Stunned wasn't exactly the word that he would have used, but Daniel Cole Walker was stunned. A baby?

Sandra stood at the sink and looked a little uncertain until he smiled. And then he put his arms around her and hugged her. "Wouldn't that be somethin'? A little Sandra Walker runnin' around."

She laughed softly as he held her. "Or a little Danny Walker, I'd like that."

He pulled away from her only enough to look at her. "You ain't sure yet?"

"This is the first time it's happened, so it's hard to tell. When we get home, I'll go see the doctor and we'll find out for sure. For all we know this might just be indigestion."

Danny looked at her. "Would you mind if that's all it was?"

"I'd be disappointed, if that's what you're asking. But if it's not a baby, we still have lots of time." She smiled at him.

"That we do." He smiled back.

There was a knock on their door and when it opened they heard. "Ya'll awake?"

It was Rafe.

Danny looked at his wife and she shook her head. He nodded to her that he understood that she wanted to keep a possible pregnancy quiet. "We're in the bathroom Rafe."

"Everythin' all right?" He asked as he came in and looked at the both of them with concern.

"Everythin's fine, just gettin' ready to come downstairs." Danny told him.

He nodded. "We'll be decoratin' the tree tonight after supper. Daddy cut it down last night and Mama wanted to wait until ya'll got here to decorate it."

Danny grinned. "I was wonderin' why the rest of the house was decked out and the tree wasn't in the front window like it is every year."

Rafe laughed. "Well now you know. "

"Now I know. Tell your mama that we'll be down in a minute."

"All right. Don't be too long now, Mama pulled out all the stops for your first supper here and I'm starvin'." He grinned as he turned around and walked out of the room.

"Thank you for not saying anything Danny." Sandra sighed.

"Say what honey? That we think we're goin' to have a baby?" And he grinned because Sandra's face flushed a soft pink. "I love you."

She smiled back at him. "I know you do because I happen to love you too."

"I'd hope so, since you married me." He laughed and put his arms around her waist as she put her arms around his neck.

"You're not going to make me say it are you?" She laughed before she kissed his cheek.

Danny shook his head and smiled. "I think we can do better than that, don't you?"

"Oh, honestly."

"And you ended up sayin' it anyway, didn't you?" He teased before he pulled her to him and kissed her. Before he let her go he looked at her and his smile had turned to a look of concern. "Rafe ain't kiddin' when he says that Sarah pulled out all the stops for supper. You think you'll be able to keep it down?"

"I think I'll be all right. This was the first time I got sick and I don't feel nauseous anymore." She told him.

"All right honey, whatever you say." He wasn't entirely convinced, but he let her go anyway and they walked out of the bathroom. They walked over to the bed and while Danny sat down to put his shoes on, Sandra had found a hairbrush in their travel bag and walked over to him. "You ain't goin' to make me brush my hair are you?" He grinned.

"If you don't, then I guess I'll have to brush it for you."

"That don't sound like such a bad idea."

She leaned over and kissed him. "You really are so incorrigible sometimes."

He laughed. "I know. And it's one of the things that you love about me."

"Lucky for you, I'd say."

"Very lucky." He replied before he took her face in his hands and gently pulled her down for a kiss. When she stood up he could see her face had turned a bright red and she smiled.

"Let's not start something we can't finish."

He nodded as she took the brush to his hair. After a few strokes she declared herself satisfied that he looked presentable and as he stood up, ran the same brush through her own hair. He watched her as she walked around to her side of the bed to put the brush down, pick her glasses up from the night stand and put them on. "You look beautiful Sandra."

"Smart thing to say to a woman you heard retching in the bathroom." She laughed softly as Danny took her hand and they left the room.

When they got downstairs, Evelyn and Rafe were in the kitchen. "Tom and Sarah are in the parlor relaxing while I finish feeding the kids, then we'll eat." Evelyn told them as she and Rafe fed Danny, Sarah and the baby.

"Gosh Ev, he's gotten so big." Sandra commented as she saw six month old Joseph in his father's lap.

"Growin' like a weed." Rafe grinned. "And he may be walkin' earlier than his brother or sister."

Danny grinned at his friend's pride in his youngest. And he knew that it wasn't that he loved Joseph more than his other children, but he had brought his son into the world and Danny knew that had created a special bond.

"Give him time Rafe." Evelyn smiled at him. "He's just started to crawl."

Tom and Sarah came in from the parlor as Evelyn helped the two older children down from the table and Rafe made sure that the baby was done. "You're finally up. Sarah was gettin' a little worried." Tom grinned.

"Stop that Tom, I was not." Sarah smiled back at her husband before she looked at Danny and Sandra. "I knew perfectly well that it had been a long trip for you and that you were probably tired, especially now that Sandra's going to have a baby."

They glanced at each other. How could she know when they weren't even sure?

"Don't look so surprised you two, Sarah's always had a gift for that sort of thing." Tom told them.

Danny looked at Sarah. "How?" Was all he could think to ask.

"I can't really explain it. It's a sense I get and there's a certain look a woman gets when she's expecting." She looked at Sandra. "The moment you got out of the car, I got that feeling about you and that's why I wanted you to rest."

Danny and Sandra looked at each other again and she nodded. "We ain't sure." He told her and everyone started to talk at once.

"Why didn't you say anythin'?" Rafe asked Danny.

"How are you feeling?" Evelyn asked Sandra.

"Have you seen a doctor yet?" Tom wanted to know.

"Have you had any morning sickness yet?" Sarah inquired.

They both answered. "Because we still ain't sure.", "I'm feeling fine.", "I haven't seen a doctor yet." and "She was sick after we got here."

The last answer got him an admonition from Sandra. "They didn't need to know that."

"Sorry honey." He apologized to her.

Sarah put her arms around Sandra. "Go talk to your doctor and find out for sure. But I think he'll tell you what you already suspect."

"Are you sure?" Sandra whispered back.

"I haven't been wrong yet." She replied quietly and Sandra hugged her.

"Well, since it appears as though I'm finally goin' to be an uncle, can we eat? After all, Sandra's eatin' for two now." Rafe grinned before he shook Danny's hand.

"That's right Rafe, think with your stomach." Danny laughed.

"Well someone has to Danny." His friend laughed in return.

"All right you two that's enough of that." Sarah smiled at them. "Goodness, it's as though you're twelve years old again."

Evelyn took her two older children by the hand and smiled at him. "Let's get these kids to bed Rafe."

"Will do honey." He nodded as he cradled the baby in his arms and followed her out of the kitchen.

"I'm sorry if I surprised you Sandra that wasn't my intention." Sarah told her.

"Oh, I know that. It's just that we'd been talking about it upstairs and I was thinking that it could be an upset stomach."

Sarah laughed gently. "It's more than that."

"I hope you're right." Sandra told her before she looked at Danny and smiled.