On the appointed day, Doug drove his family to the camp grounds to meet Erskine's family. Jo was surprised to see that her husband's cousin's family had arrived in a large recreational vehicle.

"Oh, wow!" Jamie exclaimed.

Jo was startled at the resemblance between Clay and Erskine. They were both about the same age and had the same curly dark brown hair and brown eyes.

Ada was blonde and looked to be a few years older than Jo. Bits was a very pretty young woman with her father's hair and eyes, and Cassie strongly resembled her older sister.

"You have such an interesting nickname," Jo said to Bits. "How did you get it?"

"When I was a baby, I was very tiny and petite, so the family called me 'Little Bits.' After awhile, it got shortened to 'Bits'."

"Your camper is really awesome!" Jamie told her new relatives. "All we have is a lousy tent." She wrinkled her nose.

Ada laughed. "It's a recreational vehicle. You're all welcome to sleep in it with us tonight if you want. We have plenty of room."

"Wow, thanks!"

Doug looked a little disappointed, but Jo secretly felt glad that she'd be spending the night in a recreational vehicle instead of a tent. The group took awhile to get settled, then set out on a hike. Ada seemed very friendly and wanted to know all about Jo and Jamie. Jo told her about her first marriage and Rick's death.

"I was married before too," said Ada. "My first husband's name was Chuck. He was killed in a car crash only a couple of years after we were married."

"That's terrible!" Jo exclaimed. "I'm so sorry!"

"I was devastated," Ada replied. "Then I started attending Erskine's church and fell in love with him. His first wife had died of cancer right around the time Chuck died. He was very bitter about it, but I helped him get over that, and after awhile, we realized that we were really in love and got married."

"Aw, that's really sweet!" said Jo. "I suppose things happened kind of fast for me and Doug, and there have been some adjustments to make, but we love each other very much and we're really happy together."

"When's your baby due?" asked Ada, looking at Jo's swollen belly.

"November." Jo grimaced. "I still have a good ways to go."

"Are you all right?"

"I have something called hyperemesis gravidarum," Jo told her. "It's not as bad now, but a few weeks ago, I got so sick I had to be hospitalized. I couldn't keep anything at all down."

"Oh, no! Well, I'm sure glad you're doing better now."

Later, the group gathered around the campfire to toast hotdogs and then marshmallows. Bits and Cassie seemed really happy. Clay and Jamie seemed resigned to the situation. At least they were polite to everyone.

As Ada had promised, the recreational vehicle had plenty of room for all eight people to sleep. Jo stretched luxuriously in the comfortable sleeping compartment as Doug slipped between the cool sheets and wrapped his arms around her.

"Mm," she murmured.

"I was kind of hoping for a little more privacy," he murmured.

"It's only for two nights," she reminded him.

"And I intend to fully make up for lost time when we get back," he replied.

Jo noticed a slight ache in her lower right side but tried to ignore it. She was able to get a normal night's sleep, and in the morning, the pain was slightly worse but not yet unbearable. The two families had breakfast and then spent the morning fishing. Cassie, the most gregarious of the group, kept up an almost non-stop running dialogue. Her father told her several times to ease up on the constant flow of words. "You're going to scare all the fish away," he told her.

In the end, they caught more than enough fish for dinner than night. The pain in Jo's side grew more severe as the day wore on, but she bit her lip and bore it as well as she could. That night, she awoke in the middle of the night in agony.

Cold beads of sweat broke out on her skin as she debated whether or not to awaken Doug. She still had her appendix. Was there a chance she had appendicitis?

Doug awakened and gasped in shock at the sight of his wife's face. "Jo! What's wrong? You're white as a sheet!"

"It hurts." Jo rubbed her abdomen, struggling not to cry.

Alarmed, Doug roused Clay and Jamie and prepared to leave, apologizing to Erskine and Ada for the interrupted trip.

"Oh that's all right!" Ada exclaimed. "I hope you get better soon, sweetie!"

Clay and Jamie were very concerned about Jo as well. Doug drove back into town as quickly as he could, passing slower vehicles and even running a stop sign or two. Fortunately, he avoided being pulled over.

At last he reached the hospital, where he dropped Jo and the kids off at the emergency room entrance and then went to find a parking space. By now, Jo could hardly walk, and Clay and Jamie had to help her into the emergency room, where a nurse took one look at her and instantly called for a stretcher.