G IV: Chapter 3

Rachel quickly took to helping Daphne in the garden every morning. She really enjoyed it, probably more than Daphne did recently.

Daphne had started aging in her old age. Bending to tend the plants had started to hurt her back and also her knee joints.

After tending the garden the girls went in to shower and relax for a while. Daphne watched TV in her room while Rachel put her nose in a book. Only about two pages in, Rachel got dizzy and her vision went blurry. She felt a huge wave of nausea then jumped up and ran to the bathroom.

She lost her breakfast that day. Rachel wasn't positive yet and didn't plan to mention it to anyone, but she thought she might be pregnant. That excited her. She had always wanted a family, two babies and a husband. She was working on the perfect life, and loving every minute.

A little time later, Rachel woke to find herself unable to fit into her daily clothes. She smiled as she put on her sweats and went about her chores. It was true, she was definitely pregnant. Now she would spread the word, but to Brian first of course. She looked at him, still sleeping, in the bed. "I'll tell him when he wakes." She thought.

Rachel, Daphne and Johanna were outside playing when Brian did finally make an appearance. He was dressed for work. Rachel pulled him into what he thought was a goodbye hug, but when his ear was close enough she said "We're pregnant!"

"Oh! Really? That's fabulous! When did you find out?"

Rachel smiled, "I only knew for sure this morning but I didn't want to wake you."

"Mom! You're going to be a grandmother!" Brian couldn't contain himself.

Daphne came over and offered her congratulations to the couple. She was thrilled. "Ready yourself for a rambunctious baby boy. They run in the family you know."

Rachel was doing some work around the house when Brian caught her at the recycling bin.

"Surprise!" He said as he pulled out some flowers. "As usual I was thinking about you while I was out today. So I got these for you."

"Honey, that's so sweet." She kissed his cheek after smelling the flowers. When Brian offered her a massage she accepted that too - gratefully. The pregnancy had caused her some back pain and muscle aches.

One morning, Daphne worked in the garden while Rachel prepared breakfast for the family.

"You want some pancakes Jo-Jo?" Brian asked

"Nah, actually I'm headed out to City hall to register myself as an Angler. I gotta run, my appointments in half an hour."

Johanna was accepted for self employment. Now she would actually get promotions and extra bonuses for all that fishing she does. She was happy about that, but she wouldn't start her 'new' job until later.

When she walked back in the door at the house, she joined a conversation with the rest of the family.

"If it is a boy, have you guys decided on a name yet?" Daphne was asking

"No, not at the moment." Rachel said, then she glanced at Brian and back at Daphne. "We would like to give him the middle name 'Charlie' though, if that's okay."

Daphne's eyes started to water, she almost had to choke out her words. "That would be great. I love it, and I'm sure Charlie would love it too if he were here."

Johanna piped in, "Well I tell you, I can't wait for my little nephew, or niece, to come out! I wanna meet you." She said to the baby. The four of them laughed.

"Okay well, I'm going to go to dinner, does anyone want to come to the Bistro with me?" Daphne asked.

Johanna said that she planned to fish. Brian and Rachel wanted to stay in the house, so Daphne went by herself.

She ran into Dylan just as she was going into the restaurant. He was playing his guitar for tips by the door. She even tipped him herself.

"Hey kiddo, how are you?" Daphne said to him

"Hey mom! What a nice surprise. I'm good. This is a great place to earn tips, a lot of people come here."

"Well I was just about to go in myself, do you want to join me?" She asked.

Dylan accepted the invite and the two dined together.

Johanna went out fishing, and within five minutes she caught the biggest fish she had ever seen. Everything was smooth sailing after that, it seemed like her lucky day. She ended up catching a bunch of fish - many very large ones. People pay good money for fish such as this. It made her happy to think that she was going to be making extra money just hanging out by the water.

Back at home Brian played the piano for a while, Rachel watched and listened. She admitted to him that she had never played before, but always wanted lessons when she was younger.

"Well have your first lesson now honey. Sit down. You play, I'll teach." He said

She smiled and did so, she sat on the bench and placed her fingers on the keys. That's when it happened.

"Oh crap, I think I just peed in my pants! Why would I do that?" She said. Then it hit her, "Ooohh! That's not.. that's... oh goodness! Brian my water broke! It's time for the baby to come!"

Brian smiled, "Great! Let's go!"

"Oh, no rush no rush, we have some time." The two of them got in the car and went to the hospital.

The baby came quickly, almost as if Rachel had given birth before. To both her and Brian's surprise, it was a girl!

They hadn't really thought about girl names yet. Brian offered a suggestion though, that Rachel thought was a great idea. He thought they should name her after her great-great-grandmother. Rachel agreed that it was a great idea.

Rachel and Brian caught a taxi home, Just before Brian got in he noticed Dylan strumming his guitar just outside the hospital. He was playing a 'congratulations' song for the new parents. Dylan smiled at Brian as he walked by and interrupted his song with "Congrats bro!" then went back to playing.

On the ride home Rachel looked at the baby. "Maybe not Jenni, that's kind of old fashioned. How about Jennifer though, in honor of instead of directly after her great-great-grandmother?"

Brian gazed at the little pink bundle, "It's perfect, she's perfect."