Tuesday evening, Jack stood in the middle of the snack aisle of Wegman's, staring at the wide variety of potato chips. Coming to the grocery store hungry was a bad idea. At the moment half of the contents of his cart were items not on his list. He grabbed two bags of Cape Cod chips. One in sour cream and chive flavor and another in sea salt and headed towards the meat section along the back wall.
While he looked over the ground beef, he felt someone wrap their little arms around his waist. Turning around, he smiled.
"Hi Jack," Levi signed.
"Hi! What are you doing here?"
"Ice cream!"
"And other things," Elizabeth said with a laugh. "How you doing Jack?"
It took Jack a moment to answer. Elizabeth looked gorgeous in tight jeans and a flowing cream tunic top. Her hair cascading freely over her shoulders.
"Ah, good. Yeah. Just doing some shopping."
Elizabeth peered into his cart. "Shopping hungry I see?"
"Yeah, I know better too."
Levi, tugged on Elizabeth's hand, "I go find ice cream?"
"Yes, pick something yummy."
"I will!" With that, the little boy hurried down the next aisle. Elizabeth turned her stance so she could still have eyes on him and continued her conversation with Jack.
"You know, you're one of his favorite people right now."
"Oh yeah? Why do you think that is?"
Bashfully, she smiled as she stared at her cart. "Many reasons, I'm sure."
The look on her face caused Jack's heart to pound in his chest. Could she be interested in him? Time to deflect.
"So, I saw Tom last night. Sounds like he thinks a lot of you."
"Oh, well the feeling is mutual. It's wonderful the father he's become despite all the hardships. I'm sure part of that is due to you and your mom's support through it all."
"We did what we could, but he's the real star."
Elizabeth smiled at Jack, "You care about your brother a lot, don't you?"
"I do. I'd do anything for him." Jack took a breath, "Like helping him move on with his life. Someone who loves kids. Maybe even with someone with experience with deaf kids. Someone he can talk to."
"Oh…" A twinge of disappointment stabbed at her heart as she nervously moved her hair back behind her ear. "Well, yeah, I mean I'm glad I've met Tom. We have a lot in common."
"Yeah, you do."
Levi ran back over with a gallon of green mint chip ice cream.
"It's green! Look!"
"I see that!" Elizabeth smiled. "We should let you get back to your shopping."
"Yeah. See you later?"
"See you later, Jack."
"Bye Jack!"
"Bye Levi."
Jack watched as they head back down the next aisle. He sighed. He really thought he was doing the right thing. If he was, why did he feel such a deep ache in his heart for this woman and her child?
…..
Later that evening, Elizabeth sat on the couch watching Property Brothers after Levi had fallen fast asleep upstairs. Half way through the episode, she had to hit pause when there was a knock on the door. It was Rosie.
"Sorry, I know it's late. I just had to talk to you and a phone call just wouldn't cut it!" she whispered in a high pitched tone.
"No worries. Why are you whispering?"
"I don't want to wake Levi, of course."
"Rosie, you know my son's deaf, right? Even you can't wake him."
"Right… sorry." Rosie giggled. "Oh Elizabeth, I think I'm in love!"
"You're kidding? With who?"
"Lee!"
"The chef from your date with Kevin?"
"Ugh, Kevin. What a disaster. At least I got Lee out of it. Elizabeth, this guy's amazing. The real deal! Handsome, sophisticated and what a gentleman."
"Great." Elizabeth dragged her feet back to the couch. "I'm happy for you."
Rosie tilted her head to the side. "What's up?"
"Nothing."
"Right…" With a plop, Rosie sat on the couch next to Elizabeth. "You realize that I've known your forever, right?"
"I do… so what are you getting at?"
"Very little gets to you. You're one tough cookie."
"Thanks."
"Except with matters of the heart."
"Come again?"
"You remember back in college when you found yourself in that love triangle with Aaron Griffith and Amy French?"
"Oh, my goodness," Elizabeth laughed as she threw her head back against the couch. "That was something wasn't it? I ended up on the losing end of that one."
"I wouldn't say that. Look at what you have now. A beautiful home, great job, and my adorable God-son up there who is the most amazing son in the whole universe."
Elizabeth beamed, "Yes he is. I wouldn't change having him in my life for anything."
"So what's got you so gloomy tonight?"
"Nothing, I guess. Sorry. We can keep talking about you."
"As much as I'd love that, no. Something is wrong and I want to know. Come on! Tell me now or I'll get the wine out. I know where you keep it and your tongue loosens with a glass or two." Rosie wiggled her eyebrows up and down, playfully teasing her best friend.
"Okay fine!" Elizabeth laughed. "I'll tell you, but let's get the wine out anyway. It's that kind of conversation."
A glass of wine later…
"So let me get this straight, you're attracted to Jack, but he seems to be trying to set you up with his brother, Tom?"
"Yup. He has absolutely no interest in me whatsoever."
"I find that hard to believe," Rosie took another sip. "But let's say you're right. Is Tom really that bad?"
"Gosh, no!" She shook her head vigorously. "Tom is so sweet and a wonderful father. I just don't get that… that…"
"Spark?"
"Yes! No spark."
"What about with Jack? Any sparks there?"
"Fireworks…"
"Okay, yeah, maybe this is a problem."
"This is crazy. Levi and Tom's son are becoming like best friends. I've never seen him so happy. Their mother helped me get Levi into that great school. What do I do?"
"Maybe nothing. Maybe Jack will come to his senses and realize how amazing you are."
"And if he doesn't?"
"Well, if Tom asks, I say give him a shot. Like for coffee or something simple to start. Sparks don't always show up immediately. They can show up gradually."
"Progressive sparks? I don't know, Rosie. I'm telling you, I feel fireworks with Jack."
"Are we talking fourth of July fireworks or backyard sparklers?"
"Do I really need to answer that?"
"Yes!"
"Let me put it this way, I felt butterflies, Rosie. And the hairs on my arms stood on end. I got goosebumps."
"Indigestion?"
Elizabeth took another sip of her wine and sighed. "I give up."
….
Wednesday after school, Elizabeth picked up Levi and went to the park. She'd placed their bikes on the rack on her car that morning and packed a backpack of snacks for them. The weather was perfect and Levi had been itching to get out on the trails again.
At the start of the bike trail, Levi fastened his black helmet with the green dinosaur spikes down the middle on his head. Elizabeth laughed as he rapidly shook his head back and forth to check that the helmet was on tight enough. She tapped him on the shoulder to get his attention.
"I love you, my goofy son," she signed.
Levi tilted his head to the side, curious what his mom thought was so funny. With a smile and a shrug he signed back, "Love you too, Mom."
"Ready to bike?" she asked.
"Yes!"
Steadily, they made their way down the wide bike path. Since Levi was unable to hear his surroundings such as a person or honking horn, Elizabeth had fixed a small mirror to his helmet that worked like a rear/side mirror on a car. For Levi, it gave him an extra sense of security while on his bike; as well as giving Elizabeth a little extra piece of mind. She wanted to do her very best to make it so Levi could do all the things he wanted to do, regardless of his deafness.
After biking for almost 20 minutes on the paved path, they stopped to sit under a shady tree and half their snack. Levi dove into the bag of trail mix, giving Elizabeth a small eye roll when she reminded him he had to eat more than just the M&M's, while Elizabeth peeled her orange and ate that.
"Can we go more?"
"Like back to the car?"
"No. That way, please?" He pointed towards the narrower wooded biking trail just off the path. "15 more minutes?"
Elizabeth tapped her finger against her lips, pretending to think. It was fall, and the sky was getting dark earlier and earlier, but the path was lit. "Okay."
"Awesome!" Levi grabbed his helmet and put it on in a similar fashion as before when they'd started. "Bet I can go faster!"
"Levi Daniel Thatcher, you need to be safe."
"I will." With a boyish grin he hopped on his bike. "Let's go!"
Elizabeth was on her bike a few seconds later, trailing just a little ways behind her son. She could still see him, and noticed him slowing down a few times to make sure they didn't get too far apart.
Five minutes later, a group of reckless teens whizzed passed Elizabeth, almost knocking her over. Instinctively, she yelled out to Levi to warn him, even though logically she knew he couldn't hear her.
One of the teens rode his bike off the well worn path and into the woods next to it a ways. When he jumped his bike back down on the trail, he landed right in front of Levi, scaring the poor boy half to death! Over-correcting to avoid a collision, Levi drove his bike clear off the opposite side of the trail and down the steep ledge with a crash.
Pedaling as fast as she could, Elizabeth jumped off her bike as she reached the edge where Levi fell. He was lying on his side whimpering, holding his knee.
"Oh sweetie…" Elizabeth helped him sit up and then signed, "You alright?"
"My knee… it hurts."
Tears poured down his cheeks.
A small crowd had gathered back up on the trail. Elizabeth could hear a male voice sternly lecturing the teen that jumped in front of Levi. She was grateful, it was the kind of lecture she wanted to give, but right now her focus was needed on her son.
"Ma'am do you need…" The male voice came to a hush from up on the path. "Elizabeth?"
"Jack?"
"Hey." Like a man who knew what to do in a crisis, Jack moved off the trail to kneel in front of Levi. "Did he hit his head?"
"No, but he says his knee hurts."
Levi waved his hand to get their attention and then asked what they'd said. In the chaos, neither one was signing.
"He wants to know how you are feeling," she signed.
"Can I see your knee?" Jack asked. Levi nodded, but winced and pulled away as Jack touched it. After taking a closer look, Jack spoke to Elizabeth while signing for Levi, "I don't think it's broken, but it looks a little dislocated. We should take him to the ER just to be safe."
"Okay." Elizabeth looked at the bikes and groaned. "We're parked way at the north start of the trail."
"We'll take my truck, it's not far." Jack told Levi he was going to carry him, then hoisted the boy up effortlessly into his arms.
Once back on the trail, Jack asked Elizabeth for Levi's bike. With Levi in one arm and the bike in his other hand, Jack lead the way to his truck.
"Thank you, Jack." Elizabeth said as she walked her bike behind him. "I don't know what we would have done without you."
"Happy to help. How's he looking?" Jack asked. He couldn't see Levi's face as he carried him.
"Sad. His eyes are closed. I think he's in pain."
"Okay, my truck's not that much further."
When they reached the parking lot, Jack leaned the boy's bike against a large shiny black truck. Opening the doors to the extended cab, he gently placed Levi in Ryan's booster seat and buckled him up.
"We'll get you feeling better soon, alright bud?" Jack signed to the boy. He nodded back. Closing the doors he turned to Elizabeth. "Climb on in. I'll secure the bikes in the bed."
"Okay. Thanks again, Jack."
"Hey, don't worry about it," he smiled at her, flashing his deep dimples.
Climbing up into the truck, Elizabeth sighed as she secured her seatbelt. "It's so not okay how sweet and good looking that man is," she muttered to herself.
Levi tapped her shoulder. "What did you say?" Elizabeth looked at him confused. "I saw your lips move in the mirror. Are you mad at me?"
"No! No! I'm just sad you're hurt."
"Okay. Love you, Mom."
"Love you, sweetie."
"Ready?" Jack said as he climbed in.
….
The ER was busy for a Wednesday evening. Jack held Levi in his arms while Elizabeth checked in at the main desk.
The nurse behind the desk, handed them an ice pack for the knee and printed an ID bracelet off for Levi and put it on him. "You can have a seat over there and a nurse will be out shortly."
"Thank you," Elizabeth spoke.
"Oh, one more thing, sorry to say, but we're short interpreters this evening. Perhaps you or your husband could sign for Levi?"
"Oh, he's…" Elizabeth began to correct the nurse regarding Jack.
"I'll do it," Jack offered. "Not a problem."
They walked over to a cluster of chairs near a TV that was playing the first lego movie.
"Look! Lego!"
"You want to watch?" He nodded.
Jack put him down in the chair and placed the ice on his knee. "Ice stays here while you watch, okay?"
"Okay."
Jack leaned forward and kissed Levi's head. It surprised both himself and Elizabeth. He didn't know what came over him. For some reason, this little guy was special to him.
Jack moved to sit in the seat next to Elizabeth. "How are you holding up?"
"Okay, I guess. I'll feel better when we've seen a doctor. My mind is running through all the worst case scenarios."
"Try not to worry. I've seen injuries like this before when I was in the Army. He'll have to rest the knee, but it should heal fast."
"How long were you in the Army?"
Jack blinked rapidly. He'd just opened up to a conversation about a part of his life he'd rather leave closed. Now that it was open though, he couldn't ignore her question.
"I did four deployments over 6 years."
"Wow, that's a lot."
"It's the job. Well, more like a life than a job sometimes."
"I can only imagine. Must have been hard at times."
"At times, yes."
"Levi Thatcher?" a nurse from triage room 3 called out.
"Here!" Elizabeth rose from her seat and told Levi what was going on. He whined at first, not wanting to leave the movie, but when she reminded him that they needed to be seen in order for his knee to feel better, he complied.
"Do you need a wheelchair?" the nurse asked.
"I got him." Again, Jack effortlessly lifted the boy up and followed Elizabeth into the room.
An hour later, they were back out in the waiting room, waiting for an exam room to open up and a doctor to be available.
With Levi's attention fixed on the TV, Elizabeth stepped away for a moment into a little hallway with a couple vending machines and a coffee maker.
Jack turned around in his seat to see her. Her back was to him, but he could see her shoulders shaking up and down. She was crying. It made his heart hurt. He needed to do something.
"You okay?" He asked Levi after tapping his shoulder. The boy nodded and waved Jack off, wanting nothing more than to watch the movie.
Elizabeth stood in front of the vending machine as if she was trying to make a snack selection, but really she was just trying to hide her emotions from the world.
"Elizabeth?" Jack's soft voice spoke from behind. "You alright?"
"Yeah."
"You sure?"
Turning back around, she shook her head. "It's my fault. I shouldn't have taken him out there today." Tears streamed down her cheeks.
"Hey, come here." Jack instinctively wrapped her in his arms, letting her cry it out in his embrace. "Please listen to me. You are a great mom. Levi is one lucky little guy."
"I don't feel that way right now."
"Is this the first time you've had to bring him to the ER?"
"Yeah. He's had bumps and cuts but nothing like this."
"That's pretty good if you ask me," Jack grinned. "My mom has been coming here for me or my brother since we were 2."
"Really?"
"Yup. Stitches, broken bones, a few bad fevers. None of that was a reflection of my mom. She was amazing just like you. Stuff happens. There's nothing you can do about that, okay?"
Elizabeth looked up in Jack's dark green eyes. Her stomach felt as if an army of butterflies had taken up residence there. She couldn't remember ever feeling like this before. It was unnerving, yet exciting all at the same time.
Jack couldn't move. He stood there, his hands resting on Elizabeth's arms, her crystal blue eyes gazing at him like deep tropical pools. If he didn't look away soon, he'd lose himself in them.
Looking down, he caught her biting her lower lip. As she did, Jack felt his chest muscles tighten. Taking a deep breath, he caught the soothing scent of lavender.
Coming to his senses, he stepped back. Elizabeth was perfect, perfect for Tom. At least, that was the plan. A plan he was quickly starting to question.
"Come on, let's sit. I'm sure the doctor will be out soon."
He was right. Fifteen minutes later they were taken back to a bed in the ER. Jack layed a tired Levi down. Elizabeth came over, kissed the his forehead and draped a blue blanket over him. A moment later, he was asleep.
"I love these curls," she whispered as she ran her fingers through her son's hair. "Wild and crazy just like my boy."
"Then there's Ryan. Everyone says he looks like an angel with his blond hair, but really, he's a sneaky little devil," Jack teased.
"Ryan is a wonderful little boy from what I can see."
"Oh he is, but still." Jack laughed. "He's a lot like Tom was, but also a lot like Meg."
"They were high school sweethearts?" Jack nodded. "Goodness, how do you get over a loss like that?"
"I don't know. I worry about him. He's a good guy. Doesn't deserve to be alone."
"Your love for him is admirable. I mean, you gave up your career to come home and help him raise his son."
"It's what you do for family. It's my honor to stand by him."
"You're really something, Jack." She smiled. "There's not many men like you."
"Not many women like you out there either. Single, fostering, then adopting. You're brave, strong."
"I try to be, I guess. Not sure that I am. Take my meltdown earlier for example."
"You are. Trust me."
A nurse entered the waiting room through two thick double doors. "Levi Thatcher?"
"Here," Elizabeth waved, wiping away her tears.
Hours later after an examination and a CAT scan, Levi was discharged from the ER with crutches and his dislocated knee set in place in a brace. The doctor requested Elizabeth bring Levi back in when the swelling had subsided but from what she could see, didn't suspect surgery would be needed, much to Elizabeth's relief.
Halfway back to the bike trail parking lot and Elizabeth's car, Levi fell asleep. Jack was the first to notice.
"Well, he's out," he laughed softly.
"I'm not surprised. It was a big day for him."
"He was a trooper, that's for sure." They drove past a few fast food places. "You want to grab a bite to eat?"
"Sure." She wasn't going to pass up the opportunity to spend a little more time with him. "Tim Hortons?"
"Sure!"
Jack went through the drive thru. Elizabeth ordered a decaf coffee and two donuts, one for her and one for Levi when he woke up. Jack couldn't tell which pastry was for the kid and which was for Elizabeth. Both had frosting and sprinkles scattered on the top.
Jack ordered a coffee and a muffin for himself. They took the food and drove the rest of the way to the bike trail's parking lot, parking right next to Elizabeth's car.
Elizabeth pulled out Jack's muffin and handed it to him.
"A bran muffin?" She scrunched up her nose.
"You got something against bran?"
"Yeah, it tastes like cardboard."
"It's healthy."
"Okay, so its healthy cardboard." She pulled out her donut with maple frosting and sprinkles.
"I'll have you know, when I used to deploy, I'd craved these things. Rice cakes too."
"Flavorless styrofoam, yum," she sassed with a playful smile.
"I usually get the flavored kind."
"Okay so, flavored styrofoam and healthy cardboard… not sure we can be friends."
"Ouch! Tell me, what are your favorite foods? Other than that round...cavity inducing...thing you're eating now."
"Nice one, Jack," Elizabeth laughed. "Was that the best you could come up with?"
"Give me a break, it's past 9 o'clock!"
"Okay fair enough. So my favorite foods…hmmm. Oreos. Hands down my favorite. And popcorn, movie theater kind."
Jack almost choked, "How do you eat all that and still look this good?"
Bashfully she replied, "I don't eat it all at once. Besides, I am a mother. We eat right, I swear."
"I trust you," Jack nudged her. "So tell me, what made you want to adopt?"
"To be truthful, it wasn't my plan at first. I just fell in love with this little guy. When he came up for adoption, I just knew he was meant to be mine."
In the back seat, Levi began to stir.
"I should get him home."
"Want me to move him to the car for you?"
"I'll get him. Would you mind putting our bikes on my car rack?"
"You got it."
Once Jack secured the bikes, he went around the side of the car where Elizabeth was.
"Bikes are set."
"Thanks, Jack." She closed the door, Levi was already back asleep. "Thanks for everything today."
"No problem. Glad I was there. Oh wait, his crutches."
When he returned to her, he slid them on the back seat, careful not to wake Levi. Staring down at the boy Jack ran his hand over the wild curls. "Night, bud."
There were those pesky butterflies again. Elizabeth couldn't control it, she leaned forward and lightly pressed her lips to his cheek. "Goodnight, Jack."
"Night, Elizabeth."
Climbing back into his truck, Jack placed his hand over his cheek, right where she'd kissed him. "Well… I'm in big trouble now."
