"Well, Good morning, Colleen."  a voice called to her
as she walked into
town. 
Turning towards the voice she saw Grace rushing
towards her pushing a
baby pram. 
   "Grace."  Colleen smiled.  The two women embraced. 
"How are you
doing?"
   "Fine.  And how are you?"  Grace asked.
   "I'm fine."  Then Colleen turned to look into the
pram.  "And who's
this little precious bundle?"
   "This is our daughter, Jasmine."  Grace replied
proudly.
   "So, this is little Jasmine."  Colleen gushed.  "Ma
wrote me all about
you. "  She stuck her finger in and the little baby
grabbed it in her
small fist.  Colleen laughed.  "She's got quite the
grip."
   "That she does!"  Grace laughed too.
   "How old is she, Grace?"
   "She's eight months old."
   "Wow!  Already."  Colleen exclaimed in surprise. 
"Boy does time go by
quickly."
   "So how are things with you and Andrew?"  Grace
asked.
   "Wonderful!  It’s been a wonderful year.  School's
great, marriage is
great, life is
great."  Colleen laughed gaily.
   "Well, I can certainly see that married life is
agreeing with you. 
You're positively
shining."  Grace smiled.
   "Well, that could be because being pregnant agrees
with me too." 
Colleen told her with a big grin.
   Grace looked at the young girl in surprise. 
"You're pregnant?"
   Colleen laughed and nodded.
   "Oh, Colleen.  Congratulations!"  Grace threw her
arms around the
younger girl and laughed.  "That is wonderful!"

   "Well, everything seems to be normal."  Andrew
announced after he had
finished his examination.
   "That's a relief.  At my age you never can tell." 
Loren smiled,
buttoning his shirt back up.  "So, how long are you
and Colleen home
for?"
   "Three weeks."  Andrew replied.  "Colleen starts
back to school in
five weeks and we figured we should be home and back
into our normal
routine by then."
   "Well, then, we'll be seeing you around for a
little while then." 
Andrew nodded. 
"Great, I'll see you later."  Loren smiled.  Just as
he went to open the
door, it opened itself.  Looking up in surprise, the
older man looked
into the shining face of Colleen Cook.  "Colleen!" 
the man exclaimed in
delight.  "What a pleasant surprise."
   "Colleen, what are you doing here?"  Andrew asked,
equally surprised.
   "I couldn't stand staying at the homestead, so I
decided to come into
town."  Colleen explained.
   "How did you get here?"  Andrew pressed.
   "I walked."  Colleen replied gaily.
   "You walked?"  Andrew exclaimed in astonishment. 
"What am I going to
do with you?"  
   Colleen looked at him, surprised at his exasperated
exclamation. 
"What do you
mean?"
   "No matter what I do, I can't get you to take it
easy, can I?"  
   "Andrew, I'm not a delicate piece of china that you
have to 'take it
easy' with." 
Colleen retorted, a little surprised at how Andrew was
reacting.  Why was
he trying to suppress everything she did?
   "I know that, but you are in a more delicate state
and should not
stress yourself more than necessary."
   "There is nothing stressful about taking a walk.
It’s not like I just
ran a marathon or something."  Colleen replied.
   "I know, but I can't help but worry about you." 
Andrew explained.  "I
don't want
anything to happen to you or the baby."
   "Baby?!"  Both young people looked at Loren in
surprise.  They had
both quite
forgotten he was still standing there until he spoke.
   Andrew's face lost its angry look and began to
shine with pride.  With
a nod he
confirmed.  "Baby.  Colleen's pregnant."
   Loren looked at the young girl that he'd known for
her whole life.  The
girl that still
seemed to him the child who used to come into his store
and could barely
see over the counter.  This young girl, this child,
was having a child of
her own.  Boy, did he suddenly feel old.
   "That's wonderful!"  he exclaimed, hugging Colleen
to him.
"Congratulations."
   "Thank you."  Colleen beamed with pleasure.

   It was almost noon when Michaela awoke from her
deep slumber.  She
turned over on her side and closed her eyes again, but
suddenly she heard
a banging on the front door. Quickly throwing her
housecoat over her
nightdress, she raced down the stairs and yanked the
door open.
   "Dr. Quinn!"  There stood Mr. Crandle, his face
pale with worry.  "I'm
sorry to bother you again.  But Jimmy is getting
worse.  His fever hasn't
broken and he's delirious."
   "Just give me a moment to throw on some clothes." 
Dr. Mike replied,
hastening
upstairs to change out of her night clothes.  A few
minutes later she
came flying back downstairs, quickly added a short
message to the growing
note and ran out the door, medical bag in hand.

   About ten minutes past twelve, Sully rode up to the
homestead. 
Quickly dismounting, he climbed the front steps of the
verandah and then
entered the house.
   "Michaela!  Colleen!"  He called.  Then with a look
of surprise,
climbed the stairs to their bedrooms.  Their bed was
empty, but unmade. 
Michaela's nightdress and housecoat where thrown on
the bed, apparently
dropped in a rush.  Then he crossed the hall to
Colleen and Andrew's
room.  Knocking on the door he received no response. 
Slowly he opened
the door and found the bed vacant and properly made
up.  Slightly puzzled
he turned and descended the stairs to the lower floor.
 Quickly he
glanced at the note that he had left earlier.  He
noticed that Colleen
had added a brief message of her own.  So, she's
already in town. Sully
thought.  Then he read the short note Michaela had
left.  

   "Gone back to Crandles, Jimmy still seriously ill. 
Meet you in town
later.
Michaela."
  
   Sully exited the homestead and went to the barn to
saddle up Flash. 
Then, leading Flash by the reigns, pointed the horses
in the direction of
the Crandle's farm.

   By the time Mr. Crandle and Dr. Mike reached the
Crandle farm it was
too late.  Little Jimmy had succumbed to the illness
that was ravaging his
small body.  His mother was leaning over the small
frame, weeping
bitterly.
   Michaela sat down beside the boy and his mother on
the bed and
desperately felt for a pulse and checked his heart. 
Nothing.  Looking at
the worried parents with tears in her eyes she chokily
said, "I'm sorry. 
He's gone."
	
   "So, how about grabbing a bite to eat?"  Colleen
asked her husband
after he had finished treating a patient.
   Andrew looked at her in surprise.  "You just ate
breakfast an hour and
a half ago.  How could you be hungry again?"
   Colleen laughed.  "Don't forget, I'm eating for two
now!"
   Andrew sighed with mock exasperation as he picked
up his jacket and
followed her out the clinic door.

   "Well, if it isn't two of my favorite customers." 
Grace smiled as she
greeted Andrew and Colleen.  "And I have a feeling
Colleen is going to
become my best customer in the next few weeks."
   Colleen laughed.  "That's right!  I'm starving, so
bring me one of
your delicious
meat loaf sandwiches, some vegetables and a nice cold
glass of lemonade."
   Grace chuckled as she wrote is down.  "And you Dr.
Cook?"
   "Just some coffee and a bowl of soup."  Andrew
grinned.
   "Oh, a bowl of soup.  That sounds good."  Colleen
sighed, "I'll have
one too."
   Andrew's eyebrows raised in amusement and Grace
smiled knowingly.
   "I'll be right back." she told the couple.
   "Wow!  You really are hungry!"  Andrew exclaimed
looking at his wife
in surprise.
   "I told you I was."  Colleen laughed gaily.
   "Colleen!  Andrew!"  a voice called out.  Both
turned to see Daniel
making his way towards them.
   "Daniel."  Andrew rose and extended his hand to the
town's sheriff.
   "When did you get back to town?"  Daniel asked,
shaking the young
doctor's hand excitedly.
   "Yesterday."  Andrew replied, as Colleen rose to
greet their friend.
   "That's wonderful!"  He gave Colleen a warm
embrace.  The baby that
Colleen was caring obviously didn't care much for the
extra confined
feeling of the hug, because he, or she, gave such a
hard kick, that
Daniel felt it against his own stomach.  Looking at
Colleen's stomach in
surprise he noticed how rounded out it was getting. 
He lifted his
surprised eyes to Colleen's face, which was lit up by
an enormous grin.
   "A baby?"  Daniel asked.  Colleen nodded.  "That's
wonderful! 
Congratulations!"  He hugged Colleen again and then
gave Andrew another
handshake.  "That's extremely grand!"
   After the excitement died down, the three of them
sat around the
table, catching up on lost time.
   "Yeah, I remember last May," Daniel was saying.  "I
had been gone to
Manitou for about a week.  When I got back I had asked
Michaela and Sully
when Colleen was coming home, I knew that they had
gone to the graduation
ceremony by then.  Well, I was so surprised when they
told me that she
had already left for Philadelphia and with her new
husband, Dr. Andrew
Cook.  Not that I was surprised that she would
eventually have a husband
by the name of Dr. Andrew Cook, I was just surprised
that it happened so
fast."  He finished with a grin and looked at Colleen.
 "And now,
there'll soon be little Cooks running around
Philadelphia."
   "Actually, by the time the little one will be able
to 'run around', he
or she will be
'running around' Colorado Springs."  Andrew laughed.
   "So, you're planning on moving back here after
medical school?" 
Daniel replied. 
Colleen and Andrew both nodded.  "Well, that's
wonderful!  I bet Michaela
and Sully are pleased."
   Colleen smiled.  "You could say that!"
   "Actually, Michaela sort of planned it."  Andrew
informed the sheriff.
 "She's been saving the clinic out at the hotel for us
to come home to."
   "That's right.  She told me that one day."  Daniel
nodded, taking a
sip of his coffee.  "They'll be glad to have you back,
especially with a
grandchild on the way."
   "Here you go, Colleen."  Grace set a plate down in
front of the young
woman.  The sandwich was huge.  Colleen's eyes widened
as she looked at
it.  "It's the 'Pregnant woman' special size."  Grace
laughed.  Colleen
looked up at the cook and grinned.  	
   "That looks wonderful!"  Colleen laughed, then
picking up the sandwich
she took a big bite.

   "Preston, why don't you just build yourself another
hotel?"  Ruth
Lodge asked her husband that afternoon.  The couple
had been sitting in
front of the fireplace in their cozy homestead, each
silent with their
own thoughts.
   Preston looked at her in surprise.  "What do you
mean build another
hotel?"
   "Well, it seems to me, that Colorado Springs has
become a busy tourist
area.  And with Sully trying to get the Colorado
Rockies declared a
National Park, then more people are likely going to be
drawn here to see
them.  Maybe you could find another beautiful spot to
build a resort."
   Preston remained silent for a few minutes as he
mulled the idea over
in his head.  When he looked at his wife a few minutes
later, a smile lit
up his face.

   "Would you like me to make the arrangements with
Jake for the
funeral?"  Dr. Mike asked the grieving parents as she
stood in front of
the door of the Crandle's home. Mrs. Crandle could
only sob
uncontrollably in her husband's arms.  The rugged man
simply shook his
head.  In a quivering voice he simply replied, "We'd
like to keep him
home."  At Michaela's quizzical look he explained,
"We'd like to bury him
on the homestead."  The doctor reached her hand out
and gently touched
the grieving mother's shoulders as he nodded in
understanding.
   "Don't worry about taking me back to town, I'll
walk."  Dr. Mike
offered, not wanting to separate the crying woman from
her husband's
loving embrace.
   "Oh, we couldn't let you do that."  Mr. Crandle
objected.
   Dr. Mike held up her hand to stop his protest.  "I
won't take no for
an answer.  You two need to be together.  Besides, the
walk will do me
good."
   "Thank you, Dr. Mike."  the man breathed in relief
as he hugged his
wife tightly to him.
   With a slight smile, the doctor eased herself out
of the family's home
and followed the path into town.
	
   "So what patients do we have this afternoon?" 
Colleen asked as she
and Andrew returned to the clinic after lunch.
   "Michaela doesn't have anything written down, so I
was thinking I
might take a ride out to the Chateau and check on
things there.  Maybe
she goes there in the afternoons."  Andrew replied,
making sure he had
everything he needed in his medical bag.
   "Sounds like fun, lets go."  Colleen smiled,
turning towards the door.
   "Now hold on, young lady."  Andrew laughed, "I'm
going out to the
chateau, I think you should go upstairs and have a
nap."
   Colleen looked at her husband in surprise.  "Oh,
Andrew, stop treating
me like a child.  I'm not tired, it would only be a
waste of time. 
Besides, I think I slept enough yesterday to cover a
month of naps."
   Andrew didn't look convinced, but before he could
comment Colleen
promised, "If I get tired, I'll have a nap, but please
don't make me have
one if I'm not tired."
   The young doctor looked at his wife and sighed. 
"Okay, lets go to the
Chateau."
   Colleen reached up and kissed her husband on the
cheek, "Thank you." 
Then she turned and left the clinic.

   Michaela had walked about five minutes down the
road when she heard
horse's hooves running towards her.  She smiled when
she realized that it
was Sully coming towards her.
   "Care for a ride?"  Sully asked as he pulled to a
stop beside her.
   "Don't mind if I do."  Dr. Mike smiled as she moved
to mount Flash.
   "Where to?"  her husband asked.
   "The chateau.  I should check on the clinic there
before going into
town."
   "I'll race you."  Sully challenged and then before
waiting for her
reply, turned his horse and took off down the road.
   "Hey!"  Michaela exclaimed in surprise as she
pointed Flash to go
after him.

   Charles Wright was sitting on the verandah of the
Spring Chateau
enjoying a cup of tea when he spotted a nice looking
young couple pull up
to the hotel.  He watched as the young man pulled up
to the hitching rail
beside the clinic and jumped out of the wagon.  After
securing the horse
to the rail, he turned and helped the young woman that
was with him out
of the cart.  The couple then turned and walked over
to the clinic and
entered.  The hotel manager's brows furrowed and he
himself rose and
walked towards the clinic.
   Opening the door he was surprised to find the young
man flipping
through some of the files on the desk.
   "Can I help you?"  the manager barked, visibly
upset at the young man.
   "Oh, good afternoon."  the young man smiled. 
"Please come in."  The
manager's face registered shock, but he did enter the
room and close the
door.    "Now, how may I help you?" 
   "I beg your pardon?"
   "What seems to be the trouble?"  Andrew asked.
   "The trouble is you."  the manager exclaimed.  At
Andrew's puzzled
expression, he demanded, "Who are you?"
   "My name is Dr. Andrew Cook."  Andrew replied.
   "What happened to Dr. Quinn?"  Mr. Wright inquired.
   "Michaela was called out to an emergency late last
night and I haven't
seen her since.  I've been handling her patients for
her today."  Andrew
explained.
   "What did you say your name was?"
   "Cook, Andrew Cook."
   "Cook?"  Then the man looked as if something
suddenly registered. 
"You were the doctor here before when that Lodge
fellow used to own it."
   "That's right."  Andrew nodded.
   "Yeah, you had left before it was sold."  Pieces
were finally falling
into place for the manager.  "If you don't mind my
asking, why did you
leave?"
   Andrew smiled, "Colleen was accepted into medical
school in
Philadelphia, so we got married and I went there with
her."
   "I see, and is this your wife?"  the manager nodded
towards Colleen
who had just emerged from the back room.
   "That’s correct."  
   "Pleased to meet you, Mrs. Cook."  the man extended
his hand towards
the young woman.  "My name is Charles Wright.  I'm the
manager of the
hotel."
   "Pleased to meet you."  Colleen smiled as she shook
his hand.  "I
believe Ma has mentioned you."
   "Your ma?"  a puzzled look crept slowly over his
face.
   Colleen nodded, "Yes, Dr. Michaela Quinn."
   "Dr. Quinn is your mother?"
   "That's right."
   The man thought for a moment.  "You must be the one
Dr. Quinn was
telling me
about.  Now that I think about it, she told me that
she had a daughter
that was training to be a doctor and that she was
married to a doctor. 
You’re the ones she’s planning on turning the clinic over
to."
   Andrew nodded.  "That's what she told me last
night."
   "Now everything is fitting into place."  Mr. Wright
smiled.  "I'm
sorry to have
appeared so cross at the first, but you had me
concerned when I saw you
walk right into the clinic."
   "I'm sorry to have alarmed you, Mr. Wright." 
Andrew apologized,   "I
guess I'm just so used to working here, I forgot it
wasn't my clinic
anymore."
   "No need to apologize, no harm done."  The man
waved him off.  "If you
need
anything, please don't hesitate to ask."
   "Thank you."
   "Good day, Dr. Cook, Mrs. Cook."

   Later that afternoon, just before supper time,
Preston descended upon
Horace with a few telegrams.
   "These are extremely urgent.  I want them to be
sent out immediately."
   Horace nodded as he took the telegrams, reading
them carefully to make
sure he understood the messages he suddenly looked up
and asked, "You’re
building another hotel?"
   "That's right.  Even bigger and better than the
last one."
   "Do you think we really need another hotel?"  the
telegraph operator
asked.
   "Just send the messages, Horace." Preston firmly
replied.

   That evening the family was all gathered together
again at the
homestead.  After
supper, Colleen asked her mother about some patterns
for baby clothes. 
She was wanting to knit a couple of things before the
baby arrived.
   "Have you decided on any names yet?"  Matthew
asked, he and Andrew
were sitting at the checker board again.
   "We haven't really discussed it yet."  Colleen
replied, looking up
from the pattern she was reading.  "We have a few
ideas, but nothing for
sure."
   "What kind of names were you thing of?"  Brian
prompted, curiosity
making him press the issue.
   Colleen smiled, "Well, the name I like best for a
girl is 'Charlotte
Michaela.'"  She glanced at her mother as she stated
the name.  Michaela
smiled back at her daughter, extremely flattered.
   "And what if its a boy?"  Matthew asked.
   "We were thinking of 'Byron Andrew'."  Colleen
glanced at Sully.  He
looked modestly surprised, but a smile was on his
lips.
   "I think those are very good names."  Matthew
nodded his approval. 
"Good, solid, reliable names."
   Michaela and Sully glanced at each other, both
realizing that they had
just been paid the highest compliment of their lives.