Hope was a sweet baby. She reminded Dwight and Marsha of Trudy as a baby. Yes, unlike Trudy Hope cried. Trudy would always be laughing and blowing kisses. Just like Trudy though Hope was extremely friendly. She would settle down for anyone.

Three days after the faith event at church Adrian, Trudy, Dwight and Marsha took Hope for a walk on the beach. It was a beautiful day out.

"Hope loves this," Trudy said grinning.

The baby was cooing as the sounds of the ocean gently lapping upon the sand lulled to her.

"What a beautiful baby!"

Adrian looked up to see his friend, Oliver.

"Oliver," Adrian grinned, "I haven't seen you in 3 years."

"I know," Oliver said, "I'm sorry about that."

Oliver paused looking at Trudy.

"Hi Natalie," he said.

"Um Ol," Adrian began, "This is actually Trudy."

"What? Adrian are you alright?"

Dwight and Marsha laughed.

"She survived the car bomb," Marsha said.

She told him the whole story.

"That's incredible," Oliver said in amazement.

He paused.

"You had a baby too," he said to Trudy.

"We adopted," Trudy corrected, "My reproductive organs were destroyed in the car bomb. It's physically impossible for me to have children biologically. Hope came into our lives 12 days ago."

"Hope. I love that name," Oliver said, "How old is she?"

"She's 12 days old," Marsha said,

"So you adopted her from birth," Oliver asked.

"We did," Trudy said.

She paused.

"How's Jenny," she asked.

"Great," Oliver smiled, "She's 4 ½ months pregnant."

"Congratulations," Trudy said, "Boy or girl?"

"Yes," Oliver laughed.

"You don't know?"

"We decided not to find out," Oliver explained.

"Do you want a boy or a girl," Trudy asked.

"Yes," Oliver said, winking.

Everyone laughed.

"Whatever we have is what I want," Oliver said after he stopped laughing, "Jenny survived leukemia and the odds that she would get better was a million to one. What do I care what my baby has between his or her legs."

"I survived leukemia too," Trudy said, "I got it when I was 3 and went into remission at 6."

"That must have been scary," Oliver said looking at Dwight and Marsha.

"That would be the understatement of the millennium," Marsha replied.

Hope started to cry.

"I'd love to hold her," Oliver said.

Trudy handed Hope to Oliver. She calmed down after a minute.

"You're going to be a wonderful father," Adrian told Oliver.

Oliver smiled.

"I hope I'm half as good of a parent as you are," he said.

Adrian put an arm around Trudy.

"We've been parents for all of twelve days," Adrian said with a laugh.

"Hope is a very easy baby," Trudy added.

"What do you think of "cry it out," Oliver asked.

"Not much," Trudy said, "Babies cry for a reason. Sometimes that's a need. Sometimes you just need to hold them. It's important to meet their need… or want as the case may be."

Oliver looked at Dwight and Marsha.

"When does the time come to say no," he asked.

Marsha laughed.

"We never reached that point with Trudy," she said.

"You never said no to her?"

"Never had to," Dwight said, "She was the easiest child alive."

Oliver nodded.

"I worry I'm going to make mistakes," Oliver admitted.

"Every parent makes mistakes," Marsha commented, "Dwight and I made our share of mistakes. It's always better to be ''too positive'' then to be negative at all."

Oliver put Hope in her stroller.

"I'll remember that," he said.

He paused.

"I guess you don't believe in punishment then," he asked.

"It was never necessary when Trudy was growing up," Dwight replied, "Plus she starred in Moral Bears with two of her friends."

"I LOVED THAT SHOW," Oliver exclaimed.

"So did I," Adrian said.

He smiled.

"Beary Good Bear was my favorite. Who knew that when I turned 20 I would be married to her?"

"Beary Good Bear was my favorite too," Oliver said.