We don't need to have kids right this second. We have plenty of time."

"Easy for you to say."

"Can I ask you a question?" Carter asked suddenly, changing the subject.

"Sure."

"What did you want the other baby to be? A boy or a girl?"

"I'm not sure. I thought about it a lot at first, but then I realized it didn't matter. Then I lost it, and I haven't thought about it since. I guess I wanted a girl. I've already had to raise one boy in my life, and it was no picnic. I really wouldn't of cared though. How about you?"

"A little girl would have been nice. I had a brother until I was twelve. I never really had interaction with girls."

"You never talk about your brother."

"What is there to say? Bobby was a great kid. The total opposite of me. I was always making trouble for my mother and Gamma. Bobby was a perfect angel. Mommy's pride and joy. After he died, we didn't talk very much. I would rather have spent time with my grandparents. It always seemed like they understood who I was more than my parents ever did. All my parents cared about was their own reputation."

"I'm sorry, that must have been horrible."

"Oh yeah, poor little rich kid. That's me. But while we're talking about childhoods, you never talk about yours either."

"As you said, what's there to say? My father had the right idea. He left us when I was six. My mother was totally off her meds by the time I was eight. I had to raise Eric as best as a child can. It was horrible. I had to beg all the neighbors as much as I could to get enough food to survive on. Maggie would disappear for months at a time and we would never know where she was. When she came into town, she always had a little money and she always made sure we had a new outfit, but then she'd be right back out the door."

"That's way worse than me."

"Well I survived, didn't I? I guess my only serious problem was my alcoholism. I had my first sip when I was ten. I drank when ever I got my hands on something after that. I thought it was making my problems go away. I learned quickly that I had an unusually high tolerance. That was probably the worst thing for me."

"That will never happen to our kids. Our kids will know that we always loved them no matter what. Right?" John said going over to Abby and leaning his forehead against hers and looking her straight in the eye.

"Right." Abby answered, wrapping her arms around the man she loved, and with that, kissed him with everything she had.