Elizabeth woke up about an hour later, with Jack's arm still around her. Despite what she said to Jack about trying not to be sad today, she couldn't help missing Eric. She felt tears forming in her eyes again. She carefully moved Jack's arm away from her without disturbing him, got up and went to her closet to look for something. She found her knitting basket and pulled a man's sweater out of it. She had made this sweater for Eric as a Christmas present the year he joined the Army. She had been working on it when he left, so once she finished it, she mailed it to him. The sweater was amongst his things they sent to her when he was reported dead.
She quietly walked out of the bedroom and went to sit down in front of the fire in the living room. There she took the arms of the sweater and pulled them up on her arms. She felt the tears start running down her face as once again she felt the loneliness of another birthday without her twin. She started rocking back and forth, hoping that motion would calm her down. She didn't even hear Jack walk up behind her until she felt him kiss the top of her head. He quickly noticed the tears and knew instantly why she was crying. He sat down next to her and wrapped her in a big hug, murmuring in her ear that he was there for her.
After a few minutes, she felt she had stopped crying enough to talk to him. "I am sorry, Jack. I know I said I wasn't going to be sad today but I just couldn't help it. I always feel so alone on this day, like a part of me is missing. I know that's silly because I have family, friends and my wonderful husband with me, but I just don't feel complete."
"Sweetheart, don't you worry about that. If you need to cry because you are missing your brother, then you go ahead and do so. I can tell how much you loved him and miss him. I will be here all day if you want to cry some more. I will hold you and comfort you whenever you need it."
"Thank you, Jack. That means so much to me. However, I can't keep crying like that. It isn't good for me or the baby to be an emotional basket case today." She looked at his face and smiled; the light coming back to her eyes as she thought about their baby.
Jack returned the smile and kissed her. He looked down and noticed the sweater she was wearing. "Where did you get that sweater? It looks like a man's sweater."
She smiled again, "Yes it is. I made this for Eric for Christmas the year he joined the Army. It was in his things they sent to me after. I have kept it in my knitting basket as something I could remember him by" She pulled the sweater off her arms and gave it to Jack.
He took the sweater and looked it over. "You did a great job, Elizabeth. I didn't know you could also knit adult sweaters."
"Would you like me to make one for you?" She asked, pleased that he liked her work
"Would you? That would be great. I could use a sweater to wear under the serge when I do rounds in the winter months. But will you have time to make it? I am sure you want to knit things for the baby.
"I will have plenty of time. I don't want to knit too much for the baby now in case something happens. It's these early months when it is more likely things will go wrong with the pregnancy. So I can definitely make you a sweater now. All you have to do is tell me what color you would like. I have a catalog of yarn colors in my basket you could look at. I can also let you look at my pattern book to see if you like any of the styles."
"I would like that, but how about we save that for another day? Today is your birthday and I want to do things just for you." He stood up and started walking to their den. "I haven't given you your gift yet. I will be right back" He returned a few minutes later with a small box. "Here you go, Sweetheart. Happy Birthday"
Elizabeth took the box and gently tore off the paper. She opened the box and found a matching necklace, bracelet and earring set made of opal, her birthstone. She gasped when she saw it "Oh Jack, these are just lovely. Thank you so much". She turned her face towards him and kissed him.
"I wasn't sure if I should get you jewelry with your birthstone because I thought you may have some already. When I was in the jeweler's, I ask what your birthstone was and he showed me. I didn't think I had ever seen you wear anything with this stone so I took a chance and bought them. If you want to take them back and get something else, I am fine with that."
"No, Jack. These are beautiful. I did have an opal set but they got stolen when I was traveling here. I always meant to buy another necklace but never go to it. So you were right when you said you have never seen me wear opal jewelry before." She leaned over and kissed him again. "Thank you!"
"Your welcome, Sweetheart." He pulled her into his arms and snuggled with her in front of the fire. "I have a wonderful dinner planed for you too. I hope you would be able to eat it."
"I will most certainly try. Actually I am hungry now. The doctor told me that eating several snacks and small meals throughout the day should help keep the morning sickness at bay." She stood to go to the kitchen, but Jack pulled her back down.
"You stay right here, Elizabeth. I will get something for you. Remember I am pampering you today." He gave her a quick hug, smiled at her and stood up. "What would you like?"
"I would love some cheese and some fruit. Abigail gave me some apples and grapes yesterday and there is some cheese in the icebox."
"Coming right up!" Jack leaned down to give her a kiss then headed for the kitchen, humming along the way. He still couldn't believe they were going to be parents. Tears came to his eyes again as he remembered how Elizabeth had told him. It was so clever to give him the booties and baby hat. He wondered if she had made them since he knew she liked to knit. He also wondered how long Elizabeth had known if she had time to knit.
He finished putting together a tray of food for Elizabeth and walked back to the living room. She had moved from the floor to the sofa and was looking through her knitting basket. He sat down next to her. "Elizabeth, I was wondering something, How long have you known you were pregnant?"
She smiled at him, knowing what he was getting at. "Relax, I only found out yesterday. The hat and booties I gave you are from my stash that I have for whenever I need to give a gift quickly and don't have time to shop or make something. She reached into her basket and pulled out more booties and hats made from white, pink, yellow and blue yarn.
Jack looked at her "stash" and laughed a little. "Some stash you have there. You could open a small store with that stash. He leaned over and kissed her. "From the looks of that pile, you already have enough for our child.
Elizabeth shook her head. "These are just for gifts. When I am further along in the pregnancy, I plan to make some more personalized clothing for our baby. I have an idea for a sweater, bootie and hat set in Mountie red. It would work well for both a girl and a boy. I also have an idea for something teacher related. Not that I plan to urge our child to go into either profession." She laughed.
Jack felt an overwhelming sense of love and appreciation for her just at that moment. He was so touched that she wanted to make something Mountie related. She never ceased to surprise him, He reached over and pulled her into a big hug. He pulled back slightly to kiss her gently. "I love you, Elizabeth Thornton. Now let's have something to eat."
After they finished their snack, Jack could see that Elizabeth was getting tired. He pulled her towards him, where she rested her head on his chest. He put his arm around her, gently caressing it until she fell asleep. He was quite content to just hold her and think about the events of the day. He laughed a little to himself about the comment she made about him being over protective of her now that she was pregnant. She did known him so well; but he had reason to want to be over protective and he hoped she would be willing to let him.
He remembered back to when they had only been married a few months. He had been called away on an assignment, the first one requiring him to be away from her for more than a day or two. He was worried about leaving her because she hadn't been feeling well. She sent him on his way, telling him she would be fine. He returned two weeks later, early in the afternoon and decided to go home first and clean up before picking her up at school. He was shocked to find her at home, curled up in a ball, crying. He had flown to her side, picking her up and asking what was wrong. She broke his heart when she told him what was wrong.
"Jack," she had choked out. "I was so happy. I couldn't wait to tell you I was having a baby." Jack had started to smile but quickly realized that something wasn't right. She was clearly sobbing because she was sad. Then she said those horrible words. "Two days ago, I had a miscarriage. I lost our baby, Jack". She clung to him as she cried. He pulled her even closer to him, put his face in her hair and shed a few tears himself. "I am so sorry, Jack. I failed you."
He pulled away from her and gently pulled her chin up so he could look into her eyes. "Elizabeth, Sweetheart. You did not fail me. Not one bit. I love you so much. And we will have a baby someday." He then drew her closer to him and they cried together over their loss.
Over the next year and a half, Elizabeth had begun to believe something more serious had happened when she had the miscarriage when she didn't get pregnant again. Jack had reassured her that God had a plan for them and when it was right, they would have that baby that they had long since planned for and wanted. Jack would make sure to it that Elizabeth didn't over do things and he didn't care if she became annoyed with him. She was doing the hard work in carrying the baby; the least he could do was make things easier around their home.
