"Harrison." Jack sat on the edge of the bed, putting a hand on Harrison's shoulder. "Time to wake up, bud. It's the first day of school."
"I'm sleepy."
"I know it's early, but we have someone here for breakfast. So you need to get dressed."
He rolled over, yawning. "Okay, daddy."
Jack smiled. "Your clothes are laying out by the dresser."
Once he was sure the little boy wasn't going to go back to sleep, he returned to the kitchen, where Elizabeth was standing at the stove.
He wrapped his arms around her from behind, kissing her neck. "He's awake."
"Did you tell him that I'm here?"
He shook his head. "No. You're a surprise."
She chuckled. "A good one, I hope."
"Always a good one." He kissed her cheek. "He loves you. He's going to be so happy."
"Miss Beth?" Harrison appeared in the kitchen, a grin stretching across face.
"Good morning, buddy." She handed Jack the spatula and crouched down, opening her arms.
Harrison barreled into her. "You making pancakes?"
She hugged him tightly. "I am. I wanted you to have a special breakfast for the first day of school. And then I'm going with you and your daddy to walk you to class today."
"Really?" His eyes lit up.
"Really," she confirmed. "So we'd better have our breakfast and get going."
A little while later, the three of them were walking down the hallway in Harrison's school. Harrison walked between Jack and Elizabeth, his little hands tucked into theirs.
"Do you remember where your classroom is, bud?"
Harrison nodded. "Find my old class, and go two more doors," he stated, clearly having memorized the instructions.
"Perfect." Jack squeezed his hand. "And what's your teacher's name?"
"Miss Campbell."
"You're going to do great today, Harrison."
They entered the classroom, and the teacher came over to greet them.
"Good morning! You're Harrison, right?"
Harrison nodded. "Harrison David Thornton."
"I'm so happy to have you in my class this year, Harrison. Why don't you go find the cubby with your name on it? You can put your backpack in there."
"Okay." He hurried over to the wall of cubbies, searching the nametags for his own name.
"Where do I need to sign him in?" Jack asked.
"Right over here." Miss Campbell led him over to a tablet by the classroom door. "He was here last year, right?"
Jack nodded.
"Okay. The sign-in and sign-out procedure is the same."
"Great." He signed his name on the tablet. "This is Elizabeth Thatcher, by the way." He motioned toward Elizabeth. "She's on the pick-up list."
"Nice to meet you." She smiled at Elizabeth. "Whenever you come to pick him up, you'll sign him out right there, too."
"Daddy." Harrison ran back over. "You leaving now?"
"Yeah, bud. I have to get to work." He crouched down, pulling Harrison into a hug. "I'm working a little late today, so Miss Beth is going to pick you up. Okay?"
"Okay, daddy."
"You have a great day, Sonny boy." He kissed his cheek. "I love you."
"Love you, daddy." He turned toward Elizabeth, wrapping his arms around her. "Love you, Miss Beth."
"I love you, Harrison. I'll see you later, little man."
After another round of hugs, Harrison was off to join the other kids in play. Jack took Elizabeth's hand as they walked back out to the parking lot.
"I'm glad you could be here today."
"So am I." She squeezed his hand. "I just wish you didn't have to go to work now."
"I know." He opened the passenger door of the car for her. "But we'll all have dinner together tonight."
"I can't wait."
A few minutes later, they stood in the driveway at Jack's house, his arms around her waist. "I'll see you this evening. Have fun with your sisters."
"Have fun at work." She stood on her toes to kiss him. "I love you."
"I love you more." He smiled, kissing her again. "Maybe I could cancel my first appointment today."
"You can't do that." She nudged him toward his car. "Get to work, Doctor."
...
"It's been far too long since we've had a sister date," Julie lamented, sinking onto Viola's couch.
"I know." Elizabeth smiled, gently bouncing her niece on her knee. "But we're here now."
Viola poured them each a glass of tea. "So, what's been going on with you, Elizabeth? It seems that lately, whenever you're not at work, you're with Jack."
She blushed. "Things have been good. Harrison went back to school today, and I got to have breakfast with them and walk Harrison to class with Jack. We're having dinner together tonight, too."
"When is Jack going to make things official? You're basically a little family already," Julie observed.
Elizabeth shrugged. "I don't know. He's been working through some things he's been holding onto since his wife died, and I've told him that I can wait until he's ready. I hope it's soon, because I really want us to be a family, but I don't want him to feel pressured."
"If he asks soon, you could have a spring wedding." Julie gazed off dreamily. "Maybe in a garden or something. That would be so beautiful."
"Jules," Viola warned, "you already had your dream wedding. Let Elizabeth have hers."
"Don't worry," Elizabeth chuckled. "I'm sure I'll be asking for your advice and opinions when the time comes."
Willa babbled, sticking her little fist in her mouth.
"Maybe Willa could be your flower girl." Julie smiled at her daughter.
"Maybe, if she's out of the 'sticking-everything-in-her-mouth' phase. It wouldn't be very good for her to eat the flowers on her way down the aisle." Elizabeth turned Willa to face her. "What do you say, Willa? Do you think you could keep from eating the flowers when I eventually have a wedding?"
The baby giggled, reaching over to tap Elizabeth's cheek.
"Okay. That's settled then."
...
A few weeks later, Jack called Tom on his way to pick up Harrison from school.
"Hey, big brother," Tom said over the phone. "To what do I owe the pleasure of your call?"
"Well, I have some news."
"Elizabeth is pregnant?!"
Jack nearly choked on his breath. "No," he coughed.
"I know." Tom laughed. "I just wanted to see what your reaction would be. Totally worth it. So what's the real news?"
"I'm going ring shopping tomorrow."
"Really? That's great, man."
"And I have you to thank. That conversation we had a few weeks ago really got me thinking about what's important in life. And you were right, Tom. She's worth pushing past the fear." He smiled. "I even talked to her about what I was feeling, and she was completely understanding."
"I'm really happy for you, Jack."
"Thank you."
"Have you decided when you're going to ask her?"
"Not yet. I want Harrison involved, so I'm going to talk to him once I pick him up from school." He pulled into the parking lot. "Speaking of, I'm pulling in to get him now, so I'll talk to you later. I just wanted to let you know first that I'm planning to ask her, since you were the one who gave me a little nudge."
"Just let me know when you finally do ask her."
"I will." He stepped out of his car. "Bye, Tom."
...
"Harrison, I need to talk to you for a minute."
He climbed up on the sofa beside Jack, looking up at him expectantly. "Okay, daddy."
"You like Miss Beth, right?"
He nodded, swinging his legs back and forth. "Uh huh. I like her a lot."
"And you'd like it if I married her, and she came to live with us?"
"Yeah." Harrison was quiet as he thought. "Daddy? Would she be my mommy then?"
"If you want her to be your mommy, yes. But you'll always have your mommy in heaven, too." Jack leaned forward, resting his elbows on his knees. "So what do you think, bud? Would you be happy if Miss Beth lived with us?"
"Yes." He nodded again. "She's nice, and I want a mommy that's here."
"Good." Jack pulled his son into his lap. "Tomorrow, you can help me find a ring for her."
"Why?"
"Well, when you ask someone to marry you, you give them a ring. It shows them how much you love them. And then at the wedding, you both get rings, so everyone else can see that you love each other."
"Oh. Daddy?" He looked up at Jack earnestly.
"Yeah, bud?"
"Can you give me a brother now? If Miss Beth is going to be my mommy, she can be my brother's mommy, too."
Jack chuckled. "I'll talk to her. Maybe we can give you a brother or sister."
Harrison shook his head. "Not a sister."
...
"What about this one?" Jack pointed into one of the jewelry cases. "Do you think Miss Beth would like it?"
Harrison looked at the ring and shrugged. "I don't know. I'm hungry, daddy."
"Just a few more minutes, bud. Then I promise we'll go have dinner." He sighed, looking around the store. "Maybe we'll need to go look somewhere else tomorrow."
Harrison groaned. "No! I'm bored."
Jack chuckled. "We need to get a ring before I can ask Miss Beth to marry me, though."
"This one." Harrison stood next to one of the cases, pointing at a random ring in the corner.
"Harrison." A smile played on his lips. "That's perfect."
The worker pulled out the ring, letting Jack get a closer look. The delicate gold band held a small, round-cut diamond, with smaller diamonds set in the band around it.
"I think that's the one. Great job." He nudged Harrison. "She's going to love it, bud."
Jack paid for the ring, and the worker promised that it would be ready in about a week. With that taken care of, he picked up dinner for him and Harrison, and they headed home.
"Now remember," Jack set a hamburger and fries in front of Harrison, "you can't tell Miss Beth about the ring."
"Why?"
"It's a surprise. She can't know about the ring until I give it to her. But I promise we won't have to keep it secret for long. Maybe a week or two."
"And then you marry her?"
"Well, then we have to plan the wedding." He took a bite of his food. "Depending on how we want the wedding to be, it could be a few months or even a year before the wedding happens."
"Oh." His face dropped. "I want Miss Beth to live with us now."
"I know, bud. I do, too. But we have to be patient."
...
Jack opened the door, the breath leaving his lungs when he saw Elizabeth standing there in her light blue dress. "Elizabeth, you look," he shook his head, "you look amazing."
"Thank you." She felt a flush fill her cheeks.
"Come on in." He pushed the door open wider, motioning for her to enter the house.
"Hi, Miss Beth!" Harrison skipped up, wearing a light gray suit and lilac tie identical to Jack's.
"Hi, sweetheart." She hugged him. "You look very handsome."
"I helped daddy pick our ties! My favorite color is purple."
"Well, you did a great job. Purple is my favorite color, too." She looked back at Jack. "Is there a reason why you're both so dressed up tonight?"
"There is. And I suppose I'll just get right to it." He took her hands, leading her into the living room. "Elizabeth…" He took a shaky breath, clearly nervous. "I've really enjoyed getting to know you again these past few months. I've always known you were special, even when we were just kids." He paused, taking another deep breath. "After I lost Olive, I never thought I could open my heart to love again, but you were exactly what I needed—exactly what we needed." He held out his hand, and Harrison slipped his little fingers into his palm.
Elizabeth brushed away a few tears that started to fall from her eyes.
"Harrison and I have talked about it, and we both agree. We would love for you to be a part of our family, officially." He reached into his pocket, pulling out a small box. Dropping to one knee, he opened the box. "Elizabeth, will you marry me?"
She gasped at the sight of the diamond ring in his hand. Unable to form a coherent sentence, she just nodded, holding out her left hand so he could slide the ring on her finger. He stood and slipped his arm around her, kissing her soundly. "I love you."
"I love you," she whispered back.
"Daddy." Harrison tugged on his dad's pant leg. "Can I ask her now?"
Jack laughed softly, brushing away his own tears with his thumb. "Yeah, bud. Go ahead."
He crooked his finger, waiting for her to lower herself to his level. She knelt down in front of him.
"What do you want to ask me, sweetheart?"
"Can I call you mommy instead of Miss Beth now?"
Elizabeth's heart melted, and her tears started anew. "Of course." She put her arms around him, pulling him close. "You can call me mommy if that's what you want."
"I have another question."
"Mhmm?"
"Can I be in the wedding? Daddy says I can carry the rings if you said yes."
She laughed. "I would love for you to be the ring bearer. I can't think of anyone better to have that job."
"Yay!" he cheered.
"Now, if my fiancée would join us in the kitchen, we have some dinner waiting for us."
"Daddy, what's a fiancée?"
"That's what you call someone when they're engaged. It just means they're going to get married. So Miss Beth is my fiancée now."
Elizabeth tucked her arm into his. "You have no idea how much I love the sound of that."
"Fiancée," he whispered, his breath tickling her ear.
She giggled, following him into the kitchen. "It smells wonderful in here."
"Harrison and I were going to cook a fancy dinner, but I was feeling a bit nervous, and I was afraid I would ruin it. So I hope you're okay with takeout."
"I don't care what we're eating. All that matters is that I get to spend the evening with my two favorite guys." She kissed him softly. "I love you."
...
Elizabeth closed the book, setting it on Harrison's nightstand. "Okay, Harrison. Time for bed. I'll see you tomorrow, okay?"
He nodded, clutching the blanket to his chest. "Okay."
"Good night, sweetheart." She dropped a soft kiss on his forehead.
"Night, mommy."
She blinked away tears, brushing back his hair. "I love you, Harrison."
He closed his eyes, smiling as he drifted off into sleep.
Elizabeth turned out the lamp and backed out of the room, nearly bumping into Jack in the doorway. "Have you been standing there this whole time?"
"Not the whole time." He took her hand, pulling her toward the living room. "I heard him call you mommy."
She stopped walking, turning to face him. "Are you okay with that?"
"He was so young when Olive died. He knows that she's his mom, but you're going to be the one to show him what it's like to have a mom here. A mom who can hold him and comfort him."
"Who can love him," she added.
"You're already a pro at that." He grinned, pulling her in for a kiss. "I love you, Elizabeth. I'm so happy you agreed to marry me."
"Easiest decision I've made." She held out her left hand, a smile playing on her lips as the ring glistened in the light. "This is a beautiful ring, by the way."
"Harrison helped me pick it out." He took a seat on the sofa, patting the spot beside him.
She sat, chuckling. "He has good taste."
"By the way, when I told Harrison that I was going to propose to you, one of the first things he asked was if we could give him a brother now."
"Oh, really?" She tucked her legs up beneath herself, leaning into his side.
"Mhmm. I told him that I would talk to you about it. So, what do you think?"
"I mean, we don't really have much control over whether he gets a brother or a sister, but I would love to give him a sibling."
He gave her a dimpled grin. "Okay, so we agree on that."
"So, do we need to get started on that right away, or…?"
Jack chuckled. "I think we can wait until we're married. He needs to learn some patience, anyway."
"Do you think it would be too much to start trying right after the wedding?"
"We can start trying as soon as you feel ready." He kissed the top of her head. "Any thoughts on when you want to have the wedding?"
"Mmm," she hummed. "As soon as possible."