Author's note: Clay owns himself and his own name. I only wrote the words to the story.

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Day Three - Sunday, December 25 (Christmas Day)

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Early, early that morning

"Auntie Kate! Auntie Kate! Auntie Sarah!" Alyssa ran into the room at top speed and jumped up on the bed, sprawling right in the middle of the two women. Kate opened one eye with a groan, and Sarah shoved her head under her pillow. "Santa came! Santa came!"

"Santa?" Sarah mumbled. Peeking out from under the pillow, she eyed Kate. "I thought your family doesn't do the Santa thing."

Alyssa nodded with complete seriousness. "Mommy and Daddy told us it was a game we could play, and our pretend Santa would bring us gifts but the gifts were really from them or from Gramma and Gran'pa. So we pretend Santa's real and pretend he brings us gifts only our gifts are really really real." Not noticing Sarah's amused snort, Alyssa went on as she scrambled down from the bed. "Daddy said this year our pretend Santa is Unca Clay."

Sarah raised one eyebrow as Alyssa tore out of the room and into Clay's. "Well... the first three letters still match..."

"Claus, Clay... close enough." Kate sat up slowly and swung her feet out of bed with another groan. She glanced at the alarm clock by their bed. "No wonder it feels early. Little wart woke us up at 4:42."

"And you said you wanted kids..." Sarah smiled wickedly. "You'd better be taking notes, dearie."

"I'll add them to my file." Kate glanced up as Alyssa led a bleary-eyed Clay still wearing his PJs into the room. She snickered under her breath at his disheveled hair sticking up all over the place. "Morning, sweetheart," she said innocently.

Clay blinked the sleep from his eyes as Alyssa hurried down the hall to collect another hapless family member. "Do you have any idea what time it is?"

"4:42 - no, wait." Kate glanced at the clock again as Clay sat down beside her on the bed. "4:43."

Sarah snorted again. "Welcome to Parenthood 101, appropriately subtitled 'It's Not Too Late to Turn Back Now'," she drawled. Breaking into infectious giggles at Sarah's scathing wit, Clay fell back onto the bed bent double. Sarah raised one eyebrow at him. "It wasn't that funny."

Kate twisted to pull her legs up on the bed. Wiggling her fingers in the air, she grinned wickedly. "Oh, but I'll give him a reason to laugh..."

Clay's eyes widened. "Don't you dare..." he gasped.

"Why not? I owe you for the other day," Kate informed him as she started tickling him.

"Augh!" Clay cried out as he squirmed under her fingers. "Not while a man's down!"

Sarah quickly smiled, a grin that matched Kate's. "That's right, I owe you too."

"Hey!" Clay complained as they tickled him from both sides. "This isn't fair!"

"Should have thought of that," Sarah retorted, "before you and Andrew ganged up on me!"

Before long Alyssa bounced onto the bed and joined in the melee, tickling whomever her hands could reach. "Okay," Clay announced. "Time to gang up on Alyssa!" In a concerted effort the three adults tickled the little girl, who squealed delightedly at all the attention.

Andrew shook his head from the door, laughing at their antics. "All right, munchkin, that's enough. You were the one going around waking everyone because Santa came." Alyssa hurried over to him, and the two headed down the stairs.

Sarah climbed out of bed. "I need to go to the bathroom before I head down," she told Kate. "When I come back, I'd better not find the two of you still on this bed together."

An impish thought crossed Kate's mind. "Sarah... you'll know we are if you come back and find that you've been shut out of the room for..." Kate gave Clay a thoughtful look. "How long do you think we'd take? Two hours? Three?"

Happy to play along with the joke, Clay shrugged and reached his arm around Kate to pull her close. "Oh, all day, easily." At seeing Sarah's shocked expression, Clay laughed and crawled off the bed. "We're teasing you, Sarah."

"I figured you were," Sarah retorted. "Somehow I didn't see you losing your virginity to each other in the same house with your new in-laws."

Clay gaped in shock at Sarah's blunt words. He flushed, eager to change the subject. Giving Kate a hand, he pulled her up off the bed into a standing position. "I'm headed downstairs. Since I played Santa this year, I'd better be down there when the kids open their gifts."

"You'd better." Sarah smacked Clay on the arm. "You two will have plenty of time for you-know-what next Saturday night... and a private room to do it in."

Clay grinned wickedly as he wrapped his arms around Kate. "Must remember to thank Kim for that."

"Yes," Sarah rolled her eyes. "Must."

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In the barn

Clay and Andrew helped Arthur with the various morning tasks around the farm while it was still early. The more help they had, the faster the job would get done.

Pausing for a moment to watch the behavior of some of the animals outside the barn, Arthur frowned slightly. "We must be getting a storm sometime soon."

"Why's that, Pop?" Andrew asked as Clay looked toward them.

Arthur pointed at three deer foraging for food just beyond the fence to the barn, a distance of about fifty yards. "Normally they wouldn't be feeding that close." He scanned the variety of cloud formations in the sky. "It must be in the air already."

"Really?" Clay asked. He had heard old wives' tales of forecasting the weather by the animals, but he had never taken that sort of thing seriously.

"My guess is it'll hit today or tomorrow. The critters tend to stock up on food the day before a snow."

Clay frowned apprehensively, hoping that the animals and Arthur were all wrong. If a snowstorm hits, he thought, that could put a serious damper on our wedding plans. "How soon will we know for sure that it's going to snow?"

"When the first flakes start falling," Arthur answered matter-of-factly.

Blinking with surprise, Clay eyed Arthur, unsure whether he was teasing or serious. At last he chuckled. I guess I can't argue with that logic. "As long as we're guessing, how much will we get?"

Arthur watched the animals for a few more minutes before shrugging. "Anywhere from two or three inches to two or three feet."

There's a lot of difference between the two... Clay mused thoughtfully as he followed the others back to the house.

"Better turn on a weather forecast, Momma," Arthur informed Patricia. "There's three deer, two does and a buck, out grazing a little ways from the barn."

Patricia picked up the remote to turn on the tiny TV that sat on top of the refrigerator. "Does that mean we're getting a storm?" she asked as she turned to the national weather channel.

"Maybe," Arthur said, watching the TV for a local forecast as the younger two men hung up their coats nearby.

"Goody," muttered Kate. "Let's hope it drops an inch or two at most, enough to give us a white Christmas, and goes on its merry way."

I second that. Knowing that there wasn't a single thing he could do to change it, Clay chose to focus his attention on something besides the weather. He placed his hands on Kate's shoulders fondly, peeking over her shoulders as she fried a skillet full of bacon. "Is there some way I can help you or your mother with breakfast?"

"No," Patricia shook her head. "For your first three days here you are our guest, and we won't ask you to help out with anything."

"But after those three days," Arthur teased with a mock-serious frown, "you're part of the family. Then you can get it yourself!"

Laughing at Arthur's quick grin, Clay nodded. "I'll remember that."

"Not only that," Andrew added, giving Clay a pretend jab to the arm, "they'll draft you to help."

Kate raised her eyebrow as Clay recoiled melodramatically from the punch before delivering a phony uppercut of his own to Andrew's stomach. Men. She rolled her eyes and shook her head as their "fight" moved into the living room.

Once Patricia and Kate finished with cooking the food, they called the family to the dining room table. The group quickly assembled, with only Will being notably absent. Gotta teach Will what farm life is really about, Kate mused to herself, especially the early hours.

Conversation passed amiably along with the food, and spirits were high. "Tell me, Clay," Patricia said at last. "How many invitations for Christmas parades and concerts did you have to turn down to enjoy a Kirche family Christmas?"

"Too many," Clay laughed. "I figure I've spent every holiday over the last two or three years performing somehow. I wanted to take one off for a change."

"Good for you," Patricia nodded. "You picked the right one."

Clay smiled at Kate, squeezing her hand. "I think so too."

"Don't look now," Andrew murmured as he pointed to the window, "but I think we've got our storm."

Everyone glanced outside as a freezing rain and sleet mix fell on the landscape. "Oh no!" Kate moaned. "This is going to make it fun for people to get around this week."

"I feel sorry for the people who are traveling," Holly said quietly.

"You're one of those, sis," Kate reminded her.

Holly smiled. "I trust Andrew's driving. He grew up here, I didn't."

Clay glanced over at Holly. Even in North Carolina, Clay had seen the occasional ice or snow storm. "Where are you from originally?" he asked.

"Florida." Holly laughed brightly. "I'd never even seen real snow until Andrew brought me here for the first time."

Clay nodded. "You probably wouldn't see a lot of snow there."

"I wanted to go snow skiing on our honeymoon," Andrew added. He glanced at his wife. "Chilly Willy here wouldn't hear of it. We went to Hawaii instead."

Speaking of honeymoons... Clay took Kate's hand and gave it a gentle kiss. "Where do you want to go on our honeymoon?" he asked her.

Kate chewed on her lip. "Since there's no way you'd survive my first choice, I would have to say either Florence or Rome."

Clay considered her through half-open eyes. "What's your first choice?"

Giving him a sheepish shrug, Kate answered. "Venice..."

Of course... the city with water everywhere you look. He nodded slowly. "I um, appreciate you giving me a couple other choices."

Sarah snickered. "At least she's willing to consider your feelings about it."

"Thankfully."

"But seriously, Clay," Kate began, "I don't need a honeymoon." Catching Clay's surprised blink, she went on. "As long as we're able to carve out a couple of days to ourselves, then I'll be satisfied with that."

"You're serious - no honeymoon?" Clay stared as she shook her head. "Why? You're the one who said that you just wanted to be with me spending time together."

"I did, and I do," Kate answered. "But I don't need to go on some overpriced trip to do that."

"That's right," Andrew drawled. "You might as well go to Vegas, book a hotel room, and hole yourself up there for a week solid."

Kate scowled at her brother. "Drew... you missed the point. I said I don't need to go anywhere." She skewered a slice of bacon with her fork. "Vegas wouldn't exactly be my first choice anyway..."

Clay couldn't agree more with that sentiment.

"You could always go somewhere close to Los Angeles," Holly offered. "San Francisco is nice. You can check out the cable cars, Sea World, the Golden Gate Bridge..." She suddenly stopped as both Clay and Kate turned slightly pale. "Not San Fran, hunh?"

"It's not San Francisco that we have a problem with," Clay confessed, shuddering at the thought of all that water in one place.

Kate's mind raced back to a childhood memory of an auto accident. One winter when her mother had been driving Kate and Andrew to school, another car had slid on the ice. Patricia had swerved to avoid it and the car had lodged itself firmly in the bridge crossing the river. Although it was obvious now that there was no way the car would have fallen into the river below, the incident on the bridge had been firmly etched into her memory. Even now she could see herself staring over the distance down to the icy water below... To this day bridges terrified her - the more narrow and shaky the bridge, the worse her fear. She shuddered violently. "It's just a few of the locations we probably won't be going to..." Turning to Clay with a smile, she winked. "We could always make Haiti our honeymoon..."

Clay firmly shook his head. "We can talk more about this in private later."

I'm sure we will... Kate sighed.

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In church that morning

Clay squeezed Kate's hand as the organ postlude rang through the sanctuary of Kate's church. Since it was a Sunday morning, the church put on its regular Sunday services with liturgy and all. And Clay got to experience a typical Lutheran church service...

"Merry Christmas! Good to see you this morning!" Kate greeted one of the other members of the church.

"Kate!"

Clay turned along with Kate at the voice that had called out her name. A middle-aged lady came up and gave her a hug. "Merry Christmas," she said. "I hope the holiday has been good to you."

"It has," Kate admitted with a smile.

"Who's your gentleman friend?" the lady asked, looking up at Clay. "I can't place it, but he looks very familiar somehow..."

Clay chuckled as Kate moved to introduce them. "Jonni, this is my fiancé Clay. Clay, this is my friend and my mom's prayer partner this year, Jonni."

"Nice to meet you," Clay extended his hand to shake.

Jonni shook the hand, recognition crossing her face at that moment. "Clay... Clay Aiken, the pop singer??" When Clay nodded, Jonni nodded. "Wow. Everything I've heard about you suggests that you're a well-rounded and down-to-earth Christian young man. But if you're engaged to Kate..." she smiled, "then I know it's true."

"Well, thank you," Clay nodded. "She's a very special woman, and I'm blessed to know her."

"You are indeed. How long have you been engaged?" Jonni asked.

"Let's see..." Kate glanced at her watch, and the others laughed.

"I think I know the answer to that one," Jonni chuckled. "Do you know when you're getting married, or is it too soon for that question yet?"

Kate exchanged a look with Clay. Clay bit his lip, his eyes suggesting that it was a bad idea for word to get around - even in such a short period as a week. Otherwise they might as well say goodbye to the idea of a small, private wedding... "Sometime soon," Kate told her in a cautious manner that said everything yet said nothing. "We know that we don't want to wait long."

"Ah..." Jonni seemed to understand, judging by the smile on her face. "Well, considering how much we see your face and hear your name in the media, Clay, it's probably a better idea that you two keep that date within a privileged few. Congratulations to both of you, and good luck."

As Jonni rejoined her own family, Kate winked at Clay. "I love people who pick up on hints," she grinned. "She's a smart enough woman to read between the lines... but tactful enough to keep her mouth shut. I trust her... but we can't make any exceptions, and I'm sure she knows that."

The family started moving down the aisle towards the back of the church, and towards the coat room, with Clay and Kate receiving many more congratulatory well-wishes for their engagement along the way. Kate felt someone tap her shoulder, and turned to see Will, whose attention was on something further down the aisle. "I wanted to get the answer from another woman." Kate waited, lifting her eyebrow curiously. Indicating Sarah's light and bouncy steps, he jerked his head towards her. "How does anybody walk in shoes like that?"

Kate snickered, knowing that Will was referring to the pair of red spike heels with ankle laces that Sarah was wearing this morning to go along with her flirty, bright red dress. "Lots and lots of practice, and much more grace than I'll ever have," she murmured.

Will snickered, remembering Kate's first day in Los Angeles. Upon meeting Clay at the car, she had tripped over the floorboard to the limo and had knocked both of them to the floor. Will had the photograph of the couple to prove it. "Got it."

Once in back at the coatroom Clay helped Kate with her coat while Will searched for Sarah's. Not finding it, he shrugged. "Will," Kate told him, "Sarah's already got it. She's halfway to the car already."

Will scowled. "I don't know why. She's not going anywhere without the keys."

Kate shook her head with a patient sigh. "She's used to being self-sufficient, Will. Sarah's another one of those 'I'll do it myself because no one else will' sort of women."

"Kind of like someone else we know?" Clay said pointedly as he extended Kate his arm.

Glancing at him, Kate gave him a mock frown. "Why do you think I said, another... Only Sarah's reasons are different from mine," Kate said with a somber expression on her face.

Hunh? Will cocked his head at her. I wonder what she means by that. Noticing how far Sarah was out the door and on her way to the car, he motioned with his hand. "Come on, we'd better catch up to her."

"Good thing I'm wearing flats this morning," Kate muttered as they hurried after Sarah. "I might actually have some traction on the ice out in the parking lot."

Once outside, the trio closed the distance between them and Sarah. "It's about time, you three," Sarah quipped, turning her head to glance at them. That motion, however slight, was enough to knock Sarah off balance. With a high-pitched cry her feet went out from under her, and she went down with a crash onto the ice beneath her.

"Oh my gosh!" Kate exclaimed as Will doubled his pace. "Sarah, are you all right?"

Sarah gingerly sat up, accepting Will's gentle help without making comments or faces. "Assessing damage now..." she muttered.

Kate snorted. "It can't be too bad, if you're cracking jokes already."

Taking Will's proffered arm, Sarah got to her knees first. "I'll live." Carefully she put weight onto her left foot, and started to raise herself up. She placed the second foot, her right, on the ground and winced visibly. "Augh!" she cried out as she threatened to topple back over.

Clay frowned as he watched Will hold onto her to keep her from falling again. "It may be worse than we thought," Clay said as he and Kate caught up to them.

Once upright again, Sarah shifted the majority of her weight onto the left foot. "I don't think it's broken. It might be just sprained." Sarah frowned unhappily. "I should be able to walk the rest of the way to the car with some help."

"Nuts to that, Princess," Will grumbled, lifting Sarah up in his arms with one quick motion. "Clay, man, you're gonna have to get the door. My hands are full."

Clay hurried to the SUV and unlocked the doors for all of them, opening the front passenger door wide for Sarah. Carefully Will placed Sarah into the seat, and when she was situated shut the door behind her. Sarah's eyes misted up, whether from pain or humiliation she couldn't tell. Kate climbed into the back seat with Clay's assistance. She gently touched her roommate's shoulder. "Sarah, we'll get some ice for your foot when you get back to the house. Until we can get you into the doctor tomorrow, all we can do is ice it and keep you from using it."

"What, by sitting around on my rump all day?" Sarah growled.

"Why not?" Kate frowned at her as Clay and Will climbed into the SUV. "It is a holiday. Take a break for once. Maybe this is the excuse you need to finally relax."

Sarah harrumphed. "You're one to talk."

Kate shrugged. "Yeah, I'm a borderline workaholic like my dad. Your point is...?"

"Will," Clay said mischievously as he took Kate into his arms, "we've got to teach our women how to relax and take it easy."

As Sarah glared daggers at Clay, Will growled at him. "Don't make me come back there and beat you up." Still fuming from Clay's comment, Will continued to frown and mutter until they pulled into the Kirche farm. "You stay there," Will ordered Sarah, pointing his finger at her. "I'm coming around to help you out of the car."

Sarah scowled at him as she unbuckled. "What if I don't want to?"

"Then," Will shrugged, "you'll end up falling on your can again, and I'll end up carrying you into the house anyway."

Unable to argue with his logic, Sarah crossed her arms. "Fine."

As Will shut the car door and came around, Kate sighed. "So much for last night's kissing and making out - I mean, up."

"Kathryn Joy Kirche," Sarah grumbled as Clay bit back a giggle.

"Don't blame me," Kate held up her hands defensively. "Alyssa's the one who made you."

"That's right," Sarah nodded as Clay also came around to help Will with Sarah. "It was Alyssa's idea. Not his, and certainly not mine!"

Will opened the door and gingerly reached into the SUV. "I might be able to pick you up easier," Will muttered, "if you grabbed on to me." For a brief moment Sarah gave him a dirty look, weighing her options carefully. Seeing that his suggestion made sense, Sarah leaned over and wrapped her arms around Will's shoulders, and Will lifted Sarah into his arms. Making sure to take slow and sure steps, Will made his way to the house with Sarah as Clay assisted Kate out of the SUV and towards the house behind them.

Holly blinked with surprise at seeing the Sarah suspended in Will's arms. "What - "

"She slipped in the parking lot," Kate explained as she hurried into the kitchen. "We need to get an ice pack and a towel for her foot." Speaking over the sound of Will and Sarah still arguing in the other room, she quickly dug in one of the drawers for a towel before opening the freezer for an ice pack.

Patricia glanced out in the living room. "Do you think it's broken, or just sprained?"

"Dunno," Kate confessed. "And until I have the initials 'Ph.D' or 'M.D' behind my name, I wouldn't be qualified to take a guess." She chewed her lip. "Though if I were to guess, I'd say sprained. She could stand on it, but she couldn't put any weight onto it."

Immediately Patricia nodded. "Sounds like a sprain, but we'll get her an appointment with Doctor Kelley tomorrow."

Kate wrapped the towel around the ice pack and brought them out to Sarah. While Will and Clay had done their best to make Sarah comfortable with pillows and blankets, Holly had wasted no time in taking the constricting shoe off of her foot. In that short period from the fall until now, Sarah's tiny ankle had swollen to almost double its usual size. Kate whistled with amazement. "Break or sprain, you didn't do it halfway."

Sarah winced as the ice pack touched her sore ankle. "Tell me about it." She scowled at everyone standing around. "Quit hovering, guys. I'm not going to break it just by sitting here."

Holding his hands up defensively, Will turned for the stairs. "If that's the way you want it, Princess. We're just concerned, that's all. I'm changing clothes."

Clay also headed upstairs to change clothes, but Holly and Kate remained close by. "Do you want us to help you upstairs so you can change?" Holly offered gently.

Sarah heaved a slow sigh. "I-I guess." With a guilty frown she blinked up at them. "I shouldn't have jumped on everyone like that. I know they're just concerned."

"They're just not used to your warning signs yet," Kate told her with a wink. "You've seen skunks. As long as all they do is glare at you, you're still okay. The moment they do the handstand... you'd better get out of their way."

Sarah giggled at the analogy. "Well, don't worry about me, Katydid. I'm definitely not going to be doing handstands any time soon. I'm going to have to be careful standing period..."

Holly and Kate helped her upright, slowly assisting her up the stairs to her bedroom. "Well, there are plenty of us around to give you a hand."

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A little later, about eleven

Back on the couch with her foot propped up and iced down, Sarah frowned as she glanced into the kitchen. "Are you sure there's nothing I can help you with?"

Patricia called back. "Not in your condition." Sarah crossed her arms with an annoyed pout. "Just take it easy until dinner, Sarah. If I really need help, I'll call Kate or Holly."

"When was your mom going to call again?" Kate cast a glance at Clay.

Clay studied his watch. "Any time now. She was going to call your parents' home phone so that several people could talk with her at once."

"Plus," Kate added, "it won't eat up your cell phone minutes if she calls them - especially if this is a roaming area for you." Clay nodded thoughtfully.

Shortly after that, the phone rang. "That might be Mom," Clay said as several people converged on the phone in the kitchen.

Arthur picked it up first. "Mickey's Pool Hall," he answered.

Kate gaped. Why did he have to do that on today, of all days? "Father!" Kate groaned as Clay bent double with laughter. "If that's Mrs. Parker..."

Faye's delicate laughter sounded on the other end of the phone. "Merry Christmas to you too, Arthur!" she said cheerily.

"Well, hello there, young lady!" Arthur grinned. "How's the weather out in North Carolina?"

Kate hid her face in her hand as her father continued to chat with Clay's mother. "Some days," she moaned as Clay wrapped his arms around her waist, "I'm not real sure I want to claim him..."

After several minutes, Arthur walked over to Clay. "He's right here. Hold the phone." With that, Arthur handed the receiver to Clay.

Clay grinned. "Hi, Mom! Merry Christmas! Yeah, he's quite a character. I like him a lot. I get along really well with all of her family. Yes, Mom, I did. And she said 'yes' - we're getting married on Saturday. Thank you, Mom." Kate leaned back contentedly in Clay's arms as the conversation went on. At last Clay handed Kate the receiver. "You're next," Clay told her.

Kate took the phone. "Merry Christmas!"

"Merry Christmas, Kate!" Faye greeted. "And congratulations..."

"Thank you, Mrs. Parker."

"Kate," Faye said gently, "I think you can start calling me 'Mom' now."

"I guess I could," Kate giggled. "So, Mom, how's your Christmas so far?"

Clay cheered with excitement. "She's calling her 'Mom'! This is great!"

Patricia snickered. "Same goes for you, Clay. You'd better start calling us Mom and Dad now."

Arthur pretended to frown. "Or I'll take you over my knee..." He made a swatting motion with his hand, raising his eyebrow impishly.

"Sure thing, Dad..." Clay laughed.

"What was that again?" Kate asked Faye, raising her eyebrow at Clay and her father. "I missed it."

Faye laughed. "I wonder why..."

Kate and Mrs. Parker visited for several minutes before Kate handed the phone back to Clay. Once he was back on the phone, Clay started discussing the final logistics of the wedding with his mother and with Kate and her parents before wrapping up the conversation. "All right. Love you very much and I'll see all of you guys on Thursday. Bye." Leaning around Kate, Clay hung up the phone. He giggled. "Mickey's Pool Hall?" he asked.

That's my father... Kate groaned. "Are you sure you want him as a father-in-law?"

"Of course I'm sure." Planting a light kiss on her cheek, Clay held her tight. "He comes with the whole Kate Kirche package... my best Christmas gift ever."

"Oh geez," Kate snorted. "Best ever?"

"Yeah. You know how the song goes - all I want for Christmas is you."

Kate blushed. From the look in his eyes, he meant every word.

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Later that afternoon

Kate laughed with delight as she watched Clay playing cowboy with Alyssa - only Alyssa was the cowboy and Clay was the horse. He is going to make such a wonderful dad, she beamed. I could not be a luckier woman than to be with him. While Clay entertained Alyssa, Andrew bounced Alexander on his knee in their own game of horseback riding as the toddler giggled and grinned. After several minutes of crawling around on his hands and knees, Clay stopped. "Wrap your arms around my neck, Alyssa. Not too tight, though." Alyssa squealed loudly as Clay slowly stood up with her riding piggy-back.

Andrew chuckled. "You are having way too much fun, bro. Your kids are going to be spoiled rotten with all the love and attention you two are going to give them."

"Spoiled with love," Kate qualified quickly, "not with things."

"I hope so," Clay said as he walked around with Alyssa on his back. "The only thing that worries me right now is all the attention they'll get being the children of someone famous... and how that will affect them. I want them to grow up to be centered and well-rounded... good Christian kids."

"Understood, understood..." Andrew nodded. "So when are you and Kate looking to start a family?"

Clay and Kate exchanged a warm look, blushing lightly and smiling. "We're going to let it happen as it happens," Clay told him. "Both of us love each other and love children. When God decides to give us our first child, that's when we'll have our first child. But we're not doing anything to prevent it."

"At least we won't be trying to prevent it once we get back from Haiti," Kate added. Clay looked at her with surprise and confusion in his eyes, and Kate knew that he hadn't considered that angle. "Clay... we've got to take some measures for at least a little while. It would be a really bad idea for me to go to Haiti almost six months pregnant."

Wincing sharply, Clay took in a deep breath. I definitely hadn't thought of that. He was going to have to find a time to look into that, along with all the other preparations that he still needed to make this week.

Leaving Clay to mull that one over, Kate went on with a shrug. "But other than that, we'll let it happen when it happens."

Patricia looked up from her card game with Arthur, Sarah, and Holly. "Hope you're prepared for the consequences of that," she smiled. "It tends to happen when you least expect it."

Kate grinned wickedly as she stood and walked over to Clay and Alyssa. "Expecting when you least expect it? I'll have to remember that." Her eyes twinkling merrily, she wrapped her arms around Clay from the back, sandwiching a giggling Alyssa in between them.

Go to the next day, Day 4 (December 26)

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