Chapter Twenty Four - Family Portrait - Part Three

"So you're gonna ask my husband to have a party at my house?"

"Pretty much."

"Sounds great. As long as you say it was all your idea and I had nothing to do with it?"

"Sure. When do you want it?"

Abby looked up in her 'thinking' position and thought about it.

"Wouldn't it be great for a New Years Eve party?"

"Yeah! I can't believe I didn't think of that!"

"More to me than meets the eye!"

"Obviously." Susan laughed as they giggled together like school girls arranging a bunk off school or something equally lame.

"When are you gonna ask him?"

"When he comes back." Susan replied simply.

"Make sure I'm not here!"

"No you've got to be so you can back me up!"

"Uh! Fine."

"So we were getting onto something else before we got sidetracked by parties and celebrating your MARRIAGE!"

Abby rolled her eyes at Susan, and Susan laughed, she knew just how to wind up Abby, but not in an annoying way so it was still funny.

"You were about to tell me about the family."

"I was?"

"Sure."

"Okay. Um.there's nothing to say about it."

"Why did you ask for decaf?"

Abby looked away, this was not happening.

"Cos sometimes I prefer decaf." Abby smiled falsely at Susan, it was so obvious to her Abby was lying.

"Come on Abby tell me! I'm your friend I want you to be able to trust me."

Abby looked at Susan, she was a genuine friend, but she didn't know if she was ready to talk about it yet. She wasn't sure for herself so to tell somebody else about it didn't seem like such a good idea.

"It's okay. You don't have to tell me. But if you wanna talk to somebody besides Carter, you know where I am."

"Thanks. I will it's just..I gotta sort it out first I guess."

"I understand."

"Thanks."

Susan got up and threw the rest of her second cup of coffee away.

"It was cold. And I gotta get back to work."

"Good luck."

"Thanks. See around seven tonight then?"

"Yeah what's happening with that?"

"Luka and I are coming to your place before we go out to dinner."

"Sounds great. IF you see Carter tell him to hurry up."

"Sure. See you later!"

Susan smiled at Abby and walked out the lounge leaving Abby to herself. Susan was sweet, too sweet to her. She didn't know she could have a husband this great and a friend this great. It was like when she found out about the whole drinking loop..she didn't push her into talking about it. She just offered her support and told her if she needed her then she'd be there. It really comforted her to know she was there and Carter wasn't the only one she could talk to about stuff like that. She smiled to herself as Carter burst into the lounge.

"Machine upstairs is broken too. Technology these days isn't all it's cracked up to be." He murmured as he pulled on his jacket off the chair and turned to face Abby.

"Forget it. You ready to go?"

"Yeah. Where's Susan?"

"She had to get back to work. They're coming over at seven tonight."

"What time is it now?"

"Half one."

"So we've got a few hours."

"Yep. What do you fancy doing?"

"I don't mind. Anything come to mind?"

"Well I do need a new pair of sneakers. These things are so old there are holes in the sole."

"Let's go then."

He reached out for Abby's hand and pulled her up. They walked out hand in hand towards the doors.

"Carter!" Shouted a voice from behind them.

"Great." He mumbled to Abby as he turned around to face the voice.

"You're on at four tomorrow. You too Abby."

"I thought I was on at 9?"

"I changed it. You're doing a double."

"Kerry I was doing a six hour shift and now I'm doing a double?!"

"Pratt's gone AWOL and Chuny's got the flu. She won't be back for a couple of days. So you've both gotta cover. I'm sorry but that's what you gotta do if you're Chief Resident and Nurse Manager."

"Yeah great. Thanks Kerry." Abby said quietly.

Abby clung to Carter's hand squeezing it, he knew she was getting mad.

"Okay see you later." Carter announced as he turned and pulled Abby out the doors.

"God what a bitch!" Abby said loudly as the doors closed behind them and they began walking towards the car.

"Forget about it. At least we'll be on at the same time. I'm sure we could find a few minutes to be together." He said winking at her.

"What makes you think I'd want to stop getting puked on to join you in a quick fumble in the medicine cabinet?!"

"Uh..the fact that you always try and get me in there every shift kinda gives it away."

"I resent that!"

"You might, but it's still true."

Abby looked at him as he opened her door and she got in. Carter smiled at her teasingly and walked round to the other side to get in.

"So where to?"

"The mall."

"Mall it is."

They drove to the mall and into the car park. It was pretty empty which was good because Abby would get frustrated when it was busy.

"It's not busy. That's good." Abby said.

"I knew you'd say that." Said Carter laughing.

"That's cos you know me too well." She said smiling at him, leaning over for a quick kiss before they got out the car.

They walked inside the mall and into the department store. Rails upon rails of clothes caught Abby's eye, but they were here for sneakers she kept reminding herself as they passed the designer labels and fancy sections. They finally found the sneakers department, and Abby picked out the ones she liked.

"I like them." Carter said simply as she tried on the first sneaker.

"Me too." Abby said as she put on the second one.

"You want them then?"

"Yeah I got it."

"No it's okay. My treat."

"I knew there was a reason I married you!" She said sarcastically as she took them off and put them back in the box.

"So you're having these then?" Asked the assistant.

"Yeah they're fine." Carter replied as the woman waited for an answer.

"What now?" Abby asked as she tied up her laces on her old shoes.

"You want anything else?" Carter asked interested.

"Too much to ask." She replied simply as she stood up and grabbed his hand.

Carter smiled as she pulled him to the cashier's desk. He paid for the trainers and they left the shop. As they passed through the mall, no words were spoken, well not really. If they were then they were one word questions followed by one word answers. It was a comfortable silence, which both of them enjoyed when there was one. Most of the time they had so much to tell each other there was never silence, but now, there was, and they liked it. Carter was thinking about the baby. Abby was thinking about the baby, and as fate would have it, they soon passed a baby shop. Abby glanced in as they slowly walked past and saw the display in the window. An old fashioned carriage with an umbrella and loads of toys all around. It looked so nice to her, she had never really looked at a baby shop before, but for the first time, it didn't scare her. She stopped. She just wanted to have a look. Just for a while. Carter had seen her looking with much interest at the shop and wondered what was going through her mind. She walked slowly towards the window, letting go slightly of Carter's hand in case he didn't want to walk with her, but he did. He grabbed onto it tighter and walked behind her. She smiled as they got closer, he wanted to look too.

"Beautiful aren't they?" She said whispering, it was like she didn't want to disturb the display.

"Yeah they are." He replied, also as amazed by the little contraptions and the tiny little extras placed strategically all around the window.

It was a beautiful presentation, and you could tell a lot of effort had gone into creating it. Abby wondered if she could ever have something like this, the beautiful carriage, the umbrella, the fancy wardrobes and drawers for all the baby clothes. She wondered if she'd ever go shopping for baby clothes, or if she'd ever buy cuddly toys to put in the baby room. She wondered a lot. Carter wondered the same. He wanted to know what she was thinking, and this time, the look on her face wasn't enough. He couldn't read this situation like normal, which frustrated him, but at the same time made him curious as to what she was feeling. It was a new look she had, which meant it was a new feeling. It wasn't a shy look, it wasn't a depressed look, it was a wondrous look. Like she'd just seen something so great that no words could explain. It fascinated him. It fascinated her. Her with the window. Him with her and the window.

Minutes passed, and no words had been said since the beautiful comment. They stood together, hands held, breathing sporadically, not like normally in sync with each other, or at the same time. Each was nervous about what to say. They knew it brought back painful memories, but it brought happy thoughts about what could be. This led to Carter making a decision. He took a deep breath and opened his mouth to speak. This was it.

"Do you want a baby?"

Silence. It was killing him. Silence. It always killed him. Why couldn't she just talk? Silence. He wouldn't mind so much if she just answered! Silence. She was really killing him now. No more silence. She speaks.

"Yeah." She said smiling in that way she did that make him shiver as she turned her attentions to him, away from the window of wonder.

"Really?" He said calmly as she wrapped her arms around his neck.

"Yeah. Really." She said again, repeating to confirm.

It was easier than she thought. She had imagined this moment, discussing having a baby and then actually doing it. And she never imagined it would feel like this. She was happy. So so happy. And he knew. He always knew.

That night, they made love. For the first time in their new home, they made love. And it wasn't just sex, it was for love. For truth. For honesty. For trust. For everything. For eternity. It might not have created something, but if it did, then great. If it didn't, that was fine too. They knew there would be so many other times where they would make love. They weren't in a hurry to have a baby, if it happened, it happened. And if not, then that was fine too. They knew there wouldn't be a problem creating, but it was a guessing game. When.