Reagan angled her head, her own eyes glistening. wouldn't have missed it."

"And look at Tommy.' She kissed her grandson on the forehead and held out her hands.

"He's a brute, huh, Mom?" Luke helped transfer the baby from Reagan's arms to Elizabeth's.

Up close, Tommy looked even more like his father. Elizabeth slid him onto her hip. The weight of the child sent a sharp pain through her torso, but she ignored it. Nothing was going to keep her from holding her grandson. Tommy pointed to her hat and smiled, showing off four little teeth. With her free hand, Elizabeth hugged Luke. "This is exactly how you looked at his age." "Was I a chunker like him?" Luke pulled back, but just a bit. "Definitely." Elizabeth laughed and looked back at Tommy. As she did she saw the resemblance again, but this time no Luke. To her firstborn, the one she was still praying about daily "Yes, he's a Baxter."

Cole skipped up and tugged on Elizabeth's sweater. "I'm not the only boy now, Grandma. Isn't that the bestest thing you ever heard?"

She tousled Cole's hair and smiled at Ashley and Landon nearby. "The absolute bestest thing, Cole. You'll like him even better in a few years when you can teach him how to catch frogs."

The group fell quiet as sorrow seized the moment. If the that was right, Elizabeth wouldn't live to see l+ommy gro tip. to cheer when Cole taught him how to calch his [i-st Iro.

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kingsbu ry sm,qlley "Okay." John gave a light clap and turned toward the family room. "Let's come on in and get settled. Dinner's in the oven, and Brooke'll be here with Erin and Sam and Heidi around six."

Time flew as they sat around, catching up on Luke's work at the entertainment-law office and hearing about the online courses Reagan had been taking. She wanted to work as a copy editor for one of the publishers in New York City-a job she could do from home on a part-time basis.

"And what's the situation at the law firm?" John sat next to Elizabeth, his hand in hers. "You have the whole summer off, but they want you back in the fall?"

"Right." Luke was on the floor holding his hands out to Tommy, who was just learning to walk. Reagan sat in the closest chair, ready to catch the boy if he fell. Cole was trailing behind him offering words of encouragement.

"Sounds like a nice group of people." John gave a single nod. "And entertainment law, of all things. So interesting."

Luke picked up Tommy's pacifier from the floor and set it on the table. "The job started out as an internship, but I connected real well with the attorneys." He shrugged. They want me to work on a more regular basis starting in September, and after I have my law degree, they're talking about giving me a chance with some of their clients."

"Are they all movie stars?" Elizabeth loved this, loved hearing her grown son talk about his career, loved watching him interact with his wife and son. Things were so different than they could've turned out. So different from the way they'd been in the months after the terrorist attacks.

"Most of the clients work in the industry, but they're not all movie stars."

Luke grinned and looked at Ashley. "Did I tell you Dayne Matthews came in a while ago?"

Ashley laughed and leaned a little closer to Landon. "The Hollywood playboy, huh?"

"Actually-" Kari slid forward, bouncing Jessie on her knee-"he's not too shabby."

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"Hey..." Ryan gave her a gentle elbow in the ribs. "What's this now?"

"Don't worry, honey." She laughed and winked at Ashley. 'Dayne Matthews doesn't hold a candle to you."

"He sure has a bad reputation with the women." Ashley ges tured to Cole, and he came running over, cuddling between her and Landon.

"Yeah, I guess." Luke caught Tommy, turned him around and sent him toddling toward Reagan. "In person, he's not that bad, really. Stopped in to meet me and the two of us got to talking. He's just a regular guy when you're one-on-one with him."

"Is he tall or short?" Elizabeth hadn't ever seen one of his films. She wasn't taken much by celebrity status, but if it in volved Luke or his job, she was interested. "Most actor types are short; isn't that right?"

"He's actually pretty tall." Luke caught Tommy by the back of his sweatpants, tossed him in the air a few times, and set him back down again. "About my height, I'd say."

"And did Luke get me an autograph?" Reagan held Tommy's bottle in the air in mock exasperation. "Of course not. Has one of the most famous guys in Hollywood in his office and forgets to get an autograph."

They all laughed, and the conversation shifted to Ashley and Landon's wedding, where everyone could go for a tuxedo fitting, and how the reception was going to play out. Time passed quickly, and before long they were interrupted by the sound of more voices at the front door.

"Erin!" Elizabeth raised her eyebrows at John. "Now I can see that little Heidi Jo."

Before John could help her, Luke was at his mother's side, easing her to her feet. He hadn't been maudlin or emotional, but he was fiercely protective of her. Even though it was another reminder of her illness, Elizabeth enjoyed his attention. She looped her arm through his and moved with the group into the foyer.

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kin g sb u r y s ma lie y Even before she got there, she heard quiet gasps coming from the others. Brooke and Peter were in sight, standing there with Maddie beside them and Hayley in Peter's arms. The commotion must've been about Erin's new baby. That had to be it. When Luke and Elizabeth rounded the corner, they both stopped short.

Erin and Sam were standing near the door, but each of them was holding an infant. Between them stood two gorgeous little girls with blonde curls, wearing matching play, clothes.

Elizabeth's head began to spin and she held more tightly to Luke's arm. "Erin .

. " She searched her daughter's face. Her words were breathless capturing the feeling of the moment as the other Baxters stood in a circle, grinning leafy-eyed, too stunned to talk. "What's going on "Mom..." Erin's eyes were wet. She uttered a nervous laugh as she approached Elizabeth. "This is Heidi Jo."

"She's beautiful. " Elizabeth reached out and took the infant in her arms. John came up along one side, and with him and Luke supporting her, she lifted her eyes to Erin, waiting.

"This is Amy Elizabeth.' Sam held the infant in his arms so they could all see her sweet face, Then he grinned at the little girls, both shy and quiet, who had taken up positions on either side of him and were now clinging to his legs. "And these two are Chloe and Clarisse."

Elizabeth's knees were weak. She handed Heidi to John and held her hands out to Erin. Her throat was so thick, the words would barely come. "You have ... four babies?"

They-fell into each other's arms, hugging and rocking and hearing six conversations strike up around them. "Erin Elizabeth whispered into her youngest daughter's ear, "I'm so happy, for you. I didn't think-" she swallowed, willing herselt not to Break down-"you always wanted a Big family. I didn't think I'd live long enough to see it happen." She sniffed. so good to us."

The group stayed that way, each of them meeting the new 284 REUNION.

children and making introductions with Maddie and Hayley and Cole and Tommy and Jessie. Kari and Ryan took turns talking to Chloe and Clarisse, and then the group shifted and Ashley and Brooke knelt down to meet them.

All the while, Elizabeth held on to Erin, listening to the story: how the social worker had called a few days ago, and how the girls' grandmother had become the legal guardian because of Candy's arrest, and how the older woman had called social services to find out if Erin and Sam were still interested. Not only in the baby, but in the other two sisters too.

Erin wiped at her eyes. "If we were willing to take all three girls and still give her chances to visit them, the grandmother was willing to sign over her rights. She wants to work on a cruise ship and travel." Erin gave a disbelieving shake of her head. "She said she thought the girls needed a real family, and that Sam and I could give that to them better than she could."

"So . . ," Elizabeth brushed her hand against Erin's cheek. "You have four daughters." She snapped her fingers. "Just like that."

"Yes, Mom." She hugged Elizabeth close again. "Just like you."

"Just like me."

The group started migrating toward the kitchen. Elizabeth called out in the happiest voice she could muster. "John... I think we'll need a few more plates at the table."

He grinned at her and nodded his approval. "That's what reunions are all about."

285.

CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX.

Their mother's decline happened right before their eyes, and quicker than any of them had expected. Least of all Ashley.

Those first few days of being together, Mom was her old self: upbeat, energetic, the one starting conversations and keeping them going. And there was so much to talk about. Erin's new girls, Kari's pregnancy, Hayley's progress, the wedding.

And all the changes and stages the kids were going through.

The one thing their mother hadn't wanted to talk about was her health. "We can talk about that later." She'd give them a partial smile. "Besides, without more tests, there's nothing new to talk about. Right now I feel good, and that's all that matters."

The day before had been Elizabeth's roughest since she'd gotten sick. She couldn't get through a sentence without coughing, and twice she'd disappeared into her bedroom for a few hours.

Ashley had gone to check on her once and met her father coming out of the room.

"How is she?" But the question wasn't necessary. Her father's face was a mask of sorrow and fear, a look Ashley had never seen him have in all the years she was growing up.

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"Not good." He'd closed the door quietly behind him. "She's coughing up a lot of blood?'

"No!" Ashley's stomach tightened. "We can't let that happen, not now. She wants to be with us so badly." She took her father's hand. "Let's get her to the hospital, Dad. There's gotta be something they can do."

He shook his head. "There's nothing. Cancer like your mom has is so wicked, it literally takes over the body and suffocates a person." He slumped against the hallway wall. "We have to keep praying, but it's time to make some hard choices."

"Choices?" Ashley's heart had slipped into an irregular beat. They weren't really talking about her mom this way were they? Not when she had been perfectly fine a few months ago.

"Pain meds." Her father'd hung his head and rubbed the back of his neck. "She's in a lot of pain, Ash. The cancer's tearing up her insides. That's why she's been spending time in her room, Praying... trying to tolerate the pain without resorting to medication."

"That's crazy." Ashley worked to keep her voice low. "If she needs medicine she should take it."

"It's not that easy." Her father had led her away from the bedroom. "The medication would make her sleepy, too groggy to get out of bed most of the time."

Ashley felt sick to her stomach. No wonder her mother hadn't said much that day.

She'd been trying so hard to mask her pain, she had worn herself out.

Now it was Monday morning. Today's plan was for everyone to meet at the house before noon and have a picnic on the back lawn. Ashley had intended to use the morning to work on a painting for her mother-one based on a photo of the Baxter family taken at Luke's wedding. But as soon as she woke Ashley had wanted to be only one place.

At the Baxter house with her mother.

She and Cole had a quick breakfast and arrived at the house at nine. Her father, Landon, and Peter were scheduled to work that 287 kingsbury smalley day, so other than Ryan and Luke and Sam, the picnic would involve the women and kids. But when she pulled into the driveway she saw her father's car.

Before Ashley had time to think it strange that he'd still be home, she knew.

Her mom must be worse; there was almost no other explanation. She pushed back her fears, parked the car, and followed a bouncy Cole into the house.

"Hi, everyone! We're here!" Cole leaned his head back and made the announcement.

He looked around, then turned to Ashley. "Mommy, yesterday there were a hundred people here. Now where are they?"

She caught her son's shoulder and whispered to him. "Let's be quiet, Cole, okay?

Grandma might be sleeping."

"Oh." His eyes got wide and earnest. "But where's all the people?"

Ashley smiled. Cole would've done great as the oldest in a family with eight kids. He was loving the commotion and crowded conditions of the reunion. Lots of aunts and uncles and cousins; Landon always around; Grandma and Papa taking it all in. He knew nothing of how sick his grandma was, only that this time with family was the best thing in the world.

She dropped down to his level. 'Maybe they're still asleep."

"Who's here?" Cole was whispering now, but his excitement still ran through him.

"Aunt Erin and Uncle Sam and their girls are in the guest rooms upstairs; Uncle Luke and Aunt Reagan are sleeping with Tommy in my old room. Everyone else is still at their own houses."

'Oh." Cole took a few steps toward the stairs. 'Can I go wake up Aunt Erin's girls? I think they wanna play."

Ashley was just about to tell him no, that they'd watch something quiet on TV and head outside to wait for people to wake up, when her father walked into the room. He had obviously showered and shaved, but he looked weary. As if he'd been up all night.

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"Papa!" Cole shouted his name, but then dropped his tone to a loud whisper again when his grandpa smiled and held his finger to his lips. "What's everyone doing?"

He hugged Cole to his leg and ran his fingers over his hair. "Hi, Cole.

Everyone's up." His eyes met Ashley's. "They're just trying to keep quiet for Grandma. She didn't feel good last night."

'Oh." Cole's expression fell. "Does she have a tummy ache?"

A sad smile tugged at the corners of her father's mouth. "Something like that."

"Can I watch cartoons?" Cole looped his hands around his grandfather's forearms.

"Yes, Cole. That's a very good idea." He took Cole's hand and got him situated in front of the television set.

Ashley watched her father and son, touched. With Landon marrying her, Cole would have a father now. Something he'd wanted as long as she could remember. But Cole's time with her father, with his "papa," would diminish some. The thought was both comforting and sad. Her father had never intended to raise a grandson, but during the early years, until Cole was four, her father had treated Cole like his own.

The idea that their relationship might change had never hit Ashley before.

Once Cole was distracted, her father gestured for her to follow him into the kitchen. He filled the kettle and put it on the stove. "Some tea?"