Natalie grabbed the receiver on the second ring. "Hello?"
"Mrs. Petronski? This is Tonya from Dr. Barber's office," said the voice on the other end of the line. "The results of your amniocentesis are back. Everything's perfectly normal, and I can also tell you your baby's gender if you want to know."
"Oh, yes!" Natalie exclaimed.
"It's a little boy." Claudia and Ralph will be thrilled, Natalie thought. She called her husband right away.
"Guess what!" she exclaimed when she heard her husband's voice. "I just got the results of the amniocentesis back!"
"Is everything all right?"
"Everything's fine! And...it's a boy!"
"Well!" Ralph laughed. "Mom will certainly be glad to hear that!"
"I thought you wanted a boy, too."
"Well, yeah, that is nice, but the most important thing is that he's healthy."
By the time Natalie got home that evening, Ralph had already shared the news with Claudia. "I was so relieved to hear that little Stanley's all right!" she exclaimed.
Natalie grimaced at her husband. Little Stanley? "Of course he is, Mom." Later, he mouthed to his wife.
"I was so worried! Natalie's so old to be having her first, you know," Claudia continued.
"Lots of women her age and even older are having babies these days," Ralph pointed out.
"I know, and just look at all the Mongoloids being born!" Claudia replied.
"We would have loved our child even if there had been something wrong with him," Ralph told his mother.
"I know you would have, dear, but isn't it so good that there isn't? Little Stanley's just as perfect as his Daddy." Claudia patted her daughter-in-law's belly. Natalie rolled her eyes and Ralph grinned, but his expression quickly turned sober when he saw that his mother was looking at him.
That night Natalie was staring at the ceiling deep in thought when Ralph joined her in bed. "We are not going to name our son Stanley!" she stated.
Ralph sighed. "It's important to her that he's named after my Dad. Just humor her, OK? Stanley can be his middle name, and we can choose something else as his first name."
"I'm not sure if I'd even want it as his middle name. I'm sorry, Ralph, but I just really don't care for the name Stanley."
"I'm not crazy about it either, but look at it this way. It would go a long way toward getting my Mom on your side, and that's something we both want, isn't it?"
Natalie looked thoughtful. "Well...maybe Luke Stanley wouldn't sound so bad."
Ralph grinned. "I like that!"
Jo was all smiles as she greeted Doug after work one evening. "What's the occasion?' he asked.
"I got my period today!"
He chuckled. "First time I've ever seen you happy about that."
"Remember what happened when we were camping at Lake Hefner?"
"Huh? Oh, yeah!" He laughed and winked at her and swatted her bottom.
Clay graduated high school the first week of June. Jo and Doug drove him to the civic center early so that he could join his classmates in preparing for the ceremony. Then they found seats on the bleachers and sat down to wait. As time passed, many of Clay's other relatives arrived. Paige and Buck came with baby Prairie, as did Grace, her mother, her brothers, and her niece Sayre. Doug and Grace greeted one another warmly. "His mother would have been so proud of him," Grace remarked.
"I know," Doug replied. "I've been sittin' here thinkin' the same thing." He squeezed Jo's hand.
"Gay-Gay." Bethany patted Grace's leg.
"Hey there, darlin'," said Grace. "So is he still plannin' to go to the Police Academy?" she asked Doug.
"Yep."
"I know he'll make a great police officer."
"Oh, I agree!"
Jo's heart swelled with pride as she watched her stepson receive his diploma. She glanced over at Doug and saw that he was beaming. At last the ceremony ended, and all the graduates threw their caps into the air. Then it was a mad dash to find Clay amongst the other graduates.
"I love you, son." Doug's voice cracked just a little bit as he hugged his son.
"I'm so proud of you!" Jo exclaimed when her turn came. "You've turned out to be such a fine young man. I'm so glad you're in my family."
"Thank you," Clay said shyly.
Doug took the entire family out to one of the finest restaurants in the area to celebrate. Clay teased Jamie about still having three more years to go before she graduated herself, and she stuck her tongue out at him.
"That was such a beautiful ceremony! I almost cried," Jo said to Doug later, when they were alone.
"Me too," Doug admitted.
"I do have to say, you did a really awesome job of raising him. I know you did it mostly alone."
"Aw." He hugged her and kissed the top of her head. "You deserve some of the credit too, y'know."
"But I've only known him for the past couple of years," Jo pointed out.
"That don't matter none. I can see how big of an influence you've had on him, and I can't tell you how much I appreciate it. You're a great Mom."
Deeply touched, Jo clung to him, unable to say a word.