"According to the first day of your last menstrual cycle, your due date is April 15," Dr. Weeks told Anne. "Is this your first pregnancy?"

"No," Anne replied. "I had a miscarriage three years ago."

"I'm sorry to hear that," said Dr. Weeks. "How far along were you when it happened?"

"About ten weeks."

"Was the physician in attendance able to diagnose what caused it?"

"No, he wasn't."

"You must not blame yourself," the physician had told her. "Sometimes these things just happen."

Henry had been the one with all the questions. "Did you eat healthy food? Did you get enough rest? Did you keep all your appointments?" Did you, did you, did you! His attitude had only twisted the knife which had already been plunged into her heart.

"I'll order blood work to see if your levels of pregnancy hormones are adequate," said Dr. Weeks. "I'll also schedule you for an ultrasound in two weeks. Give this card to my receptionist on your way out."

Anne did so, then went to work. She'd decided to keep working for as long as she physically could, then take maternity leave for an unspecified period.

Anna looked up and smiled as she entered. "Are you?"

Anne grinned and nodded.

"That's wonderful! Congratulations!" Anna gave her a quick hug. "Now we both have reasons to celebrate!" Charles Brandon had asked her to marry him several weeks previously.

As she began to work, Anne thought that perhaps it was really too early to be celebrating. She shouldn't have even told Anna about her appointment that morning, she reasoned, as she'd meant to wait until after her tenth week or so to tell anyone at all about the pregnancy. She hadn't even told George about it yet.

When lunchtime arrived, she headed for the Acme Oyster House. She and Louis had made plans to have lunch together there. When she entered the restaurant, she saw he was already sitting at a table, perusing a menu. She walked up to him and kissed his cheek. Startled, he jumped, then looked at her and grinned.

"Hey!"

"Hey, yourself," she replied, sitting down across from him.

"How did it go at the doctor's?" he asked.

"It went all right," she told him. "I have an appointment for an ultrasound in two weeks. You can come with me, can't you?"

"I wouldn't miss it for the world!" He remembered accompanying Marie to her first ultrasound when she'd been pregnant with Reese, how in awe he'd been at his first glimpse of the grainy image of their child, so tiny yet so perfect.

The waiter came to take their orders. They both ordered fried oyster po boys.

Louis ate his whole sandwich, but Anne grimaced when she was only halfway finished with hers.

"What's wrong?" asked Louis.

"I just don't seem to have much of an appetite," Anne told him. "You can have the rest of mine."

"You can take it home with you and finish it later," Louis suggested. Her offer was tempting, but he'd feel guilty about eating food meant for a pregnant woman.

Anne finished her work day and then went home and slept for the rest of the evening. As a consequence, she spent a restless night tossing and turning.

"The results of the paternity tests are back," Charlie told Kitty. They were cuddling on his bed together after making love.

"And?" asked Kitty.

"The little girl's mine. The other baby isn't."

"Oh." Kitty stretched luxuriously in Charlie's freshly scented sheets. She hadn't yet told him she was pregnant.

"Her name's Gabrielle. She's almost a year old. I've seen her picture, but I haven't met her yet. She's really cute."

"Well, are you going to?" asked Kitty.

"Going to what?"

"Meet her."

"I'd like to, but I don't think her mother's too crazy about the idea. I don't even really know her. She's just some chick I picked up in a bar. I was only with her once, and I was too drunk to remember much about it. I shouldn't have told her my real name."

"Hm." Kitty wondered how many men she'd been with had told her their own real names. "What does Terri have to say about it?"

Charlie laughed, then assumed a falsetto voice. "'I can't believe you were fucking her at the exact same time you were fucking me!' Those were her exact words."

"Were you?"

"Yeah, but I wasn't in love with her yet at the time." He rolled his eyes. "Women!"

"What would you do without us?" asked Kitty.

"Lots and lots of rosy palm and her five sisters," Charlie replied.

Anne lay on her back on a hard table in the ultrasound room as the tech smeared cold jelly on her exposed abdomen. The tech turned the machine on and began to move her wand over Anne's belly.

"This is your baby," she told Anne and Louis. "Here's the placenta and the umbilical cord, and this is the heart. It's beating a bit faster than ours."

"Wow!" Louis breathed.

"Can you tell if it's healthy?" asked Anne, staring at the faint blob and trying hard to make out distinct body parts. Her first ultrasound with her previous pregnancy had seemed perfectly normal as well.

"Everything looks fine so far," the tech told her. "I can't guarantee you a healthy baby, of course, but we will keep a close watch on you and let you know if we see anything worrisome."

Anne clung tightly to her husband's hand as they walked back out to the car afterwards.

"I can't wait to tell Reese about the baby!" said Louis. "She'll be thrilled!"

"Perhaps you could wait and tell her when she comes in December," Anne suggested. "I think it would be extra nice for her to hear it in person."

"I like that idea," Louis agreed.