Chapter Two
"No, I won't stay in this bed a minute longer," Rachel and Kid smiled at each other as Lou's voice drifted down the stairs. Kid had carried her to their room in Rachel's house after her fever had gone down, and Lou had been confined to her bed ever since. "I'm sure glad it's Doc up there and not me," Kid grinned. Rachel laughed, knowing that Kid had been the focus of Lou's anger a lot the past few days. "Look, I've been stuck in this bed for three days," Lou's voice got louder. She had obviously not liked the doctor's reply. A few minutes later, Dr. Taylor came down the stairs shaking his head ruefully. "She is very stubborn, isn't she?" He accepted the cup of coffee Rachel handed him and sat down at the table gratefully. "I want her to stay in bed for one more day," he looked at Kid and Rachel. "That's all I could get her to promise to do. Tomorrow morning she can get up, but I want her to take it easy. That means no riding, no chores, and I want her to take a nap every afternoon. And I don't want her to do any cooking. I want her to eat well, and from what I've heard about her cooking skills, she can't do that if she's the one making the food." Kid laughed. "I'd never tell her this, but that will be a relief to all of us." Dr. Taylor stood up. "I'll be back in the morning. You don't let that girl get out of bed until I come." "I'll do my bed," Kid grinned. "But you know Lou. She doesn't like being told what to do." "So I've found out," the doctor replied, rubbing his ears. "But she'll listen in the end, because its good for the baby." "Kid!" They heard Lou call from upstairs. "You'd better get up there son," Dr. Taylor smiled at him. "I'll see you in the morning." "Yes Lou?" Kid poked his head around the door. "Hi there," Lou smiled at him. "Well, hi yourself," he grinned, relieved to see her in such a good mood. He sat on the bed next to her. "You sure are in a better mood than you were when the doctor was here." "He'd have me in bed for the next seven months if I'd let him," Lou complained. "He's a doctor Lou. It's his job to take care of people," Kid gently chided her. "I know," Lou sighed. "Well the good news is that you can get up tomorrow," Kid smiled at her. "Can you believe we are going to be parents?" "Do you think we can do it?" Lou whispered. "I know we can," Kid laid his hand on her stomach, awed by the thought that a life had been created by the two of them. "I don't know Kid. I mean, look at our parents. We have no experience to know what good parents are like. What if we end up like them?" Kid took Lou's hand and laid it underneath his own on her stomach. "Louise, I promise you that we are going to be good parents. I promise that we will make mistakes, and we won't do everything right. But the difference between us and our parents is that we love each other very much, and we have learned from the mistakes our parents made. Plus," Kid leaned over and kissed her, "our children will have a father who loves them and their mother more than he loves himself. That's something neither of us had." He laid down beside Lou and wrapped his arms around her. "You are going to be a wonderful mother," he whispered in her ear as she drifted off to sleep.
Chapter Three
Chapter One