After fitting Charlie for his new shoes, Kitty returned to helping other customers but soon began to feel queasy. That chili I had for lunch must have been bad, she told herself. She kept working until suddenly her stomach lurched and she fled to the employee's restroom, where her entire meal came up right in the sink.

"Yuck!" She ran the water full strength to flush the mess down the drain, then rinsed her mouth out, washed her face, popped a peppermint into her mouth, and then returned to work.

"Are you all right, Kitty?" asked her co-worker, Shannon. "You look a little pale."

"I'm fine," Kitty told her. She finished the rest of her shift without incident and then went home.

It was twilight on a Saturday evening, and the street lights were just beginning to come on. Louis and Anne were playing Monopoly when Kitty entered the house. Anne looked up.

"How did work go?" she asked.

"Terrible!" Kitty told her. "I threw up!"

"That's the third time this week," Anne remarked. "Don't you think you should go to the doctor?"

"Nah, I'll be all right. I just had some bad chili for lunch. That's all."

She went to her room while Anne and Louis returned to their game. Anne had a sinking feeling in the pit of her stomach.

Kitty stayed in bed so late the following morning that Anne went to check on her and found her still in bed.

"What's wrong?" she asked.

"I don't know," Kitty replied. "I just feel so tired, for some reason. Maybe I'm anemic."

Later that day, Anne received a telephone call from George.

"I asked Elisabeth to marry me today," he told her.

"You sure don't sound very happy about it," Anne remarked.

George sighed. "She told me I'd have to convert to Catholicism before she'd marry me. Oh Anne, all those rites, rituals, and procedures! I don't know how I could ever get used to all that!"

"You knew she was Catholic before you started dating her," Anne pointed out.

"Yeah, I know," George agreed. "I just never imagined myself ever having to convert."

"What all do you have to do?" asked Anne.

"I have to find a sponsor and take classes," George replied. "It sure seems a lot to go through!"

"If you really love her, it'll be worth it," said Anne.

"I do really love her," George replied.

"You are anemic," the physician told Kitty. "You're also about two months pregnant."

"Oh my God!" she squealed. "How'd that happen?"

The physician gave her an incredulous stare. "You don't know how it happened?"

Kitty gave a nervous giggle. "I mean, of course I know how it happened, but it's like, I don't know which one of them is the father!"

"Paternity can be established through blood tests after the child is born. Right now, it's of utmost importance that you start these iron pills and prenatal vitamins right away and make an appointment with my receptionist to come back in two weeks for an ultrasound."

Kitty's thoughts were in a jumble all the way back home. She remembered what married life with Henry had been like - every single month, he'd hounded her.

"Did it come yet?"

There'd always been such a glow of hope in his eyes she'd dreaded having to tell him that yes, her period had come.

Perfect timing, she thought wryly as she pulled into the driveway. Now that we're going through a divorce, what he wanted so badly has finally happened.

Except it might be Tom's - not his.

Is something the matter?" asked Louis. Anne nodded, and he reached for her and pulled her into his arms.

"Kitty's pregnant!" The tears she'd been trying so hard to hold back finally came, and Louis pulled her close.

"It's not fair!" she sobbed. "I was always faithful to him, but I never could give him a baby, and I'm not sure I can give you one either!"

"It's all right," Louis soothed. "Even if you can't, we'll still have Reese for the summer and a couple of weeks in the winter."

Anne turned a tear-streaked face to him. "But don't you want a baby with me, too?"

"Of course I do," Louis replied. "And if it's meant to happen, it'll happen, but if not, we can look into other options, like adoption."

"I want to carry my own baby inside my own body," Anne whined.

"I know," said Louis. "How far along is Kitty?"

"She said at least two months," Anne sniffled.

"That's not very far along," said Louis. "She could have a miscarriage as well."

"That's right. She might." Anne stopped crying. "Is it horrible of me to kind of hope she does?"

"No," said Louis. "But I don't think you should be jealous of her. I doubt he'll take her back just because she's pregnant, and he might even try to take the baby away from her after it's born."

"That's right," said Anne. "I never thought of that. If it's a boy, he'll definitely want it - although there's also the chance it might be Tom Culpepper's baby."

"Uh-oh."

"Uh-oh is right."

"Is she even still seeing Tom? I haven't heard her mention him in awhile."

"I think he's already moved on to someone else."

"Poor Kitty," said Louis. "It's not easy being a single parent."

The doorbell rang, and Anne went to open the door.

"Oh, hi, Charlie," she said as she let her brother-in-law in. "How's Anthony?"

"Fine, last I saw him," Charlie replied. "Terri's a good Mom. Is Kitty around?"

"Have a seat." Anne nodded toward the sofa, where Louis sat. "I'll go get her."

Charlie patted his brother's knee. "What's going on, bro?"

"The usual," Louis replied.

Just then Kitty appeared in the hallway, smiling a brilliant smile.

"Hi, Charlie!"