CHAPTER 12

It had been three weeks since the miscarriage, and three weeks since they'd made love. To pass the time and distract themselves from the loss they'd just suffered, they'd decided to remodel the attic space. Every night after dinner, and on the weekends, they worked on ripping out walls, installing windows, and laying a new hardwood floor. It was hard work, more so than either one of them really expected, but it was the perfect way to keep themselves focused in the moment. Two weeks after they finished the room, the new furniture arrived. Beau was at work so Cass had the delivery guys help her place the furniture in the room. Once they were gone she went back into the room and sat down on the new sofa. The room felt good to her. Pooling their talents had made the space a perfect compliment to their tastes.

That night, before Beau arrived home from work, Cass got dressed as though she were going on a date. It made her feel better about things, trying to make her life go back to normal, or at least as normal as it could be under the circumstances. She had grown tired of feeling sad and decided to make them a special dinner, a celebration of sorts on the completion of their new room. She put a bottle of champagne on ice next to the fireplace and put on some romantic music. They only thing left to do while she waited for Beau was to take Duffy for a stroll.

She was back upstairs when Beau arrived and hollered to him to come up and join her. He was pleasantly surprised to see Cass looking more like herself. She was after all, the most beautiful woman he had ever laid eyes on. Upon closer inspection, he saw the spark returning to her eyes and was relieved.

"Champagne? What's the occassion?" he asked.

"The occasion is that I love you, and I love this new room, and so we're going to celebrate, just because," she said as she wrapped her arms around him.

"I love you too," he said, then kissed her tenderly.

Cass had set up the table with candles and their best dishes and they had a lovely dinner in front of the roaring fireplace.

"That, my darling, was a feast fit for a King," Beau said.

"It was well deserved," Cass said. "But I've got just a little more for you."

Cass stood up, reaching out her hand to Beau. "Thank you," she said. "Thank you for everything, for being there, for being you, for making us perfect."

He drew her into his arms and held her gently against his chest. "No...you have that wrong. You are what makes us perfect."

A few moments later, they were on the floor on the new rug, champagne glasses in hand. They toasted their new space.

"To the wonders of hard labor," Cass said as she clinked her glass against his. They both took a sip, then Beau reached out and took her glass, setting it on the table next to the sofa. He leaned over and kissed her. He was as hungry for her as she was for him. With his lips still on hers, he lowered her onto her back and began to unbutton her sweater. She did not protest in the least. She was physically and mentally ready to get back to the way they'd been. She felt the tension and sadness, and all the other emotions she'd kept silent, slowly fade away as Beau made love to her. It felt so safe to be held in his arms.

Later, after they'd gone to bed and Beau had fallen asleep, Cass got up and went downstairs. She walked over to the cabinet in the living room and opened the door. She opened one of the two drawers that was inside the cabinet and stood there looking at the contents for a moment. She reached in and pulled out the little pair of booties Liz had give her for luck. The way she figured it was if they worked once, maybe they still had a little magic left. She held them to her chest and closed her eyes while she offered up a little silent prayer.

She went back upstairs and crawled into bed. She slid the booties back under her pillow, then rolled over so she was curled up against Beau. Even in his deep sleep she could feel him respond to her touch. He rolled over so he was facing her and she repositioned herself so her head lay on his chest. She loved laying like this, listening to every beat of his heart, feeling the warmth of his body spread across her like a downey comforter.


A few days later, the phone rand in the middle of the night startling both of them. Beau turned on the lamp beside the bed, then picked up the phone.

"Hello?" Bill...what's...Congratulations, how's Liz doing?" Cass had sat up at the mention of Bill's name. Beau nodded and told her they'd had the baby. "Give her our love Bill. We'll come to visit later today."

He hung up the phone then looked at Cass. "It's a girl."

"Oh my God. How wonderful." Cass flopped back down on the bed lost in thought.

After they finished breakfast and got dressed they jumped in the car and headed for the hospital. They made two stops on the way, one to a florist to pick up some flowers, and the other to a toy store where Cass picked out the fluffiest, pinkest teddy bear they had. When they got to the hospital they were directed to Liz's room on the third floor. Cass knocked gently, then slowly pushed the door open. Liz was sitting up and smiling as Cass approached her. She leaned over and gave Liz a hug.

"Congratulations Mommy, how are you feeling?" Cass asked as she sat on the bed next to her.

"Thank you, and, well, other than feeling a little worn out, I feel pretty great." Liz said.

Beau went to the other side of the bed after setting the enormous bear down and placing the flowers on the bedside table.

"What happened to Bill? Finally got the bed in the nutso ward." Beau said smiling at her.

"No. He tried. He would have done anything to get out of that room once I started moaning but he managed to stay for the whole ride, poor bugger," she said. "He went downstairs for some coffee. We've been her since early last night. I tried to send him home but he wouldn't listen, so he's pretty wiped out."

"I see. Well I guess that's my cue to go find him. I'm sure you two are going to start talking in graphic detail about the birth and stuff. That's probably a little too much information for my little brain this early. I'll see you in a while." He bent down and kissed Liz on the forehead.

As predicted, the girls discussed in gory detail, the delivery of the new baby. It sounded horrible and exhilerating all at the same time. Cass was anxious to see the new addition to their world, the new girl on the block, the one who would be called Joey, short for Josephine.

"Are they going to bring her in soon? I have to see her." Cass asked.

"No, they're going to keep her in the nursery for a while, keep her under a heat lamp, so we have to go there to look at her." Liz said.

"Is there something wrong?" Cass asked. Liz could hear the fear in her voice and quickly explained that they were just trying to warm her up, that often times babies were cold right after they were born.

"You help me up, we'll go see her." Liz said.

"Are you sure? Are you strong enough to...?" Cass said.

"I'm fine. I'm not dying here girl, I just had a baby. Now give me a hand."

The girls made their way down the long hallway at the speed of a snail. As they turned the corner at the end, Cass could see the big glass windows of the nursery. Liz knocked lightly on the glass and the young nurse inside came to the window. She tapped her wrist with her finger so Liz would show her her armband, and once she saw the name she turned and walked to the center of the nursery. She pushed the plastic cradle to the window, pulled the blanket down just a little so they could see the tiny little body, then smiled at them before turning away to take care of another baby a few feet away.

Cass's eyes filled with tears. "Oh Liz! Oh my God, she's so beautiful. Look at how tiny everything is, she's perfect." She squeezed Liz's hand. "Look at all that hair. Boy, are you going to have fun with that."

"My doctor told all that hair was probably what gave me heartburn all the time."

"Oh, but it was so worth it right? It's like a little carpet already." Cass said.

Just then, the elevator doors opened and out stepped Bill and Beau. They joined the women at the window so they could see the baby as well.

"She's as beautiful as her beautiful mother," Beau said then turned to look at Bill's head. "She looks a little like you, but the hair must be from Liz's side of the family."

Bill ran his hand over his slightly balding head. "Well, she had to contribute something," Bill said with as much sarcasm as he could manage.

"Never mind you two, I think she's just the perfect combination of both of us," Liz said as she wrapped her arms around Bill's waist.

The four of them stood there in silence for a little while watching the little bundle move, and stretch, and yawn. The world had just become a bigger place and they were all so happy to be sharing this moment together.

Cass and Beau left shortly after seeing the baby. All the way home they held hands and talked about little Joey. How wonderful it was going to be watching her grow up. Beau knew that this was hard for Cass, considering what they'd just been through, and he prayed silently that they would be blessed again very soon with the promise of their own baby.