The first day of school drew near. Clay was going into the eleventh grade, and Jamie was going into the eighth grade. The Saturday before the first day of classes, Doug and Jo took Clay and Jamie to WalMart to shop for school supplies. By now Jo's feet were so swollen that she couldn't wear anything but flip flops, and her hands were so swollen than she could no longer wear her wedding ring.

"I feel like a house," she complained as they steered the cart through the tightly packed aisles.

"I sure hope I don't see anybody I know," Clay muttered.

"Oh, look!" Jamie exclaimed. "A shoe sale!"

"We're here to buy school supplies," her mother reminded her.

"I know, but since we're here anyway...hey, look! These are only two dollars a pair! And look, they come in every color!" She started adding sandals to the shopping cart as her mother rolled her eyes.

"Yo, Clay! Going shopping with Mommy and Daddy?" a teenage boy hooted. He and his friends laughed.

"Shut up!" Clay muttered fiercely through his teeth.

"Better stock up on these while they're here." Doug started placing folders of various colors into the cart.

Jo suddenly felt dizzy and out of breath. "I need to sit down," she told Doug, grasping his arm.

"Are you all right?" he asked anxiously.

"I'll be OK," she assured him. "It's just my asthma. It gets worse when I'm pregnant."

Doug led her to the diner, where he bought her an iced tea and sat with her. "Remember when we met here right after the accident?" asked Jo.

"Sure do." Doug grinned. "Seems like a million years ago, doesn't it?"

"An awful lot has happened since then, that's for sure." After drinking her tea, Jo felt much better, and the family continued their shopping and then went home.

Taylor came over for a sleepover, and Jamie showed her friend her new sandals and school supplies. Jo watched television for awhile and then got a severe backache. Doug massaged her back until it felt better.

That night Jamie and Taylor sat up until four o'clock in the morning watching scary movies and eating popcorn. Jo watched along with them until she got tired and went to bed.

The following day was Sunday, but since Taylor was still there, Jo stayed home with the girls while Doug and Clay went to church.

"How did it go?" Jo asked when they returned.

"It went all right," Doug replied. "Everyone asked about you."

"Did they really?"

"They did. Especially Grace."

"I didn't know they liked me that well." Even though she'd been accompanying Doug to church for a few months now, Jo still felt like something of an outsider there.

"Of course they do. Why wouldn't they?"

Several weeks later, Jo and Jamie accompanied Doug and Clay to Clay's high school's first football game of the year. The weather had turned crisp and cool, and Jo wore a heavy sweater.

"I haven't been to a high school football game since I was in high school myself," Jo told her husband.

"You'd better get used to them." Doug chuckled. "High school football games are a staple in this family."

They arrived to find the stadium sparsely populated. "Want to sit here?" asked Doug, stopping about halfway up the bleachers.

"Here's fine," replied Jo. They and Jamie sat down while Clay went in search of his friends.

After awhile, Jo noticed that Earl was sitting by himself near them. He saw her and came over to say hello.

"How's everything going?" he asked, looking at her swollen belly.

"Fine so far," she replied. "I had no idea you liked football."

"Of course I do. Why shouldn't I?" he said. "Did you think I just like sitting around on clouds playing a harp all the time?"

"To be honest, I had no idea how angels liked to spend their spare time," Jo admitted.

Earl laughed. "Can't speak for all of 'em. Just myself."

Clay's school's team won the game that night. Jo wondered whether Earl had anything to do with that.