Jack laid back in his bunk, playing with his wedding ring and thanking the Lord that the troubles in the Northern Territories were now over. In a couple of days he would start his trek back to Hope Valley and to his kind, caring, smart and beautiful wife. He thought back to two months ago, when he made the agonizing decision to go fight the good fight. Elizabeth had been devastated by his decision and so frightened. He had been wanting to propose to her for a long time but wanted to wait for the right moment. Of course, him leaving wasn't the perfect time either but he wanted her to know that he was promising to come back to her and begin their life together. It had been her idea to get married the next day, the day before he was to leave. She knew the dangers that could find him so many hundreds of miles away and she wanted to know him as her husband even if it was just for one night. Truth be told, he wanted the same thing so he could have something to look forward to when he got home. He couldn't wait to take Elizabeth in his arms and hold her for the rest of his life.
His memories brought him back to their wedding day. He knew without a doubt that he wanted to marry her but a part of him was concerned she may have regrets if she didn't have a big wedding, that she didn't have a beautiful fancy wedding gown and a huge party after. She reassured him that she had a dress in mind that Julie had sent her that he hadn't seen her in. She knew the town could throw together a big bash for them and Abigail would make them a wonderful meal with a big cake. When he mentioned he was concerned about her family missing out, she told him they probably wouldn't have come anyway and she was prepared for that. She then took his face in her hands, smiled the smile he so loved and told him should would never have any regrets marrying him this way. So off they went to make the announcement. Abigail immediately began planning their luncheon meal and cake, Rosemary insisted on helping Elizabeth with her dress and hair, Clara offered to sew together a veil for Elizabeth and the children volunteered to go pick flowers in the morning. It all came together so well.
At 11am the next day, Jack took his spot down at the end of the aisle, next to Frank, Lee and Bill. He nervously clutched his hands as he watched Rosemary come down the aisle, then Abigail and finally, he saw her. Elizabeth was so beautiful in a cream colored dress with pink roses on it, a short matching veil and she was holding bouquet of pink roses and white carnations. He felt weak in the knees as he watched her walk down the aisle to join him. He forgot all about what he was going to be facing in the days, weeks and possibly months ahead. All he could think about was how lucky he was to have found this wonderful woman. He felt tears start pouring down his cheeks as he reached for her hand. "I love you." He whispered to her and he remembered her softly saying it back to him. The rest of the ceremony was a blur to him until he heard Frank tell him he could kiss the bride.
They spent a wonderful night together, just the two of them, enjoying the love they felt for each other. With the rising of the sun, the tears started to fall. They clung to each other those last few minutes before he was to say goodbye to the town. Elizabeth tried her best to be strong but she saw Cody salute Jack and then his horse turned the corner to leave town and she lost it. She ran after him, screaming his name in anguish at his retreating form. He turned his horse back around and ran to hear. They kissed as if their lives depended on it before pulling away from each other. He picked up her left hand and kissed her rings, a silent promise that he would return to her one day.
"Mail call" Tim Waters announced as he walked through the barracks, bringing Jack back to the present. "Thornton, you have a letter from Hope Valley." He said as he walked by and handed him the letter.
"Thank you, Tim." Jack said as he glanced at the envelope. He felt his heart skip a beat when he saw it was from Elizabeth. He decided to go down to the nearby pond to read the letter in private. He found himself getting emotional when he would read her letters or just think about her, so he decided to get away from prying eyes of the other Mounties. He remembered how they teased him when he practically pounced on the first letter he received from Elizabeth.
After a short walk, Jack arrived at the pond. He sat for a few minutes on a bench and remembered the boat rides he had taken with Elizabeth back in Hope Valley. He smiled, knowing that he would be returning home to her very soon. Maybe he would take her on another romantic picnic and boat ride. He opened her letter and began to read.
My darling Jack,
I love you and I miss you more than I ever thought possible. I hope things are improving for you and I pray for your safe and quick return.
I have something very important to tell you. I wish I could tell you this when we are together again, but not knowing when you will be home, I don't want to wait. I agonized over whether I should even tell you at all because I thought it might worry you and take your mind off your work. After some soul searching I realized that it would be wrong to keep it from you. I let my faith in God help me to decide that you deserve to know.
Now I am sure I have you worried and seriously wondering what is going on. I won't delay any longer. Jack, I'm pregnant! We made ourselves a wedding night baby! I wish you could see me right now because I have a huge grin on my face. I wish I could see you too because I am sure you would have a grin to match mine.
Jack, don't worry about me too much. I am taking care of myself and eating properly. I try to get as much rest as possible. Fortunately the school year is almost over and then I can take to sleeping late if I feel I need the rest.
Jack, come home to me soon. I love you!
Your loving wife,
Elizabeth
Jack sat there in shock over Elizabeth's news. He was glad he decided to read the letter in private. He had tears of happiness flowing down his cheeks and he surely didn't want the other Mounties see him crying. He couldn't believe it. He read the letter a second time to confirm it. A baby. His beautiful wife was pregnant with his child, their child. He ran his hand through his hair and smiled, a grin that he was sure had to match the one she had when she wrote the letter. Suddenly he got up and ran to barracks to find his superior officer. He wanted to return home immediately. Being a married man himself, his superior officer understood and released Jack from his duties. Jack quickly packed his bag and started for home.
Ten days later, Elizabeth found herself awake at 4 am, suffering from another night of pregnancy insomnia. She just couldn't get used to falling asleep at the drop of a hat in the late afternoon or early evening, then being up all night. Thankfully school was over so she didn't have to worry about falling asleep in class. She found herself wondering if Jack was home, if he could help her sleep. She tried to imagine him massaging her shoulders and back, hoping it would relax her. Instead, she thought she heard noises coming from downstairs. She eyes shot open as it sounded like someone was breaking in to her house. As she got out of bed to investigate, she heard footsteps on her stairs. She quickly scanned the room, trying to locate something she could use as a weapon, but found nothing. She was about to run to the closet and hide when the door to her bedroom opened. She closed her eyes and screamed, hoping maybe Lee or Rosemary would hear her. Then she felt the person's arms go around her. She slapped at the person, trying to pull away from them, until she heard a familiar voice.
"Elizabeth, Sweetheart! Stop! It's me, Jack! Your husband!" He tried to take hold of her arms.
Elizabeth stopped hitting him and opened her eyes. Standing in front of her was her very handsome Mountie staring back at her, a look of concern on his face, wondering why she had this reaction. Elizabeth throws her arms around him, kissing him as if her life depended on it. "Jack! I can't believe you're here!" She kissed him again.
When they part, Jack holds her for just a moment longer, remembering the feel of her arms around him. He took her hand and they walk over to the bed. "Oh how I missed you, Sweetheart!" he tells her as they sit down on the bed. He pulls her into his arms and can feel her still shaking from her scare. "Elizabeth, I am so sorry I scared you. I tried to be quiet coming in but I guess I wasn't."
"Don't blame yourself, Honey. I was already awake." She didn't want to say anything further not knowing if he had gotten her letter.
"Why up you up at this hour? You need your rest now that you are pregnant." Just mentioning the baby brought an automatic grin to his face, even as worried about his wife as he was.
She smiled at him. "Thank goodness you got my letter." She leaned over to kiss him. "My body is all messed up now that I am pregnant. I fall asleep at the drop of a hat in the late afternoon or early evening, then I can't sleep at night. Abigail said the same thing happened to her. Pregnancy insomnia. Carson said it is quite common to not being able to sleep in the early months but he said as long as I am resting at some point in the day he is fine with that."
"Carson? The man Abigail hired? What is he doing giving you pregnancy advice."
"Oh, that's right. You don't know what happened with him. It was in a letter I sent after the one I told you about the baby. Carson is actually a doctor. He stopped practicing two years ago after his wife died. She had a tumor and he operated on her but she died. He was investigated by the medical board and cleared of any wrong doing but her sister wouldn't accept the board's decision."
"Really? I guess he didn't want to practice anymore because of what happened."
"Well, yes but he was also running from her sister. She wanted to bring up charges against him. She actually tracked him down here. That was when we found out he was a doctor."
"I get the feeling there is more to this story and I would love to hear it but would you mind if I went and changed? Then we can hold each other in bed and you can fill me in on all that has happened recently."
"That sounds perfect, Jack."
Jack got up from the bed, leaned down to kiss her and helped her get under the covers. He then went to the wash room to get cleaned up. A few minutes later, he was crawling into bed with his wife. He patted his chest as an invitation for her to lay her head there. He wrapped his arm around her waist and held her close. Once they were both settled, Jack felt something jump on the bed. It felt like it was walking towards them. "Elizabeth, did you feel something join us in bed?" He asked as he tried to see what he had felt.
"Oh, dear." Elizabeth murmured. "I have something sad to tell you. Oh and what you felt is our new kitten." She sat up in bed and turned on the light. Sure enough a pretty calico kitten was inching her way up the bed to sit on Elizabeth's lap.
"What about having a kitten is sad, Sweetheart? Does the kitten not get along with Rip? By the way, where is Rip? I didn't seem him anywhere when I came in the house."
Elizabeth put a hand on his cheek and stroked it. "Rip is the something sad I have to tell you." Taking a deep breath, she continued. "About 10 days after you left, Rip died in his sleep." She felt tears start to fall down her cheeks.
Jack sat up to join her. "What? He's gone?" He started crying too.
"Yes. Carson said it was most likely old age." Elizabeth pulled Jack in her arms and held him while he cried for his four legged companion. "I'm so sorry, Jack."
Jack buried his head in her hair, breathing in the vanilla smell of her shampoo and just held on to her. She rubbed his back and rocked with him, knowing he needed comfort. They sat that way for several minutes until Jack slowly pulled away. "Thank you for holding me, Elizabeth. I love you."
"I love you too." She leaned in for another kiss. "Jack, I had Rip buried on our land. I thought he deserved to be there. He has been a part of us from the very beginning of our relationship and felt he should be with us as we start this next chapter of our lives."
"Sweetheart, you amaze me. You knew exactly what I would want for him and you took care of it for me." He put his arms around her again.
"Maybe tomorrow we can both go over there and see him. I haven't been since we buried him because I wanted to go with you. Unless you want to be by yourself to say your goodbyes."
"I want you with me, Sweetheart." They kissed again, so happy to be with each other again.
"Jack, Honey, I love that you call me Sweetheart."
"And I love you calling me Honey. Just don't call me Honey Bunny." They looked at each other and laughed. "So tell me more about the kitten and how she relates to Rip being gone. And later you can finished up the story about Carson." Jack got settled back down on the bed and waited for Elizabeth to lie on his chest again.
"Well, about three weeks later, I was working on papers at the kitchen table, or rather was trying to work on them but my mind was wandering. I had my suspicions at that point that I might be pregnant and it was distracting me. While I was thinking, I started to hear meowing. I thought I was hearing things but it got louder. I went to the front door and opened it. Sitting on the steps was this beautiful calico kitten. She looked up at me and meowed again. She looked thin and I figured she was hungry. I crouched down in front of her to pick her up and she practically jumped in my arms. She began purring. I brought her inside and gave her some chicken left over from dinner. She was very hungry. After she was finished she started checking out her new surroundings and made her way to the sofa. Before she jumped on it, she turned back to look at me and meowed again. It was as if she wanted me to join her. So I did and she crawled on my lap. I petted her and the purring started up again. I realized then that we both needed each other. She needed someone to take care of her and I needed someone to keep me company since I no longer had Rip. It got me thinking that maybe Rip sent her to me because he knew I was lonely and he knew you would be sad and missing him too."
Jack had tears in his eyes again and a couple landed on her forehead. She sat up to look at him again. She opened her mouth to ask him something but he put his finger on her lips, silencing her for the moment. "Elizabeth, I think you are right." He gulped down a sob. "Rip did send this beautiful cat to our door step to help us both through this time. I miss him so but I know with this little kitty's help we will get through it." Elizabeth laid her head back down on his chest. "Sweetheart, did you give her a name?"
"Yes I did but it's not very imaginative. I'm calling her Callie."
"I like it." He said as he kissed her head and Callie moved to lie next to him. She knew he needed some comforting. He started petting her and in return, she purred for him. He smiled, then began stroking Elizabeth's arm, drawing circles on it. "If you are feeling up to it, do you want to tell me the rest of Carson's story?"
"Yes I do. I'm not sleepy but what about you? You have been traveling all this time. I could go downstairs and read if you want to get some rest."
"I'm too excited to sleep, Sweetheart. I am so happy to be back home with you and now we can finally started the next adventure of our lives, as a married couple who are expecting a baby."
"I am too." Elizabeth snuggled closer to Jack and began telling him the rest of Carson's story. After she finished, they were both tired and they fell asleep, content to be with each other.
