Sarah was sitting in a lawn chair as Nick took care of the cooking and Jennifer & Leigh were greeting the guests that they had invited. Sarah saw Michelle for the first time in months. She got up and walked over to her.
"Hey Michelle. How are you?" Sarah asked.
Michelle turned and saw Sarah standing there. "Oh my goodness! You've changed a lot."
Sarah laughed. "It's been months."
"Yeah it has. Sorry I didn't get in touch with you sooner, but I sort of been working and spending all my time with AJ." Michelle said sitting down with her. "How's the little one?"
"He's doing fine." Sarah said touching her stomach.
"A boy?" Michelle asked.
"Yeah. We found out 3 months ago." Sarah said. "I'm due around Thanksgiving."
"That's if you don't come early." Michelle said.
"Very true." Sarah laughed.
Around six that evening, everyone was sitting around the picnic tables that Nick and Kevin had set up. Sarah stood up.
"Nick and I have an announcement to make." Sarah said. "But first I would like to thank you all for coming. I Hope you are enjoying the party. As you already know we are expecting a little one soon."
The girls yelped and applauded. Sarah laughed.
"Now for the big announcement..." Sarah said. "is that Nick and I are getting married."
Yelps and shrieks went around the table. Kristin and Michelle came over to Sarah and hugged her.
"When?" Kristin asked.
"Probably after the baby is born." Sarah said. "So we have time to plan. I wanna be in shape first and not breast feeding constantly."
The girls laughed and Nick stood up. "Let's eat." Everyone around the table started eating and chatting. About half way through dinner, Sarah heard the phone ring.
"Be right back." Sarah said getting up.
She walked into the house and grabbed the cordless. "Hello?"
"Sarah. It's mom." Linda said. "I have some bad news."
"What? What's going on? What happened?" she asked.
"It's your father." Linda said. "He's been in an accident."
"What?" Sarah asked sitting down.
Nick came into the house looking for her after 20 minutes. "Baby hurry up."
"Get here as soon as you can." Linda said to her daughter over the phone. "I'm at Tampa General."
"Okay." Sarah said.
Sarah clicked the phone off. Nausea came over her. Nick saw the look on her face and so did Jennifer as she walked through the door.
"What happened to mom and dad?" Jennifer asked.
"It was mom. She said daddy was in an accident." Sarah said with tears wanting to fall. "They're at Tampa General."
Jennifer ran out the door and immediately told everyone what happened. Howie and her headed to the hospital. Sarah and Nick were right behind as everyone followed. Sarah felt helpless. She didn't want anything to happen to her father.
"Oh god, Nick. What am I gonna do if he dies? I can imagine life without him." Sarah said letting the tears fall.
"I know, baby." Nick said. "We'll get through this together. Just take a deep breath."
Nick sped down the road praying that there weren't any cops around. He pulled into the parking lot and parked. They headed in together. After asking a few nurses, Sarah finally found her mom.
"Mama." she said letting tears fall again.
Linda embraced her daughter into a tight hug. Sarah sat down.
"Any word?" Jennifer asked.
"No." Linda ssaid.
Nick took a seat beside Sarah. "You doing okay? You need anything?"
He was concerned because she was still very pregnant. She was due in a couple months, but still wanted to be on the safe side.
"Yeah. I'm good." Sarah said as the doctor came over to them.
"How is he doctor?" Linda asked.
"He is stable for right now. We don't expect him to live through the night." Dr. Taylor said.
"Can we see him?" Linda asked.
"Yes." Dr. Taylor said. "Follow me."
Everyone followed him to Mitch's room. "Two at a time."
"Okay." they all said.
Linda went in first and talked a bit. Sarah and Jennifer watched them through the window. They both had tears falling down their cheeks.
"What are we going to do without him?" Sarah asked. "He won't even get to see his grandson."
"We'll make it." Jennifer said. "He would want us to go on."
Linda came out. "Jennifer and Howie, you guys go in and see him."
Jennifer and Howie walked into the room. Sarah walked over to her mother.
"What'd he say?" she asked.
"That he loved us and that he was going to miss me." Linda said. "What am I going to do without him, Sarah? He's my life."
Linda broke down again and Sarah hugged her mother. It felt like hours went by as they comforted each other. Jennifer and Howie came out in tears. Sarah took a deep breath as Nick hesitated.
"Come one." Sarah said grabbing his hand. "He's not going to care."
Sarah walked in slowly. Mitch opened his eyes slowly and looked at her.
"Hi daddy." Sarah said walking over to him.
"Hi." he whispered.
"I love you so much, daddy. Please don't die." Sarah said as she hugged him crying.
"It's okay baby." Mitch said hugging her back. "I love you so much, cupcake."
That only made Sarah cry harder. Mitch motioned to Nick.
"You promise me you'll take care of her no matter what." Mitch said.
"I promise." Nick said grabbing his hand.
"I always thought of you as a son, Nick. I'm sorry for everything that I have caused you and Sarah." Mitch said.
That one sentence brought Nick down to tears. Linda, Jennifer, and Howie walked in. They all gathered around him. He was breathing in and out slowly.
"I love you." he said.
"We love you too." Sarah said. "You can't die. I am getting married and I need you."
Mitch smiled. "Oh my precious, Sarah. I love you all so, so much."
Sarah felt his hand go limp in hers and cried out. "NO! Please daddy! I want you back!"
While everything was happening around her, she grabbed her stomach. Nick noticed.
"Baby, are you okay?" he asked. "Baby?"
"I think my water just broke." Sarah said starting her breathing.
Sarah was immediately rushed into the delivery room not knowing what happened to her father. It didn't take long for her to hit 10 centimeters.
"Oh god! It hurts! I WANT MY DADDY!" she screamed.
"Come on, Sarah. Just a couple more pushes." Dr. Nixon said.
Sarah pushed and pushed while squeezing Nick's hand. "It hurts!"
"Okay, Sarah, I see a head." Dr. Nixon said. "1...2...3...PUSH!"
Sarah pushed big and screamed. Cries filled the room with her.
"It's a boy!" Dr. Nixon cried out.
Nick saw him and smiled. "You did great baby."
But to her all she wanted was her father.
*The Waiting Room*
"Nick walked out to the waiting room. Linda stood up.
"Well?" Linda asked wiping her tears away.
"It's a boy." Nick said. "Michael Caleb Carter."
"We got a grandson." Linda said hugging Nick. "Thank you."
Nick smiled. "Your welcome. Any word on Mitch?"
"No. The last thing I heard they were trying to revive him. I don't know what's going to happen. Don't tell Sarah anything. She needs to concentrate on her son and you." Linda said.
Nick hugged her. "Thank you for everything."
"For what? I didn't do much. I should've made him make up with her earlier." Linda said.
"You were nice to me. That's all that counts." Nick said.
Linda smiled for the first time that night. "Your welcome."
Nick walked back into the delivery room.
"How's mom?" Sarah asked.
"Keeping her spirits up." Nick said. "Can you believe it? We have a family."
"I know." Sarah said as the nurse handed her son to her. "I finally got my family. I thank god every day that you came into my life. Thank you for loving me."
"My pleasure." Nick said and kissed her.