A few days later Jim opened the door to his house to the sound of laughter. He smiled deeply as he heard his daughter and wife laughing together and couldn't think of a better sounding noise. He gently closed the door and poked his head into the doorway to the living room to find them both on the floor surrounded by a number of brightly colored toys.

"Hey," he said gently as to not to disturb them too much.

"Hey yourself," Sarah said cheerfully as she looked to him, "you're home early." She took Karol's hands in her own to let her know she hadn't forgotten she was there.

Jim frowned and entered the room. "Doc sent me home," he said as he sat down.

Sarah immediately felt concerned.

Seeing her expression turn to one of worry he smiled. "Don't worry. Withdrawal," he said, ashamed he was putting them both through this. "Luckily the headache cleared on the way here, but the nausea is still there a little."

She forced a smile. "Can I get you anything?"

He shook his head gently, and then began to regret it as a remnant of his headache beat back again. "Doc said he gave you a date for the surgery," he probed.

Sarah nodded. "I go in next Wednesday," she said dully.

"That's quick," he said, happy they could fit her in so soon.

"Work said it would be alright to take time off," she added. Not that she did more than a few hours in the morning as it was. She looked over mechanical plans at Swann Industries, Jim had gotten the job through Rory who owed him one. It was a simple job, she got to sit in an office with Karol with her and keep mostly away from other people. "Maybe I should delay the surgery," she tried. "I can wait until you're better," she was quickly interrupted.

"I won't make you do that, darlin'," he said softly. "Doc said minor symptoms like this can last for up to a year after quitting. I'll live."

She pursed her lips and looked at Karol, shaking her hands gently to know it was playtime again. She let go of Karol's hands and picked up an orange ring. "Where does this one go, sweetie?" she asked as she gave it to Karol.

Jim noticed she was teaching their daughter to put a stack of brightly colored rings on a post.

"She almost managed a little crawl earlier," Sarah giggled at the memory of her attempt that ended up in Karol on the floor laughing.

"Of course she did," Jim answered proudly, knowing crawls should happen between now and the next two months, "she's smart like her mother."

Sarah blushed.

Karol looked at her orange ring and held it out in the direction of her daddy.

Sarah smiled at Karol and then Jim, "wanna help?"

He sure did. He smiled at Karol and came to sit beside them.

Karol shook the ring at him and made an incoherent noise.

He laughed gently, "you gotta put that on the pole, sweetie."

Karol stared at her daddy for a minute before looking at the pole, there was a red ring already on it. She reached her little chubby fingers forward with the ring and after several failed attempts managed to get it onto the pole.

"Good girl," Sarah cried out and gave her a mini applause.

Jim extended his hand to cup the back of Karol's head and stroked her hair, "now, that is how you do it."

Karol let out a giggle at the sound of her mommy and daddy around her.

"Which is the next ring?" Jim asked Karol softly.

She ignored the question that she was too young to understand and began to wave her arms about, wanting attention.

Jim was amused at her. She was so innocent and cute.

Sarah smiled at Jim's thoughts and she passed the next ring, a yellow one, to him so he could pass it to Karol.

Jim took the ring and held it near Karol's hand.

Karol took the ring and waved that too in the air, fascinated by it.

"Are you at work, tomorrow?" Sarah asked Jim, forgetting his shift pattern. She was always so sure of when he worked and when he didn't, but having Karol made her forget such things.

"Nope, I'm all yours," he answered Sarah while he stared at Karol.

"Good," Sarah answered, relief in her voice. "I thought we could spend the day together as a family. Maybe we could go down to the river and have a picnic?" Her voice was hopeful. She was always reluctant to go out in public for extended periods of time; the locals still distrusted her and she hated hearing their thoughts about Jim and Karol. But it would do them all good to go out and enjoy spending time together.

"That sounds like a nice idea," he replied and looked at her. "A proper little family outing."

She smiled, content they'd be spending the day together. She wasn't sure how many chances they'd get before the surgery or how soon after she'd be up to doing things like that. Sarah watched Karol place another ring on the pole and she praised her for it. They really did have a clever little girl.

Note: Sorry this chapter is a bit short, the next one will be much longer dealing with the family outing.