looked camera ready after pushing eight pounds, five ounces out of her-"
"Okay, okay. No need for details." He hunted up a parking space in the hospital's lot. "I talked with Matt while you were cleaning up. He said they're both doing great."
"It's nice to come back here for something happy." She skimmed her gaze up to the Intensive Care floor.
"Have you talked to Shanna since she got back?"
"No, I haven't."
"She had a great time." Ford took Cilla's hand as they crossed the lot. "She said Steve's looking good. Put some of the weight back on he lost, got what she called a Roman gladiator 'do going on. He's only using the cane when he gets tired."
Ford pulled open the heavy glass door.
"I've been e-mailing him pictures of the house. I need to take some of the kitchen cabinets. Gift shop. Presents for Mommy and baby."
"I took her flowers already," Ford objected, "and a big pink teddy bear."
"Eight pounds, five ounces out of her-"
"Gift shop."
Loaded down with flowers, Mylar balloons, a plush musical lamb and a stack of coloring books for the new big brother, they walked into the birthing suite.
Josie sat up in bed, in her arms the swaddled baby, a bright pink cap over her dark hair. Josie's younger sister stood nearby, cooing over a tiny, frothy white dress, while Brian unwrapped a bubble-gum cigar and Matt snapped a picture of his wife and daughter.
"More visitors!" Josie beamed. "Cilla, you just missed your dad and Patty."
"I came to see someone else." She leaned over the bed. "Hello, Olivia. She's beautiful, Josie. You do wonderful work."
"Hey, she's got my chin, and nose," Matt claimed.
"And your big mouth. Do you want to hold her, Cilla?"
"I thought you'd never ask. Trade." She put the lamb on the bed, took the baby. "Look at you. Look how pretty you are. How are you feeling, Josie?"
"Good. Really good. Only seven and a half hours of blood, sweat and tears with this one. Ethan took twice that."
"Got some stuff here for big bro." Ford set the coloring books on the foot of the bed.
"Oh, that's so sweet! My parents just took him home for dinner. He looks so big, so sturdy. I can hardly... Oh, hormones still working," she managed when her eyes filled.
"It's a full house!" Cathy announced as she and Tom came in with a bouquet of pink roses and baby's breath. "Let me see that beautiful baby."
Cilla turned obligingly.
"Oh, look at all that hair. Tom, just look at this sweet thing."
"Pretty as a picture." Tom set the flowers down among the garden of others, then poked Brian in the shoulder. "When are you going to get busy making us one? Matt's got two up on you now. You, too, Ford."
"Slackers," Josie agreed, and held out her arms for Olivia.
"I have such high standards," Brian said. "I can't settle for any woman who isn't as perfect as Mom."
"That's a clever way out of it," Cathy commented, but she beamed with pleasure as she stepped over to kiss Brian's cheek. She turned and kissed Matt. "Congratulations."
"Thanks. We figured we had another week. When Josie called this morning, I figured it was to remind me to bring her home a caramel coconut sundae. She's been eating mountains of them."
"I have, too!" Josie said with a laugh.
"It was peanut brittle for me. Acres of peanut brittle. I'm lucky I have a tooth left in my head."
"Never touched it again after Brian was born," Tom commented.
"It'll probably be a good long while before I can look at coconut." Josie stroked Olivia's cheek. "Thank God I didn't go another week."
"And now you'll be able to show off the baby at Cilla's party. We're all looking forward to that," Cathy added. "I guess you could say the house is your baby."
"Without the pink teddy bear and pretty white dresses," Cilla agreed.
Matt passed out more cigars. "I had to bail out today. We'd just started installing the kitchen cabinets. How's it going?"
"We just have to set the island, put on the doors, the hardware. We'll be ready for the counters, on schedule."
"I'm going to have a powwow with Patty and Ford's mother. And if you sweet-talk him," Cathy told Cilla, "Tom might make his special ribs."
Cilla smiled. "What makes them special?"
"It's all in the rub," Tom claimed. "Family secret."
"He won't even give me the recipe."
"It passes down only through the bloodline. Many have tried to unlock the secret. None have succeeded. We've got to be on our way, Cathy."
"Meeting friends