November. One Month Later…

Dale proposed to Charlotte before the end that night, turning the second day of the festival into an impromptu engagement party. Everyone including Izzy was excited for the couple.

After some discussion, the two planned a Valentines Day wedding. Dale joked it would make it easier for him to not forget his anniversary. Charlotte was sure he'd still forget it somehow.

After the festival concluded, everyone went their separate ways.

For Jack and Elizabeth, life had become very hectic.

Mya's soccer season ended, much to Jack's relief. With Rosie as his co-coach, he wasn't sure how many more weekend mornings and school nights he could spend trying to coach with her. Now that it was over, he was ready for their lives to reach a slower pace. He was quickly learning though, that life as a husband, father, and police officer didn't equal slow.

Everyone from both sides of the family gathered to celebrated Asher's birthday with a Paw Patrol/superhero themed bash. Jack painted a large backdrop mural just like he did for Mya's. Mya even helped. This one was a city nightscape with Ash's favorite characters spread about, saving the day.

Two days before his birthday, a package arrived with gifts from Charles' parents. The note inside made it seem as if they had no idea that anything had changed in regards to Charles' rights to the children.

"We look forward to seeing you at Christmas!" was one thing the note had said.

"What do you make of it?" Jack asked.

"I really don't know. Maybe he didn't tell them? That wouldn't surprise me if he didn't to avoid the drama."

"Or maybe he or they are delusional as to what this all means."

"Maybe. Or they could just think that even if Charles is out of their lives, they don't have to be."

"You okay with that?"

"I don't know. Their interest in the kids has seemed distant at best. I always feel like they're working an angle or something." She looked back into the box of gifts. "What should I do with these?"

Jack kissed her forehead. "They're his gifts. Nothing threatening with that."

"Alright."

That was the only contact they'd had from the Kensingtons.

Now it was the beginning of November and life didn't seem to be slowing down.

Cases at work had Jack working long hours. He hated it. He loved his job but he didn't like missing meals or bedtime stories with his family.

Elizabeth was well into her semester and had been busy preparing for the conference, which she agreed to attend.

Adding to their stress, Elizabeth still wasn't pregnant. Jack was patient. He had faith that in time it would happen. Elizabeth however was used to in the past not needing to "try" to get pregnant. She wanted a baby with Jack so badly to add to their family, to watch Maya and Asher as big siblings to this baby. She wanted that more than anything.

It was now the night before she was to leave from New York City. Jack had managed to get his hours rearranged so he could be there more for the kids while she was gone.

Jack was in their bedroom putting away the laundry while Elizabeth did the goodnight routine with the kids.

"They're asleep." She walked into the room and flopped onto the bed. "You sure you'll be alright?"

"Trust me, babe, I can handle the kids. I'm their dad, remember?"

"I know you are, and you're amazing." She sat up and kissed his lips. "I only ask because with work and parenting, it can be a lot."

"I have no doubt, but I also have a plan."

"What's your plan?"

"Sort of a reward system. They do things like make their beds and pick up their toys, they get a reward."

"So you're bribing them?"

"I like to say its creative parenting." She smacked him with a pillow, or tried, but he knew it was coming somehow and grabbed it. "Nice try, Elizabeth."

"Thanks." She sighed. "So we're doing this?"

"Yes. I mean, I don't want to be apart from you but you'll love presenting and being a part of the conference. It's your turn, babe. Besides, it's only for a couple of days. Leave Thursday, you'll be back Saturday evening."

"True. I can do this."

"You can. Before you leave… I have an idea." He grinned. "Want to take a bubble bath?"

She laughed bashfully. "I'll get the candles."

….

The next morning, Elizabeth woke up in Jack's arms. Her happy place. Looking at the clock, she knew she needed to get moving to get to the airport for her flight, but she couldn't move, she was just too comfortable.

"New plan," a groggy Jack mumbled. "Go do this conference thingy, and come back here at night."

"That's one heck of a commute, babe."

"I don't want to sleep alone."

"Me either. Maybe I should cancel. I don't need to go."

That got Jack's attention. He sat up in bed. "No, Elizabeth. It will be okay."

He knew her well. This was hard. Leaving the kids and of course her handsome husband.

They showered and woke the kids at the normal school morning time. Before breakfast, Elizabeth and the rest of the family stood out in the crisp fall air to say goodbye.

"I don't want you to go, Mommy!" Asher whined.

"Ash, you are going to have so much fun with Daddy, you won't even miss me."

"I miss you now," he told her, his bottom lip sticking out.

"I love you, Ash. You be a good boy and have a good day at school today."

She gave him a big hug and then did the same with Mya. "Bye, Mommy."

"Bye, sweetheart."

She stepped over to Jack. "Love you," she told him as they wrapped their arms around each other.

"Love you too."

He gave her a long, sweet kiss. "Gross!" Asher yelled, running inside to the living room.

Jack laughed and kissed her again.

"I'll call you tonight," she told him and then walked to her car.

Jack sighed. He missed her already and she'd been gone for five seconds. "Miss u," he texted her and then shoved his phone in his back pocket.

"Ash, Angel, time to eat breakfast."

…..

Security at the airport took forever. Apparently it was a busy travel time in Boston. Now at the gate, Elizabeth sat across from Brandon. Both reviewing their sessions for the conference.

"I believe I've read the same sentence at least four times. You want a coffee? My treat."

"Sure. My brain is exhausted too."

"Kids keep you up last night?"

"No," she blushed.

"Ah," he coughed. "Enjoying married life, I take it?"

"Very much."

He nodded and went to wait in line at the Starbucks a few gates away.

While Brandon went to get the coffee, Elizabeth went over her notes for her presentation again. Anything to distract her from the ache she felt having left the kids and Jack. It had only been a few hours, but she missed them just the same. That didn't mean she wasn't looking forward to the conference.

Tomorrow she would be presenting on writing development in the elementary grades. She couldn't help but smile. It was these concepts that lead to her meeting Jack through the pen pal project.

A few minutes later a tall leggy women dressed in a very fashionable pencil skirt business suit sat across from Elizabeth. She didn't look up at first. Just kept texting or typing on her phone with her earbuds in.

The airline staff member that had been handling the gate picked up the phone to make an announcement.

"Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. We are experiencing a short delay on flight 233 to JFK. Should only be 10 to 20 minutes. Thank you for your patience."

"What was that?" the leggy woman asked. "I'm sorry, I only caught the last few words."

"They're delayed 10 to 20 minutes."

"Oh. That's not bad." The woman narrowed her eyes at Elizabeth. "Have we met before?"

Elizabeth looked up from her notes. "I don't believe so."

"You must just have one of those faces."

She smiled and put her earbuds back in to make a call.

"Hey baby, flight's running late. Just another 20 minutes. Okay… wonderful. See you soon!"

She hung up, then looked at Beth again.

"Maybe I know you from work. Done any modeling in the past few years?"

"Me?" Elizabeth asked perplexed. "Not at all. I've had two kids, and I look like it."

"Two kids? Wow, you look unphased from where I'm sitting."

"That's nice of you to say. I'm an elementary teacher actually."

"Aw, that's great. You must love kids. I used to be a model. Right now I work for my parent's company. It's fun. I get to travel a lot."

"I don't travel much. Guess I'm a homebody."

"Nothing wrong with that."

The woman returned her attention to her phone allowing Elizabeth to return to her own work. The silence didn't last long.

"Oh my God! Your initials…" she pointed to Elizabeth's bag. "Elizabeth?"

"Yes, have we met before?'

"Technically no. Though I have a feeling we both know quite a bit about each other."

The woman extended her hand.

"My name is Vanessa, I am a… friend of Charles…"

"Oh. Yes, I believe we do know quite a bit about each other."

Following their handshake there was a long uncomfortable silence.

Elizabeth broke the silence first. "How is he doing?"

"Good. Same old Charlie."

"Good."

"And you? How are the kids?"

"We're doing really well. I sent him pictures."

"He saw. They made him smile. You're so sweet to do that after everything."

She nodded.

"Coffee time!" Brandon sung as he took a seat next to Elizabeth.

"Oh!" Vanessa clapped her hands together. "This must be the famous Jack! Hi, I'm Vanessa."

"Hi Vanessa. Actually, my name's Brandon."

"Brandon?" she said, shocked. "What happened to Jack?"

"Nothing happened. Brandon and I work together. We happened to be on our way to a conference in New York. Jack, my husband, is at home with the kids."

"Oh phew! My mistake. Goodness if Charles gave his rights away for nothing, he'd lose his mind."

"What? Why?"

"Well, they're his kids."

"He rarely acted like it."

"Whatever you say."

"Excuse me!"

Oh the tension was rising!

Vanessa looked at her phone. "Excuse me. I need to take this. Work, you know."

"Go ahead."

Brandon said nothing at first. Just watched Vanessa walk away and Elizabeth angrily drink her coffee.

"Dang. If looks could kill, I think you'd both be dead. What was that about?"

"Vanessa is my ex's girlfriend."

"The one he left you for?"

"No, not her. This is his current flame. Though he was with her when he was supposedly trying to get back together with me."

"Scummy."

She nodded.

"So that's what the death glare was over?"

"No, not really. Charles can do whatever he wants. It was that look and tone she had when she asked about Jack. Like I would cheat on him or something."

"Clearly she's never seen you two together."

"No, and she won't."

….

Jack's day had been long and painful. He'd hoped to have the day off but was needed, so while the kids were at school he went. He did his normal detective work but then was called to a disturbance at a local bank. It had nothing to do with the robbery cases he'd be investigating but he did have to take down a 250 pound linebacker-like man who'd been causing trouble. He spent the rest of the day icing his back and neck in his office.

He pulled into Viola and Lionel's drive just before dinner. A good hour later than he'd expected. Asher burst out the front door and ran over to the Pilot before Jack was even out of the car.

"Hey, Bud!"Jack lifted up his son and spun around. "How was your day?"

"Good. Is Mommy home?"

"Not for a few days."

"Who will cook us dinner?"

"I will."

"It's late and I is hungry."

Jack checked his watch. "It is about that time, huh?"

Mya came out the front door with her backpack and Asher's.

"Are we going home, Daddy?"

"Hey, Angel. How about a hug first?" She smiled, dropped her bags and ran to him. "I missed you guys. Sorry I'm late."

"It's okay." Mya gave him a kiss on the cheek. "What's for dinner?"

"Well, your brother and I were just talking about it. How about…"

"Rocky's!" Asher cheered.

"No, Yang's!" Mya exclaimed.

Jack looked at the pleading faces of his kids. "Okay, compromise, lets go to Abigail's."

"Aw man!" Asher pouted.

"Yay! I want to see Aunt Abigail!"

"Great, at least one of you is happy," Jack sighed.

"You all set, soldier?" Viola said with a grin from the doorway.

"I've got this!"

"I know you do, but if you need anything this weekend, we're just a phone call away."

"I appreciate that, but I really want to show Beth I can do this."

"She has faith in you, Jack. She never would have left if she didn't. Just remember that."

"I will. Thanks."

"One more thing? Beth did it alone for years, but she did have help as well. The same help you have plus more with your family. Use us, okay? The saying "it takes a village" exists for a reason."

"I'll remember that. See you, Vi."

Jack buckled the kids in the car and headed into town to Abigail's. He was a little annoyed that it seemed like Viola didn't think he could do it. Sure, he was a new dad in most respects, but he loved these kids. He could do this.

As soon as Mya opened the door to Abigail's, the two kids raced inside and to the back corner booth where they loved to sit when they'd come just the four of them.

"Manors, guys, this isn't home."

"Yes, Daddy," they both replied.

"Well if it isn't the Thorntons!" Abigail said with a smile. "Hungry for dinner?"

"Corn dog and sweet potato fries please!" Asher shot her a toothy grin.

"And for you, Mya?"

Mya pretended to look at her menu but really, she already knew what she wanted. "Grilled cheese with tomato and… cheddar broccoli soup."

"Wonderful, and what does Daddy want?"

Jack gave her a tired smile. "Is Shepard's Pie still on the menu?"

"It sure is!"

"Then that, and three milks."

"Coming right up!"

Dinner went well. Jack asked the kids about their day, and was pleasantly surprised receiving many chatty responses.

After they had all finished with their meal, the kids begged Jack for desert. It was a Friday night so he didn't see any problem with it. Mya ordered the largest piece of chocolate cake Jack had seen in his entire life. Asher on the other hand had a chocolate fudge brownie ice cream sundae. The moment the dishes were placed in front of them Jack knew he was going to be in a lot of trouble when it came to bedtime that night.

He got Mya in the bath first, and while she was playing in the bubbles, listening to music from her favorite Disney movies, Jack let Asher play with his toys in the living room while he fed the dogs. He was feeling pretty proud of himself till… CRASH!

"Ash! You okay?"

"Oops…"

"Asher!"

"I didn't mean to! I'm sorry!"

"What did you...uh oh."

"Mommy is gonna be mad."

The sad little boy stood over the broken pieces surrounding his mother's favorite ceramic vase. Tears welling in the corners of his eyes.

"What were you doing in Mommy and Daddy's room anyway? You were supposed to be playing in the living room."

"I don't know."

"Well, you know better than to play with anybody's stuff without asking first."

"Yeah. Are you gonna rest me?"

"Arrest you?" Jack bit his lip trying not to laugh. "No, but I think maybe you should be punished for doing something you knew was wrong."

"Punish?"

"Yeah. I'm thinking no tv tomorrow."

"Aww. Please, Daddy."

"Sorry, bud." Just then a noise grabbed Jack's attention from down the hall. "Now go sit on your bed and look at books. I'm going to go check on Mya."

"Okay, Daddy."

He rushed down the hall and as he got closer he heard a soft but frantic little voice.

"No no no no!"

"Angel?" Jack said as he reached the doorway then walked inside. "Oh my gosh…"

"Its broken!!"

Water was pouring out of the tub as the faucet roared like a waterfall. The handle for the water was missing!

"Unplug the tub!"

"I did!"

"Oh man!" Jack grabbed a towel and lifted Mya out of the water. He placed her in her room then rushed down stairs to the water's off switch.

"Unbelievable," Jack sighed as he leaned against the water tank. His jeans and shirt were completely soaked. "Do I even want to know what's coming next?"

….

Elizabeth headed to her hotel room at a quarter to eight. There had been a mixer for all those presenting tomorrow, including a nice meal. She felt she participated enough that no one would think it rude that she left early.

Reclining back on the plush king size bed, she called Jack's cell. It rang a few times before he answered.

"Hey, babe."

"Hi, sweetie! How are things on the home front?"

"Perfect. No floods or broken irreplaceable vases here!"

"Um, what?" She laughed as he went on to explain the whole ordeal. "Oh no! What can we do?"

"I called Jesse. He'll come over tomorrow with the part and we'll fix the shower. Sorry about the vase though. I can't seem to find a replacement for it."

"That's ok. I'm sad about it but it's just a thing."

"Asher was so worried. He knew it is important to you."

"Is he awake still?"

"Might be. I'll go check." Jack softly padded down the hall. Asher was in his bed looking at books with a flashlight. "Ash, Mom's on the phone."

"Is she mad?"

"No, buddy. She just wants to talk to you."

He put his little Thomas the Tank Engine flashlight down and took the phone.

"Hi, Mama."

"Hi, sweet boy. Rough night?"

"Kind of. I broke Great Grandma's vase that you loved."

"Daddy told me. Were you hurt?"

"No."

"Well, that's good. I'm sad about the vase, but so very happy you weren't hurt."

Jack listened in awe. When Asher was done he told Elizabeth he loved her and handed the phone back to Jack.

He checked to see if Mya was awake but she was already fast asleep. He returned to their room and reclined back on the bed. Both dogs were sleeping to the side of the bed.

"Looks like it's just you and me now, babe."

"Hmm, what should we talk about?"

"You could tell me what you're wearing."

She laughed. "Or we could FaceTime and I'll show you what I'm not wearing."

"Yes, please!"

They talked till it was almost 1am before saying goodnight. Jack was asleep for barely an hour before he and the dogs awoke to cries from down the hall.

He hopped out of bed and hurried down the hall.

"Asher, buddy, you okay? Did you have a had dream?"

"I sick, Daddy."

"Oh no! What hurts?"

"My tum…"

Yup, it was his tummy alright. Jack lifted the weak little boy in his arms and took him to the master bath. He was a mess, and from what Jack could feel, there was a fever.

Placing Asher on the side of the tub with a bowl, Jack grabbed the forehead thermometer. 103.

"Yup, you're pretty sick." He said as the boy put his face back in the bowl.

"I'm messy," he cried.

"Yeah, let's get you in the big tub here, okay?"

He was just pulling Asher out of the tub when Mya walked into the master bath.

"Daddy?" She whined. "I don't feel so good."

"Here." Asher said sweetly, handing her the bowl. "You may need it."

By 4 am, both children were asleep on their parent's bed. Jack had their pajamas and sheets as well as other items in the washer.

He lay there next to them, glad their stomachs had calmed down a little.

His stomach rumbled as he tried to go to sleep. Then he realized nausea was setting in and he groaned. A few moments later, he bolted from the bed and ran to the bedroom.

"Daddy?" Ash said from the doorway, rubbing his eyes. "Daddy, do you need a bowl?"

"Maybe, bud."

Ash walked over to him and ran his fingers through Jack's hair. "This is what Mommy does to me. It helps me feel better."

"Thanks, Ash. It does help."

Jack chatted with Elizabeth a little later that morning. She was ready to hop on the next plane home, but Jack assured her they'd be okay and that it was important that she participated in the conference. He knew how excited she had been, even though she didn't want to leave them.

Down in the kitchen Jack made himself some ginger tea and toast for the kids. They were still upstairs in Jack and Elizabeth's bed. Fevers still strong.

"Knock knock!"

"Tom?"

Tom walked further in the house and met Jack in the kitchen.

"Dude," he laughed. "You look like crap."

"I feel it. What are you doing here?"

"Jesse called, said you told him not to come over because you all had the plague and you didn't want him bringing it back to our pregnant sis-in-law."

"True…"

"So Jess and I went out this morning and grabbed the part for the kid's bath and I'm here to install it."

"You know how to do that?"

"I know how to YouTube it. Same difference."

"I'm too weak to argue. Just don't make it worse, please?"

"Roger that, big brother! Oh, and I brought soup for later if you guys are up for it."

"You made us soup?

"Heck no." He chuckled. "You're already sick. No need to make it worse with my cooking. It's from Abigail's."

"Ah, good thought."

"Yes. Now go rest. I'm here if you need anything."

"Want me to help you with the…"

"Go!" Tom laughed.

Tom made himself some coffee and then headed upstairs to get to work.

Sitting in the dried out tub, Tom watched a 15 minute video on how to remove the current fixture and replace it. He was just starting a second video when his screen cut to an incoming call. It was Julie.

With a sigh, he hit ignore. "Sorry Julie. I just can't."