By the time Natalie was seven months along, she had decided to keep the baby. When her mother asked her about a baby shower, the now sixteen-year-old said that she didn't want one. "Who would come to a sixteen-year-olds baby shower? No one, that's who." Della had noticed her granddaughter becoming more and more depressed. She began to worry because of her own experiences. Nicky had witnessed his mother's post-natal depression, so he was worried as well. Two months later, Natalie gave birth to a baby girl with her mother and grandmother by her side. Her father and grandfather were pacing in the waiting room. Once Natalie was settled in a room, the men walked in. Natalie introduced them to Ella Rose Mason. Rose was Nancy's middle name and Ella was in honor of Della, but a bit more modern. Jack Wilmington faced a paternity suit which DNA confirmed. He was then arrested for statutory rape and made a deal to get a shorter prison sentence. He had to set up a trust for Ella and make Nicky the executor until Natalie was twenty-five. Then she would take over until Ella was twenty-five. He also had to sign away his parental rights which he was more than happy to do. The scandal ruined the man's reputation. Since Natalie was a minor, her name was never revealed. While the circumstances were far from ideal, Natalie loved being a mother. Her parents loved having a baby in the house. They were proud of their daughter for rising to the occasion. Nancy and Della were more than happy to help Natalie settle into motherhood. Both women made being a mother look easy. Who better to teach young Natalie.

A month after Ella's birth, Perry was in the kitchen, trying to fix the sink. Della was tidying up the living room. She heard something clatter to the floor, "Perry? Perry, are you alright?"

"Della," a painful cry came out.

Della rushed to the kitchen and saw her husband grab his left arm and slide to the floor, "Perry!"

"Call an ambulance," he groaned.

Della called for help and sat with her husband to try and comfort him. She rode in the ambulance with him and sat in the waiting room until the doctor came out. "It was a mild heart attack," he said.

"It didn't look or sound mild," Della replied.

"Trust me," the doctor said. "However, next time, he may not be as lucky. I've already told him, but he has to lose weight."

The doctor took Della to Perry's room. She sat on a chair next to him and took his hand, "are you going to scold me?"

"Right now, I'm just glad you're alright."

The two sat there, quietly, for a while, "I think I'm going to have that weight loss surgery."

"Really?"

"I've tried very hard over the past year to lose weight. I've lost some, but I'm in dire need to lose more."

"If that's what you want to do, then when the doctor gives the okay, we'll schedule it." She noticed him trying to keep his eyes open, "Perry, go to sleep. I'll be here when you wake up." Once he was asleep, Della called their children. The last person she called was Maureen.

"Are you sure that you don't need us to come back?" Maureen asked.

"Aside from you, I have seven other children who aren't on an extended vacation with their fiance and daughters. You three enjoy yourselves. If I have to, I'll hire a nurse."

Maureen conceded and hung up the phone. Della promised to have Perry call her after he woke up, which he did. "I can't go away without you getting into trouble," she said to her father.

"Please," Perry said, "I was getting into trouble long before you came along."

Della scoffed and laughed when her husband looked at her. Perry had convinced Maureen to stay on vacation. That she and her family deserved and needed this time away.

Perry spent two weeks in the hospital. For the first time in their marriage, the shoe was on the other foot. Perry was the one laid up after a health crisis while Della took care of him. Let's just say he wasn't crazy about the change in roles. A month after his heart attack, Maureen and her family returned home on schedule. "You're awfully bossy," Perry told his daughter.

"You're awfully stubborn," she came back with.

"So are you."

"Because of you. Keep going," she said, "I have all day."

"You're just like your mother."

"Okay, girls," Paul said urgently, "why don't we go outside and play in the street. It's safer there." He clumsily picked up his girls and rushed out of the house. "Nice knowing ya, Perry."

"Bye-bye, grandpa," the girls said.

Perry looked at his daughter who was glaring at him, just as Della does, with her arms folded across her chest. "That doesn't scare me."

Della walked into the house, "what doesn't scare you?"

"Maureen is trying to scare me because I said she was just like you."

"And you're still alive?" Della asked.

"She's mad that I said she's just like you and you're not mad?"

"Of course not," Della said. "Perry, daughters always try to avoid turning into their mothers."

"She has, though."

"But you don't tell them that. You wait for the day that they figure it out for themselves."

"The two of you are going to give me another heart attack."

"Well, then you can complain to the nurses at the hospital while I go on vacation with Maureen and Paul."

"You'd leave if I was in the hospital?"

"No, but after this, I'd be tempted to."

"I was never tempted to leave you."

"I was never as big of a pain as you are."

"Are you through?"

Della started laughing. She walked over and gave him a kiss on the cheek, "I was just teasing you. I know it's hard for you to be laid up."

"Didn't seem hard for you."

"Well, when no one was around, I'd scream into a pillow. Maureen, will you help me in the kitchen?"

"Sure," the young woman turned and went to the kitchen.

Della handed her husband a pillow and smiled before following her daughter. Perry made sure there was no one around or looking before putting the pillow up to his face and screaming. "Huh, that really did help," Perry screamed into the pillow a bit more before putting it down.