A Family of Their Own, Part 2

"Felix, when we get to the station, I think I'll wait in the buggy. I'm not feeling too well. Mother was probably right. I should have stayed home."

"All right. So, have you and Gus thought of any names? If it's a boy, I think Felix Pike has a nice ring to it," Felix said as he smiled lopsidedly.

"I'll be sure to mention that to Gus," Felicity answered as she shifted in the back seat of the buggy in a vain attempt to find a comfortable position.

"Well, here we are. I'll be back in a jiffy." Felix looked from his sister's face toward her swollen belly. "Uncle Felix is going to get your Daddy. Don't you go anywhere," he told his niece or nephew.

A gentle smile crossed Felicity's lips as she watched her brother exit the buggy and walk toward the station house. The smile grew as she saw her brother embrace her husband. Gently rubbing her belly, she remembered the day Felix and Sara brought home a dirty young man with a fiddle. Never in her wildest thoughts would Felicity King have imagined that day that ten years later she would be the wife of that dirty young man and expecting his child. Now, she couldn't even remember the name of the young man she'd had a crush on that summer.

"Hi ya, Angel." Felicity opened her eyes to see her husband standing next to her outside the buggy. As Felix loaded the luggage into the buggy, Gus reached up and kissed his wife on the lips. Then, he placed his hand on her stomach and kissed it. "Hi sweetie, have you missed your Daddy?" Gus had begun speaking to the baby after Dr. Snow let him listen to the heartbeat with his stethoscope. He even made Felicity put the phone receiver on her stomach when they spoke on the telephone.

Felix climbed up into the seat in front of Gus and Felicity and began the drive to King Farm. Neither Gus or Felix notice how quiet Felicity had become as they shared news from Halifax, Avonlea, and the White Sands Hotel, where Felix had returned to work after his injuries healed, training under Pierre Lapierre to become a chef. About half way to the farm, Felicity suddenly slammed her left hand down onto Gus' right knee.

"A-a-ah," said Gus as Felicity squeezed his knee so hard he though she would stop all blood circulating below the knee.

Felix quickly stopped the buggy and turned, along with Gus, to stare at Felicity's pale face.

After what seemed an eternity to the two men, Felicity managed to squeeze out two words. "Baby. . . now."

"But, but, but," Gus stammered. "The baby's not due for two weeks."

Felicity took a deep breath before she answered him. "Well, Gus. . ." She paused to take another breath. "Apparently the baby doesn't want to wait."

"Ok, you two," Felix interrupted, "let's remain calm. Let's think what would Aunt Hetty do at a time like this."

The three people in the buggy stared at each other for several seconds.

"I, I know what Miss King'd say." Despite being married to Felicity for nearly three years, Gus occasionally reverted to calling Hetty Miss King when he was nervous. "She'd say to get to King Farm as quickly as possible."

"Right." Felix slapped the rains on the horse's back and the horse began to run as fast as she could pulling a buggy filled with three people.