Disclaimer: I do not own Strong Medicine or the characters. They belong to Whoopi Goldberg, and Tammy Ader, and Lifetime TV. Thanks to my proofreaders and editors!


After A Few Seconds Of Silence

"Wh... What?" Lu stuttered, looking at Peter then at Andy.

"You're still pregnant." Andy laughed as Peter stared drop-jawed. "Look," she continued, pointing to a small peanut size mass on the ultrasound machine screen, "there's your baby."

"But... how?" Peter finally found his voice.

"You were going to have twins," Andy smiled at Peter then looked at Lu, "You only miscarried one, honey."

Lu stared at the ultrasound machine screen, tears rolling down her face.

Peter leaned over and kisses her forehead, "Sweetheart?"

Lu looked up at Peter as a smile crept across her face, "We're still gonna have a baby."

Peter nodded and kissed Lu deeply.

Wrapping her arms around his neck, Lu returned his kiss.

Andy put the ultrasound probe down and turned off the machine, "Ummm guys..." she cleared her throat.

Peter jumped slightly and raised up, grinning sheepishly.

Lu laughed, "Sorry Ands."

Andy shook her head and smiled, "Do you wanna hear your baby's heartbeat?"

"Yes!" Peter quickly agreed, smiling broadly.

Lu nodded as Andy squirted a little more gel on her stomach.

Picking up a small box-like machine, Andy turned it on and put the probe on Lu's stomach. She turned the volume up and moved the probe around.

Suddenly a THUMP-THUMP THUMP-THUMP sounded loud and clear through the machine's speaker.

"Nice and strong." Andy smiled, "Your little one should be arriving sometimes in mid to late November. Just in time for Thanksgiving."

"Definitely something to be thankful for." Peter quickly wiped away tears.

Andy turned the machine off and put it down. She picked up a towel and wiped the gel off of Lu's stomach.

"Congratulations... a wonderful, early Christmas present." She smiled as she pulled Lu's shirt back down. She chuckled softly as she quietly slipped out of her office, giving her friends some alone time to enjoy their excitement over their newly discovered treasure.


A Few Weeks Later

"Lu?" Peter called as he entered their apartment.

"In here." she called from the spare room.

Following the sound of her voice, he found her half-way up a ladder, pulling old wallpaper down. He looked around and smiled, "What are you doing?"

"Getting this old paper down so we can paint." Lu glanced down and continued to pull at the wallpaper, "I thought this would be a better room for the nursery. It's closer to our room and this way Marc's room is still here for him when he comes home from college."

"Good idea." Peter walked over and kicked aside some of the discarded wallpaper.

"I thought so too." Lu looked down from her place on the ladder. "So this is how it feels to tower over everyone." she teased her husband as she put her hand on his shoulder that came just above her waist.

Peter chuckled and wrapped his arm around her waist, "How did you get the ladder up to a second floor apartment? You're not supposed to be doing that."

"I know, I know... light duty. Caleb, from downstairs, brought it up for me." Lu smiled down at Peter.

"Good." he gently rubbed her stomach, smiling as he felt the small, round bump that was barely beginning to show. "And how did you get all the junk outta here?"

"Caleb again." Lu responded then laughed as Peter carefully lifted her off of the ladder and gently placed her feet on the floor.

"There, much better... down where you belong." he smiled before leaning over to kiss his wife.


Two Months Later

"Ready guys?" Andy asked cheerfully as she walked into her exam room.

"Yes!" Lu and Peter answered in unison.

"A little excited?" Andy laughed as she pulled the ultrasound machine over.

"We need to go shopping." Lu laughed and laid back on the exam table, pulling her shirt up.

"Well, let's see what this little one is so you can do that." Andy pulled the waistband of Lu's scrubs down a little ways and squirted gel on her stomach.

Lu looked up at Peter and nervously reached for his hand.

Peter smiled and took his wife's hand, giving it a reassuring squeeze.

Andy turned the ultrasound machine on and moved the probe over Lu's stomach.

"Well?" Lu asked after a moment's hesitation.

"Well," Andy turned around from the ultrasound machine screen to smile at her friends, "I would suggest you start looking for blue things."

"A boy?" Peter looked down at Lu incredulously, "We're gonna have a son."

A smile lit up Lu's face and a tear slipped from her eye. She laughed and wiped away the tear as Peter kissed her forehead.

Andy looked at the ultrasound screen one more time before turning the machine off. She handed Lu a towel, "Everything looks good."

"Thanks Andy." Lu wiped the gel off of her stomach and slowly sat up. She smiled at her husband, "Now we've got some shopping to do"


A Couple Of Days Later

Peter turned the radio off and stepped back to take a look at his work. "Not too shabby if I say so myself." he spoke aloud to himself. "Maybe we can move into a house soon." he continued. "We'll have to really start looking for one." Peter put the paint brush down and laughed, "It's a good thing no one's home to hear me talking to myself like this. They may think I've finally lost it." He looked at the freshly painted walls and smiled, "A son... Wow. Even after the miscarriage, how amazing is that!" Hearing Lu's key in the front door, Peter hurried out to greet her, "Hi sweetheart." he said as the door opened and Lu entered the apartment.

Lu looked up and laughed at the sight of her husband speckled with baby blue and white paint. "Somebody's been working hard." She kissed Peter then ran her finger along the dried smear of blue paint across his forehead.

"Come look." He smiled as he took her hand and led her to the nursery.

Lu's jaw dropped as she looked around, "You did all of this by yourself?"

Peter nodded, "It's amazing how much you can get done when you're home alone and bored."

Lu kissed his cheek before looking back at the baby blue walls, "You even painted the top and bottom trims!" she exclaimed.

"Blue walls, white trim. That's what you wanted, right?" Peter smiled at his wife's pleased expression.

"It's perfect!" she said, the thrill evident in her voice.

"We just have to decide what theme we want." Peter leaned over and kissed the top of Lu's head.

"Noah's ark, the Precious Moments style." she answered immediately.

"Alright," he smiled, "Noah's ark it is."

"But it has to be the Precious Moments. That's the cutest one there is." Lu tilted her head up and kissed Peter,

"Now go get cleaned up, I'm not sure I can find my husband under all those paint speckles." she teased.

"Yeah, yeah." Peter laughed good-naturedly as he walked in the bathroom, closed the door behind him and turned the shower on.

Lu pulled the rocking chair into the nursery and sat down. "He's gonna be a wonderful daddy." she thought to herself as she rubbed her expanding stomach and slowly rocked back and forth.

Peter emerged from the bathroom fifteen minutes later, "There... much better." he said as he pulled a clean t-shirt over his head. "Lu?" he called as he wondered where she had disappeared to. Glancing into the newly painted nursery, Peter stopped and smiled. He couldn't help but stare.

There she sat in the rocker, in the middle of the empty nursery... sound asleep with one hand resting protectively on her stomach and the most angelic smile, he had ever seen, on her face.

Love radiated from his eyes as he quietly walked across the nursery and gently picked up his sleeping wife.

"Petieeee..." she mumbled as she stirred from her sleep.

"Shhh. Hush Darling." he soothed as she settled into the crook of his arm and laid her head against his chest.

Exhausted, Lu immediately fell back asleep, content to be held in her husband's arms.

Peter walked to their bedroom and gently laid her on the bed. He laid down beside her, pulling the sheets and comforter up over them both. He held her close and whispered softly, "Sleep... just sleep mi amore."