Chapter 2
A/N—Thanks for the great reviews and feedback! The Brady house has an elevator from what used to be Mike's office and up to what used to be the boys' room. The girls' room has been converted into Mike and Carol's office. Carolyn has the attic room and Ryan, the suite. After Peter and Christine buy the house, Chris eventually takes the suite, Tiffany, the attic, and Jonathan and Joseph eventually have the girls' old room. They keep the elevator in, and after Joseph outgrows the nursery, Peter uses it as an office.
At the Brady home
The Brady kids and their spouses, Wally included, gather at the family home. Peter and Christine bought the home from Carol after Mike died. They continued to host family events at the home. After dinner, the family gathers in the living room.
Jan: Dinner was marvelous, Christine!
Christine: Thanks. I've tried to remake your mom's beef stroganoff, but I just can't get it to taste like hers.
Jan: Mom always used home made beef broth. Can't use store bought, or it won't taste right.
Christine: That's probably it.
Cindy: Mom was a stickler for making things from scratch.
Carolyn: Chuckling. I remember when mom tried to teach me how to make lasagna. It was Jason's favourite food and I wanted to impress him.
Jan: You were pregnant with Crystal then, weren't you?
Carolyn: Yes, and mom and dad didn't know it.
Christine: Shocked. Seriously?
Carolyn: It was in the summer and I wasn't showing yet. I think my constant swimming helped keep me slim. And I wasn't one of these people who liked wearing bikinis or tight clothes. It was the 90s, and since oversized shirts were in fashion...
July, 1993.
Carol and Carolyn are cooking lasagna.
Carol: Make sure the meat is browned enough.
Carolyn: Do I need to add the Italian spices?
Carol: Looks in the skillet and nods. Go ahead. Mix it in slowly so it coats the meat evenly.
Carolyn: Feeling nauseous. Like this?
Carol: Yes.
Carolyn: Bile rises up in her throat. Excuse me! She dashes into Ryan's suite and throws up in the toilet.
Carol: Covers the skillet and checks on her daughter. Carolyn, are you okay?
Carolyn: Rinses her mouth out. Ugh.
Carol: Feels her daughter's forehead. You don't seem to have a fever.
Carolyn: Takes a few deep breaths. I'm okay.
Carol: You sure?
Carolyn: Yes. I wanna finish cooking the lasagna.
Carol: All right.
As soon as they return to the kitchen, Carolyn races off, sick again. Carol turns the stove off, fixes a glass of Sprite and checks on her daughter. She meets her coming out of the bathroom adjacent to the living room.
Carol: Hands her the glass. Here.
Carolyn: Thanks.
Carol: Do you need to lie down?
Carolyn: No, I'm okay.
Carol: You sure?
Carolyn: Begins crying. Mom?
Carol: Becomes concerned. Carolyn, what's wrong?
Carolyn: Is Dad around?
Carol: Strokes her daughter's hair. He's upstairs in the office.
Carolyn: I... I need to talk to you two.
Carol: All right.
Carol turns the oven off and the pair go to Mike and Carol's office. Mike is working on plans for a new building. He sees his youngest daughter is crying.
Mike: Concerned. What's wrong, Kitten?
Carolyn: Cries into her father's arms. Oh, Dad!
Mike: Looks at his wife, who is worried. Tell us what's going on.
Carol and Carolyn pull up seats. Carolyn is still crying.
Carolyn: Sighs. I... I... Blurts it out. I'm pregnant and Jason's the father!
Carol: Stunned. What?
Mike is unable to speak.
Carolyn: Prom night. Jason and I went to Lookout Point after prom... a... and now I'm pregnant.
Carol: Carolyn!
Carolyn: I am. I... I took two tests a... and they both came up positive.
Mike: Sighs. Does Jason know?
Carolyn: Smiles. He does and he's so excited. He wants us to get married and raise the baby together.
Carol: What about college? You've got that scholarship.
Carolyn: Irked. I can still go. Swim season is in the spring, and I'll have the baby in December or January.
Mike: I don't think you and Jason have thought this thing all the way through. How is Jason going to support you and the baby?
Carolyn: He's got a full ride scholarship and a work study job.
They continue to talk about the baby, and concerns over the decisions the young couple have made.
Mike: Do his parents know?
Carolyn: They do. Mrs. Smith is excited too. It's her first grandchild. She and Mr. Smith said they'd help us out if we need it.
Carol: Have the two of you set a wedding date?
Carolyn: Ryan wants to get married next Spring. That way the baby will be born and we can plan for one thing at a time.
Carol: Still not happy. I'll agree with him there.
Mike: I think the six of us need to sit down together and discuss this.
Carolyn: Irked. What's there to discuss? This is my baby and Jason's. We're both eighteen and out of high school. Rises. I'm going over to Jason's.
Carol: We'll talk about this later. Stands and kisses her daughter on the cheek. I love you.
Carolyn: Love you too, mom.
Mike: I love you too, Kitten.
Carolyn: Bends down and embraces her father. I love you too.
Carol: Don't worry about dinner. I'll finish it.
Carolyn: I should've known better than to try and cook beef. Every time I smell it, I get queasy. Jason's favourite food is lasagna and I wanted to learn how to cook it.
Carol: I understand. Morning sickness can do funny things to people. Maybe later on you won't feel so sick and we can try then.
Carolyn: Thanks, mom.
Carol: You're welcome. Just be home by five. Greg, Peter and their families will be here then and dinner's at six.
Carolyn: I will.
Back to the present:
Christine: I remember that dinner.
Nora: Me too. Things were pretty tense.
Carolyn: Mom and dad were still really mad. Ryan just about did a spit take when I dropped the bombshell on everyone.
July, 1993
Greg, Marcia and Peter's families join Mike, Carol, Ryan and Carolyn for dinner. Carolyn is feeling queasy from the smell of beef in the lasagna. Carol fixed her a separate dish, but she still has trouble choking it down.
Nora: Carolyn, are you okay? You look positively green.
Mickey: If you're sick, don't give it to me!
Kevin: Me either. I've got camp this weekend.
Mike sighs, exasperated and Carol bites her lower lip.
Carolyn: Mickey, Jessica, and Kevin, how would you like another cousin in January?
Ryan chokes on his soda mid-swallow.
Jessica: Squeals. You're having a baby?
Carolyn: I am!
Mickey: Rolls his eyes. I hope it's a boy. We've got enough girls around here.
Carolyn: I hope it's a boy too. Dreamily. I hope he looks just like Jason.
Carol tries unsuccessfully to hide the fact she is steamed.
Peter: Mom?
Carol: Sighs. Yes, your sister's expecting.
Greg: Have you seen a doctor yet?
Carolyn: I took two tests and they were positive.
Marcia: I took four or five when I was pregnant with Jessica.
Nora: Giggles. I think I took six with Kevin.
Greg: If you want, you can come into the office tomorrow.
Carolyn: Okay.
Nora: Lifts Chelsea from the high chair. Why don't you get your bag? You have your Doppler in the car. You could check the baby's heartbeat.
Carolyn: Excited. Greg! Would you?
Greg: Sure.
Jessica: Can I listen too?
Mickey: Wrinkles his nose. No thanks!
Marcia: I don't think Carolyn would want too many people with her. It's kind of a private thing.
Carolyn: It's okay. You can come too.
As he grabs his bag, the rest of the family cleans up dinner. He, Nora, Carol, Jessica, and Carolyn go up to Carolyn's bedroom.
Greg: Go ahead and lie down.
Carolyn: Lies down. Mom, hold my hand?
Carol smiles and holds her daughter's hand. Greg sets up the doppler and finds the heartbeat. Carol smiles.
Nora: Grins. The heartbeat's strong.
Jessica: That's the baby?
Nora: It sure is!
Carolyn: Sees a tear roll down her mother's cheek. Mom. There's a baby inside me!
Carol: Yes, there is.
Greg: Turns off the machine. Sis, your baby's got a good heartbeat. Have mom bring you in tomorrow and I can run some bloodwork and get some pictures of your baby.
Carolyn: Sits up, grinning. Okay.
Back to the present:
Carolyn: It was really hard on mom and dad, but they really came around. Smiles. They were excited when Crystal was born. Grows somber. I think it really hurt dad to give me away.
Cindy: I can understand. Two out of their four daughters were either pregnant or had a baby when they got married.
Carolyn: I think they were disappointed. They liked Jason, but wished we'd waited. Although they loved the girls, they also wish we hadn't had them so close together.
Bobby: How come you guys chose gemstone names for your girls?
Carolyn: It was Jason's idea. His mother was a poet and wrote a really pretty poem about gemstones. He'd recite it to me when I was pregnant with each of the girls. He wanted to use Opal, Amber and Pearl, but I nixed those.
Nora: Smiles. That's incredibly romantic.
Carolyn: After seeing dad sweep mom off her feet so many times, I knew I couldn't fall in love with someone who wasn't romantic.
Tracy: Bobby learned a thing or two about romance from them. His proposal was incredibly romantic. Chuckles. Wet, but romantic.
Christine: Peter's proposal was romantic too.
Peter: I think us getting married really lifted mom's spirit after dad's accident.
Back to 1992
Peter approaches Christine's apartment door. He stares at the number for a bit, sighs, and knocks on the door. Christine answers and smiles.
Christine: Hi! She envelops him in an embrace.
Peter: Hi. These are for you. He presents her a bouquet of roses.
Christine: Her face brightens. They're beautiful. Come in.
They enter her apartment.
Christine: Let me put these in water.
She finds a vase and puts the flowers in water. Then she grabs her purse.
Peter: Shall we?
The couple goes to their favourite restaurant. The waiter brings out the wine and then leaves the couple to talk.
Christine: How's your dad?
Peter: He's about the same.
Christine: I'm so sorry.
Peter: Thanks.
Christine: Gary's kept me updated as well.
They talk a little more about the accident and Mike's prognosis. Then, Peter shifts the subject just a bit.
Peter: One thing that the accident has reminded me of is how fragile time is and how precious life is. It's made me think about my life and my future and I've made some decisions in my life.
Christine: Oh? What kind of decisions?
Peter: Decisions like where I wanna be in five, ten years, and who I wanna be with.
Christine: That's good. So, where do you wanna be in five years?
Peter: I wanna run for Councilman. If my dad doesn't make it, I wanna run for his seat and continue the work he started. I'd like to be Mayor in five or ten years. Who knows? Maybe I'll be Lieutenant Governor or Governor someday.
Christine: Wow! That sounds great!
Peter: I've found the perfect First Lady.
Christine: Oh? She takes a gulp.
Peter gets out of his chair and gets down on one knee.
Peter: I know we've only known each other for about six months, but I can't imagine spending the rest of my life without you by my side. If I do make Governor, I would like you to be my First Lady. If I never make Governor, I still would like you to be my First Lady. I love you. Will you marry me?
He pulls out a box from his pocket, opens up, and presents a gold solitaire.
Christine:Squeals with delight. YES! YES! YES!
He places the ring on her finger and they embrace. The other patrons break out in applause.
Peter: I love you.
Christine: I love you too.
Peter: When would you like to get married?
Christine: How 'bout now?
Peter: Laughs a bit. What? Are you serious?
Christine: Yeah, I'm serious.
Peter: You are serious.
Christine: Of course! You just said you have been thinking about what you want to do for the rest of your life.
Peter: True.
Christine: Well, now is the first day of the rest of your life. So, what do you say?
Peter: Let's go get married!
Christine: All right then!
They finish their dinner, including dessert, find a Justice of the Peace, and tie the knot.
The newlyweds walk out of the courthouse, arm in arm.
Peter: Well Mrs. Brady, what would you like to do next?
Christine:Giggling.Well Mr. Brady, let's go to the hospital and see your folks.
Peter: Do we want to tell them we're married or engaged?
Christine: Let's just go for broke and tell them everything. Besides, I'm a terrible liar.
Peter: Okay Mrs. Brady. We'll go share the good news.
Christine: Mrs. Brady. I like the sound of that.
Peter: I like the sound of it too.
The newest Mr. and Mrs. Brady make their way to Mike's room. Carol is sitting by the bedside, looking at her beloved. She looks up and sees Peter and Christine.
Carol: Peter, Christine. How was your date?
Christine: Good!
Peter holds up Christine's hand.
Carol: Shocked and delighted.You're engaged?
Peter: Actually, we got married.
Carol: What?!
Peter: We got married. Christine and I have been making assessments of our futures and where we wanna be in five years.
Christine: And we decided that we want to be together for the rest of our lives.
Carol: Congratulations! She hugs her son.Welcome to the family, Christine! She hugs her new daughter-in-law.
Peter and Christine approach the bedside.
Peter: Hey dad. I don't know if you heard or not, but Christine and I decided to get married tonight. I know this was quick, but we love each other and want to spend the rest of our lives together. You always said we need to take inventory of our lives. Well, I did and this is what I want. I love her. I hope you'll be happy for us.
Christine: Hi dad. It's your newest daughter-in-law. Now, you've got four Greenbergs in the family. I hope we have your blessing.
Carol: If you'd like to spend your first night together by yourselves, I can stay with your dad.
Christine: That's okay. We can stay with him.
Peter: Mom, go on home and get some rest. We'll stay.
Carol: Are you sure?
Peter: Yes mom. We're sure.
Carol: Goodnight. Congratulations. She goes over to the bedside.Goodnight, love. I love you. See you tomorrow.
Peter: Oh, and mom?
Carol: Yes?
Peter: We'd like you to keep this between the four of us. You can tell everyone we got engaged, but we'd like to tell them about getting married.
Christine: Please?
Carol: Sure.
Peter: Thanks mom. He kisses her on the cheek.
Carol: You're welcome. Congratulations.
Carol leaves the room and Peter and Christine settle in for the night.
Back to the present
Carolyn: Grins. Aww! That is romantic!
Christine: Although he's no longer Councilman, he'll always be Councilman to me.
Peter: And you'll always be my First Lady!
They kiss.
-End of Chapter 2-