Oliver closed his book and laid it on the nightstand, then turned to watch Shane as she settled into bed.

"How are you feeling?" he asked her, concern etched in his expression.

"I'm good," Shane responded, realizing that her tone sounded a bit exaggerated with optimism.

Oliver narrowed his eyes at her.

"I am fine, Oliver. Please stop worrying." She leaned over and kissed his cheek.

"Oh, I'm not worried," he attempted to assure her.

Shane's expression told him she didn't believe him one bit.

He took a deep breath. "Okay, maybe a little. But it's only because I care….about both of you."

"I know." She gave him a tender smile and he took her hand.

"So will you humor me just a little and schedule an appointment with your doctor….soon."

"Okay, Oliver. I will. I'll call in the morning," she promised. "I'm fine, though! Just a little tired, but that's normal."

Oliver nodded. "According to my research, your body is already working hard to grow this little one." He squeezed her hand in his and gave her an adoring smile.

A puzzled expression crossed Shane's face. "What….research….are you talking about?"

"Oh! I went by the library this afternoon and checked out a few maternity and baby books," he explained.

Shane raised her brows. "How many books are we talking?"

"Well, I exceeded the limit by two, but because of my good standing with the library, they made an exception." He wore a proud smile.

"Oh, my," Shane remarked. "You mean to tell me that you broke the library's rules, Mr. O'Toole?"

"I suppose I did, Ms. McInerney." He smirked. "But it was for a very good reason." He gave her a kiss on the cheek, then planted a couple down her jawline.

"Oliver."

"Hmmm?" he asked, nuzzling his face into her neck.

"We've been married for six months and we have a baby on the way…."

He raised his head and feigned shock. "What??"

Shane playfully slapped at his chest and he laughed jubilantly while she scowled. After sobering, he looked at her and cocked his head to one side. "Ours is certainly the greatest postal love story of all time."

"Yes, it is. Yet you still call me Ms. McInerney." She eyed him quizzically.

"I thought you loved it when I call you that," Oliver countered.

"I do. It's just—"

"What?"

"It's not what I expected after marriage. I'm not Ms. McInerney anymore, Oliver. I changed my surname to O'Toole months ago."

"I know," he said, nodding.

"Don't get me wrong. I'd still love for you to call me 'Ms. McInerney' sometimes for old times' sake…." She grinned at him flirtatiously. "But when you introduce me to someone…." She let out a short sigh. "Like when we met Maria, you told her I was your colleague, 'Ms. McInerney'."

Oliver considered the issue thoughtfully. "I suppose I was trying to maintain professionalism."

"And I understand that," Shane replied. "But you don't have to use my maiden name, or hide the fact that we're married."

"Shane, I would never intentionally cover up our relationship, our marriage," Oliver told her with sincerity. He let out a deep sigh. "I suppose it's a bit difficult for me to….consider you….an O'Toole."

"Why?" She bit her lip as she eyed her husband.

"Well…." He pondered for a few beats. "'Ms. McInerney' is the woman with whom I fell deeply, madly in love."

He leaned in and she reciprocated. Their lips met in a sweet, tender kiss that deepened within seconds.

A few minutes later, Shane yawned and nestled into the crook of Oliver's arm, her head on his chest, a smile of contentment on her face. "Good night, Oliver."

"Good night, my love," Oliver told her quietly, stroking her hair.

It wasn't long before the steady rise and fall of her body told Oliver that she was fast asleep. As he held his sleeping wife close to him, he retrieved the book on his nightstand once again. His research continued well into the wee hours of the morning.

When the O'Tooles arrived at work, they stopped and peeked through the windows on the DLO doors. Norman and Rita had already clocked in and busied themselves with the first tasks of the day.

"Are you ready to tell them?" Oliver whispered to Shane.

"Actually….I think we should wait."

She plastered a smile on her face and pushed the door open, leaving no more room for that discussion at the moment.

"O….kay…." Oliver agreed, but he had a nagging suspicion that for some reason, Shane dreaded sharing their news with the Dormans.

"Oh! Good morning!" Rita quipped, having looked up as she heard the door swing open.

"Good morning, Rita!" Shane replied, not making more than a split second of eye contact with her friend.

"I thought maybe we wouldn't see you guys for a few hours," Rita remarked, pushing her glasses up at the center.

"We are not making a habit of sleeping in late, Rita," Oliver informed her. "Although I certainly could have used a few more winks myself."

"If you hadn't stayed awake all night with your books, you wouldn't be so tired, darling," Shane admonished him.

His eyes narrowed at her and she grinned.

"Oh! What are you reading?" Norman asked. "Sounds like I might need to put it on my list."

Shane laughed nervously. "You know Oliver and his books. He tends to read for research more than he does for fun."

"It is a self-help book of sorts, Norman," Oliver said quickly.

"Ah," Norman uttered.

"Okay, so what do we have today?" Oliver inquired.

"A package that appears to have been submerged in water," Rita told him. She made a face as Norman held it up.

"Yucky, murky water." He sniffed it. "I'm guessing a lake or a swamp."

Oliver put on a pair of disposable gloves and took the package from him.

"The address is one hundred percent obscured," Oliver assessed, then eyed each one of his POstables. "We'll have to go in." He held out his hand. "Scissors, please."

Rita rushed to Oliver's desk and retrieved the scissors, then brought them back to Oliver. With careful precision, Oliver cut the envelope as close to the end as possible. He handed the scissors back to Rita and emptied the contents onto the table.

"Well all of that is definitely waterlogged," Norman commented.

"Oh!" Shane gasped all of a sudden, her face contorting.

She covered her nose and mouth and hurried away, her high heels clacking against the floor as she hastily made her way to the exit. The door was flung open dramatically and Shane disappeared from their view.

"Oh," Norman chirped, perplexed.

"Oh!" Rita exclaimed in a deep voice, looking at the door and then back at the two men.

"I'll go check on her," Oliver told their colleagues. He fled from the DLO, leaving Norman and Rita gaping.

"This isn't an extremely pleasant smell, Rita," Norman said, eyeing the contents in front of them with disgust, "but we've dealt with way worse. Her nose must be on overdrive today!"

Rita shrugged, looking back contemplatively toward the doors.

Oliver found Shane just outside the DLO, one hand on the wall. She was bent over slightly and taking deep breaths.

"Shane!"

"I'm okay," she sputtered between breaths. "What was that?"

"Uh, I believe it was some rotten—"

"You know what—" she interrupted, holding up her free hand and waving it as if pushing the repulsive thoughts away. "I don't want to know."

Shane took a few more breaths. Oliver stood awkwardly, his hand on her back as he looked around and then back at Shane, not sure what to do.

"Are you okay?" he asked. "Do you need to go home?"

"Oliver, if I start taking off every time I'm tired or smell something vile, I'll lose all of my sick days in a hurry."

"I'll give you mine," Oliver offered genuinely with a slight shrug. "You need to do what's best."

"And that's not staying at home for months, Oliver! I appreciate the offer, darling, but you know I'd go crazy with boredom."

He snickered. "I'm sure you would. Let me clear the DLO of that abhorrence. Why don't you rest in the lounge for a bit before you come back?"

"Will you bring me my phone?" Shane asked.

"Bored already?" Oliver teased with a lopsided grin.

"No," she huffed, rolling her eyes. "But I did promise you I would call the doctor's office today, and I suppose now's a good time to do so."

He nodded approvingly, then retrieved her phone for her. Despite being out in the open, Oliver quickly kissed her forehead and turned back to the DLO once more.

"Oliver, wait. How are we going to explain this to Norman and Rita?"

Oliver smiled at her and shrugged. "We could tell them the truth."

Shane licked her lips and blew out a breath.

"You….don't want….to tell them?" Oliver questioned.

"Oh, I do. But how will they feel? How will Rita feel?" A worried expression was pasted across her face.

"What do you mean? I'm sure they'll be very happy for us."

"Yes, but…." Shane was wringing her hands. "They've been trying for so long, and we weren't even planning—"

"Shane, Norman and Rita will hold no ill will towards us. You know that," Oliver told her. "You shouldn't feel guilty."

"I know. But I don't want to hurt them. And I don't want to feel awkward around Rita," Shane admitted.

"They're expecting a baby, too, Shane, just in a different way. They will be delighted that their little girl and our baby will have each other as playmates and good friends."

Shane nodded, fighting the urge to cry again. "I suppose you're right. Let's tell them today. Before Ramon does." She grimaced.

"I think that would be best," Oliver agreed, and they shared a chuckle.

Lunch time came quickly and fortunately, without any more incidents for Shane. The four POstables had gathered at their table at Ramon's, Oliver and Shane occupying the same seats they had the day before.

"So, how was your date last night?" Shane raised her brows at Rita, who sat directly across from her.

"Oh, it was wonderful," Rita answered dreamily. "We enjoyed having some time away, just the two of us."

"It was very nice," Norman agreed. "In a few months, everything will change, so we're making it a priority to focus on each other right now."

"And now that the adoption's in order, there's no stress," Rita added, looking happily at Norman.

"That's wonderful," Shane commented. She looked at Oliver knowingly and raised her brows.

Oliver took a deep breath, then eyed their colleagues seriously. "Norman, Rita, we have some news to share with you.".

"They're not making us move again, are they?" Norman blurted.

"What?" Oliver said. "No."

Oliver and Shane laughed.

"They're shutting the DLO down?" he spat out.

"No, Norman," Shane told him. "It's not bad news."

"Whew!" Norman sighed in relief. "My next guess was layoffs, and we do not need that right now with our baby girl on the way."

"Speaking of your baby girl…." Shane began. "That's what we wanted to talk to you about."

"Oh?" Rita leaned forward with her elbows on the table, listening intently.

"We want to give her something special," Shane told them.

"Aww, that's nice," Rita responded. "But you really don't have to do that. Our collection of baby stuff is bigger than Norman's stamp collection now!" She let out a giggle.

"Sounds like you're prepared for the little one," Oliver said.

"Quite prepared," Norman confirmed. "A lot of the stuff we used for baby Eleanor can be passed down to our baby."

"So I'm sure you have all the essentials—a crib, a high chair, a stroller, a car seat, clothes, and toys." Shane smiled as she rattled off the list.

"Oh yes," Rita answered. "You name it, we've got it."

"What about…." Oliver began, then paused.

Norman and Rita looked at them expectantly.

Oliver and Shane looked at each other. Oliver nodded at her to proceed, and they turned back to the Dormans.

"What about….a playmate?" Shane smiled slyly at them.

"Oh," Norman said. "Well, we certainly hope and pray she has good friends—and there's baby Eleanor—but she'll be a little older than—"

"Norman!!" Rita practically screamed, grabbing his hand.

"What?" Norman asked innocently.

Oliver and Shane started laughing.

"Shane!" Rita's eyes were wide. "Are you saying what I think you're saying?"

As per usual lately, Shane's eyes filled up with moisture. Oliver grinned as he handed her a tissue. She couldn't speak past the lump in her throat, so she simply nodded in response to Rita.

"What is she saying?" an addled Norman prodded Rita.

"They're having a baby, Norman!" Rita exclaimed elatedly.

"They're having a baby?" Norman looked to Oliver. "You're having a baby? No, I mean, you're having a baby?" He looked at Shane, who nodded again, grinning at his overwhelmed reaction.

"We are expecting a baby," Oliver said proudly, squeezing Shane's hand.

"Right around the same time you guys are," Shane managed to squeak out.

"Oh, wow…." Rita was now teary-eyed as well. "This is what I've always dreamed of. We're having babies and raising them together! I'm so happy for you guys! And us!"

Shane smiled but twisted her lips uncomfortably. "Rita, I just want you to know that we hadn't planned it—it just happened—"

"Shane, what are you talking about?" Rita questioned, perplexed.

"We didn't plan for me to become pregnant….before you," Shane told her. "We know you guys have been hoping and praying for so long—"

"And our prayers were answered," Rita interrupted, reaching for Shane's hand across the table and glancing at Norman. "Babies are like precious packages in the mail. Some travel by land, some by air, some by water, and even some by mule down the Grand Canyon."

"Packages. Not babies," Norman pointed out, holding a finger up, and they laughed.

"However our babies are sent to us," Rita continued, "we'll all be completely blessed with these special deliveries. And this is a definite 'trust the timing' moment. We couldn't have planned this better if we'd tried!"

"No we couldn't have," Shane agreed, tears streaming down her face at Rita's words of wisdom.

"We can't wait to get a glimpse of Baby O'Toole!" Rita remarked. "Have you seen him or her yet?"

"Not yet." Shane dabbed away the moisture on her face. "But I called this morning, and…." She turned to Oliver. "You're not going to believe this, but my doctor's office had a last-minute cancellation, so they scheduled us for two-thirty."

"Today?" Oliver was pleasantly surprised.

Shane nodded cheerfully. "Are you busy?" she teased.

"I'm never too busy to check the status of a package as special as this one," he told her, getting lost in her eyes. Forgetting that they weren't alone—or perhaps simply not caring—Oliver pulled his wife close and reminded her with his kiss that he could not be any happier.