Chapter 3

Grace dropped the glass of water in the sink. She felt the ever-familiar sharp pain in her stomach again. Not again. "Gavin!" This couldn't be happening...they'd gotten so close...just one week…

Gavin emerged from the bathroom, freshly showered, and unquestioningly picked her up and carried her to the car, breaking every traffic law in the world on the way to the hospital.

She couldn't lose this baby. She silently begged for her daughter’s life....'She doesn't even have a name...' Grace thought as reasoning for them not to lose the baby.

Upon arrival, Gavin lifted her again and soon Grace was set up in a hospital bed.

"It's alright, ma'am, you've just gone into early labor," the doctor assured her.

"You mean it's not a miscarriage?" Grace asked.

"No, ma'am." The doctor was smiling pleasantly at them.

"I think we need a name." Grace practically whispered.

Gavin took Grace's hand and quickly called his brother with his free hand, leaving a message that Grace was having the baby and they should come as soon as they got the message.

"Shh. We can name her when she gets here if we have to." Gavin kissed her forehead. "Anything in mind?"

"I don't know...I tried not to think that much about it, honestly." Grace squeezed his hand.

Gavin considered. "Chelsea. Chelsea Spencer."

Grace paused. "I like it. It's a pretty name."

"Good name for our little angel?"

Grace nodded.

"Good." Gavin squeezed her hand gently. "We're going to have a beautiful little girl,

Grace."

"A baby..."

"Our baby."

Hours later, the doctors were washing baby Chelsea and handing her to her mother. The doctor went out to the waiting area. "It's a girl," she told the rest of the Spencers.

"She's perfect." Grace said, holding the little girl close.

"Well it looks like you got lucky," Holly muttered darkly to Garrett.

"You're both perfect." Gavin kissed Grace softly, then gently kissed the top of their baby's head.

Cassidy put an arm around Garrett. "Let's go see her before they bring her to the nursery, please?"

Garrett nodded. "Yeah." They walked through the doors and down the hall, knocking on Grace's door.

"It's open," Gavin called, not moving from his seat on the edge of the bed with his wife and daughter.

Grace glanced up and smiled at her sister. "Hi."

"Hi... oh Grace, look at her, she's perfect!" Cassidy said, looking down at her sister's child. "What did you two name my niece?"

"Chelsea." Grace replied.

"It's precious... she's wonderful." Cassidy gently hugged her little sister.

"Congratulations." Garrett shook Gavin's hand.

"Thanks." Grace smiled and readjusted the baby so as to give everyone a better view.

Gavin smiled. "Thanks... she's so little..." He looked at the child. "Were yours really that little?"

Nathan placed a hand on his daughter-in-law's shoulder. "Congratulations, Grace."

"Thank you." Grace looked up and smiled.

Garrett shook his head. "But she's a bit early isn't she? So she'd be small, right?"

"Yeah... and Grace never gained that much weight when she was pregnant anyway." Gavin smiled. "We've really got a baby..."

Holly seemed to hesitate, then hugged Grace and the baby. "She's lovely."

"You do." Garrett replied. "Now you get to be a dad."

"She can play with yours. She'll have lots of cousins to play with." Gavin was still staring at his daughter, smiling stupidly.

"Thank you." Grace said hesitantly. She was still guarded around Holly after what she said about Grace and the baby.

"Go hold your daughter." Garrett told him.

Gavin did so, gently picking Chelsea up from her mother's arms. "She's beautiful... Thank you," he said to Grace after a moment.

Grace kissed his cheek. "She's so perfect."

"I love you." Gavin squeezed her hand gently.

"I love you too." Grace replied. "And I love you, baby girl."

Chelsea cooed.

~*~*~*~

Cassidy was resting on her back, watching their baby move around. Garrett sat by the bed, also watching. Sonograms were a regular occurrence... but today, if the baby cooperated, the real mystery would be solved.

"Well, she looks like she's perfectly happy and healthy. I'd like to see you gain a little more weight, Cassidy, but you're within the normal range," the doctor told them.

Garrett kissed Cassidy's forehead. "We're having a girl."

"Yeah..." Cassidy forced a smile. It was a healthy little baby, and she knew she was going to love her when she arrived... but the expression she imagined on her mother-in-law's face, as well as the disappointment Garrett would never dream of showing...

"Come on, baby...let's get you home." Garrett helped her to her feet. "We should pick out a name."

"Yeah... we should." Cassidy couldn't help but feel a little bit disappointed, but she fought not to show it. "I named Kayla, you get to name this one."

There would be a time and a place for Garrett to vent his frustration about his apparent inability to have a boy. But now it was neither. He had to give Cassidy the support she needed. "What about...Victoria?"

"Yeah... that'll do. A little Vicki."

He nodded. "Victoria Spencer. Very respectable little girl."

"Yeah." The same slightly sad smile crossed her face. "A little girl."

"Our little girl."

"Yeah. Another of our little girls."

"Another little princess I get to spoil rotten."

"I appreciate the effort, baby, but we both wanted a little prince."

"I know, Cass, I know, but...that doesn't matter right now...what matters is we are going to have a beautiful, healthy baby."

"It's still... it seems like our first baby was the only boy we're fated to have, and Callahan *stole* him from us..."

"I know, Cassidy," Garrett held her close. "I know..."

She fought back the tears, it would do the baby no good to get upset, but she couldn't help it...

"I wish I could do something to erase what he did to you. To us."

"I wish we could have our little boy."

"So do I. Every day, but we're lucky. We are going to have four beautiful little girls."

"I'm not telling your mother it's a girl."

"Don't. It's none of her damned business anyway."

"I'm sorry," Cassidy said quietly.

"Don't be. I'm the one that should be apologizing."

"It wasn't an apology... empathy, I guess. We did everything we knew how, both of us. And I guess... I guess we could try again but how many more daughters are we going to have?"

Garrett remembered something similar to that his mother had said after Kayla was born. "I don't know. I do want a son badly...but when we stop trying really is up to you, Cass."

"I just... I've spent most of my twenties carrying your children. And I love them, and I'm proud to do it, but I feel like it's getting to be time to just give it up..."

"I never expected you'd want to keep having girls just because we're supposed...we want a son."

She didn't want to give up on their chances of having a boy, but she just felt... tired. It was finally weighing on her... "One more. After Vicki. One more baby."

Garrett's face was expressionless but his mind was racing. One last chance...or he'd lose the organization. "Alright. We'll make it count."

"We could..." She hesitated, not wanting to make him angry but knowing he wanted a son. "We could try to have one artificially. Make sure it's a boy and then..."

"No." Garrett cut her off. "Absolutely not. We have one more and if it's a girl then it's a girl, if it's a boy, it's a boy. I don't want you to have to go through some...some surgery in order to have a boy."

"I wouldn't mind, Garrett, I suggested it..."

"Cass, I don't care. I don't want you to think you have to do that."

"I want a little boy as much as you do."

"I know, but I don't want to have one through any artificial means. It's not safe."

She simply nodded, feeling defeated.

"Let's get home." Garrett sighed, wrapping an arm around her and guiding her out of the building.

Cassidy let him escort her to the car.

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