Suddenly the nurse was there, taking the baby from Doug and placing her on a scale. "Eight pounds, six ounces!" she announced.

Dr. Hanson was there as well, sewing Jo up. "You have quite a large tear," she told her.

Doug brushed damp hair back from his wife' forehead. "It's all over with now, sweetie," he murmured as he kissed her cheek. "You did real good. I'm proud of you."

The nurse handed baby Bethany back to him, and he placed her in her mother's arms. "Well, hello there, little one," she cooed as she cuddled her new daughter close. Bethany opened her unfocused dark blue eyes to gaze up at her. "Oh, Doug, she looks just like Jamie did when she was born!"

"I remember Clay had those same long eyelashes," Doug remarked.

Bethany gently nudged the front of Jo's hospital gown with her lips, and Jo lifted it so that she could nurse. Doug chuckled. "Wow, look at her go!"

"She's a lot bigger than Jamie was," said Jo. "Jamie was only a little over seven pounds."

"Clay was closer to nine pounds," Doug replied.

It was still the wee hours of the morning, and euphoria over her daughter's birth soon gave way to fatigue for Jo. She yawned, and Doug took the sleeping infant from her. "Get some rest now, darlin'. You deserve it."

"What about you? You were up all night, too."

Doug grinned. "Aw, don't worry about me! I'll be fine." Several hours later, he gently shook his wife awake. "Your breakfast is here, hon. You need to eat somethin' to get your strength back."

Having not eaten since dinnertime the previous night, Jo was suddenly famished. She gobbled down the grits, eggs, bacon, and toast with relish. Doug laughed indulgently at her eagerness. While she was eating, he called the house to tell Clay the news but got no answer. He left a message for his son to call the hospital. "Probably just sleepin' in," he told Jo.

When she'd finished eating, Jo called Taylor's house to talk to Jamie. "Cathy? Hey, this is Jo," she said when Taylor's mother answered. "I'm here at the hospital. I had the baby early this morning."

"Wow, you did? Really? Is everybody OK?"

"We're all fine. I had a little girl. We named her Bethany Rose Norman."

"That's great! Congratulations! I'll get Jamie for you."

"Mom?" Jamie said a few minutes later.

"Jamie? I called to tell you your sister's here. She was born early this morning."

"Yesss!" Jamie cried. "I can't wait to meet her!"

"Perhaps Taylor's Mom could bring you by later," Jo suggested. "You're gonna love her, Jamie. She's absolutely beautiful. She has the darkest brown hair and deep blue eyes, just like you did, and the cutest dimples, just like Doug's!"

After lunch Clay, accompanied by Grace and Earl, came to the hospital to meet his new sister. The teenager's eyes were big as he gathered the tiny bundle into his arms. "Wow, Dad, I've never seen a baby this tiny before!"

"She's almost as big as you were when you were born," Doug said proudly.

"I'm just so glad to see that things have worked out so well for the two of you," said Grace. "To be honest, after that fiasco with Maggie, I was really wary to see Doug get involved again, but everything's fine now, and here's the little miracle to prove it."

"I really didn't think it would happen at my age," Jo told her. "That's why I wasn't as careful as I should have been."

"So now do you regret not being careful?" A small smile played about Doug's lips.

"Not at all! Do you?"

"A thousand times no! This little girl here's the best thing that ever happened to me, besides havin' Clay and meetin' you, of course." He smiled and gently squeezed his wife's hand.

"Bethany was no accident," said Earl. "She was meant to be. She's brought happiness to two lonely families, healed a lot of hurt and eased a lot of pain. She's even more proof that there's a reason for everything that happens!"

The others all had to agree.