Epilogue

-About A Year Later-

"Mrs. Hickok, thank you so much. The detail on the bodice is quite exquisite. I'm going to tell all the ladies in my women's' group about your shop. I'm sure they'll want to check it out for themselves."

"Thank you Mrs. Taylor. I look forward to meeting them though I will be taking a little time off for this little one's arrival." Lou said as she placed her hands on her expanding belly.

"Well hopefully you'll be back in business before spring because I'm going to need a new spring dress." Mrs. Taylor said with good humor as she walked towards the exit of Charlotte's, the finest dress shop and seamstress in Rock Creek.

"Don't you fret Mrs. Taylor. I'll be here and I'll have all the newest fabrics for you to pick from."

"That sounds great Mrs. Hickok. You have a good day now."

"You too and Happy Holidays!" Lou said with a smile but grimaced as Mrs. Taylor walked out the door.

Mrs. Taylor was going to be the last customer of the day as Lou went to lock the door and turn the open sign to say closed.

"Hey sis! We got that fabric in that you ordered last week."

"Oh thanks for picking that up for me Teresa. My back has been hurting like Hell all day, and I can't wait to get home and put my swollen feet up."

"Why don't you go on home and I'll pick up Jamie. I'll even get supper on the table." Teresa said.

"You're the best. I don't know what I would've done without you here these last few months."

Lou had just gotten her new dress shop up and running when she found out she was pregnant. She thought maybe she had gotten in over her head, but it worked out that her sister had just finished her schooling in St. Joe and wanted to come stay with Lou and help her at the shop. Her brother Jeremiah wasn't a young boy anymore and had a full life in St. Joe but promised to visit. Lou was enjoying getting to spend so much time with her sister. It was long overdue.

When Lou got home she changed into a more comfortable dress to wear around the house. It was one drawback about having your own dress shop, you had to be all done up and on display all the time. That was especially hard to do eight months pregnant. Lou changed and then lay on the bed to try and get comfortable. She had planned to only lay there for a few minutes but was awoken about an hour later with a kiss. "Hello sleeping beauty, your supper is ready."

"Jimmy?"

"Yes sweetheart. Do you have other men commonly wake you up with a kiss?" he joked.

"Oh you know…men just can't keep their hands off all this." Lou said motioning to her heavily pregnant body."

"Well you tell them that all this…belongs to me." He said as he kissed her belly and then her lips again. She kissed him back for a moment before she suddenly sat up with shooting pain.

"You okay?"

"I don't know. My back's been hurting all day but that sure felt like a contraction."

"Are you sure?" he asked thinking it was too soon for her to be having the baby. He thought they had a couple more weeks at least.

"I have done this before you know."

"I know, I'm sorry." He said feeling bad that he had questioned her motherly instinct.

The pain passed and she stood up, but just as she went to take a step, the pain came back full force. "I'm going to get the doctor. Why don't you lie back down? Teresa!"

Teresa came running at the sound of her name and Jimmy said before she even made it all the way into the room. "I think you sister is having the baby so stay with her. I'm going to get the doc."

"Okay" was all she had a chance to say as Jimmy took off.

After nearly six hours of labor and a few pushes, Emma Catherine Hickok arrived in the world and both mother and baby were doing wonderfully.

"Jimmy, what time is it?

"It's going on 1 a.m., why?"

"Merry Christmas Jimmy"

"Happy Anniversary Lou"

The End