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Jo trotted anxiously around the waiting room. Alex and Lina sat calmly in a couch, Nick stood behind it giving Lina a massage, and Baylee was playing with some toys they’d brought to keep him calm, but Jo couldn’t hold still. Alex was following her with his eyes as she paced. When she came close to the couch he grabbed her and pulled her down on his lap.

“Relax, princess. It’s ok.”

“I need something to do. I can’t stand this waiting. She’s been in there for three hours, and I’m already thinking it’s too long.”

The door opened and a nurse came in. “This way”, she said to someone behind her. Jo stretched her neck and caught sight of Kevin, Kristin and Howie.

“Hey you guys!”

Kevin smiled. “Hey. We decided that since there was no dinner tonight, we’d come here and celebrate.” He held up a bag from McDonalds. Howie was also carrying one, and Kristin had a tray of drinks in her hands. They ate, and Jo almost forgot what was happening a couple of doors away. When they were finished, she took Baylee on her lap and rocked him softly. His eyes were heavy, and it didn’t take him long to fall asleep. Jo sat there with her arms around the little boy, and felt how the love for him flooded over her. She felt her eyelids falling down, and soon she too was asleep.


The door flung open and woke both Jo and Baylee when it hit the wall. Jo looked up and tried to wipe the sleep from her eyes. Brian. He was smiling.

“It’s a girl! A beautiful baby girl. Ten fingers, ten toes and blonde hair!”

Kevin was the first to give him a hug, and the others followed.

“Congratulations daddy.” Alex smiled and hugged his friend.

“Thanks, man.”

Jo got up and handed Baylee to Brian before she gave him a hug. “Congratulations! What are you naming her?”

“Well, we had lots of name suggestions, but they were all useless. She’s an Ella. That was the first name that came to both Leigh’s and my head as soon as we laid eyes on her.”

“That’s sweet. Did you hear that Bay? You’ve got a baby sister! Her name is Ella.”

He smiled. “Ella!”

“Yes, that’s right Bay. You wanna meet Ella?”

“Yes!”

“You guys wanna see our little sweetie?”

Everyone nodded and followed Brian. He looked through the window into the nursery. “She’s not here. Maybe she’s with Leigh.” He turned around and showed the way to Leigh’s room. A nurse tried to stop them as the entered the room, but Leigh protested.

“They’re my family. Let them in.”
She lay in bed, pale and tired, but happy, with a tiny baby wearing a pink cap on her arm. Brian put Baylee down on the bed next to his mother, and he carefully inspected the baby. With some help he patted her cheek.

“Pretty!” he said, shining like a sun.

“Yes, she’s pretty. Lina, come here. You’re gonna have to get used to this.”

Lina walked up to the bed and smiled as she looked down on the baby. “She’s absolutely gorgeous.”

“Hold her for awhile if you want to.”

“Me? Hold her?”

“Yeah. Sit down here and hold her for awhile.” Leighanne moved over so that Lina could sit next to her. Lina looked scared, but when she got the baby in her arms she smiled.

“Hello! Hello, there Ella!” She held the baby for a while, then gave her a kiss on the forehead and gave her to Brian, just as a nurse came through the door.

“I’m sorry, but you have to leave now. These girls need their beauty sleep.”

Everyone said their goodbyes, and Jo got Baylee off the bed. Brian smiled.

“I’ll be home a little later.”

“We’ll light up the cigars.” Alex smiled and gave him half a hug. “She's a really pretty baby.”

“Yes she is.”


When they got home, Jo put Baylee straight to bed. She was so tired, and all she really wanted was to go to bed, but she went downstairs and put on some coffee. She could hear the others talking in the living room. All of a sudden she heard something else. Someone was crying in the bathroom. Worried, she walked up to the door and knocked softly on it. There was no answer, so she opened the door. It wasn’t locked, but whoever was in there was crying in the dark. She fumbled for the light switch, and turned the lights on.

“Kristin? Are you ok?”

Kristin looked up and shook her head. Jo sat down next to her.

“What’s wrong?” Kristin shook her head again, she was crying too hard to be able to answer.

“Come on. You can’t be sitting in here crying. Let’s go into the kitchen and have some coffee.” Jo got up and helped Kristin off the floor. They walked into the kitchen, and Kristin sat down at the table, burying her face in her hands. Jo poured coffee into several large mugs that she brought into the living room. Then she returned to the kitchen and put a mug down in front of Kristin, sat down and took a sip of her own. “What’s wrong, Kris?”

Kristin took a deep breath and wiped the tears off her cheeks. “I was at the doctor’s yesterday. Turns out I can’t have a baby. I’m unable to get pregnant.”

“Oh Kris...” Jo took her hands across the table.

“Yeah. I’ll never have a baby. All we wanted was to start a family. He wants to be a daddy so bad, and I can’t give him children.”

“I’m so sorry...”

“We’d planned this so much. My schedule is clear for a year, they were gonna go into the studio and record a new album, so he’d be around. I’m just... I can’t...”

Kevin came into the kitchen and interrupted them. “Kris? Oh, there you are. Sweetheart, are you ok?”

Jo shook her head. “I think you should take Kris home, Kev.”

He looked at her. “I think so too. Don’t... don’t tell anyone, please?”

“Of course not.” Jo shook her head, picked up her coffee mug and walked out of the kitchen. In the doorway she stopped and turned around. “I’m sorry, Kev.”

“Thanks.”