Rosemary was startled awake when a fist or a foot struck her ribs. She groaned a little but fluttered her eyes open, fighting sleep. She smiled down at her daughter, still cuddled next to her and sleeping peacefully. She slowly rolled over and found a patch of brunette hair against her but it didn't belong to Lee. It was…Aaron? And Romeo? When did they come into the room? And somehow, Juliet had managed to jump back up on the bed again, so it was a very crowded space. Rosemary didn't mind though. Somehow, she felt at peace having the entire Coulter family in one spot at the moment, "Mommy?"
Rosemary rolled back to her right side and smiled, "Morning, Lilly Bug," she kissed her, "How'd you sleep?"
"Okay," Lilly rubbed her eyes, "You wouldn't lie still," Lilly looked up at Rosemary.
Rosemary chuckled a little, "I'm sorry, sweetheart. Sometimes having this on the front of me makes it hard for me to sleep," Rosemary rubbed her bump lovingly, "And the baby likes to move around when I'm trying to sleep."
Lilly rubbed Rosemary's bump and kissed it, "Well, I think you should let Mommy sleep better. She's already letting you use her tummy to grow big and strong. It's the least you could do," said Lilly emphatically. Rosemary couldn't help but laugh. Her dear daughter telling it like it is even to her unborn sibling.
Lee stirred and rolled over as he awoke, "Whoa, how did we get another kid and another cat in our bed?"
Aaron stretched and smiled, "Good morning."
"Bud, when did you come in here?" asked Rosie curiously.
"I woke up in the middle of the night to pee and Lilly wasn't in her bed, so I got Romeo and came over here. I was lonely," he explained.
"Oh," both parents chuckled, "Well, we have to get ready to go to Cape Fullerton to take Romeo and Juliet to the vet, so why don't we start getting ready, Buddy," Lee went to the bathroom and took Aaron with him.
Rosemary smiled and sat up, but immediately regretted the action as her stomach churned, "Are you alright, Mommy?" asked Lilly.
Rosemary nodded, "Yeah. Just give me the crackers on the nightstand and I'll be fine," Lilly did as instructed and Rosemary nibbled on a few. She was only slightly queasy, but it was better to be safe than sorry.
"Can I have one?" asked Lilly sweetly.
Rosemary chuckled and handed her one, "Sure, Lilly Bug," Lilly smiled and happily took the cracker. Rosemary ruffled Lilly's blonde locks and asked, "Lilly, did you still want to talk about what was bothering you last night?"
Lilly sighed but nodded, "Can we do it while we're getting ready to go over to Aunt Abigail's with Uncle Jack and Aunt Elizabeth?"
"Sure, sweetheart. Go pick out what you want to wear and I'll be in to help you get ready soon," Lilly disappeared and Rosemary slowly stood. Thankfully, the crackers had calmed her stomach. She got dressed and went to where Lilly was unsuccessfully trying to lace her corset. Rosemary didn't make her wear one every day, at least not yet, but she did make her wear one if they were going to church or out of town, "Here Lilly Bug, let me do it," Rosemary hastily stepped in to help, "Do you want me to put a ribbon in your hair?"
"Yes, please," Lilly nodded as she pulled on her dress.
They both sat down and Rosemary found Lilly's hairbrush. The seven year old happily sat still for once as she loved having her hair styled. Rosemary began to brush her daughter's hair out, thinking back to her own childhood, "This is one of the few differences between you and me. I used to hate having my hair brushed. Maman and Adelaide would always have to chase me around our house and then pin me down almost in order to style my hair. Or bribe me to behave," Rosemary chuckled.
"Mommy, who's Adelaide?" asked Lilly.
"She was our nanny when Maman, Papa, and I lived in Quebec," Rosemary replied.
"Oh," Lilly said.
Once Rosemary was finished, Lilly hopped off the bed and went to leave, but Rosie stopped her, "Lilly, sweetheart," Lilly stopped and looked into her mother's eyes, "What's wrong?"
Tears were welling in Lilly's eyes, but she fought them, "Promise me you won't cry if I tell you?"
Of course, Rosemary felt like she had absolutely no control over her emotions right now, so she responded, "I'll try."
Lilly sighed, but nodded. Rosemary made her best attempt to sit Lilly in her lap; she knew she wouldn't be able to do so much longer, "I'm scared about Uncle Jack leaving."
Rosemary nodded and held back tears of her own, "I know you are, sweetheart. I am too. And so are Daddy and Aaron," Lilly looked down and Rosemary could tell she wanted to say something more, "Whatever's on your mind, sweetheart, you can tell me. You know that, right?"
"I know," said Lilly, "I'm afraid Uncle Jack is going to die."
"Oh, honey, why would you think that?" asked Rosemary fearfully.
"Because William's Grandpa, Uncle Jack's Daddy, died when fighting bad guys," said Lilly, "I don't want that to happen to Uncle Jack," Lilly began to cry.
"Oh, Lilly Bug, it's okay," Rosemary whispered softly, running her hand up and down Lilly's back, "It's okay to feel this way. It's always scary when Mounties go fight bad guys, especially if it's one you're really close to personally. But sweetheart, why didn't you talk to me?"
"Because you're so sad about Uncle Jack leaving, and I didn't want to make you cry," Lilly sobbed.
"Oh Lilly," Rosemary tucked a lock of blonde hair behind her daughter's ear, "It's sad and scary for me, but I want nothing more in life than to make you feel better. So if you're sad or scared, you can come to me, alright?"
Lilly nodded understandingly, "Mommy, besides Uncle Jack and Uncle Jack's Daddy, wasn't Grandpa a Mountie?"
Rosemary nodded, "Yes, he was."
"Well, until Grandpa came home or Uncle Jack comes home, how do you make yourself feel better?" asked Lilly.
Rosemary smiled softly and grabbed Lilly's hand, "Tell you what, Little Flower? How about later tonight, after we get home from the vet, I tell you how I keep myself calm after Daddy and I tell you something. Okay?"
Lilly gazed at Rosemary in confusion but nodded anyways, "Okay."
It was time: time for Jack to begin his journey to Saskatchewan. Abigail embraced him and laid her hands on his arms, "Be careful out there."
"I will, I promise," Jack assured her.
"We'll be praying for you," Frank shook his hand and embraced him.
"I appreciate it," said Jack.
Aaron and Lilly both hugged him, "We love you, Uncle Jack," said Aaron. He was struggling to hold back tears.
"We'll miss you," added Lilly.
"I love you guys and will miss you guys too," Jack kissed both of their temples.
Lee and Jack embraced, "Be safe up there," said Lee and Jack nodded.
Rosemary hugged Jack and kissed him on the cheek, "Just be careful. I'll say a decade for you every night," she whispered in his ear so no one could hear her.
"Make sure baby Coulter doesn't get too carried away," smirked Jack.
Rosemary blew her lips jokingly, "Too late," she smirked back. The Coulters and the Hogans left the Thornton family alone so they could have some privacy.
Jack bent down and handed Mary and Charlotte two bags, "These are for you girls," The twins opened the bags and each pulled out a small, white bear dressed as a Mountie, the same bear that William was given during Jack's first deployment to the Northern Territories, "Every time you look at the bears, you can think of me," explained Jack.
Mary and Charlotte threw themselves into Jack's arms, sobbing, "Daddy, don't go!" they shouted together.
"I have to, girls," Jack struggled to hold back the tears forming in his eyes. He stood and turned to William, who was also crying, "Behave for your mother," Jack said and William nodded. Father and son hugged, "I'll miss you so much, Buddy."
"I'll miss you too, Daddy."
Jack took a deep breath and turned to Elizabeth. She was already crying. He stepped closer to her and planted a passionate kiss to her lips. He kissed her wedding band and said, "I love you, Elizabeth."
"I love you too," she sobbed. They gave each other another loving kiss before he pulled out of her embrace. He hopped up onto Sergeant and commanded him to start galloping. He turned around one more time to gaze at his family before he rode off into the unknown.
The Coulter family arrived at the pet clinic in Cape Fullerton by mid-morning and the vet, Dr. Lawson, performed a thorough examination on both Romeo and Juliet. He finished Romeo's physical and smiled, "Well, this one is perfectly healthy. What's the little fellow's name?" he asked curiously.
"Romeo," Rosemary said happily.
"And she's Juliet," smiled Lillian.
Lee laid a hand on Rosemary's back, "My wife used to be an actress on Broadway," he explained.
"Ah," Dr. Lawson chuckled, "Well, Juliet here shouldn't be too much further from delivering her kittens. She'll probably deliver a litter between 3-7 kittens, the average is about four. You'll need to make an area where she can deliver with used towels, newspapers, food and water, things like that."
"I have delivered kittens before, but it has been a while," admitted Lee.
"Well, then you probably can recall the signs of labor: panting, pacing, restlessness, excessive grooming, loud purrs or cries, nesting…"
"Is Juliet going to rearrange my closet, the kitchen, and the whole house the way Mommy has been?" asked Lilly.
"Lillian Coulter," scolded Rosemary, "Sorry, Dr. Lawson, she always says the first thing that comes to her mind, no matter how inappropriate it is." Lee and Aaron barely contained their laughter.
"Not a problem, Mrs. Coulter. I have a young daughter myself, I know how curious they can be," said Dr. Lawson. He crouched down in front of Lilly and smiled, "No, Juliet will not be rearranging your closet or the rest of the house. It'll be more along the lines of gathering newspaper, towels, and creating an area where she can deliver her kittens," he informed.
"You won't do that when you have the baby, right?" Lillian looked at Rosemary.
"I promise you, I won't start doing that," Rosemary said.
"Well, other than the pregnancy, these two little guys seem to be in tip top shape. Don't hesitate to send a telegram if you have any issues," said Dr. Lawson.
"Thank you, sir. Have a nice day," smiled Lee. Once the family arrived home, Lee released Romeo and Juliet from their carriers while the kids went to run upstairs. Lee squeezed Rosemary's hand before he spoke, "Um, guys, could you stay down here a second? Mommy and I have to talk to you about something."
The siblings obediently sat down on the settee in between their parents, "Is it something we did wrong?" asked Aaron.
"No, neither one of you have done anything wrong," assured Lee. He looked at Rosie and took a deep breath, "It's about after Mommy has the baby."
The brother and sister looked at each other, "Okay," they both said simultaneously.
"Well, you know most of the time after a mommy has a baby, she's really happy right?" asked Rosemary and her kids nodded their understanding.
"Well, we're only telling you guys this just in case it happens, but there's no guarantee, so Mommy might end up being perfectly fine," said Lee.
Aaron worriedly looked over at Rosemary, "Is something going to happen to Mommy?" he asked as Lilly gained an apprehensive look.
"Calm down guys, let me explain," said Lee, "Well, shortly after Lilly was born, Mommy got very sick."
"Was it like when we got the flu back at Christmastime?" asked Lilly.
"No," Rosemary shook her head, "I didn't cough, sneeze, throw up, run a fever, or anything like that. And it wasn't a sickness anyone could catch."
"Then what was it?" asked Aaron.
"It was a sad sickness," Rosemary explained as best as she could, "It made really unhappy. I cried a lot for no reason, I didn't want to eat, I couldn't sleep even when Lilly slept, and I had bad guys in my head telling me I wasn't a good Mommy."
"But you're a great Mommy," said Lilly.
"Well, I know that now," she squeezed Lilly's hand, "But when you were a baby, I didn't feel like it at first."
"How did you get better?" asked Aaron, "Did you have to take yucky medicine?"
"No," Rosemary said, "I went to see someone about how I was feeling. We talked about how sad I was and he helped me feel better. And Daddy, Aunt Elizabeth, Aunt Abigail, Pastor Frank, everyone else in Hope Valley, they did nice things for me and told me I was a good Mommy. They talked to me and listened to me about how I was feeling. And they would also watch you if I needed a break. And soon, I began to get better and found I loved being a Mommy and that Lilly was the best thing that ever happened to me."
Lilly and Aaron nodded. Lee and Rosemary could tell they didn't comprehend everything, but they got the gist, "So, did you get sad sick after I was born?" asked Aaron.
"No," Rosemary answered her son, "And I might not get sad sick after I have your little brother or sister, but Daddy and I wanted you both to know just in case. After the baby is born, if you see me crying a lot, not eating, yelling at Daddy a lot, and I don't seem like myself, please let a grown-up know so they can help me."
Lilly and Aaron looked at Rosemary, "Would helping you with the baby and doing our chores keep you from getting sad sick?" asked Lilly.
"Well, even if I don't get sad sick, it would still be a nice thing to do," said Rosemary.
"If it makes you feel better, we love having you as our Mommy," smiled Aaron.
Rosemary grinned broadly and wrapped her children in a loving embrace, "And I love being your Mommy." She kissed them both.
"Mommy, were you still going to show me what to do when I'm scared about Uncle Jack?" asked Lilly.
"Sure Lilly Bug," Rosemary stood to lead her daughter upstairs.
"Daddy, can we start a new book?" asked Aaron hopefully. They had both finished reading Tom Sawyer.
"Sure Buddy. Let's go pick one out," Lee led Aaron over to the book shelf.
Lilly followed Rosemary upstairs and Rosemary took the Rosary out of her nightstand drawer, "Now, what I teach you today, you have to promise not to tell anyone else."
"Not even Daddy?" asked Lilly.
"Well, you can tell Daddy and you can tell Uncle Jack, but no one else," Rosemary pointed a finger at Lilly. Lilly agreed and Rosie began, "Well, in Quebec, everyone still goes to church and still prays, but they pray a little bit differently than here in Hope Valley. They use this special item called a Rosary to help them. I use it to help me pray when I'm worried about Uncle Jack and it helped me feel better when I had my sad sickness. I can show you, but it'll involve me teaching you some special prayers. Do you want to?"
"As long as it's just me and not a whole classroom of students," said Lilly.
"What's that supposed to mean?" asked Rosemary amusingly.
"Mommy, I love you, and you're a good Mommy to me and Aaron, but you're not great with other people's kids," Lilly whispered softly.
Rosemary shook her head jokingly, "You're lucky you're cute and I love you."