brainDamage089: Of course Flack needs to be real! Every girl deserves a Flack. Thanks for the review

Aphina: Oh there are plenty of challenges that lay ahead of them. Maxwell being pregnant is an added complication, but a welcome one. Thanks for the review

justlikewedo (rejazzz): You're not a bad reviewer. Every girl deserves a Flack. Thanks for the review.

So sorry for not updating this sooner, but the muse decided to be stubborn, and it wouldn't even accept cookies this time! But oh well, here's your next chapter. Thanks to all who've reviewed, and to those who lurk, thanks for reading.

08080808080808080808080808080800808080808080808008080808080808080808080808080808080808080808080808080808

Chapter 5

I remember the day I went to pick her up for a doctor's appointment. She had been told she needed to rest, now that she was eight months pregnant. Still, even if she was on materity leave she refused to give up her volunteer work. She spent countless hours with children with autism and Downs Syndrome. The kids were the happiest kids I'd ever met. Whether it be playing a game of floor hockey or finish counting to fifty-five without missing a single number, they laughed and clapped and danced even at the most simplistic things.

I waited in the hallway, silently watching her at a table with a young boy named Joshua, whom I knew was rather fond of her. From what I saw, they were reading together. She had her hand over his, pointing to each word and sounding them out.

“Miss Erica is going to have a baby...” I heard her read to him.

I smirked.

“She will be going away for a little while...” She read to him.

Joshua didn't look at her, instead staring at the story.

“This is okay...”

She was remarkable with these kids.

“Maybe Miss Erica will bring the baby to visit...”

Of course, of course. I'd never deny these kids an opportunity to meet our baby.

I plucked up my courage and walked into the room. A group of kids had gathered around her in the chair she was sitting in (she could barely get herself up anymore), reaching forward to touch her belly.

“Use your words, Caroline,” she told one girl.

“Touch... baby...” she said.

“Yes you may,” Erica answered, guiding the girl's hand to where the baby's feet rested. I watched Caroline's eyes grow in excitement with her hand on Erica's stomach.

Erica smiled. “Did you feel her kick?”

Her? Had Erica just said her? We were having a girl?

Caroline nodded feverishly. “Baby kicked...” she whispered.

“Yes, she did kick,” Erica confirmed and eyed me slightly. As the kids gathered around her, all clammering to touch her belly. “When the baby kicks, that means that she wants to talk to us.”

“Why?”

“I don't know why, because she isn't born yet,” Erica explained. “It's not time for her to be born yet, she is still too little.”

“Baby not little, baby big!” Caroline answered.

“She's littler than you, Caroline,” Erica smiled at the girl. Caroline couldn't have been more than four feet tall, but Erica often said that she had amazing verbal skills for a child with Downs Syndrome, and she was incredibly social as well. Every time I was there Caroline would be the first to greet me at the door and grab hold of my hand. Always with a smile, she'd ask me if I wanted to see Erica, or 'Miss Erica', as the kids called her. When I said yes, Caroline would lead me across the room, to where Erica would be.

“What's her name, Miss Erica?” Another of the volunteers asked, I think her name was Ashley.

“I don't know, Miss Ashley,” Erica answered her, looking from the children sitting on the floor to the woman standing in front of a table. “Mr. Don and I haven't really thought about what her name is going to be.”

Finally I stepped out of the shadows. “I have an idea, Miss Erica.”

Suddenly fifteen pairs of eyes where staring back at me.

“Mr. Don!” Caroline smiled, standing up and running toward the doorway. As I had expected, she grabbed hold of my hand and led me into the room. “Come! Come! Come sit with me!”

How could I not? I sat down on the floor with them, Caroline immediately climbed to sit on my lap as we waited for everyone's parents to take them home. Erica shared stories about how when she was little, she grew up on a small farm with animals (horses and dogs, mostly, and a few fish) , and how she loved to climb and swim, and play just like they (the kids) did.

We never did get to the subject of the baby's name with the kids; they were too engrossed in stories about riding horses, and throwing sticks for dogs, and finally we got them doing puzzles and drawing pictures. Most of the kids were gone home by about 6pm; and by 7pm they had all left.

Seeing as the floor had already been swept by the time the kids had gone, all Erica, Ashley, and I had to do was sweep the floor a final time and then lock up.

As Erica and I drove to the doctor's, though I admit it was late (we were the last appointment of the day), in nervous silence. Originally we had said we didn't want to know the baby's sex, but Erica had said we were having a girl, we wanted to make sure.

“Okay Miss Maxwell, Mr. Flack, why don't we have a look see?” their doctor, Dr. Livingston, ran the ultrasound over Erica's distended belly. “Okay. Here we are, see... there's the head, and the back...”

Erica looked at me and smiled.

“Ooh, baby's not hiding...” she smiled. “Look here Mom and Dad, there's your little girl.”

Girl.

She'd said it. We were having a girl.

I could almost feel my eyes misting over when Erica squeezed my hand even tighter.

“Look Don, she's sucking her thumb...”

It was the most beautiful sight I'd ever witnessed. Later, Erica would tell me that my face had flushed the slightest shade of red, my mouth was open in awe, and I had tears in my eyes. I couldn't believe it, I was looking at my daughter, my little girl.

At home later that night, Erica lay on her back, staring at the ceiling, absentmindedly rubbing her bare belly. Suddenly, she stopped, grabbed my wrist, and laid my hand on the lower half of her stomach.

“Do you feel that?” she asked.

I felt a tiny kick.

“Yeah...” I whispered. “She's going to be a hell of a good soccer player.”

She smiled. “You know, I've been thinking...”

I rolled over on to my side and looked at her. “What about?”

“About what we're going to name her,” she answered. “Did you have any ideas?”

“Lily,” I answered automatically.

“Oh I don't think she's a Lily,” Erica answered. “Not with that strong kick of hers.”

“What do you think, then?”

“I was thinking about the name Daria,” she told me.

“Daria?” I repeated. “Daria Flack...”

“Daria Mackenzie Flack.”

“I like it,” I answered. As long as Erica was happy with the name I was happy. Daria was quite a beautiful name, though I couldn't quite place its origin.

“Truth be told Don, I don't really know where it comes from. I've heard it used in many different cultures. I just happen to think it's a very beautiful name...”

“Daria Mackenzie Flack it is then,” I agreed.