They got Elizabeth situated an hour or so later with her epidural, just as her contractions were going full force. The relief was wonderful.
She and Jack looked up as they heard a knock on the door. "Come in."
Charlotte walked in with Fin. "Mamama," she said with a huge grin.
"Hi, baby girl. I missed you!" Elizabeth took her from Charlotte and smiled.
"Thanks for bringing her, Mom."
"Of course. I'm just glad I could be here and that there's no snowstorm this time."
"Me too. Where's Pop?"
"He's in the waiting room. This kind of thing makes him uncomfortable."
"Mmmpa!" Fin said, clapping her hands.
"Yeah, Bill doesn't like seeing people in pain so he told me to kiss you and tell you he loves you and will come see the baby once he or she is not attached to you anymore."
Elizabeth laughed. "Fair enough. Tell him I love him too."
Fin reached for Jack and snuggled into his shoulder. "Tired, sweetie?" Jack adjusted his recliner to the rocking position and rubbed her back as he lulled her to sleep.
…..
Julie fed the twins after a bit of a struggle to get them latched on. She only planned to nurse for three months, until she went back to work, but now they needed exactly what she had. It helped them fight against diseases and keep them otherwise healthy so she absolutely wanted to do it.
"Doin good, sweetie," Tina the nurse told her. "A few more minutes, and we should burp them."
"How am I going to do this by myself?" she asked Mike, a bit overwhelmed with emotions.
"You will get the hang of it. Plus, I will be with you a lot and Charlotte promised to help and I'm sure Elizabeth will help too."
"Beth is going to have her own baby soon. She won't have time to help me."
"Sweetheart, we will do this together." He kissed her forehead and then lips. It was different seeing her so unsure about something. She had been the one assuring him over the last year. Now it was his turn. "Trust me, Julie."
She nodded and stared down at their beautiful daughters eating. Yes, she was overwhelmed and emotional, but the love she felt for them was far greater.
After a bit, the nurse showed her how to gently remove them from each side and handed Claire to Mike and Julie kept Kendall. They both let out a healthy burp and fell asleep easily.
…..
Jack handed Fin to Charlotte and watched them leave the room. Then he took his spot next to Elizabeth who was about ready to start pushing. The nurse had just backed off on the epidural a bit so Elizabeth could feel the contractions and pressure.
"You ready, babe?"
"Yes." He kissed her hand and smiled, feeling excited to meet his second child. "I love you, cowboy."
"I love you, beautiful."
Dr. Brocker walked in and put on his gloves and mask. "How we doin, folks?"
"Good," Elizabeth told him.
"Feeling pressure?" He checked her, verifying what the nurse told her.
"Yeah."
"Ok, next contraction, let's try pushing."
Elizabeth looked up at the clock. There was an hour left before midnight. She wanted her baby and Julie's twins to share a birthday. As soon as she felt the contraction, she grabbed her mostly numb legs and bore down, pushing as hard as she could.
"Good good," Dr. Brocker told her. "Take a quick breath and go again." She did as he told her. "Ok, wow. Head is out. Take a few breaths."
Jack smiled as he watched the whole thing, grateful he wasn't delivering this time. "You can do this, sweetie. You are amazing." He stood and kissed her softly.
At the next contraction, the shoulders were out and then after that, the baby was born.
"Jack, tell your lovely wife if it's a boy or girl."
Jack took a look. "Honey, it's a boy." That's what she had hoped for. Even though he denied it, she knew having a son who was named after his father and who could work with him on the ranch would mean the world to Jack.
"Good," she said, her tears flowing. The nurse set Joey on her chest, under her gown and cleaned him. Jack kissed her over and over, so incredibly happy.
"I love you so much, Elizabeth."
Joey was crying but as soon as she talked, he settled, his eyes trying to see her, recognizing her voice. "Hey, Joey. I love you, baby. It's ok now. Mama's right here."
Jack took a picture to send to his mom, Bill, and Mike and Julie, knowing they would be anxiously waiting.
…..
The two families went home the next evening. Charlotte suggested that after a few days of them being settled, she would go stay with Julie and Mike so she could help out. They were very grateful and accepted the offer.
Jack pulled up in front of the ranch house. Somehow the ride had been silent. Everyone had slept the whole hour ride home. Now he needed to figure out how to get everyone in the house without too many trips.
He got out and opened Elizabeth's door. "Hey, babe. We're home." She opened her eyes and smiled.
"Hey." He kissed her and offered his hand to help her out.
"You go in and get comfy and I'll bring the kids in."
"I can carry something." He handed her the diaper bag and watched her slowly walk in.
Both babies were still asleep. He thought a moment and zipped up Joey's carseat cover and set his seat on the floor of the car. Then he unbuckled Fin and picked her up and then grabbed Joey so they could get inside.
Elizabeth sat down slowly in the recliner in the living room. She was sore and tired. Jack walked in and set the carseat on the couch and then he could lay the now awake Fin down so he could change her diaper.
"Hi, love," he said with a smile. She looked back at him as he changed her. "Are you hungry? You can help me cook dinner, Finny, how does that sound?"
He looked over at Elizabeth who was dozing. Then he unzipped Joey's cover. If he was on schedule, the baby would need to eat in about thirty minutes so Jack took Fin to the kitchen and made a quick dinner of chicken and rice and a sweet potato for Fin.
Elizabeth woke up just as Jack brought in her plate of food. She smiled as Fin toddled in after him with her bottle in her hand.
Just as Elizabeth took her first bite, Joey woke up. Jack set his plate on the coffee table and unbuckled his tiny son. "Hi, buddy. I bet you're hungry and need a diaper change."
He laid him down on the couch and unsnapped his gray sleeper that Fin had worn the year before.
"Dadada," Fin said as she stood next to him.
"Hey, Finny. Did you see your little brother? You used to be tiny like this." Fin reached for Joey's hand. "Can you say hi?"
She just stood and watched him moving around. At least she seemed ok with him being there.
Elizabeth lifted her t-shirt and unsnapped her bra, reaching for Joey. Finny continued to watch as her little brother ate. "Mama?"
"Hi, sweetie." Fin raised her arms to Elizabeth.
"I can't pick you up right now, honey. Daddy can hold you."
Jack picked up Fin's bottle and then he reached for Fin. "Come here, Fin. I'll feed you." Fin pointed at Elizabeth and then whimpered. "Joey is eating. I'll feed you."
Fin started crying, still pointing. Jack tried her bottle but she didn't want it. Jack picked her up and took her in to the other room to distract her with a bath.
While Joey ate, Elizabeth picked up her phone and called her parents.
"Beth?"
"Hi, Dad."
"How are you?"
"I'm great. I'm just feeding Joey right now so I thought I'd call you. How is Mom?"
She had her biopsy just after Christmas. It revealed stage 2 breast cancer so they did a mastectomy in early January and then started chemo two weeks later. She was supposed to have twelve weeks of chemo and she was on her fifth.
"She has good days and bad days. Today was pretty good."
"I miss you, Daddy," Elizabeth said as she fought her tears. "I wish I was there."
"Oh Bethie. I wish you were too, but you will be in just a few weeks."
"Give me one moment, Dad. I'm going to put you on speaker." She put the phone on her leg, pushed the speaker button, and moved Joey up so he could burp. "Ok, I'm back."
"Beth?"
"Hi, Mom." A whole new round of tears started when she heard her voice.
"Hi. How are you? How's Joey?"
"He's good. It's good to be home and not in the hospital."
"I bet. It's amazing that you and Julie went into labor and had your babies on the same day."
"I know. Pretty funny timing."
Grace was quiet for a moment. "Beth, I love you, honey."
"I love you too, Mom. Dad said you're having a good day?"
"Yeah. It's pretty good. I was able to eat a good dinner today."
"That's good." Elizabeth eyed her own plate and then switched Joey to the opposite side to finish eating while they chatted.
…
Mike made Julie a roast beef sandwich for dinner and then took both babies and rocked them in their nursery while she ate and took a nap.
He rocked and looked around the room. Julie had done a great job. She told him that in total, she had only spent $500 of the $2000 she had saved. They were so grateful for the two showers they had and he had even had a diaper party from the guys at work. Each guy brought him two packages of diapers and now they had a closet full.
"You girls sure are lucky. Your Mama is the best and she loves you so much." He kissed their soft hair and continued rocking. "You know, I never thought I would get another chance at having a family but look at me now."
Julie stood in the doorway and listened.
"Your Mama makes me so happy. She's wonderful and now we have you. How is that possible? I love you so much and I promise I will take care of you and love you forever and ever." He kissed them again and sighed.
Julie walked over and bent down to kiss him. "I love you, Mike." She kissed him twice more and then stood back up.
"I thought you were going to sleep."
"I was on my way down the hall and I heard you talking. Then I thought that I should probably try to feed them before I lay down."
"Good idea." He followed her into the bedroom as they started to wake up. He laid them down. First he changed Claire's diaper and handed her to Julie. Then he changed Kendall and helped Julie get her situated. "That went pretty smooth," he mentioned.
"Yeah."
"Jules, I'm going to take a shower, ok?"
"I don't think I can burp them by myself."
"It will be like ten or fifteen minutes and I'll be right back."
She took a deep breath and nodded. She was strong and resourceful. She could figure it out if she had to.
As he stepped out of the shower, he heard both babies crying. He wrapped his towel around his waist and walked into the bedroom. Julie was crying too.
"Oh, babe. I'm sorry. I shouldn't have left you."
Claire was lying on the bed crying next to Julie's leg and Kendall was crying on Julie's shoulder as she burped her. So he scooped up Claire and patted her back.
"What happened?"
"I put Claire on the bed so that I could burp Kendall but she didn't like that. I wish I had a third arm."
Mike laughed at the thought. "Well, consider me your third arm, babe."
"I don't even know why I'm crying."
"Hormones and you're overwhelmed and exhausted. That's enough to make anyone cry."
….
The first night at Jack and Elizabeth's went as she had expected it would. Fin fussed more than normal because of seeing someone else taking up her parent's time but she slept pretty well, only waking up once.
Joey woke up every two hours like clockwork to eat. Jack did too because he insisted on picking up Joey and bringing him to Elizabeth.
At six thirty, they decided to just stay up for the day. Elizabeth decided to let Jack be in charge of everything Fin related so she could rest and concentrate on Joey. That was the plan anyway. What actually happened was Fin ended up cuddling with Elizabeth each time she fed Joey.
Charlotte and Bill stopped by to visit around dinner time. At that point, Elizabeth was happy to hand over the children and sneak off for a shower when Fin was with Pop.
Jack finished making his chili which had been simmering all day and then slid his cornbread into the oven.
"How are things going, son?" Charlotte asked as she held Joey at the table.
"Good, why?"
"Is there anything you want to tell me? Maybe about the ranch mortgage?" Jack looked at his mom, trying to figure out what she knew. "Hank at the bank called me."
"Mom, there has been so much going on."
"He says you're three weeks late on the mortgage and have been every month since fall."
"Why is he calling you?"
"Because, I'm co-signer on it. What's going on?"
"My health insurance doesn't cover everything and so I've been juggling medical bills from when Fin was born and the mortgage. Then the sale of the cattle in August didn't bring as much as I was counting on. With Elizabeth not working…it's tough sometimes."
"I paid it up to date, Jack. And I made this month's payment too." She stood up and walked over to him. "What does Elizabeth say about all this?" He looked away. "You need to tell her."
"She just had another baby. Mom, she is already dealing with two babies under two years old. I'm not burdening her with my problems."
"So then, what will you do? Get a third job?"
