A glistening layer of white powder had settled across Harmony giving it a picturesque quality that was often captured on cards from the Christmas season. It wasn't a surprise that snow was in the forecasts for that night, however, as it was yet again Christmas Eve in the small New England coastal town. Granted, it had snowed for the last several days, but Christmas in Harmony was often white, or at the very least predicted to be. While the children never complained, Sheridan and Luis often found the shoveling that went with the snowfall to be tiring and time consuming. That night, however, Sheridan looked forward to the pure, cleansing white snow.

She stood in the archway of the hall, watching as her handsome husband of five years stacked the carefully wrapped Christmas gifts under the tree. She had let the children decide which ornaments would be placed on the green fir branches that year; the trio had immediately sought out the sparkliest or cartoon related orbs. Luis had strung the lights and added tinsel with the twins, which gave the tree an overdone silver glow. The only items she had insisted be on the tree was her angel and the two Christmas ornaments she had bought for her first Christmas with Luis, otherwise she hadn't minded what else went up. It was horrid looking and terrible compared to the tree she had decorated in the corner of her room as a child, but it was done by her family and that was the important part. Granted the hideous thing wouldn't be up too long after the start of the new year.

Atop Luis' head was a Santa cap with a sprig of mistletoe glued on. Hank had given it to him to "get some" from Sheridan whenever they were alone. He laughingly added that Luis probably had no need for it, but he was willing to share the wealth. After all, he and Misty were on child number two now; their eldest, a son named Austin, was born exactly one week before Thanksgiving of 2003. The new baby wasn't due until early March, but Misty had a feeling this one was going to be early. She was predicting a baby girl around Valentine's Day and as she had been right about Austin's birth, Hank was busy preparing the new nursery.

Austin hadn't been the only birth in the family over the last few years. Theresa and Ethan had given birth to a son as well: Ethan Martin Jr. EJ, as he was fondly called, was born in early January of 2004. After giving birth to their son, Theresa had decided that she did not want to suffer the pain of childbirth for the rest of eternity, or lose her figure for that matter, and started taking birth control. Ethan had been devastated but Martin found himself quite relieved. EJ seemed to have inherited his parent's stupidity and it frightened the four-time grandfather. Everyone was safer now that Ethan and Theresa had finished their childbearing years.

Miguel and Kay had been married the summer of 2004, but hadn't planned on having children just yet. Both had decided to attend Harmony University and attain their degrees: Miguel in engineering and Kay in public relations. After graduation, he had been offered an engineering job in Harmony and Kay a position with a local firm. Neither would be moving and the family was blissfully happy about that, especially Pilar. In fact, she was so content with their staying in town that she had finally decided to stop pressuring her children to have children and focused on the four she currently had. Of course, she had been quite elated at the prospect of ever becoming a grandmother again whenever the occasion happened to arise.

Luis looked up from his work and caught Sheridan's gaze, blowing her a kiss that she caught and placed against her cheek. Besides the sprig of mistletoe on his hat, Luis had placed one in the spot Sheridan so often stood in: the archway. Wiggling his eyebrows, he glanced upwards at the green leaf and then back at his wife. Sheridan, of course, followed his gaze and reddened when she noticed he had caught her again. This would be the eighth time just that day and she was growing embarrassed by her habitual resting in this place. Remaining in her spot, she invited him with her eyes and smile to join her beneath the Christmas greenery.

Standing, Luis quickly crossed the room to his wife and took her into his strong arms. Arching an eyebrow, he made sure she really wanted to continue with the tradition at hand as if he could read her mind that this was growing frustrating. Sheridan laughed at the look on his face, but it was short lived as one of his fingers covered her lips gently, barely grazing her soft skin. "Shh," he whispered, looking towards the stairs to the bedrooms where their children slept dreaming of Santa and reindeer. "Don't want to wake the kids now, do we?"

Sheridan shook her head, kissing his finger gently. The digit fell away from her lips and he pulled her closer, kissing her passionately as they stood beneath the mistletoe. Their kiss was short, but loving, and they parted with smiles on their faces. Luis returned to his work beneath the tree, but Sheridan took a step forward and out of the mistletoe's path. Her hands fell to her stomach, where she caressed the prominent bump in her abdomen. Yes, Pilar had been quite excited by having another grandchild to spoil, especially when Sheridan and Luis had found out after two miscarriages and two false positives that they were carrying another baby. Once they were sure Sheridan was safely out of miscarrying range, they had purchased a larger house across the street from her mother and father but right around the corner from his parents. This one had six bedrooms and Sheridan had insisted on hiring a maid. Even she, who had become quite a housewife, couldn't clean it alone. The baby she now carried was due on January 4th, but Sheridan just knew it would be a New Year's Eve baby. She just did.

Time had flown by for Sheridan. She was still teaching third grade at Colin's school but little Colin was not so little anymore. Now nine-years-old, Colin was into sports just like his father. He played on the soccer and baseball teams, but showed interest in football as well. He was still as funny and troublemaking as ever, but he was also bright and earned top grades in his class. He loved school and dealt with his sisters to the best of his ability. The girls, on the other hand, were now four. They went to preschool during the day and spent the afternoons with Katherine, who had practically raised them while Sheridan worked. Katelyn was quiet and shy, very smart and eager to learn. She already knew her numbers to twenty and read easy picture books, especially Dr. Seuss. Kathryn, however, was just the opposite. Verbose and outgoing, she hated everything there was about school and learning and was the artistic drama type. She sang whenever she could and stole attention wherever she went. She was definitely the tomboy type and enjoyed swinging from trees and playing sports more than she did her dolls. She envied her brother's old racecar bed and begged for one like it in her signature color of purple.

Despite the trouble of dealing with two adventurous children and the fear that this pregnancy would end like her last, Sheridan decided that life was rather calm and, dare she think it, perfect. She and Sam got along wonderfully as siblings and he was a terrific uncle to the children. Grace and Ivy had become her confidants and met her for coffee once a week. Beth was Sheridan's best friend and the two were inseparable. They had become so close over the last few years that Sheridan had asked Beth to be the new baby's godmother. All the pieces of the puzzle were falling into place and Sheridan knew that it meant just one thing: something was going to go wrong. Every time her life had settled down the slightest bit, something happened. First she had fallen into the pattern of living with her fiancé and he had become arrested and later her long lost son had dropped into her life. She had enjoyed married life and being pregnant just when the babies became ill and had to be delivered premature. Now she worried that another lemon was coming her way and she was terribly tired of lemonade.

"Hey," Luis snapped his fingers, trying to get her attention. She hadn't realized she was still staring at him or that he had been talking to her. "I asked you if you were ready for bed. Santa's done delivering."

"Did you drink the milk and bite into the cookies so the kids don't think you snubbed their freshly baked…umm hockey pucks?" she lifted a semi-blackened chocolate chip cookie from the plate sitting by the fireplace.

Luis shook his head. "Even Santa isn't that hungry, Sherry."

"Luis, you have to," she pouted. "The kids will think Santa didn't like their cookies! It will scar the twins for life."

"Well, Sherry, I hate to be the bearer of bad news but Santa didn't like their cookies. They're…well they remind me of the first night I was your bodyguard and you made those scorched eggs for dinner."

"That was an accident," she huffed.

"All scrambled eggs are accidents, Sheridan. That was arson."

Sticking her tongue out and crossing her arms, Sheridan stared down her husband.

Knowing that he wasn't going to get near the bed until he took a bite of at least one cookie and gulped down the now room temperature milk, Luis acquiesced. Lifting one charred brick of dough, he took a bite and made a sick face. He then took enormous swallows of the milk and put the glass back down.

"Happy?"

She nodded, smiling brightly. "I knew you'd do it. You'd never disappoint the twins and Colin. It's not within you to be a bad father."

Luis didn't see how forcing himself to eat burnt cookies and drink warm milk made him a good father, but he didn't argue. He would never disappoint his kids; she was right about that. His daughters batted their big blue eyes and he was a goner. "Colin doesn't even believe in Santa," he argued as he led her upstairs to the bedroom.

After turning down the covers, Sheridan lifted her weary body into the bed. "I know, but he pretends to for the girls, which makes him a wonderful older brother. I'm sure you didn't believe in Santa when Paloma, Miguel and Theresa were writing him letters."

She had him there. Climbing into the bed beside her, Luis spooned his wife and rested his hand against her swelled belly. Feeling the baby within kick, he smiled. "He's very active tonight. Think he's getting antsy about being born?"

"She," Sheridan stressed, not believing for a minute she was carrying a boy, "has been like this for months. I think she's cramped. You would think since I look like a beached whale she would be quite comfy in there."

He chuckled, earning a hard bump in the ribs from his wife. "Ow. Sorry, but angel you know you don't look like a whale. You hardly look pregnant at all," he told her, kissing her cheek. Feeling her relax, he was satisfied that he had managed to keep her hormones from going into overdrive and starting the waterworks. "I love you, Sheridan."

"I love you too," she yawned, closing her eyes. She knew that she wouldn't sleep long since she had found the eighth month of pregnancy to be terribly uncomfortable. "Goodnight, Santa," she murmured.

Luis watched her drop off to sleep. "Goodnight, Mrs. Claus," he replied, just before succumbing to the sweetness of sleep.

The old wooden door to the master bedroom creaked open around six on Christmas morning, leaving enough room for two small blond heads to look through the opening. Kathy and Katie, as the twins were affectionately called, had learned they were not allowed downstairs without their parents, especially Christmas morning. Both heads squeezed into the opening, looking at the large bed their parents slept on.

"They look asleep to me," Katie told her sister. "Mommy needs rest for the baby. We can't wake them up." As the older twin, she often took on a maternal role in dealing with her little sister, primarily because her sister was always causing trouble.

"Well duh," Kathy replied, pushing the door further open. "But Santa wouldn't want us to wait, Kates. He'd want us to open presents!"

"Kathy! Nana told us never wake Mommy!" she argued, pulling her sister back behind the door. She couldn't believe her sister sometimes. "Don't do it."

"I won't be waking Mommy," Kathryn smiled deviously. "I'll be waking Daddy! 'Sides, Katie, it's Christmas! Doncha wanna know what Santa bring-ed us?"

Of course she wanted to know! Every four-year-old in the country wanted to know what was beneath the Christmas tree! Her brain was exploding with the possibilities! Thoughts of computers with reading and math games were bounding through her brain! She couldn't wait a second longer…but she knew the rules! NO waking their mother during her pregnancy. "Well…"

"Aha!" Kathy danced with glee. "You do wanna know! See? Colin's being good cause he was told ta. We can get Daddy to come open presents now! All we gotta do is wake him up."

"Without waking Mommy? You promise?"

"Cross my heart," Kathy crossed her heart with one finger, behind her back she had her fingers crossed and a big smile on her face. "Ready?"

"Well…I guess…"

That was all it took for Kathy to consider it a go ahead. She flew inside the room, leapt onto the bed and landed with a thud against her father. "Daddy."

Luis groaned. "Kathryn Pilar Lopez-Fitzerald, what are you doing?"

"It's Christmas," she smiled, batting her baby blue eyes at him. "Merry Christmas, Daddy." She placed a kiss against his cheek.

"What time is it?" Sheridan mumbled from her pillow, opening one eye to look at the clock. Noting the time, she realized that she had only been asleep for the last hour or so after spending most of the night trying to find a position she could sleep in.

"Oh no! You done it now, Kathryn!" Katie shrieked, turning paler by the second. "You broke-d Nana's rule! You woke Mommy!"

"No!" Kathy shook her head adamantly. "Daddy done it! Can't pin this one on me!"

Luis had to bite the inside of his lip not to laugh. Sometimes he felt like he and Sheridan were trying to raise the three Stooges. Kathy was a terror, Colin was the ringleader but Katie was definitely the brains of the operation. She didn't realize it but most of the time she inadvertently created the plan by telling them what they couldn't do.

Colin, having heard the commotion coming from his parent's room, joined Katie in the hallway. Crossing his arms and taking on a look all too reminiscent of Sheridan and Luis' battles in the past, he pouted. "I thought we weren't allowed in here until after seven on Christmas morning! I've been up for two hours."

"You're not," Luis sat up, wiping his eyes. "The rule is seven, Kathy, you know that."

"But I can't tell time, Daddy," she pouted.

"I can!" Katie clapped her hands. Colin covered her mouth.

"If you don't want Kathy to tear the head off your doll, you might want to shut up," he warned his little sister, having seen the wrath of Kathy in action.

"Well, since we're all awake now," Sheridan pushed herself up on the bed. "I suppose we can go downstairs and see what Santa left under the tree for the three of you."

"Yes!" Kathy cheered, rushing to get off the bed before her parents did. She wanted a head start down the stairs and into the pile of presents she knew was waiting. Kathy wasn't stupid; she had been downstairs earlier to see the pile. She would have counted how many were there but, as opposed to her twin, she wasn't into the learning thing.

With Kathy in the lead, the family moved downstairs to the living room where the video camera was already set up to collect the Christmas morning on tape. The girls sat in their little pink and purple armchairs while Colin opted for a seat on the floor. Sheridan settled comfortably as possible on the couch while Luis, again donning his Santa cap, began removing presents from beneath the tree. He placed a pile of gifts in front of each family member and Kathy was practically salivating as she waited for the signal. Once he was in his seat with the camera rolling, Luis smiled and said, "Go on; see what he brought."

Wrapping paper flew through the air in fistfuls!

Luis didn't bother unwrapping his presents. Instead, he returned to the camera and moved it around the room, getting Katie's reaction to the computer games she wanted (which meant somewhere in this place was her new computer) and Kathy's to the baseball glove and karaoke machine.

Colin, however, kept his eyes on his mother as he unwrapped his presents. He could honestly remember the first Christmas with the twins when he was allowed to open their packages as well as his own because they were too little to care. But now, his little sisters were more into the gifts under the tree than he was. Looking at his mother's stomach, he wondered what it was going to be like with the new baby around. It was exciting becoming a big brother, especially now that he was older and understood how fun it was to torture the younger ones. He also enjoyed babies. Little Austin had been a lot of fun to play with when he wasn't puking or dirtying his diaper. Picking up his still wrapped gifts, Colin opted to move to the couch and settle beside his mother.

"Here," he said, pulling out a gift that he had hidden. "It's for the new baby. I bought it with Nana," he blushed.

Sheridan smiled. Opening the box quickly, she was excited to see a small pair of booties, and a shirt that had my big brother loves me written on it. "Oh Colin, it's adorable! This was a very sweet and thoughtful gift for you to get the new baby."

"Thanks," he watched her put it against her stomach. Leaning over, he kissed an area the little shirt wasn't covering and whispered, "I can't wait to hold you, little sis."

Sheridan was surprised by Colin's use of the word ‘sis’ and knew she had to ask. "Colin," she broached the subject, "what made you call the baby sis?" She and Luis had decided not to find out the sex of the new baby until she gave birth but she even had her suspicions.

He shrugged, playing with the torn corner on one of his presents. "I don't know," he replied, not looking at her. "I guess I just know it's going to be another girl."

Sheridan ruffled his hair, which Colin still hated as much as he did when he first started living with them five years before. She giggled at the face he made, but knew he wouldn't say anything. It was ironic how similar her son was to Luis even when he always agreed with her. "Your father thinks it's a boy."

"It's not," her son replied. "It's a girl. Trust me." Ending the conversation, her son opened his presents and then ran off to try out his new computer program.

Sheridan shook her head. Deep down inside she knew that Colin was right: it was going to be another little girl. She hated disappointing Luis who wanted to even out the boy to girl ratio in the house, but it was a daughter. Then again, only time would tell: two weeks and counting.

With Sheridan's due date during the first week of January, Dr. Hamilton had insisted that New Years Eve be spent in as peaceful a way as possible. That meant, for Luis and Sheridan, that they couldn't attend the annual ball at the Seascape with her brother and Ivy or even pop in to the dance at the Youth Center, where Miguel and Kay were playing host and hostess. They didn't even invite family to their home since cooking and dealing with family was considered stressful. Sheridan was content with the idea of settling in front of the boob tube watching the never aging Dick Clark while eating a variety of microwaveable treats. Luis, however, was too antsy to sit still, especially with Sheridan's prediction that their child would be Harmony's New Year's baby. He wasn't taking any chances either. Sheridan's bag was not only packed, it was already in the trunk. Both sets of grandparents were on alert and at home with their numbers on speed dial just in case. Nothing would have to be done except get Sheridan to the hospital.

The children had been tucked in at nine by Luis. Katie and Kathy had been the first to give up on making it to midnight with their faces in bowls of ice cream. The two had to be bathed quickly, but afterwards they were immediately put to bed. Colin had decided to turn in not long after his sisters. The screaming on the television had woken him and he thought that midnight had come already. Of course, he was devastated to learn it was just a bunch of drunk dancers at some club screaming as the camera passed them. With the remote control numbers dented into his face, the child went off to bed mumbling happy new year as he went.

"Would you please sit down?" Sheridan begged as she watched Dick Clark shiver in the cold New York air. The beautifully sculpted glass ball stood behind him waiting to lower as the new year was rung in.

"Are you sure there isn't anything wrong besides that back pain?" he asked. It wasn't abnormal for Sheridan to have back pain. Over the last month she had been very sore from the added weight and her attempts not to waddle. He had taken to spending the evenings massaging her back and legs.

"Yes," she told him, flinching as the pain from the morning returned. It lasted a full minute before it faded away. The pain was acting odd that evening; instead of being a long steady pain, it was broken up into patches that lasted from thirty seconds to a minute and came every ten or fifteen minutes.

"What's wrong?" he jumped up, dropping a plate of pigs in a blanket to the floor.

"Well, now that you've wasted perfectly good food…"

"Sheridan," he took a fatherly tone. It didn't matter if the food had hit the floor. Colin's black lab, Snowball, had entered the room and practically ate the eight mini-hotdogs in one large gulp, earning a stern look from Luis.

"Don't take that tone with me, Lopez-Fitzgerald," she snapped, grabbing her back. "This pain is worse than a spasm…it's almost a cramping. It hurts!"

Moving to sit behind her, Luis helped her take a new position on the couch while he started using the pads of his fingers to massage the taught muscles. He continued his massage for several minutes before she moaned again as the pain returned. But her moan was short and followed by a gasp of surprise from his wife. "Sherry angel?"

"Um, Luis," she blanched, looking down. "We have a problem."

"What?" Luis noticed where she was looking and followed her gaze downward. Upon seeing the puddle that had formed between his wife's legs, he too gasped. "Sheridan! Your water broke!"

"Congratulations, Sherlock!" she yelled at him. "I think I figured that one out. Call my mother!" she demanded when he didn't move.

Luis nearly fell over himself trying to get to the phone at the other end of the couch. Once the cream receiver was in his hands, he hit the speed dial button for Katherine and Ben. He waited very impatiently through seven rings for someone to finally pick up.

"Hello, Luis," Ben laughed, loving caller ID. "What can I do for you son?"

"Your daughter's in labor!" Luis cried. "We need someone to come watch the kids!"

"Katherine is already on her way over," Ben told his son-in-law as the front door closed. Katherine had heard Luis from where she was standing. "Son, calm down. Are you sure you can drive her yourself? Would you like me to do it?"

"Calm down?" Luis muttered.

"YES! CALM DOWN!" Sheridan screamed as the back pain she now decided to call a contraction struck again. "Stop yelling at my father and get the hell off the phone, Luis!"

Realizing just what was going on, Luis dropped the handset to the phone and rushed back over to his wife. Just as he helped her off the now wet couch, Katherine walked inside looking as poised and graceful as ever.

"Don't touch me," Sheridan jerked away. Her eyes landed on her mother and she started crying. "Mommy! It hurts!"

Katherine had to clamp her mouth shut not to laugh. Sheridan and Luis were acting very much like the children she remembered watching play in the yard some thirty years earlier. "Now, Sheridan, let your husband help you to the car. It's time to go have my new grandchild."

"What if I don't want to?" Sheridan asked stubbornly as one contraction faded. "What if I don't like this labor thing?"

Katherine laughed. "Dear, now is too late to think of such things," she helped Luis wrestle her daughter into a winter coat. Sheridan was being worse than Colin on test days. "Go!"

Luis kissed his mother-in-law's cheek before disappearing out the door. Katherine watched the car peel out of the driveway with her daughter and son-in-law heading off for Harmony Medical Center. Shaking her head, she picked up the still on phone. "Ben?"

"Yes, darling?" he laughed, having heard the whole thing.

"Thank God I am past those years," she shook her head.

"Me too!" Ben's laughter was the last thing she heard before shutting off the phone and heading upstairs to check on her grandbabies.

Sheridan was checked into the hospital and given her own private room by ten pm. Dr. Hamilton, who had delivered the twins, arrived shortly after to see how Sheridan was. Popping into the room her usually happy self, Kate Hamilton crossed to the equipment Sheridan was attached to and read the print out of her contractions.

"They're close and strong," she told her patient, propping up her legs and examining her. "Dilation is half," she told the nurse holding Sheridan's chart. "You must have been in labor most of the day."

"She's had back pain on and off," Luis sat beside Sheridan on the bed, massaging her lower back as he whispered words of love and adoration in her ear.

"I thought it was normal," Sheridan whimpered as she felt the familiar twang of a contraction begin. "I didn't think I was going to have the baby today when I didn't feel any contractions!"

Kate held Sheridan's chin in her hands, locking their eyes. "Breathe," she insisted when she noticed Sheridan was holding her breath. "This is going to be very different than the time we delivered the girls. You're too far along for us to give an epidural so we will have to go natural. I need you to practice your Lamaze and take advantage of focal points."

Sheridan didn't even nod, keeping her eyes on Kate. "I'm scared," she admitted. It was funny how even though this was her third pregnancy it was the first time she would actually be giving birth or at least that she could remember. The part of her memories where she had Colin was sketchy at best.

Releasing Sheridan's face at the end of the contraction, Kate moved away. "You have at least another hour ahead of you before you'll give birth, Mrs. Lopez-Fitzgerald. Get as much rest as you can and I'll be in again thirty minutes from now. My nurse will page me if there's a change before then." Washing her hands, Kate threw the gloves she had been using away. "Mr. Lopez-Fitzgerald, you have one job until I return and that's to make mom comfortable: even if it include being her punching bag."

"Hear that!" Sheridan told him. "I have permission to hit you."

Kate laughed. "Just don't leave any marks," she insisted. "I'll see you later."

With the doctor gone and the nurse following the physician's steps out the door, Luis realized that he would be the one to get them through this. That terrified him. Four years ago when Sheridan had been pregnant with the twins, he had been ushered out of the room as she hemorrhaged. Sitting in the waiting room that day had been stressful and frightening as all sorts of thoughts flew through his head. He could have lost both his wife and daughters. Yet right now, as Sheridan clamped down on his hand, digging her nails into his skin, he would have given anything for the doctor to have recommended another C-section and for his instructions to be as simple as wait over there.

Luis’ coaching continued for an hour and forty-five minutes, which he had timed on his watch between his own pains. With fifteen minutes to the new year, Sheridan was moved from her private room to a delivery room. Sweaty, tired and irritable, she was none too pleased when her feet were placed in cold metal stirrups and her husband took hold of her hand telling her how wonderful she was doing. Grabbing his ear tightly between two fingers, she screamed, "You lousy Sp-Irish son of a bitch! Don't you ever touch me again! NO MORE CHILDREN!"

Luis hadn't found it the least bit funny when her cursing was following by a punch so hard he knew he was going to have a black eye. Still, he had moved back to the bed and taken her hand, resuming the whispering of love and the coaching he had been taught during their classes. Somewhere between contractions he caught Sheridan whisper something like "I'm sorry," but he wasn't sure he heard it and didn't dare ask her to repeat it.

With a full five minutes spent preparing to deliver, Kate was finally ready to begin the real work at ten minutes to midnight. "Dad, why don't you help Mom into a sitting position?"

Luis was reluctant to touch more than Sheridan's hand, but did as he was asked. Helping to prop her upright with a nurse on the other side doing the same, Luis realized they were in the home stretch. Soon, he and Sheridan would learn what their newest addition was.

"He's almost here!" Luis exclaimed excitedly as Sheridan groaned in pain.

"I have to push," she told the doctor. "Please tell me I can push," she couldn't fight the sensation any longer.

"Go ahead, Sheridan, push!" Dr. Hamilton commanded.

Sheridan bore down with whatever power she had in her. The baby's head was causing an uncomfortable pressure in her lower body and all she wanted was for someone to tear the child from her right now. She couldn't contain her anguished, "Get it out."

Kate tried not to laugh, but Luis wasn't so lucky. His chuckle earned him another smack from his very unhappy wife. With one eye on the clock as she helped Sheridan, Kate continued to order the staff and the mother through the birth. "Here comes the head, Sheridan! This one has a load of hair!"

"Wonderful!" Sheridan replied sarcastically through clenched teeth. "I'm thrilled."

"Keep pushing! Come on, almost there! The shoulders are next. Push with your contractions! That's a girl," Kate cheered her on. The nurse did her best to provide encouragement but the very pale Luis remained silent. He did more holding of himself up than supporting Sheridan's back.

Sheridan continued to bear down. With one final push and a drawn out scream, her child was born into the world just as the clock in the room struck midnight. Cheers of "Happy New Year" filled the hospital, but Sheridan didn't hear one of them over the blissfully sweet cries of her new baby. For a few moments she watched as a nurse quickly cleaned her child up before returning to her bedside and handing the tiny pink bundle over.

"It's a girl!" Kate cheered. "Welcome Harmony's New Year's baby!"

Sheridan's eyes sparkled and Luis nodded. "Welcome little, Bryanna," she held her baby close. "Welcome to the world."

Sheridan and baby Bryanna were separated for a time, each being examined by their own doctors. Dr. Hamilton followed Sheridan into her private room and checked her over, making sure her heart rate was normal and double checking the need for stitches. She had been quite surprised when Sheridan didn't tear during the labor, which was rare, but didn't say anything at all. She helped Sheridan change gowns and offered to give her time to shower, though Sheridan refused for the time being. While Kate was doing that, Dr. Christine Simpson, the Lopez-Fitzgerald pediatrician, was examining little Bryanna in the nursery. Sheridan didn't realize it but after the exam, she had fallen asleep.

Several hours later, Sheridan awoke when Dr. Hamilton had come to do her morning rounds and started examining her again. Looking at the bedside clock, she was surprised to see that it was after seven in the morning. She had slept the last seven hours completely uninterrupted and her husband was just waking in the corner armchair. She couldn't believe no one had woken her to feed Bryanna.

"When can I see her?" Sheridan finally asked twenty minutes later when Dr. Hamilton had finished her examination. "I miss her."

"I'm sure they'll bring her in soon," Kate promised. "Dr. Simpson does a full examination before releasing a child to the care of the parents. She insists on making sure all of a baby's stats are on target. She might have thought she saw something and needed some tests run. Or perhaps she brought her down and you were resting so peacefully she decided not to interrupt."

Sheridan nodded. "So it doesn't mean that something is wrong, right? She's going to come back perfectly healthy and everything?"

Just then, a nurse came in bearing little Bryanna in her arms. "I hear there's a very anxious Mommy in here waiting for her little girl. She's such a doll, Mrs. Lopez-Fitzgerald," she told Sheridan as she turned the little girl over to her care. "Everyone in the nursery lovers her already! She's our favorite patient."

Sheridan smiled, caressing her daughter's pale white cheek. "Time for a feeding I suppose?" she questioned, hoping the nurse would explain why the baby had gone seven hours without food.

"Dr. Simpson thought it would be a good idea to feed her now," the nurse responded adding no further information. She and Dr. Hamilton then left the room so Sheridan could have some time with her husband and daughter.

Sheridan lowered one of the flaps in the new gown she was wearing and brought her daughter to her breast. Surprisingly, the little bundle latched on but didn't seem to have the energy to suckle. It was then that Sheridan noticed how hard the baby seemed to be breathing and the way the sweat glistened on her skin. "Something's wrong with her," she looked at Luis, her panic surging.

"What, sweetheart? What do you think is wrong?" he asked her, moving closer. "She looks all right to me, darling. Just tired. She's probably not hungry."

"No," Sheridan shook her head. "Luis, this is serious. There is something wrong with her. She hasn't been fed in seven hours and she refuses to nurse. Ring the nurse, please," she begged him.

Before Luis' finger could hit the button, Christine Simpson entered the room. Her eyes held a pain that most doctors would have attempted to hide, but she couldn't. Looking at the couple before her, she remembered the struggle with the twins and their loss of two babies before Bryanna. She wasn't sure how she was going to break the news to them. Taking a deep breath, she offered a weak smile and sat beside Sheridan's bed. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm fine, but something is wrong with Bryanna. I was just about to ring for someone. She won't eat and she looks so pale. She's covered in sweat!" her high pitched voice unveiled all the fear she held inside.

"That's what I came to talk to you about." She looked away from Sheridan's piercing blue eyes. "During Bryanna's physical I noticed that she seemed to be breathing heavier than a normal newborn. I connected her to some monitors to register her heart rate. I detected a slight murmur and called a cardiologist friend of mine down. He's a specialist in the field of pediatric cardiology and agreed immediately with my diagnosis." She hesitated.

"There's something wrong with her, isn't there?" Sheridan was shaking so badly that Luis had to remove the baby from her arms.

"Mr. and Mrs. Lopez-Fitzgerald, Bryanna has a congenital heart defect called an Atrioventricular Septal Defect, which is the incomplete development of the inner heart tissues known as endocardial cushions. Normally this cushion contributes to the separation of the chambers during fetal development. They are necessary to keep oxygenated blood coming from the lungs from un-oxygenated blood that's returning from the body. Without these, Bryanna will have trouble getting oxygen to her muscles and brain."

"What does that mean?" Luis asked, watching as his wife broke down into sobs. His true emotions were hidden as he tried to remain Sheridan’s rock. "Does this mean Bryanna is going to…"

"No," she cut him off. "Babies have a ninety-seven percent chance of surviving with this defect. Our first step is to put her on medication until we can do corrective surgery to build the missing chambers. Because she is so small, we need time for her to become strong. In three months, we can try the surgery. She'll be in PICU for about a week and we'll monitor her progress. The surgery has a ninety percent rate of success with the greatest complication being leakage. If it leaks, we'll continue trying surgery until we can get her a heart donor."

"And the chances of her survival?" Sheridan's voice cracked.

"Without the surgery, three to six months. With the surgery and no complications, she should be able to survive the rest of her life with no complications. But should there be a leak and no donor, the possibility of the future surgeries sustaining her life slims and she would have about a year to survive. If we cannot correct the problem, the last two months of her life would be in severe pain as her body would strain her heart." After revealing that somber message, she asked, "What would you like to do? Should I have someone administer the drug?"

Luis looked at Sheridan and without words they agreed to do anything in their power to save their baby girl. "Put her on a donor list and do whatever it takes to keep her alive, Dr. Simpson. We trust you."

She nodded. "A nurse will come in shortly with instructions for her care." She disappeared out of the room where she finally let a single tear roll down her cheek.

Sheridan and Luis had no time to absorb all the new information, though her sobs slowly became silent tears of worry. As the doctor left, Colin and the family entered the room. For the first time that morning, Sheridan realized that music was playing from the radio in her room as Colin sang along. He climbed into Dr. Simpson's evacuated chair and looked at the bundle of baby flesh in his father's arms. Behind him, his grandparents and sisters entered with balloons and flowers.

"Can I hold my new sister?" Colin begged, reaching for Bryanna.

Sheridan was reluctant to turn care of the baby over to Colin after talking to Dr. Simpson, but she knew that no one could love a baby more than little Colin. He had been so excited about the baby that he had selected his own list of names, helped paint the nursery and even read to Sheridan's stomach every day. He constantly told his parents how excited he was to be a big brother once again. Nodding, she let Luis know that it was all right for him to hand over the baby to their son, so he did.

Maybe it's intuition
But some things you just don't question
Like in your eyes
I see my future in an instant
And there it goes
I think I've found my best friends

I know that it might sound more than a little crazy
But I believe
I knew I loved you before I met you
I think I dreamed you into life
I knew I loved you before I met you
I have been waiting all my life

Holding his baby sister carefully, Colin smiled down at the small bundle. She was beautiful. Despite the fact that her skin was a pale white that was tinged with just the slightest trace of red, she was very much a Lopez-Fitzgerald. Her dark black hair was thick and shinny, even wavy against her tiny head. Her features made her look more like his Aunt Theresa than his mother. And when his little sister opened her big bug eyes, they were the clearest blue he had ever seen. So light was their color, they were almost as invisible. But it wasn't there color that surprised Colin the most, it was the fact that she seemed to recognize him and know that her time with him was going to be difficult.

"You and I are going to be the closest siblings on earth," he told Bryanna. "Everything I do in my life is going to help and protect you. I didn't get it with the twins, but I get it now. I'm your big brother and it's my job to make you happy. You're my best friend."

Bryanna's little hand wrapped around his finger and she held onto it tightly as she closed her eyes. It was like she agreed that they were going to need each other and that this boy, her brother, would be her source of strength.

Sheridan's eyes watered again at the sight of her youngest and oldest children bonding. She didn’t know how she would ever explain to her children that their little sister was so sick that she might not live long enough to see her first birthday. The pain she felt multiplied as she watched Colin kiss his baby sister’s head and she wasn’t sure she could hold back the tears much longer. Katherine noticed her distress and immediately crossed to her daughter. Holding her tightly in her arms, she allowed her to cry. Ben's gaze caught Martin's and he nodded. Both knew that something important was going on and that the children shouldn’t be around for the current scene. Though worried, they silently agreed to remove the children from the room.

"Kids, why don't we leave Nana and Grams here with Mom and Dad and get some breakfast? We'll come back in about an hour," he told them.

The twins, who had now surrounded Colin's chair to look at the evil baby sister, wanted nothing more than to leave. Running over to their grandfathers, they each took hold of one man's hand and played the little martyrs.

"Please Poppy, we're so hungry," Kathy gave her best puppy dog eyes.

Katie rolled her blue orbs. "I want to stay with Mommy and Daddy."

"We'll come back, Angel face," Martin lifted Katie into his arms. "We promise. Tell your mother you love her."

"Love you Mommy!" the twins shouted across the room, oblivious to their mother’s worry.

"Do I have to go?" Colin asked, looking from one adult to the next. "I don't want to leave the new baby just yet."

"You can hold her all you want after breakfast, little prince," Katherine brushed some of Colin's unruly brown hair out of his face. "She won't be going anywhere, I promise."

Colin turned care of his sibling back over to his parents with a sad sigh. Kissing his mother's cheek, he said, "Thank you for the baby, Mama. I love her as much as I love you," and ran from the room to catch up with his grandfathers.

Everyone remained silent until they were sure that the children were gone. "All right," Pilar looked at her son and daughter-in-law, breaking the silence. "We know that something is wrong, so you might as well tell us what's happening."

There's just no rhyme or reason
Only this sense of completion
And in your eyes
I see the missing pieces
I'm searching for
I think I've found my best friend

I know that it might sound more than a little crazy
But I believe
I knew I loved you before I met you
I think I dreamed you into life
I knew I loved you before I met you
I have been waiting all my life

Sheridan was crying too hard to repeat any of the information that Dr. Simpson had given them about the baby and left the hard part up to her husband. As always, Luis was the family pillar of strength and reiterated the news without flaw and totally devoid of any emotion. Emptiness was his strength and he avoided looking at his wife for fear he would crack. It was as if he had become a robot and nothing could possibly affect him. Katherine removed the baby from her son-in-law's hands while Pilar wrapped her arms tightly around the man. Still he refused to break his poker face and Pilar took his hand, leading him out of the room for a private talk. It was only there in the hall with his mother that his true feelings finally showed and he wept, feeling as if he had let his wife down.

Still inside with her mother, Sheridan watched as two generations of Bennett women met for the first time ever. The duo was talking silently in the corner as Sheridan listened to the lyrics of the song. She recalled the words her son had said to the baby just moments before: you're my best friend. Colin had become the most connected of the three children to the baby. He had insisted on looking at the pictures from Sheridan's sonograms and watching the videos as a family. He wanted to know everything that was happening, despite the fact that he was a nine-year-old boy who pretended to have no interest in "un-cool" things like his family. This news would hit him hardest; the twins wouldn’t understand. In fact, she didn’t understand. She had done everything right, followed all the instructions the doctor had given her. Still, her baby was ill and Sheridan felt anger boil inside of her. She didn’t understand what she had done wrong or why she was being punished.

"Why?" she screamed, picking up the pitcher from the nearby table and throwing it across the room. "Why can't I have healthy babies? Why is God punishing me?" she cried. Her hands shook from rage and tears continued to roll down her cheeks. It wasn’t fair! Every time she was happy, someone stripped it away. She couldn’t handle it any longer.

Shocked by her daughter’s outburst, Katherine rested Bryanna in her layette, taking her own daughter back into her arms. "Oh Sheridan." She wept silent tears as she tried to comfort her child. "I don't know, sweetheart. Sometimes bad things happen to teach us how strong we are."

"I lost three babies, Mom," she sobbed into her mother's shoulder, reliving that pain again. "I struggled with the twins and now I have a baby that may not live to see her first birthday. It's not fair! What do I do that's so wrong? Why?"

"Oh darling." Katherine had no answers. "I don't know. All I know is that Bryanna needs you to be strong, my darling, and she's going to feed off of that strength and survive. After all, she's a Lopez-Fitzgerald."

But it was no use, Sheridan was inconsolable and nothing Katherine could say would cheer her daughter up. Sheridan’s broken heart would never be mended and Katherine knew that if anything happened to Bryanna, her daughter would fall apart. It was as if the world had spun off its axis and the only way to right it was with time’s proof that Bryanna would survive.

A thousand angels dance around you
I am complete now that I've found you
I knew I loved you before I met you
I think I dreamed you into life
I knew I loved you before I met you
I have been waiting all my life
~*~"I Knew I Loved You" Savage Garden~*~

In the hall, Pilar was having no better luck with her son. "Luis, you need to pull yourself together for your wife and children. The family is going to need you to be strong to make it through this and you will make it through this, just like you did with the twins."

"I don't understand, Mama. Sheridan and I were so careful. We took extra precautions! Why did this have to happen to us? What are we being punished for?" He slammed his fists into the wall that his back rested against. “I don’t understand!”

"Sometimes, mijo, bad things just happen to good people. We can ask why all we want, but the answer will never be satisfying. We just have to play the hand we're dealt and make do, just like I know you and Sheridan are going to do. Everyone will come out of this unscathed."

"I don't agree at all, Mama." Luis looked into the room where his wife was crying her heart out over their little angel. Ironic that he she use such a term to describe his daughter, he thought. She could really be an angel if the surgery didn't succeed.

"For them, mijo, I know you will do anything."

He knew he would too. "I have to get back to my wife," he told his mother, walking back into the room.

Katherine exited and placed a hand on his shoulder as he walked by. Motioning to the phone, she let Pilar know that she had something to do. She quickly picked up the cold black receiver and dialed the number she had learned by heart. In five rings, Julian's tired voice came over the line.

"This better important," he grumbled.

"Julian, it's your mother," Katherine replied with an air of superiority. "Get off your lazy behind and start using the Crane name for something positive!"

"Yes mother, anything!" Julian shot up in bed.

"Get me the best pediatric cardiologist on earth," she demanded, quickly explaining the situation to her son. "Sheridan's new baby has a defect and needs the best care on the planet. No one in the world is to rest until little Bryanna is happy and healthy, understood, Julian?"

"Yes, mother," he replied as she hung up. He only hoped that this was one time he wouldn't be letting his mother and sister down, because the odds were stacked against him this time. He was playing against God himself.

Chapter Two