Episode Forty Nine

The Poolhouse

Jamie came in the front door carrying the mail, only to promptly drop it as he saw Summer. "What are you doing?!" he asked, crossing the living room in 3 steps to put his hands on her waist.

"Thanks," Summer said, not looking down as she stood on tiptoe again to attach the garland to the top of the bookshelf.

"Why are you doing this? I said I would when I got home! You're sick!"

"I feel better," Summer argued, finishing and turning. "Can I get off the chair now?"

Jamie gave her a stern look as he helped her climb down. "It's not safe for you to climb on chairs! You're 6 months pregnant for God's sake!"

Summer rolled her eyes. "Yes, pregnant. Not invalid."

"What if you fell?" Jamie asked, his voice softer. "It's pretty obvious you've been doing this half the day. What if you had fallen when there was still an hour or two until I got home? You could have gotten hurt, and there'd be no one to help you."

Summer smiled and stood on tiptoe to kiss him. "You're so sweet, worrying about me."

"And you're so impossible!" Jamie replied, though he was smiling slightly. "I just don't want anything to happen to you. Or the baby. I love you both."

Summer smiled again. "You remember what's in an hour?" she asked.

Jamie closed his eyes, shaking his head in amsuement. "Way to change the subject, Sum," he said. "And yes, I remember. I'm the one who begged you to let us find out now if it's a boy or a girl instead of waiting till it's born! How could I forget?"

Summer laughed. "Okay, what did we say for a girl?"

"Elizabeth Nicole," Jamie replied.

"And we couldn't decide for a boy, except the middle name will be Matthew, right?" Summer asked.

"Right," Jamie acknowledged.

There was a knock on the door, and Summer went and answered it. She opened the door, smiling. "Hi, Mr. Grant."

Daniel smiled. "Hello, Summer. How are you feeling?"

"Much better," Summer said. "Especially since Jamie and I decided that today we're going to ask whether it's a boy or a girl."

"I'd be better if she'd stop climbing on chairs to hang stupid garlands a month before Christmas," Jamie said.

"Hey if your grandmother hadn't sent us the garlands, I wouldn't have them to hang," Summer replied, smiling smugly.

Jamie threw his hands up in the air, exasperated. "Fine, blame Gramma Isa, I'm happy to blame her!"

Daniel chuckled. "Don't let Isabel hear you say that, Jamie."

"Do I look like I have a death wish?" Jamie replied, smiling. "I love Gramma, but I know she's dangerous and deadly."

"The same sweet woman who sent us all the stuff to make this more of a home?" Summer said, skeptical.

"Yes, the same woman who is hardly sweet," Jamie said. "You heard her yelling at me from upstairs, remember?"

"So she was a little upset..."

"Isabel was more than a little upset, Summer," Daniel said. "She was livid. And ready to get on a plane and come here to read Jamie the riot act in person."

"And for convincing her not to, I'm eternally grateful," Jamie told his grandfather. "What can we do for you, Daniel?"

"Well, it's Thanksgiving, I wanted to make sure the two of you would be joining the family at the mansion for dinner tonight."

Jamie and Summer exchanged glances. "You do realize," Jamie said, turning back to Daniel. "That I'm still not on good terms with Aaron? And niether Miranda or Daniel Jr. like me."

"But Richard, Annie, and myself want the two of you there. And you have as much right to be there as anyone else, you are my grandson, afterall."

"I don't know..." Jamie began.

"I promise, I will talk to Miranda and Daniel Jr, make it clear to them that they need to be civil," Daniel said. "Please, this will be my first chance to spend a holiday with you."

Jamie nodded. "Okay, but if Summer gets tired and wants to come home, we are, even if it's 5 minutes after we get there."

"I understand. I wouldn't want to do anything to put my great-grandchild or it's mother at risk," Daniel said. "Can I convince you to let me know whether it's a great-grandson or great-granddaughter?"

"We'll let you know at dinner. We'll be over after the appointment," Summer promised. "After we stop by here to change, of course."

"Considering the weather, we should leave for the appointment now, so we're not late," Jamie added.

"I'll let you go, then," Daniel said. He leaned over and kissed Summer's cheek. "Take care of yourself, my dear."

"I will, Daniel."

Med Center

"This'll be cold," Sarah warned as she prepared to begin the sonogram.

"I've had sonograms before, I know," Summer replied, smiling nervously.

"Then why so nervous?" Sarah asked.

"We decided we wanna know if it's a boy or a girl," Jamie said, holding onto one of Summer's hands.

"Good, because it's been really hard for me not to look for signs but no one should know before the parents," Sarah said, turning on the monitor and positioning it for them to see. "Okay, here goes," she said, beginning. After a moment Sarah smiled. "Right there. Now, you're sure you want to know?"

"Yes!" Summer said, watching the sonogram.

"Well, then say hello to your son."

Jamie smiled and leaned down to kiss the top of Summer's head. "Our son," he whispered.

"I guess now we have to decide on a name," Summer replied, looking up. "It figures, we figure out a girl's name so of course we're having a boy."

Sarah laughed. "Well, You've still got about 3 months left to pick one," she reminded them. "You want me to print out a still?"

"Yeah, could you?" Jamie asked, not taking his eyes off the monitor.

"Sure can," Sarah said, shutting of the monitor. "I'll be back in a few minutes," she added as she rolled the monitor out of the room and left the parents-to-be alone.

"We're having a baby boy," Summer said, still looking up at Jamie. "We could always name him James," she added ina teasing voice.

"Uh, no," Jamie said, alughing. "Not James. One every century and a half is enough."

"Then what about... Micheal?"

"Micheal Matthew?" Jamie asked, making a face. "Besides, it's a little..."

"Too soon," Summer said, understanding. "Well if middle name comes from my family, first has to come from yours," she insisted.

"How about we switch it around, first name your family, middle name mine?" Jamie suggested.

"No, we agreed we wanted Bowen name, Brady name, Bowen name. Nice rythym and stuff."

"It's too soon to name him after my dad. I can't..."

Summer nodded. "Okay, not after Mike. What about... Ian?"

"Or Daniel," Jamie said quietly.

"Daniel Matthew Bowen," Summer said. "I like it."

"Me too."

"Then I guess our son has a name," Jamie said as Sarah returned.

"That was quick!" Sarha said. "What did you chose?"

"Daniel Matthew Bowen," Jamie replied.

"A great name," Sarah said, handing them a manila envelope. "Your sonogram still is in there."

"Thanks, Aunt Sarah," Jamie said.

"Yeah, Thanks Dr. Reed."

Grant Mansion

Miles smiled as he opened the door to Jamie and Summer. "How is the baby?" he asked.

"Good," Sumer replied, letting Jamie help her with her coat.

"Everyone's waiting in the sitting room," Miles directed them.

Nodding in thanks, the pair headed into the sitting room, greeting everyone, though Miranda and Daniel Jr. were less than friendly, and Aaron only gave little wave, knowing he was still on shaky gound with Jamie.

"So, tell me," Daniel said. "Am I going to have a great-grandson or great-granddaughter?"

"Great-grandson," Jamie said, smiling. "We even finally decided on a name. We figured out a name for a girl weeks ago, but until today we couldn't pick on for a boy."

"What name did you pick?" Daniel asked. "Or first, I'm curious, what name did you pick if it was a girl?"

"Elizabeth Nicole," Jamie said. "After Mama and Summer's best friend."

"And what will his name be?"

Jamie bit his lip before replying. "Daniel Matthew."

Dnaiel paused for a moment, then smiled. "Daniel?"

"Probably Danny for short, But we made a deal, first name from my family, middle from Summer's, and then my last name. And names from the Bowen side... it's either too soon, I have a cousin with the name, or I don't wanna saddle him with the name, so I moved to Mama's side and there's you..." Jamie said, slightly embarassed.

"You could have named him after Gianni..."

"That would be a name I don't wanna saddle him with," Jamie said, his embarassment fading a bit with his amusement.

"Thank you," Daniel said simply.

"Dinner is served," Miles said as he opened the doors to the main dining room.

Grant Dining Room - Later

Dinner was winding and most of the family were in sedate moods. Except Miranda seemed quite willing to start an arguement.

"Honestly Daniel, I don't see how you can be so happy to have a bastard child named after you," she said. The remark was met by silence for a long moment, but when an audible response was finally heard, it was from an unexpected source.

"What is wrong with you, Mother?" Aaron said, nearly spitting it out. "You have no right to say that about Jamie and Summer's son!"

"Says the disgace of the family!" Daniel Jr. said with a harsh laugh.

"For God's sake!" Richard said. "Get a new rhetoric! Our little brother's gay, deal with it!"

"Says the other bastard of the family!" Daniel Jr. yelled. "Except you're not even a real member of this family. You're father was some drunkard!"

Jamie stood then, shoving his chair out, then slamming it back into the table before turning to help Summer get to her feet. He turned to hia grandfather before speaking. "This is why we didn't want to come, Daniel. I knew him or Miranda were gonna pull something like this. God forbid they even put aside whatever they have against me for one night! I should have told you no, we should have gone to dinner with my uncle Laurence, Aunt Catherine, and Laura. At least I know Aunt Catherine, for all her spoiled little girl ways, wouldn't have started in like this. She would have bit her tongue for one night at least. Because she's a human being. Unlike some people at this table." He started to guide Summer out, but paused by Aaron. "Thanks for trying," he said, then continued out with Summer.

In the foyer, as they stopped to grab their coats, Jamie noticed Summer starting to cry. He turned and pullled her into his arms. "It's okay, Sums," he whispered. "It's okay, baby. We'll go home and pretend this didn't happen okay?"

Summer nodded, but wrapped her arms around his neck and held on for a minute.

End Of Episode Forty nine