CHAPTER FOUR
(chapter title – The End)

"Pookie, let's go over the list one more time."

"Maureen, we've gone over it a million times – trust me, we're leaving nothing – N O T H I N G behind."

"It doesn't hurt to go over the list again."

Joanne sighed inwardly – Maureen was right – as usual, but Joanne didn't want to admit it.

"Okay, do we have the sleeping bags?"

"Check."

"Bathroom stuff?"

"Check."

"Kids?"

"Rosemary and Donna are at the beach, saying goodbye to their friends. Henry is up at the lodge with the Coffin family."

Maureen nodded and rolled up her sleeping bag while Joanne took down the mosquito nets around the beds. Even though Joanne wasn't an outdoor person, she would miss Yankee Springs very much.

An hour later, the kids, Maureen and Joanne were in the car on the way home.

"Daddy, me no go." Owen complained as the Coffin family packed up their duffel bags, rolled up their sleeping bags and headed to the car.

"Owen, we'll come back next year." Sara reassured her little brother.

"Me no go." Owen repeated, tears in his coffee-brown eyes. Alison put down her sleeping bag and picked up her youngest.

"Like your sister says we'll be back next year." Alison told her son, kissing his cheek before putting him back down.

"It's a shame that Collins, Angel, Ava and Kyle couldn't join us." Benny told Alison as they drove home. Alison nodded and squeezed her husband's hand.

"Where were Aunt Angel, Uncle Collins, Ava and Kyle, anyway?" Ryan inquired, taking off his earphones.

"They went to Lake Michigan where Collins' family is." Benny told his son. Ryan nodded and put his earplugs back in. Alison took a minute to glace in the rearview mirror – Sara and Owen were asleep while Ryan was listening to his headphones, his head nodding to the current song on his iPod.

It was nearly nine o'clock when the Davis family arrived home. Both Makaylah and Benjamin took a moment to stretch before getting out of the car. Roger and Ariel got Hannah and Montana in the house while Makaylah and Benjamin got their things out of the car and took them to their rooms.

By the time the Johnson-Jefferson family arrived home, it was going on ten-thirty. Maureen carefully carried Henry in the house while Joanne, Rosemary and Donna got their things in.

"We need to pick up Lucy, Mac and Phantom from the kennel tomorrow." Maureen reminded Joanne as they climbed into bed. Lucy, Mac and Phantom were the three dogs that Maureen had rescued from a shelter – Lucy was a 3-year-old Beagle; Mac was a 6-year old Black Lab and Phantom was a 9-year-old Husky mix.

"I'll get them on my way to work." Joanne said, her tone sleepy.

The Cohen family didn't arrive home until a quarter to eleven. Everyone was tired, especially Mark and Amber, who kept switching drivers so that the other one could get some sleep.

"Kids, take your bags to the laundry room – I'll do the laundry tomorrow." Amber told the kids as they filed into the house. Annie bounded into the house, sniffing everything – happy to be home.

"Are we there yet?" Sara asked, waking up from her slumber.

"About five miles to go, sweetie." Benny told his daughter. She nodded and went back to sleep.

Ten minutes later, Benny pulled into the driveway and instantly heard Evita, Skeeter and Scooter – the three Akitas – barking their heads off. Benny smiled when the housekeeper, Ellen, came out to help with the bags.

"The puppies are happy to see us." Sara noted as Skeeter licked her face. Alison smiled and picked Owen up out of his car seat. Ryan put his iPod away and went to help bringing in the bags.

"Were the dogs good?" Benny asked Ellen, who just nodded and helped with the bags.

"I'll get started on the laundry." Ellen announced, taking the bags to the laundry room before anyone could stop her.

"Daddy, can I see Red Rum before I go to bed?" Sara asked.

"You can see your pony in the morning, sweetie. He's probably sleeping." Benny told his daughter, kissing her forehead. Sara nodded, said goodnight to her family and headed to her room for a good night's sleep. A short time later, Ryan followed his sister to his room and went to bed.

Meanwhile on Lake Michigan, Angel and Collins stared at the stars, a light blanket resting on their laps. Crickets chirped and frogs croaked in the background.

"This is such a beautiful night." Angel announced, looking up into her partner's face. Collins just nodded and kissed her forehead in response.

"I'm sad that we couldn't go to Yankee Springs." Angel said. Collins just nodded sadly.

"We'll see them again." Collins croaked.

"I know we will, but I just missed the children." Angel told him.

"We have Ava and Kyle."

"You know what I mean."

"Yes, I do, sweet girl."

"It's a little chilly out here, so I'm going inside. Wanna come?"

"I'll be there soon." Collins told her, going to the phone and dialed Roger's number.

"Hello?" Roger's sleepy voice on the other line.

"Rog? It's Collins."

"Hey Col." Roger was a little more awake.

"Did I wake you?"

"Yeah."

"I'm sorry."

"It's okay – I'm waiting for Ariel – she's been in the bathroom for a while – she might've gotten food poisoning or something."

"That's no good."

"I know. Col, I don't mean to sound rude, but I'm tired and I would like to get some sleep. Could we catch up sometime?"

"Yeah. We're coming home tomorrow, so could we meet for dinner or something?"

"Dinner sounds good. I'll talk to you when I'm more awake."

"Okay Rog. Say hi to Ariel and the kids for me."

"Will do."

"Night."

"Good night."

With that, Roger hung up the phone. Collins sighed, hung up and went inside to be with Angel.

The next evening, everyone gathered at the Life Café to see Collins, Angel, Kyle and Ava. First to arrive was the Cohen family, followed by the Coffin and Johnson-Jefferson families.

"Where's the Davis family?" Mark asked out loud.

"Roger just called – Ariel's not feeling well, so he's staying home with her. Makaylah is at a friend's house and Benjamin locked himself in his room." Joanne told her friends.

"What's wrong with Ariel?" Maureen inquired.

"She has food poisoning." Joanne answered. Maureen frowned just as Collins, Angel and eight-year-old twins Ava and Kyle entered. Ava looked and acted like Angel while Kyle looked and acted like Collins.

Since there was so many of them, the adults took up one table and the kids took up the other.

"It's not the same without Ariel and Roger here." Collins said.

"Ariel will be okay." Joanne reassured him, reaching across the table and squeezed Collins' hand.

"Daddy, may I have a dollar, please." Sara asked, coming up to Benny.

"What do you need a dollar for?" Benny inquired, reaching into his wallet for a dollar.

"For The Claw." Sara answered.

"What's The Claw?" Benny wanted to know.

"That." Sara pointed to a large yellow claw machine near the front of the café. Benny rolled his eyes.

"Sweetie, you don't need another stuffed animal – you have at least 100."

"200 daddy." Sara corrected. Benny rolled his eyes again and turned to Alison.

"Your father's right, honey – you don't need another stuffed animal." Alison told her daughter. Sara nodded and went to be with the other bohemian kids.

As the twenty of them were heading out of the Life Café, Mark's cell phone rang. He pulled it out of his pocket, pressed the 'on' button and talked to the person on the other line.

"Hello?" Mark said into the receiver.

"It's not food poisoning – Ariel's pregnant."

"Slow down, Roger – what?"

"I just took her to the doctor – Ariel's pregnant."

"That's wonderful, Rog."

"I know – I was so worried there for a minute."

"I bet you were. When's she due?"

"Sometime in February."

"We're just going out for ice cream – want to join us?"

"That's all right – we're going to lunch now and then we're going to pick up some baby stuff."

"Sounds like fun. Tell Ariel we said 'hi' and congratulations."

"I will. Tell everyone I'm sorry and the good news."

"I will. See you later, Rog."

"You too, Mark." With that, Roger hung up. Mark pressed the 'off' button and put the phone back in his jeans' pocket. It wasn't until then he felt nineteen pairs of eyes staring at him.

"What?" Mark inquired.

"Who was that on the phone?" Michael asked.

"That was Roger – it turns out that Ariel doesn't have food poisoning."

There were unison sighs of relief and a chorus of 'thank goodness'

"She's pregnant."

The girls squealed and hugged each other while the guys just smiled and looked from one person to the next. The children were excited.

"When's she due?" Angel inquired.

"Sometime in February." Mark answered.

Nine months later, everyone was seated either on the floor or chairs in the waiting room. Ariel had gone into labor at 1:00 in the morning and it was close to 7:00 in the evening. Roger came out once in a while to let his friends know how Ariel was doing.

"When the baby be born?" Owen asked Benny. Benny, Owen, Ava, Kyle, Elizabeth, Cheyenne and Sara were sitting on the floor, building a city out of blocks.

"Soon." Benny told his son, connecting one block to another. The others were seated on the chairs, either watching the news, napping or down in the cafeteria.

An hour later, Roger came out of the delivery room, smiling. Everyone looked up at him, hoping everything was okay.

"We have a daughter – Scarlett Joy Davis. She's 6 pounds, 4 ounces and 16 inches long." Roger told the others. Everyone came up to him, hugging him and whispering 'congratulations' in his ear. Mark got out his video camera and filmed the family walking down the hallway to the observatory.

"February 5th, 2010, 8:10 PM Eastern/Standard Time. We welcome little Scarlett Joy Davis into the world. Zoom in on Roger, the happy dad." Mark zoomed in on Roger as he held up his daughter for all to see.

"She's so precious." Amber whispered, lifting Cheyenne up so that she could see the baby. Alison did the same with Owen.

"What's her name?" Sara asked.

"Scarlett Joy Davis." Benny whispered in his daughter's ear. Since they couldn't all go in to Ariel's room, the adults decided to go, except Collins – who wasn't feeling good. He volunteered to stay with the kids while Angel, Mark, Amber, Benny and Alison, along with the older kids, went to Ariel's room.

Inside the room, Roger was holding Scarlett when his friends came inside. Ariel was fast asleep, so they had to talk in low voices, as to not to disturb her.

"Where's Collins?" Roger mouthed to Angel as he handed Scarlett to her.

"Out with the younger ones." Angel whispered back, tears filling her eyes as she looked down at the precious baby asleep in her arms.

Everyone took a turn holding her, but as Benny handed her to Roger, Scarlett began crying loudly. Roger got a bottle of formula out and gave some to the little baby. Scarlett drank it noisily, making everyone laugh.

Once everyone left, Roger looked down at Ariel sleeping peacefully and gently kissed her forehead before going back to feeding his baby girl.

There's only now, there's only here
Give in to love or live in fear
No other path, no other way
No day but today