Wednesday evening…

Jack took the kids and Annie to the park to run around and then to get some ice cream. While he was doing that, Grace, Julie, and Elizabeth got to work setting up for Brady's birthday dinner/party.

Brady had no idea they knew about his birthday so that made surprising him easy once they got Autumn in on it. She loved surprising people and making them happy so her lips were sealed.

Elizabeth assembled the spaghetti pizza casserole that she had found online while Julie set up balloons and streamers and Grace chopped up veggies for the salad.

Julie had also made a devil's food cake with chocolate frosting for Brady. It had eleven candles on it, ready to be lit.

"Any names picked out yet, sister?" Julie asked.

"Only a girl so far. Eva Charlotte."

"That's beautiful, Beth," Grace told her.

"Thank you. We haven't found a boy name yet that feels right."

"You still have plenty of time to figure it out," Julie mentioned.

"Yeah." She smiled and put her hand on her tummy as the familiar flutter showed up. "Hi, sweet pea."

Elizabeth felt like the next two weeks were going to drag just because she wanted to find out the baby's gender so badly. She was so excited to finally know if the baby was an Eva or a whatever the boy's name they picked was.

She stuck the casserole into the oven and sighed. "I'll be right back," she told Julie and Grace and headed upstairs to get the gift she had picked out for Brady. Jack's gift was hidden in the almost completed barn out back. A new bike was sure to put a smile on her boy's face. She hoped the tablet she bought him would.

She opened the card she had written for him.

"Brady,

I'm so grateful to have you as my son now. I want you to know that you will always take up a very special place in my heart. Even when you're thirty with a family of your own, you'll always be one of my babies.

I love you! Happy Birthday,

Love,

Mom"

Brady was a bit overwhelmed from his party. There weren't a lot of people but he wasn't used to being the center of attention. He had not had very many parties of his own and apparently the Thornton's went all out.

Now he had to open his gifts, again while everyone waited for his reaction.

Jack noticed Brady's look of apprehension. "Before we open gifts, can I borrow Brady for a moment?"

The women nodded and started cleaning up various items while Jack took him outside to the porch. "Much quieter out here," Jack said as he sat on the step.

"Yeah."

Jack looked up at him. "You doing okay?"

"Yeah."

"Its okay if you aren't. Not everyone likes parties."

"I haven't had very many. People staring at me…its weird."

"Yeah, it can be."

Jack patted the step and Brady sat down.

"Its nice of you and Elizabeth to do this, but maybe next year…"

"Have it be not such a big deal?"

"Yeah."

"You got it." Jack stood and started walking to the backyard. "Let me show you something," he told Brady. Brady followed him to the barn. He stopped when Jack started walking a brand new blue mountain bike and helmet toward him.

"A bike?"

"Yeah. I loved my bike when I was your age. It's been a long time since I've ridden and I thought maybe it would be something we could do together. Just us." Jack shrugged.

Brady was again overwhelmed but in a good way. He loved the thought of doing something with just Jack. He rushed forward and hugged Jack. "Thanks, Dad. Its great."

Jack immediately teared up at his use of Dad. "You're welcome, son." Jack kissed the top of his head and looked down at him. "I hate to break it to you but there are some girls in the house that are waiting for you to open gifts. Maybe you should just get it over with."

"Yeah." As they walked around to the front of the house, Brady had a thought. "I sure hope the baby is a boy."

"Why's that?"

"Because we sure are outnumbered."

Jack laughed and messed up his hair. "That we are, Brady."

Brady was surprised at the remaining gifts. Autumn had picked out a picture frame that said "Family" on the bottom and a picture of all four of them from the zoo a few days before.

She watched closely as he opened it. When he saw it, he smiled at her. "Thank you, Autumn. This is great!" She wrapped her arms around his neck and he hugged her back.

Next, Julie got him an indoor basketball hoop and ball. Grace got him a gift card for Amazon and he immediately wanted to buy books with it.

Which worked out well because next was Elizabeth's gift. He opened the card and read it. He had never felt more loved than at this moment. He looked up at her and saw her smile and tears. He stood up and gave her a hug. "Thanks, Mom."

She hugged him tighter and laughed. "You haven't even opened it yet."

"Thank you for wanting me." After another hug he opened the box. "A tablet! This is so cool!"

"You can read on it, play games, watch TV," she mentioned. "As soon as your chores and homework are done of course."

"Wow! I can use Nana's gift card to buy books!"

"Yes you can."

"Thanks everybody." He finally felt like a Thornton. What could be better?

Two days later, the Thornton's packed up their things for the weekend and loaded into Jack's truck. Brady was looking forward to the road trip because he had downloaded a bunch of books. Jack had suggested The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn and he had found the Diary of a Wimpy Kid series.

Autumn couldn't wait to see Grandpa Tom and Nana Charlotte again.

Jack couldn't wait either because he had planned a date night out with Elizabeth since they had kid sitters.

About halfway through the road trip, Elizabeth decided she needed a restroom so they stopped at a gas station. "Autumn? Let's go potty."

"Okay." Autumn tried to unhook her harness but it was giving her trouble like usual. Brady looked over and then pushed the buttons for her. "Thank you."

"You're welcome."

"Brady? Do you need to go too?" Elizabeth asked.

"No, but can we get something to drink?"

"Sure." He hopped out and followed Elizabeth and Autumn into the gas station.

"Can we get a snack too?" he wondered, looking at all the bags of chips and candy.

"No candy. Maybe pretzels?" She handed him a twenty. "Can you get me some Fritos and a peach iced tea? Get your dad some Chex mix and a Pepsi and Autumn pretzels and an apple juice. We will meet you in the car."

Brady grabbed a basket from by the door and loaded up what Elizabeth had mentioned along with a bag of sour cream and cheddar potato chips and a Pepsi for himself. The items came to just over eighteen dollars so he put the change in his pocket and carried the bulging plastic bag to the truck.

"Whoa! That's a lot of stuff," Jack said with a laugh.

"Mom gave me money."

"What did you get?"

"I got you Pepsi and Chex mix."

"My fave! Thanks, bud."

"You're welcome."

Soon the girls came back and everyone got settled with their snacks and were back on the road.

"Hey, Brade? Can you swim?" Jack asked.

"Yeah. I learned in school."

"Great. Nana and Grandpa have a pool."

"I didn't bring a suit."

"You can just wear your shorts."

"Cool."

"Will you….swim with me?" Autumn asked him.

"Sure. Do you know how?"

"I have….wings."

As they turned into the driveway of his childhood home a half hour later, Jack felt home again. "We're here," he whispered, giving Elizabeth's hand a squeeze to wake her up.

"Oh good. I need to pee again." Elizabeth groaned.

Brady unhooked Autumn again and helped her out of the truck. "Let's go….see Nana!" She grabbed his hand and dragged him to the house.

Charlotte opened the door. "My babies!!" she exclaimed as she came out on the porch.

Brady had never met the woman but she was another hugger so now he knew where everyone got it from.

She gave Autumn a huge hug and lots of kisses and then moved to him. "Boy, you are a handsome young man, Brady. Gonna be a heartbreaker when you get older." She gave him a hug. "I'm Charlotte. You can call me that or Nana. Whichever you want."

"Nice to meet you."

Elizabeth walked up then. "Kids, can you go help Dad get your things, please?"

Charlotte smiled at her daughter-in-law. "Look at you, sweetie." She went to touch her stomach and hesitated. "May I?"

"Of course."

Charlotte gently touched her rounded tummy. "Oh, this is so amazing. Are you excited?"

"Yes, very. We find out in about ten days if it's a boy or a girl."

"That's so exciting!"

"Yeah it is."

That day, Elizabeth and Autumn were in the pool while the men and Brady were playing football in the side yard. Elizabeth laid back on the pool float and soaked up the warm sun while Charlotte helped Autumn swim.

After about twenty minutes Elizabeth heard Jack yell her name. He sounded frantic.

"Elizabeth!" he yelled again.

As fast as she could, she got out of the pool and hurried to the yard.

Brady was sitting on the ground, breathing hard. "What happened? Is he hurt?"

"No, we were running around and then he started having trouble breathing."

Elizabeth tipped his chin up and looked at him close. His lips were pale and he was panicked.

"Let's go to the hospital. Now!" she told Jack. Jack picked him up and they ran for the truck. Tom and Charlotte stayed behind with Autumn. Elizabeth grabbed her cover up and phone and jumped in the truck, sitting next to Brady. "Okay, listen, baby. Breathe, nice and slow. I know you're scared but you need to stay nice and calm."

"What are you thinking, Elizabeth?"

"I think asthma attack. My cousin has asthma and this happened to him quite a few times." Brady wheezed and coughed, holding his chest. "Shhh, breathe," she whispered, holding his hand in hers. "You're going to be just fine."

The ten minute drive to the ER was the longest of everyone's life. Finally they arrived, Jack pulling right up to the door. He opened the door, helped Elizabeth out and then scooped Brady up and ran him inside.

"Someone! Please, my son can't breathe!"

Apparently those were the magic words because a nurse immediately took them behind closed doors in triage and started their exam.

Autumn was scared. All she knew was Mommy and Daddy took Brady to the hospital because he was sick.

Tom held her on his lap and hummed a song. "Grandpa….Brady is sick?"

"Yes, peanut. But the doctors will make him better."

"His ears?"

"No. He was having trouble breathing."

"Why?"

"I don't know. That's why he needs the doctors."

"He ing back…right?" she asked, her breath catching.

"Of course, sweetheart."

"I scared…" Before he could respond, she started praying. "Dear, God. Please….make Brady better. I love him. I need…him." Her tears stopped her from finishing so Tom did it for her.

"Through Jesus your son's name, Amen."

He kept humming until she fell asleep and then he laid her on the couch with her doll Grace. What a sweet child she was and it hurt him to see her so worried. If he was honest, it worried him too that they hadn't heard anything yet. So he prayed for patience and headed into the kitchen to find Charlotte.