November 24, 1933

I stared blankly at my mother as she asked me to set the dinner table, consumed with thoughts of bigger things like flying in an airplane and saving the world. For the past months, I had thought of nothing but the glory of war and had taken to listening to the radio at night to determine if there would be battle to be had. I dreamed of earning a medal and meeting the President of the United States one day.

"James!" She cried shrilly, nearly ready to burst into tears at the drop of a hat. It was the pregnancy Jack told me constantly. She had been extremely emotional throughout the whole ordeal.

"Crap." I muttered, reaching forward and taking the silverware from her. I watched her walk back to the counter to retried the dishes and saw her lean for a long moment on the back of a chair. "Mom?" I whispered, setting the silverware down on the table and rushing around the table to her. I noticed her face was a tiny bit sweaty and she was breathing heavily. "It's the baby…isn't it? It's…" I gulped. "Coming."

"Yes." She breathed. "It's started this morning, but I just thought it was nothing. It's definitely coming." I noticed the front of her pants were wet.

"You wet your pants, Mama!" I cried. "Hang on! I'll call Dad." I raced toward the telephone and dialed the office where I knew Jack was working." His stupid secretary answered.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Dawson is in a meeting. I will tell him you called…who is this?"

"His son!" I exclaimed irritated with the idiot. "My mother is having her baby. Please tell him!" I hung up on her and paced back and forth for a moment. "What do I do?" I said to myself. Picking up the phone again, I called Jo's house.

"Hockley residence." The housekeeper answered.

"Maria, is my sister there?" I screamed. I heard Maria gasped.

"James, is that you?" She said. "I'll get Jo." I could hear her call out. "Jo! Your brother is on the phone…I think something is wrong!" She came back to the line. "Hold on, love, your sister is coming."

"Jamie?" Jo's worried voice came on the line.

"Jo, Mama's havin' her baby!" I cried, hating the frightened tears rolling down my face.

"Where's Dad?" She asked me. I explained to her about his dumb secretary and the meeting. "Okay," she replied, "I will call the doctor and stop by the office to get him. Keep Luke busy, okay?"

"He's at his friend's house for the night." I said, vaguely remembering our other sibling in my panic.

"Good. See you in a bit. And Jamie?" She added, "It's okay. Mama's had three babies…she's going to be alright."

"Thanks, Jo."

"Just get her up to bed and ask her if she needs anything. Dad and I will take care of the rest, okay?" I never loved my sister more than I did at that moment.

"Okay." I said, reassured. I hung up and flew back into the kitchen. Mama was standing upright and smiling at me. She reached her hand out. "I have to take you to bed." I told her as if I were talking to a child. She smirked at me, but nodded.

"You're the boss, Mr. Calvert." I led my mother up the stairs to her bedroom and left so that she could get into her nightgown. Some women had babies in a hospital, but this time, she was going to have her baby at home with a private doctor. I guess it was because we were rich now.

The doctor showed up just before Jo arrived with Jack and Jonathan barely twenty minutes later. I had never seen Jack look so unsure of himself. Jo seemed calm and collected, gently leading me into the dining room to finish feeding me dinner. We ate quietly, listening to the ruckus above. I cringed every time I heard Mom cry out. Jo grinned at me.

"She's a strong woman, Jamie. She'll be fine." She took my hand and squeezed it. Johnny decided to teach me how to play poker after dinner to take my mind off of things.

"You're teaching my ten year old brother how to gamble? How charming." Jo said dryly.

"Are you worried he'll be better at it than you are?" Jonathan teased her. She rolled her eyes, taking the cards out of his hands and shuffling them on the table.

"Please…you still can't even beat me. Maybe I should teach him." I watched Jonathan grin to himself, seeing Jo's competitive side come out.

"I let you win…" He told her, leaning over and kissing her cheek.

"Bullshit." She mumbled, but smiled despite herself. She began to expertly deal the cards to each of us and was in the middle of explaining what a full house was when we heard the piercing, undeniable cry of the new intruder in our lives. Jo looked up excitedly. I, however, was unimpressed. If it were a girl, I was going to be sadly disappointed. I watched as Jo and Johnny made no attempt to get up.

"Should we go look?" I asked, curious now. Jo shook her head.

"When they are ready, they'll come to us…Mama and the baby have to be cleaned up." She told me. Sure enough, a few minutes later, I heard footsteps and Jack appeared in the doorway looking slightly like he'd been through Hell.

"Well?" I asked impatiently. A slow grin spread across his face.

"It's a boy." He said in a quiet voice. "A big, healthy, blond boy."

"Blond? I'm jealous." Jo said, with a laugh. Jack shook his head.

"Your hair is beautiful." He assured her, winking at me and holding his hand out to me. "Do you want to come meet your brother?" I nodded. Jo and Johnny followed us. Mama was sitting up with the bundle of baby in her arms. She had her robe on and looked as calm as if she had just woken up.

"James…" She sighed, smiling at me. I stared into her blue eyes and felt myself move forward toward her. I peered down at my new brother, just as I'd once stared down at Luke and felt a soft spot grow in my heart for the little boy. I didn't even know his name, but I felt personally responsible for him. He was so tiny…he would look up to me. He was goofy looking like all babies are, but he was cute too. His hair was white blond on his head and he was fussing and flailing his little fists.

"Why is he mad?" I asked, staring at him. Mom laughed.

"He's probably hungry."

"Already?" I asked, shocked.

"Well, we didn't get to eat dinner…I'm sure he's ready for something to eat."

"Disgusting." I said, knowing full well how newborn babies ate. Jo laughed, moving around the other side of the bed and gingerly taking the baby out of Mom's arms.

"I suppose I'm relieved you're a boy…I was feeling a bit jealous at the thought of having another girl around here." She admitted to the baby, who stopped crying momentarily to stare our twenty year old sister down.

"Why on Earth would you worry about that, Jo?" Jack asked, sitting at the foot of the bed. "You're twenty…" Jo nodded, her lip quivering only slightly.

"Exactly…and I never got to know you until barely a year ago…this baby will have known you his whole life, but I didn't relish the thought of watching you be a father to a little girl…" She shook her head. "That's stupid, and selfish…I know. I suppose I'm not as mature as I'd like to believe."

"I guess it makes sense." Jack said. "It's amazing how cruel fate can be sometimes…but you have to know, it wouldn't change anything. It wouldn't then and it doesn't now. This baby is just another one of us. And we all love each other equally."

"That's beautiful, Jack." Mom said, smiling.

"My Pops was a very smart man." Jack replied, grinning again. "That's what he said to Olivia when I was born." Everyone unexpectedly chuckled.

"What is his name going to be?" Jonathan asked, peeking over Jo's shoulder at the baby.

"I decided that he was going to be Jackson Dawson junior." Mom said. "I'm too tired to think of another name." She added, relaxing back into her pillow. I watched as Jo set little Jack, as he would come to be called, into Jack's arms. The baby began to wail. Jack looked helplessly at my mother.

"Would you feed this kid before he eats my finger?" He handed the baby off to my mother as she began to pull her robe aside. I flew off the bed. That was my cue to leave. It was gross.

Little Jack grew really fast. I assumed the role of his protector from birth, which my mother deemed "cute." I hated the word cute. I was now eleven years old. I was practically a man. Luke and I pretty much adored little Jack, and Dad, true to his word never treated us any differently. If anything, having a baby around made him love us more. He was always saying that he couldn't believe how lucky he was, going from a lonely, single man to a man with four children. Pretty soon, he would probably be the youngest grandfather I knew. Actually, he would be the only grandfather I knew.

Mom had a wacky old mother who was married to an old man around a thousand years old. She insisted on us calling her Grandmother, but I just called her Mrs. Cohen. She was fussy and made weird noises with her mouth when she didn't approve of something…which was often. Her lips were always pulled together like a drawstring purse. But, she loved us deep down, I could tell. I caught her smiling at me once when I was talking to my mother. We didn't visit her very often, but Mom always made sure we saw her a few times a year. It was funny to watch Mrs. Cohen interact with Dad. She seemed to over-compensate him with kindness. He got a kick out of it, but was never anything but polite to her.

Mrs. Cohen made such a fuss over little Jack; I thought she was going to slobber all over his fat pink cheeks.

"What a sweet baby!" She crooned to the kid, who took one look at her, then looked at Dad and began to wail. Dad hid his smirk and swept the six month old up, tickling his pudgy little belly. The baby laughed. Little Jack was fussy a lot because he was teething. Trust me, we all knew about little Jack's teeth because he used them…to bite. We tried to stop Mrs. Cohen when she touched his lips with her fingertip and he bit her. I couldn't help myself, I looked at Luke and we burst into giggles. Served the crazy old bat right, putting her fingers in the baby's mouth. She cried out in surprise, but then rewarded the baby with a cookie. It was revolting watching little Jack gnaw on that cookie until it was soft enough for him to eat.

"Why are you scowling?" Jo asked, sitting beside me.

"That old lady is weird." I grumbled. She giggled, putting her arm around me. I noticed she looked a little flushed, but didn't say anything. Luke, on the other side of me agreed.

"She always calls me 'Lukie.'" He said. "And she smells like moth balls."

"She does not!" Jo cried, laughing out loud and causing our parents to look over at us. Mom had an eyebrow raised and Jack looked interested.

"The kid has a point, Jo." Jonathan replied, sitting on the opposite side of her. "That woman wears so much fur, I'm surprised there are any animals left to provide new coats for her to buy."

"I think we should leave soon." Jo said to Johnny. "This heat is really making me sick to my stomach." Jo was right. It was one of the hottest days of the year and it just seemed to get hotter as the day went on.

"Maybe you should see a doctor…you've been feeling sick three days in a row." He said. I tended to agree with Jonathan. He was smart.

"It's the heat." Jo replied, fanning herself. "I can't stand it. It makes me want to…cut my hair off!"

"You're really flushed…I'm worried you could be running a fever, sweetheart." He insisted.

"Who's running a fever?" Mom asked, hearing this and moving toward us.

"No one is running a fever." Jo answered her, giving her husband a look and standing quickly. "I'm just not feeling well because of the heat. That is all."

"Are you sure? You don't look so well." Mom said, moving forward to place her hand over Jo's forehead.

"Ma, stop!" Jo said, reeling back. "I'm f-fine…I just need…"

I watched in horror as she turned a frightening shade of white before her eyes rolled up into her eyelids and she began to drop like a ragdoll to the floor. Johnny was quick, darting forward and catching her up in his arms. Mom screamed for Jack, while my heart began to pound unnaturally in my chest.

"I'll get a wet rag!" My grandmother called as Dad handed the baby unceremoniously to me while they hovered over Jo. Mrs. Cohen rushed by with her wet cloth and placed it over Jo's forehead. Johnny had laid her on the sofa and was gently trying to coax her awake. Mom stepped back, a look coming over her face as if she were realizing something. She said something too quiet for me to hear to Jonathan, who shook his head in confusion.

"Ruth, do you have smelling salts?" Dad asked the old woman, who nodded and rummaged through a drawer. Seconds later, Jo was awake.

"Jo." Johnny said, sighing in relief and kissing her forehead. "I think we should get you to the hospital."

"No…" Jo protested, trying to sit up. Jonathan eased her back down.

"Jo, heat exhaustion is nothing to mess around with—" He insisted. Jo brought her fingers to his lips to silence him, sighing heavily.

"I wanted to wait to tell you." She explained tiredly. "I had it all planned out."

"Tell me what?" He asked soothingly, brushing her hair back off of her face. She swallowed hard, looking him in the eyes.

"I'm expecting."

"Expecting what?" Jonathan asked, obviously too upset by his wife fainting to comprehend what she was telling him.

"Jonathan." She sounded just the slightest bit annoyed. "I'm pregnant. We're expecting…a baby."

"We are?" He asked, suddenly sounding as weak as her.

"Oh Jesus." Dad said, turning around and looking helplessly at Mom. She smiled knowingly.

"I'm surprised it's been this long." She told him, stooping to kiss his cheek before turning to take little Jack out of my arms. "And you smell like you've made quite a mess Jack Andrew. I suppose I'll have to clean you up." I stared at my sister in wonder. Now she was having a baby. Everyone was having babies. Even my sister.

The year continued. Little Jack got bigger, and louder…and Jo got bigger…even I got bigger. By Christmas, I had grown two inches since the summer. My niece was born on Jo's birthday. We were all asleep, at least I was…but I was woken abruptly by the shrill ring of the telephone. I trudged out of my room, walking into the hallway and heard Jack's voice from below. The baby had obviously been woken up by the telephone too, because he was crying… I could hear my mother talking to him softly.

"Is everything all right?" Dad was saying into the receiver. "Oh boy…we'll meet you there. I'll leave the boys with the housekeeper. See you in a bit." He hung up and took a long breath. "Rose!" He called, and stopped, seeing me at the top of the stairs.

"Is Jo having her baby?" I asked. He nodded, taking my hand and guiding me into the bedroom where Mom was feeding little Jack. I cringed.

"What is it?" Mom asked.

"The baby is coming." He told her. I watched her face pale a bit.

They returned a few hours later, after we'd woken up. Liz and Randy were there and had come to stay with us while my parents went to the hospital with Jo. I was waiting impatiently for news. My mother smiled down at us.

"It's a little girl." She told me, hugging me tightly. "Clara. She looks just like Jo."

"I don't like girls much, Mama." Luke said, making a face.

"She's your niece, sweetie." Mom explained. "You have to take care of her."

"Why?" Luke asked, making a face.

"Because she's little. Being an uncle is very important you know." Mom was very gentle with him, but I could tell she was amused. I wasn't disappointed with this news. I was happy for Jo and Johnny, and I knew Johnny would be a good father to a girl because he had two little sisters, Grace and Bianca. They were a little older than me, but they were nice, even if all they talked about were boys and clothes.

We met Clara the next day, when we visited Jo in the hospital. She was sitting up in bed with her hair loosely braided over her shoulder. She lit up when we came in. Luke ran straight to her and hugged her, but I hung back a moment, seeing the bundle in Jonathan's arms. He was sitting beside the bed in a chair, talking to what looked like a rolled up blanket with a lot of red hair sticking out of it. My mother was right. The baby looked exactly like Jo already, though it was unclear if her eyes would be more like Johnny's. I met my sister's eyes and smiled.

"Happy Birthday, Jo." I said and her eyebrows rose in surprise.

"Oh goodness!" Mom exclaimed nearby. "I'm so sorry, sweetheart! We forgot about your birthday yesterday." Jo shrugged.

"It's all right, Ma." She said, looking over at her daughter. "I got a pretty good gift."

"I'll say." Dad agreed, leaning down to kiss the top of Jo's head. "Happy Birthday, Jo." I watched Jo's eyes well up, but she smiled.

"Thanks, Dad." She said in a wobbly voice, the kind girls get when they're ready to cry. "I'm so emotional today…sorry."

"It's normal." Mom assured her, gingerly taking the baby from Jonathan. "You're going to be in trouble with her one day." She teased Johnny.

"I already am." Jonathan admitted. "I panicked this morning when Jo reminded me that she's going to get married eventually."

"That's a long ways off." Jo laughed, shaking her head at him. "At least sixteen years."

"Sixteen?" He cried, his voice cracking.

"I said at least…" She giggled. Jonathan looked at Dad.

"How do men handle this?" He asked. Dad gave a shrug.

"I can't help you, Jon…but I can tell you, in the short time I've known my daughter, it was probably one of the most emotional moments of my life when I gave Jo away at your wedding almost two years ago."

"And the most rewarding." Mom amended, cutting in. "We wouldn't change anything." She assured them. Jo nodded, taking the baby from my mother.

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves here." She said, looking down at the baby. "Jamie, do you want to hold her?"

"That's okay." I assured her, not wanting to mess up. Girls were different. Little Jack was huge, but Clara was little…delicate looking. "She looks tired." I added. It wasn't a lie. She looked exhausted, the poor baby. I couldn't blame her. Being born seemed hard. One second you're warm and safe and the next, all hell breaks loose and you're in the cold while some strange man turns you upside and smacks your behind. I didn't remember being born, but I couldn't imagine that it was all that pleasant. I did know one thing though…I hoped fervently that if I ever had a kid, that I had boys.