Chapter 8
Prince Charming
On Monday morning after their 40th anniversary party, it was so quiet in the house and Jack and Elizabeth slept in later than usual. They looked forward to some time alone together because it had been rather chaotic with having their family all together over the weekend. What a blessing it was to have everyone together to celebrate the wonderful life that Jack and Elizabeth made together. Their love story is one for the ages. It's heartwarming to see how much they still love each other in their 60's.
As they sat having their morning coffee, they reminisced about their special weekend. "Would you like to go for a walk, Mr. Thornton? I could really use some exercise."
"I would love to, Mrs. Thornton. Do you have any place in mind?"
"Not really, Prince Charming, as long as I'm with you, I'll go anywhere."
Jack chuckled at her comment remembering that he had told her the night before that she couldn't resist his charm nor his kisses. He suggested they go for a walk around the lake since the City of Coal Valley had recently put a nice sidewalk around the perimeter. It was a beautiful place to walk and it was nearby.
As they began their stroll, they observed a young couple on a boat in the middle of the lake. Jack looked at Elizabeth and said, "I wonder if that young man remembered to bring a few spiders with him?"
Elizabeth smiled and asked, "Jack, did you bring a spider on the boat with you that day?"
Chucking, Jack said, "I plead the fifth, Elizabeth! No, just lucky for me that creepy crawler ended up on our boat. Speaking of resisting my charm, you were sure able to resist my charm that day."
"Is that what you thought, Jack? How long did it really take to remove that spider anyway? Did you think about just flicking it off of my shoulder? Did you not read between the lines, Jack? Did you think a spider was a good enough reason for me to jump into your arms? (Elizabeth laughs.) Okay, if I'm being honest, you were right last night – I do have a hard time resisting your charm and kisses, and it was no different that day, you were charming."
They continued walking and Jack said, "Elizabeth, after we had Emily, and you chose to stay home instead of continuing to teach, did you ever resent that?"
"Jack, you know much I adored teaching the Coal Valley children. Of course, I missed them terribly. But I never resented staying home to take care of our children. Ecclesiastes states to everything there is a season. I'm thankful that I was able to teach for several years before Emily came along. I quickly learned as a mother, that I was always a teacher. And Jack, you have been such a wonderful father. I especially love how tender you were with our babies when they were small. Many men don't handle that age period very well. They prefer not getting too involved until they can play with them."
"Elizabeth, you know how much I loved holding them as babies. As soon as I started rocking them in the chair, we would fall asleep. (Jack smiles) How else would I get a nap? And I would daydream about them as children, what they would be like when they grew up, who they would look like, the things we would do together. I had such a sense of satisfaction knowing that you and I created these amazing little people that I loved so much. And as they grew, life just got better. I have loved every stage of our lives together.
Did you know that before Thomas and William were born, I wondered how I could possibly love another child as much as I loved Emily? If I had known beforehand that you were having twins, I would have been even more concerned. But once our little guys were born, I realized that the Lord multiplies our love, he doesn't divide it."
"I agree Jack. He does multiply it. Love is so amazing; it's such a mystery. Jack, I have a secret that I don't think I've ever told you. Do you remember when you came over to Abigail's after Carla had her twins? Do you remember when you and I were holding the twins and I was telling you that Julie had found out that Billy Hamilton had gotten fired for stealing? As we were holding those babies, we looked at each other and you said, 'I could get used to this', to which I replied, 'Really?'"
"Yes, I remember. I said, 'maybe someday'."
"When I saw you holding the baby that day, I pictured what a wonderful father you'd be and right then and there, I daydreamed that one day you and I would be holding our own twin boys."
"So, I've made your dream come true, haven't I? It's good that you couldn't resist my charm nor my kisses or that dream wouldn't have come true!"
Elizabeth smiled at Jack. "Jack, you've made all of my dreams come true. In fact, you have given me dreams far better that I couldn't have imagined on my own. When we were first married, could you have imagined that our future could be this amazing? Especially since Mounties and marriage are two words that don't go together..."
Jack cleared his throat. "Did I say that? Elizabeth, when we were first married, all I could think about was being with you, loving you, and wanting to spend every moment with you. It was difficult during those first couple of years when I had to be gone for weeks at a time. I struggled being away from you. I felt that a part of me was missing when you weren't with me. At that point in our marriage, I really didn't think about the future much – then it was about the here and now. But once we started our family, my perspective changed. I had to be responsible for our family and I wasn't just focused on our relationship. Although, I still enjoy our relationship, if you know what I mean."
"Jack. You never change! And by the way, I still enjoy our relationship, too!"
"As soon as they got inside their home after their walk, Jack pulled Elizabeth into his arms, kissed her, and said, "Elizabeth, you know that I love you more than I can put into words. Each day that I get to spend with you feels like a new day that I get to fall in love all over again. God knew exactly who I needed in this life when He put us together."
"How am I supposed to resist that, Prince Charming? You may think you're not good with words but you speak to my heart, Jack. You don't need words. Your smile, your embrace, your kiss says it all. You have been the greatest gift to me – a gift that I get to open every day. Yes, God knew exactly what He was doing when He put us together."
"Well, I'm an open book to you, Elizabeth, so feel free to turn to any page that you like! You know I like it when you turn my pages!"
"Oh, Jack, you're so funny. Your pages may not be filled with many words but what a beautiful picture book that you've created for me and our family. And while we've often discussed how you've struggled with words, I wasn't any better. While I may have known the right words to say, I didn't say them. Back when we were courting, it would not have been proper for a lady to be so bold.
Let's turn the pages of your book, Jack, and let me tell you what I should have said. On our date at Abigail's, I would have been more specific in telling you how handsome you looked and how much I enjoyed spending time with you. I wouldn't have interrupted you when you were trying to talk to me. I wouldn't have been able to resist your charm and your kisses! Yes, you heard me right. But you never kissed me that night and I really wanted you, too!"
"Now you tell me. (Jack smiles) Do you know how hard it was not to kiss you that night? You were so beautiful and you smelled so good as I held you when we were dancing. We were so close that I almost did several times, but I fought myself off. I guess I was being selfish because I knew that if I had kissed you, it would be all over. (Jack chuckles) Who am I kidding, it was all over anyway, I was so in love with you already. Darn it, I should have kissed you that night! Why did I wait?"
"Jack when you rescued me from the Tolliver gang, when I ran to you I wanted to say, "I love you, Jack. Just hold me and don't ever let me go. Please don't leave me again. That's not quite the same thing as 'Jack, are you hurt?'
"I know what you mean, Elizabeth. I wanted to say 'I love you' when you ran to me, but I didn't either. I also wanted to say 'I love you' the following day and all I could muster was 'I care. I care that you're safe.'"
"Well, at least you didn't say, 'I'm good.' What was that? I should have said, 'I love you, Jack. Be careful and hurry back - I need you.' You see, we both could have expressed ourselves a little better. It wasn't just you that was at a loss for words.
"But look at us now, Jack. If may have taken forty years, but we did it! And one more thing since we're sharing from your picture book. That day when you came to town and Rosemary ran up to you and gave you a hug…I wanted to tell her to get her hands off of you, that you belonged to me! I was in such a state of shock. I should have just peeled her hands right off of you, Jack!"
"I do love you, Elizabeth Thatcher, uhmmm, I mean Elizabeth Thornton!"
"I love you, too, Prince Charming!"
"By the way, Jack, we got a letter of apology from Julie in the mail today. She was so sorry that she couldn't make it to our anniversary party. But you know how she's always on an adventure. Did I tell you what she did?"
"I can only imagine. How about we have some dinner and afterwards we'll talk about it…"
To be continued…
