Thank you all for your continued enthusiasm and support, and for your patience. Here is the next chapter. It covers early May to early July 2019.

EDIT: Some of my early reviewers pointed out that the distance from New York City to Buffalo by car is six hours, so I went back and fixed that. I've been to Massachusetts but never New York (city or state), and I live in the Midwest, so I was unaware of the actual geographical distance. Thanks to those of you who caught my error. I fixed it.


William Lucas Masters was christened the third Sunday after he was born, with Rick and Kate Castle, and Kevin and Jenny Ryan, standing up as his godparents. Lanie's parents, Alan's parents, and his sister, brother-in-law, and 9-month-old niece Aubrey all came for the christening. Lanie had planned everything down to the second, and while her mother grumbled about not being able to have a hand in her own grandson's christening, everyone pretty much ignored her, because they were all so happy about the baby.

The funniest moment of the day was at the party at Alan and Lanie's packed-to-the-rafters-with-people apartment, when Nick spotted Lily walking towards him and Sarah Grace and scowled, crossing his arms over his chest, and proclaiming firmly, "No kissing, Lily!"

Lily wasn't the least bit taken aback. She said, "No missa-toe, Nick. It's not Kiss-mas," and proceeded to ask Sarah Grace, "You wanna play?"

"Sure," Sarah Grace agreed. "Be nice, Nicky," she said to her brother.

"You play. I'm not!" Nick insisted, turning and dashing in the other direction, towards his parents, Uncle Javi and Aunt Alexis.

Sarah Grace shook her head. "Boys are so weird," she said before she headed off with Lily towards the opposite end of the living room to play.

"I think Will has surgeon's hands," Melinda Parish proclaimed as she held her grandson.

"Mama, if Will wants to be a doctor he will have our full support," Lanie said. "But he doesn't have to be a doctor if he doesn't want to."

"Of course not," Walter Parish piped up. "This boy can be anything he wants to be, and he'll get no pressure from anyone about what to be." Walter and Melinda Parish then had a tense staredown over their first grandchild's future that seemed to last forever, but in actuality only lasted a minute.

"I can't believe my little brother is a daddy!" Liz Weston exclaimed for what felt like the fortieth time. "And Aubrey has a cousin!"

"Two grandchildren in one year, a girl and a boy," Sue Masters said.

"And there was a time you were worried we'd never have any grandchildren at all," her husband Dave teased her.

Dozens of pictures were taken in every conceivable combination of people. It was a wonderful day of friends and family.

Kate and Jenny had both received many calls and texts from Lanie in the first weeks of Will's life about everything from burping to nursing to when the stump of his umbilical cord fell off and if it looked normal, and they were both happy to help her through her trial by fire. As Kate put it when the three mothers had a moment in Lanie and Alan's kitchen during the party after Will's christening, "No matter how many books you read, or how many websites you go to, when the moment arrives, you have to pretty much figure it out for yourself, because every baby is different, and luckily, every baby is also forgiving and resilient. You'll make mistakes, but Will is going to forgive you for them. Don't waste time beating yourself up over those mistakes, because you won't make any that are unforgivable or dangerous."

"It's all overwhelming and scary at first," Jenny agreed, "but you're doing great, Lanie. And you have an excellent partner in Alan."

"He is amazing," Lanie agreed, looking across the crowded room until she spotted Alan, holding Will, looking down at him with pure love and adoration, seemingly blocking out everyone else around them as he spoke quietly to his son, probably about Star Trek or Dungeons and Dragons or Comic-Con. "I actually get to shower every day, at least for the time being, because Alan is on paternity leave for two months. And he's great about changing diapers and giving Will a bath, and he'll run out to the store for diapers or wipes or cream or anything we realize we need at any hour of the day or night."

Jenny held her mimosa aloft, and Kate and Lanie followed suit (though Lanie's champagne flute contained only orange juice). "To our wonderful husbands, who are amazing fathers," she said.

"I'll drink to that," Kate said, marveling all over again at how Rick had raised Alexis basically on his own, and at how incredible he was with Lily, and how incredible she knew he would be with their hopefully-soon-to-be-conceived next child.

"Hear, hear," Lanie agreed before the trio touched glasses.

A piercing wail went up then, and Kate, Lanie and Jenny all three set their glasses on the nearest countertop and rushed into the living room. The wail was coming from Will, who was hungry, and overstimulated from being passed around among so many people.

Alan stuck his finger in Will's diaper. "He's dry," he reported as Lanie rushed to them. "I don't think he did the other, either. He must be hungry."

"I think so," Lanie said, glancing at the nearby wall clock. "Excuse us, everyone." She took Will into her and Alan's bedroom, nudging the door shut behind her with her foot to preserve her privacy so she could nurse her son in peace.

"You don't look too much the worse for wear, Alan," Rick said.

"Will's a pretty laid back little guy, all things considered," Alan replied. "And paternity leave helps. Plus Lanie and I both crash whenever Will's sleeping. It's an adjustment, sure, but I've never been happier in my life."

"Family is what it's all about," Kevin agreed.

"I'll drink to that," Rick said, lifting his glass to toast with Kevin and Alan. "To our incredible children, and their amazing mothers."

Kevin and Alan clinked their glasses with Rick's, and then Kevin and Rick instinctively sought out their kids—Nick busy with his ever-present LeapPad under the desk in Lanie and Alan's living room, Sarah Grace and Lily playing pretend way across the room—and then met their wives' gazes, exchanging secret smiles, the true, and depth-filled, meanings of which were known only to them.


Madison was in her private office at the Manhattan location of Q3 when her cell phone rang. She answered it, "Hello, Madison Queller here."

A strange female voice on the other end, "Ms. Queller, this is Sarah Murphy. I'm a nurse at Sisters of Charity Hospital in Buffalo, and I'm calling you on behalf of Mark Fallon."

"Mark?" she asked. She knew that Mark had been called to the Homeland Security Field Office in Buffalo for meetings today. "What's wrong? What's happened?"

"You're listed as his emergency contact in his phone," Nurse Murphy replied. "He was in a car accident, and he has a compound fracture of the left leg."

Madison's head, heart, and stomach all three were churning in turmoil now. "Is he going to be all right?" she asked anxiously.

"He's just been taken to X-Ray. Preliminary diagnosis of a compound fracture was made by the paramedics who responded to the accident."

"Sisters of Charity Hospital in Buffalo," Madison replied. "I'm on my way."

She shouted instructions to her manager on the fly as she dashed out the door and jumped into the first cab she could flag down. She rushed to JFK International Airport, got the first flight to Buffalo that she could, and after landing in Buffalo, rented a car and sped to the hospital, worried every second about Mark.

When she arrived at the hospital in Buffalo, she flew into the ER and exclaimed, "My boyfriend Mark Fallon was in a car accident, he has a compound leg fracture, and-"

Before she got any further, the ER nurse interrupted Madison. "Yes, Ms. Queller. I'm the one who called you. He's in surgery right now. They have to put a rod and screws in the tibia and fibula and then cast it. I can take you up to the Surgical Waiting Room."

While Madison waited, she texted Kate to let her know what had happened, and then she had another thought and called Mark's in-laws. Jack answered, and he and Anna dropped everything and rushed from Huntington to Buffalo, also by way of JFK Airport, to wait with Madison for news on Mark. She tried reaching his mother, but Mark's mother didn't answer, and she didn't feel right about leaving a message about Mark's broken leg, so, since Jack and Anna had shown up by then, she opted to wait until Mark could call his mother himself. Kate called her back shortly after the Holbrooks had arrived, and Madison excused herself to take the call. "He's still in surgery, Kate, that's really all I know. I'm a wreck. Thank God Jack and Anna are here. I don't know how they can be so calm right now!"

"A compound fracture is serious," Kate agreed. "It's going to take a couple of months for him to get up and around again. And he'll have physical therapy."

"I don't even have any of the accident details," Madison replied. "I don't know how it happened." She caught sight of a nurse talking to Jack and Anna, who was motioning frantically to Madison. "A nurse is here. I've gotta go, Becks."

"Keep me posted!" Kate shouted before Madison disconnected the phone and sprinted back down the hall.

"Mr. Fallon came through the surgery just fine," the surgical nurse reported. "The rod and screws are in place, and his leg is getting casted right now. I'll come back with another update for you as soon as I can."

Madison, Jack, and Anna all three thanked the nurse, who left then. "Well, thank God," Anna said.

"A broken leg is no picnic, but it could have been a whole lot worse," Jack agreed.

They were finally allowed to see Mark when he was moved to a regular room after the completion of the successful surgery and his leg being put in a cast. He was barely awake, between the anesthesia from his surgery and the morphine IV for the pain, but he roused himself enough to realize that Madison, Jack, and Anna were there. "Hey," he said, his voice gravelly.

Madison couldn't stop the tears that began to flow. "Don't you ever scare me like that again," she chided softly before leaning down to kiss Mark's cheek.

"'m sorry. Wasn't my fault. Truck T-boned me. Drunk guy ran a light," he said. He fought the drugs. "My leg's not hurting anymore."

"Enjoy that while it lasts," Madison said. "They'll wean you off that morphine in the next couple of days, probably."

"She's not kidding about that, either, son," Jack said. "Went through that myself after my prostate surgery a few years ago."

"Okay," Anna said brightly and a little too loudly, "honey, you know the rule."

"No discussing my prostate in public," Jack replied.

"Yes," she said. "You rest up, Mark." She smoothed his hair off his forehead, then leaned down and kissed his forehead. "We're going to go to the hotel now." While waiting to get in to see Mark, she and Jack had booked two rooms at a hotel near the hospital, one for themselves and one for Madison. "Madison, we'll see you there later."

"I'll sneak you in some decent food and coffee tomorrow," Jack promised Mark before squeezing Mark's hand. Anna, knowing that Madison hadn't brought so much as a toothbrush, let alone a change of clothes, made a mental note to bring her some toiletries the next morning when she and Jack returned with breakfast and coffee.

Madison didn't make it to the hotel that night, sleeping in a chair next to Mark's hospital bed instead. They both woke up at around 4 AM, when the floor of the hospital they were on was relatively quiet, all things considered, since the next shift change wasn't happening for another three hours, and everyone else on the hall was either asleep or going about their work quietly.

Mark awoke first and just lay there, his broken leg in its cast in traction, looking at Madison curled up in the uncomfortable visitor's chair pulled up to his bedside, covered with a lightweight hospital blanket she must have asked a nurse for, or taken from the empty bed across the room, since the air conditioning in the hospital was set on Arctic Blast, and the early June weather wasn't humid enough to make that Arctic Blast comfortable.

He just looked at Maddie for he didn't know how long, and when she stirred and opened her eyes, blinking in the dim light of the hospital room, he smiled at her. "Hi," he said, his voice still gravelly.

"Hi," Madison replied, her own voice rusty from sleep. The night nurse had left a pitcher of ice water in the room not too long ago, and after they had each had some water, Madison resumed her seat.

"That can't be comfortable," Mark said. "C'mere." He patted one side of the bed.

The compound fracture of his leg was his biggest injury, but he had gotten banged up and had several bruises (or contusions, as the hospital medical staff referred to them), so in addition to the pain in his leg that would come roaring back when he was off the morphine, he knew he'd feel sore all over too. But at the moment, he couldn't find it in himself to care.

Madison cautiously, gingerly settled herself on the bed next to Mark. "How are you feeling?" she asked him.

"I'm still on the good stuff," Mark replied, gesturing to the morphine dispenser standing next to his hospital bed. "But I'm not so loopy that I want you think it's the drugs talking when I say what I'm about to say to you."

Madison tilted her head, wondering where he was going with this. "What are you about to say to me?" she asked.

"I think we should move in together," Mark replied.

In the silence that ensued, Mark peered at Madison's face closely, watching as she fully comprehended what he had just said. Finally, Madison repeated, "You think we should move in together."

"I've been thinking it for a while," Mark admitted. "I was waiting for the right moment to make the suggestion, and this may not be it, but I don't want to wait anymore. The cliché about your life flashing before your eyes when you're in a critical moment that it looks like you might not make it out of is true, at least for me. And Kim had her place in all those flashes of memory, but the main thought in my head in the split second before that truck slammed into me was, 'God, there's so much Maddie and I haven't done yet. I don't want this to be where it ends for me, because I'd miss out on so much with her.' And I would, because Madison, when I look at you, I'm home. And that's something I never thought I'd have again, a real home. Home is you. Wherever you are. So I want to find a place that we can make into a physical home together. I want your makeup cluttering up the bathroom counter, and you using my last razor to shave your legs without telling me. I want my toothbrush hanging next to yours in the bathroom, and your clothes exploding out of the bedroom closet. I want to get a new place with you that we can truly make ours. I want to pick out furniture and towels and argue about what kind of comforter to put on the bed, because you'll probably want something with flowers, and I'll want something solid, or maybe striped if it doesn't look like it belongs on a high-school football uniform. We're making a life together. Let's make a home together. What do you say?"

"Even if it's the morphine talking-" Madison began.

"I swear it's not," Mark replied seriously, and she took a good, hard look into his eyes, noticing that they were indeed clear. He still had morphine in his system, but he wasn't loopy on it, or overly doped up. He was in complete control of all of his faculties. And he meant it, because one thing Madison had learned about Mark Fallon early on was that he never said anything he didn't truly mean.

"We can't exactly go apartment hunting while you're recovering from that broken leg," Madison continued.

"It's only the beginning of June," Mark pointed out. "Six to eight weeks, I'll be out of this thing and into physical therapy, and we can start looking in late August or early September."

"Okay, then," Madison said.

"Really?" Mark asked hopefully.

"Really," Madison replied, "because you're my home too, Mark. A home I didn't even know I was looking for, and never thought I'd find. So yes, let's move in together...after your cast comes off and you've started physical therapy and we find a place."

Mark gently pulled Madison closer to him. "I'm gonna hold you to that," he said.

"I expect you to," Madison said before she and Mark sealed their agreement with a kiss that brought two nurses and a doctor rushing into the room when Mark's heart rate accelerated and the machines at the nurses' station alerted them to that fact.

Neither Mark nor Madison was even the least bit embarrassed that their liplock had raised Mark's heart rate enough to attract medical attention.


Rick sent the final revisions for his first serious literature novel, Something Worth Saving, to Black Pawn in early July.

He had just emailed the last of the revisions to Adam, his publisher, when Kate appeared in his office door. "Did you reach a stopping point?" she asked him.

"Just sent the final revisions to Adam," he replied, shutting down his laptop and closing the lid. "How has it been so quiet around here? Or was I just really in the zone?"

"Oh, you were in the zone, no question," Kate replied. "Alexis and Lily are out having a Girls' Day. I've been a bit preoccupied the last two hours, waiting for you to finish in here, because there's something we need to look at together."

"What's that?" Rick asked, getting up from his desk and stretching his arms above his head, then rolling his shoulders and bracing his hands at his lower back while he stretched his back.

Kate smiled. "It looks like I timed it pretty well," she said.

"Timed what pretty well?" Rick asked as he crossed the office to meet Kate in the doorway.

Kate took hold of one of Rick's hands and pulled him after her. "Come with me," she said.

Rick followed Kate, his hand in hers, as she led him out of his office doorway and to their bedroom...and then to their bathroom.

Ever observant, Rick saw the two pregnancy test kits sitting unopened on the bathroom counter before Kate could say a word. He looked at her, seeing the hope and the love and the joy in her eyes, and felt his heart start to pound as he said, "Really?"

"I've been drinking water and juice for the past hour," she said. "I didn't want to take the tests without you. I'm having most of the same symptoms I had when I was first pregnant with Lily, plus my pants aren't fitting right in the waist lately. Just in the past week or so. I took Lily over to Alexis's place a couple of hours ago, and picked up the pregnancy tests on my way home."

Rick looked at Kate in wonder. "You might be pregnant again," he said.

"I might," Kate agreed. "That's what we're about to find out." She began gently propelling him back towards their bedroom. "Give me a few minutes here, and then we can look at the tests together like we did with Lily." She gave him a quick kiss before closing the bathroom door.

Rick paced their bedroom, practically bouncing on the balls of his feet, he was so excited and hopeful and nervous. Kate emerged from the bathroom and said, "Three minutes."

"I remember," Rick replied, pulling his phone from his pocket and setting the timer.

They sat side by side on the edge of the bed, holding hands as they waited for the timer to go off. The nervous excitement and soaring hopes were there, just as they had been when Kate and Rick were waiting to find out if Kate was pregnant with Lily, but it was a different kind of nervous excitement and soaring hopes. Somehow, they both knew that the tests would read positive.

"Since I've been through this before, this time I feel pregnant," Kate said as they waited. "I'm only four days late this time, but my clothes feeling tight, the breast tenderness-"

"And you've been more tired than usual the past few weeks too," Rick pointed out.

"I have," Kate agreed. "And I don't think it's just the combination of work and keeping up with Lily."

"I hope you are pregnant," Rick replied.

"Me too," she said, bringing their intertwined hands to her lips and kissing the back of his hand. "And if I am, then we've got the three-year age difference between Lily and this baby."

"I wonder how Lily will react to the baby?" Rick pondered.

"We'll have to be sure to let her know that we're not replacing her, and that we love her just as much as we always have and always will," Kate said seriously, "especially if it's another girl." Rick just looked at her with a smile. "What? I had to do something with those two hours while I was waiting for you to finish your work."

"Next time, interrupt me," Rick replied just as seriously. "If there is a next time."

The timer on Rick's phone went off then, and he and Kate went into the bathroom.

As they had done when Kate had taken the pregnancy tests with Lily, they each picked up a test stick, looked at it, and then looked at each other.

Both pregnancy tests were positive.

Too overcome with emotion to speak, they set the pregnancy tests on the counter and melted into each other's arms, holding each other tightly as the tears coursed down their cheeks. They drew back at the same time, Kate reaching up to wipe a tear that was about to fall from Rick's left eye, and Rick gently framing her face in his hands. She leaned in then to kiss him, and the kiss lingered until the need for oxygen forced them to stop kissing.

"Do you think we can get an appointment with Dr. Elliott today? Before Alexis brings Lily home?" Rick asked.

"I'll call her right now," Kate said.

Dr. Elliott had had a last-minute cancellation, so Kate and Rick were at her office within half an hour.

"You're definitely pregnant, Kate," Dr. Elliott said after conducting her initial exam. "Based on the date of your last period, we're looking at a February baby here. I'm going to guess that you want a sonogram like you had with Lily?"

"Yes, please," Kate said.

Dr. Elliott applied the gel to Kate's abdomen, and it was cold. Then she moved the wand over Kate's abdomen, and Rick and Kate were both looking intently at the screen.

Before Dr. Elliott could say anything, Rick, noticing the strangeness of the picture, asked, "Is it a double exposure?"

Dr. Elliott merely smiled. "No, Rick, it's not a double exposure."

And in that instant Kate knew.

Rick, however, didn't. "Lily's first ultrasound didn't look like that," he continued.

"That's because Lily was a single. She didn't have a roommate...or rather, a womb-mate," Dr. Elliott replied with a chuckle.

Kate laughed too, because of course this would happen. Of course when trying for one baby, she and Rick would—

But Rick still wasn't getting it. "Womb-mate?" he repeated.

"Rick," Kate said, her face lit up like a Christmas tree. "There are two of them."

Rick shifted his gaze from the screen to Kate. "Two of them?" he asked.

"Two of them," Dr. Elliott confirmed. "Congratulations, Kate, Rick...You're having twins!"