Sarah punched the button that was flashing on the telephone and spoke to the tiny wireless microphone that hung from the earpiece of her headset. She was still trying to get used to the new little gadget but she had to admit, it was easier than picking up the handset every time that phone rang.

"Trinity Incorporated," she said cheerfully. "How may I direct your call?"
The voice that answered was deep and very British. "Donald Samuels, please."

"One moment please," she answered. Sarah put the caller on hold and rang Don’s intercom number.

"Yes?" Was all the response she ever got from Don when she rang his intercom.

"Sir Edmund is on line 4."

Sarah knew that Donald had been waiting to hear from Sir Edmund. The project with the English duke would mean a great deal to the company. If this deal went through business would increase by over one third. The whole company was devoting all available time and resources to it. Everyone was looking forward to the increased business and the possible increases in pay that would go along with it.

As Sarah thought about just what a small increase in her salary would mean to her and her husband, Frank, the entrance door swung open and a well-dressed middle-aged man walked in. He was carrying a large briefcase that was obviously quite heavy. Sarah gave him one of her famous dazzling smiles.

"May I help you?" She asked

"Hello, I’m David Frazier, I have an appointment with Don Samuels."

The man’s voice was smooth and his smile was patently false. He might as well have had "Salesman" tattooed on his forehead. Sarah pushed a stray lock of her long blonde hair behind her ear and made a bit of a show of looking at the lights on the telephone. She gave the salesman her "I’m sorry" smile and said, "Mr. Samuels is on the phone to London right now, but if you’ll have a seat he’ll be with you shortly."

The man’s gaze shifted from Sarah’s pretty blue eyes. When he said, "I’ll be happy to wait," he was actually speaking to her now-ample breasts. Sarah took an instant dislike to the man, but it was her job to make visitors to Trinity Inc. feel comfortable and welcome. Besides, this wasn’t the first lecherous middle-age salesman she’d had to deal with in her four years as a receptionist.

"Would you like a cup of coffee while you wait?" She asked. The man had given her a pretty long look, no gentleman would ever take her up on that offer.

"Yes, two sugars, no cream," he said without actually looking at her. He seemed more interested in the rather spartan décor of the front office. He was already mentally figuring how much of his product the small burgeoning business would be able to afford.

Sarah slid her chair back from her desk and had to use both hands on the chair to push what seemed to her, her enormous bulk from the chair. She managed to get her balance and tottered off toward the small kitchenette just down the hall from her desk. In the past month or so Sarah had come to hate the big mirror that hung at the entrance to the hall. She couldn’t walk past it without seeing how huge she had become. She laid her hand on her distended belly as she felt the baby kick. She smiled to herself as she thought, just six more weeks and she’d finally get to meet this little person that was growing inside her.

Just last week Sarah had seen her doctor and she had been very pleased with the outcome. Dr. Renshaw had given her and the baby a clean bill of health. Sarah was right on target with her weight, the baby’s heartbeat was strong, the ultrasound looked fine. Dr. Renshaw had performed an amniocentesis. The results had just come back two days earlier. During the days that they waited for the results, Sarah and Frank had thought and talked long and hard to decide whether or not they wanted to know the sex of the baby. To find out whether or not it was healthy was a no-brainer. But knowing the sex ahead of time took some of the mystery out of the waiting. In the end they had decided that they, indeed wanted to know. Sarah grinned as little Erica apparently put one foot against her mother’s ribcage and stretched.

Sarah was smiling happily as she fixed the cup of coffee for the obnoxious salesman. Nothing could possibly ruin the great feeling that she had right now. She was about to become the mother of a little girl. She was married to the sweetest man in the world (who just happened to be incredibly cute and sexy to boot) and both of them were working. Okay, so neither of them were getting rich, but they were making a living. Frank worked for a heating and air conditioning company and the money was pretty good. Her wages here at Trinity were not great, but she felt like she was really contributing to the family income. Besides, the insurance here at Trinity Inc. was pretty good. That was important with little Erica on the way. Frank had already run the numbers on the insurance and the expected costs of the hospital bills. If everything went well they would be out no more than $700.00 from their own pocket. They could handle that with no problem since Frank’s parents’ wedding gift to them had been a $500.00 CD. That had been three years ago, Sarah wasn’t sure exactly how much it was worth now, but it would sure make a dent in that out-of-pocket expense.

As Sarah stirred the salesman’s coffee she felt a strange pain in her lower back. It quickly spread around her waist to the front. Sarah froze. Surely that was not what it felt like. She stood there a moment to see if it would happen again. After a minute Sarah relaxed again, it must have just been a little cramp or something from carrying this medicine ball around on her stomach.

Relieved, Sarah carried the coffee back to the reception area and placed it on the end table beside the salesman. He had taken some papers out of his briefcase and was studying them intently. He grunted monosyllabic thanks without even giving Sarah a glance. Sarah wasn’t sure if she was offended or not. Six months ago this same dork had made quite a fuss over her. Apparently seeing her this pregnant turned off the leach in him. Sarah straightened and turned toward her desk and again the pain hit her in the back and spread to her stomach. This time it was a little stronger than before. Sarah stood still a moment while it passed then continued to her desk. As she sat down, she saw that the salesman was looking at her very intently with a worried frown.

"Are you okay?" He asked.

Sarah smiled back at him. Maybe he wasn’t as big a jerk as she had assumed; at least he was showing concern.

"Just a little pain," Sarah answered. "My doctor told me that I might experience a few false labor pains in the next couple of weeks."

The man gave her a relieved smile and went back to studying the paperwork in his hand. When the next pain hit Sarah became alarmed. This one was much more intense and lasted longer. Sarah didn’t realize that she had squeezed her eyes shut and bent forward in her chair. When she opened her eyes the salesman was at her side.

"Honey, I don’t think those pains are false," he said.

The pain passed and Sarah leaned back in her chair. She realized that she was sweating profusely. The salesman pulled a handkerchief from an inside jacket pocket and gently wiped her forehead. Out of the corner of her eye, Sarah noticed that the light on line four had gone out. Don was off of the phone. She leaned forward and punched the button for Don’s intercom again.

"Yes?"

"Mr. Frazier is here to see you," Sarah said into the speaker.

"I’ll be right there," Don said.

Sarah looked at Mr. Frazier and smiled a genuinely grateful smile. "Thank you," she said. Mr. Frazier smiled back and laid the now sweaty handkerchief on Sarah’s desk.

"Keep this, just in case you need it," he smiled.

Sarah picked up the handkerchief and wiped her eyes that were suddenly filled with tears. She felt terrible that she had judged Mr. Frazier so harshly at first. She didn’t have long to harangue herself for her snap judgment. Another pain hit her hard. A short gasping cry escaped her lips just as Donald walked into the reception area.

Don rushed to her side as Mr. Frazier placed one arm around her shoulders. "Oh my God, Sarah, what’s wrong?" Donald cried.

"I’m afraid she’s in labor," Mr. Frazier answered.

"She can’t be, she’s not due for at least six more weeks."

"I’m not sure the baby is aware of that," Mr. Frazier said.

"Do you think we should call an ambulance?" Don asked.

Mr. Frazier looked thoughtful, "I don’t think it’s necessary just yet. There is still a possibility that it’s just false labor."

Sarah slowly raised her head as the pain subsided. Once again Mr. Frazier was gently wiping the sweat from her face with his handkerchief. "That was a bad one, wasn’t it?" He asked.

Sarah could only nod her head. This just wasn’t right. False labor pains weren’t supposed to be regular. Horror gripped Sarah. The baby was coming way too early. She tried to relax. Maybe she was wrong, maybe it would stop now. Sarah looked into the faces of her boss and the salesman. The two strong, handsome faces were creased with worry and concern for her. Sarah had to admit to herself, this much attention from two such attractive men was rather nice.

Sarah started to smile at them, but the smile froze before it was quite halfway formed. She was suddenly aware of a warm wetness between her legs. "NO!" her brain screamed, "THIS IS NOT HAPPENING!"

Don and Mr. Frazier immediately saw the panic in Sarah’s eyes and both almost shouted in unison, "Sarah, what’s wrong?"

Through her panic Sarah could just barely get out the words, "I think my water just broke."

Both men were taken aback, but Mr. Frazier recovered first. "Now we call an ambulance!"

By now everyone in the building knew that something was wrong in the receptionist’s office. Trinity Inc. employed just over 30 people. In a matter of a couple of minutes every single one of them was in the front office. Through the babble Sarah was vaguely aware that Don and Mr. Frazier were gently lifting her from her chair, one on each arm. They half carried her to the couch in across from her desk and gently laid her down. Lisa, Don’s wife and company bookkeeper was suddenly by her side.

"Talk to me Sarah," she said. "How do you feel?"

"The pains are gone for now, but I feel terrible," Sarah answered. She was acutely aware of the wetness between her legs. She was absolutely certain that her skirt was soaked and thought she’d die from the humiliation of the whole company seeing her this way.

Lisa turned her head enough to find the warehouse manager’s face in the crowded office. "Do we still have that case of monogrammed bath towels that was returned?" She shouted at him?

"Yes, we do".

"Go get them," She ordered. "The rest of you get out of here for now. The last thing she needs right now is a mob surrounding her."

The spontaneous company meeting slowly broke up as the employees pulled back into the hall. Some went back to their offices, but stayed just inside the door. The hallway was still crowded enough that a few employees momentarily panicked and pressed themselves against the walls as the warehouse manager came running up the hall carrying a large cardboard box and shouting, "Let me through, let me through!"

He sat the box on the floor beside Lisa and quickly backed away and melted into the crowd. Without turning her head Lisa admonished the onlookers, "We could use a little privacy here."

Don turned toward the hall and spread his arms apart, "Come on folks, back off a little. Sarah is in enough distress as it is without being gawked at by all of you."

Mr. Frazier was on the telephone after having dialed 911. Lisa shot him a withering glance and he turned his back to her and Sarah as he continued to talk to the 911 operator. Lisa took several towels from the box. She gently lifted the hem of Sarah’s skirt just enough to push the towels under the skirt and up between her legs. She then took a third towel and carefully blotted the sweat from Sarah’s face. Sarah smiled up at Lisa. She was grateful for her being there. Lisa and Don had three children of their own so Sarah knew that Lisa understood what she was going through.

Mr. Frazier’s voice broke through Sarah’s limited consciousness, "Ambulance is on the way. Just hang in there Hon."

Sarah would have smiled at him in thanks had not the next pain chosen that particular moment to wrack her body. Lisa put her arm around Sarah’s shoulders and helped her into a sitting position until the pain passed. As she laid Sarah back onto the couch she kept crooning to her, "Don’t worry Sweetie, everything is going to be okay. The ambulance is coming, we’ll have you at the hospital in just a few minutes."

"Would somebody call Frank for me?" Lisa asked.

Lisa turned to her husband, "Don, call Lester’s Heat and Air. Tell them to pull Frank off of whatever he’s doing and to have him meet us at the hospital."

Normally, at the office Don was the boss. But considering the circumstances he didn’t hesitate to follow Lisa’s instructions. While he was looking the number up the door burst open and three paramedics came rushing in bringing a stretcher with them.

Lisa backed away just enough for them to get to Sarah. Sarah looked at her pleadingly; "Will you stay with me?"

"I’ll be right with you Sarah, but right now let the paramedics do their job."

Sarah felt a needle prick her arm and a voice telling her, "I’m giving you something to relax you. It should slow the labor pains down a bit until we can get you to the hospital."

Almost immediately Sarah felt herself relax and sort of start to float. She was barely aware of the fact that the paramedics had placed her on the stretcher and raised it. Sarah closed her eyes for just a moment. When she opened them again she was looking at the roof of the ambulance. She could hear the siren screaming and felt the sway of ambulance as it careened around a corner. A paramedic was sitting beside her checking her pulse, she could see Lisa’s anxious face peering over the paramedic’s shoulder.

Sarah closed her eyes again and when she opened them she found herself on a gurney being rushed down the hall in the hospital. She was wheeled into a delivery room and transferred to the bed there. Sarah’s doctor and two nurses were there.

"Sarah, can you hear me?" one of the nurses asked.

Sarah simply nodded her head. She didn’t bother trying to speak since her mouth and nose were covered by an oxygen mask.

"The baby is coming a little early," the nurse said, "but don’t worry Dr. Renshaw is here and she’s going to do everything possible to make it all right."

The other nurse placed a large rubber mask over Sarah’s nose and mouth and told her to breathe deeply. Sarah closed her eyes and took two deep breaths. Then she slowly opened them. The bright lights of the delivery room were gone. She was in a bed with her head raised slightly. The lights were dim but beside her she could just make out the strong profile of her husband, Frank.

She turned her head toward him. He movement caught his attention and he looked at her. Seeing that she was awake, Frank was immediately on his feet at Sarah’s head. He stroked her hair as he leaned forward and kissed her forehead.

"Hey Honey," he whispered. "How do you feel?"

"Like hell," Sarah replied. "I hurt all over and I feel groggy."

"I’ll get the nurse to bring you something for the pain. You’re just coming out from under the anesthesia. Just lie there and rest for now. You are going to be fine."

Sarah’s eyes popped fully open as she suddenly remembered why she was here. "How about the baby? Oh, God, she was way too early. Is she okay?

"Little Erica is in Neonatal ICU. She weighed four pounds and three ounces. Dr. Renshaw says that she’s got a real good chance of making it. Her heart and lungs are a little underdeveloped, but that’s normal considering how early she came."

"When can I see her?"

"In a little while, Honey. As soon as you are fully awake I’ll see about getting someone to take us down there."

"I’m awake enough. I want to see my baby."

Sarah looked at Frank pleadingly. She could see him physically give in. Frank never could resist those deep blue eyes.

"I’ll go talk to the nurse," he said as he turned and left the room.

A few minutes later he returned with an orderly who was pushing a wheelchair. Together they helped her out of bed and into the chair. Sarah was suddenly very aware that all she was wearing was a hospital gown.

"Wait," she said, "did you go by the house and get me something to wear while I’m here? I was going to pack a bag soon to keep standing by, but I never dreamed I’d need it this soon."

Frank just shook his head. "Sweetie, I came straight here when they got hold of me on the job. Later you can tell me what you need and I’ll go home and get it."

The orderly stepped toward the door. "Hang on a second," he said, "I’ll see what I can scare up for you real quick."

He returned shortly with a green scrub suit. "This is the best I could do. I figured you’d wear a medium." He handed the scrubs to Frank. "Help her into these, I’ll step outside. Call me when you are done."

Getting into the scrub suit top was easy, but to put on the scrub pants Frank had to help Sarah stand up and at the same time pull them up over her bare bottom. However, once that was accomplished Sarah felt much better about being wheeled around through the hospital corridors. Frank stuck his head out the door and told the orderly that they were ready. The orderly came back into the room and took hold of the wheelchair handles. Frank held the door open as the orderly wheeled Sarah out into the hall.

"By the way, my name is James," the orderly said as they moved down the corridor. "If there is anything at all you want or need, don’t hesitate to let me know. My job is to take care of you and I take my job very seriously."

Sarah tried to turn her head far enough to give James a warm smile, but it caused her head to hurt too much. Instead she turned to Frank who was walking along beside her. "What happened to getting me something for this pain?" she asked him.

James turned the wheelchair toward the nurse’s station without a word. He stopped just a few feet from the desk and asked the nurse on duty if Sarah was scheduled for anything for pain. The nurse consulted a chart and said that she could have something if she needed it.

Sarah really tried not to sound bitchy as she replied, "Yes, I really do need something."

Apparently the effort worked because the nurse smiled at her and said she’d be right back. She stepped into a room just off the duty desk and came back with a small paper cup with two pills in it and a cup of water. Sarah took the pills and drained the cup of water. She hadn’t realized how thirsty she was. James immediately took the empty cup from her hand and refilled it at a nearby water fountain. Sarah was able to look up at him and give him one of her most charming smiles as she thanked him for everything. James actually blushed a bit as he again took the handles of the wheelchair and continued to wheel Sarah down the corridor.

James wheeled Sarah into the nursery. Sarah looked at all of the plastic bassinets lined up facing the large window. Each held a healthy baby. Sarah tore her eyes from them because she knew that it would be a long time before her baby could be in one of those. She knew that Erica was in intensive care and she tried to imagine what she was about to face. It was a waste of time. What she saw was worse than anything she could have ever imagined.

Erica was so tiny that Sarah almost couldn’t believe that she was alive. But the worst part was the tubes and wires sticking out of her newborn baby. There was an IV tube in one little leg. An oxygen tube was taped to her tiny little nose and EKG wires were attached all over her baby’s chest. A heart monitor was beeping beside the incubation unit that she lay in. Little Erica wasn’t moving at all. Sarah couldn’t imagine how her little baby could possibly be asleep with all of that stuff sticking into, out of and onto her tiny body.

James rolled her wheelchair up to a few feet from the incubation unit and locked the brakes. He and Frank helped Sarah get to her feet so that she could stand beside the unit and look at the baby that she had carried in her body. Sarah remembered how she had thought earlier that day that she couldn’t wait to meet this little person that she was carrying. Looking at her now she would have given her life if this meeting could have been postponed a few more weeks. James showed Sarah how to slip her hands into the rubber gloves that were attached to two holes in the side of the incubation unit.

"I’m sorry, but we have to keep her in a totally sterile environment right now," he explained. "I know you want to touch her and hold her right now, but this is the best that we can do."

Sarah felt like she was working on some sensitive lab experiment rather than reaching for her baby as she worked her hands into the gloves so that she could at least touch her baby with the gloves. Sarah was surprised at how much she could move her arms around in the unit with them stuck through the gloved holes in the side. She was able to stroke her little girl’s hair and feel the warmth of her little cheek through the thin rubber gloves. She picked up her daughter’s tiny hand and looked at the five little fingers and the minuscule little fingernails on each one. As she fought back her tears, the little hand closed around her finger and Sarah lost the battle with the tears.

Frank’s arms were around her shoulders before she even realized that he had moved closer to her. He held Sarah up while James slowly extracted her hands from the gloves. Together they helped her back into the wheelchair where Sarah slumped and cried uncontrollably. Frank held her head to his chest as he stroked her hair and made soothing sounds. James looked on with a totally helpless look on his face. Tears filled his eyes as he looked from the lovely lady in the wheelchair and the precious little infant fighting for life in the incubator.

Slowly Sarah regained some control of herself and James suggested that they take her back to her room. What she needed now was rest. He tried to assure her that everything humanly possible was being done for her baby and that everything would turn out all right.

By the time Frank and James had gotten Sarah back to her room she had regained enough of her composure to give Frank a list of things for him to pack into a bag and bring to her. As soon as Sarah was settled back into her hospital bed a nurse came in with another of the little paper cups containing two pills. They were to help her sleep. In a little while she was sleeping soundly. Frank left to go home and get the things that she needed.

Sarah slept soundly through the night. When she woke up Frank was there, asleep in a chair beside her bed. Seeing her husband close to her gave her a feeling of warmth and security. Suddenly she just knew that little Erica was going to be just fine. She had no illusions about taking her baby home with her any time soon, but for some reason she was absolutely certain that eventually she would.

As she looked at her handsome husband his eyes opened and he looked into her eyes. He smiled a very tired smile and said, "Good morning Honey. Have I told you lately that I love you more than life itself?"

"I love you too Sweetheart," Sarah smiled back at him. "I want to go see Erica."

Frank looked at his watch. "I think they are going to bring you breakfast in a few minutes. I really think you should eat first. Then you can put on your pajamas that I brought for you and we’ll go see her."

As if on cue the door opened slightly and someone knocked on the door. A food service worker stuck her head in the door and asked if she was ready for her breakfast. Sarah suddenly realized that she was famished. The food service worker brought in a tray that had Sarah’s name and room number on a ticket taped to it. Sarah took the cover off of the tray and found that it was her favorite breakfast. Two poached eggs, two slices of crisp bacon, hash browns, coffee and tomato juice. She looked at the ticket taped to the tray and saw that it was a checklist of choices for breakfast. All of her favorites were checked. Sarah looked at Frank questioningly.

"After you went to sleep they came around with that for you to fill out. I didn’t want to wake you, but I thought I knew what you’d want."

"Well you hit it right on the head Sweetie. Thank you so much. You are the most wonderful husband in the world."

"I doubt that, but I’m the best that you have available today," Frank laughed. He never could take a compliment gracefully.

After Sarah had finished with her breakfast she felt like taking a shower before going to visit her new baby. She slowly got out of bed checking to see how badly she hurt today. It wasn’t all that bad. She took a long hot shower and dressed in her pj’s and put on her robe. When she came out of the bathroom Frank wasn’t in the room but came in just a few minutes later.

"I was just checking with the nurse, she said that if you feel like it you can try to walk to the nursery or she can call an orderly with a wheelchair," Frank told her.

"I really want to walk."

"Okay, I’ll be right beside you. If you need help, just let me know."

Sarah and Frank walked down to the nursery and into the neonatal ICU. Erica looked different today but it took Sarah a minute to put her finger on it. It was her color. When she had first seen Erica her skin had a bluish tint. Today her color was more pink and healthy-looking. Sarah put her hands into the gloves again so that she could touch her baby. As she stroked Erica’s little cheek she opened her eyes and seemed to snuggle against Sarah’s hand. Even with tubes and wires all over her Sarah thought that she was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen.

As she held her hand to her baby’s cheek a nurse came in. "We have to do some tests, you’ll have to excuse us. We’ll call you as soon as you can come back in."

Reluctantly, Sarah removed her hands from the gloves and she and Frank slowly walked back to her room. Soon Dr. Renshaw came in with a tall, distinguished looking middle-aged doctor.

"This is Dr. Kimball. He is Erica’s pediatrician."

"Hi Sarah," Dr. Kimball said. "I wanted to talk to you about how Erica is doing. To have come as early as she did, she’s in exceptionally good shape. As expected in a baby born six weeks premature, her heart and lungs are not completely developed. However, her little heart is strong and I think it will develop perfectly in time. We have her in biological isolation, but I suppose you’ve already seen that. Right now we are checking on her condition and we’ll probably take her out of isolation shortly. That way you can at least touch her without the gloves."

"How long will she have to stay here?" Sarah asked.

"That’s hard to say at this point. Her weight is really low. We want her to weigh at least 6 pounds before we release her and it will still depend on how her heart and lungs develop."

"Can you give us any idea at all?"

"Well, I’d say probably at least four weeks, maybe as much as six or seven. At this point I’m inclined to lean toward the lower number. Probably four to five weeks."

Sarah looked at Dr. Renshaw. "When will I be ready to go home? Will I be able to still come and see her every day?"

"You are doing quite well, we’ll see about getting you discharged tomorrow. You can be here every day to be with your baby."

For the rest of the day Sarah spent as much time as possible in the nursery as close to Erica as possible. Part of the incubation unit had been removed so that the sides were open, making it possible to touch Erica. The next morning Sarah was discharged from the hospital. She went home and unpacked her bag. Sarah walked into the baby’s bedroom. She and Frank had been working on it ever since she found out that she was pregnant. Everything was ready for the baby to come home. The walls were painted a soft pink, a brand new bassinet sat in one corner and an antique crib that had belonged to Sarah’s grandmother in another. The only thing missing was her baby.

Every day for the next four weeks Sarah went to the hospital to be with little Erica. Even after she had gone back to work, she still spent her lunch hour and evenings with her little girl. Every day she saw her grow stronger. Soon the heart monitor was taken off, the oxygen tube removed and then the IV disappeared. Erica was beginning to feed from a bottle. Erica continued to gain weight as she developed. The doctors were impressed with how well her heart and lungs and continued to develop. The prognosis was very good. Erica was expected to grow up as a normal, healthy girl.

As her little body developed so did her personality. Erica charmed all of the nurses in the hospital. Even those that never worked in the nursery would find excuses to stop in to hold the sweet child. She was a very good-natured baby. She rarely cried and it was apparent that there was a special strength in her. A will to live that simply would not be denied. Everyone that came into contact with her knew that she was a real fighter. As a result they all loved her.

After four and a half weeks Erica’s weight began to approach that magic number of six pounds. While the nurses were very proud of little Erica, behind the pride there was a note of sadness. They knew that soon Erica would be going home and they were going to miss the little lady something fierce.

Sarah took a leave of absence from work. She wanted to be at home to care for little Erica full time until she was sure that she could handle daycare. The last three days before Erica was ready to come home Sarah spent all day at the hospital with her and at least an hour every evening cleaning and re-cleaning the baby’s room. She checked everything repeatedly making sure that she had everything that she would possibly need for her precious baby. The more she’d had to wait to bring her baby home, the more she wanted everything to be just perfect.

Finally the day came when Erica could come home. Frank took the day off from work and he and Sarah drove to the hospital together. Sarah was nervous, excited and apprehensive all at the same time. Sarah went through the process of checking little Erica out of the hospital while Frank made trip after trip to the car carrying all of the gifts that had been left for Erica. There were dozens of balloons and flowers, even a potted plant. Finally everything was ready and Sarah carried Erica out of the nursery. There was a throng of nurses, orderlies and doctors waiting in the hallway to say goodbye to the little girl who had stolen all of their hearts.

Frank was waiting at the car having finally gotten the last of the balloons to fit inside. Sarah couldn’t help laughing at the way Frank had managed to crowd everything into the car. There was barely enough room for them in the front seat and Erica’s car seat in the back. A huge teddy bear was strapped into the back seat on the driver’s side, Erica’s car seat was on the passenger side. Between Erica and the teddy bear was the potted plant. The center seat belt held it in place. The trunk was stuffed with gifts and balloons.

Very carefully Sarah placed Erica in the car seat and strapped her in. Sarah and Frank climbed into the car and waved goodbye to all of the nurses and staff of the hospital who had come out to say one last farewell. Sarah turned as far around in her seat as her seat belt would allow so that she could look at her beautiful baby. Frank smiled at his pretty wife. Neither of them had ever been so happy in their lives.

Lynn Tucker’s blood alcohol content level was well over twice the legal limit. Lynn was exceeding the speed limit by more than 20 miles an hour. Lynn never even saw the stop sign.

Tucker’s vehicle struck Frank and Sarah’s car on the driver’s side. The impact drove the car into a power pole on the corner of the intersection. The car struck the pole with the rear passenger side door. The pole almost cut the car in half. Erica’s car seat was pinned between the collapsed door and the potted plant beside her. The clay pot shattered and shards of clay struck Erica in the head, chest and abdomen with enough force to drive them completely through her.

Shaken but not seriously injured Frank stumbled out of the car. He looked at what was left of his car. He stumbled around behind the Tucker car. He could hear his wife screaming something about her baby being dead. Frank’s legs gave out from under him and he sat heavily on the pavement. Everything seemed to be swimming around him except for the bumper sticker on the rear of the car that had hit him.

"Friend don’t let friends drive drunk."