The alarm on Carter's watch went off. The couple lay in bed, Carter
with his arms wrapped around Lucy's slightly expanding waist and Lucy
with a slight smile on her face.
“Lucy, you awake?” he asks giving her a kiss on the back of her head
“Yeah, I think so.”
“Merry Christmas.”
“It is, isn't it?”
“How'd you sleep last night?”
“Great, once I was able to,” she said with a mischievous grin on her
face.
She continues, “I need to call mom before we go. I want to let her know
about this,” she holds up her hand and looks at her ring.
“She told you she was going to be out of town today.”
“I know, but you know how much she means to me. I just want to let her
know.”
“I'm glad one of us has a loving parent.”
“John, don't get started, please?”
“Okay, we need to start getting ready. Join me in the shower?”
“Absolutely.”
ONE HOUR LATER
“You ready yet?” Carter yells, pacing the floor and looking at his
watch.
Lucy walks into the living room of the small apartment, “Yup, Look
okay?”
She wore a dark pant suit, with heels, accented by a simple heart shaped
clip holding back her hair.
“You sure do. Come on we need to get going.”
“Thanks, but let me try mom before we leave.” Once again she go the
answering machine, “Mom, this is Lucy. Merry Christmas. We're going to John's grandparent's and will be back early this afternoon. Love you,” she slowly puts the phone down.
“It's not going to feel like Christmas if I can't talk to mom,” she says almost near tears.
Carter held her close and says, “The day just got started, I'm sure
you'll get in touch before the days' over. You alright?”
“Yeah, let's go,” she replied, full of confidence.
“That's my girl,” he smiles as they head out the door.
During the ride to Oak Park, the conversation turned to whether to let
the family know about their engagement, “Let's wait and see how everything goes,” he says.
“You know, we probably should. It might make it easier when we tell
them about the baby.”
“You're right, let's just drop the subject okay?”
“What's wrong?”
“My family always brings out the worst in me, I'm afraid,” patting her
on the knee.
“John, don't be like that. I know you feel your parents shut you and
your sister out after your brother died, and maybe they did. But that was, and is their way of dealing with grief. If anything would happen to you or our child, I might react the same way.”
“Boy, you could have taken a Psych internship and been really great at
it!” he laughs.
As he parks the Jeep in front of the house and gets out to open the door
for Lucy, his sister Barbara comes running out, “Hey Johnny, you're looking great. Come give your big sister a big hug,” he gives his sister a hug, then turns his attention to Lucy and helps her out.
“You must be Lucy. Grandmother has told me all about you.”
Not ‘everything’ Lucy hopes, “Nice meeting you,” Lucy says quietly.
“Come on, everyone's been waiting for you guys to get here,” she says,
then turning toward her brother, “She's kind of quiet, isn't she?”
“Wait ‘till she gets to know you,” he replies with a smile.
They walk into the house, where they are greeted by Millicent, “John,
Lucy how have the two of you been?”
Lucy looks at Carter, and Carter at Lucy, as if to ask, ‘shall we show
her?’ Carter nods his head with a smile, and with that, she shows
Millicent her ring.
“Have you set a date yet?” Barbara asks.
“John just gave it to me last night, so we really haven't made any plans yet.”
“Your secret is safe with us, but I'm sure someone will notice before
breakfast is over,” states Millicent.
“We'll see,” replies Carter, turning to Lucy.
“You ready?”
“As ready as I'll ever be. Let's go.”
They walk into the formal dining room where the Carter family has
already gathered. As they enter, all conversation comes to halt, “Lucy!” the
twins yell and run towards her for a hug, which she gladly returns, much to the amusement of everyone in the room, except John's parents.
Carter leads Lucy over to his parents, “Mother, this is Lucy Knight.
Lucy my mother, Eleanor.”
“Please to meet you, Mrs. Carter,” Lucy says as she extends her hand.
But Mrs. Carter just nod, which doesn't go unnoticed by Carter. They
move to John's father, “Father, this is Lucy, Lucy my father, Jack.”
“Nice to meet you sir.”
“He seems to mumble a simple "hello".
They move onto Richard, Elizabeth, and the girls, “Rich, Elizabeth, you
remember Lucy don't you?”
“How could we forget her, the girls had so much fun Thanksgiving, we all hoped she'd be coming today,” Elizabeth replied.
“Glad to see all of you again,” Lucy replied, happy to finally be away
from the parents, but could tell they were watching her every move, “John is that Chase?” she asks.
“Yeah, do you want to meet him?”
“Only if you want me too,” she says quietly.
“Come on,” Carter gently puts his arm around Lucy's waist and moves to
where Chase is sitting. Both kneeling down to his level, Carter begins,
“Chase this is Lucy.”
“Glad to meet you,” she replies smiling.
Chase looks over at Carter and says with a grin, “So this is the pain in the ass med student you've told me about, huh?”
“Not anymore,” Carter smiles back.
“John has showed me some of the photographs, you had taken, their really very good,” Lucy says.
“She's a keeper, Scooter.”
“That she is,” as Carter gives her a little kiss on the cheek.
The Carter Christmas Champagne Breakfast is announced. As they sit at the dining table, champagne is offered. As it is offered to Lucy, she turns it down politely, “No, thank you.”
“John, what about you?” asks Eleanor.
“You know, I'm not suppose too.”
“Right, because of your little problem,” states his mother matter-of-factly.
“Yes because of that, but also working in the ER, you see the tragic
results of too much alcohol,” he says.
As breakfast continues, the conversation covers the financial world,
Barbara's new of family friends, then all of the sudden, Eleanor decides
Lucy hasn't been offering anything about herself.
“Tell me Ms. Knight, just how did you meet my son?”
“John was my teacher two years ago, when I came to County as a medical student.”
“Then you were the ‘other’ one that was injured during that horrible
accident?”
“Yes I was. It was at that time I returned to Boston to be near my
family. Then, I returned to Chicago in August.”
“Tell us about your family,” Lucy Millicent intercedes.
“Well, I don't have any brothers or sister, it was just me and my mom.
She works in a small law firm in Somerville.
“What about your father?” asks Jack.
“My dad left my mom shortly after I was born, claiming he wasn't ready
to raise a family. I never even knew him. But mom and I got along great
without him.”
“That's enough questions,” Carter interrupts.
“Not quite dear,” Eleanor remarks.
“Ms. Knight, I see you're wearing a ring, just how serious are the two
of you?”
“Lucy, let me answer,” says Carter.
“No John, it's okay,” she whispers.
“Very serious. He asked me to marry him last night and I said yes.”
The news was greeted by celebration by most of the family, except for
his parents, “You've only been seeing each other, what 3/4 months? That's hardly long long enough to decide you want to spend the rest of your life together. How will you manage? The pay of a resident and first year doctor can't be much?”
“Lucy and I have known each other for more that two years, and we've
overcome more obstacles than a lot of couples do in a lifetime together.
Besides,” he takes a deep breath, then continues, “We're going to have a
baby.”
“When?” asks his mother.
“The last of June,” replies Carter.
“John, Jack, we need to talk in ‘private’.”
“It'll be okay,” Carter whispers in Lucy's ear.
Mother, father, and son retire to the study, where the ‘family’ conference
begins.
But in the mean time, back in the dining room- “Lucy, are you alright,
dear?” Millicent asks.
“Fine, but would you please excuse me? I'm sorry to have ruined
everyone's meal,” as she gets up and leaves.
Which Richard sarcastically remarks, “What a way to empty a table in a
hurry.”
Lucy goes through the nearest door she can find, which turned out to be
the music room. There she sees a portrait of a young Carter posing on top of a thoroughbred. As miserable as she was feeling, that picture brought a small smile to her face. Her thoughts were interrupted by a concerned Millicent.
“That was painted when John was about 18, in 1988. He was quite the
horseman back then. He and Marigold won several blue ribbons back in
those days.”
“He really hasn't changed much has he?” Lucy says quietly, not taking
her eyes off the picture.
“On the contrary my dear, he"has" changed and I believe you've had
something to do with that.”
“Maybe, but you were the one who instilled his sense of caring and
kindness in him. And for that I'll always be grateful.”
At that moment Lucy and Millicent shared a warm hug. Millicent hands
Lucy a small wrapped package., “I thought you might like to have this.”
“Millicent, you didn't have to get me anything.”
“I know, but you're the most important person in John's life. I want you
to have this.”
Lucy takes the gift and slowly opens it. As she sees what's in the
package, her eyes fill with tears. Inside the box was a small silver baby spoon. Engraved in script style lettering was, “John Truman Carter III, June 4,1970.”
“Millicent are you sure you want me to have this?”
“Like I said, I know you'll take care of it,” there was a pause, “It's
time to start sharing the past, with our family's future.”
“I have something for you too.”
“She reaches into her purse and pulls out the ultrasound pictures and
gives one of them to Millicent, “This is our baby girls' first picture.”
“A girl?”Millicent nodded, “That's wonderful! Come on. Let's go back
and let the others hear the news!”
The older woman puts her arm around Lucy, as they head back to the
dining room to share the rest of the couple's news.
Meanwhile in the study, just as the door closes: “PREGNANT!!? John, you're both doctors you should have known to take precautions.”
“You don't understand what we were going through at the time. It was
the first time we had seen each other since the attack. There were a lot of
emotions involved. Of course, you wouldn't know about that would you?”
“Emotions can get you into trouble,” replies his mother.
“At least, I didn't close myself off. I let her know how I felt. I did that after the attack, and look where I ended up.”
“What are you saying?”
“I'm saying, you and father have closed everyone off who's close to you
and care about you. All because of Bobby.”
“Don't bring your brother into this. This is about you and that...girl.”
“That ‘girl's’ name is Lucy, and we ‘are’ getting married and we ‘are’
going to have a baby. Now if you don't want to part of my life, and your
granddaughter's life, then I think this conversation is over. Mother,
father, Merry Christmas.”
He exits the study, leaving behind his parents in stunned silence.
Carter goes to the dining room to get Lucy. He smiles as he sees her
joking around with Chase, “Luce, it's time to go,” he states flatly.
“Went that well, huh?” she asks.
“We'll talk about it on the way home.”
“John, Lucy, to say the least, it's been a very interesting visit,” Millicent says, walking in with their coats.
“Thank you for everything Millicent,” Lucy says, which takes Carter by
surprise, using gamma's given name.
As Carter helps Lucy on with her coat, Barbara enters, ”Way to go John,
mother and father are already making plans to leave. What did you say to them?”
“The truth.”
“Good for you,” she turns to Lucy, “It was nice meeting and hope to see
you again.”
On the ride home Carter lets Lucy know what happened, “To make a long
story short, it came down to the fact, that they couldn't face it that I'm not
the same person I was last year. I'm not afraid to do what I want to do, not
what others expect me to do.”
The rest of the ride home was filled with Lucy telling Carter about the
gift his grandmother had given her, “Just think, our baby's first gift,”
she says.
“I'm glad you and Gamma are getting along so well. It's really important to me.”
“I know it is.”
“Well, eight out of ten of my family members, love you. Not bad odds,
huh?” he smiles.
When they arrive home, they throw their coats on the table, kick off
their shoes and collapsed on the sofa, “John, I'm hungry.”
“For what?”
“Chinese, why don't you call the Far East, and have them deliver our usual. I’ll be right back.”
Carter heads straight to the phone, but doesn't call the restaurant,
instead he calls the Chicago Hilton. Unknown to Lucy, Carter received an earlier page, letting him know, ‘Operation Christmas Surprise’ was
underway.
Lucy had changed into more comfortable clothes and sits down
on the sofa. “When's dinner going to be here?”
“They said about 30-40 minutes. Tell you what, let's turn the tree
lights on and dance,” he says.
“Sure go ahead and put something on.”
Carter goes over to the CD player, and puts on, "Because You Loved Me,"
by Celine Dion.
For all the times you stood by me
For all the truth that you made me see
For all the joy you brought into my life
For all the wrong that you made right
Dancing, Carter with his arms around Lucy's waist and her arms wrapped around his neck, they were in their own little world, lost in the music, eyes only on each other.
“John, did you feel that?”
“Feel what?”
“I think the baby moved.”
“Should it be moving this early?”
“Well, ‘the’ book says, I could be feeling little, ’fluttering’ and that should be the baby.”
Look we're both doctors, and we know there's a lot of changes going on
but-”
“Here,” taking his hand, Lucy puts it on her stomach, “Just wait...there did you feel it?”
“Yeah, I did. Was that the baby or was that your hungry stomach?” he
kids.
Now that the mood was broken, she says, “Where's the food?”
“As if on queue, there was a knock at the door.”
“You take care of it, and I'll get the plates,” Carter says as he heads to
the kitchen. Lucy grabs some money from her purse and opens the door.
Much to her surprise, it wasn't the delivery guy, but her mom.
“Merry Christmas, baby,” she exclaims.
“Mom, what are you doing here? I thought you were out of town on
business?” replies a shocked, but happy Lucy.
“Well, I am out of town and I'm here on personal business. Thanks to
John.”
“Giving her mom a kiss, she shows her into the apartment, then turns to
Carter, and gives him a hug and whispers, “Thank you,” in his ear.
There was a lot to talk about, the ultrasound results, her engagement
ring, and breakfast with the Carter family. Not really telling about everything that happened there, that could wait. She told her mom about the gift, Millicent had given her. Carter looked at Lucy and saw that special
sparkle in her eyes as she talked with her mom. Silently, he made a wish-next Christmas. When they have their own child to share the holiday with and start their own traditions, hoped the three of them would find that
special bond that Lucy and her mom have.
“So, there is no food, is there,” Lucy asks looking at Carter.
“Sorry, thought you'd rather have this gift instead,” he smiles back.
“You know that's right, but that doesn't change the fact I'M HUNGRY!!” she yells.
“Do you still want Chinese?”
“No, that might not sit right in my stomach, this close to bedtime. How about something a little more bland.”
”I know just the place. Ladies, after you,” Carter says politely, showing
them the door.
Lucy should have known where they'd end up. Doc Magoo's. Chance would have it some of the ER staff were there taking a break, “Hey look who just walked in! What, you guys couldn't find anything to do at home?” shouts Dave.
“Shut -up Malucci,” John says, motioning his head towards Barbara.
With that, Lucy takes off her gloves and shows off her ring. All the
women gather round to admire and congratulate her, “YES! I get the money,” yells Deb.
“What?” asks Barbara.
“Oh sorry mom,” Lucy comes back to reality.
“Mom, this Deb Chen, Chunni Marques, Mark Green, Lydia Garbarsky, and Dave Malucci. Guys, this is my mom, Barbara Knight.”
“Nice to meet all of you. Now what's this winning money because of my
daughter?” she asks a little confused.
“These guys will bet on anything or anyone, just to make an extra buck or two,” laughs Lucy.
“How about 25, on this one,” Deb says.
“What do you want,” Carter yells over all the talking.
“Cheeseburger, fries, and a coke.”
“Barbara, what about you?”
“I'll have the same, thanks,” Barbara turns to Lucy, “What time do you
have to be on tomorrow? she asks.
“We're working a ten hour shift beginning at 9.”
“So, you'll be off around, 7, right?”
“Should be, but you never know.”
“Do you think John's grandmother would like to have dinner with us. Let
me fix dinner, then we all can sit and get to know each other. And you and I can start making plans.”
“Sounds great, I'll give you Millicent’s number, then you guys can take
care of all the details... Thanks for coming, you know how much it means
to me.”
“Yes, I do sweetie. If John hadn't called and arranged all this, I would
have made the time to see you, that's what parents do for their children, you'll see.”
Carter brings everyone's food, sits down and they all begin to eat. All of
a sudden pagers all around the room begin to go off, “Looks like a 911 in
the ER. Come on guys,” yells Mark.
Automatically Carter and Lucy eat faster, hurrying through their meal, “Let's go see if they need our help,” says Carter, with a mouthful of food.
“Right behind you,” Lucy adds, gulping down her drink. She swallows and turns to her mom, “Sorry about the rest of the evening. Why don't you come with us, and we'll see what's going on.”
As they enter the ER, Carter yells, “What's up?”
“Chain reaction MVA on Lincoln Expressway. Seven majors, 5 minors,”
Kerry replies.
“Can you use extra help?” Carter fires right back.
“We can use all the extra hands we can get.”
Carter looks a Lucy, “You feel up to it?”
“Yeah, I'll go tell mom,”
Barbara has taken a seat in chairs where Lucy finds her, “Looks like we're going to be busy here for a while, I'll give you a call sometime
tomorrow.
Thanks so much for coming. I love you,” she says as she gives her a
kiss.
“Lucy, I'm so proud of you. No, the both of you. We'll talk tomorrow.”
After they said their good byes, Lucy finds Carter, getting supplies ready
for incoming patients.
“Seems like old times, doesn't it,” he laughs.
“The only thing missing is, dear old Dr. Edson,” she replies with a laugh.
“Don't even go there, Lucy.”
Giving him a swift punch to the arm, “Only kidding,” she smiles.
In the next two or three hours they had treated the minor injuries, “Cuts,
abrasions, broken bones, and any other complaints having to do with the
accident.
They finally finished the last set of sutures around 10:00, for which they
there grateful, as they both were very tired, after a long day. As they walked out of the lounge, Carter noticed a piece of paper posted on the
bulletin board, it read:
National Pediatric Seminar
January 4-7th
Cook County Hospital
“Hey look Lucy, do you think Dr. Ross might come?”
“Right now, I couldn't care less who comes. All I want to do is go home,
take a shower, and go to bed.”
“Oh, poor baby's tired huh?” he kids her.
“Oh Please! Let's just go.”
As they enter their apartment, they throw their coats on the table, take off their shoes, turn to lock the door, and head toward the bedroom.
With Lucy leading the way, Carter stops, grabs Lucy by the hand, pulls her
to him, and holds her in a strong embrace.
“Did you have a nice Christmas,” he whispers.
“You bet, the best one ever.”
“Come one let's go to bed, we're on in 10 hours and I'm tired too,” he
picks her up and carries her to their room and they do go right to sleep.
