“Dank you, Sam… dat’s bedder.”

“Anything for you, Cutie Pie,” Sam winked at the child as she handed the barrettes to Brooke.

The child’s aunt took them in her hand, examining them, before raising a lone eyebrow in her brother-in-law’s direction. “You made her wear these? Brian, that’s cruel.” She watched the man shrug as he passed the basket of rolls to the person next to him.

“So, Sam…” Randi tried to get her husband off the hook, “How’s everything going in school?”

“This last year is a little tough… what with all of the courses jammed into the fall semester, but I’m doing okay.”

“Hmm…just okay?” The lawyer’s eyes questioned Sam’s intent. “I’d think you’d want to really concentrate on your work, I mean this being the end and all. How many courses do you have next semester?”

The blonde looked up from Julie, letting her gaze first go to her Aunt Sandy, the corner of her mouth turned slightly upward. “I’m sorry, I was taught not to brag.” Sam acknowledged the proud look on her Aunt’s face then returned her attention to Randi. “Actually, only one this spring.” The blonde held her unoccupied hand up in the air, halting the comment that was being readied. “I already know what you’re thinking. It’s not a piece of cake.”

“I didn’t say a thing, Sam.” Randi rested her elbows on the table and knitted her fingers together, acting indifferent. “I was just curious.”

“Well, I’m just used to a lot of people’s remarks when they hear that schedule.”

“So, you’re almost done then?” The lawyer resumed her questioning.

“I am.” Sam nodded as she looked at Julie for a few seconds, then directed her eyes back to Randi. “I’ll just have to complete my internship.”

“And… where will that be?”

“I… I have no idea. We’ll be given our assignment destination the day before we leave school for the holidays.” Sam looked down the table at C.C. as she bit her lip. “It could be around the campus area or virtually anywhere in the world. I may not be C.C.’s roommate next term if that happens.”

“Ah… I see.” Randi picked up the bowl of sweet potatoes from the table and started to dish some out on her plate, noticing that Brooke had suddenly stopped the advancement of food down her side of the table. Randi observed the pained look in her sister’s eyes as Brooke looked over to Sam.

Disheartened with the thought of being away from the woman she loved, Sam tried to hide her fear when she looked over into Brooke’s gaze, but a weak smile was the best that she could muster. “I’m just hoping for the best.” Sam caught the silently mouthed ‘I love you’ on Brooke’s lips, then closed her eyes against the tears she was certain would come rolling out of her own eyes and nodded.

Mable could see the pain in her daughter’s blue eyes and immediately moved her focus to the other side of the table. “Well, uhm…” the matriarch looked up to her husband who was moving around the table as he filled the wine glasses and she turned her attention to the daughter he was stopped at. “So, Terri… how’s everything going at the hospital?”

“Well, pretty good.” Terri placed her hand over her empty glass, stopping her father from filling it with wine, “No, thanks Dad,” she looked up to him then back over to her mother and continued. “I haven’t gotten sick with the kiddie crud yet this fall…” the pediatrician nudged her husband who was sitting next to her with a shoulder and smiled. “And we even had two nights off together this past month, huh Rick?”

The boyish looking man in his middle thirties smiled cockily at his wife, “Yep, and they paid off too, didn’t they?” He nodded subtly, then reiterated, “A very nice two nights off.”

The unattached brunette sank back into her chair, letting the platter of turkey rest on the edge of the table that she was holding onto. “Oh boy… I see baby in the making,” C.C. rolled her eyes as she taunted her sister and brother-in-law. “So, who gets to be the godmother?” The young woman shifted the weight of the platter to one hand as she swiftly shot the other one straight up in the air and repeatedly cried out like an over enthusiastic grade school child, “Me…me…me…”

Rick leaned in toward his wife and whispered, “Do you think we should tell them?” The couple exchanged glances between themselves, then finally looked over at C.C. “Actually, we haven’t decided on the godmother, yet.”

Terri waited for the idea to slowly sink in as she looked from person to person around the table. Unable to contain herself any longer, she blurted the news out so that everyone would understand. “Okay guys, what do I have to say?” She looked over at Rick and started to glow. “I’m pregnant.”

The table conversation suddenly stopped and all eyes turned to Terri and Rick.

“Terri,” Mable’s eyes grew bigger as a smile transected her face. She sat the bowl of green beans down that she was holding, then rose from her chair and moved to her daughter’s side. “I’m so happy for you.” She wrapped her arms around the newly expectant woman and gave her a hug, then pulled Rick over and kissed his cheek. “And you, too, Rick. I’m so excited.” Mable fussed with Terri’s hair causing the woman to blush.

“Mom, I’m a grown-up now,” Terri winced with the added attention.

“Grown-up… wait until you’re about nine months along and as big as a house.” Randi teased her younger sister, “Now that’s grown-up.”

“Shush!” Mable scolded. “Don’t scare her, Randi.” The matriarch reached out and took Henry’s hand as he came to her side, then reached up to kiss his lips. “Remember how big I was during all my pregnancies?”

Henry nodded. “I often wondered how they would ever get out of there,” he winked at his wife then bent down to kiss Terri. “Don’t let them scare you, Teresa, you’ll do just fine.”

Sam felt the tug on her sleeve and gazed down to see a puzzled looked on Julie’s face. The blonde lowered her head trying to meet the child eye to eye.

“Sam… what does pregnant mean?” Wondering brown eyes looked up to the woman for the answer as the question resounded in the dead silence of the dining room.

“Ah…” caught off guard, Sam looked to Brooke for help, only to see the woman looking just as startled as she was. “Pregnant.” She said the word correctly as her mind considered how to explain it to a three year old. “It means that you’ll get a new cousin to play with next Thanksgiving.” Sam smiled slightly, thinking that she’d dodged the bullet.

“What’s a cousin?” The timid voice spoke again, directing the question to Sam.

Brooke grinned at Sam’s predicament, happy that Julie had picked someone beside herself to bombard with questions. “Looks like she takes after you, C.C. with that inquiring mind of yours.”

Sam waited for C.C.’s tongue showing escapade and the giggles it received from the other children at the table before she answered the tot’s second question. “A cousin is a little boy or girl that will call your Aunt Terri, Mommy.”

Julie absorbed the words, then let the little wrinkles come to her forehead as she pondered the point. “Why Aunt Terri?” She looked around the table then at her favorite aunt sitting next to her, drinking her glass of water. “Why not Aunt Brooke?”

Blue eyes bugged out as Brooke snorted and then began making coughing sounds as she choked on the mouthful of liquid. She could vaguely hear the sound of her older sister laughing at her daughter’s question as she felt Peter’s hand on her back.

“You okay, Brooke?” Peter asked as Crystal and her mother started to get up, thinking that a nurse or two might be needed.

Brooke looked up after finally swallowing the liquid successfully to see Terri now standing up. “I… I’m okay, Sis,” Brooke took in a deep breath, then rasped out, “It just went down the wrong… wrong way.” Brooke coughed into her napkin and waved the nurses back to their seats.

“Don’t scare me like that, Brooke.” Concerned green eyes studied Brooke’s face as Sam rested her hand on the woman’s arm.

“Scare you?” Brooke muttered as she rolled her eyes, before the voice of the small child was heard again.

“Whhhhyyyy?” The child made the word sound like it could last forever. “Why Aunt Terri?”

Sam studied the child in her lap for a moment, then answered, “Cause that’s who is going to carry the baby until it’s ready to meet everyone here.”

“Why does she have to carry it? Can’t it walk? Won’t her arms get tired?” The questions rolled out of the small mouth like cars off of an assembly line, one after the other.

The blonde remained calm and tried to think as a small child would. “Well, she’ll carry it in her belly…” green eyes tried to measure the child’s grasp of what she was saying. “That way she can still use her hands to do things with… to take care of other little boys and girls that need her.” Sam leaned toward her lover and whispered, “Brooke… you could help me out here.”

“Julie,” Brooke cleared her throat as she got the child’s attention.

“Hmm… Aunt Brooke?” The small head turned in the musician’s direction.

“Honey, Aunt Terri and Uncle Rick wanted a baby like your Daddy and Mommy wanted you. So, now Aunt Terri is going to have a baby. She’ll be a Mommy to her baby. Understand?”

Surprised eyes looked directly at Brooke. “Don’t you want a baby, too?”

“Uh… not for a long time.”

There was a pause as Julie considered Brooke’s answer. Within seconds her little face lit up and she asked, “Can I have a baby?”

Brooke remained serious as the rest of the room chuckled at the tot’s question. “Someday, maybe.”

Julie expressed her disappointment the only way she knew how. Letting out a huge sigh, the child muttered, “Grown ups have all da fun.”