Dotty was absorbed in one of the tourist magazines she found in her room, trying to decide where all she wanted to go and what all she wanted to do in this historic place. She was jarred back to reality by an urgent pounding on her door.

She opened it and found Lee standing there, his face a mask of panic, and carrying Amanda in his arms. His hair was a mess, and his shirt buttoned all crooked. Amanda, on the other hand, looked totally non-plussed, even amused by how her husband was acting.

Lee spoke in gasps, his voice clipped and several octaves above its usual. "We were . . . . .and she . . . . and then I . . . . .then she . . . . " Amanda looked at him with amazement. He hadn't behaved like this since he had gone nuts in the parking garage that day when he was telling her how he'd never let the valets park his car, a 1963 Porsche 9-350. She shook her head lovingly and smiled at her mother while she placed her hand gently on her husband's cheek.

Dotty looked at Lee incredulously. "Are you trying to tell me that you and Amanda were having amazingly wild sex when she had an incredible orgasm, which only served to fuel your ignition even more, and you needed to pull out and finish somewhere else so you wouldn't hurt the baby, then she started having some cramping?"

Lee's eyes widened, his mouth dropped open, and he went totally silent. Beyond being embarrassed, he was more concerned about his wife and child than he was his mother-in-law relating so vividly the details of their latest escapade. "Yes," he answered resignedly, his chest heaving.

"It's happened before, Lee," Dotty reassured him. "It happened all the time when she was carrying Philip and Jamie. It's nothing to worry about."

Lee flushed with anger just thinking about Amanda and Joe being that intimate. Even though Joe was totally out of the picture, Lee still saw him, like he saw ANY man, as a threat to his relationship with Amanda. Jealousy reared its ugly head once more, and Lee's countenance clouded over.

"That's what I keep telling him!" Amanda told her mother. "It lasted like five seconds, and it was over. Just like always. He's insisting we go to the ER and get checked out."

"Yes indeed," Lee emphasized. "Would you please watch over the boys while we're gone? I'm so sorry, Dotty!"

"Lee, please calm down, sweetheart," Dotty reached up and stroked Lee's hair gently. "It's alright. No one knows their own body better than a pregnant mother. If Amanda says she's OK, then she is. You're so sweet!"

"I – I – I gotta do this!" Lee insisted, almost pleading.

"OK, if you insist. Are you OK to drive?" Dotty asked her son-in-law before looking over at Amanda. "Are you alright, darling?"

"Yes, Mother," she replied with absolute certainty. "Lee just needs some reassurance, that's all. I'll make sure he drives safely." Dotty laughed, fully aware that Lee was absolutely head-over-heels in love and desperately wanting their child to be OK.

Several minutes later, Lee careened into one of the parking areas at Gettysburg Hospital, near the Lincoln Cemetery. Amanda remained smiling, comfortable, confident, and happy. "Sweetheart," she ventured, "We really don't have to go in there. I assure you I'm fine. And so is the baby!" She took his hand and placed it tenderly on her belly.

"We're going in, Amanda," he replied in a tone that gave her no room for debate. "If you want me to enjoy the rest of this amazing trip, I gotta know that everything's OK!" His expression changed. "For me? Please?"

There was no refusing him when he looked at her that way. "Alright," she allowed. "But I'm walking in." She exited the SUV and glanced over the fence at the graves in the cemetery, many of them the final resting place of black soldiers not granted burial in the Soldier's National Cemetery in Gettysburg. "We're coming back here," she announced.

Lee reached for her hand and gratefully walked with her up to the Emergency entrance. The doors swung open, and the expectant parents followed the signs to registration.

Ten minutes later, they were in Labor and Delivery while after taking some history, a technician ran a microphone with warm gel over Amanda's pregnant abdomen. "Uh huh," she murmured, scanning calmly and smiling. Lee watched her face intently, looking for signs of any issues. There was the reassuring whoosh-whoosh-whoosh of the baby's heartbeat. "OK," she breathed to herself, continuing the diagnostics. Her expression remained unchanged she continued to slowly rove the probe over Amanda's stomach. The heartbeat vanished, but before Lee could say anything, it reappeared, steady as ever. "And now over here," she moved the microphone to another part of Amanda's belly. "And lastly, over here." "Yup," she announced, putting down the microphone and looked happily over at Lee and Amanda both.

"Is everything OK?" Lee asked fearfully, his hand gripping Amanda's tightly.

"Everything is wonderful, Mr. Stetson," she told him. "The babies are just fine!"

All the blood drained from Lee's face. "Bay – Bay – BABEEEEEEEEEZE!?" he gulped