Jackson groaned. "I wish I could do something...anything!"

Spot smiled a bit. "Try breathing. I hear that helps."

"Thanks a lot..."

"Anytime."

Jackson used his crutches to stand. "I left in such a hurry I forgot my stupid leg!"

Spot smiled wryly and clapped his shoulder.

Noelle walked into the room with a small bundle in her arms.

"It's over?" Jackson asked anxiously.

"Yes...now sit down..."

He sat back down. She walked over and placed the tiny bundle in his arms. He looked down at the little bundle in awe.

"Marty said you were to name your daughter, Jackson," Noelle said.

"M-me?"

Noelle nodded. "Poor thing was so exhausted...she only got to hold the baby for a moment before she fell asleep."

Jackson looked down at the baby again. "A girl..." he said with a smile.

Spot leaned over him. "She looks a lot like Marty..."

"Which is good...If she looked like me, she'd probably be an ugly girl."

Spot and Noelle exchanged a smile. "So what are you going to name her?" Noelle asked.

"I think...Faith." He nodded.

"I think it suits her," Noelle said.

He smiled. "I think so too.

Noelle took Faith from him. "Why don't you go see Marty..."

"Shouldn't she rest?"

"Yes...but she'll be needing to feed wee Faith soon. She can get some more sleep after that."

He nodded and headed to their room. He sat on the bed next to Marty and brushed the sweat soaked hair from her face. She started awake. "I'm sorry," he said, sheepishly.

"It's okay..." she whispered

"She's beautiful," he said, kissing her hand.

She smiled. "Isn't she though? Have you thought of a name?"

"Faith..."

"That's a perfect name."

"I thought you'd like it. How are you feeling?"

"Tired," she whispered.

He took her hand and squeezed it. "Noelle said you should feed Faith."

She nodded wearily as Noelle entered the room with their newborn babe. Marty held out her arms. Noelle gently placed Faith in her arms. Marty looked down at the newborn and smiled.

When Ginny woke the next morning she found herself curled up in Andy's arms. She blinked and looked over at him. How had that happened?

"Good morning," he said, smiling at her.

"Um... Good morning..." She rolled out of the bed. "How is your arm this morning?"

"It hurts... but it feels a bit better. Thanks."

She nodded. "Let me know if you need more medicine," she said, brushing her hair.

He nodded and slowly pushed himself up, watching her brush her hair.

"I suppose you'll want to wire your parents," she said, not looking at him.

"I probably should..."

"In that case I guess I should wire my brothers..."

Andy groaned. "They most likely kill me as soon as they find out that we plan to have our marriage annulled..."

She nodded. "Yes... probably..."

"Wonderful," he said, dropping back against the pillows.

Ginny smiled wryly. "The downfall of getting married, I suppose."

"I ought to let my parents know about the injury anyway..."

"How did you get that injury anyway?"

"Got a little too close to the enemy line," he replied.

Ginny wince a bit. "You're lucky it's just your arm."

"The guy just next to me didn't make it..."

"I hate this..." she muttered. "This fighting... I wish we could all just get along."

He stood and rested his hands on her shoulders. "I wish it was all over too, Gin."

She sighed quietly. "This is some mess. I wanna go home..."

He gently rubbed her back with his good hand. "I wish you didn't have to see any of this."

"I hate it. Everyday, men come in, horribly mangled... everyday, men die. I want to go insane from it all... It's horrible. I can't imagine why anyone could bring themselves to do such things."

He wrapped his arms around her and held her close. She rested her head on his shoulder. "I wish you could go home, Gin..."

"Do you want to go home?"

"Yes, I do...but I have a job to do."

She frowned at him. "Well so do I."

He tucked her head under his chin and sighed deeply. Ginny slipped her arms around his waist and was quiet for a very long time. "Ginny..."he said softly.

"Hmm?"

He gently tilted her head up and brushed the hair from her face. She gave him a questioning look. Gently cupping her face with his hands, he leaned down and kissed her. Ginny was a bit startled at first, but she recovered and softly kissed him back.

Three days later Andy and Ginny stood outside the nurses' quarters at the hospital. "I wish I didn't have to leave," he said, resting his forehead against hers.

"Me neither..."

"Gin...I wish I didn't have to say this, but considering this is war..."

"What?"

"If something were to happen to me...I want you to go home..."

"But..."

"Please Gin..."

She frowned and looked down, nodding a bit.

"I have the feeling that Mom is gonna need you...Promise me that if anything happens, you won't hesitate to go home."

"All right... all right. I promise..." She looked up at him tearfully.

He kissed her gently.

She flung her arms around him and buried her face in his chest.

"Oh Ginny...leaving is harder than I thought it would be..."

She put on a small smile. "I could try to break your leg and you'd be here a bit longer," she tried playfully.

He smiled at her. "As nice as it sounds...I don't want to see the inside of a hospital again for a while..."

She smiled. "I don't want to see you back here either. The next time I want to see you... is when you're getting on the ship and going home."

"You mean I can't come back when I get leave again?" he asked, pouting playfully.

She smiled. "Well, you know what I mean..."

He kissed her nose. "I know."

She hugged him again. "Be careful, Andy..."

"I will, Gin...I will..."

She watched as he left the infirmary, praying for his safety.

Spot sat in a chair by the bed watching Rae sleep, the book that he had been reading open in his lap. She slept soundly for the most part, but he couldn't bring himself to leave her side.

James knocked softly on the open door.

Spot looked up and smiled a bit. Climbing to his feet, he headed over. "What can I do for you, kiddo?"

"How's Momma?"

"Sleeping..."

James nodded, a relieved look in his eyes. "Can I go to the drug store and get some ice cream?"

Spot nodded. "Go ahead. Just don't stay out too long."

James grinned. "Thanks Dad," he said, running back down the stairs.

Spot gave a puzzled little smile and looked down at his book again. He seemed awfully excited about that ice cream.

"He's going to meet a girl," Sam said, leaning against the doorframe.

Spot looked up. "What? James?"

Sam nodded with a grin.

"I never would've guessed?" He smiled a bit. "A nice girl, I hope?"

"She reminds me a lot of Mom..."

He laughed quietly. "Well, James has a lot of girl for himself."

Sam nodded. "Is she feeling any better?"

"I think so. She's been sleeping pretty soundly for the last few hours."

"Good...she's been really sick..."

He nodded. "Yes she has."

"Have you written Andy or Ann yet?"

He nodded. "I wrote them a few days ago."

Joey ran up the stairs. "Telegram for you," he said, handing an envelope to Spot.

Spot blinked in surprise. "I didn't expect a reply so soon." He took the telegram from Joey. "I can't believe it!" he said, after reading the telegram.

"What is it?" chimed Joey and Sam.

"Andy and Ginny got married!"

"What?!" they yelped.

"Andy got hurt and ended up at the hospital where Ginny is stationed...they got married two days ago..."

"I didn't even know they liked each other," Sam said.

"I thought he liked Marty," Joey replied.

"Who knows..." Spot murmured.

"Wouldn't it be funny if Jerry and Ann got married?" Joey asked with a laugh.

"Yeah right," Sam said. "Like they'd ever do THAT."

"You never know."

Sam shrugged. "I guess not."

Rae moaned softly and stirred in her sleep. Spot glanced over and took her hand. Her eyes fluttered open. "Did we wake you?"

She shook her head weakly. He squeezed her hand gently. "Can I have some water?" she whispered hoarsely.

"Of course." He got up and retrieved the glass of water.

Sam walked over and helped her sit up, allowing her to lean against him.

She smiled faintly. "Thank you, Sam."

"You're welcome," he said, kissing her cheek.

She smiled and drank deeply from the cup. Once finished she handed the cup to Spot and closed her eyes again.

"Going to sleep again?" Spot asked softly.

She nodded weakly.

He leaned over and kissed her forehead. "Sleep well, sweetheart."

Sam helped her lay back down and kissed her cheek again. "I love you, Momma."

She smiled a bit. "I love you too, Sam."

He moved quietly to stand with Joey by the door, allowing Spot to sit beside Rae again. "Let's leave them alone..." he said to Joey.

Joey nodded and followed his friend from the room.

"You really think Jeremy and Ann would get married?"

"Nah...she barely spoke two words to him anytime she was home..."

"And he was always picking on her," Sam pointed out.

"He told me he only picked on her, because it made her so mad."

"Girls are like that all the time, have you noticed?" He grinned.

"Like the lass from school that you tease?"

"Yes... she's so easily wound up... it's hard not to."

Joey grinned mischievously. "How about we go join young James for some ice cream?"

"Exactly my thoughts. I'll let Dad know."

"While you do that, I'll go tell Gramma...she may need something from town."

He nodded and trotted back down the hall. Poking his head back into the room, he said, "D'you mind if Joey and I join James for ice cream?"

"As long as you two don't give him a hard time..."

Sam grinned. "We won't."

"See that you don't."

When Marty woke in the middle of the night, she noticed that Jackson wasn't beside her. She glanced around the room and found him in the rocking chair with Faith in his arms. She stretched a bit and winced. "What are you doing up?" she asked sleepily, pulling the blankets around her firmly.

He looked at her and grinned sheepishly. "I couldn't sleep.

She smiled. "I slept like a baby...for the first time in...well, nine months."

"You look better..."

"I feel a bit better... But I know that won't last, unless she can sleep through the night."

"She's starting to stir..."

Slowly, Marty slipped out of bed. "She's probably hungry." She walked over and gently took Faith from his arms. "She's so beautiful," she murmured, sitting down carefully.

"She is..." Jackson agreed. "Her hair is getting darker..."

She smiled. "Just like yours."

"As long as she continues to look like you, I don't care..."

Marty laughed a bit. "I don't know if that would be such a good thing." Gently, she kissed the newborn's forehead.

He reached down and caressed Marty's cheek. "You're beautiful."

She blushed a bit.

He grinned. "I'm going to find some of those cookies Noelle made this afternoon. Want some?"

She smiled. "Sure. I'm starving."

He kissed her forehead and hobbled from the room. She smiled softly and proceeded to feed Faith. Jackson was surprised to find Spot looking around in the kitchen. "Morning," he said.

"You can't sleep either?"

"Mm, nah. And Marty just woke up- she's hungry."

"Noelle put the cookies in the tin," Spot said, nodding toward the tins on the counter.

He smiled. "I see you know why I came in here." He grabbed a handful of cookies. "What about you?"

"I was trying to find some crackers in case Rae is hungry when she wakes up."

"How is she doing?"

"She's still real weak...and sleeping most of the time..." Spot sighed a bit. "How is Marty?"

"Tired...but happy."

Spot nodded. "We got a telegram from Andy today."

"Really?" Jackson asked. "What'd it say?"

"He and Ginny got married."

"I'll murder him! I told him to kiss her, not marry her!"

Spot blinked. "What was that?"

"I told him to kiss her the next time he say her..."

"Well... it surprised me. I didn't think Andy liked Ginny that much..."

"But she liked him," Jackson said with a sigh.

"I didn't know that..."

"She has for a long time..."

"Well... shouldn't you be happy for your sister."

"I just hope that she is happy."

"I hope they both are."