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When Abby saw this, a familiar sensation came over her. Feeling as though she must surely be dreaming, she went to the kitchen and returned with cold pitchers of lemonade and ice tea.

"Let's go!" said Terry, leading the way outside.

Abby set both pitchers on the picnic table and sat down, burying her face in the palms of her hands.

"I don't believe it!" she groaned out loud.

"Believe what?" asked Tyler, as Jake listened nearby.

"My Mom is pregnant," she replied, in a hushed voice.

"If I could have everyone's attention for a moment," said John, as Izumi joyfully stood by his side, "Izumi and I have an announcement to make."

Upon hearing this, Terry snapped a picture with his camera.

"All right, Terry," laughed John, "you were the first to guess correctly. We're going to have a baby!"

Terry took one more picture and went to energetically congratulate the couple.

"I knew you still had it in you!" Terry jokingly over-exaggerated, slapping John on the back.

"Congratulations, Mom!" said Abby, coming over to Izumi, and giving her a warm hug. "When did you first find out?"

"Thursday," replied Izumi, excitedly. "It was so hard to keep it a secret, even for only two days, but we wanted to wait for the right time to break the news to everyone else!"

Even while Abby congratulated her parents, a feeling of sadness hovered over her. When she went back to the picnic table to rejoin the two young men, Jake politely congratulated her, relieved that he was no longer the central focus of attention.

"Don't congratulate us, yet," warned Abby, relating a little family history. "A few years back, Mom had a baby that was stillborn. When she delivered, the doctors placed the lifeless body into Mom's arms, and Dad took pictures." Abby sighed heavily. "They wanted me to hold her, but I just couldn't. At the funeral, I remember thinking that I didn't know they made such tiny caskets. Mom took it really hard. She wasn't the same for a long time after."

"Maybe, this time," said Jake, "God will spare the child."

"It'll be all right," said Tyler, placing a comforting hand on hers.

It was meant as an act of consolation, but Abby involuntarily pulled her hand away from his. She hadn't meant to-- but her feelings weren't what they were supposed to be-- not for someone considering marriage. Seeing this, Tyler looked at her gravely. For a minute, their eyes met.

"Please, not now," she begged him, in a barely audible whisper.

"You're not going to say 'yes,' are you," he said, in a voice loud enough that Jake, (who was sitting behind him), could overhear.

Jake looked uncomfortable. After knowing what Abby had said days earlier about not being sure she loved Tyler, this was hardly a surprise to the ex-convict. The source of his discomfort, came in another form. Jake remembered the long gaze they had exchanged on the beach, and wondered if he was partly responsible for this painful break-up. It was not a thought he relished.

"I meant to tell you this evening," confessed Abby, trying to minimize the pain she was inflicting. "I'm so sorry, Tyler. I didn't mean to hurt you! You're a good friend."

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