Chapter Twelve Expecting:

When Delia and her boyfriend, Greg Anderson, were out on a date four months later he surprised her with an unexpected question. "Delia Brown, will you marry me?"

"Of course I will!" she answered as he placed the ring on her finger.

"Wait till your family hears."

"I hope they're happy about this." Delia said as they walked out of the restaurant.

"And if they're not?"

"We'll still get married, just without them." Delia promised giving Greg a long passionate kiss.

Expecting:

When Amy and Ephram came over for dinner the following week Delia decided to tell everyone her and Greg's good news. "Greg and I are getting married!" She announced as everyone finished eating bringing the table to a complete silence.

"She's engaged, I can't believe it. My children are all grown up." Andy said as he and Ephram washed the dishes later that night.

"You still have Lily and Lucy." Ephram reminded him as he dried a cup.

Expecting:

"Delia and I might be grown up, but we're not going anywhere. She's glowing isn't she?" Ephram asked as he placed the cup in the cabinet.

"Yeah, she is." Andy said thinking about how grown up Ephram and Delia were.

Later that week when Ephram checked the mail he came upon a surprising invite. "Amy do we know anyone who's engaged?"

"The only engaged couple we know is Delia and Greg."

Expecting:

"That's exactly who it's from."

"They sure picked a date fast." Amy commented reading the invitation. "Did you read this last part?"

"Yeah, the question is do I respect her wishes or tell my dad?"

"I don't know.""I think I should tell him she'll hate me, but he should know when his oldest daughter is getting married. I'm also leaning against not telling him because I don't want to ruin her trust." Ephram defiantly had a lot to think about.

Expecting:

The next week Ephram and Amy went to his dad's office for her monthly check up, so he decided he had to tell him about Delia. Now the question was how he was going to tell his dad that his own daughter didn't want him to walk him down the aisle? "Did your dad tell you what you're having last time?" Andy asked as he did the ultra sound.

"Well we were hoping for a girl, so we'd have two of each. Why? Is it a boy, because we'd be happy either way." Amy said looking at the picture.

Expecting:

"No, that's not what I meant. You guys are having …..wow, you guys are having triplets."

"Triplets as in three babies at once?" Ephram asked shocked.

"Yep, do you want to know the sexes?"

"Yeah we want to know." Amy said grabbing Ephram's hand.

"They're all girls, so I guess you got your wish." Andy said as he printed out the picture. "Congratulations!"

"Thanks Dad! Amy can we have a minute alone?"

Expecting:

"Sure, I'll go show my dad the picture." Amy said heading out the door.

"Three girls, you two are going to be busy." Andy said as the door shut. "What's wrong?" he asked noticing for the first time that Ephram was shaking.

"I made Adam sick, what if I made them sick too?" Ephram asked breaking down in tears. The disease made him an emotional wreck and it showed.

"Ephram, Timely disease is heredity, yes, but only in males. You're actually lucky they're all girls."

Expecting:

"Only males can get it? Are you absolutely sure because this is a rarely heard of disease?"

"I'm sure, I don't know why, but females can't get it. So now all you have to worry about is how you're going to handle three infants."

"Six kids, I'm not old enough for that."

"Well it's only because you and Amy have a thing for multiples."

"Yeah I guess we do. Please tell me you have had the test for Timely disease."

Expecting:

"I took a blood test when I had that bleeding ulcer awhile back. It didn't show anything."

"But did you have the actual Timely disease test?"

"No, but I'll take it if you need me to."

"Thanks, hey Dad I have to tell you something. Delia's getting married in three weeks."

"She's getting married already?"

"Yeah, she told me not to tell you, but I couldn't not tell you. Maybe you should talk to her, I don't know what to say."

"We'll talk eventually." Andy said hurt that Delia would feel that way.

"Okay, well I love you and I'll talk to you later Dad." Ephram said leaving.

Expecting:

Delia and Greg's wedding was small, but intimate. The only thing missing was Andy walking her down the aisle. "Congratulations!" Ephram said coming up to Delia and Greg at the reception.

"Thanks and thanks for coming Ephram."

"Are you kidding, I wouldn't miss my little sister's wedding for anything. Can I talk to you alone for a minute?"

"Sure, I'll be right back." Delia told Greg before she kissed him and got up.

"What's wrong?" She asked when she and Ephram were alone.

"Why didn't you invite dad?"

Expecting:

"He didn't seem like he even cared about Greg and me getting married."

"He's happy for you, but you're his baby."

"Lily, Lucy, and Sam are all younger than me."

"Yeah, but you're his and mom's youngest so you'll always have a special place in his heart."

"We're not talking Ephram, you know how that is."

"Yeah I do, look all I'm saying is that you were his first daughter to get married and he wasn't there. You hurt him Delia." Ephram said leaving the room.