Lee woke up the next morning feeling energized and excited—almost as though his adrenaline hadn't stopped rushing from the evening before. Gosh. He was excited! Lee always seemed to have a knack with kids. His younger brother Patrick was 8 years younger and despite the age difference, Lee always treated him like another buddy. Patrick thought the world of his big brother Lee and still looked up to him even as a 17-year-old kid. Lee also coached Little League and volunteered at the Boys and Girls Club in high school and college. He got such a thrill to just be that mentor for kids who may not have had that person to look up to at home. So, when he had met Rosemary, he was almost shocked to find out that she had no experience with children at all. She was an only child, involved with theatre and drama. She was also extremely social, as she was also on the cheer squad and also did choir. Rosemary did a lot, but babysitting was not one of her high school jobs.

When they talked about children, Rosemary wasn't opposed to them, but she definitely wasn't ready. That was a year ago. She wanted to wait a few years. So the fact that they weren't even trying, and she got pregnant, confused Lee. He peeked over at Rosemary who was still sleeping and then crept out of bed. He quietly went into their bathroom and opened her drawer. He pulled out the slip of contraceptive pills she was supposed to be taking and realized she hadn't been taking them. At all. Lee was about to put them back, confused, but—

"What are you doing?"

Lee dropped the pack of pills like a hot potato. "Nothing."

Rosemary glared at him and picked up the pack of pills. "You were snooping!"

"No- I was—"

"Well why?"

"Give me a second... I was just trying to figure out why you got pregnant so quickly since you were on birth control." Rosemary's anger turned into tears. Lee stood there unsure of what to do. "I'm not mad. I mean, I'm still not sure why you didn't tell me you were ready to have a baby."

"I—I—" Rosemary blubbered. "You're going to think I'm so selfish and superficial."

"No, no."

"I kept gaining weight on those dumb pills and I didn't like the fact I was getting fat." Rosemary's voice went to a whisper at the word fat. "And I could barely button my jeans or anything."

"That's all? Sweetheart—" Lee shook his head. He didn't even notice the supposed weight she had "gained."

"I don't need a lecture!" Rosemary cried. Clearly, her pregnancy hormones were kicking into high gear about now. Lee had a lot to say, but he looked at his crying, pregnant wife. She didn't need a lecture. And she didn't need him trying to solve her problems, not that Lee thought she had any— he just knew how the conversation would turn if he went there.

"Rosie, come here." Lee put his arms around her.

"I thought I could just track my cycle and not get pregnant."

"It's okay!"

Rosemary must have known what he was thinking. "I didn't tell you because I don't know. I was kinda, I don't know. I don't know what I was thinking. I can't think straight right now."

"Look. I don't care about the pills. I am over the moon excited we are having this baby. Even if it wasn't planned."

Rosemary was silent for a moment, still held by Lee. She composed herself and let out a sigh. Then another set of tears came.

"What?" Lee asked gently.

"I don't know why I'm crying." Rosemary cried more. "I'm a mess. And now I think I'm going to get sick."

"Oh, Rosie," Lee said. Lee didn't have any sisters, so all the emotions were new to him. Rosemary was usually happy-go-lucky and was always bouncing around like a happy little puppy. So this was very new to Lee. He looked at the clock. It was almost 7:15 and neither of them were ready for work. "Why don't you call in sick today."

"Whaaaat?"

"Yeah. You know what?" Lee led her back to the bed. "I'll email the principal and let her know you're not coming in today." When Rosemary didn't argue, Lee pulled out her iPad and started typing an email. When he took a little longer than normal, Rosemary looked over at him.

"What are you doing?"

"I'm calling in sick too."

Rosemary sat up. "You?" Lee tapped something on the screen and winked at her.

"Yup."

"Wow. I never thought I'd see the day where you'd play hooky."

"Not playing hooky if it's just a paid day off."

Rosemary sat up straight and jumped up. "Uh oh." She ran to the bathroom.

"And the morning sickness begins." Lee sighed. "Rosie?"

"Don't talk to me!" Rosemary said. "And don't come in here."

"Just text me what you need and I'll go to the store and get it." Lee grabbed his clothes and went into the guest bathroom to get ready. A few minutes later his phone buzzed.

Can you come here now?

Lee walked back to their master bedroom suite and Rosemary was sitting on the floor sucking on what looked like a lollipop.

"Where'd you get the lollipop?"

Rosemary pulled the lollipop out of her mouth. "Preggy-pops. I bought them when Elizabeth and I went shopping. The ginger is supposed to help."

"Do you need me to get more?"

"I think I have enough for now." Rosemary stuck the lollipop back into her mouth and leaned her head against the wall. "Ughh."

"I'm sorry."

"I just want to go back to bed," Rosemary said. Lee helped her up. "And I'm so hungry. But nothing sounds good right now." Rosemary sat on the bed and pulled the covers up. "The struggle is so real right now."

Lee couldn't help but feel bad for Rosemary. She looked miserable. "Anything I can do?"

"Can you be the pregnant one and take over the morning sickness?" Rosemary groaned. Lee kissed her forehead.

"Sorry, sweetheart. But I can take care of everything else today. Just take it easy. Call me or text me if you need anything." Rosemary nodded as Lee left. Lee got in his car and leaned his head back. It was going to be a long nine months. He needed help. Molly was a mother. Maybe she could give him some advice. But then again so was Abigail. Lee sped over to Abigail's.

Lee walked into the cafe and thankfully, Abigail was at the front counter this morning.

"Hey, Lee! Can I get you the usual?"

"Sure. I need advice though."

"What's up?"

"It's Rosemary."

"Ah… hold on a sec, Clara? Can you watch the register for a minute? I'm going to talk to Lee." Abigail walked around the front counter and she and Lee took a seat at the bar. "I'm guessing the hormones are kicking into high gear?"

"Well, yeah. But she's miserable. The morning sickness is also kicking into high gear. And I don't know what to do for her."

"Well, you can't carry her baby for her."

"She's already asked."

Abigail laughed. "I think, what she needs right now, is for you to make her feel special. She's so used to being put together and having everything together. So this is a new feeling for her and she can't control it. And I remember when I was pregnant with my son, I felt terrible, physically and emotionally."

"So, what do you suggest I get her?"

"What has she been wanting?"

"Well, there was this dress from Nordstroms she's been eyeing—"

Abigail held up her hand. "NO articles of clothing. Unless it's an accessory." Lee looked at her puzzled. "She's pregnant. She's not going to fit in it in about four months."

"Oh, right." Lee felt a little silly for even suggesting it. "You know what? I have an Idea." Lee stood up. "Thanks, Abigail. You're the best." Lee picked up his cup of coffee.

"You're welcome— I think?" Abigail said. She watched him leave and looked at Clara. "I wonder what he's up to."

"Well, being married to Rosemary, you know he's probably thought of something outside-the-box."

Lee stopped by the office where he surprised Mary, Hickam, and Jesse.
"Congratulations, Mr. Coulter!" Katie exclaimed jumping up from her desk. "We are so happy for you and Rosemary."

"Thanks, Mary. We're thrilled. I just came by the office to pick up a few things."

"Hm. I thought you were taking a sick day." Jesse said slyly.

"Yeah. I am. But you, Jesse Flynn, need to stay out of mischief today. I don't need to spend an hour taking sticky notes off of my desk." Lee said as he walked to his office. Jesse laughed. The last time Lee took time off, Jesse and Hickam had gotten hundreds of sticky notes and covered his desk, chair, and computer with probably thousands of sticky notes. Lee still hadn't gotten them back yet. Lee shut the door. He sat in his chair and pulled his personal iPad out of his briefcase. He typed in a few keywords and starting looking through the search results. He scribbled a few things down. This was probably one of the most impulsive things he'd ever done.

"If all goes accordingly, we might be able to close on her birthday," Lee said. He wrote a few more things down before putting his iPad back into his briefcase. Lee left the office, but not before tying a rope between Hickam and Jesse's offices. He gave them just enough slack so they could see out. He winked at Mary.

"See how long it takes em to figure it out."

Mary rolled her eyes. "Boys will be boys, I guess."

Lee climbed the steps to their bedroom and found Rosemary asleep. He decided not to bother her, but he did place a small vase of pink roses and a small box of chocolates on her nightstand. It was the least he could do, at least until he figured out the "other gift." He went back downstairs, sat on the couch, and picked up a book. He read the first page and then set it down. Who was he kidding? He wasn't the kind of guy to just sit and read on his day off. Rosemary had been pestering him to clean out their garage/storage unit, as it was still so full of their stuff from when they moved in.

"Boxes. Boxes. More Bins." Lee sighed. "Good grief." Thankfully, he had set up a few industrial unit shelves when they first moved in. They just hadn't put anything on those shelves. Lee started moving boxes on to shelves. "Rosemary's high school stuff." He read a box. "Hm. That one should be interesting to pilfer through." He stuck it on a shelf. "Rosemary's plays." He poked his head in the smaller box. "Holy cow! Better hide this one." He laughed to himself. It was a box of dozens of VHS tapes and DVD's of all of Rosemary's plays she had been in. "Although. Some of these may be fun to watch." Lee opened the box and again pulled out a VHS. "The Wizard of Oz 4th grade (RJL)." Lee read. "Hm. I wonder if I could find a VHS player around here." Lee set the VHS aside and kept moving boxes around. Some he set on the shelf. Others he set aside for them to go through and see if they could donate stuff to the local thrift shop. Then, Lee found more of his boxes. Old baseball card collection. Old baseball mitts. A small album of pictures his mom put together for him. "I should set this aside for later." He set it with the VHS tape. Lee continued to dig through the boxes and pretty soon had cleared half of the garage. He stood up and wiped his brow. His stomach growled.

"Hey, Lee," Rosemary said walking in. "Wow! You really got this cleared up!"

Lee grinned. "Yup. And look what I found?" Lee dangled the VHS tape. Rosemary snatched it from him.

"What is this— OH my!" Rosemary exclaimed. "Oh! The Wizard of Oz!"

"Let me guess— Dorothy?"

"How'd you guess?" Rosemary laughed. She walked to the shelving unit and spotted her boxes of memorabilia.

"I just organized that."

"Wait— please? I just want to peek." Rosemary pulled the box off of the shelf and started rummaging through it. "Ooh! Here's a program from when I was a pilgrim in the Kindergarten Thanksgiving play. And another program from when I was Annie. Oh." Rosemary stopped. She pulled out a program and a few pictures. Lee peeked over her shoulder. Rosemary held a photograph of what appeared to be her as an eight-year-old with her dad at the circus.

"That was the last time my dad took me to Madison Square Garden to see the circus. It was a yearly tradition until he-" Rosemary sighed. "I'd forgotten about this." Rosemary turned to Lee. "You would have liked my dad."

Lee wrapped his arms around her. "I'm sure I would have."

"He was wonderful. He used to call me his little Rosie Roo. Because I bounced around like Roo from Winnie the Pooh." Rosemary said starting to become emotional again. She cleared her throat. "Anyways."

Lee chuckled. "How are you feeling, sweetheart?"

"I'm better. Thanks for the flowers and chocolate. You really know how to make a girl feel special." Rosemary leaned closer to kiss him. Lee smiled to himself.

"Let's get something to eat. You pick. Whatever you need. Or want." Lee led her back into the house. To his surprise, Rosemary made herself a peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

"PB and J? You hate peanut butter." Lee pulled out some leftovers from the night before and started to assemble his plate.

"Not today." Rosemary stuffed the sandwich in her mouth. "Ohmygoshitssogood."

"So, when are we going to tell my parents and your mom about the baby?"

Rosemary's eyes grew big. "OH. I hadn't thought of that."

"Maybe we can video chat with them later today." Lee took a bite of food. He noticed Rosemary seemed to tense up.

"Let's do your family first," Rosemary said. Lee knew exactly where this conversation was headed.

"We need to tell your mom."

"She's fine. I can just text her or something."

"Okay." Lee backed out. "If that's what you want to do, you have my full support." Rosemary pulled out her phone and started to scroll through her contacts and started to type.

"There." Rosemary put her phone down. She forced a smile. "At least we know that's done." She took another bite of her sandwich. "So, your family."

"Mom and Dad will be thrilled. And Patrick too."

Next Chapter... Rosemary's past.