THIRTY FOUR

That night, everyone had arrived at Martha and Jack's place for Martha's birthday. No one besides Beth even knew of the conversation they had had earlier and no one even suspected that their friend may be suffering from post-natal depression. Martha was putting on a brave face, despite her pain. She was laughing and smiling with everyone. Jack, himself, almost believed it. But he knew deep down, she was hurting and she was struggling.

Jack was sitting on the lounge with Olivia lying on his lap. Leah and Dan had joined him as he was playing with Olivia. She was wide awake, taking in everything around her.

"Look at those beautiful eyes," Leah said. "They are so bright. She will be smiling in no time."

Jack smiled, bouncing her lightly in his lap. She was gurgling cheerfully. "Who would have thought that this time last year, she didn't even exist and now she has turned into a very pretty little girl." He picked up one of her tiny hands. "I swear she has already doubled in size since she was born," he said to Dan and Leah.

"And she will just keep growing" Dan said. "One minute, they are this small and the next they are off to school and then you have to worry about the boyfriends. Cherish every minute you have with her, because the time goes so fast."

Jack smiled at his daughter, who was now watching him. He couldn't help but love her. She was the most amazing little girl he had ever seen and his heart skipped a beat every time he held her, every time he saw her. And he felt some sort of connection to her that was unexplainable. It was so strong and it was in addition to the love he already had for her.

"She's not getting a boyfriend until she's at least twenty-five," Jack said, rocking her gently.

Leah laughed. "Ha! Good luck controlling that."

Martha then came over to them, sitting on the edge of the lounge, next to Jack. "And how is my little one going?" Martha asked, with a smile on her face. She put her arm across Jack's back and tickled Olivia's tummy.

"She's being an angel," Leah said. "She likes the attention I think."

"She likes the attention from her dad," Martha corrected. "He is very devoted to her."

"I can see that," Leah replied, smiling at Jack playing with Olivia.

They all watched Olivia in silence until she yawned, finally showing her tiredness from being up this late.

"It is way past someone's bed time, I think," Jack said, picking Olivia up from his lap and resting her in his arms. "How about we give mummy her birthday present and then you go to bed?" He stood up and turned to Martha. "Will you follow me?" he asked.

Martha looked at him, confused. "You already gave me – " she trailed off and followed Jack, wondering what he had in mind. Jack had already given her a birthday present, which she had been more than happy with. What else could he possibly have for her?

They went into their bedroom, where Olivia's bassinet was. Even Jack had agreed, that with all the people at their place, the safest room in the house for Olivia was their own bedroom. It would stop others from going into her bedroom and looking at her; disturbing her.

"You know, I couldn't find either of you for a while," Martha said as Jack closed the door. "I thought someone might have run off with the two of you," she added with a smile.

"Not me, but I am sure Cassie would have taken Olivia away if I hadn't insisted that I needed to spend some time with her," Jack replied. "She's obsessed," he added as he put Olivia in her bassinet.

"That's understandable," Martha smiled, stroking her daughter's tummy as she slowly closed her eyes.

Martha was distracted by Olivia that she didn't even realise that Jack had gotten an envelope from the wardrobe until he put it in her face.

Martha looked at it and then at Jack. "You already gave me the ring," she told him, referring to the beautiful ring Jack had given her earlier, claiming it was her birthday present. "And it's gorgeous."

"That was from me and Olivia," Jack told her. "This one is just from me." He continued to hold the envelope in front of Martha, making it clear she had no choice but to accept it.

Martha took it and opened the envelope which had a birthday card in it and two tickets. As soon as she saw what they said on the ticket, she was torn between joy and anger. She knew why Jack had given it to her and that made her angry, but at the same time, she thought it was a fantastic idea.

"They are valid for three months," Jack said before she had a chance to say anything. "I am not asking you to pack your bags tonight and leave Olivia right now. I couldn't even do that now, but maybe in a month's time, you might need a break. It's only for one night and I have already spoken to dad and Beth. They are more than happy to have Olivia for a night."

Martha looked back down at the tickets in her hands that showed Jack had organised a one night harbour cruise in the city. Right now, she couldn't even imagine spending a second away from Olivia and she wasn't sure that in three months time, her feelings would change. But to make Jack happy, she smiled and wrapped her arms around his neck, kissing him. "Thank you," she said.

Jack put his arms around her also, kissing the top of her head. "Who knows, by then, we might be so sick of her that we won't want to take her back."

Martha knew he was joking so she forced a smile, but deep down, she didn't find it amusing at all.

"I'm going back to the party, come out when you're ready, okay?"

Martha smiled and nodded, allowing Jack to kiss her one more time.

"Happy Birthday," Jack said one last time, before closing their bedroom door, leaving Martha alone. When she was sure he had gone, Martha sat down on the bed and opened the card. Jack had written a relatively long message inside. It said:

To my lovely wife, happy birthday! I wish I could say in writing, how much I love you and what an amazing person you truly are, but words aren't strong enough. Olivia and I are so lucky to have you in our lives and both of us will be thankful for it every single day of our lives. This is just the very first of many birthdays you will celebrate with us and I really hope that you have a great day and a great party, because you deserve nothing less. Just to remind you how important you are and how much you deserve to be our little girl's mother, I have organised a cruise around the harbour, for one night. You will need this break one day, because I know how hard you will be working as a mum. Just remember, I love you and will forever,

Love Jack

Martha wiped away a few stray tears. She was trying. She was trying so hard to be a good mother; to be a good wife, but it was so hard. All she wanted was to be able to protect Olivia, to not let her out of her sight, but she knew she had to let go. Olivia was her own person and as she grew older, she would develop her own personality; one which would not accommodate for her mother staying within two metres of her the whole time. She hoped that with some counselling, she would learn how to be a good mum, one that Olivia could be proud of. And as for Jack, he was so sweet. Everything he did, it was because he loved her and Olivia. She knew that and she appreciated it more than he would ever know. She might get angry sometimes, yell at him, hurt him, but at the end of the day, she loved him so much and knew that he didn't deserve it. It made her appreciate him even more, that he put up with her temper tantrums and her mood swings and he still found something to love about her. She didn't deserve him.

She didn't know how long she had been sitting on the bed for, when Jack came back in to find her crying. He sat down beside her without saying a word and gathered her in his arms. She wrapped her own tightly around his waist, feeling stupid for reacting this way.

"It wasn't meant to make you cry," he said, stroking her back. "I can cancel them if you really don't want them."

Martha pulled away and smiled at her husband. "Why do you have to be so amazing?" she asked. "You just make me feel so guilty. And I can't imagine how I once hated you, because you're just so..." she trailed off, unable to find the right words.

Jack rested his hand on her cheek. "Everything I do, it's because I love you. I don't think it's too much or whatever you think. It's only what you deserve. Sometimes I think I mightn't be doing enough for you."

Martha shook her head. "It is way too much, Jack. I just feel so guilty, because I don't think I repay you enough, or show you how grateful I am to have you in my life."

Jack smiled. "You have nothing to repay, Martha," he said. "It is because of you I discovered how much I was capable of loving someone. It is because of you, the most amazing baby girl is sleeping only a metre from us. It is because of you that I am so happy. All that, I owe you a life debt for bringing so much happiness into my life. Happiness that I would not have found with anyone but you. You don't owe me anything."

At his words, Martha sat up a little straighter, wiping away her tears. "Do you think you owe me for making you happy?" she asked. "I thought I drove you crazy and I was grateful that you were able to put up with me."

Jack looked at Martha, amazed at what he was hearing. She really didn't give herself the credit which she deserved. "My goodness, you do drive me crazy," he said. "Sometimes for the worse, but most of the time, it makes me love you more. You wouldn't be you if you didn't. I wouldn't change you for anything."

"Not even for someone who has less mood swings? Someone who has less of a temper than me?" Martha asked.

"Not in a million years," Jack assured her. "That person, I wouldn't love anywhere near as much as I love you."

Martha smiled and then looked back down at the card in her hands. "This was really nice," she said. "And I promise you, that one day in the next three months, we will go. You say I don't owe you anything, but this, I do owe you. You do so much for me and the least I can do is spend one night away together, with no Olivia... no one. Just us." She kissed him lightly and Jack kissed her back.

"Let's go back out," he said. "It's your party, everyone is here for you."

Martha nodded and took his hand. With Jack by her side, she could get through this.

THE END. So, keeping in mind that I wrote this six years ago, when I was an uninformed fourteen year old girl, what did you think? This is just the first of a five multi-chaptered series revolving around Jack and Martha and their family. I haven't been changing anything other than spelling and grammar mistakes from what I originally had written (as tempting as it has been to go back and rewrite it).

Stay tuned for number 2: "Missing You". I'll try and get that up in the next few days (it's probably my favourite of the five). Your reviews are much appreciated. Thanks!