By April, Lily and Landon had turned nine and six and Matt and Lexi were both continuing their amazing recoveries. The family still had hard times ahead, though.
The Saracens' beloved dog, Teddy, passed on in April. He was almost eleven years old and had had the heart problem that strikes most Cavalier King Charles Spaniels-mitral valve insufficiency. His life span was about as good as it got for a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel. The family buried Teddy under his favorite tree and Julie marked his grave with a small cross. The children all took Teddy's death hard. Lily said, "Teddy was the best dog I ever had. And I'm not just saying that because he's the only dog I ever had."
Landon said, "Teddy loved chasing tennis balls."
Lexi said, "Teddy was a great dog. He got me to talk again." Lexi was still in a wheelchair most of the time, but she could now stand on her own again.
Teddy's death was hard, but an even tougher loss was on the horizon. Matt was at a rehabbing session for his knee when Julie walked up with a sad look on her face.
Matt said, "Julie, what's wrong?"
Julie said, "Matt, I just got a call. Your grandmother died last night."
Although Matt knew that that was news that could come any time, he still lost it and began crying. After all, his grandmother had raised him and been there for him his entire life. As the tears streamed down, Julie said, "Baby, I am so sorry."
Matt said, "I'm sorry for crying."
"It's okay," said Julie. "That's one of the reasons I married you in the first place." This made Matt smile a little, but it was still very sad.
Matt flew back to Texas for the funeral. It was one of the hardest things he had ever done. The kids were all very sad, too. This was their first real encounter with death, and it was hard to take.
After the funeral, Matt and Julie decided to start the healing process by getting a puppy from the animal shelter. It was another Cavalier King Charles Spaniel. But Teddy had been a tricolor, and the new one was a blenheim-brown and white.
When they brought the puppy home, Matt said, "Say hello to Rexy."
Julie said, "That won't work, Matt."
"Why not?"
"Rexy. Lexi."
"Oh, I see your point," said Matt. "Well, we'll call him Rex, then. Because he's a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel and "rex" means "king" in Latin." Lily and Landon took to Rex well, but Lexi did not, declaring, "I don't want another dog!"
"What's wrong, Lexi?" asked Matt.
"I don't want another dog! I want Teddy!"
Matt picked Lexi up and said, "Lexi, I know you miss Teddy, but he's not here anymore. We have Rex now, though. Rex is not a replacement dog; he's just a different one. We're not trying to make Rex be the same as Teddy. He never could be; he's a different dog. He's even a different color. And look," continued Matt, picking up the puppy and showing him to Lexi, "his tail is wagging. That means he's very happy to see you, because he loves you very much. Can you love Rex the way he loves you?"
"I'll try," said Lexi.
A few days later, Lexi was outside with a small rubber ball. She stood up and threw it up to the sky. She would attempt to walk over to pick up the ball-she had relearned some walking skills now- but Rex would always get it and bring it back to her. This went on for several minutes. Lexi would heave the ball way up toward the sky and Rex would always bring it back to her. Matt noticed this and stepped outside and said, "Lexi, what are you doing?"
Lexi smiled and said, "Me and Rex are playing with Teddy, Daddy."
***
One day in early August, Matt called home and said, "Hey, Julie. How's everything going?"
"Let's see," said Julie. "Lily is late for hockey practice, Landon smashed your new calculator to bits, I just finished a chest therapy session for Lexi-her breathing sounds funny again-the dog is barking, and I think I have stomach flu. It's just another great day at the Saracen house, isn't it?"
Matt told her, "Lexi's breathing always sounds funny. And I'm going to have to talk to Landon when I get home, because he's in big trouble."
When Matt came home that night, he asked Julie, "Do I want to know how Landon did it?"
"I really don't think so," said Julie. "You wouldn't believe it if I told you anyway."
"No, I don't think I would, " said Matt.
***
A week later, Matt came home from practice and saw Lexi waiting for him. She said, "Hi, Daddy. Mommy has a surprise for you."
"A surprise?" wondered Matt, as he walked upstairs. Let's see, he thought, it's not our anniversary. It's not anyone's birthday. So what's the occasion?
When he got upstairs, he saw Julie. Julie said, "Matt, open your hands and close your eyes."
Matt said, "Is this one of those 'Open your hands, close your eyes, and you will get a big surprise' games? Julie, you know I hate those."
"I know," said Julie, as Matt closed his eyes and opened his hands. "I just like to mess with you." She placed something in Matt's hands and said, "Open your eyes!"
Matt looked at what she had put in his hands and said, "Is this-? Are you-?" He couldn't believe it.
Julie said, "Talk to me when you think of some real sentences."
Matt said, "I mean, are you absolutely sure?"
Julie said, "Four tests. All positive. I think it's a safe bet."
As the news sunk in, Matt said, "Wow. If that's the case, that means we have a miracle baby on the way."
"I know," said Julie. " When I did the math, I realized that I'm probably already ten weeks along. It's crazy, isn't it?"
"It sure is," said Matt.
Matt and Julie were both overjoyed to learn that baby #4 was on the way, and so were Lily, Landon, and Lexi when Matt and Julie told them. But beneath all their joy was one troubling thought: What if the baby has cystic fibrosis? They knew that the baby would have a 25% chance of having the disease, a 50% chance of being an unaffected carrier, and a 25% chance of being completely unaffected. Because of this, the doctor had recommended that Julie have an amniocentesis to test the baby.
Because they lived in the spotlight, they couldn't keep the news to themselves. As a result, people said horrible things about them having a fourth child.
Matt was online, reading the comments on an article about it. He couldn't believe the cruelty of some of the comments. He just looked and said, "These comments really should be monitored."
"What are they saying?" asked Julie.
"They're really not worth repeating."
In early September, Julie had her amniocentesis. It was actually kind of funny, because on the sonogram, they could see the baby trying to move away from the needle, providing a much-needed moment of comic relief.
Matt was at practice when Julie called to tell him the results of the amnio.
"Hello."
"Hi, Matt. The amnio results came in."
"Yeah?" said Matt, very nervous.
"Matt, the baby is fine. He is a carrier, but he does not have cystic fibrosis. That's great news, isn't it?"
"Yes, it is," said Matt, breathing a huge sigh of relief. The baby was just a carrier and he was going to be fine. And with the new season, Matt had work to do.
