"Thank you so much for babysitting!" Kitty told Kathy Parr as the latter handed baby Edward to his stepmother.

"Oh, it's no problem at all!" Kathy replied. "He's such a little sweetheart, aren't you, sweetie!" She chucked Edward under the chin, and he grinned and gurgled at her. Then she trotted out of the house and to the driveway, where her boyfriend, Tommy Seymour, waited for her in his white Camero.

"Hey!" he said as she slid into the front seat beside him. He leaned over and kissed her hello. "How did it go with my little nephew?"

"Great, like always," Kathy replied. "He slept most of the time, and only woke up when he needed a diaper change and a feeding."

"That's my boy. Such a shame his Mama isn't here. She'd be so proud of him."

"Yeah." Kathy sighed. "Are we ready to go?"

"You bet!" Tommy stepped on the gas and headed for the beach. He looked forward to relaxing in the sun with Kathy. They'd been dating for awhile, and he was beginning to care deeply for her.

"Absolutely not!" Thomas Boleyn snarled. "What kind of future does that boy have?"

"He's a man, not a boy," Anne countered. "He's doing what makes him happy, and that's enough for me."

"What do you know?" Thomas snorted.

"I'm twenty-six years old, and you're treating me like I'm thirteen!" Anne complained.

"Maybe if you acted like an adult, I'd treat you like one," Thomas retorted.

"I'm with Anne." Liz's voice was quiet but firm. "She's a grown woman, and she knows what she wants. Louis is a fine young man, and I can tell he truly cares for her."

"He also has that kid to support, doesn't he?" Thomas snarled.

"Of course he supports Reese!" said Anne. "What kind of father would he be if he didn't?"

"That child support check makes a serious dent in the meager living he makes," Thomas pointed out.

Anne's eyes blazed like fire.

"In case you forgot, I work full time as well, so our living won't be meager at all!" she spat.

"If he were any kind of man, he'd support you so you wouldn't have to work," Thomas grumbled.

"Welcome to the twenty-first century, Dad," said Anne.

"I don't care what century it is. It's a man's place to provide for his wife, as I've always provided for your mother."

"I'm not staying to hear any more of this. Louis and I are getting married, and that's final!" Anne grabbed her purse and stomped to the door.

"Don't come crying to me when you run out of money!" Thomas shouted after her.

Liz met her daughter at the door.

"I'm happy for you, sweetheart," she told her. "I know how much you and Louis love each other. Don't worry about your father. He'll come around."

"Don't hold your breath," muttered Anne.

"I wonder what happened to your Daddy," Kitty said to Edward as she spooned strained peas into his mouth and he spit them right back out. "He was due home half an hour ago."

She finished feeding her stepson and then cleaned up. She was taking the pigs in a blanket out of the oven when the telephone rang.

"Your husband was in an accident," the nurse told her, after verifying her identity. "He's in a coma, and his left leg was torn nearly all the way off."

"Oh, no!" Kitty cried. "I'll be there right away!" She called Kathy on her cell phone. Kathy was at Tommy's house, necking with him on the sofa.

"Oh shit, it's Kitty," Kathy mumbled as she looked at her cell phone. "What is it?"

"You have to come right away!" Kitty cried. "The hospital just called. Henry's hurt real bad. I have to go to him right now!"

"Oh, of course!" Kathy told Tommy what had happened, and they dashed to the Tudor home, where Kathy took a drowsy Edward from Kitty so Kitty could rush to the hospital to be with Henry. Dashing into the emergency room, she latched onto the first nurse she saw.

"Please tell me where my husband is!" she begged.

"One moment, please." The nurse left and returned a few minutes later accompanied by another nurse.

"Your husband is still in surgery," the second nurse told Kitty.

"How long will it take?" Kitty demanded.

"Several hours, at least. Please come with me. We need you to sign some forms."

Scared and confused, Kitty followed her into an office.

Anne had just gotten off work and was at home relaxing when the telephone rang. Sure it was Louis, she snatched the receiver and said hello.

"Oh, Anne, something horrible has happened!" Kitty cried. "Henry got hurt real bad on his way home from work yesterday. He banged his head, and his leg got ripped almost completely off! He's in a coma, and they don't know whether he'll ever even wake up again!"

Stunned, Anne didn't know what to say. While she still harbored significant bitterness toward Henry, she wasn't sure she would have wished this on him.

"I'm sorry to hear that," she told her cousin. "So are you at the hospital with him now?"

"No, I'm home. I can't stand hospitals - that awful smell, all those stretchers and things all over the place. Beth took the baby for a few days. Oh, Anne, I don't know what to do! Nothing like this has ever happened to me before!"

Anne remembered that, following her miscarriage, Kitty had never even stopped by to see how she was doing.

"Won't he expect you to be there when he wakes up?" If he wakes up, Anne thought to herself.

"I don't know. I hadn't thought about that. They'd call me, I suppose. Oh, Anne, this is terrible! I mean, what if he, like, dies, or something?"

"I don't think that'll happen. He's a pretty tough guy."

"But what if it does?"

Anne sighed. "I guess you'll just have to manage somehow. You need to pull yourself together, Kitty, and act like an adult, for once."

All Anne could hear was the sound of Kitty sobbing.