Early March
Mott's Children's Hospital
After Cole's scan of his eyes and brain and some blood tests, Dr. Paul called Drew and Kayla into his office while Cole stayed in the waiting room with Elizabeth.
Drew absentmindedly squeezed Kayla's hand as they tried to be patient.
"Okay, Dr. and Mrs. Shepherd, we have the results of a few of Cole's tests."
"Is his cancer back?" Drew asked, already convinced.
"I don't see anything out of the ordinary in the scans. His eyes and brain look good."
"I don't understand."
"Dr. Shepherd…"
"Drew."
"Yes, okay, Drew. As you know, when your son was two, he had chemotherapy to get rid of his non-heritable retinoblastoma. It would be very rare that he develop the same type of cancer."
Drew covered his face with his hands and then sighed. What a relief. "But, his headaches."
"Cole will always have trouble with his eyes. He will always need his corrective lenses. His eyes may worsen faster than other children his age. But barring finding anything abnormal in his blood tests, Cole is a healthy six year old boy. To prevent headaches, maybe have him wear sunglasses indoors since his eyes are sensitive to the lights."
"Thank you, doctor," Kayla said, shaking his hand.
"I'll see you all again in about a year. Alright?"
"Yes, thank you." She nudged Drew.
He stuck his hand out. "Thank you, Dr. Paul."
Drew and Kayla stayed behind a moment. Drew couldn't hide his emotions. The tears flowed freely down his face.
"Oh, sweetheart," Kayla whispered, wrapping her arms around him. "Its okay now."
"I was scared, Kay. I was so scared his cancer was back."
"I know. Its not like you to assume the worst in a situation."
"He's my son. Our son. If we lost him...I couldn't deal with it."
"Babe, we aren't losing him. You heard the doc. He's healthy."
"Thank God," he whispered. "Thank God."
When Elizabeth got home from the hospital, she walked in the door and stopped.
"What in the...? Jack?" she called.
"Hey, babe," he smiled, walking in the room.
"What are these? Why do you have them?"
"They are golf clubs. I'm going to play golf."
"You do know its not even spring yet, right?"
"Yep. Gives me time to practice."
"You're not practicing in here, Jack."
"Of course I am."
"Uh no. There isn't enough room. You start practicing and the next thing we have are broken windows and lamps. You'll need to practice outside."
"In the snow? I'll never find the ball."
"Maybe that's a blessing," she mumbled as she walked away.
"I heard that," he told her.
"I know."
He followed her upstairs to the master. "Elizabeth, I'm bored. Completely and utterly bored. I need a hobby. Golf is perfect. Drew said we can golf together and Ben said he might join us too."
"And during the winter, which it still is by the way, what will you do?"
"I don't know. Bowling?"
"Bowling."
"Yes. What is going on, Elizabeth? I'm not feeling the support I usually get from you."
She slipped a clean shirt over her head and stared at him, hands on her hips. "I'm sorry. I guess….I'm bored too. Now you're doing these things and I have nothing."
He slipped his arms around her and gave her a sweet kiss. "Now that you're all healed, you could go up and be with Livy and the triplets."
"You wouldn't mind?"
"I suggested it. Of course I wouldn't mind. I know how much you miss them."
"I really do."
"So go," he said, shrugging.
"Okay! I will." She kissed him and clapped her hands. "I'm so excited!"
Elizabeth left on Saturday morning and started driving the sevenish hours up to Hope Hills. She was going to stay with Rosie and Lee to give Livy and Matt their space.
As she drove north, she stopped every few hours to eat and use the bathroom or just to walk around. One particular stop she made in Mackinaw City, she found a secondhand clothing boutique that had a lot of children's clothes for very cheap prices. Needless to say, by the time she was back on her way again, she had bought clothes for the triplets and some for Ava's children as well.
If she couldn't be with them all the time, at least she could do something. Helping out by buying things the kids would need felt important.
By evening, she was definitely ready to get out of the car so she pulled into Lee and Rosie's driveway and parked. Lee walked out and helped with her suitcases.
"Hey, Elizabeth."
"Hi, Lee. How are you?"
"Great. How are you and Jack?"
"Well, Jack's bored so he decided to take up golfing."
"Oh. Well, I enjoy it. Maybe he and I can go together some time."
"I'm sure he would love that."
"Oh, Elizabeth," Rosie said, giving her a hug as they walked inside the large foyer. "Welcome to our home."
"Thank you for having me."
"Our pleasure. Let me show you to the guest suite. It's here on the first floor, just beyond the sitting room."
Elizabeth took advantage of the jacuzzi tub in the very opulent bathroom of her suite. She called Jack as she was relaxing.
"Hey, Jack."
"Hey. So you made it safely?"
"Yes. And now I am soaking in a jacuzzi tub in the fanciest, largest bathroom I have ever seen. This is just a guest room. I can't imagine the master bath."
Silence filled the line. "Jack?"
"Sorry, I was just wishing I was there for a moment."
"You could have come. I'm sure Livy would love to see you."
"Maybe I should have. In the meantime, tomorrow night, Drew, Cole and Ben are coming over."
"Guys night?"
"Yeah. We are going to make dinner and watch a movie."
"That sounds fun."
"I think so too."
"Well, Jack. I am going to get out and get into my pajamas. Call you tomorrow?"
"Okay. I love you, Elizabeth. Sleep well."
"I love you too, sweetheart."
The next morning, Elizabeth left after breakfast which was a quiche that Pierre, their french cook, made. She pulled into the driveway of the cabin as Matt was pulling out. He pulled back in and came over to say hello.
"Hi, Mom." He kissed her cheek and hugged her. "Good to see you."
"You too, Matt. How are you doing?"
"Tired, but I'm pretty sure that will be my standard answer for quite a while. Otherwise, I'm good. Just heading to work. I have to work late so I won't be home until well after dinner."
"Okay. I will help Livy as long as I need to."
"Thank you, Mom."
"Have a good day," she waved as he backed out again.
Elizabeth wandered into the house. All was quiet which surprised her. "Livy?"
"Mom?" Livy said from the kitchen. "It's so good to see you!"
"You too. Are the babies asleep?"
"Yeah. This is one of my rare moments of silence. Usually Rosie is here by now and you know that once she is here, silence doesn't happen."
"I'm glad you have her to help you."
"Me too. She is a huge help. I even taught her how to do laundry and load the dishwasher."
"You taught her?"
"Yeah. If I hadn't, having her here wouldn't make much sense. I would still be doing everything."
"Well, I'm here this week and maybe next, if you aren't sick of me by then. I can do whatever you need me to."
"I might take you up on that."
"For instance, I am going to do dishes right now," Elizabeth told her, opening the dishwasher and loading the items that were in the sink. Once that was done, she disinfected the counters and the stove.
As Livy relaxed at the bar, they heard a few squawks over the monitor. "Guess who's awake," Livy said, getting up from her stool.
Elizabeth followed her up the stairs and to the end of the hall where the master was. All three of them were wet, but only Wes and Amber were crying about it. Beck just laid there and looked around. After changing them, it was time for their meal. "Mom, after we get Wes and Amber nursing, can you take Beck and get him a bottle of breastmilk? It's on the counter in a mug of warm water."
"Of course."
Once Elizabeth was back and feeding Beck, they chatted. "I have a doctor's appointment for them on Thursday. Then I have my own appointment just after."
"Everyone doing okay?"
"Yeah. It's their three month checkup and mine too. Just making sure I am all healed after the surgery." She left out the part about how she and Matt were hoping for a clean bill of health so other parts of their life could get back to normal.
"If you and Matt want a break one evening, let me know. I'm sure I can get Rosie and Lee to come over and help me with the babies so you can go out. I'm sure that's been hard to do lately."
"You read my mind. We really really need time with just us. I would love that, Mom."
"Let's do it Friday night, maybe?"
"Yeah. Friday will be great."
After all three babies were fed and burped and put back in their crib, Elizabeth insisted that Livy sleep too. She was going to do laundry and clean the bathrooms.
Ann Arbor, Arbor Accounting
"Ben, Mr. Cruise wants to speak with you in his office," the secretary told him.
"Be right there," he told her. He hoped it had to do with the position in Accounts Receivable that he had applied for. After working with the firm for over a year and proving himself, he hoped that he was a shoe-in. He knocked on Mr. Cruise's door. "Sir? Belinda said you wanted to see me?"
"Yeah. Have a seat, Thornton."
"Thank you, sir."
"I have your application for the A/R position. I am all for you making the move, but you don't have the degree yet."
"I know, sir, but I am two months away from that degree. Is there any way they could make an exception? I am capable of learning whatever I need to."
Mr. Cruise thought for a moment and then looked at Ben in the eyes. "You are a good worker, Ben. You are always on time, you never miss a day. You have absolutely proved yourself. I will put in a good word for you up in A/R. Keep your eyes open for an appointment on your calendar for the interview."
"Thank you, sir!" Ben stood and shook his hand. This job gave him a leg up in the company. And if he wanted to get a position anywhere else, the bachelor's degree and the position would be great on his resume. Not to mention, the benefits were great and the money was going to be helpful with two more mouths to feed and bodies to clothe soon.
By the time he got to his desk, he had a notice of an interview with Henry Gowen in A/R for two days later. "Yes," he whispered, resisting the urge to pump his fist or jump up and down. Things were looking up.
After his interview two days later, Henry hired him. He would begin on March 15th. He called Ava at lunch to tell her the good news.
"I got it, babe!"
"I'm so proud of you. I knew you'd get it."
He heard pounding and other noises in the background, "Thanks. Hey, is Hickam there working on the addition?"
"Yeah. Mike Hickam Sr., Junior, and Chad are here. They are taking advantage of the spring like weather."
"Better watch out. There will probably be another big snowstorm before spring."
"Yeah. I told them that but they insisted."
And a week later, after they had started to build the walls, Mother Nature dumped a foot of snow on them after a layer of ice.
