Unexpected Present
Part 6
By Cari
cxcarleo@naz.edu

As usual, I do not own any of these characters with the exception of Sam Jones, a character I have created for this story. I am making no money for their use.

Just continuing with how I wish Season 6 had gone. Please e-mail me with any comments.

It was December 23, and it seemed that the spirit of the season had hit everyone. It was still a little hard for Carol, given the recent loss of her mother, but she was doing her best to get in the spirit as well. She was at work on a slow day, so there was a lot of time to talk about the Christmas Party, which was going to be held the next day. It was a tradition in the ER to have their staff party on Christmas Eve, a traditional day for family celebrations because so many of them had worked together for so long that they felt like family to one another. They had each exchanged names and were planning a Secret Santa gift exchange. Curiosity had gotten the best of most everyone, and they were all trying to figure out who had whom.

Mark came over to Carol and stood next to her. Sensing that he was about to ask her something, Carol said, "Please tell me you're not going to ask me who has you."

"No, although the thought did cross my mind," Mark said with a laugh. "I was just wondering if you were ok, you look really tired."

"Thanks. I am fine. This little goober here just kept me up most of the night practicing his soccer skills so I am tired."

"Ah, a future athlete," Mark said with a smile. "What time do you have to leave for your doctor's appointment?"

"In about ten minutes. Are you sure it is ok that I leave early?"

"Of course. It is slow today anyway. Do you need a ride home after the doctor's appointment?"

"No, but thanks. Doug is going to meet me there and he can drop me off on his way back to work."

"Speak of the devil. Here he comes now," Mark said as Doug walked toward the desk.

Cut scene to show a time lapse. Carol and Doug are in the OB/GYN's office. Carol is on the exam table and Doug is standing out of the way, but still close enough to hold her hand.

The doctor said, "Well the little one is finally cooperating with us. Do you want to know the sex?"

Doug looked over at Carol who nodded and said, "Yes, please."

"You're going to have a little girl. I can't believe she finally decided to cooperate after all these months of not showing."

"A girl," Carol said to Doug.

"Emma Gabriel," Doug said.

"I love that name. I'm glad we chose that for a girl's name."

The doctor interrupted, "The baby looks very healthy, but I think she will be coming a little earlier than we had originally expected."

"How much earlier?" Doug asked.

"I would say within the next week or so."

"Really?" Carol asked. "Will she be ok?"

"She will be fine. She will just be a little smaller than some other babies. You are at thirty eight weeks and as long as a woman is above thirty three weeks, I don't worry. The baby has moved lower, in preparation for delivery. I would not worry, I would just be ready."

As Doug and Carol headed back downstairs and through the ER to leave, they ran into Elizabeth who asked, "Any news?"

"Actually, yes." Carol said. "We're going to have a girl and she is going to come a little early. The doctor said it could be within the week."

"Wow. What a shock," Elizabeth said, giving Carol a hug.

"Yep. It's good we were pretty much ready with the nursery."

"I'd say so. Did you still want to go shopping tonight?"

"Yes, I need to finish my shopping."

"I'm off as of now, do you want to go now?"

"That works for me. Doug, that way you don't have to go out of the way to take me home."

"OK, I will see you later then. Have fun," Doug said, giving Carol a hug and kiss.

Cut scene to show Elizabeth and Carol going in and out of stores, After they had been there close to two hours, Elizabeth asked, "Are you done?"

"Yes, that was the last thing I needed."

"Me too. What do you say about going for ice cream?"

"Sounds good to me."

A little later after they had ordered, Elizabeth asked, "What time did you want us to come tomorrow?"

"How about 5?"

"Great."

Later that evening, Carol was wrapping some gifts while Doug was watching the Bulls game. "OK now, no looking this way until I tell you."

"OK. Who did you end up getting for Secret Santa?"

"Kerry. She is always looking for new chains for her glasses so I found a nice one for her."

"That's a good idea. What time is the party?"

"1 PM, I will go a little late from the attorney's office."

"I will meet you there at noon. The el stops about two blocks away so it is easy to get there from work."

"Thank you."

"No problem. I'm going to make some tea, do you want anything?"

"A glass of milk please"

"OK, I'll be back up in a few minutes."

Carol was finished wrapping and got ready for bed. All of a sudden, she felt the presence of someone else in the room and turned to the window. She saw her mom standing there, "Hi baby. Listen to me. You are doing a great job. I am very proud of you. I wanted to tell you not to worry about the baby. She is fine, I have been watching out for her. She will have a great home with you and Doug. Nothing makes me happier than seeing you two as a family. I am so glad that I was wrong about him."

"Mama, I miss you so much. There was so much I never got to say."

Helen's ghost came over and sat next to Carol on the bed. "Don't worry sweetie, I know you love me and that's all that matters. I will always be right here with you; watching over you, Doug, and the baby. If you need to ask or tell me something, just talk to me as you do to God, and I will listen. I would never leave you alone." With that, Helen started to fade away.

Carol did not even realize that she was crying, but when Doug walked in the room, he immediately put the tray down, sat down beside her and pulled her head to his chest.

Rubbing her back, he asked, "Is there anything I can do?"

"No. I do not even know why I am crying. Mama just talked to me which helped a little but...I think it's the idea of the first Christmas without her that has just gotten to me."

"That's understandable," Doug said.

Fade to black as Doug comforts Carol as best as he can.

Scene opens with Carol and Doug sitting in an office.

"Mrs. Ross," Sam Jones, the man at the desk said, "I was the one who helped your mom get her affairs in order. As you may have guessed, everything was left to you."

"That would be the house and the car?"

"Yes, but also the money in her bank accounts. With the baby on the way, I'm sure that is something you will be able to put to good use."

"Could you give me a rough idea of how much that is?" Carol asked. She was curious because she really did not know much about her mom's financial affairs other than that her house and car were paid for.

"Well, this amount is combined with the money from her life insurance policy," Mr. Jones said, passing Doug and Carol a piece of paper.

Carol asked, "Are you sure this is correct?"

"Yes, ma'am. Your mom always made sure to put money away for the time when she was no longer working or in case someone needed it. She has had this account open since 1957, and the interest adds up."

"Yes, but 4.7 million dollars!"

"That is correct and before you leave today I will be giving you a bank check in that amount. We were able to close her account and take care of all of that so that you would not have to."

"Thank you."

Carol got to the party around 1:25, after taking care of everything at the attorney's office and the bank.

"Glad you made it," Kerry said.

"I'm sorry that I got so delayed. I had to take care of some things with my mom's attorney."

"How did that go?"

"OK. I'm just glad it's done with."

"I can imagine. Why don't you get something to eat, we're about to start exchanging gifts."

As she sat down to eat, Carol all of a sudden saw a piece of mistle toe over her head. Looking behind her, she saw Mark wearing a hat that had mistle toe hanging from it.

"Merry Christmas, Carol," Mark said, giving her a kiss.

"Thanks. How has your day been?"

"OK. Not too busy. I was wondering if you had decided not to come."

"I had to take care of some stuff. Where is Elizabeth? I haven't seen her anywhere."

"Asleep in Exam 3. She was called in to do emergency surgery around four and they were not done until almost noon. She wanted us to wake her up for the gift exchange."

When it came time for gift exchange, each of them took turns giving their gift. When Carol gave Kerry the glasses chain she said, "Thank you, I really needed a new one."

"I wasn't sure which to get you, but I know you like blue so that's why I chose that one."

Carol was the last to receive her gift, which came from John Carter. It was a nice brown pen engraved with "CHR."

"Thanks Carter, I really like it," Carol said, giving Carter a hug.

"Im glad."

About an hour later, the party was winding down and people were starting to leave.

Carol said to Elizabeth, "Since Mark is on for another hour, do you want me to take you home?"

"That would be great, I can get some sleep before we come to your house."

"If you're too tired, we don't have to do dinner."

"I want to. I like the idea of starting new Christmas traditions and don't want to miss the first year."

"OK, I will see you later then," Carol said as they pulled up to Mark and Elizabeth's apartment.

When the doorbell rang a little after five, Doug and Carol had almost everything ready.

Elizabeth and Mark come into the house. Mark is carrying a bottle and says, "I didn't want anyone to feel left out of any toasts tonight, so this is sparking apple cider."

"Thanks Mark," Carol said with a smile.

"I really like how you guys have decorated the house, it looks gorgeous. You have so many decorations."

"My mom was big on Christmas, so I went over to the house last week and got some of her decorations. This year is going to be hard, but she would want me to have a good Christmas, so I'm trying to do it like she would have."

"That's great," Elizabeth said, giving Carol a hug.

As they sat down and had some hors d'oerves before dinner, Carol said, "Doug and I have something we want to discuss with you two. When this baby is born and gets older it is going to seem weird for her because other than Doug and I, she has no family. And we were wondering, would you two like to be officially her aunt and uncle. She would know, of course, when she gets older that they are not blood ties, but just strong ties of friendship. We want her to have someone she considers like family. Would this be something you two would consider?"

"Of course," Mark said.

"I would be honored," Elizabeth added.

"Thank you," Doug said. "I want her to have roots, to know that there are many people who care about her."

Mark said, "There will always be four people to whom she means the world. Two are her parents, and the other two are ones who love her as if she was their daughter."

"Thank you," Carol said.

A few hours later, they were finished eating and were sitting in the living room. Doug and Mark had built a fire, and they were sitting around that, roasting marshmallows. Before she knew what was happening, Doug had taken his marshmallow off the stick and stuck it on Carol's nose, which made them all laugh.

Mark said, "I think this is a great example of the meaning of the season. Spending it with friends."

"Yes," Doug said. "Building our new traditions is a lot of fun. And I have an idea of a new one too."

"What is that?" Elizabeth asked.

"Remember how when you were a kid you always hated to wait until Christmas morning to open your gifts? Well these are our rules now, and who says we can't do gift exchange tonight?"

"Are you sure it's not because you can't wait to see what you got?" Mark asked with a laugh.

"Actually, I can't wait to give my gifts to people. You all know I am no good at surprises. So what do you guys think?"

Elizabeth said, "I had a feeling we might end up doing this. So we brought our gifts here, in case. So I am all for it. Carol?"

"Sure. But we have to do this one at a time, OK? Because it could get kind of complicated," Carol said with a mischievous look on her face.

She went to the tree and got out a bag for Elizabeth and a box for Mark. She said next to Elizabeth as she opened her bag. Elizabeth pulled out an engraved picture frame that said, "Thank you for being a friend" across the top and "Best Friends. Always and Forever" across the bottom. In the frame was a picture of Carol and Elizabeth taken over the summer at the lake.

"Oh Carol, I love it. Thank you so much," Elizabeth said, giving Carol a hug.

Meanwhile, Mark was opening the box that Doug had handed him. The box felt quite heavy and he was trying to guess what it was. Doug said, "If you would just open it already, you wouldn't have to guess."

"OK, OK." Mark said as he tore open the box to find a basketball personally autographed to him by Michael Jordan. "Oh my...Doug how did you get this?"

"I have my connections," Doug said with a smile.

"I hope you like it."

"Of course I do. Thank you."

Carol looked at Doug and he responded by nodding his head. Carol said, "I went to my mom's attorney's office today to settle things."

"How did that go?" Mark asked.

"It was hard, but at least now it is some sense of closure, that things are settled. Among other things, I got the house. Now I know the two of you are looking into a bigger apartment or a house. I wanted to let you know that if you want the house, it is yours."

"Are you sure you guys don't want to keep it? It is a little bigger than this one..."

"I can't," Carol said with tears in her eyes. "There are too many memories there. I don't think I could live there."

"I love this idea," Mark said. "Elizabeth, what do you think?"

"I think it is a great idea. It is a lot nicer than some of the houses we have been looking at lately. I like the neighborhood."

"I think it is settled then. Did you two have any idea of how much you wanted for it?"

"Nothing," Carol said. "It would be our gift to you."

"I..I couldn't," Mark said. "You might need the money that would come from the sale once the baby comes."

"No, we won't. It turns out that mama had some money put away that also came to me. We want this to be our gift to both of you. As a thank you for all that you have done for us throughout the years."

Elizabeth said, "If it means that much to you, we'll accept the gift. Thank you very much."

Mark said, "We're not done with the gifts. Before we go on, I have a special one that I would like to give now, is that ok?"

"Of course."

Mark takes a small box out of his pocket, takes Elizabeth's hand in his and asked, "Elizabeth, will you marry me?"

With a look that is half shock, half extreme happiness, Elizabeth says, "Yes Mark, I would love to marry you."

They kiss, as Carol and Doug look on with wonder in their eyes, since neither of them had any idea this was coming.

"Congratulations," Doug said to Mark. "I'm very happy for you."

"Thank you, would you be my best man at the wedding?"

"Of course. I think we need a toast to this. Hey...Is this why you brought the 'bubbly'?"

"Yes," Mark admitted. "I was hoping we would have reason to use it."

After they toasted, Elizabeth took two gifts out of a bag. Mark handed one to Doug, and Elizabeth handed the other to Carol.

Carol opened her box to find a book on friendship, and a music box that had the engraving, "Merry Christmas to the best friend anyone could ever ask for." When you opened it, there was a picture of Elizabeth and Carol on the inside and the music it played was, 'That's what Friends are for.'

"Thank you very much," Carol said giving Elizabeth a hug.

They turned their attention to Doug who was opening his gift. He pulled a piece of paper out of the envelope.

"Mark! Oh my gosh! How did you? And so close!"

"What is it?" Carol asked.

"A partial season ticket plan for the Bulls. Mid court seats, five rows back from the court. Thank you so much."

"You're welcome!" Elizabeth said, "Mark, there is more to that than you know. That plan is for Seat 5-A, and the plan for Seat 5-B is at home. Merry Christmas. This way you two can enjoy your games."

"Thank you!"

A little after midnight, after they had finished helping Carol and Doug clean, Mark and Elizabeth went to leave. "So we will see you guys tomorrow around noon for Christmas lunch/dinner?"

"Yep," Doug said. "Hope Santa is good to you," he added with a laugh.

"Same to you," Mark said as he and Elizabeth headed out the door.

After they left, Doug asked Carol, "How are you doing?"

"OK. It is a little hard, but spending it with everyone made it a little easier. Starting new traditions was good because it wasn't like we were doing what we always did, only with someone missing."

"That's good," Doug said as he and Carol walked up the stairs to get ready for bed.

Carol was awoken early the next morning by a strange feeling. Her stomach had felt a little weird throughout the night, but now, she knew what it was. She reached over and gently woke up Doug, "Honey.."

"Huh..." Doug said sleepily.

"I think Emma wants this to be her first Christmas..."

Doug was suddenly wide awake, "You're in labor?"