Having finished their jobs, Dr. Walker and Dr. Clark left. Both mother and baby sleeping...for now anyway, made for a very quiet time.

"George, how about you go and fix that drafty room...We can move Frances in there later. She can't stay on the floor, you know."

Big George grunted, grabbed his coat and hat, walked outside to the barn and grabbed his tools and came inside and went into the spare, drafty bedroom.

"Can you handle it, George?...The boys can help you, I'm sure!" Franziska called to her husband, and waited for a reply.

"Yeah, yeah,...I got it!" George Sr. hollered back, and set out for a few hours and worked at fixing up the room.

Franziska rolled her eyes..."Men...They always think they can do it all by themselves...Anyway, I think I'll go through the boys' old baby clothes. Want to help me, Melania?"

"Sure..." She replied and Mary Jane ran up to her.

"Can I help too, Ma?"

"If its all right with your grandmother..." Melania said, smiling at Franziska.

"Of course you may, my sweet little pumpkin." She smiled, leaned down and gave her granddaughter a kiss on forehead.

Franziska, Melania and Mary Jane kneeled down by the little trunk. Franziska carefully unlocked it and started sorting through the baby clothes...

"Oh, I remember when John wore this as a newborn!" Franziska smiled and held up a little light blue cotton tunic, with a dark blue ribbon on it.

"I don't think he'd be able to fit one foot in it now." George Jr. laughed.

"Go back to sleep, George..." John muttered. George Jr. shoved him.

"Men will be boys..." Franziska said to Melania, and both women started chuckling.

Franziska layed out a set of brown cotton pantalettes and a little white shirt that went to the hip, complete with tiny brown stockings. "This was George's...Oh, he looked as cute as a button in this! My mother made this outfit for him..."

"Awww...Wittle Georgie wooked so cute!" John teased his older brother.

"Shut up..." George Jr. glared at him. "Now that Joe's off and married you think you need to take his place?"

"This one's pretty!" Mary Jane exclaimed, holding up a little green tunic.

"Oh, another one of George's...That one will look nice on the little fella..." Franziska smiled. She reached in and found a little orange cotton pantalette set of Joseph's...she also found a few white ones, some gray ones..."I think those will do...and I can always make little cotton shirts and little stockings for him...Unless Frances already has..."

"I can help you with that project..." Melania offered.

"Thank you, Melania..." She smiled.

Big George came in from the bedroom.

"Finished already?" Franziska smiled.

"Yep..." George Sr. said and walked out the door to go to the barn.

"Lets go see, shall we?" Franziska smiled and went into the spare bedroom, with Melania and Mary Jane following her.

"A job well done..." Franziska smiled, looking around the room. "The man's a hard worker, I can tell you that...Was one of the reasons I married him, I reckon..."

"What was the other reason you married Grandpa?" Mary Jane asked excitedly.

"Mary Jane..." Her mother scolded. "That was not at your liberty to ask that question."

"Oh fiddlesticks!...Melania, she's fine!" Franziska said to her, and then turned to her granddaughter. "The other reason I married your Grandpa was...even though he may not say much and may look all tough on the outside, on the inside he's got a heart of gold..." She smiled. "And your Pa's just like him..." Franziska smiled, winking at her granddaughter. "He may be tough and brawny, but he's the sweetest..."

"I remember..." Melania smiled and said softly to herself. She found herself alone in the room, for her daughter and Franziska had left...and her thoughts drifted to George Jr. for a moment...but she shook herself back into reality and left the room herself.

"George...since you've got the room all done...can we move Frances in now?" His wife asked him.

"Taking care of it." He said, carefully lifting an exhausted, sleeping Frances into his arms and into the bedroom...like he would do when she was a little girl...It brought back back all sorts of memories for him.

"Pa..." She whispered, her head resting on his broad shoulder.

"I'm just taking you into the room, little girl...Got it all fixed up for you."

"Thank you, Pa..."

"You're welcome..." Big George carefully layed her on the bed, and she got under the covers. "You still sore, hmmm." He said, stating the obvious.

"Don't worry, I'll be fine..." She smiled a little.

"Oh, I know you will..." He said, taking a seat in the rocking chair near the bed, his hands on his knees. "Four or more weeks of good rest here with us will help you." George Sr. leaned back into the rocking chair..."I remember when you were a newborn and I'd stay up nights rocking you in this thing...Holding you close to my chest, just rocking away, till you finally fell asleep..." He smiled as all sorts of memories flooded his mind. Frances smiled, listening on until she grew tired again.

"I'll let you get some shut eye..." Big George smiled at her, gave her a kiss on the forehead and left the room. Frances slept for a few hours until her mother came into the room with her crying newborn.

"This little man wants another feeding..." Franziska chuckled. Frances sat up a little and her mother gave him to her and as soon as he was in his mother's arms, he was calm...like the air after a rainstorm. The tip of her finger lightly touched his cheek and as quick as a wink, he turned his little head opened his little mouth.

"Amazing how he knows just what to do..." Frances said, in wonder.

"Its how the Lord programmed him." Franziska smiled, gazing at him. "Well, I'll leave you two alone now..." She said, and walked out the bedroom door, closing it softly behind her.

"I'm glad one of us knows what to do..." She sighed, and lifted her breast to him so he could get the beginnings of her breastmilk. "Well, I do know a little bit...Thanks to Ma." She thought. Frances gazed down at him, his eyes closed as he soon started sucking away, as content as ever. This was only her second time nursing him, yes...but she felt a little akward, scared, unsure of herself as a mother...She didn't have a lot of experience with babies...and espesially with babies this young.

"I'm your own mother...and I find it hard to talk to you..." She sighed, looking down at him. "How pathetic is that?" She found it hard to talk to babies sometimes...She just didn't know what to say...and it was even more different now realizing that this was HER baby.

Frances looked down at him as he was now laying there in her arms...all scrunched up, his arms close against his little chest. "You have no idea what I'm saying anyway...What would it matter to you?" She started chuckling softly. "Well, I'm talking to you now...It doesn't really make any sense to you...but I'm talking to you...Freddy." She smiled. "I like that nickname..." Frances saw that he was beginning to fall asleep so she picked him up, with his head on her chest and let him lay like that. She started rubbing and patting his little back...and Frances soon found herself patting his little rear end.

She laughed at herself. "Ma used to do this with me all the time when I was a baby and it would make me fall asleep!" Frances smiled. "Lets see if it will work with you, hmmm?" She did and when she saw that he had fallen asleep, Frances smiled. "Maybe this whole being a mother thing isnt so hard..." Frances thought. "I still can't believe it." She whispered. "My boy..." Frances sat there, gazing down at his little form. She saw he had on a little white cotton shirt and little brown pantalettes and tiny brown stockings..."Ma must've dressed him in this." She smiled and gazed at him awhile until she heard a knock on her bedroom door. "C'mon in..." She said, loud enough for the person to hear, but not loud enough to disturb little Freddy. The door opened and her mother walked in.

"Awww, you got him to go to sleep already..." Franziska smiled. "Want me to take him now so you can get some more rest?"

"Sure Ma..." She said, slowly lifting him away from her and into her mother's arms. Before leaving, Franziska sat on the edge of the bed.

"We're using John's old cradle out there for now...Your Pa will be getting around to making one for him this week. Gonna be one with raised legs so it'll be like he's in the bed with you, but he's in his own...If he's right by the bed that is."

"He will..." Frances smiled. "I want him as close as he can get." She smiled, touching his tiny, little hand that was curled into a fist.

"Get some sleep now." Franziska smiled, and walked out of the room with baby Freddy. Frances layed back again and fell asleep for a few more hours.

Days had passed and one morning Frances woke up and found the crib with little Freddy laying in it, sleeping away. Except for feeding him, Franziska had been taking care of the newborn, letting her daughter rest as much as she could. Frances reached over and her finger stroked his little chest. "My boy..." Frances smiled. She rolled over on her side and watched him sleep for awhile...Her elbow resting on her pillow, her hand holding up her head. Frances gazed at him awhile, smiling and chuckling as every now and then as he'd stretch out all the way, and then just as quickly bring his arms and legs in and be all scrunched up again.

Ma Gruber came into the bedroom carrying a plate and some silverware. "Made you some breakfast...I'm sure you're starving." She set it on the little table next to the bed and sat down next to her daughter, still gazing down at her newborn son. "Eat, Frances. You need to keep your strength up..." Franziska chuckled. "Don't worry...He's not going anywhere!"

Frances' lips formed into a smile. "All right, Ma." She ate her breakfast, put the empty plate on the end table and leaned back against the pillows. A little while later she tried getting up out of bed.

"Oh no you don't, young lady...You stay there..." Franziska said.

"Ma...I've been in bed for days...I'm tired of it!" She said getting up and went to Freddy's cradle.

"Well, I don't want you doing too much!...No heavy lifting! Nothing heavier than that baby for the next few weeks."

"Agreed." Frances smiled at her mother and bent down to reach in and pick up her newborn baby. "Ma..." She said in a slight panic. "Ma!"

"What?...What is it?" Franziska asked, running over to her. "Frances, what's the matter?"

"There's blood...By his mouth. It wasn't there before, Ma!" Tears started to slide down her cheeks. "What's wrong? Why is he bleeding?"

Franziska carefully picked up her grandson and inspected him closely. "Frances, he's just scratched himself...His fingernails are too long!...We'll take care of that soon enough...but first let's get this bleeding to stop, hmmm?" She smiled at baby Freddy who didn't really seem alarmed at all. Franziska reached into her skirt pocket and pulled out a hanky and dabbed near his little mouth and got the bleeding to stop almost immediately. She carefully layed him on his back in the cradle once again.

Frances sat back down on the bed and almost lost herself as she was in tears..."I just thought something was wrong with him!...I thought I was a horrible mother already! I've been a mother almost a week and something like this happens!"

"Frances, calm yourself! He's fine! It was just a tiny, little scratch!...We'll clip his nails tonight." Franziska said, putting her arms around her, trying to soothe her daughter. "Sweetheart, its all right!"

"Its just, you always know just what to do with him...and I don't! I'm his mother! I should know these things!" Frances said. "Ma, I tried changing his cloth diaper the other day...I thought, 'I've changed a diaper a few times before, how hard could it be?'...It took me a good solid ten minutes! I didn't know which way the stupid thing went! And then I had trouble with the pins. I was afraid of sticking him!...It took a bit of doing, but I finally got it on him!"

Franziska started laughing at her daughter.

"Ma, its not funny! I'm being serious about this!"

"I'm sorry...I'm so sorry...It's just, so THAT's who put his diaper on wrong. I thought Fred had!" Franziska laughed.

"I put the stupid thing on wrong!" Frances moaned. "I could've sworn I finally did it right the last time!...I'm so stinkin' simple-minded, I don't even know how to change my own baby's diaper!"

"Well, what do you expect, Frances?" Her mother asked. "Your motherly instincts to just kick in?...BAM! I'm a mother now, I know how to do everything!" Franziska laughed. "It doesn't work that way, sweetheart...Its a learning process...and boy, will you make A LOT of mistakes!...I did with you, even though you were my last...and I made mistakes here and there with all four of my other babies too."

"Ma, no you didn't..." Frances began, but her mother interrupted her.

"Now don't say that, I won't hear it! I did so make mistakes...and there are plenty of things I wish I could've done over...Done differently. Like I said before, its a learning process...oh yes, some things will just kick in and it will be like, "Oh, so THAT's what you do for that...or this...but you have to learn and you have to be taught some things...Children don't come with a book containing step-by-step instructions." Franziska laughed. "Boy, wouldn't it be something if they did!"

Frances gave her mother a very sheepish grin and spoke. "I guess I shouldn't be so stubborn all the time...I really need to work on that...Don't I?"

Franziska laughed. "Yes. You do...Now, the next time your little one needs another changing, how about I show you the CORRECT way to put on a cloth diaper?" She chuckled.

Frances smirked, rolled her eyes, but then began to laugh with her mother. "All right..."

A/N: My dad told me once how when I was a baby, he would stay up nights, holding me close to him, rocking me so I could go to sleep. I thought it would be cute to put that in this story, so I did. :)