"Mom? Bill? What's going on?" The couple broke apart, a bit embarrassed to be caught in an embrace by Jack. He glared at Bill.
"Jack, you're mother and I…"
"I really don't need to know," he interrupted.
"Bill, would you mind giving me and Jack a moment?"
"Sure, take your time." He leaned over and kissed her on the cheek. Jack pretended not to notice.
When Bill walked out and shut the door, Jack went and sat on the edge of his desk and crossed his arms. "Mom? You and Bill?"
"We can't help who we love. You should know what I mean, you fell in love with a rich girl from Hamilton. You didn't plan on loving someone so different ,did you?"
"Love? Mom, be serious."
"I'm being serious, son. I care very much for Bill."
"How long have you been seeing him?"
"Two months."
"Two months? Why didn't you tell me?"
"I didn't know I had to clear it with you, Jack."
"Of course you don't. I just meant it would have been nice to know so I wouldn't be caught off guard like I was. Are you happy, Mom?"
"Yes, happier than I've been in a long time."
He wrapped his arms around his Mom. "That's all that matters. I love you, you know that."
"I know. I love you too."
Bill walked back in. "Is everything ok in here?"
"Bill, I'm sorry about my reaction. You caught me off guard." He held out his hand to Bill.
"No apologies necessary. I can imagine it might have been a shock." He shook Jack's hand.
"I'll talk to Elizabeth, but after the baby's born, we'd like to have you both over for a family dinner."
"That sounds nice Jack," Bill said as he put his arm around Charlotte. "We'll be there."
Faith burst in the door. "Jack!"
"What is it, Faith?"
"Elizabeth is in labor!"
"What?! I'm coming. Are you coming, Grandma?"
"I'll be there." Jack quickly kissed her cheek and ran out the door.
When Jack returned home, he walked in the door and straight to the bedroom. "Elizabeth?"
"Jack. It's really happening." She was laying in bed, so calm and quiet. "Stay with me."
"Of course. No one could make me leave, Honey." He sat on the bed next to her, held her hand and kissed her forehead.
Grace walked in. "Jack. Why are you in here?"
"I want him with me, Mother."
"I'm going to stay, every step of the way."
"Men don't stay for this."
"This man does. I want to meet my son or daughter, the second they are born."
Grace just walked out, shaking her head.
Jack felt Elizabeth tense up as she squeezed his hand. He let her squeeze and tightened his hold as well. After a moment, she eased her grip on his hand. "Doing ok, Sweetheart?"
"I am. The pain is getting more intense, but I can get through it, if you're here."
"You will never guess what I walked in on when I went to the jail," he mentioned, trying to distract her.
"Your Mom and Bill?"
"How could you possibly know that? You have got to stop reading my mind."
"Jack, remember when I…." She stopped talking as another contraction took hold on her. The pain started in the front and radiated to her back and then down her legs. She tried to keep breathing deep because it seemed to help. She closed her eyes and squeezed Jack's hand. She took another breath and opened her eyes. "Remember when you and I argued about your mother, and I couldn't tell you what we had talked about?"
"Oh. That's what it was?"
"Yes, she told me that she missed being married. She wanted to have what we have."
"We do have something, don't we?"
"Yes. I never thought…." Another contraction came and went. "I never thought I could love someone as much as I love you. It's a very intense feeling. A bit like these contractions. She wants to have that again."
"She told me that she loves him, Elizabeth."
"That's wonderful."
"I guess it is. I never thought of her with anyone other than my dad. It's a little strange."
"Jack, when I have another contraction, can you please rub my back? It hurts so badly when I'm having one."
"Of course."
She breathed for a moment. "Oh, here it comes." She rolled onto her side and he rubbed up and down her lower back as she winced and breathed through the pain. She took a deep breath and rolled back onto the pillows.
"You are doing amazing, Elizabeth."
"Thank you, Love." She closed her eyes and breathed. "It may sound weird but I really want to stand up. Can you help me?"
"I don't know…aren't you supposed to stay in bed?"
"I am so sick of bed that I think, at this point, whatever makes me feel better is ok in my book." She swung her legs over toward Jack at the edge of the bed. She used his arms to push herself up off the bed. "Thank you. I didn't realize how much I missed walking around until I couldn't do it."
He held her around the waist and steadied her. "Do you need anything?"
"No, I'm ok." He looked down at her, put her hair behind her ears, and kissed her.
"I've missed you." He leaned down and kissed her again.
"I missed you too." She stared into his beautiful eyes, forgetting what was happening and just enjoying the moment. "Oh!"
"What?"
"I think my water broke." She looked down and saw the floor and her nightgown were all wet.
"I guess it did. Let's get you into a dry nightgown and then I will get some towels."
"Wait, another contraction. Hang on." She put her arms around his neck and bent down, her head on his chest, moaning with the pain. He rubbed her back and supported her weight as she dealt with it. He hated seeing her in pain.
"Honey, sit down while I go get the towels. I don't want you to fall."
When he went out to get towels, Grace looked up from the table. Then she went back to reading. "Her water broke. I'm just getting towels." She nodded. Jack walked over, sat down and took her hand.
"Grace. I know you don't agree with me being in there."
"No, but apparently it doesn't matter what I think, now does it?"
"Of course it does. There is no reason why you can't be in there too, and Julie, if Elizabeth wants. You just need to remember that this is our baby. We want to do this our way, whatever makes us comfortable. You want to meet that grandchild of yours , don't you?"
"More than anything, but I don't want to take up too much space. If you want to do this together, then you should."
He stood up, leaned down to kiss her cheek and said, "Its up to you. You are welcome to come in."
He brought the towels in the bedroom and Faith was in there. "Jack, she's about half way there. Now that her water broke, it should go faster and be more painful."
It did go faster and was more painful than anything Elizabeth had ever experienced. When it was time to push, Jack climbed in the bed behind Elizabeth and she gripped his hands with every push. He didn't know how she was doing this. The amount of pressure she put on his arms and hands was remarkable. He found himself breathing with her, holding his breath when she pushed, and giving her strength to do what seemed impossible. In between each contraction, resting with her, rubbing her arms, holding her hands. Then, with one final push, Elizabeth yelled and their baby was born, right into Faith's hands. The baby was crying loudly and squirming. Faith cut the cord and cleaned the baby from head to toe. She put a diaper on it and wrapped it tightly in a blanket and handed the little bundle to Elizabeth. "Congratulations. It's a girl. You have a daughter."
"Jack." She leaned back against him, breathless and crying tears of joy. "A girl."
Faith stepped out for a moment to give them some privacy.
"Madilyn Elizabeth Thornton. She's beautiful, Sweetheart. Just like you." He leaned forward to kiss Elizabeth, bringing on tears of joy for him as well.
"Do you want to hold her, Jack?"
"More than anything." He repositioned himself on the bed so he was next to Elizabeth instead of behind her. She handed Maddie to him. He was in love. This beautiful little person was finally here. It felt like they waited so long. He looked at her blue eyes and dark curly hair. Her skin was soft and her hands were so tiny and she was staring right at him. He was speechless.
Elizabeth leaned against his shoulder and smiled. "Thank you, Love." He looked at Elizabeth with questioning eyes. "For staying with me. For Maddie. I've never been so incredibly happy, or exhausted before."
"I didn't want to be anywhere else. Why don't you go to sleep. I'm going to go show off our beautiful daughter to everyone."
"Ok, don't be gone long. She will probably want to eat soon." Before Jack could respond, Elizabeth had fallen asleep.
Faith walked in as Jack exited the room. She quickly kissed Jack's cheek. "Congratulations, Jack."
"Thank you, Faith." Jack walked out into the living room with Maddie. "Everyone? Who wants to meet Madilyn Elizabeth Thornton?" Julie shrieked and Grace, Charlotte and Abigail all started hugging each other and crying.
"Can I hold her?" Julie asked, barely able to contain herself. He carefully handed her to Julie and walked over to the others.
All three women swarmed Jack with hugs.
"Congratulations, Jack," Abigail said. She kissed his cheek. "I'm so happy for you."
"Thank you, Abigail."
"Grace? Thank you for letting us experience this by ourselves. It was wonderful." Julie finally let Grace hold her first grandchild. She was mesmerized.
"She's beautiful Jack, but I'm not surprised, with you and Elizabeth as parents." She gave him a hug. Then it was Charlotte's turn. Grace handed Maddie to Charlotte.
"Oh. She is perfect, son. Just perfect." He nodded, because something about his mother holding his daughter, rendered him speechless. They watched as she started making sucking noises and moving around a bit. "I think she needs Mama now. She's hungry." Charlotte handed her back to Jack and he took her back to Elizabeth.
"Hey, did you sleep, Honey?"
"A little. What did everyone think?" she asked with a smile and a yawn as she scooted up towards the headboard. He sat down next to her.
"They loved her. I think she's hungry." Elizabeth took her from Jack and immediately started unbuttoning her nightgown. Jack watched as Maddie started eating. She knew just what to do.
"Amazing."
"What is?"
"The whole day. How you gave birth and endured the pain. How beautiful you look feeding our daughter. How she knew just what to do to eat." As Maddie ate, Elizabeth leaned her head towards Jack and kissed him.
"I love you so much, Jack."
"I love you more." After a few moments, they heard a knock at the door.
"Come in," Elizabeth said. Abigail walked in and shut the door. "Abigail. Did you meet Maddie?"
"I did. She's perfect, Elizabeth. I'm so happy for you." She came over and hugged Elizabeth.
"Did you hold her?"
"Not yet, but there will be plenty of time for that."
Maddie had finished eating and fallen asleep so Elizabeth covered herself and handed her over to Abigail. "Nonsense, you're my dearest friend and Maddie's Aunt Abigail. You should hold her."
"Hi little Maddie. I'm your Aunt Abigail. If you ever want to learn to cook, come see me. It's one thing I do well. Your Mama learned from me, and she and your Daddy are still here to tell about it, so I must be doing something right." She looked up at Elizabeth and winked.
"Very funny," Elizabeth said with a smile.
"Do you want me to put her in her cradle so you can go to sleep?"
"No, I'll take her, Abigail." Jack reached for her.
"You three get some sleep. You've been through a lot."
Jack leaned back on the headboard next to Elizabeth and laid Maddie on his chest. Elizabeth snuggled up to Jack and held his hand, looking at her new daughter and incredible husband. Before long, all three were sleeping.
Elizabeth woke up to the sound of Maddie crying. Jack was changing her diaper at the other end of the bed and he looked like he might be having trouble. "Hi sweetie. How's it going?" she said with a chuckle.
"Just fine. All done," he said with a note of pride in his voice. He lifted Maddie up and the diaper fell off. Elizabeth tried not to laugh but it came out in sort of a snort. She covered her mouth and looked away.
"Ok, well if your such an expert at this, come show me how, Sweetheart." She came over to the end of the bed and kissed Jack.
"I'm sorry that I laughed. You were so cute when you were all proud of yourself. Here, watch me and then, next time you can try again." She fixed the diaper like she had been doing it for years.
"You make that look easy."
"It is, once you get the hang of it. I think I'm going to feed her."
"What about you? Are you hungry?"
"Yes, now that you mention it. I'm starving."
"I'll go get us something."
Elizabeth sat down in Jack's rocking chair for the first time with the baby. It felt so good to be out of bed. Maddie started whimpering and making sucking noises, letting Mama know she was ready to eat. "Hang on Maddie, Mama's working on it." Finally she got her nightgown unbuttoned and settled Maddie in to eat. She started rocking slowly, staring down at the living proof of her and Jack's love. She unwrapped her from the blanket Charlotte gave her and touched her soft legs and counted her toes. "Mama loves you Maddie. Thank you for being born." She wiped a tear from her cheek as her own mother walked in.
"Hi Beth. I hope I'm not bothering you."
"Of course not, I'm just feeding Maddie. Do you want to keep me company?"
Grace nodded, tears filling her eyes as she looked away.
"Mother? What's bothering you?"
"Nothing, dear. I want you to know I'm proud of you."
"Thank you." She searched her mother's face for some inkling of what could be bothering her.
"She's perfect, Beth. Just like you when you were born."
"Tell me about it, Mother. I don't think I've heard that story."
"Alright, well when you decided it was time to make an appearance, you were in a hurry. Not only were you two weeks early, but I was only in labor for three hours before you were born." She sat down on the edge of the bed. "Oh, a featherbed. Interesting."
"Yep, it is. Now go on Mother."
"The second I saw you, I knew your life would be different then we planned for our children."
"How could you know?"
"I don't know…mothers intuition, I guess. I was right. We were not really surprised when you told us you were coming here. We worried because it was so far away, but not surprised."
"Thank you for supporting me. I still would have come, but it would have been much harder."
"That's what parents are supposed to do. I can't say we were very supportive, at first, when it came to Jack. I'm sorry for that."
"You just didn't know him, like I did. Maybe, even though you knew my life would be different, you still hoped it wouldn't be?"
"Yes, maybe so."
Elizabeth picked up Maddie and put her to her shoulder to burp her.
"How did you know to burp her, Elizabeth?"
"I don't know. I just did."
"Mothers intuition."
"You know, I was worried I wouldn't know how to care for her, or what to do if she cried. I'm not worried anymore. I just seem to know." Grace nodded with a smile.
"I'm going to go eat some dinner. I just want you to know, I love you and you are a wonderful mother and wife. I couldn't be more proud of my headstrong, opinionated, strong, capable daughter. I hope Maddie grows up to be just like you."
"Oh, Mother..I love you too. Come here." Elizabeth got up and hugged her mother, tears falling down her face. "Thank you for coming to Hope Valley to see us. I'm so glad you got to meet Maddie."
"Of course, she's my first grandchild. Your father just needs to make the trip now."
"I hope it's soon."
"Me too, dear. I'll see you in the morning?"
"Yes, I'll see you then."
As Grace walked out, Jack walked in with their dinner. "Hey. How are my girls?"
"Well, one of us is still hungry." She winked as she put Maddie in her cradle.
"I saw your mom come in, so I thought I would give you a few minutes."
"I married such a thoughtful man." She kissed him and then took a plate of food from the tray he was carrying. "This looks wonderful."
After they ate, they were both so exhausted, they fell asleep. However, sleep was interrupted a lot that night. Elizabeth got up to feed Maddie every two hours or so, then Jack got up to change her diaper about an hour after that. At about six o'clock in the morning, Jack heard the baby making noises so he got up and rocked her, hoping she wouldn't cry again. Elizabeth needed her rest and she wasn't getting it. "Hey, Maddie. We have to let Mama sleep, ok? Daddy can't feed you, but I can do this." Elizabeth heard Jack's voice and opened her eyes. She looked over and saw Jack talking to Maddie. "I love you so much. Thank you for making us so happy." He put her up on his chest close to his neck, kissing her soft head, taking in the baby smell. "I think we should do this every morning, just you and me. What do you think?"
Elizabeth continued to watch and listen to her husband bonding with his daughter. She didn't think it was possible to love him more than she already did, but this filled her heart.
"You know, you look just like your Mama. You have her blue eyes and dark, curly hair. You are both so beautiful. I'm so lucky." He kissed her head, rubbing her back, keeping her calm. "Let's go see what we have to eat." He got up and took Maddie to the kitchen and Elizabeth fell back asleep with a smile on her face.
When Jack walked out to the kitchen, Grace was there at the table drinking coffee. "Morning, Grace."
"Morning, dear."
"I hope you weren't up most of the night, like we were."
"Some, but it's only the first night. It's always the longest."
"I was going to make breakfast, are you hungry?'
"A little. Here, why don't I take the baby so you can cook?"
"Ok. Thank you." He handed Maddie to Grandma and made enough breakfast for everyone. Then he poured more coffee for Grace and some for himself and sat down to eat. He looked up and noticed Grace watching him. "What?" he asked with a smile.
"You're not like most men, are you?"
"I suppose not. What do you mean?"
"Everything. Elizabeth is very lucky. Most men wouldn't stay in the room while their wife is giving birth. Or sit behind her helping her push. Or get up multiple times with the baby at night, or change diapers. Or make breakfast for his mother-in-law who hasn't always been so nice to him."
"I consider myself to be the luckiest man alive. I try not to take it for granted because we never know when we might lose it. It wasn't even an option for me to leave Elizabeth alone while she was having Maddie. Maddie is half mine, so I think helping Elizabeth take care of her, is the least I can do after what she has done for me, plus I really enjoy it. I don't hold the past against you, Grace. You were trying to protect your daughter and you didn't know me."
"Well, little Maddie Thornton. You are one lucky girl to have a father as wonderful as yours."
"Grace, let me take her so you can eat." He stood up to take her and hugged Grace. "You are a good mother, Grace, even though you may not think so. Thank you for giving me Elizabeth."
"Morning everyone," Elizabeth said as she walked into the kitchen. "What smells so good?"
"Your husband made breakfast."
"Mmm. You did? Did you make some for me?" she asked as she walked up and kissed Maddie and then him.
"Of course. Have a seat." Elizabeth went to sit down and winced.
"How are you feeling, Honey?"
"I'm ok. Just a little sore."
"Would a hot bath help? After you eat I can get it ready for you."
"That would be wonderful. Thanks, Love."
After she ate, Jack started heating up the water for Elizabeth's bath and he lit some candles and placed them around the room while she went to feed Maddie. By the time she was done, everything was ready. Jack came and took Maddie from her. "Have a nice bath, Honey. Take your time."
"Thank you, Jack. This was very thoughtful of you."
"You're welcome. Love you."
"Love you more." She walked into the washroom and gasped. Jack stood at the door to see if she liked what he did. In addition to the candles, he also put some bubble bath in the water and flowers, borrowed from the kitchen table, on the sink. "Jack, you are so sweet. Thank you for taking care of me." She reached up and touched his face. He leaned in and kissed her gently.
"Anything for you, Sweetheart."
Elizabeth came back in the bedroom after her bath, completely relaxed, her sore muscles feeling much better. She walked in and Jack was laying in bed with Maddie on his chest, one hand on her back, snoring softly. She would never get tired of that sight. She climbed into bed to join them, wrapping her arm over Jack's stomach and falling asleep within just moments.
The next two weeks went by fast. Jack returned to work full time, but every morning he rocked Maddie and spent time with her. It was his favorite time of day. Elizabeth was almost fully recovered from giving birth and enjoyed her last couple days with Grace and Julie before they would head back home. She took Maddie to town to see Abigail and Charlotte came a few times a week to see them.
Jack was doing paperwork in his office, when he realized something. Next week would be Elizabeth's and his one year anniversary. He could hardly believe it was time. It went so fast. He had to think of something special to do for Elizabeth.
"Abigail?" Jack called as he walked in the café door.
"Yes, Jack? How's Elizabeth and Maddie?"
"They are doing great. Maddie's growing so fast."
"That's good. What can I help you with?"
"Well, next week, Saturday, is Elizabeth's and my anniversary."
"Oh wow. That came up fast."
"I need some help with the preparations."
"Sure, whatever you need me to do."
"Thank you. I will talk to you about it later."
Jack had a plan. He was hoping it would work out perfectly, but it had the potential to go the opposite way too.