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Conversations of the Heart
A Journey of Love

Chapter 12 ~ Return to Hope Valley ~

They arrived home in the late afternoon around two hours before expected, so they decided to wait for just a little while to pick up Jack. Instead, they carried their suitcases to the porch and Lucas went out to retrieve the painting and the boxes of gifts from the back seat. He then returned and Elizabeth unlocked the door and was about to enter when Lucas scooped her up to carry her over the threshold, "allow me" he said. "This is another first that I intend to enjoy." He looked so happy as he said it that she giggled.

"Well carry away;" she said. As they entered the row house. Someone had thought to build a small fire to warm the house for their arrival. That must be Lee she thought. And, there was a beautiful bouquet on the table; that is surely Rosie as he set her on her feet. "Welcome to your new home, Mr. Bouchard."

He grabbed her and kissed her deeply. "There is nowhere in this world I would rather be."

Lucas went out to the porch to bring in the luggage and purchases while Elizabeth found a spot for the packages to wait for wrapping. They had purchased some beautiful wrapping paper in a special shop in UC where she also had purchased thank you notes and some stationary for herself. Lucas had ordered it for her in advance with her new initials. This man thinks of everything she thought to herself.

Once they had all the packages stowed, they brought their luggage up to their room. Elizabeth entered first and saw what Rosie had done to the room. "It is beautiful," she exclaimed. The bed was a Victorian-era brass bed; Rosie had made it up to look both romantic and inviting. Leave it to her best friend to be thinking of romance. She had placed another bouquet of flowers on her small writing table. He grabbed her and pulled her with him onto the bed.

"I am not starting anything but I do want to test this out for a few minutes." He gathered her into his arms and lay contentedly for a while. "My sweet, it is time to go get our son. I promised him we would be there before dinner time. I think we should go a bit early and surprise him. I know he will have missed you even though he does love Lee and Rosie."

"You my husband are too sweet. Jack will be so excited to have his Papa back. He only had you for a little while after the ceremony."

With that, they were excited to see him and so they got up and headed downstairs and then over to the Coulters. They knocked on the door and were greeted by Lee, who hugged them both and escorted them in with a finger on his lips to indicate they should be quiet. Lee went back in and said, "Jack, it is for you."

Jack looked a little perplexed at what that meant but he came toward his uncle who pointed to the door and went to open it. Elizabeth and Lucas both yelled "surprise!" causing Jack to run to them and hug them both around the legs. "Mama, Papa, you're home!" Lucas leaned down and picked up the little boy exclaiming, "Rosie what did you feed him while we were gone." As he pretended to be bearing a heavy load.

"I was a good boy liked you told me, Papa, I listen to Uncle Lee and Auntie Rosie." Lucas looked up at Lee with a questioning look. Lee smiled, giving Lucas assurance that all had gone well.

"Glad to hear that. Mama and I have brought you a present as we said we would if you were especially good." Lucas told him.

"I very good, Papa."

"I was very good, Papa" Lucas corrected.

"I'm not Papa." Jack proclaimed.

Lucas smiled, "No you are Jack and I am the Papa."

Jack gave him a big hug and snuggled close. He looked over at Elizabeth who moved in to hug them both. Her family she thought to herself. And all is well with the world.

They said goodbye to Lee and Rosie and promised to come for dinner the next day to tell them about their trip. Rosie had whispered in her ear that she "needed all the details" so to come over for tea sometime in the day. Elizabeth nodded and whispered back "well not ALL the details." And she joined her husband to head next door.

Jack was so excited for Lucas to be there. He had been promised that Lucas would be living with them now. He didn't want to let him out of his sight. Lucas had expected this for a day or two so he was patient as Jack was at his feet all the time, when he wasn't in his lap, that is. Jack soon remembered that he had a present and reminded Lucas. Elizabeth chuckled and went to retrieve the package that contained his gift. "I don't suppose that you want me to wrap it first?" she inquired.

"That's okay Mama." So, she brought it to them and placed it on the coffee table. Lucas unloaded his lap of little boy and helped Jack open the box that was tied with string. He let Jack open the lid to look inside. He looked up at Lucas with excitement. In the box were five carved race cars each painted in a different color with numbers on the side. Jack carefully picked one out of the box, it was his favorite color, blue. And he got down on the floor to play with it.

Elizabeth looked over and smiled. "Boys and their toys," she thought to herself. "Well, I think we chose well, Papa." He smiled and grabbed her hand to pull her down next to him on the couch. Lucas put another log on the fire and then sat back down next to her putting his arm around her loosely along the sofa back.

He leaned into her kissing her on the cheek and resting his forehead against the side of her head. "Home," he said softly.

They would enjoy their first evening together as an official family in quiet fashion. Jack was content to play with his new cars and the couple just chatted on the couch or sat in companionable silence. They heard a knock on the door and Lucas got up to answer it. It was one of his wait staff as Gustave had sent their dinner as he had told Lucas he would when they were leaving for UC. "Come in James, thank you for bringing our dinner, and please thank Gustave for sending it. Tell him that I will stop by the Queen around midday tomorrow." He led James to the kitchen where he put a covered casserole and a box containing the rest of the meal.

"Is anyone hungry yet?"

"Me hungry, Papa." We say, "I am hungry." To which Jack repeated, "I am hungry, Papa". Lucas gave him a smile and hugged him against his side.

Lucas and Jack set the table while Elizabeth unloaded the box and brought the food to the table. She lit some candles and removed the bouquet. Lucas brought a smaller vase from the shelf, filled it with water, and took a few of the flowers to make a new much smaller arrangement. He set it on the table and declared it perfect. Just like him, Elizabeth thought to herself.

After their dinner was finished, they decided to make herbal tea and have their dessert by the fire. Lucas made the tea, his specialty while Elizabeth brought the eclairs to the coffee table. They looked delicious. They set Jack down on a pillow to eat his and then sat on the couch sharing one between them. He fed the éclair to her as she moaned with pleasure. No public to listen… just one little boy who mimicked her, "Mmmmm, yummy."

Lucas smiled and whispered something in her ear. She poked him in the ribs. Which just made the dimples deepen and her heart melt. "Why did I wait so long," she wondered to herself. They could have been married for at least a year now. She dismissed the thought; it was all that much sweeter to be here now. No regrets.

After twenty or so minutes, Jack began to yawn and Elizabeth knew it was time for him to go to bed. Lucas looked at her and she nodded. "Jack, how about Papa takes you to your room and we put on your pajamas? You can pick the book that I am going to read."

"Okay. I want the one about the leopard's spots." And he walked over to Lucas and held his hand. "Will Mama come up to kiss goodnight?"

"I will be up soon." She then gathered the dessert plates and teacups and headed to the kitchen.

"Shall I help you clean up?" Lucas asked.

"No, we cleared most of it. Just let me finish up while you go take care of Jack."

He smiled, loving the feeling of working with his teammate. She gave him a sweet smile back telling him that she too was loving it. He realized that she had never had that. Her husband had been killed before he had even the knowledge that she was with child. She had raised her son alone albeit with the help of friends and neighbors. Well, he was here now and he was happy to be able to give her that family that she had longed for. He secretly wished for more children to love but that was up to God. He would consider it a blessing if it were to happen. But right now, he was happier than he ever could imagine.

He helped Jack wash his face and hands, they would forgo a bath tonight. He had to consult Elizabeth on the bath schedule but he imagined it wasn't daily unless he had gotten extra dirty playing. He then helped Jack get changed into his favorite pajamas and tucked him into bed. He read Jack from Kipling's collection "Just so Stories" about how leopards got their spots and how the alphabet was made, until the little boy drifted off to sleep. Lucas kissed the little boy and headed back to find Elizabeth.

He found her downstairs with some of the presents on the table. She was getting ready to wrap them in the morning so that she could hand them out as she ran into the friends who had helped them. She had the tea service for Rosie and Lee ready to wrap first. But she wasn't at the table. He found her over where she wrote in her journal and worked on her books. He noticed that the box that held the two books he had purchased had been opened. He smiled as he realized that she had already discovered them. He pretended not to have noticed and went into the kitchen to pour himself a glass of water. He looked over and saw her slip a book back into the box.

He cleared his throat and entered the room. "Jack is fast asleep, we waited for you but he dozed off while I was reading. Are you ready to go up for the evening or shall we sit down here for a while?"

"I am ready to go up," she said eagerly. "Chapter 3", he thought to himself.

He walked over to her and took her hand, "shall we?" She took his hand as they circled the room to turn off lights and make sure that the fire was on its way out and the grate in place just in case. He followed her up the stairs and they made their way to their room. Elizabeth went to the washbasin to wash her hands and face and then retrieved one of her new nightgowns from the bridal shower. She stepped behind the dressing screen to change. In the meantime, Lucas removed his jacket and suspenders and took out his cufflinks. He set them on the dresser and hung his jacket over a chair. Tomorrow they would figure out the logistics of sharing a bedroom but that was not for tonight. He retrieved some pajamas from his suitcase, washed up, and then changed behind the screen per her example. She had braided her hair and slipped under the covers. He decided that braiding her hair was a nightly ritual to keep it orderly. He understood that as he had a frightful mess every morning. But hers was long and would tangle. But for tonight he was going to undo that braid so he could enjoy the long tresses. He would brush it to order in the morning.

She smiled as he opened the drapes and turned off the light and slipped into bed next to her. He folded her into his arms. How could it be that he had never been happier? He kissed her with tender affection and then kissed the side of her throat as he made it to her ear to nibble. "Shall we explore Chapter 3, my love?"

"Lucas Bouchard, you are incorrigible."

"Well, it was you that uncovered my secrets or surprises, you pick. After all, we are both aficionados of literature." He chucked as she once again poked him in the ribs." He chuckled again.

"Stop that, you are being much too smug. Okay, so I did peek; after reading that one passage in the bookshop I couldn't help but be curious. You know that. So don't you dare tease me. And I actually got to Chapter 4. Shall I prove it?", she challenged.

"Be my guest," he challenged. So, she took him up on his offer as she proved that she could learn a thing or two.