Building on Dreams

Chapter 47 - Helping Family and Friends

"How was the baby shower?" Greg asked over dinner on Saturday evening when the family was all together again.

"Very nice, she got some lovely things," Susan said with a hint of wistfulness in her tone and Greg smiled in silent understanding. "I'm glad Jessie got to go. There were other girls there, daughters of some of Marion's friends, so I think she had fun," Susan added the momentary sadness in her tone was gone.

"What did you think of the shower, Jessie?" Greg asked her.

"It was a party, Papa. All the ladies gave presents to Charlie and his brother or sister," Jessie explained.

"Charlie?" Greg questioned.

"That's what they've decided to name baby number one. Since they still don't know if baby number two is a boy or a girl yet, they only have the one name so far," Susan said.

"They must have some ideas for the second one," Greg said.

"They do. Richard is suggesting Carlton or Roger if it's a boy. Marion doesn't like either one of those, so she hopes it's not," Susan said.

"What if it's a girl?" Greg asked.

"Well, the middle name will be Jean after Richard's late mother, but they haven't decided on a given name yet," Susan said.

"What are they considering?" Greg wondered.

"Emma Jean, Melissa Jean, Katherine Jean, Emily Jean, or Camilla Jean," Susan told him.

"Hum. They really haven't narrowed it down very much, have they?" Greg remarked. "When is she due?"

"June 24th, but she has a C-section scheduled the same day Matthew arrives for the summer, and that's on June 17th," Susan reminded him.

"I should probably spend the day with Richard in the waiting room," Greg commented. "He's going to be a nervous wreck."

"Probably," Susan agreed. "He was at the house for the shower, trying to stay out of the way, but I could see he was getting more and more nervous just from all the baby things Marion was receiving. She told us she's bought some, but she's been putting it all down in the guest house to keep it out of the way because it's had such a bad effect on him. We went down to look at what she already has after the party and Richard came with us. He seemed surprised to see most of it, but especially when Marion told him they need to put the cribs together tomorrow and move everything to the nursery. He looked like he was going into shock. I don't think he'd seen most of that before."

 "Is the nursery ready? If Richard hasn't seen it, is it really ready for furniture?" Greg wondered.

"Yes. Marion had a designer working on it, so it's beautiful. She has wall paper on the walls and matching drapes and linens. The chest and the changing table are all in place, so they're ready for the crib, it's just that Richard hasn't spent much time in there yet," Susan explained.

Greg nodded as they finished dinner. "I think I'll call him, see if he needs a hand tomorrow."

"He might," Susan agreed.

"Do you need me here after your services?" Greg wondered as he picked up the phone.

"I'm helping Zackary to study for his history and math finals, and Jessie needs to find all her library books to return to school next week. I think we can handle it," Susan assured him, and Greg went into the front room to call.

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And so, once again on Sunday, Greg and Susan spent the day apart. As Greg had suspected and Susan suggested, Richard was struggling with the idea that they had to be ready for the arrival of their babies in eight days' time. Greg quickly learned his friend had absolutely no idea where to start in putting together a crib, much less two of them. Consequently, Greg decided to spend the day helping his friend while Susan stayed at home with the children, helping them to prepare for their last week of school.