He was on his way out of the building when Red called him back to the briefing room to take a telephone call. Danny was already gone because Sandra was getting close to having the baby and she'd asked him to come home.

"Rafe, Danny's taken Sandra to the hospital. I told him you'd get there as soon as you could." Evelyn's voice sounded nervous on the other end of the line.

"Is everythin' all right?" He frowned with concern.

"As far as I can tell. She seemed a little agitated so I would guess that her water's broken." She said.

"I'll be home in a few minutes." He told her before he hung up the receiver. He looked at Red and smiled. "It looks like Sandra's havin' the baby."

Red smiled back. "Amy will be glad to hear that. Is there anything we can do?"

Rafe shook his head. "Nothin' right now. I'm goin' home to have some supper and get cleaned up before I go over to the hospital. It sounds like Danny has the girls with him and he could probably use some help distractin' them."

He grinned. "You'd only be returning the favor Rafe."

"Don't I know it." He grinned back at his friend. "I'll call you as soon as I know anythin'." He replied before he walked out of the room and headed down the hall. It didn't take long to locate the car when he'd walked outside and as soon as the motor was running he was out of the parking lot and heading toward home.

He pulled into the driveway and saw Evelyn sitting in her usual spot on the porch swing. She stood up and walked quickly down the front walk and met him at the car. "I've got a plate warming on the stove. And you should probably clean up before you go over there."

She could always read his mind.

"That's what I was thinkin' too. Since supper's all ready, I'll eat first."

She nodded and headed back up the walk and into the house. "I'll lay out some clean clothes for you while you eat." She threw over her shoulder as she headed to their bedroom.

The last time he'd seen Evelyn this agitated was when Danny called them in Tennessee to tell them Sandra had gone into labor with Shelby. His wife had paced and fretted and worried until he'd called them back a few hours later to let them know she'd had a girl and they were both fine.

The table was set for one and after Rafe got the warm plate out of the oven, sat down to eat. Evelyn came back up the hallway and sat down next to him. "There should be plenty of hot water. The kids won't take their baths until later."

He looked at her before he reached over to take her hand. "She's goin' to be fine honey. She's had you and Barbara and Martha to look after her all these months and she ain't had any real problems."

"It sounds odd, but in a lot of ways it's easier to have a baby than to wait for someone else to have one. When you're in the delivery room, all your energy is focused on bringing your baby into the world and then listening for it's first cry. But when someone else is having one, you worry about them and the baby and wonder if they're going to be all right."

"I'll call you as soon as I know anything." He promised.

"I know you will, but it won't be the same as being there." She admitted.

"I know that Evelyn and if we could take the kids with us I'd have you come with me. But Barbara will already be bendin' the rules for Danny's girls." Rafe reasoned with her as he stood up. He started to pick up his plate but Evelyn took it out of his hands.

"You go get cleaned up and I'll take care of this." She told him and walked into the kitchen, leaving him at the dining room table. He grinned to himself as he headed down the hallway to the bedroom and a moment later got into the shower.

It didn't take him long and he was dressed before there was a knock on the door and Evelyn stepped in. "Danny called to let us know that Sandra hasn't had the baby yet and I told him that you'd be there in about ten minutes."

"How did he sound?"

She smiled. "It's always hard to tell with Danny. You'd be able to tell better than I could."

"It looks like we might be in for a long night." He observed as he pulled his old flight jacket out of the closet and slipped his arms through the sleeves. "I'll call you when I know somethin'."

He took her hand and they walked back out to the living room and to the front porch. He put his arms around her and pulled her close. "What's this for?" She asked in confusion.

He laughed. "I can't put my arms around my wife for no reason?"

She flushed. "It's just that it's been awhile since you've done something so spontaneous."

"I'll have to work on that." He smiled before he leaned over and kissed her. "Can't be neglectin' my beautiful wife now can I?"

She looked absolutely stunned and her face flushed a deeper red. "You're just full of surprises all of the sudden."

"We've got friends bringin' another life into the world and it just reminds me of how much I love you and how happy I am to be spendin' my life with you." He told her and pulled her to him. "Thank you for sayin' you'd marry me."

"Thank you for asking." She smiled before she let him go. "Now get moving before Sandra has that baby."

"Yes, ma'am." He said as he held her hand for a moment longer before he let it go and walked to the car.

"Rafe?"

He turned to see Evelyn still standing on the porch.

"I love you too."

He felt his own face flush and realized it had been awhile since they'd told each other how they still felt about each other. "I'll call you soon." He promised as he got in the car and turned the key in the ignition. The motor came to life and as he rolled out of the driveway, Evelyn waved as he turned the car toward the hospital and he waved back to her before he drove away.

He reached the hospital and found a parking space near the entrance. When he walked inside to the reception desk Barbara was there. "Any word?" He asked her.

She shook her head. "I haven't heard a thing. It's funny how Amy's baby came so quickly and we didn't really have to wait but it looks like Sandra's baby is going to take it's time."

"I was tellin' Evelyn the same thing before I left the house. Where's Danny?"

She pointed down the hall. "He's in the Father's Waiting Room with the girls."

"Thanks Barbara." He said and walked down the hall before he got to the waiting room. He opened the door and peaked inside. Danny was sitting on one of the sofas with Ann and Shelby on either side of him and he was reading to them. "You've always been real good at that."

Danny looked up and Rafe could see the waiting was taking its toll. "Readin' to them keeps them from gettin' too fussy."

"You been here for awhile?" He asked.

Danny looked at his watch and sighed. "It ain't even been an hour and a half, but it feels like ten."

"This is the hard part that's for sure." Rafe told him. "Why don't you take a break and I'll keep readin' to them."

He shook his head. "I'm all right. Besides, if I leave the girls alone they'll get scared."

"They ain't goin' to be alone Danny." He reasoned.

"You know what I mean Rafe. They just ain't used to bein' away from Sandra and me."

"Could I at least get you some coffee?" He offered.

"That would be swell, I sure could use a cup. Could you get some milk for the girls?" Danny asked him.

"The cafeteria should have somethin', I won't be long." Rafe said as he headed to the waiting room door. He stopped again and looked at his best friend as he sat between his two daughters. He couldn't help but be a little envious because Danny had more than one daughter. He loved his boys, but he couldn't help but wish that he and Evelyn had been able to have more than one daughter. Sarah was growing up between two boys and it was hard on her sometimes having her mother as the only other female in the McCawley house.

He walked down the hall toward the cafeteria and sighed.

It was going to be a long night.