After work on the 23rd, John and Lucy make the traditional Carter pilgrimage to cut down a Christmas tree. "Don't expect me to help you carry that thing back to the Jeep," she says jokingly. "Don't worry, I wouldn't have you chip your beautiful nails," he laughs. "Seriously, don't get one that's too big, the apartment's small enough. There, over there," she points to a short, "Charlie Brown type" tree. "Come on, Lucy, that's nothing but a stick," John says laughing at her. "It's so sad looking, and if we don't take it home it will just stay there and die, she replies almost in tears. "Okay,Okay, you don't need to get emotional about it, what's wrong?" "I don't know, the holiday I guess. I don't have a gift for you, I'm not going to see mom, I'm starting to get fat, and-" "Okay, I get the picture," he says holding her long enough to stop the tears. "And I'm going to meet your parent's," she whines. "Now, look at me, you've given me my gift," patting her stomach,"And you mom said, she was going to be out of town, you're NOT fat, you're pregnant, and as for you meeting my parents, I've told you it doesn't matter what they think, we've got each other, and that's all that matters. Besides, you've got Gamma already in your corner, and I know Barbara will feel the same way." "Are you sure? she asks wiping away her tears. "Yeah, now help me with this tree, I don't think I can carry it all by myself," he jokes. Her reply came in the form of a wet snowball his face, which he retaliated by throwing one right back at her. Pretty soon, as full-scale snowball fight had erupted between them. It only ended when John picked Lucy up, gently laid her back on a snowbank and gave her a big kiss.
DECEMBER 24th,6:00a.m
Lucy was up early, like a child at Christmas, she wanted to decorate their tree, even though she had to admit it did look a bit on the bare side. It was her goal, before they left for work to make that little tree the best Christmas tree ever. By the time John came out of the bedroom, she had already decorated it. One package of lights did the job, a few strands of tinsel, and an old handmade star, she made in grade school. With all this accomplished, she decided her next quest would be to get a gift for John. "Boy,you've been a very busy girl, haven't you?" he says with a smile, as he enters the living room. "Yeah, I have." "Did you remember the cake or whatever you were suppose to take to the staff dinner?" "Man, I forgot all about that. Oh well, we can stop by a bakery on the way to work, I don't think anybody was too excited about me actually fixing anything anyway," she laughs. At 7:45, they walked through the ambulance bay doors with John carrying four pie boxes picked up earlier from a bakery. Lucy couldn't decide what she was hungry for,key lime,apple,cherry, or the one that really sounded good, sour cream raisin. They put the pies with the other food, which Lucy was definitely anxious to get to. "Lucy, I know you're eating for two,but we need to get our there and get to work. By the way,don't you have an OB appointment later this morning?" "Yeah, are you going to be able to go with me?" "I should, but you never know how busy we'll be. You know I'll be there if I can. Come on let's go." John heads out the door and Lucy goes to the buffet table and picks up some food. "Lucy, put that food down, it's time to get to work," John says as he pokes his head back in the door. "All right,I'm coming," she yells back. Lucy finds Dr. Weaver,"Kerry,I have a doctor's appointment around 10:30, I'll just use that time for my break." "Sure, is everything okay?" "Yeah, just my regular monthly appointment. Now, what do you have for me?" "Exam 2, lacerations on the feet." "What?" "Patient stepped on a box of glass ornaments," Weaver says laughing. "Looks like I'll be busy for awhile," she says as she begins her work day. John was busy from the get go. His first trauma was a 24 year old woman, who, like Lucy, was almost three months pregnant and was hit by a drunk driver while crossing the street. The staff tried to save the baby, but lost their battle. John could only imagine how Lucy would feel. He could tell this day was not getting off to a very good start. Glancing down at his watch, he notices it was only 8:45. 'Good,' he thought, he still may be able to make Lucy's appointment. Just as he's ready to get a chart from the admit desk, Kerry walked away from the MICN, "Carter, EMT's pulling up with multiple gunshot wounds," she yells. "Am I the "only" one here today or what?" he gripes. "Listen, we need at least one senior resident on this one, get your ass moving,NOW!" "Right." They needed all the help they could get, a gun battle had broken out during what was suppose to be a holiday truce between two local gangs. They had both trauma rooms full to capacity. A team of Mark,Lucy, and Malucci took the minors and a team of Weaver, Carter, and Luka working hard to save the lives of their patients. She could see there was no chance of John being able to go with her today... But it didn't matter, it was Christmas Eve and nothing was going to ruin her day. "Lucy Knight, room 3. First, on the scale, good weight gain. BP's good. Looks like the doctor wants to do an ultrasound today, she'll be in, in a few minutes." "Lucy, where's John?" Dr. Coburn asks. "We're pretty busy downstairs and there is no way he'll be able to make it." "It's a shame. I was hoping we'd be able to find out what you're having. Do you want to know?" "I'll think about it. By the time we get that far, I'll let you know." "Okay, this is going to be cold," she squirts the gel on Lucy's stomach, "There's your baby's head and face. Heartbeats good and strong. Do you want to know?" "Yes, Yes, I do," she whispers with tears of happiness filling her eyes. "You're going to have...a girl, Congratulations!" "Are you sure?" "Look here," she points to the screen, "I imagine you want pictures, right? How many do you want?" the doctor asks. "About twelve?" "Are you sure that's going to be enough? Dr. Coburn asks, laughing. "Oh, I think that ought to be enough,"Lucy laughs. As Lucy enters the elevator for the ride downstairs, a thought enters her mind. Instead of pushing the button to return to the ER, she pushes the one for the main floor of the hospital. As the doors open, she head towards her destination, the hospital gift shop. Upon entering she goes directly to the baby gifts, where she finds what she needs. After making her purchase and having it wrapped, she returns to the lounge and puts it in her bag. Meanwhile, John's day was still going bad. He treated a woman beaten by her husband, but didn't wasn't to press charges, and returned home because of the holidays. A case of food poisoning, which resulted in him having to change into scrubs, and besides, all of this, in the back of his mind, he knew he had missed Lucy's appointment. Just when he thought he would have a chance to talk to Lucy,the paramedics came in with... "Minor MVA, patient complains of pain in the lower abdomen." "Take him to Trauma One, and get Lucy," yells John. He hadn't seen her all day, he could at least work with her. Lucy comes running,"What have we go?" she asks, running in. "Thirty year old male, with pain in the lower right quadrant, Lucy, start IV, ringers wide open." "Got it." After John makes the diagnosis of a ruptured appendix, Lucy takes a look at the foli,"There's blood in the urine, I think something else is-" at that moment, she realized that was the wrong thing for her to say. "I'm running this trauma," John snaps. "But-" "If you're not going to work with the team, you can just leave." With tears in her eyes, she runs from the room,straight to the lounge where she breaks down and cries. Mark enters the trauma room, just as she leaves, "What was that all about?" he asks. The nurses all look a John, who now feels sorry about his outburst, "Lucy disagreed with my diagnosis of a ruptured appendix." "Why?" he persisted. "There's blood in the urine." "Which indicates?" "Damage to the kidney," answers John reluctantly. "Carter, I think you'd better find Lucy and apologize. I'll finish up here." "Thanks Mark," he heads out of the room, almost bumping into Weaver. "What's going on?" she asks Mark. "Trouble in paradise," he laughs. John finds Lucy sitting alone in the lounge, holding a brightly wrapped package. He goes to her and just sits for a few minutes. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have lost my temper, you were right, it wasn't the appendix, it was damage to his kidney." "What's wrong John?" "Today was suppose to be a day of hope, when people celebrate the joy of the season. Instead, all I've seen is the worst of people. I even took my feelings out on you." With that he pus his arm gently around her, and she leans her head on his shoulder and let's out a little sigh, "John, I got you this. Merry Christmas," she says wiping tears from her face. "Lucy, I told you, you didn't have to get me anything." "Just open it." He opens the package to find a picture frame, with the words, 'It's a Girl' written on it, with the ultrasound picture of their little girl in it,"A girl?" he exclaims. "Yeah," she says with a smile. "Our little girl," he says with a wide grin. "Yes, John, OUR little girl," she repeats. "I love you so much Lucy," he kisses her. "And I love you." John takes Lucy by the hand and pulling her out of the door, "We're going to have a baby!" he yells. "Tell us something we don't know," Randi replies sarcastically. "We're going to have a girl," he answers. "That's great news guys," replies an obviously happy Dave. Lucy pulls out the ultrasound pictures ands starts passing them around.LATER
A woman and her young daughter make their way to the admit desk, "Can I help you?" Randi asks. "Do a Dr. Carter or a Lucy Knight still work here? If so, may I please speak with them? My daughter was a patient here about two years ago." "Sure. Carter,Lucy someone to see you." John and Lucy come to the desk and Randi points to her. "I'm John Carter and you are?" "Mary Nelson and this is my daughter Corrina, we are visiting Chicago and wanted to stop by and thank you for saving her life." They immediately recognized her as the girl, whose father they had spent an entire day and night to fin, because of her father's rare blood type being her only chance for life. That in turn, turned out to be the first time they had grown to respect each other. Before them, they saw a healthier child, not the one they last remember in a coma. After making small talk about the past few years, Mary realized it was getting late, "Well, we really need to be going. It's been nice seeing you two, under better circumstances," Mrs. Nelson announces as they leave. "It was great seeing her again. Kind of restores your faith in people doesn't it?" Lucy says smiling. "Yeah it does,"he replied, giving her a big hug and kiss. On the ride home, she began to play the name game, "I've always like the name Christine, what about you?" "Actually, I think the name Roxanne would-Ouch! That hurt!" he yelped as she gave him a hard elbow to the side. Quickly adding, "It was just a joke!" he smiled. "I know it, it as just my hormones," she smiled. "Seriously,Lucy we have six months to decide, so we don't need to do it right this minute. Let's just enjoy the new that we do know, the name will come later." After they arrive home, they showered, changed their clothes, and had a bite to eat. It was time to wind down and recount what had happened during the day. John sitting on the sofa, dressed in sweats and a t-shirt, waits for Lucy to finish in the kitchen. It had been a long physical and emotional day and he was tired, but there was only one more thing he had to do. Lucy enters the living room and automatically flops on the sofa and rests her head on John's lap, closing her eyes. She looked so beautiful just lying there, he hated to move her, but there was something important he had to do. "Hey, want the Christmas lights on?" he mentions. "Yeah, I'll get up and do it." "No, you, stay, I'll turn them on, besides I've got to do something in the bedroom," he says. He goes and turns on the lights then goes to the bedroom and returns in a matter of minutes with a box in his hand. He returns to the sofa, where Lucy has barely moved. "It's been quite a day hasn't it?" "To say the least. I can only imagine what tomorrow will be like at your family's get together," she says with a sigh. He takes a deep breath, before he speaks, "Lucy,you know how I feel about you, right?" "Yes, I do," she replies quietly. "I think it's time we make "us" official. Lucy Knight, will you marry me?" "Are you sure John?" she asks,studying his face. "Since you've come back into my life,I have realized how much I love and need you to be part of my life. The baby we've made together is a sign that our love is meant to be." "I know," she whispers. "So,is that a yes?" "Yes. That's a yes," she says with tears in her eyes. As John slips the ring on her finger, she looks at it with a puzzled on her face. "What's wrong?" "When did you get this?" she asks. "Oh, I have my ways," he replied with a grin. "Come on, I've been with you 24/7 and you haven't been anywhere without me." "Boston, the day you and your mom went shopping." "You've been keeping secrets." "Come on, we're going to have a very busy day tomorrow let's go to bed." "I'll be in, in a few minutes." As they get up he gives her a kiss, "Don't be long." John goes to the bedroom and Lucy goes to the kitchen and tries to call her mom, to let her know what had just happened, "You have reached the Knight residence. As you can tell ,there's nobody home. Please leave your name and number and I will get back to you as soon as possible." "Mom, it's me, I guess you're not home, but just wanted to wish you a Merry Christmas and tell you some important news. Love you. Bye." Lucy turns out the lights and join John in bed for a very romantic night.