(No One's POV)

Elizabeth was frantically sweeping the house after putting Thomas down for a nap. Today was the day everyone would be arriving to meet the new baby. It was also Grace's first time in Hope Valley, and Elizabeth wanted her mother to have the right impression of where she chose to raise her family.

"Elizabeth, it's going to be fine. You already cleaned this place from top to bottom yesterday." Jack wrapped his arms around his wife from behind and kissed her on the cheek.

"Thanks, love. I just want to make sure everything's perfect. I know my father was here for the wedding, but my mother has never been to visit. Plus with our new house and our new baby-," Elizabeth rubbed her temples, as she was getting a headache just thinking about it.

"Hey, hey, look at me." Jack twirled his wife to face him and cupped her face in his hands. "Why don't you go lie down for a bit while I finish up here? I'm sure Ma will arrive first anyway, which will give us a distraction before your family gets here."

"Are you sure?" Jack nodded and smiled at her. "How did I get so lucky to have you, Jack?"

"I'm the lucky one, now go get some rest." Jack kissed Elizabeth's forehead and watched her head upstairs.

Like clockwork, there was a knock on the door, and Rip barked a bit. Jack shushed him, not wanting to wake Thomas or Elizabeth, and opened the door.

"Hi Ma, it's good to see you." He gave Charlotte a hug and grabbed her bags. "Elizabeth just went upstairs to rest, everybody visiting today has her quite stressed."

"Oh that's quite alright, Jack. Now where's my grandson?"

"Thomas is also taking a nap. So it's just you, me, and Rip for the time being. The Thatchers should be here in an hour or so, if I had to guess."

"Do you need a hand with anything until then? You know I've been taking care of myself for quite some time, so you don't have to worry about me if you need to get things done."

"I think all that's left is finishing up lunch for everyone. Though, I don't remember what Elizabeth was planning on making…"

"I tell ya what. You run my bags upstairs and I'll see what you've got here and get to cooking up something. Whatever it is, I just hope Lizzie doesn't mind me taking over your kitchen." Jack strained a smile when Charlotte said Lizzie, knowing how much Elizabeth couldn't stand it. He wondered if William or Grace would make a fuss about it during their visit.

"You really don't have to do that, Ma."

"Jack, it's no trouble at all. Now go, shoo." Charlotte literally waved her son off and got to work. She made a tossed salad, put a chicken in the oven and stirred some gravy over the stove. By the time Elizabeth made her way back downstairs, it smelled amazing.

"Charlotte, I didn't know you were here. Jack's upstairs with the baby." She finished heading down the stairs and noticed it was Charlotte who was doing all the cooking. "Charlotte what's all this-?" They were cut off by a knock at the door.

"It's no trouble at all, Lizzie, you just go get the door. I'm sure it's your folks, and I can't wait to meet them."

Elizabeth wrapped her scarf around her arms and opened the door. "Mother, Father, it's so good to see you!" She gave her parents a hug and gestured for them to come inside. As they headed in, Elizabeth realized there was one more guest with them. "Julie! I'm so glad you could make it!" The women squealed and hugged a bit before Julie joined the Thatchers inside.

Julie sat down on the couch and began to pet Rip, who was more than thrilled to be getting some attention. "You're such a good boy, Rip. I missed you so much. Now you're a big brother, huh?"

"Elizabeth, I didn't think you had an in-house chef," Grace asked, watching Charlotte cook, who had her back towards the Thatchers at the moment. "Not that you could afford one here," William chimed in.

"I beg your pardon?" Charlotte turned around as she set the cooked chicken on the counter.

"Mother, Father, this is Charlotte Thornton. Jack's mother."

Everyone exchanged awkward glances, just as Jack arrived downstairs with the baby of the hour. "I see that everyone's here now. Who's excited to meet their grandson?"

(Rosemary's POV)

Something had felt off for about a week now, but I was trying to shrug it off. Lately, I'd been even more "high strung" than usual - worrying that something was going to happen to myself or Lee, or even worse, the baby. I felt like I was spending every waking moment making sure everything was clean and safe and that Colt wouldn't find anything he could choke on. I knew it was a lot, but I just couldn't stop it.

I was upstairs holding Colt as he slept. Feeling his heartbeat against my chest and hearing his tiny breaths as he slept, seemed to calm me down when I was feeling this way. Lee was home too, but he was on the phone with someone, but I couldn't figure out who.

"Yes, I'm married now, and I have a son."

"I just wanted to hear your voice."

"Please don't hang up… it's been so long."

"I love you…"

My cheeks started to burn. Was he on the phone with another woman? I didn't want to over react, but the signs were all there.

I gently laid Colt down in his crib and headed downstairs.

"Rosie, I thought you were asleep with the baby. There's something I wanted to tell you-,"

"I already have an idea of what you're going to say, and I don't think I want to hear it." I could feel tears in my eyes, and I was mad at myself for getting so upset in front of him.

"Okay, so you heard me on the phone. Don't you want to know who I was talking to? Rosie, why are you crying?"

"Were you on the phone with another woman, Lee Coulter? You and I are married, and if something's going on, I deserve to know while I'm busy raising our son."

"Another woman? What-? No. No, not at all. Rosie, let's sit down."

Lee took my hands in his, guided me to the couch and we sat down. "Of course I told you about my brother Patrick… but I also have a sister. Her name is Susannah."

I felt so dumb for thinking Lee was having an affair. So much was running through my mind, that I didn't know what to say.

"My sister and I fell out of touch after Patrick passed away, and especially after our parents died. I found her number through word of mouth and the phone company. We grew up in Ohio, but she lived in Washington now. After being a dad for only a short time, I realized that I'm sure all my parents wanted was for us to stay in each other's lives. So I wanted to reach out to her, which was hard, because she hung up on me the first time. But I called her back and we talked for a bit. I don't know where things will go from here, but I called her. And we talked. And now I feel better."

"Well, I'm glad you told me about Susannah and I'm glad you two were able to talk." I went to get up from the couch, but Lee stopped me.

"Rosie, what's wrong? Something's the matter with you." He looked at me with concern and care, and wiped a tear off my cheek with his thumb. "I just want to help."

I sighed and stared at the ceiling. "I don't even know, that's the problem. I feel like I've been working on overdrive recently." I could feel Lee giving me a look, so I looked over at him. "More than my normal overdrive…"

"I'm constantly worried that something's going to happen to one of us or the baby. I keep cleaning and tidying up all while taking care of Colt. Sometimes, it feels like I can't breathe, like the walls are closing in. Holding Colt during his naps is the only thing that's giving me solitude, and I don't know what to do."

"Rosemary, nothing's going to happen to any of us, we are absolutely fine. Why don't I start taking Monday's off so I have another day home with you and Colt? And when you're feeling overwhelmed, tell me. I can't handle whatever life throws our way. So if that means I need to start carrying more of the weight for a while, I can do that. You just had a baby, I'm sure your body's adjusting back to normal and that's throwing things off, but I'm your husband and I love you very much."

"I just feel bad, because it feels like it's always me who's having problems and you're always the one cleaning up the mess."

"I married you for better or for worse, and trust me, I knew what I was getting into. I just want us to be happy, that's all I care about. Why don't I see if one of the neighbors could watch Colt tonight so we could have the night to ourselves, would that help?"

"I feel better when he's with us, if that's okay? Why don't we have a cozy summer night in tonight?"

"I love that idea. We can open the windows to let in the cool summer breeze, have dinner in the backyard and sip some wine. In the meantime, let me relieve some stress I can sense you're holding in your muscles."

Lee stood up and came around behind me to massage my shoulders. I closed my eyes and drifted off a bit, knowing that everything was going to be okay.

Author's Note: Hey everyone! Life's been crazy lately, and I haven't really been feeling like myself, so I apologize for the lack of updates. On the bright side, that's why I've started planning chapters in advance, so it's easier to come back after a rut. I hope you enjoyed the chapter, I wanted to shed like on anxiety/postpartum anxiety. Of course, everybody's different, but I hope maybe someone can relate to what Rosemary's going through (and hopefully you have someone like Lee to support you through it). We'll get a recap on how the family reunion went at the Thornton's house next chapter, so stay tuned!