The Brady Eight: Just Starting Out
A Welcome Aboard Sequel
Chapter 55
A/N—This is a "place holder" chapter. Not a whole lot happens, but it needed to be included. Plus, one of my reviewers challenged me to get to 72 chapters. Don't know it if'll happen, but hope you enjoy!
Sunday. The twins are napping. Mike, Peter and Bobby watch a football game on TV. Jan and Cindy are out with friends. Carol is napping. The phone rings; Carol answers it.
Carol: Groggy. Hello?
Martha Tyler: How are you? You sound tired.
Carol: I was taking a nap.
Martha: I'm sorry I woke you. Mary called this morning. Christine had her baby last night.
Carol: Awake. Oh?
Martha: Yes. A girl. Kimberly Dawn.
Carol: The baby's early? Thinks about Peter's baby and feels sad.
Martha: Yes. Realizes another baby was due about this time. Oh Carol, I'm so sorry.
Carol: Thanks. Sighs, then regroups. How's Christine?
Martha: Mary said it was an easy delivery. She was in labour for only three hours and the baby came quickly.
Carol: Wow!
Martha: Yes. She's a tiny thing. Four pounds, twelve ounces, and seventeen and a half inches.
Carol: She is tiny!
Martha: She said she looks like Christine's baby pictures... doesn't look at all like Jay.
Carol: Oh?
Martha: Mary said Jay split earlier this summer. He met a girl named Keelee, they joined the Peace Corps and went to Africa. Sighs. I have a feeling Mary and Roger will wind up raising the baby.
Carol: What makes you say that?
Martha: Although Mary says Christine's doing better, I have my doubts.
Carol: Maybe she'll become a good mother to Kimberly. She's always had a good head on her shoulders; she just lost her way for awhile.
Martha: Changing the subject. How are you?
Carol: Inhales. Pregnant.
Martha: Shocked. What?
Carol: I'm due in May.
Martha: Stammers. C... con... congratulations. How are you feeling?
Carol: I'm feeling good. I've got some morning sickness, but I feel good.
Martha: How did Mike and the kids take the news?
Carol: They were as surprised as I was. Smiles. Mike's been wonderful. He's so excited.
Martha: How are you feeling about it?
Carol: Shocked at first, but I'm getting excited about having a new baby. I know it'll be hard juggling three little ones, but we'll manage.
Martha: Of course you will.
The women talk a few more minutes, then hang up. Carol tries to resume her nap, but the phone rings again.
Carol: Hello?
Mary: Hi.
Carol: Smiles. Mary, how are you?
Mary: I suppose mom called you and told you that Christine had the baby last night.
Carol: She did. Congratulations.
Mary: Excited. Thanks.
Carol: How's Christine?
Mary: Resting right now. Oh Carol, she was such a trooper! We were sitting down to dinner when the baby decided she wanted out. Chuckles. Halfway through dessert, Christine's water broke and we were off to the hospital.
Carol: Giggles. Mom said her labour lasted only three hours.
Mary: It did. She was pushing by ten and at ten fifteen, Kimberly made her appearance. She's got a good set of lungs, that's for sure. She came out kicking and screaming.
Carol: I'm so happy for you.
Mary: I can't believe I'm a grandmother! Just wait until you're one. Realizes what she just said. Carol, I'm sorry.
Carol: A little sad. It's okay. Inhales, feeling a hitch. We're doing okay. Tell me more about my new great-niece.
Mary: She looks just like Christine's baby pictures: little bit of red hair, blue eyes, her facial features... Not a whole lot of Jay in her. Christine said the baby has his feet, and a birthmark on her right shoulder like he has. And she's so tiny! Four pounds, twelve ounces, and seventeen and a half inches. Well, she was early... nearly four weeks early.
Carol: Blinks away tears. I can't wait to see her.
Mary: We're coming to mom and dad's Christmas. Changes the subject. Now, enough about me, how are you guys?
Carol: Jan won homecoming queen.
Mary: Wonderful! I knew she would.
Carol: Marcia's assisting in her first fashion show. Greg and Nora are still going strong.
Mary: What about Peter and Julie?
Carol: She moved to Oregon.
Mary: I'm sorry.
Carol: Me too. He's pretty heartbroken about it.
Mary: I can imagine.
Carol: He's still doing archery. Cindy's still into her cheerleading. She and Bobby are studying for spelling bee. They really want to make it beyond the written exam at Nationals. Jan's still trying to figure out what she wants to paint for the art show.
Mary: They've got a lot going on. How are the twins?
Carol: Chuckles. Running headlong into the "terrible twos."
Mary: Is Carolyn signing more? I bet Ryan's talking up a storm.
Carol: Yes. I think Ryan's favourite word is "no," and Carolyn's picked up sign language quickly. Her vocabulary is almost as vast as Ryan's. They're so cute when they sign to each other. The older kids, and Alice and Sam are still taking lessons... so are Mike and I.
Mary: Is she learning to speak?
Carol: She can speak some, but she prefers to sign. We're working on her speaking skills. Angie, her Speech Therapist, still works with her.
Mary: That's great!
Carol: How's Jack?
Mary: Still into chess. He met the baby this morning. He was so cute with her, telling her about his favourite chess set, and how he wants to teach her how to play when she gets older. How are you and Mike?
Carol: Mike's got a new account designing a new mall for the east side of town. It's not his forté, but he said the company is a good one.
Mary: And what about you?
Carol: Elusive. Oh, same ole, same ole... Juggling six kids at home, two little ones, and two in college. Not much to tell.
Mary: Not buying it. You're hiding something.
Carol: Playing along. Whatever do you mean, sister?
Mary: I'm your sister. I know you. You're hiding something.
Carol: Laughing. Okay, okay. You're right.
Mary: Interested. So, spill.
Carol: I'm pregnant.
Mary: Shocked. You're joking!
Carol: I'm not joking.
Mary: Disbelieving. Seriously?
Carol: I'm nearly nine weeks along. I'm due in May.
Mary: Wow! Congratulations! How are you feeling?
Carol: I'm feeling fine.
Christine: In the background. Mom! I need help. Kimberly won't latch on.
Carol: I'll talk to you later. Sounds like Christine needs you.
Mary: Talk to you later and see you soon.
The women hang up. Carol yawns and stretches, and heads to Mike's den.
In the den
Mike is sitting at his drafting table working on drafts of the mall. Frustration sets in as he wipes his brow and sighs.
Carol: I thought you and the boys were watching the game?
Mike: We turned it off. Our team was getting massacred. So, they decided to hang out with friends, and I came in here.
Carol: How's it coming?
Mike: Sighs. Not very well. Mr. Anderson wants a movie theatre on the west end of the building, but the parking lot over there won't accommodate attendance. Plus, the access road there is terrible.
Carol: You'll figure it out.
Mike: Hope so. He brings her onto his lap. So, who was that on the phone?
Carol: Mom and then Mary. Christine had her baby last night.
Mike: Oh?
Carol tells him about the baby and her phone conversations with her mother and sister.
Carol: They apologized for causing us pain, because of Peter and Julie's baby. I told them it was okay... She sniffs, fighting back tears. ….that ….that... She sobs into his embrace. Mary told me about how much she's already enjoying being a grandmother and just wait until I am one. We should be grandparents now.
Mike: Honey.
Carol: I don't know if it's the hormones with this baby or I'm not as past the loss of Peter's baby as I thought I was, or...
Mike: Kisses her on the temple. It was a very awful loss for them and for all of us, and with Christine's baby being born close to Peter and Julie's due date, this was bound to have an effect on us.
Carol: I suppose you're right.
Mike: Places his hand over their baby. Now, I don't want you to get over stressed. We've got a new baby of our own to think about.
Carol: Smiles. We do. Embraces her beloved. I can't wait to meet this little one. I want to go ahead and pick out names.
Mike: Already? You don't want to wait awhile?
Carol: Grinning. No, I don't. How does Jessica sound if it's a girl, or Jason if it's a boy?
Mike: I'm not a fan. How about Heather or Scott?
Carol: I like Heather. Thinks. Heather Elizabeth?
Mike: I like it. Scott Jonathan?
Carol: Jonathan Scott? We could still call him Scott.
Mike: I love it. Concludes. So, we've got Heather Elizabeth or Jonathan Scott Brady.
They embrace, ending with a passionate kiss.
-End of Chapter 55-