A/N: Once again, I find myself unable to post chapters, so here comes the second chapter.

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Long Alec Gardiner threw a concerned glance towards his daughter as he drove back to the Bay Shore farm. He had been surprised at how tired she looked and was glad that she had come for a visit. Mary would make sure she got plenty of rest.

The object of his concern was blissfully unaware that she had escaped one overprotective person only to go visit three more. Pat sighed contentedly as she watched all the familiar sights go by. It was nice to be back on the Island. But, oh, how she missed Hilary! For a moment, she almost wished that he had succeeded in keeping her home. Only for a moment, though.

Rae was coming! And she was bringing her little son along, too! Pat had heard already about little William's first smile and first laugh, but she couldn't wait to see and hear them for herself. She was worried about Rae coming so far alone with the baby, though. Brook would arrive in three months, but Rae had suddenly decided to come early. Unbeknownst to Pat, Hilary had written and asked if Rae would come and be with her sister when she had her own child. He knew Pat wanted her there, even if she didn't say it out loud.

Pat had insisted on meeting her sister the moment she set foot on Canadian soil. Hilary, who really was becoming just a bit overprotective, hadn't wanted her to travel. Suppose the baby decided to come while she was on her way to the Island! Pat had been dumbfounded by this statement. She had known of babies that came earlier than expected, but a whole two and a half months was just hard to believe. To humor him, she had gone to the doctor, who informed her that she would be just fine.

Still, Hilary had remained unconvinced. He was genuinely, albeit needlessly, worried about his wife. It had taken the intervention of Katie, Taryn, and Laura before he had finally relented. Pat found his concern very sweet, but sometimes rather irritating. She wasn't an invalid, after all.

Katie and Taryn's arrival one month ago had enabled Hilary to ease up some. Mostly because he knew Taryn and Katie were near Pat if she ever needed anything. Both women were mothers and had a better idea of what Pat was going through than Hilary did. They had done much to alleviate Pat's concerns about her size. She felt very unattractive at this point and, although Hilary did everything he could to assure her that he still thought her beautiful, her real support came from Katie and Taryn, who sympathized with her.

"How's Hilary's business going?"

Her father's voice broke into Pat's thoughts and she realized she must seem very rude. She had hardly said a word to Dad since they had gotten in the car.

"It's going wonderfully, Dad. Hilary and Parker are really going to make a success out of it. In fact, they're meeting today with a new client. At least, they hope he'll be a new client."

Pat's pride in her husband was evident and Long Alec thanked the Lord above once again that his daughter had finally come to her senses and married Hilary Gordon.

"What about those friends of yours? How are they getting settled in?"

"Fine. Oh, they're homesick of course, but I've done my best to make them feel welcome. I am so glad they've come. I can't wait for all of you to meet them. Oh, Dad, you're still coming to Vancouver for Christmas, aren't you?"

"Well, Pat, it will seem strange not celebrating Christmas on the Island."

"I understand, Dad. We had actually planned to come back here for Christmas. But with Katie, Parker, and Taryn moving to Vancouver and the baby only being a couple of weeks old, I just don't see how we could. You'll like our house, Dad. Hilary did a wonderful job. And I have the feeling you'll get along just fine with our new friends."

"I'm sure I will. We all will. And of course we'll be there for Christmas. It wouldn't be Christmas without Pat Gardiner there."

Pat smiled at the use of her maiden name. Her father couldn't refer to her as Pat Gordon any more than he had been able to talk of Winnie as Winnie Russell or Rae as Rachel Hamilton. To him, they were still his baby girls. Long Alec Gardiner never said this right out, of course, but Pat knew, nevertheless.

The rest of the trip was spent in silence. Long Alec had never been much for idle conversation and Pat was quite content with simply looking at her former haunts as they drove by. She let memories flood over her and was quite unaware of how long they had been in the car until it came to a stop. Surprised, she looked up to see the Bay Shore farm. But the most welcome sight of all was the lady standing in the front doorway.

Mother greeted Pat joyfully and, while Long Alec took the bags upstairs, she took Pat into the kitchen and served her some of the best food Pat could ever remember tasting. Pat was, of course, no slouch in the kitchen herself, but there's something about a meal made by a mother who loves you that makes it taste better than anything else in the world.

It wasn't long before even Pat had to admit she was getting tired. Mother hustled her off for a nap, promising to wake her when Sid or Winnie came over. Drifting off to sleep, Pat thought again how nice it was to be with Mother and Dad again. But her last thought before entering a restful slumber was of Hilary and her own little house in Vancouver.

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True to her word, Mother woke Pat up just a few moments after Sid and May arrived at the Bay Shore. Pat fixed herself up a bit before going downstairs. Expecting to feel an aura of tension in the household, she was surprised, but pleasantly so, when she felt no tension at all. Sid grinned at her when she came down and even May greeted her somewhat warmly.

"How's my little sister?" asked Sid as he hugged Pat carefully. She almost laughed at the way he just barely put his arms around her.

"Sid, I'm having a baby. I'm not made of china. Now give me a real hug."

Sid complied, then pushed her back at arms length and pretended to give her the once over.

"Well, I see I won't need to pay Hilary Gordon a visit. It looks as if he's taking care of you well enough."

Pat sniffed at this remark and stuck her nose in the air playfully.

"I can take care of myself, Sidney Gardiner. Thank you very much."

She sat down in an overstuffed chair and immediately wished she hadn't. How was she going to get up without any help? Waving the thought aside, she jumped into conversation with her mother, who was eyeing her with amusement and wondering herself how her daughter would get out of that chair.

"Did you get my letter about Taryn and Katie's arrival?" Pat asked her mother.

"Yes, we did. And I am interested in finding out about their trunks. Did they ever get them back?"

"Wait, wait, wait," Sid broke in. "What's all this about trunks? I didn't see this letter."

Pat's golden-brown eyes danced with laughter as she began to recall the incident for Sid and May, who seemed content to listen for once.

"Well, you see, it happened like this. Hilary, Parker, and I all met Katie, Taryn, and the children at the train station. I felt so sorry for them when they stepped onto the platform. I remember being tired after coming back from Europe, but there was only Hilary and me to see to. I couldn't imagine what it was like to cross the Atlantic with six high- spirited children. They looked exhausted. Hilary and Parker went to get some of their bags and have the other things sent to Katie and Parker's house later that day. I took them to where the cars were and we got the children settled in. Then we stood around and talked, waiting for Parker and Hilary to get back.

But when they got back, they didn't have any bags with them. Everything, it seems, was missing. Katie was furious when she found out. Believe me, she must have inspired the phrase 'Irish temper'. She marched right into the station manager's office and demanded that he find their belongings. I felt rather sorry for the poor man. If he wasn't a praying man before Katherine Bowen entered his life, I'm sure he is now. He promised to find out whatever he could about the trunks. But, in the meantime, Katie, Taryn, and the children had to have some clothes. So, after traveling all that way, they still had to go shopping. Katie went down to that train station almost every day and terrorized that poor manager."

"Sounds like Katie's quite a character," said Sid, grinning.

"Oh, she is. Thankfully, they finally got their trunks. They arrived in Vancouver two weeks ago."

Mother's eyes widened and Sid let out a long laugh.

"Two weeks ago?" Mother questioned disbelievingly. "But that means they didn't have their things for two weeks. Didn't they arrive a month ago? Why did it take so long?"

"Well, that's when it gets interesting. They finally found the trunks in Ottawa. Someone had unloaded them there by mistake. They put them on a train to Vancouver. But the train they put them on didn't stop in Vancouver. It went north to Prince George. So, then they had to get them on a different train to Vancouver. But the train went right through Vancouver, not stopping, until it got to Edmonton. Then it kept going back East. No one ever took the trunks off the train. Luckily, they finally caught them in Winnipeg and shipped them back to Vancouver. Amazingly enough, nothing was missing or broken."

Sid was laughing too hard by this point to make any comment. Pat watched him with undisguised joy. When was the last time she had heard Sid laugh like that? True, her brother's laugh and smile still weren't as fully effective as they had once been, but he still seemed changed from the last time she had seen him. Pat switched her focus to May. She seemed different, too. Softer somehow and not so quick with harsh words. Pat resolved to get to the bottom of this, but any further thoughts were interrupted with the arrival of Winnie, Fred, and their children.

Joe and his family arrived not long after that and a glorious dinner was soon being served. There was laughter and story-telling all around. Pat hungrily drank in every second of time with her family. Little Mary was growing so tall! She looked more like Winnie every time Pat saw her. And the twins were so adorable. Joe's oldest son looked so much like Long Alec that Pat wanted to laugh at the similarity. Everyone was in high spirits, anticipating the arrival of the baby of the family. But when Sid stood up, Pat immediately knew that, whatever he was about to say, it had nothing to do with Rae coming home. She never could have dreamed, however, that he would make this announcement.

"I wanted to wait until Rae was here to tell everyone this," Sid explained, "but I just can't wait any longer. We've waited long enough. May and I are going to have a baby."

A/N: Such a mean place to stop, I know. But that's why I'm posting two chapters at once. I'm not completely heartless. This story is becoming awfully long and I apologize. But I have so many ideas. I just can't stop.

Silverfish: I agree with you completely on both counts. Hilary never really does get good and mad in the Pat books. I like writing people mad sometimes. And I knew I just couldn't keep him in some 'stuffy old firm' as you so eloquently put it. Thanks for reviewing. You're so consistent!

Kizmey: Thanks for the suggestions for the name of the house. They were both beautiful. I'm still thinking. This is not a decision to be made lightly. Everything that Pat named in the books had some meaning to it and I want to keep that up. I'm still working on it.

Ruby: Somehow I knew you were a 'Quiet Man' fan. I realize you were excited about Taryn and Katie arriving and I tried to write a chapter on that, but it just wouldn't come. So I had to content myself with a 'flashback' of sorts. I do apologize.

Marzoog: I wouldn't be mean to Pat and Jingle. At least, not too mean. (grins slyly)

Meg: I hope your homecoming went well. Did your team win? And you do have the most exasperating habit of picking up my mistakes, don't you? (smiles). To tell you the truth, I needed Taryn out in Canada so badly (all will be revealed later) that I didn't think the whole thing through. But I've thought about it now. See, if Hilary and Parker build the house together, then they can go in together on the cost. Since they're architects, they could probably get the materials fairly cheap with any contacts Hilary might have. And, with Parker having built his and Katie's house, there were also bound to be some materials left over from that project. I'm rambling, aren't I? Sorry. Nasty habit. Seriously, though, keep challenging me. I love it.

Marie: Thank you for your review and for your constructive criticism. I hear and listen to your minor complaint about my Irish capabilities. I really wanted to incorporate Judy's family into the story. Sadly, my knowledge of Ireland is somewhat lacking. I have always wanted to travel across the Atlantic and see the home of my ancestors, but that takes money, of which I have none. So, for now, my knowledge of Ireland is limited to books and movies such as 'The Quiet Man'. My passion for the Island of Erin is legendary among my family and friends (I was even going to get married on March 17) but I hesitate when writing accents and the like. I beg of you to be patient with me. I can't promise much, but I assure you I will try harder. (Sorry for the long, flowery speech. Just read a novel about Tristan and Isolde, You know, the time of King Arthur and all that sort of thing. I seem to be in that mode now.)