Luke reined in Silver Tide in front of the clinic. He was rushed, but he had to try to talk to Daniel. Luke walked to the front door and knocked, minutes later a surprised Serena answered the door.

"Why hello there. What brings you here?" She said with a smile. "Is Meg with you?"

Luke leaned over and placed a quick kiss to her cheek. "No she's waiting for me at home. Happy Anniversary Serena, is Daniel here?"

"Thanks Luke and Happy Birthday to you old man. Daniel's in his study." Serena led him into the house. "So do you and Meghan have any special plans for tonight?"

"We thought we'd take advantage of one of the free dinners we received as wedding gifts so we were gonna go to the Silver Spoon." Luke sighed. "Serena I need to talk to both you and Daniel."

Serena heard the urgency in his voice and immediately ushered him into the study. After exchanging a few pleasantries with his father in law Luke sat down and began to tell Daniel and Serena why he was there. "As both of you know Meg has been trying to get into medical school."

"I don't want to get back into this. We've been through this already, and you know how I feel about this subject." Daniel said.

"Just hear me out, Daniel, please." When Daniel nodded Luke continued. "I promised Meg I would help her in any way I can. Which is why I'm here." Before Daniel could interrupt again Luke rushed on. "A few days ago Meghan received a letter from the school in Omaha. It was her test scores. It seems your daughter ranked second of all the people who took the test."

"My goodness, she did that well?" Serena asked.

Luke smiled at his friend, "Yes. She studied a very long time for that exam." He looked back at Daniel. "So now the only thing preventing her from going is that second recommendation." Serena and Luke looked at Daniel with hopeful eyes.

"I won't do it."

"Then you leave me no choice." When Daniel and Serena looked at him questioningly Luke explained. "A couple of weeks ago I got a letter from Dr. Phillips, your old colleague in Boston the one who wrote Meg's recommendation."

"Yes I know who John Phillips is." Daniel said impatiently.

"Well, Dr. Phillips is now the Dean at the school where you used to teach and he wrote that if we couldn't get Meg into school here in Nebraska that there would be a spot for her in Boston."

Serena gasped and Daniel's eyes went wide with shock. "You are not moving to Boston." Daniel said angrily. "You said you wouldn't move away."

"I also said that I would help Meg get into school. If this is the only way then I'm going to close up the shop, sell the house and me and my wife are moving to Boston." Luke exhaled loudly, "She wants this, Daniel, it's her dream. She has the opportunity to fulfill it in not one but two different schools. Where she fulfills it is in your hands."

Daniel looked from Luke to Serena, he knew Luke wouldn't think twice about moving away so Meg could have her dream. He had so much to worry about now with Serena and the baby she carried that he really didn't have the energy to decide between another of his greatest fears. After a few minutes Daniel took out a piece of paper and began writing as he did he looked at Luke briefly. "Explain how you two are gonna work this out."

Luke smiled at the knowledge that Daniel was writing the recommendation. "Well Omaha isn't that far away. Meg is going to commute back and forth."

"What happens when a class runs late?"

"Then she'll stay at a hotel."

"And in the winter when the weather is rough and the roads are impassable?"

"Again, Meg will stay at a hotel. We've discussed this already."

Daniel put down the pen and stared at the younger man. "This is going to look mighty strange to folks who don't understand what's going on."

"We don't care how it will look. Daniel, I want Meg to have this. We both know that when you get married there are sacrifices and compromises you have to make. This is one of them."

Daniel nodded slowly and looked down at the recommendation he had just written. He folded it slowly and handed it over to Luke.

"Tell Meghan Happy Birthday."

Serena jumped to her feet and ran around the desk to hug her husband. "Oh Daniel she's gonna be so happy."

Luke clutched the paper in his hand. "You won't regret this Daniel."

"Let's hope not."

*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*

�

Meghan stood sideways in front of her mirror wearing only her underwear. She smoothed the material over the small bulge in her abdomen and tilted her head.

"Now this is the kind of homecoming I like. A beautiful woman standing in my bedroom wearing only her drawers, a man could get used to this."

Meg jumped and turned to see her husband leaning on the door frame "Hi." She said shyly.

Luke loved the blush that continuously crept to her cheeks when he caught her half dressed. He pulled out the bouquet of wildflowers he held behind his back and presented them to her. He then leaned down and kissed her tenderly. "Happy birthday sweetheart."

Meg stood on her tiptoes and returned the kiss. "Happy birthday to you, too."

Luke smiled. "So why aren't you dressed yet? I thought that by now you'd be all set to go out." Meg turned away slowly and sat on her vanity's bench. Luke took in her pallor and was immediately worried. "Meg what's wrong? Are you sick again? You said you would see your father or Serena if you kept feeling sick."

Meg looked down at her hands that were folded in her lap. She had struggled for the last two weeks with her secret. "I don't need to see them. I've already seen a doctor."

"When? Who?"

"In Omaha. That's why I wanted to spend the extra night after taking the tests. I had my suspicions about what was wrong with me, and if I was right, I didn't want Serena or daddy to know first."

"Omaha? Meg that was almost three weeks ago, why didn't you tell me you went to see a doctor?"

Meg shrugged. "I didn't want you to worry. I knew you had to stay behind to run the shop because Corey is still learning. I was hoping it wasn't anything bad."

Luke's eyebrows rose, "So is it bad? What did the doctor say? Was it what you thought it was?"

"The doctor confirmed what I thought it was."

"Confirmed what?" Meg took a deep breath, this was the moment of truth. "Well Meg?"

"I'm . . . I'm . . ."

Luke's nerves were wound up tightly. "Spit it out Meg!"

"I'm gonna have a baby!" Meg blurted out then burst into tears.

In a daze Luke sat on the bed, this was the last thing he expected to hear. Pregnant! Meg was going to have a baby. Not just any baby, his baby. He looked over at his wife and slowly realized she was crying. In an instant he was on his feet and had her in his arms, whispering comforting words to her. When Meg's sobs had calmed considerably, Luke tilted her face to his.

"Meg, are you sure?" Meg nodded. "How did this happen?"

Meg furrowed her eyebrows. "It happens when two people spend as much time in bed as we do."

"That's not what I meant. I mean we've been so careful. Your father gave us that sheep skin thing to prevent this."

Meg sighed, "A prophylactic Luke, and we didn't use it all the time."

Luke took his wife's hand and led her to their bed. As he sat beside her he asked, "When?"

"According to the doctor we should have a new member of the family either the first or second week in March."

A long silence followed and Luke suddenly realized that neither of them had said how they felt about her pregnancy. He turned to his wife and saw the uncertainty in her eyes. "Meg-"

"I know we've never really discussed children except to say we would talk about it later and I know we promised daddy we would wait but now we have to make a decision. There is a procedure I can have if you don't want the baby. It's risky but I'm young, and I can always try to have more children later."

Luke knew exactly what kind of procedure she was talking about, and he knew it was more than just a risk she'd put herself in, he knew it could be fatal.

"No!" He cupped Meg's face in his hands. "I love you Meghan Saunders. I want this baby. How could you think I wouldn't?" He kissed her tenderly. "We always said we wanted a big family. We were just going to wait to start. Well it looks like we won't have to wait long. This is a gift Meg. It's a miracle and who are we to deny this?" Luke hugged her to his chest tightly then realized what she had to give up in order to have the baby. "What about school Meg?"

Meghan shrugged. "Let's face it. I wasn't going to be able to go anyway. But on a lark I did ask the Dean after I found out I was pregnant. He said I would be able to take some of the basic classes through correspondence then after the baby was born I could go full time."

Luke smiled, "Good that means I didn't go through all of this trouble for nothing." He reached into his pocket and pulled out the recommendation. "Happy birthday."

Meg took the paper and read it. She looked up at him with tears in her eyes, "Oh Luke how?" Luke explained about the letter from Dr. Phillips and his visit with Daniel and Serena. After he was done he pushed Meg onto her back and lifted her chemise. Tenderly he placed a kiss to her abdomen.

"There's a little piece of us in there." Meg ran her fingers through his hair and cupped his cheek. Luke turned his head and kissed her palm. "How are you feeling about this, are you okay?"

Her eyes lit up, "I'm feeling fine. Luke, I can hardly believe it. I'm happy and excited, especially now that I've told you. I was just worried about your reaction to this."

"Well, worry no more. You're going to have to see a doctor regularly now right?"

Meg raised herself onto her elbows, "Yes. And I'm not looking forward to telling daddy about this."

"Well, we still have some time before it's noticeable. We can keep this to ourselves until we find the perfect time to tell Daniel and Serena, okay?"

Meg nodded, "Okay, so we agree not to tell anyone until after daddy and Serena know. Right?"

"Luke?"

"Yes?" He answered as he caressed her stomach and placed small kisses to it.

"Are you really truly happy about this?"

"Meghan you continuously make me the happiest man in all of Nebraska. Since the first time you said you loved me you've shown me how much you care. But nothing compares to this moment right now, this is as happy as I can get. Just promise me one thing."

"Anything."

"If it's a boy, promise you won't name him Abel. I really don't like that name."

Meghan laughed, "Awww, Luke I love your name besides isn't it a family tradition? First your dad, then you, of course your son would have to follow." Luke groaned and Meg giggled. "You win, I promise the name Abel stops with you. Oh! I forgot your birthday present." Meg sat up and retrieved a box from underneath her pillow.

"Sweetie you just gave me the best gift I could've ever gotten."

"Open it." Meg said with a devilish grin.

Luke opened the box to reveal a pocket watch, at Meg's urging he opened it to reveal an inscription. "To my scratching post, Happy Birthday, Love your Wildcat." Luke laughed out loud and pulled her into his arms. "Thank you. Your gift is in the closet downstairs. I bought you these silver hair combs I saw in a catalogue at the general store. Blythe said you would love them."

"I'm sure I will." Meg said and kissed him deeply.

Luke broke the kiss before it could proceed further. "Meg can we still . . ."

"Have relations?" She asked, when Luke nodded Meg laughed. "Yes we still can."