December 11th, 2000

Joe yawned as he walked into their house. Today had been nothing but hectic at work. A few new babies were born so he had to enter their information into the towns database and then the system went down. It sucked, but now he was home. He walked into the living room and saw Gina sitting at the window.

"Hey Babe." He said.
"Hey." She mumbled. He frowned slightly.

"Are you all right?" Joe asked.

"I'm just thinking about my parents." Gina said. Joe sat down with her.

"Teddy?"

"No." She said.

"Susan?"

"No." She smirked, "My real parents."

"Oh..." Joe said. Gina looked at him.

"I miss them so much. I miss the farm." She said, "I thought...I thought it'd get easier. It's been almost seven years and...It still hurts me."

"I know, Sweetheart." Joe said taking her hands.

"I'm getting married, Joe. My mom should be helping me find a dress. My dad should walk me down the aisle." Gina said. Tears were in her eyes, "I wish things were back to normal."

"This is normal, Baby." Joe said, "Your parents are watching over you. They will be with you on our wedding day."

"It's just not the same." Gina admitted. She took in a deep breath. "Do you remember your parents?"

"No." Joe shook his head. The earlyest memory he had was six years ago when Lucy found him. He remembered he was eating a heath bar in front of the grocery store when the red head saw him. She looked so relieved, but when she met him she didn't keep that look. He knew he caused her a lot of trouble. "Lucy is the only mom I remember."

"What about your real name?" Gina asked, "Are we going to use that in the wedding or Joe?"

"I don't know my real name." He admitted. "Joe's what Lucy gave me."

"How can you live life not knowing who you are?" Gina asked.

"I know who I am." He said, "I just don't know who I was. I know who I'm going to be too." Gina smiled softly.

"And just who are you going to be?" She asked him.

"I'm going to be your husband." he said, "And I'm going to be the father of your children."

"Our ten children?" She asked. Joe chuckled.

"Yeah." he said. Gina smiled as she cuddled into him.

"How are we going to explain this to our kids?" She asked.

"What?" Joe asked her. She got like this sometimes. She tended to get into her moods were she questioned the state the world was in often.

"Never mind. I know what you're going to say." She said pulling away from him. Joe chuckled.

"Tell me." He said.

"I was going to ask how we were going to explain why the entire world lives around Boulder and why there's only eight hundred people living." Gina rolled her eyes, "And you were going to say You weren't going to have to explain to them because that will be the norm for them. They won't ask because they will be raised knowing the answers unlike us." Joe chuckled softly and nodded.

"Well, I am a very smart man." He said. Gina nodded with a smile.

"That's why I'm marrying you." She leaned over and kissed Joe softly. He hated this. He hated when she questioned everything. he wished everything would just be normal and they would forget the past. That would probably never happen.

December 25th, 2000

Stu grunted slightly. his chest felt heavy. Sleep soon started to fade as he woke up. He opened his eyes and saw a pair of brown eyes staring at him.

"Daddy, wake up. Santa came." Abby bounced on his chest.

"Stop." He grunted.

"But Santa came!!" Abby squealed. Stu smiled. Santa didn't catch Captain Trips. Stu chuckled as he sat up.

"All right." He pushed her off and began to tickle her.

"Daddy! Stop!" Abby squealed. Stu kissed her belly.

"Where's mommy?" Stu asked.

"In the bathroom." She said. Stu got out of bed with a nod.

"All right. Stay here, Sweet pea." Stu ran his hand through his hair. "Frannie, Abby is getting antsy."

"Stu, could you come in here please?" Fran asked almost inaudible.

"Fran?" Stu called out again.

"Please some in here." Fran said. Stu opened the door and walked in. Fran was sitting on the side of the tub. Tears were in her eyes.

"Frannie? What's wrong?" He knelt down in front of her. She looked at him.

"I'm pregnant." She said. The colour drained from Stu's face.

"Wh-What?" He whispered.

"I'm pregnant." Fran started to sob. Stu stared at her as his mind went to Roslyn and James. Roslyn has been the most wonderful little girl for the few months she was alive. Her dark eyes always sparkled when she laughed.

"We need to schedule an appointment with Dr. White." Stu said calmly.
"I can't bury another child, Stu." Fran said. Stu reached out and touched her cheek.

"This one will be different. It'll be healthy and grow up with Abby." Stu said, "We'll finally have a child together, a promise."

"I'm so scared." Fran said.

"It's all right to be scared." Stu said, "but enjoy this pregnant. Enjoy every minute of it." Fran smiled softly.

"Mommy! Daddy! Santa came! Come on!" Abby screamed.

"We better get down there." Fran wiped her eyes, "It's Christmas after all. We have plenty to celebrate." Stu nodded as he helped Fran up. She was pregnant again. He would do everything possible to make this pregnancy go well for Fran. She deserved it.


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