"He has to have a name, you know." Elizabeth sat up in bed nursing her new son while Paul sat beside her, stroking the baby's head. "I was thinking I'd like to name him after my cousin Jakob. He and I were like brothers, and except for when my family lived in Wisconsin, we were inseparable. It almost killed me when I found out what happened to him."
"What did happen to him?" asked Elizabeth.
"He was on a U-boat that was sunk in the Gulf of Mexico in 1942," Paul told her.
Elizabeth frowned. "I didn't know there were U-boats in the Gulf of Mexico in 1942."
"Most likely the government covered it up to keep ordinary citizens from panicking, but yes, there were U-boats in the Gulf of Mexico in 1942." Suddenly hot, Paul glanced around for something to use as a fan.
"But what were they doing there?" Elizabeth felt a trickle of unease at the base of her spine.
"Sinking ships carrying supplies to the Allies in England and France."
"So the men aboard the ships drowned."
"Unless they were warned beforehand and had lifeboats, yes." Paul's voice was soft as he stared out the window beside the bed.
"I can't believe this!" Elizabeth burst out. "Enemy submarines right off our coast and nothing was done about it?"
"Please calm down, Lizzie." Paul reached to embrace her, but she pulled away. "It isn't good for you to get upset like this right after giving birth."
"All those innocent Americans killed!" Tears came to Elizabeth's eyes.
"If it makes you feel any better, thirty-five thousand innocent people were killed by Allied bombs in Berlin," said Paul.
"Of course that doesn't make me feel any better! Why should it?"
Husband and wife just stared at each other for a moment, then laughed softly as they hugged.
"But how did your parents and Matthias ever survive?" asked Elizabeth.
"My father was an expert at finding shelter," Paul replied. "That, and they were incredibly lucky. I worried about them constantly the entire time I was apart from them."
"I'm sure you did!"
"Elizabeth, you have no idea what it's like for war to be waged on the soil of your own country." His voice was grave, but after he'd spoken, the corners of his mouth turned up slightly. "But you still haven't told me how you feel about naming our new son Jakob."
"I like it." Elizabeth smiled. "It's a beautiful name, and I was thinking maybe his middle name could be John, for my father."
Paul grinned. "I was actually hoping you'd suggest that. Jakob John Brimmer it is, then." He kissed the top of the tiny head. "So what do you think of your new name, little one?"
Jakob yawned, and his parents laughed.
"Here they come!" Max turned from the window to look at the others. Ginny smiled and stood, and Laura, who was putting a puzzle together with Amon on the floor, looked up.
"That's OK, I'll get it." Max walked toward the door as Ginny sat back down. He reached it and pulled it open. "Hey!" He grinned as his parents stepped inside. Elizabeth held Jakob, who was napping.
"Oh, isn't he sweet!" Ginny cooed. "Laura and Amon, come see your new brother!"
Laura gazed in awe at the infant. "He's so tiny!" she breathed. "How much did he weigh, Mama?"
"Seven pounds, five ounces," Elizabeth told her. "Would you like to hold him?"
"Oh, yes!"
Elizabeth handed the baby to her, showing her how to support the tiny head.
"Hi, Jakob!" Laura said, holding her new little brother close. "I'm your big sister, Laura!"
Jakob opened his milky blue eyes and looked into hers, and she knew she'd rather have him than any other baby in the world.
She felt a tug on her skirt and looked down into Amon's lighter blue eyes. She held the baby lower so the little boy could see him.
"This is our new baby, Amon," said Elizabeth, speaking and signing at the same time. "His name is Jakob." She spelled the baby's name out, and Amon grinned as he spelled it out right back to her.
"That's right!" Elizabeth praised.
After everyone had had a generous turn holding the baby, Elizabeth took him back and sat down to nurse him.
"I can't wait until my turn comes," said Ginny, placing a hand on her swollen belly.
"It'll be here before you know it," said Paul.
"I wonder what it feels like to have a baby," said Laura.
"I was really afraid at first," Ginny told her. "But as time gets closer, I find myself looking forward to it more than I've ever looked forward to anything before, even my wedding."
"I'll bet it's still a little bit scary though, isn't it?" asked Laura, who dreaded any kind of pain.
"A little bit," Ginny admitted. She chuckled. "I think Matthias is even more scared than I am, and I'm the one who has to go through it."
"I'm sure everything will be fine." Paul gave her a reassuring pat on the shoulder.
"When you're holding that new life in your arms, you forget all about the pain," added Elizabeth.
"You ought to see him!" Laura told Annie over the telephone. "He has the tiniest little fingers and toes, and no teeth!"
"Does he cry a lot?" asked Annie.
"Not a whole lot. Mostly all he does is sleep and eat." She wrinkled her nose. "And pee and poop, of course."
"It was like that with Merry at first," said Annie. "She's mostly potty trained now, but she still has accidents sometimes."
"I guess all babies are like that," said Laura.
"Yeah." Both girls giggled.
