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“I hope we have a daughter who looks like you.”

They smiled at each other. She didn’t tell him about the queasiness. She didn’t quite connect it. Until a week after they were back home.

SHEWENTTOthe doctor two weeks after that, when she was more certain of her symptoms, and was told what she’d wanted so badly to hear.

Fred broke speed limits getting her back home, because he’d already guessed what was going on.

She ran into the house, into the den where Jake was on the phone. Her expression caused him to end the phone call at once and go to her.

“What is it?” he asked worriedly. “Are you all right?”

“I’m pregnant!” she blurted out.

His face went white. Then red. Then he burst out laughing and whirled her around and around. “Pregnant,” he said, his voice breathlessly tender. “Well, there goes that business meeting I planned for tomorrow. We have to talk about colleges!”

“Jake, that’s years away!” she protested, laughing.

“The years will fly by. You’ll see. But not too quickly, I hope,” he added, kissing her tenderly. “I want to savor every minute of every hour of every day. Especially now.”

She sighed and kissed him back. “So do I. Especially now.”

Fred and Maude were standing in the kitchen, both having guessed what was going on. They grinned at each other.

“Job security,” Fred whispered.

Maude nodded fiercely.

BYTHETIMEtheir newborn daughter was six months old, and their son was two, the court case had ended, and Bailey Trent was back in prison on charges of attempted kidnapping and conspiracy to commit extortion. Sadly for him, he ran afoul of a gang leader in prison and ended up in the morgue. Ida felt sorry for him, in a way, but his demise left her with fewer worries about the future now that she and Jake were parents.

“You know,” Jake mused as they watched their little boy putting together a colorful giant puzzle on the floor, “of all the things I’ve ever done in my life, I think being a family man is far and away the best.” He drew her close and kissed her, then dropped his head to put a kiss on the head of his little daughter, who was nursing.

“I never dreamed I’d ever be so happy,” Ida confessed. “And it’s nice to have Fred back,” she added with a smile. “Even nicer of the governor to grant him a full pardon.”

He pursed his lips. “I did make a few phone calls.”

“You devil,” she teased.

“Well, he’s a great driver. And he does have some great stories about his former profession,” he added with a twinkle in his silver eyes.

“I think we might not let the kids hear those stories right away,” she replied with a laugh. “At least, not until they’re teenagers.”

“One day at a time, sweetheart.”

She pressed close to him, watching her daughter nurse. “One day at a time,” she whispered and sighed. The face she lifted to her husband’s was almost luminous with joy.