Author's Note: Thanks for your reviews and support of this little fluffy holiday piece; I appreciate those of you who always go along for the ride with me. I know when I started reworking Redemption that I lost a lot of readers because I chose to focus on Johanna for that story and several others, so I just want those of you who have remained or who gave it a chance and decided to stay with me and Jo to know how much I appreciate each of you and love hearing from you. I hope you all have a wonderful new year.

Chapter 10- Epilogue -Bliss

Mid-December 1979

The clock on the microwave read 2:30 am as Johanna mixed up the cake batter in her mixing bowl. She sighed a little; her gaze moving to the carrier she had sitting on the table, her month old baby nestled inside, wrapped in receiving blankets with her favorite pacifier in her mouth…and she was still wide awake.

"Aren't you getting the least little bit sleepy, Katie?" Johanna asked her daughter.

Her baby's eyes remained focused on her, not a hint of sleepiness in sight. "It's getting really late," she told her. "I wouldn't be offended if you wanted to doze off while this cake bakes."

The baby blinked but kept her gaze focused on her. "Aren't you bored watching me bake a cake?" Johanna asked her. "Daddy gets bored when I bake cakes."

Her daughter mewed softly but showed no signs of distress or sleepiness. Another sigh crossed Johanna's lips as she poured the batter into the cake pan. "I don't know about you but I'm sleepy."

She carried the cake pan to the stove and slid it into the oven, double checking the temperature she had set before setting the timer. She moved back to the table and began to clean up the mess that was in the small area of work space she had used while her infant watched quietly. What was she going to do? How was she going to get that child to sleep? Not that she ever seemed to sleep much at night but tonight was just worse than usual…of course she had a feeling that was her fault.

"I guess I shouldn't have left you home with Daddy this evening," Johanna remarked as she scooped up her baby and cradled her. "Daddy let you sleep the whole time I was out so he wouldn't have to worry about tending to you…and knowing him, he turned off the phone, had the TV down just low enough so he could hear it and didn't move a muscle so that your slumber wouldn't be disturbed. Am I right?"

Katie smiled, her pacifier slipping from her lips. "That's what I thought," Johanna said as she hurriedly grabbed the pacifier before it hit the floor. "I know how Daddy operates; he let you sleep all evening, being careful not to wake you and now we get to be up all night while he's upstairs asleep in that nice comfy bed…doesn't seem fair, does it?"

The baby snuggled against her and she hoped that was a sign that maybe she wanted to go to sleep. "I know what you're thinking," she went on softly. "You're thinking 'Mommy, if you're not all that pleased with Daddy's behavior tonight, why are you baking him a cake?"

Katie began to fuss for her pacifier and Johanna slipped it back into her mouth. "The answer to the question I'm sure you're thinking is simple. I promised Daddy I'd make him that cake every year."

Johanna began to slowly pace the floor with the baby, hoping to lull her as she talked softly. "You see Daddy asked me to marry him a few weeks before Christmas and I was so happy. It was our first Christmas as an official couple and we were engaged…everything was changing and seemed brand new. I wanted to find something special so we'd have our own tradition. I remembered having Peppermint Cake when I was a little girl and I'd been wanting that cake for a long time. Daddy and I made eight cakes before we finally found the right one and he liked it so much that he asked me to promise to make it for him every year."

She quietly paced for awhile, the memory of their peppermint cake mission swirling through her mind. That had been the Christmas of 1976…it had been three years…in some ways it seemed like yesterday; in others it seemed longer than that length of time; not in a bad way of course; but just because so much had happened in those three years. They had gotten married, made it through all the milestones of their first year as a married couple…and by the time their second anniversary came along, she had been pregnant…they bought a house and then, five days before Thanksgiving, their daughter had made her overdue arrival. She smiled down at the bundle in her arms; she was a month old the day before…it was hard to believe it had been a month already. Everything seemed to be moving at warped speed ever since they came home from the hospital. She wondered if that was due to the lack of sleep and the constant movement that a newborn seemed to inspire or create as she always found herself on the go, making bottles, fetching more diapers, changing clothes, trying to find the bottom of that stack of laundry that just wouldn't stop growing for a moment to allow her to catch up.

She was exhausted, no doubt about that; exhausted, frazzled, sometimes on edge when things got frustrating and sometimes she was weepy, from joy or sleep deprivation, sometimes she wasn't sure. But she loved her baby…loved her so very much that every sleepless night was worth it. Being a mommy was a new form of bliss despite the things she hadn't been overly warned about; like that lack of sleep her brain kept reminding her of and the fact that her husband would fear a crying newborn and head for the nearest exit and the fact that juggling house and baby was a lot harder than expected…and she didn't even want to think about how it would be when she eventually went back to work. A sigh crossed her lips; motherhood had some side effects…but that feeling of bliss returned every time she looked at that little face.

That little face and that feeling of bliss was why she was baking that cake for her husband, despite his minor downfalls the last few weeks…that she was being very patient about; but she had her bliss in the form of a loving husband, a beautiful baby girl and a nice warm home; it was only fair that he get his Peppermint Bliss Cake. She had promised after all…and he had kept his promises by marrying her, giving her a baby and a house of her own. She wouldn't allow her promises to fall by the wayside just because she was sometimes overwhelmed with her new role as a mommy.

Katie squirmed in her arms and Johanna looked down at her, hoping to see signs of sleepiness but her daughter was stubbornly still wide awake. "If you don't get to sleep soon, you're going to think that you can sleep all day tomorrow and then be up again all night," she told her. "We can't have that sweetheart; you'll have your days and nights mixed up…and according to Grandma, you already do because that's how babies your age are but we don't want to make it worse. That's why Mommy has been trying to keep you awake a little bit in the evenings."

Katie gave a soft huff and she laughed softly. "You're not the boss here, missy; I am…although you have been doing a good job at trying to run the show but mommy's holding on to a thread of the control. By the way, when I said Grandma, I meant Grandma Naomi."

The baby kept her gaze focused on her as if she was listening intently to every word that was being spoken. Maybe conversation was too stimulating, Johanna thought as she began to softly hum a lullaby. The humming didn't work…nor did softly singing…the walking the floor wasn't working either but Johanna figured at least she could count that as a form of exercise. "Come on sweetheart; you need to sleep," she whispered in desperation. "Mommy is so tired; please, just a couple of hours? How about we finish the cake and then you go to bed? Okay?"

Johanna swore that the baby moved her head just enough to make it look like she had shook it 'no' and she wouldn't be the least bit surprised if her daughter meant to stay awake until dawn. In fact she was almost sure of it; Katie usually wanted a bottle between 4:30 and 5.

The timer on the oven went off, startling her a little and causing her to tighten her hold on the baby, making Katie fuss a bit as she was startled too. "Sorry, baby," she murmured, quickly moving to the stove to turn off the timer before she crossed the room to lay Katie back in her baby seat.

She tended to the cake; carefully releasing it from the pan and onto the cake plate so that it would cool. She grabbed what she needed to make the icing and moved back to the table to complete the task. Johanna worked in silence, hoping that the lack of noise might signal to her baby that it was bedtime…but she doubted it would matter; after all she had the lights in the kitchen dimmed so much it was like working by a nightlight and it hadn't helped lull her baby either. She glanced at Katie as she mixed the ingredients and saw the light fixture above the table had grabbed her daughter's attention. It was too bad it wasn't a mobile; maybe that would have lulled her.

Before long the cake was cooled and iced and Johanna still had a wide awake baby staring back at her. She frowned. "You hate me, don't you?" she asked. The baby smiled, her pacifier falling into the seat with her. "It's not nice to be mean to your mother," Johanna told her. "Do you know how much it hurt when you came out? Let me tell you, it didn't feel good…I sometimes worry that I might never be the same again. Speaking of pain, let's back it up to the labor; do you know how long I was in labor before you made up your mind to come out? Well do you?" she asked.

Katie stared at her and she swore she had the same twinkle of amusement in her eyes that Jim often had in his. She couldn't help but smirk a little. "22 hours little miss…22 very long painful hours…and you won't even go to bed when you're supposed to. I think we're pretty good to you; we bought this house for you; I bought you a very nice wardrobe, I bought booties for you even before you were conceived. You have a beautiful nursery, toys that you can't even play with yet; you're fed, dry and happy…you just don't like to sleep for some reason. Why don't you like to sleep? Mommy likes sleep…at least what she remembers of it."

"Jo," a sleep tinged voice said from behind her. "What are you doing up?"

Johanna turned in her chair to face her husband, her brow arched. "Gee, I can't imagine why I might be up in the middle of the night; I only have a month old baby and a husband who let her sleep all evening so now she's bright eyed and bushy tailed…while you lay up there in that nice warm queen size bed sleeping peacefully."

"Am I sensing sarcasm or hostility?" Jim asked as he moved further into the kitchen.

"Both."

"Great, it'll remind me of the fun we had while you were in labor," he quipped as he moved to the table and kissed his daughter's head. "You're getting me in trouble with mommy, go to sleep."

Johanna gave a humorless laugh. "If only it was that easy."

"I don't know what you wanted me to do," he stated.

"I didn't want you to put her to sleep two minutes after I left."

He shrugged. "She looked sleepy."

"She just got up!"

"Hey; I didn't want you to go anyway," Jim retorted.

"Yes, I know," she replied; "But I figured if we wanted our daughter to have some gifts for Christmas I better go take care of it. You just wanted to make sure she wouldn't cry while I was out."

"I can't deny that."

"Yeah; well your selfishness means I get to set up all night, thank you."

"It's not selfish," he stated; "And she's up all night anyway so what's the difference?"

"The difference is that I can usually sleep a little between feedings. You know I've been trying to keep her awake a little in the evenings; Mom said it would help her sleep a little more at night."

He laughed. "Yeah, well my mother said that's malarkey; she isn't going to sleep at night until she's good and damn ready."

Johanna shook her head, a sudden wave of weepiness washing over her. "Whatever," she muttered. "Go back to bed, we're fine."

The change in her tone and the lowering of her gaze chastened him, especially as he saw the tale tell signs that tears weren't far away. He searched desperately for something to change the subject and then his eyes spied the cake. "You made the Peppermint Bliss cake," he stated.

"Yeah, I did."

He smiled a little. "Introducing Katie to middle of the night baking at a young age, are you?"

"There wasn't much else for us to do. I was hoping to bore her to sleep; cake baking often bores you."

"But she takes after you more than me," he replied; frowning as she still wasn't looking at him. "I'm kind of surprised you made it this year…I didn't think you'd have time."

"Why do you think I made it at this time of night?" Johanna asked. "Besides; I promised."

"Yeah; but I would've understood if you didn't this year."

"You've kept all your promises to me; it's only fair I keep mine."

"You're tired though," Jim said quietly.

She shrugged. "Being tired doesn't change the fact that I love you."

"I love you too," he murmured, his fingers brushing her hair back so that he could see her face. "I'm sorry about tonight."

"It's okay; like you said, she's up anyway and your mother's probably right, it won't matter what I do; I guess it was just wishful thinking that something might help."

Somehow his wife always knew just the right way to say things to make him feel lower than a snail, he thought to himself. "Regardless if it works or not; I shouldn't have put her back to sleep right away and then let her sleep the whole time you were out. You're right I was being selfish; I didn't want her to cry while you were gone so I thought it was best for her to be asleep. Now you're paying the price because you've been up with her and she's still wide awake. I'm sorry; I'll do better next time."

Johanna glanced at him. "Maybe I should take her to Valerie the next time I want to go out with my mother."

"I wouldn't blame you," he replied with a small smile.

"You sound almost hopeful," she replied.

"She makes me nervous; I'll feel better when she doesn't seem quite so fragile."

"Uh huh."

"I will," he said with conviction. "How about we slice the cake and have a little piece?"

"It's almost four in the morning!"

Jim shrugged. "I can eat anytime."

"Oh I know; but is cake at this time of night really a good idea?"

"Sounds like a good idea to me; it isn't like we can go to bed; Katie's still awake."

"You can go back to bed," she replied. "She'll be wanting another bottle before long; maybe she'll go to sleep after that."

"I'll stay up with you," he stated as he crossed the room to open the cupboard. He took down two small plates and then grabbed some silverware from the drawer.

"You're not really going to eat cake right now, are you?"

"Yes; if you're nice enough to bake it despite my bad behavior tonight, then the least I can do is go ahead and have a piece; you can have one too."

"No," Johanna said with a shake of her head. "No sweets for me this holiday season."

"You're eating this cake," Jim stated as he took the knife to it and cut two small pieces.

"I can't."

"Yes you can."

"Jim," she sighed. "You know I haven't lost all the baby weight yet."

"Johanna, you worry more about that than you need to. So you have a few pounds left; its not a big deal. You look beautiful as always; in fact I like those few pounds…I think you needed them."

"I did not!"

"Yes, you do, sweetheart; I've always though that you could stand to gain a few pounds. I think you're beautiful and that should be all the matters."

"My jeans beg to differ."

"Buy new ones; and I know not all of them are tight now. You have some that still fit; I saw you trying them on."

"My favorite pair doesn't…neither does my favorite skirt."

"So get new favorites," he replied. "You heard what your mother said; you've had a baby, your body has changed, you have a couple miniscule pounds that only you seem able to see that you're driving yourself crazy over because of a pair of jeans. Let it go and eat the cake."

"Why do you think it's such a crime for me to want to look good to you!" she exclaimed.

"You do look good to me; you drive me crazy in every way possible…do you know how hard it is to keep my hands off of you? I'm counting down to your doctor's appointment because it's been a very long time….you know? Do you know how long it's been?"

"Yeah; I know how long it's been; do you know that every time I think about sex I think about having to push this baby out? You should eat your cake and tell your friend not to get overly excited because just because the doctor green lights it doesn't mean we're open for business the same day…because we're not."

"We're not?" he asked.

"We're not…Merry Christmas anyway."

"Suddenly this holiday season has gotten bleak," he quipped.

"My appointment isn't until the 30th anyway."

"So much for New Year's," he laughed.

"You've survived this long; you'll survive awhile longer."

"At least we hope."

Johanna crossed her arms over herself, her gaze moving away from him and focusing on the small space of table visible in front of Katie's baby seat. "It's just kind of the last thing on my mind lately," she murmured. "I feel…unattractive and tired and a lot of things I can't explain."

"Maybe you'll feel better in a few weeks," her husband replied.

She frowned as she glanced at him but his attention was on his cake. He didn't seem to fully grasp that her body had been through the wringer and her hormones were still unsettled. "I guess we'll see," she said flatly.

Her tone made him glance at her. "You know I'd never pressure you, Jo; if you're still not ready when your appointment comes and goes, we'll wait. It's fine."

She didn't feel like it was fine though but that might just be her and those damn hormones.

"Come on, sweetheart; take a bite of your cake," Jim said as he sunk a fork into the second piece of cake and held it out to her.

She sighed, allowing the desire for something sweet to win out as she accepted the bite he put to her lips. It was so good, she mused; she hadn't had much in the way of sweets for the last few weeks.

"It's good isn't it?" her husband asked.

"Yeah it is."

Jim slid the plate toward her. "Quit denying yourself the things you like and go back to your normal eating habits, Jo. It's not like you go overboard. Those few pounds really aren't worth worrying about."

Easy for him to say, she thought to herself as she accepted the fork; but she figured a piece of cake wouldn't hurt…in fact it was incredibly appealing.

"I'm so glad you made this," Jim remarked after swallowing a bite of his cake. "I would've understood if you hadn't this year but it wouldn't have seemed like Christmas without our Peppermint Bliss cake."

"That's true," Johanna said softly. "It's our tradition…it took eight tries to find it."

"I remember," he smiled. "Do you know what's funny?"

"What?"

"It took eight cakes to find the winner…and we got married eight months later in the eighth month on the eighteenth day of that month and I was twenty-eight," he stated.

"That is funny," she laughed; "Do you know what else?"

"What?"

"We were married for eighteen months when I got pregnant."

"And Katie was born while you're twenty-eight," he laughed.

Johanna nodded. "And our house number is 1218…eight must be our number."

"We should play the lottery," Jim said with a laugh.

"We should; if we won, we could pay off the house, fill Katie's college fund and retire early."

"I'm buying a ticket tomorrow," he replied as he swiped a small glob of icing off his cake with his finger and moved to give it to the baby.

"What are you doing?!" Johanna exclaimed as she smacked his hand away from the baby.

"I was going to give her a little taste; she keeps watching us, she wants some," he replied.

"She can't have that!"

"Why not? It's going to melt on her tongue," he replied.

"She's too little for icing, Jim."

"I don't see how it's going to hurt her, just a little taste."

"No! She's not old enough," Johanna told him.

"Fine," he muttered as he ate the icing on his finger. "Sorry, Katie; I tried."

Johanna side eyed her husband. "Have you given her anything when I'm not in the room or when I've run to the store?"

"Of course not," he said; his gaze on his plate.

"That doesn't sound convincing."

"I didn't feed her anything."

Johanna stared him down. "Look me in the eye and say that."

Jim met her eye and hesitated. "You know how she's been kind of licking her lips the past few days?"

"Yeah," she said with suspicion.

"Well, when you were in the shower the night before last, I had a candy cane and she kept looking at it and I could see her little tongue poking out so I put it against her tongue so she could have a taste."

"Oh my God!" Johanna exclaimed. "Are you serious?!"

"What? She's fine; it didn't hurt her."

"She is too little to be licking candy canes and cake icing!"

"I didn't think it was a big deal; there's nothing in it to hurt her," Jim replied.

His wife eyed him sternly. "You feed her nothing unless you ask me first; got it? And before you even crawl down this road; I don't give a damn what your mother has told you."

"Understood," he said with a nod before glancing to his daughter. "No more candy canes, Katie."

"For the first few months she only gets formula, Jim."

"Sorry," he replied. "I just didn't want to eat in front of her…and I figured being your daughter, she'd like candy canes…and she did; she liked it, but I only gave her a tiny little taste; I won't do it again, I promise."

"Okay," she said softly.

Jim gave her a small smile. "Do you think she'll like our Peppermint Bliss cake when she's old enough?"

Johanna smiled. "I think she almost has to…it's our family tradition…and when I make it next year; she'll be old enough for you to give her a taste of the icing."

"It's something to look forward to," her husband replied.

They finished their cake in silence and then Johanna glanced at the baby. "She's starting to look sleepy," she whispered.

"Isn't she going to want a bottle soon?" he murmured.

"Probably five minutes after we're upstairs."

Jim thought for a moment. "What if you go ahead and make it and we take it upstairs and put it on the bottle warmer on the nightstand. The cradle is still in our room, we can put her down in there and then when she gets up we'll be ready and maybe she'll get back to sleep faster."

"That's one of your better ides this week," Johanna replied.

He grinned. "I can make it even better."

"How?"

"You take Katie on upstairs and I'll make the bottle for you."

"Would you?"

"Sure, sweetheart. You made me cake, I can make a bottle for my girls."

Johanna smiled as she rose from her chair. "Thank you, honey."

"You're welcome," he said quietly as he watched her gently pick up their daughter and cradle her close, her head dipping to kiss Katie's forehead. He rose from his chair, his hand settling at her waist as he caught her lips in a soft kiss. "I love you, Jo."

"I love you too," she murmured.

His leaned his forehead against hers, their baby carefully cradled between them. "You know, we've had our peppermint bliss the last few years; but this year we have this extra special bliss, don't we?"

"Yes; and I wouldn't trade it for the world," Johanna replied softly. "We have all of our special things like our song and our cake…but now we're a family and it makes everything even better. It's our first Christmas with our baby…and I'm so excited to think of all the Christmases to come that we'll have with her."

He smiled. "All of our Christmases are going to be different and more special, that's for sure."

"Except for the cake," she said mischievously; "That will always remain the same."

Jim laughed quietly so he wouldn't disturb the baby who was finally falling asleep in her mother's arms. "Yes, Christmas shall always have Peppermint Bliss cake as you promised; but in case I never told you; thank you for this early Christmas gift," he said, his fingertip gently touching Katie's small hand. I've got everything I could want this year; my gorgeous wife still loves me and tolerates me; a beautiful, healthy baby girl, a nice home and our cake."

Johanna smiled, her hand caressing the line of his jaw. "I know it's a few days early, but Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas, sweetheart," he replied. "You go on now, go tuck Katie in and get in bed. I'll be up with her bottle."

Okay," she replied, pressing a quick kiss to his lips.

Jim watched her go and then moved across the kitchen to prepare Katie's bottle. While he waited for her formula to warm, he carefully put the cake in the cake holder but not before swiping up another glob of icing. He smiled to himself; they'd always have their special peppermint cake; but his favorite type of bliss would always be the kind he had with her and their baby.