The tot lifted her tiny hand and waved. “Hi Sam,” then pointed across the room at the table as she bounced with excitement in Brooke’s arms. “That’s my Daddy.”

Sam looked over to Brian and saw the man in his late thirties nodding to his daughter as he held the chair out for Randi to be seated. “I see that,” Sam turned back to the child. “Your mommy has you dressed really nice, Julie.”

“Tank you… Aunt Brooke bought me dis,” Julie pulled at her shirt and smiled up at her aunt.

“Do you know where your mommy is?” Brooke tried to shift the attention to someone else.

Turning in Brooke’s arms until she could see her mother, Julie reached in Randi’s direction. “Mommy’s ova dere.”

Sam saw the child’s mother sneak in a little wave to the child, then let her gaze fall to Sam as the trio came closer to where they were to be seated. The blonde returned with a nod. “She’s so cute, Randi. She’s adorable.” Sam slid into the seat that Brooke pointed to, while the tall woman moved the higher chair in closer for her niece.

“Why, thank you,” Randi accepted the compliment graciously. “And don’t think that she doesn’t know it, too.” The woman eyed her small daughter and smiled.

“I bet she really keeps you stepping though.” Sam looked back to the child, now that Brooke was finally finished adjusting her seat.

“Yes, she does. You have no idea.” Randi looked to her husband, then both of them began to laugh softly.

“Oh, I think I do,” Sam looked back over her shoulder to Brooke, then turned back to look at Mable for confirmation. “I bet Brooke was the same way when she was that age.” Sam’s attention was on the matriarch, who only smiled and nodded at the memory as she handed the gravy boat to Terri, then went back to the kitchen for more serving bowls.

Brooke took her seat, then leaned over, whispering into Sam’s ear, “So you think I can keep you stepping, huh?” The dark-haired woman brushed her lips against Sam’s cheek causing the red tinge of a blush to start up Sam’s neck, as an embarrassed smile tugged at the woman’s mouth.

“Hmm…” Randi started. “Let’s see…I was six when Brooke was three so I didn’t really have to keep up with her.”

“But I bet she tried to tagalong with you everywhere you went,” Sam nudged her lover under the table with her leg.

“Yeah,” Randi nodded in agreement. “She tried for a while…just couldn’t get rid of her no matter how hard I tried.”

Brooke turned her attention from her older sister to that of her niece, only to have Julie look up to her and grab at her nose. “Hey,” Brooke lifted the tot out of her seat, holding the surprised child up in the air before nestling her in the musician’s strong arms. “What is this, a family conspiracy?” Brooke put her face right up to Julie’s, letting her eyes shift to Randi, then back again.

“Oh, Honey, be careful…” Sam cautioned her tall lover with a hand on her arm, “don’t do that. You’ll scare her.” Sam took the offered cranberry sauce for Brooke and put some on the musician’s plate before taking care of her own.

The sound of a child’s laughter filled the air as Julie began to squeal, “Again! Again!”

Brooke pulled back from the high pitched sound, then looked directly into Sam’s eyes, “She’s okay, Sweetheart…see?” Brooke brought her face smack up against the tot’s one more time to the sound of excited laughter. “No harm’s done.” The woman grinned back at Sam.

“She’s going to have nightmares, and it will be all Auntie Brooke’s fault.”

“Nah, she’ll be fine.” Brooke smiled, turning back toward the child. “Besides if she has nightmares, Randi will just call and wake me up to talk her through them.” Brooke looked over to her sister, then winked before turning her attention to Sam. “Here, you want to hold her?” The tot was shifted toward a startled Sam.

“You sound like you’ve done that before, have you?” The blonde asked as she pushed back her chair.

“Yes, I have with the older two, right guys?” Brooke looked down the length of the table to where David and Kevin were seated.

“Yeah, and she’s the best,” Kevin smiled widely with his missing tooth for all to see.

“Brooke sure got us through some sleepless nights,” Brian chimed in.

Sam leaned in, whispering into Brooke’s ear, “Practicing for me even then, were you?” The blonde giggled softly then held her arms out, inviting Julie into them.

Brooke’s eyes grew wider as she looked over at Sam, then slowly took in a breath to calm her body’s reaction, “Oh, Darlin’. She blinked a time or two to bring her mind back to the present, then looked over to Randi, waiting to see the nod of permission before handing her niece over to Sam.

“HI!” Julie said, climbing into the blonde’s lap and making herself comfortable.

The young woman couldn’t help but smile. “Hey, Honey… you’re so pretty today. You’ve got your barrettes and everything.” Sam looked at the lopsided, half hanging out hair accessories and smiled.

Big brown eyes looked up to Sam as the girl half pouted, “Dank you, but I not like barrettes.” The child looked over to Brian. “Daddy made me wear dem.”

“I can tell. They’re halfway out.” Sam took one hand from around the small child and undid the first barrette, “Here, let me hold them for you.” She took the other one from Julie’s hair. “There, all better.”

“Dank you, Sam… dat’s bedder.”

“Anything for you, Cutie Pie,” Sam winked at the child as she handed the barrettes to Brooke.

The child’s aunt took them in her hand, examining them, before raising a lone eyebrow in her brother-in-law’s direction. “You made her wear these? Brian, that’s cruel.” She watched the man shrug as he passed the basket of rolls to the person next to him.

“So, Sam…” Randi tried to get her husband off the hook, “How’s everything going in school?”

“This last year is a little tough… what with all of the courses jammed into the fall semester, but I’m doing okay.”

“Hmm…just okay?” The lawyer’s eyes questioned Sam’s intent. “I’d think you’d want to really concentrate on your work, I mean this being the end and all. How many courses do you have next semester?”

The blonde looked up from Julie, letting her gaze first go to her Aunt Sandy, the corner of her mouth turned slightly upward. “I’m sorry, I was taught not to brag.” Sam acknowledged the proud look on her Aunt’s face then returned her attention to Randi. “Actually, only one this spring.” The blonde held her unoccupied hand up in the air, halting the comment that was being readied. “I already know what you’re thinking. It’s not a piece of cake.”

“I didn’t say a thing, Sam.” Randi rested her elbows on the table and knitted her fingers together, acting indifferent. “I was just curious.”

“Well, I’m just used to a lot of people’s remarks when they hear that schedule.”

“So, you’re almost done then?” The lawyer resumed her questioning.

“I am.” Sam nodded as she looked at Julie for a few seconds, then directed her eyes back to Randi. “I’ll just have to complete my internship.”

“And… where will that be?”

“I… I have no idea. We’ll be given our assignment destination the day before we leave school for the holidays.” Sam looked down the table at C.C. as she bit her lip. “It could be around the campus area or virtually anywhere in the world. I may not be C.C.’s roommate next term if that happens.”

“Ah… I see.” Randi picked up the bowl of sweet potatoes from the table and started to dish some out on her plate, noticing that Brooke had suddenly stopped the advancement of food down her side of the table. Randi observed the pained look in her sister’s eyes as Brooke looked over to Sam.

Disheartened with the thought of being away from the woman she loved, Sam tried to hide her fear when she looked over into Brooke’s gaze, but a weak smile was the best that she could muster. “I’m just hoping for the best.” Sam caught the silently mouthed ‘I love you’ on Brooke’s lips, then closed her eyes against the tears she was certain would come rolling out of her own eyes and nodded.

Mable could see the pain in her daughter’s blue eyes and immediately moved her focus to the other side of the table. “Well, uhm…” the matriarch looked up to her husband who was moving around the table as he filled the wine glasses and she turned her attention to the daughter he was stopped at. “So, Terri… how’s everything going at the hospital?”

“Well, pretty good.” Terri placed her hand over her empty glass, stopping her father from filling it with wine, “No, thanks Dad,” she looked up to him then back over to her mother and continued. “I haven’t gotten sick with the kiddie crud yet this fall…” the pediatrician nudged her husband who was sitting next to her with a shoulder and smiled. “And we even had two nights off together this past month, huh Rick?”

The boyish looking man in his middle thirties smiled cockily at his wife, “Yep, and they paid off too, didn’t they?” He nodded subtly, then reiterated, “A very nice two nights off.”

The unattached brunette sank back into her chair, letting the platter of turkey rest on the edge of the table that she was holding onto. “Oh boy… I see baby in the making,” C.C. rolled her eyes as she taunted her sister and brother-in-law. “So, who gets to be the godmother?” The young woman shifted the weight of the platter to one hand as she swiftly shot the other one straight up in the air and repeatedly cried out like an over enthusiastic grade school child, “Me…me…me…”

Rick leaned in toward his wife and whispered, “Do you think we should tell them?” The couple exchanged glances between themselves, then finally looked over at C.C. “Actually, we haven’t decided on the godmother, yet.”

Terri waited for the idea to slowly sink in as she looked from person to person around the table. Unable to contain herself any longer, she blurted the news out so that everyone would understand. “Okay guys, what do I have to say?” She looked over at Rick and started to glow. “I’m pregnant.”

The table conversation suddenly stopped and all eyes turned to Terri and Rick.

“Terri,” Mable’s eyes grew bigger as a smile transected her face. She sat the bowl of green beans down that she was holding, then rose from her chair and moved to her daughter’s side. “I’m so happy for you.” She wrapped her arms around the newly expectant woman and gave her a hug, then pulled Rick over and kissed his cheek. “And you, too, Rick. I’m so excited.” Mable fussed with Terri’s hair causing the woman to blush.

“Mom, I’m a grown-up now,” Terri winced with the added attention.

“Grown-up… wait until you’re about nine months along and as big as a house.” Randi teased her younger sister, “Now that’s grown-up.”

“Shush!” Mable scolded. “Don’t scare her, Randi.” The matriarch reached out and took Henry’s hand as he came to her side, then reached up to kiss his lips. “Remember how big I was during all my pregnancies?”

Henry nodded. “I often wondered how they would ever get out of there,” he winked at his wife then bent down to kiss Terri. “Don’t let them scare you, Teresa, you’ll do just fine.”

Sam felt the tug on her sleeve and gazed down to see a puzzled looked on Julie’s face. The blonde lowered her head trying to meet the child eye to eye.

“Sam… what does pregnant mean?” Wondering brown eyes looked up to the woman for the answer as the question resounded in the dead silence of the dining room.

“Ah…” caught off guard, Sam looked to Brooke for help, only to see the woman looking just as startled as she was. “Pregnant.” She said the word correctly as her mind considered how to explain it to a three year old. “It means that you’ll get a new cousin to play with next Thanksgiving.” Sam smiled slightly, thinking that she’d dodged the bullet.

“What’s a cousin?” The timid voice spoke again, directing the question to Sam.

Brooke grinned at Sam’s predicament, happy that Julie had picked someone beside herself to bombard with questions. “Looks like she takes after you, C.C. with that inquiring mind of yours.”

Sam waited for C.C.’s tongue showing escapade and the giggles it received from the other children at the table before she answered the tot’s second question. “A cousin is a little boy or girl that will call your Aunt Terri, Mommy.”

Julie absorbed the words, then let the little wrinkles come to her forehead as she pondered the point. “Why Aunt Terri?” She looked around the table then at her favorite aunt sitting next to her, drinking her glass of water. “Why not Aunt Brooke?”

Blue eyes bugged out as Brooke snorted and then began making coughing sounds as she choked on the mouthful of liquid. She could vaguely hear the sound of her older sister laughing at her daughter’s question as she felt Peter’s hand on her back.