"I don't know if I want to find out the sex of the baby." Brenda said looking up at Roger as they sat in the waiting room of the clinic.
"What do you mean you don't know if you want to find out the sex of the baby? Bren, they can tell us today if we want." he said looking down at her.
"I know, I just don't know if I want to know. I mean, we knew with Roger and look what happened." she said looking up at him.
"Bren, look at Rosie. She's fine." he said takiing her hand in his.
"Yeah, and I didn't find out with her." she said looking down at her belly.
"What do you mean you didn't find out with her?" he asked looking down at her.
"I was afraid to find out with her. I was afraid if I found out, I would get too attatched and then if she was James', I would have a hard time giving her up." she said looking up at him.
"Baby, everything is gonna be fine. Please don't talk like something is gonna happen." he said lifing her chin up to look at him.
"I'm sorry. I'm just a little superstitious about this. Please understand, OK. I mean, we only have 4 more months until the baby's born. We can find out then." she said looking up at him with tears in her eyes.
"OK Baby. OK. If you want to wait, we'll wait. It'll be OK." he whispered holding her in his arms.
"Mr. And Mrs. Davis, we're ready for you." the nurse smiled opening the door.
"Thank you." Roger said looking down at Brenda. "Ready Baby?" he asked looking down at her.
"Yeah, I'm ready." she smiled looking up at him.
"What do you mean she didn't want to find out the sex of the baby?" Chelsea asked as she and Mark sat on the couch.
"She wants to wait until the baby is born to find out." he said pouring himself a cup of coffee.
"Now that's just archaic. We have the technology, we might as well use it." she protested getting up from the couch.
"And I know you Roger. You didn't go along with this easily." Mark said looking up at him.
"She's superstitious, what did you want me to do? Argue with my 5 months pregnant wife? Yeah right, have fun with that." he said drinking his coffee.
"He's got a point Baby." Mark said looking over at Chelsea.
"Yeah but, how are we supposed to know how to decorate the nursery if we don't know the sex of the baby?" Chelsea asked looking up at Roger.
"Well then, let Bren deal with it. It was her idea to tie our hands." he smiled looking down at her.
"Roger, you are horrible." Chelsea laughed looking up at him.
"Think of it as an I told you so. If she has to pick green and yellows, she's gonna change her mind. Trust me. She hates those colors." he smiled looking down at her.
"You are evil." Chelsea smiled looking up at him.
"No, it's called knowing my wife for a very long time. If her only options for the nursery are those colors, she'll flip. Trust me." he smiled putting his coffee cup down on the counter.
"I like the way you think. This could work. And then we only have to wait an extra month to find out the sex of the baby. I like it. You are an evil genius." she laughed looking up at him.
"Now, if you'll excuse me. This evil genius needs to tune his guitar for rehearsal later." he smiled at her before going into his and Brenda's bedroom.
"No wonder why Bren always said Rosie had Roger's penchant for mischief." she laughed sitting down next to Mark again.
"Yeah, he's got an evil mind." Mark laughed leaning down to kiss Chelsea's head.
"Bren, these are the only colors we can pick for the nursery since our hands are tied by a little thing called not knowing the sex of the baby." Chelsea said looking over at Brenda as they looked at paint swatches in the hardware store down the block from the loft.
"Not the only ones. I was thinking we could paint the nursery peach and white. We could put Sesame Street characters along the border. It's gonna be really nice." she smiled looking over at her obviously unhappy friend.
"Isn't peach more of a girl color?" she asked trying to bait her.
"Well it's better than mint green and yellow, don't you think?" she asked walking away from her.
"Yeah, I guess." she said quietly looking very disappointed.
"Chelse, do you think Rosie would like this color for her room?" she asked looking back at Chelsea.
"Honey, I thought we were picking out a color for the baby's room?" she asked walking over to her.
"We are, but don't you think it would be nice for Rosie to get a new room too? I mean, she's 8. I'm sure she would like to change her room a little bit." she smiled looking at the swatches.
"I'm sure she would. Why don't we bring some swatches home for her to pick from?" she suggested smiling at her.
"Poor Roger, Marky and Collins. It doesn't look like they're gonna get rest any time soon." she laughed looking over at her.
"It's OK sweetie. They love doing things for their girls." she smiled putting her hands on her hips.
"Or boy." she laughed caressing her belly.
"Honey, why don't you want to find out the sex of the baby?" Chelsea asked looking over at her.
"I don't want to jinx it. I mean, we found out when I was pregnant with Roger and that didn't end well, but I didn't find out with Rosie and that turned out great." she said looking over at her.
"Honey, just because you find out the sex of the baby, it doesn't mean something bad is gonna happen." she said looking over at her.
"I don't want to take any chances." she said looking over at her.
"OK honey. But you do realize you're killing everyone." Chelsea laughed looking over at her.
"I know. Especially Roger." she laughed looking over at her.
"I haven't heard him complain too much." she smiled looking over at her.
"You didn't wake up to him waving a ring on a string over my belly the other morning." she laughed looking over at her.
"You're kidding. Roger did that?" she laughed looking at her.
"Yeah, I almost wrapped that damn string around his neck." she laughed looking over at her.
"Well, you can't blame him for not being creative." Chelsea laughed looking at her.
"I guess not." she smiled looking over at her friend.
"That husband of yours." Chelsea smiled looking at her.
"He is so cute sometimes, you know?" she laughed thinking about Roger.
"Sometimes? You know you think he's cute all the time." she laughed putting her arm around her.
"I can't help it. I've loved him for a good portion of my life." she smiled putting her head on Chelsea's shoulder.
"I know honey. I know." she smiled starting to hug her.
"Mom, can I have this purple one for my room?" Rose asked looking up at Brenda.
"Let me see sweetie." she smiled looking over at her. "Oh sweetie, that's a perfect color. I think we can do that." she smiled looking at the swatch Rose had in her hand.
"Can I help daddy paint my room?" she asked sitting next to her.
"I'm sure daddy will like that sweetie." she smiled looking down at her.
"Mom, what are you and daddy gonna name the baby?" she asked leaning her head on Brenda's shoulder.
"We haven't talked about it yet. But if you have any suggestions we're open to them." she smiled looking down at her.
"Can we name the baby after Uncle Collins if it's a boy?" she asked looking up at her.
"Thomas Davis?" she asked smiling at her.
"No. Name the baby Colin." she said lifting her head up.
"Colin Davis, huh? I like it. I'll run it by daddy later, OK?" she smiled looking down at her.
"Cool. Thanks mom." she smiled leaning in to kiss her cheek.
"OK, now we have to figure out a girl's name." she smiled looking over at her.
"Can we name her Angel after Uncle Collins' Angel? She's looking out for us like Mimi and Roger are." she smiled looking up at her.
"You want to name the baby Angel?" she asked looking down at her.
"Yeah, why not? Uncle Collins loved Angel very much. I think it would be nice. Then maybe she'll look out for daddy and Uncle Collins more because she won't want them to leave me and the baby." she said looking up at her. Her green eyes began filling with tears.
"Sweetie, daddy and Uncle Collins are healthy now, OK? You shouldn't be worrying about that stuff right now." she said putting her arms around her.
"I'm scared mom. I don't want daddy and Uncle Collins to die." she said looking over at her.
"Me neither sweetie. We just have to make sure they know we love them now, OK? That's all we can do." she said kissing her daughter's head holding back her own tears.