"I'm home," Caroline's voice calls from the front of the house.

"In the kitchen," I yell back from over the stove.

I hear footsteps clicking through the hallway and a pair of arms hook themselves around my waist. Caroline rests her forehead between my shoulder blades, sighing. I rub her arms with my free hand and stir the soup. "Well?"

She pauses for a moment, wrapping her arms tighter around me. "Positive," she says, almost inaudibly.

I close my eyes, resting my hand on her arms. "Okay. Well, we have a little while to figure things out, I guess."

"We need to talk to the kids," she says, shaking her head against my back. "I'm sorry, Tony."

"Don't be sorry, it's not like you did it yourself. It's not your fault, honey."

"No, but... well, never mind. When's dinner?"

I sigh and turn the stove off. "Dinner's ready. You wanna go get the kids, or do you need to sit down and rest?"

"I'll go get them." Caroline heads out of the kitchen and comes back a couple minutes later with the kids and we all sit down at dinner.

"Mommy, you're not sick, are you?" Junior asks, spooning soup into his mouth.

"No, honey," she replies, setting down her roll.

"Then how come you went to the doctor?"

"Well, actually, I want to talk to you guys about that." I clear my throat and watch her, sitting back in my chair. "See, Daddy and I... well, we're going to have another baby, so you'll have a little brother or sister soon."

"It'd better be a little brother," Junior says with a scowl. "I don't want another Maria."

Maria looks at me, eyes wide. "But... Daddy, I'm the baby."

I smile a little. "I know you are, honey. You'll always be our baby. Junior will, too. There's just going to be one more baby in the house."

Maria pouts. "I don't want another baby!" She crosses her arms.

"Well, honey, I'm afraid you don't have a choice in the matter."

"I DON'T WANT ANOTHER BABY!" She bursts into tears and I shake my head. Junior quickly follows suit, and the dining room is suddenly a cacophony of crying.

"I think it's about bedtime." I get up and scoop Maria up from her chair, and Caroline grabs Junior. We head to their respective rooms and tuck them in, then meet in the living room.

We sit curled up on the couch in an awkward silence for a while, before Caroline looks up at me. "Are you really that unhappy about having this baby?"

I kiss her forehead and sigh. "I'm not unhappy about it... just stressed out. I'm kind of excited about being a father again, I guess, but I mean... we're really going to have to move some things around and life is going to be really different."

"But you're not mad about it or anything?"

"No, why would I be mad about it?"

Caroline shrugs. "Well... I don't know." She yawns and stretches, then stands up. "I think I'm going to go to bed. Goodnight."

"Goodnight, honey."

She walks toward the hallway, then stops and turns around. "Oh, um, I ran into Stephen Masters when I was at the doctor's office today, and he says hi. I forget what you called him in high school. He was the one whose mother sent him all the baked goods?"

"Oh, you mean Pie Eater?" She thinks about it for a moment, then nods. "Well, that's nice of... wait a minute, what was Pie doing at your OB/GYN?"

"Um..." She pauses, biting her lip. "You know, I really don't know." She shrugs. "Anyway, goodnight."

I hear the bedroom door close and I lean my head against the back of the sofa, sighing as I stare up at the ceiling. I stay like this for a good twenty minutes or so before I get up and head into the kitchen to grab a beer. I stand out on the back stoop with it, staring at the rain for a while before I dig out the pack of cigarettes I've hidden between two empty flowerpots that Caroline doesn't know about, lighting one up and leaning back in a lawn chair.

I can feel the weight of my phone in my pocket and reluctantly pull it out, looking Spot up on the speed dial. Before I can talk myself out of it, I press "call."

Three rings later, Spot's voice comes on. "You didn't answer when I called earlier."

"Sorry. I was with my kids."

"It's cool, I understand." I can hear a small smile in his voice. "So, what's up?"

"I don't know. Just calling you back, I guess." I take a drag of my cigarette.

"Are you smoking?" He laughs. "You still smoke?"

I shrug. "Only every now and then. I mean, when I'm stressed out."

"So what are you stressed out about?" There's something easy in his voice that makes me feel comfortable with him. It's just like we're in high school again, just two friends talking, rather than... whatever the hell we are.

"Found out today my wife's pregnant again, still kind of freaking out about the weekend, had to deal with work, and then had to tell the kids about the new baby and that did not end well." I take another long pull on the cigarette, exhaling heavily.

"Oh. Well, um, congratulations on the baby, I guess." That easiness is gone, replaced by a tight kind of sadness. "When's she due?"

"Don't know yet." I finish off my beer and set the bottle on the patio table. "Caroline just took the test today, didn't actually sit down with the doctor."

"Oh. Um. Cool, I guess." He sighs.

"You okay?"

"Yeah, just... y'know. Never mind."

We're silent for a while, and I stare at the rain pouring down on the kids' play set, and finally I sigh.

"Spot."

"Yeah?"

"Um. I miss you."