I’m so excited Sam’s being released from the hospital that I can barely concentrate on my work. By four clock, I’m so antsy I can’t sit still.

“Just go home,” Erin says. “Get things ready for Sam’s arrival.”

“Are you sure you don’t mind?” I ask her. She gave me plenty of grief earlier in the week for leaving her alone for a day and a half.

She laughs “You are the boss, you know. If you don’t mind, no one else will.”

I’m dying to go home and make sure a spare suite is ready for Sam. I know just the room to put him in – it’s right next to Cooper’s suite. “But I feel like I’ve missed too much work this week.”

“Just go,” Erin says, waving her hand at me dismissively. “I’ll cover for you.”

Miguel and I take off and head for the penthouse. On the way, I receive a text message from Shane.

Sam’s being released at six. Cooper’s arranged for a medical transport to bring him to our place.

Miguel hangs around to help me get Sam’s room ready. We quickly strip the King size bed and remake it with fresh sheets. Cooper had already brought some of Sam’s personal items to the penthouse: toiletries, clothes, his laptop and tablet. After everything’s ready, Miguel takes off for the evening, and I sit down at the breakfast bar to do some school work.

My mind wanders, though, thinking about Sam, and wondering how he’s doing. Cooper’s been at the hospital with him, by his side, almost twenty-four seven since the accident. I call it “the accident,” even though it was anything but an accident.

I don’t think there’s any doubt that Cooper cares very deeply about Sam. He may not demonstrate his affection for Sam openly, the way Sam wants him to, but it’s obvious Cooper cares about him. Maybe Cooper will be able to relax a little more around Sam here in the privacy of our apartment. I hope so, because Cooper’s public aloofness is hurting Sam.

I have to force myself to finish the week’s reading assignments for school. It’s a pretty interesting class – organizational leadership, which is lot more interesting than I thought it would be – but nevertheless I’m finding it difficult to concentrate. And it’s not just Sam who’s distracting me. I lay my hand on my lower belly, imaging the tiny life developing inside me.

Curious, I Google fetuses at 10 weeks of gestation and discover that, if Dr. Shaw is right in her estimation of how far along I am, the baby is just over an inch long. He’s not much bigger than a jelly bean. I can’t even wrap my mind around that. Already, there’s a tiny little heart beating in something so small.

I’m getting more comfortable with the idea, and a lot less stressed about having an unexpected pregnancy. I’ve always wanted kids, as has Shane, so this little jelly bean is a welcome surprise. And I know Shane’s going to be an amazing father.

For some reason, when I picture our child, I see a little boy with brown hair and blue eyes… a miniature version of Shane.

I hear the distant ping of the elevator doors opening and look up to see who’s arrived. Speak of the devil, the baby father is coming through the foyer door, looking dashing as always in his suit. I abandon my schoolwork to meet him in the great room.

“How are you feeling?” he says, taking me in his arms.

I can’t answer, because he’s kissing the daylights out of me. “Fine,” I manage, laughing at his exuberance.

He lays his hand on my belly. “And how’s the baby?”

“He’s fine.”

“Or she.”

“Or she. He, or she, is about the size of a jelly bean right now.”

“Really?” he says, looking skeptical. “I guess that’s why you’re not showing yet.”

I realize I could be showing in another month. I’d really like to have the wedding before then. I already have a dress picked out, and it fits fine right now, but if I start gaining a lot of weight, it will quickly be too snug. “We need to get married.”

He laughs. “That’s what I’ve been saying for weeks now. Just name the date.”

“When are your parents getting in?”

“Their flight is scheduled to arrive at O’Hare Tuesday evening.”

“Then how about the following weekend? How about Saturday? We could make it an overnight thing, and everyone could stay over. That way we don’t have to worry about how much people have had to drink.”

“Done,” he says. “I’ll let everyone know.”

The elevator pings again, heralding the arrival of Cooper, Sam being wheeled in on a gurney, and two medical transport attendants, one pushing Sam’s gurney, and the other one pushing a wheelchair.

Sam’s lying on the gurney with a sheet covering the right half of his body. His left leg, which is fully casted, is propped up on pillows. He doesn’t look very comfortable.

“Are you okay?” I ask, taking his right hand. “You look pale.”

He exhales a rough breath. “All this moving around makes my leg ache.”

“I told him it was too soon to come home,” Cooper says. “He could have stayed in the hospital a couple more days, but no. He wanted out of there.”

“He’ll rest better here,” I say, rubbing his arm. “And we’ll make sure he’s comfortable.”

I lead the way to Sam’s suite, followed by the attendants pushing the gurney. Shane and Cooper take up the rear. The attendants transfer Sam into his bed, and Cooper positions pillows beneath his leg to elevate it to a comfortable position.

Shane walks the attendants to the elevator.

I smile down at Sam. “Hey, you, welcome home.” I want to hug him, but I’m afraid I might hurt him.

Sam gives me a bittersweet smile and extends his arms to me. “You’d better give me a proper hug,” he says, pulling me down beside him on the bed. “Sit with me and tell me what I’ve missed.”

At that moment, Shane walks back into the room and joins Cooper at the foot of the bed.

“Well, you haven’t missed a whole lot,” I say. “I went back to work yesterday. Miguel Rodriguez is acting as my bodyguard while you’re recuperating.”

“Don’t let him get too comfortable,” Sam says. “Make sure he knows it’s a temporary assignment. I want my job back, just as soon as I’m physically fit.”

“I don’t think you need to worry on that score,” I say. And then it occurs to me that Sam doesn’t know our big news. We didn’t want to tell him until after he was out of the woods. I glance back at Shane, who nods. “There is one other thing.”

Sam glances from me to Shane and back to me. “What?”

I smile. “I’m pregnant. I just found out in the hospital. I’m about ten weeks along.”

Sam’s eyes widen, and as he processes the news – and the implication that he saved more than just my life – the blood drains from his face. “Pregnant?”

I nod, and I can’t help tearing up. He didn’t just save my life. He saved the jelly bean too.

“Wow,” he says, looking stunned. He glances at Shane, then back to me. “But everything’s okay? With the baby, I mean? God, Beth, I pushed you so hard. I saw you fall.”

“We’re both fine,” I say, my voice breaking. As my tears start flowing freely, he reaches for my hand and squeezes it. “You saved my baby’s life, Sam.”

He lies there speechless.

Shane comes around to the side of the bed and extends his hand to Sam. “I’m in your debt, Sam,” he says as the two men shake hands. “You saved the two most important people in my life. I’ll never be able to repay you for that.”

Sam wipes a tear from his own cheek and grins at Shane. “Oh, I’m sure we can come up with something.”

From the foot of the bed, Cooper clears his throat. “While you guys are getting reacquainted, I’ll go start dinner. I promised Sam chicken and dumplings tonight, and his first night home.”

“And I need to make some calls for work,” Shane says, following Cooper to the door. “You two relax and catch up.”

After they’re gone, Sam looks at me. “All right now, spill it, princess. What else the hell’s going on?”

“What do you mean?”

“Cooper hasn’t told me a damn thing, but I know for a fact that I had guards on my hospital room door around the clock. Why?”

“Guards? I didn’t know that, but I’m not surprised.”

“Why? What’s going on?”

I grimace, realizing Sam still doesn’t know the whole picture. Cooper must not have told him that the hit-and-run accident wasn’t really an accident at all.

“Beth? What the hell’s going on.”

I swallow hard and take deep breath. “The accident? It wasn’t an accident.”

“What do you mean?”

“Lia apprehended the driver who hit you. Otherwise, he would have driven off, left the scene.”

“Yeah? And?”

“He had a photograph of me in his wallet. It wasn’t an accident, Sam. He was trying to run me over. It was a hired hit.”

I watch the blood drain from Sam’s face as my words sink in.

“Shit,” he says. “Do we know who hired him?”

I shrug. “There’s no proof yet, but Shane’s pretty sure it was Luciana.”

Sam shakes his head. “Wow, that woman is a nutjob. Who in the hell does she think she is? If I see her again, I’ll run her over.”

I laugh shakily as I lean over and hug him. “I’m so glad you’re here. I’ve missed you.”

He hugs me back. “Same.” He glances around his new accommodations, nodding in approval. “Nice place you’ve got here.”

“Cooper brought some of your things over. Your clothes are in the closet, and here’s your tablet on the nightstand.”

Sam catches sight of his Xbox on the console opposite the bed, right underneath the flatscreen TV hanging on the wall. “He even brought my Xbox. How about a game of Grand Theft Auto while we’re waiting for dinner?”

I laugh, realizing what a big kid Sam is. “I don’t know how to play.”

“That’s okay. I’ll teach you.”

“Teach her what?” says a familiar female voice from the open doorway.

We both glance up just as Lia walks in, followed by Jonah.

“Hey, dude,” she says. “There are easier ways to get out of work, you know. Getting run over is a little extreme, don’t you think?”

Sam laughs. “You’re just jealous because I’m getting all the attention.”

Jonah steps up to the side of the bed and shakes hands with Sam. “Glad you’re out of the hospital, man.”

“Yeah, me too. I hate those drafty gowns.”

Right now Sam’s got on a pair of sweatpants, minus the left leg, which someone cut off, and a Captain America T-shirt. Someone must have helped him spruce up before leaving the hospital, because his undercut is freshly trimmed and he’s freshly shaved. He looks impossibly young for his twenty-eight years.

Cooper appears in the doorway, drying his hands on a hand towel, which he tosses over his shoulder. His gaze goes first to Sam, giving him a thorough once-over, before he addresses Lia and Jonah. “You guys stayin’ for dinner? There’s plenty.”

“Hell, yeah” Lia says. “I’m sick of carryout.”

“I’d better put on more biscuits, then,” he says. “I’ve seen how much you two can eat.”

Lia grabs the pair of gaming controllers laid out on top of the entertainment console and tosses one to Sam. “Did you say biscuits?”

Cooper laughs. “Yes. I promised Sam chicken and dumplings with biscuits and apple pie for dinner this evening.”

“Oh, my God, yeah, we’re staying,” Lia says. “In fact, we may never leave. You guys have room for two more, right?”

Cooper smiles. “I think there are a few suites still available. Help yourself.”

I sit back in the bed, leaning against a stack of pillows propped up on the headboard, and watch Sam and Lia play their video game.

God, it’s so good having Sam here. I’d be happy if he stayed indefinitely. And having Lia and Jonah here is just icing on the cake. Shane has brought so many people into my life, providing me with more family and friends than I ever dreamed possible.

Sam and Lia trash talk each other as they play their video game. Jonah’s seated in an armchair, watching Lia with a grin on his face, and I realize he’s totally smitten with her. I used to think that Jonah saved Lia from her own self-imposed isolation, but now I wonder if they didn’t save each other.

About a half hour later, Cooper reappears in the doorway. “All right, folks, dinner’s ready.” He comes into the room and stops beside the bed, eyeing Sam. “You want to eat in here, or try to come to the table?”

Sam pushes himself up into a sitting position. “I’m coming to the table. I’m tired of lying in bed. Can someone hand me those crutches?” He’s pointing to a pair of crutches propped up against the wall in the corner of his room.

“Nope,” Cooper says, instead pushing the wheelchair up beside the bed. “You can use the wheelchair, but you’re not ready for crutches yet.”

“But I want to try the crutches,” Sam says. “I want to get up on my feet. Well, at least one foot.”

Cooper gives Sam a stern look. “I said no. You’re not ready yet.”

“Ooo, daddy told you, didn’t he?” Lia says, laughing as she walks out the door.

“Jonah, you wanna give me a hand here?” Cooper says. “I’d hate to drop him on his ass.”

Between the two of them, Cooper and Jonah manage to transfer Sam into the wheelchair. The chair has an extension for his leg, to hold it up level with his seat. Cooper pushes him to the great room, where the huge dining room table is already set.

Shane comes into the room, dressed in jeans and a sweatshirt. “Do I smell food?”

“Yes, you do,” Cooper says, pushing Sam up to the table. “Everybody take a seat.”