After having blood work done, Ellie and Joe waited in the doctor’s office. While Ellie was nervous, Joe was literally shaking from his nerves. When the doctor walked in with a smile on his face, Ellie knew that she wouldn’t be getting bad news. “Congratulations, you are pregnant! We will need to do an ultra sound to see how far along you are. I have time now to do it, if you have the time?” Ellie and Joe looked at the doctor and then at each other.

“We have all the time in the world, doctor.” Joe answered. Even though he was excited, he knew that there was always a possibility that Ellie would miscarry. He didn’t know if she was strong enough to handle that, not right now.

Ellie sat in shock, a baby? There had to be a mistake. How could she be pregnant when her husband was dying? She and Joe always planned to raise their kids together, she didn’t want to do it without him. This was a cruel joke.

The doctor confirmed Ellie’s pregnancy, she was eight weeks along. The fetus looked perfect, the doctor gave Ellie some prenatal vitamins, told her to make sure that she was eating, she had lost some weight. Ellie and Joe walked out of the doctor’s office, holding hands and smiling. Ellie was still in shock; she couldn’t believe that she was pregnant. How was she going to raise this baby alone?

The minute Ellie and Joe walked into their house; Joe broke the news to his parents. Peter and Alexandria wrapped them both up in hugs, tears running down everyone’s cheeks. “Tonight, we celebrate. Your dad and I are taking you guys out for dinner. Do you want steak or seafood?” Alexandria asked, smiling.

“Ellie shouldn’t eat seafood while pregnant, so steak it is.” Joe said, already rubbing Ellie’s belly. Ellie stood still, not moving, not speaking. “Ellie, are you okay?”

Ellie shook her head no and walked to the couch, sitting down, she started to sob. Alexandria walked over to her, put her arms around Ellie’s shoulders, and just held her, she let Ellie cry. Peter and Joe walked into the kitchen, sat down at the counter, speaking in whispers. “She is going to be okay, son. Your mother and I will take care of both of them, don’t you worry about that.” Peter said, knowing that Joe was already worried.

“Why? Why now?” Ellie asked. “Why not a couple of years ago when Joe was healthy? When our child could have at least known their father? Why wait until he is dying to give us a baby?” Ellie asked no one in particular.

Alexandria sighed, she knew that Ellie and Joe and tried for so long only to suffer multiple miscarriages. Alexandria knew that Ellie was worried that she could lose this baby too. Alexandria had to ask the question but she already knew the answer. “Do you want to terminate the pregnancy?”

Ellie sat up and stared at Alexandria. She couldn’t believe that she had actually asked her that. “Never in a million years would I ever terminate this pregnancy. Joe and I have always wanted children. I will make sure that this child knows their father, I can promise you that.” Ellie stood from the couch and walked outside, she needed air.

While Ellie took a walk, Joe took a nap. Peter and Alexandria went to the grocery store to stock up on supplies, they were calling for a big storm. Everyone was nervous for this storm, what would happen if they become snowed in and something happened to Joe? Ellie had called a few people and made plans to have the driveway cleared if it snowed enough and needed it.

Ellie walked into the house to find everyone waiting for her. She had totally forgotten that they were going out for dinner. Ellie freshened up then joined the rest of the family in the living room. “Are we still going out or should I order a pizza?” she asked.

Peter stood, “We are having steak. Everyone to the garage.” They walked to the garage, Ellie helping Joe as he was very weak. As they drove to the restaurant, Joe watched out the window, taking in all of the Christmas decorations. He and Ellie loved to decorate for Christmas, they didn’t even have a tree up this year. While Ellie was at work the net day, he would make sure that their house was decorated.

As they ate dinner, Ellie watched Joe just push around his food. His appetite had gotten worse, some days he only took a few bites of his food, today was one of those days. “What do you say after dinner, we ride around town and take in all of the Christmas decorations?” Joe asked, already knowing that his dad would make it happen.

Ellie smiled; she knew Joe was doing this for her. They loved Christmas and decorated every year. This year, they didn’t even have a tree. She had been concentrated on Joe and his health. She made plans to put the tree up as soon as she got home from work the next day. She would have Peter and Alexandria bring the decorations in from the garage while she was at work, that would save her some time.

As they drove through town, Joe commented on every house that was decorated. Ellie knew that this would be his last year seeing the houses decorated, she made sure to tell Peter to drive slower so Joe could see every light.

That night, once Joe had gone to bed, Ellie talked to her in-laws about bringing in the decorations and the plans for decorating the house. She wanted Joe’s last Christmas to be special. She would have to stop on the way home from work and grab some extra printer ink, she wanted to make sure that she would have enough for all of the pictures she planned on taking and then printing out.