The next few months seemed to fly by and before I knew it I was entering my seventh month of pregnancy. I learned I was carrying a little girl, and though I was initially a little disappointed, I was beginning to get used to the idea of having a daughter. Stanley had wanted another son, and I had hoped to give him one, but nature has its own agenda and a son wasn't in the cards. Stan said he'd still like to try for a son, I told him once he lost 300 lbs I'd be happy to try again. His diet had failed miserably and he was heavier than ever. As much as I gave him a hard time about it in the past, his weight had never annoyed me half as much as it did now. The thought of being near him at all made my skin crawl and I had taken to sleeping in one of the guest rooms since I couldn't bear to sleep in the same bed as him. I was uncomfortable enough as it was, the last thing I needed was to sleep next to that gas machine every night. I had lost all respect for him over the last few months. I had given up a lot for this baby; the only thing I asked of him was that he lose a little weight. It wasn't even so much the weight that was the issue, but the fact that he had done nothing for this baby. I gave up alcohol, drugs and a whole slew of other vices to make him happy and here I was pregnant with a baby he wanted more than me. I guess what worried me most was the fact that I knew Stan and I were on the verge of a divorce and I was scared to death of the though of becoming a single mother. I had to tolerate him as long as I could, if I divorced him now I'd be left with nothing but this baby. No, I absolutely couldn't divorce him. I would not be reduced to waiting anxiously every week for the child support payments, living on a budget, renting a god awful apartment in some horrible neighborhood, shopping at Sears. No, I had to do my best to keep this marriage going, no matter how much it killed me.

The problems Stan and I were experiencing had been causing me a lot of stress and that had caused my blood pressure to become dangerously high. My Dr had put me on some medication for it, but warned me I need to work on relaxing and taking it easy. I could feel my blood pressure begin to rise as I tried to gain control of my anger toward Stan. Damn him for doing this to me, I thought as I tried to slow my breathing down by taking long calming breaths. Grace had brought in a new chair for my desk; something to help make me more comfortable. I leaned back in the chair, closed my eyes and tried to concentrate on my breathing. My mind began to wander as I allowed myself to sink more comfortably into the chair. I began to trace small circles on my stomach with my index finger and I was greeted with a hardy kick. I smiled to myself as I imagined what it must be like for her nestled comfortably inside my belly without a care in the world. I rested the palm of my hand on the lower right side of my enlarged belly and was greeted with several more kicks. I moved my hand across my stomach and pressed down slightly and sure enough she gave me another healthy kick. I couldn't tell if she was enjoying this exchange as much as I or if I was invading her territory and her kicks were a warning to back off. Either way, it was reassuring to feel her respond to my touch. My moment of relaxation was interrupted when Will and Grace entered the office; they were back from their lunch break.

"Is everything ok Kare?" Grace asked with a look of concern.

"Yeah honey, I was just resting my eyes for a minute." I responded with a perky voice in an effort to give the impression all was well. I hadn't told anyone but Jack about the problems between Stan and me.

"Well Karen if you're tired you can go home; there's nothing going on this afternoon."

"Honey I'm fine. I was just daydreaming a bit, that's all."

"Ah, daydreaming about the day you and the demon seed will take over Satan's throne?" Will asked with a look of indifference.

"Hmm, very funny Wilma, but I'd appreciate it if you wouldn't refer to my child as the demon seed."

"Oh I'm sorry, is Lucifer's love child better? Oh wait, how about Damian's daughter?"

"Will, back off already. We talked about this." Grace said as she put a supportive arm around my back.

"We are no longer going to refer to Karen, or Karen's unborn child as anything related to Satan or Satan's cohorts, we're here to support Karen, not mock her."

"Well, that's no fun. I'm going back to work. Oh by the way, did Cruella Deville have any children because you know she's not really one of Satan's cohorts."

"Get out! Go already; I'll see you when you get home tonight."

"So what were you daydreaming about?" Grace asked as she began to organize her desk.

"Just about the baby, she was kicking up a storm a few minutes ago." I said.

"Aw I'm sorry I missed that, can you make her do it again?"

"I don't know Grace, but I can try." I leaned back into the chair and started to trace circles on my stomach again. "For some reason she really responds to this." I said as I tried to get some kind of reaction from her. I placed my other hand on the left side of my stomach and quickly felt a sharp kick. I grasped Grace's hand and placed it where I had felt the kick.

"Press down a little bit and see if that gets her moving." I instructed Grace.

Grace did as I said and the baby responded with a brutal kick to my bladder.

"Oh my God Karen, did you feel that? Well, of course you felt it, but that was amazing."

"Yeah, let's not do that again honey, my bladder can't take another one like that." I said with a small grimace.

"Sorry Kare, It's just so incredible that there a living thing inside there, you know, moving around, stretching its legs, kicking you in the bladder."

"I know, I have to admit it's pretty exciting, but honey I don't know how I'm going to manage another two and a half months of this. I'm getting more and more uncomfortable everyday."

"You'll do fine Karen. The baby will be here before you know it. Have you and Stan decided on a name yet?"

"Well I really couldn't care less what Stanley wants to name her, but he did mention the name Samantha which isn't too bad. I wanted to name her Catherine, but Stan reminded me that's the ex's name so that's a no go."

"I think Samantha's pretty. It classic, smart, quirky, yeah I really like it Karen."

"Well good, I'm glad you like it honey. You can tell your husband if he hadn't been so mean to me earlier I would have considered Wilma for a middle name, but since Wilma's out how do you feel about me using Grace as a middle name?"

"Karen, I don't know what to say, I'd be honored. Samantha Grace Walker, it has a nice ring to it Karen.

"Good, it's settled then. I have to admit I've always been fond of the name Grace. I'm glad you don't mind me using it."

"I'm glad just to get a compliment that's not masked in an insult." Grace said with a look of shock and humor on her face.

"Yeah well you better savor it, you caught me with my guard down, compliments like that are few and far between. Oh Grace I'm going to miss these friendly exchanges once the baby's here and I return to my life of booze and drugs."

"Karen, I have a feeling your days of drugs and booze are over. You may not believe it now, but once that baby is here I doubt you'll have the time or the desire to return to your old habits."

"God I hope your're wrong honey, but I guess we'll have to wait and see."