"Good morning, children!" Elizabeth called out, smiling at her students as they came through the doors. School had been in session for a little over a month, and the early October air flowed through the classroom. Elizabeth caught sight of tree branches blowing in the wind, their leaves spectacularly colored orange, red, and yellow.
"Good morning, Mrs. Grant," Emily said, beaming at Elizabeth. She put a hand on Elizabeth's slightly rounded stomach. "Good morning, baby."
Elizabeth smiled. "Hello, Emily. How are you today?"
"Good," Emily replied. "I love autumn. Everything is so pretty, and the temperature is perfect!"
Elizabeth chuckled. "I couldn't agree more. This is my favorite time of the year."
"Mine too," Emily agreed. She gave Elizabeth's stomach a little pat, then found her seat next to Opal. The two girls were instantly in a deep conversation. Elizabeth looked behind them and saw Allie and Anna talking together, eyes and faces animated. She thanked God that her girls had such good friends.
The baby kicked, sending flutters throughout Elizabeth. She put a hand on her stomach. When she was pregnant with Jack, she'd loved the feel of him kicking, and it was no different with this baby. The child was making its presence known, filling her with joy.
Rubbing her stomach lightly, she glanced around, noting that most of her students were in their seats. "Alright, class," she said, walking over to the chalkboard. "Let's get started. Today we're going to start off with geometry!"
A collective groan went up from everyone except Allie. She straightened in her seat and looked excited. Not many of Elizabeth's students liked math, but Allie was the exception. As Elizabeth went through the lesson, her daughter was alert and engaged, while Elizabeth had to walk around and tap several students who looked like they were nodding off. After geometry they started working on writing poetry. Elizabeth read sections from some of her favorite poems for the students to get an idea of what they wanted to write, then let them get to work to create their own. After an hour, she rang the bell.
"Lunchtime!" she called out. The children grabbed their lunch pails and headed outside to eat in the sunshine. The temperature was cool and refreshing. Elizabeth sat on the steps eating her lunch, watching as her students ate and played, enjoying the beautiful day. She heard footsteps hurrying toward her. Looking to her left, she saw Abigail walking quickly toward the schoolhouse. She was carrying Clara's new baby, Violet, in her arms.
Elizabeth smiled a welcome as Abigail sat beside her on the steps. "Hello, Abigail," she said. "Hello, Violet," she cooed at the baby girl. The little one was wrapped snugly, and her eyes drooped sleepily.
"I thought you might be having lunch now," Abigail said. "I left the cafe in A.J.'s care for a little bit." She took a deep breath. "Have you heard the news?"
"What news?" Elizabeth asked, taking a bite of her sandwich. She studied Abigail. Her friend was looking a little flustered. Elizabeth wondered what had happened to unsettle her friend.
"Bill and A.J. are married!" Abigail exclaimed.
Elizabeth blinked. "I'm sorry, what did you just say?" she asked, unable to believe her ears.
Abigail nodded. "It's true! They just told me. Apparently they didn't want to bother with all the planning a normal wedding entails, so they eloped! They looked pretty pleased with themselves for surprising me so much."
Elizabeth sputtered for a moment, then exclaimed, "I can't believe it!" She thought about it for a moment, then amended her statement. "Actually, I suppose I can. Bill never liked a big fuss over things, and I don't think A.J. does either. But to think they actually went and got married in secret! I wouldn't have imagined that."
"I don't think anyone did," Abigail said, her face more relaxed now that the shock of the news was passing. She chuckled. "Bill, a married man. This is going to be fun to watch."
Elizabeth smiled wryly. "Oh yes, it is."
Rosemary dropped her broom and raced across the room. "Oh no, no, no!" she exclaimed as ten-month-old Patrick picked up one of Lee's shoes and tried to put it into his mouth. Pulling the shoe from him, she kissed his head and cooed, "We don't eat shoes, Patrick. They're not good for you." No sooner had the words left her mouth than she heard a clang from the other side of the room. She looked over to see that Joy had pulled herself into a standing position and had pushed a tray off the table onto the floor.
"Ah!" Rosemary squawked, hurrying over to her daughter and picking up the tray. Setting it back on the table, she sat on the couch with Joy in her lap. The little girl seemed none too thrilled with the confinement, and she flapped her arms and howled in protest. Rosemary sighed, letting Joy down, and the child promptly crawled over to her brother. The two sat there together, looking for all the world like they were plotting what else they could get into.
"I'm exhausted!" Rosemary declared to no one in particular. She was startled to hear a voice respond.
"Ten months is an active age," Elizabeth said, coming into Rosemary's view.
"Elizabeth!" Rosemary exclaimed. "Where did you come from?"
Elizabeth grinned. "The front door. You didn't hear me knock?"
Rosemary gave a little shake of her head. "No. But I've been running after these two most of the last hour, so I'm not surprised I didn't hear anything." She smiled. "It's good to see another adult!"
Elizabeth chuckled. "I remember when Jack was the twins' age," she said, sitting next to Rosemary. "I thought I would go crazy chasing after him constantly."
"Please tell me it gets easier!" Rosemary said, only half-kidding.
Elizabeth laughed. "In some ways it does. Though I've learned each age has its own challenges. Jack is almost three, and his favorite word lately is 'no'."
Rosemary wrinkled her nose. "Bella went through that stage too," she said. "It was not not easiest of times." Shrugging, she continued, "Oh well! It is what it is, and it makes us better parents." She patted Elizabeth's shoulder. "How are you feeling?"
Elizabeth laid a hand on her stomach. "This little one has been kicking up a storm lately, but other than that I'm doing pretty well. This pregnancy has been much easier than Jack's was. Though I'm now at the stage where my feet are starting to hurt after standing too long."
Rosemary nodded. "I remember that feeling!" she said, watching the twins playing on the floor. With a slight feeling of satisfaction, she noticed that they had calmed down. "How is Nathan holding up?"
Elizabeth smiled. "He's really excited. He's been building furniture for the baby's room, and his eyes seem to be lit up all the time lately. He can't wait to meet this little one. And neither can I." Her eyes sparkled. Rosemary thought she detected a glow in Elizabeth's face. "I can't wait until this child is a part of our family. Allie and Opal are thrilled and keep asking how much longer until the baby comes. Even little Jack is getting in on the excitement. He rubs my stomach and asks how 'his baby' is. It's the cutest thing," she said with a laugh. "Our family is growing and everyone loves it."
"This really is wonderful," Rosemary said with a grin. "I'm so glad we all get to experience this together. It's so lovely living by your family. Our children can play together and grow together, and it's just wonderful!"
The sound of running feet turned their attention to the kitchen, where Bella and Jack came scampering from somewhere in the house. Jack saw Rosemary and grinned. "Hi, Auntie Wosemawy!" he said, launching himself into her lap.
Rosemary wrapped her arms around him. "How's my favorite nephew?" she asked, tickling his tummy.
Jack giggled. "Good," he said as he wrapped his arms around her neck. He kissed her cheek, then hopped down to chase Bella around the room.
Rosemary smiled after him. "I didn't realize he was here," she said. "This is why I love this little community of ours. Your kids play here, my kids play over there, and they're together and having fun as children should."
"Yes," Elizabeth said. "This really is wonderful."
A couple weeks later Elizabeth was reading a book by the fire. Nathan had directed her to the couch, covered her with a blanket, and ordered her to take some time for herself. He was upstairs getting the children ready for bed. Elizabeth could hear him reading the three of them a story, and she could hear their delighted laughter as he changed voices for each character. Smiling, she snuggled down deeper into the couch. Nathan really was a wonderful husband and a wonderful father. She felt so blessed to have him in her life. She hadn't known it was possible to experience great love twice in a lifetime, but she was fortunate enough to have found a second chance. Her love for him was deep and she knew it would last for the rest of their lives.
She focused her attention back to her book and got lost in the story. After some time, she heard Nathan's footsteps on the stairs. He came into the living room and sat next to her. "How is the book?" he asked.
"Good," Elizabeth said, setting it aside and focusing her attention on him. "Thank you for letting me have some time to myself. It was needed."
"I thought so," Nathan said. "You looked a bit tired."
"A little," Elizabeth agreed. "But it was nice having time to read. I haven't been able to do that in a while. I think a little later I might do some journaling. I haven't written in a while either." She stretched her arms over her head, trying to get her back into a more comfortable position. She wiggled around a bit. Nathan watched with a slightly amused expression on his face. Elizabeth raised a brow at him. "You find this funny?" she asked.
He hid a smile. "No, ma'am, not at all," he said. Elizabeth gave him a look that said she didn't believe him. He laughed and pulled her feet onto his lap. "How about a foot rub?" he said, beginning to massage them.
"Oh my goodness, that is lovely," Elizabeth said, settling back. "My feet have been so sore lately. This baby is making it hard to stand for long periods of time."
Nathan nodded. "I'll bet it does. And you've still got about three months before we get to meet the baby. Will your feet adjust?"
Elizabeth shook her head. "No, they were sore with Jack until the day he was born. I think it's just a part of nurturing a growing baby. There's going to be some discomfort."
"I think it's amazing," Nathan said, pressing his thumb into the middle of her foot. "You get to protect and nurture growing life. You experience discomfort, but you also experience greater joy from it than those of us who don't have the discomfort."
Elizabeth smiled. "That is true," she said. "Nothing compares to feeling the baby move." On cue, the child's foot started moving. Elizabeth reached over for Nathan's hand. "Feel this," she said, placing his hand firmly on her stomach.
Nathan's eyes reflected his wonder. "That is incredible," he whispered as he felt his child kicking his palm. He leaned over and kissed her stomach. "I love you, little one," he said to the baby. Cupping Elizabeth's face, he kissed her too and smiled. "And I love you, my darling wife."
"I love you, too," Elizabeth said. She took his hand and squeezed it. "I'm so glad you're here with me every step of the way."
"Always," Nathan said, resuming the foot rub. "There's no where else I'd rather be."