I hope you enjoy the following one. A big thank you to Lacto3.1415 for reviewing the previous chapter though. I liked this next fic, tell me if you do too.

Lois smiled as she bent over to pick up a dirty shirt, straightaway stuffing it into the washing machine with the rest of the dirty clothes. Silence. Again, she smiled, looking into the washing machine, staring lovingly at the small pile of dirty clothes in it. She pressed the button. The whirring of the machine pushed the silence away, building up in a slight crescendo as it began to spin faster and faster. Over the whirring, there was still that blanket of sweet, serene silence.

Unable to take it anymore, she burst out laughing. I'd never thought I'd see the day, she thought.

The day when the house is clean and all the chores are done. The lawn, mowed and the fridge, already been cleaned out since yesterday. The day where there are no silly arguments between the boys or vases or china crashing into the ground. There is not a whiff of smoke or socks, thanks to Piama's lovely gift of incense. The sun is shining outside, just longing for company…and its my day off, Lois's smile got bigger and bigger until the grin ran along her entire face.

Francis and Reese have moved out and are both leading their own lives. Malcolm is studying, not to mention staying, at Harvard. Hal is out with Jamie and Dewey at the tracks, probably delirious with happiness from watching cars going around and round in circles. It was just Lois. Lois and, of course, her unborn baby. At the thought of the baby, a shadow came over Lois's face. It wasn't that they didn't want it. They do.

I guess true peace will only come when I'm old and gray, the children running their own families and Hal doddering about talking about a giant fish he never caught. I'll probably be sitting in this old house, trying new recipes for jams and cupcakes to give to the neighbors, Lois mused. She knew that when the boys are back and the baby is born, it willll be like old times again.

The soft whirring of the washing machine pulled to a stop and Lois was jolted out of her reverie, realizing with a start that she had been standing at the same spot beside the washing machine for fifteen minutes daydreaming.

Fifteen whole minutes of daydreaming, thought Lois happily.

Indeed it was a pleasure that had eluded her ever since she had children. From the first toddler to the next, her world had been a whirlwind of dirty diapers, milk formulas and dinner. Now half of them are out and the other half is nowhere able to disturb her moment of peace.

Pushing a few more buttons to drain the machine, Lois set it on drying mode before making herself a cup of tea. As the water is boiling, Lois opened a jar of peanut butter and began making sandwiches, for herself, humming softly as she did so.

It's all so perfect, she thought.

I think I'll go and call Malcolm. It's about time he knows about the baby.

"WHAT!!" Malcolm gasped into the phone. Freddy gave him a questioning glance over his book before closing it

From the sounds of it, this is going to be good, he thought.

"Mom!! What in the- Dewey? Dewey did WHAT!? Oh my god, you can't be serious…" Malcolm remained oblivious to the fact that Freddy had already taken out his phone and, grinning slyly, was recording Malcolm's conversation.

Finally something to hold against Malcolm, Freddy thought gleefully, who had already found out about his crush on Professor Lang from the chemistry department through some unidentified means.

"MOM!!! Those were all rare first edition baseball cards! If you had sold them you could have bought a plane ticket here! Why didn't I? Mom, are you even listening? Those were first edition baseball cards. I can't just SELL them…" before Malcolm even finished the sentence, the expression on his face fell into a grimace as he held the phone away from his ear.

Even Freddy stared in wonderment as he heard Lois's voice loud and clear from the phone.

"..DO NOT TALK TO ME LIKE THAT YOUNG MAN!!! I HAVE HALF A MIND TO MARCH THERE AND GIVE YOU A SOUND WHACKING ON YOUR HEAD!! THEY WERE JUST CARDS, HOW WAS I SUPPOSED TO KNOW THEY WERE WORTH THAT MUCH?! AND BY THE WAY! I'm PREGNANT!!!" Lois snarled from the line and with that, the sound of the phone smashing into the receiver resounded through the room like a death bell.

Only after the last sentence did Malcolm's face, which was only a pained grimace before, became a ghostly white, color draining from his face at such an alarming rate Freddy thought he might faint.

"Pregnant?" Malcolm croaked, finally turning to look at Freddy.

Freddy shrugged. He was unsure as to how to react. "Congratulations?"

Malcolm looked pained as he slumped into his own bed.

'I'm going to be sick," he groaned weakly against his pillow.

I'm never going to set foot into that house again. Ever.

Lois smiled as she left her washing out to dry properly. That went well, she thought. Leaving him stunned and unable to react, she thought dreamily. He'll recover. They always do. Making herself a mental note to look for Malcolm's baseball cards later to sell them, she continued hanging out the clothes.

Making sure the clothes were set out neatly, Lois walked back into the kitchen, placed her basket in its proper spot before making her way to the phone again. Francis should know too I suppose.

"Hello," Piama's cheery voice greeted Lois.

"Piama? Hi. This is-,"

"Is that you Lois? Francis is not here, he's out right now," Piama said quickly, " if you want I can pass a message."

"Out? Where did he go, leaving you alone like that? How is the baby?" Lois frowned. Irresponsible as always, that one.

"Francis he's out wor-," Piama stopped herself just in time, "out walking… the dog."

"Dog? You two have a dog?" Lois voice began to rise.

"Yes," Piama answered weakly, unable to see any way out of her situation. Beads of sweat began appearing on her forehead and her dark eyes were wide with panic.

"Well…I just called to tell you that I'm expecting again. Oh, that's the doorbell, gotta go," Lois said quickly.

Wow, thought Piama, that was quick. She suddenly smiled. She liked all of Francis's brothers, even Reese, and she knows Francis loves all of his brothers dearly. Maybe one more will do some good. Never mind he freaked out when he found out about Jamie.

Wait till Francis hears the good news. I wonder if Lois knew how to use the peachwood chopsticks I sent her. Cost me a bomb.

Lois gently placed the phone back on the receiver. One of the few times after calling Francis she did that. Placed the phone gently.

Oh, I forgot to thank her for the incense she sent me, thought Lois. She will just have to wait until Francis calls back to ask about the baby.

This is easier than I thought, Lois chuckled to herself.

Then there's Reese and Mother…I'll tell mother after the baby is born.

Reese took out the fresh batch of cookies from the oven, carefully balancing it on two pieces of cloth. He grumbled, thinking of his red and blue oven mittens that Craig had left in the oven when he tried to bake. Sliding each piece carefully onto the cooling rack, he placed the burning hot tray on a wooden board to protect the kitchen counter. He then took another tray of unbaked cookie dough and slid them into the oven. The whole house was a cocoon filld with the aroma of vanilla and chocolate chips.

After resetting the timer, he began to cut out and arrange another set of cookie dough onto the empty oven tray on the wooden board. He then set the tray beside the oven. Taking the other pieces of baked cookies carefully and placing them onto a piece of greasy paper, he dusted them with tiny bits of cinnamon mixed with ginger powder.

"Hmm, something smells good," Craig remarked from his bedroom before peeking into the kitchen, smiling when he saw Reese baking. That was always a good thing.

Stepping into the kitchen, he reached for one of the frosted cookies.

"Don't touch that," Reese snapped, batting his hands away. "They're for Jamie."

"All of them?" Craig asked, eyeing the baked articles hungrily.

"Yes."

"You seem cranky today. Anything you wanna tell me about?" Craig asked distractedly, still eyeing one particularly large cookie that looked like it was taken out straight from a gourmet magazine.

"Mom called," Reese answered in a monotone, his eyes downcast.

"Oh. I understand."

Reese sighed heavily.

"I just….I just thought I'd try to relax. Baking always helped me relax."

"Oh…so she finally told you about the baby?"

"Yeah."

"Don't worry too much. I'm sure she'll be fine. Are you sure I can't try one?" Craig motioned towards the cookies again.

"Fine. Have only one or it'll ruin your dinner," Reese snapped.

Craig took the one he had been eyeing and, munching happily, retreated back into his room.

Reese was just making more cookie dough when he stopped. He just realized something.

"Craig?" he called out.

"Yeah?"

"What do you mean by finally?"

It was like drowning. He knew where he was, what he needed to do, how to do it. But he couldn't. No matter how hard he forced himself to. His mind was in whorl of emotions, each feeling trying to take over but each not strong enough to do so. He seemed to be excited, confused, puzzled and terrified at the same time. It was just too hard. But he still knew it needed to be done. It was either he sort out the mess now or face the music later on anyway.

I have to tell Mom about the letter.

That's it folks. Please take the time to review. It's the only way I can get better. People ARE reading but not reviewing. Please do.