So...perhaps this one took me longer than usual.
For one, The Gifts Love Language is not my love language. I actually regularly see it come up as 0% on love language tests, so coming up with something that felt right here was kind of difficult. Granted, I did have some good inspiration because Lucas has this one down too. Virginia Woolf tickets and a signed copy of her book? AN ENTIRE LIBRARY? And let's not forget the gifts he's given to Little Jack.
But this one is my gift to a few of you who have been asking for a very specific short, and fear not because the final love language short, Physical Touch, is already completed and will be up in the next week! AND part of the reason this one took me so long is because I have been quite focused on my plot based fic, which I'm happy to announce now will be an AU Fic and I'm really thinking y'all are going to love it!
In the meantime, I hope you enjoy this one!
"Would you like to do anything for your birthday?" Lucas asked one hot spring afternoon as he set down the last of the dishes he was helping her dry. "I know you usually like to keep things quiet, but I figured I'd check since…"
"Just because I'm turning 30 doesn't mean I want a fancy party, Lucas," Elizabeth cut him off.
He smiled at her, holding back a laugh, "just checking."
She eyed him suspiciously as she dried her hands with a towel, neatly folding it before hanging it on the drying rack. Her birthday was just over a week away, and honestly, she'd mostly forgotten about it. "You better not be planning anything, Mr. Bouchard."
Her husband held up his hands in defense, his own towel still hanging from one of them, "I'm not. I swear."
"Mmmhmm," she hummed, reaching up to grab the towel from him to place next to hers. "I just want a quiet night with my favorite boys," she told him. "I don't need anything special."
"So there isn't anything specific you want for your birthday then either, I suppose."
Elizabeth leaned in and pecked him on the lips, "you would be correct." When she pulled back, she could still see the mischievous look in his eyes. "Really, I have everything I need," she insisted, giving him a light shove.
Lucas leaned back against the counter, arms crossed in front of him. "Alright, alright, but," he continued, reaching for her so he could pull her to lean against him, "I still reserve the right to spoil my beautiful wife just a little on her birthday, right?"
"Just a little," she returned with a smirk before kissing him again.
~ E & L ~
"Is there anything you would like for your birthday this year?" Rosemary asked one morning as she worked at pinning a dress for Elizabeth. The journalist was assisting at the dress shop while Clara took a few days off to spend with Jesse, and when the schoolteacher looked down at her friend, she frowned.
"Did Lucas put you up to this?"
Rosemary looked astonished. "What!? No!" she exclaimed, words a bit muddled by the pin in her mouth. "I'm genuinely curious," she defended as she stood up a moment later. "I just...wanted to know if perhaps there was something special you'd want since…"
"Since it's my 30th birthday, I know." Elizabeth sighed, rolling her eyes as she stepped down to her friend's level. "Lucas has been on my case for days about if I want to do anything specific."
"Perhaps he just wants to make it special for you," she offered with a gentle look.
Elizabeth laughed, the echoes of her conversations with Lucas filling her head. "Now you actually sound like Lucas, going on about wanting to make it special."
Rosemary's lips turned up into a warm smile. "And I'm sure he will, but," she paused, holding her pointer finger up between them, causing Elizabeth to startle and then laugh, "I still need to know if there's something you'd like."
"Truly, Rosemary, there's nothing I can think of."
The blonde didn't look fully convinced, but they laughed regardless, happy that no matter how old they turned, they'd always have each other to lean on.
~ E & L ~
"Mrs. Bouchard?" Opal called out, running down the street with Allie and Emily in tow as she tried to catch up to their teacher.
Turning, Elizabeth smiled at the girls. "Hello Opal," she greeted, and as the others hurried up a moment later she greeted them in turn. "Are you all enjoying your Saturday?"
The students nodded earnestly.
"Are you doing anything to celebrate your birthday this year?" Opal asked suddenly, and Allie and Emily looked at her with the same question glinting in their eyes.
Elizabeth, slightly taken aback, tilted her head in question. "How do you even know it's my birthday?"
"Well, it's not your birthday yet," Allie chimed in, "but it will be soon." There was a beat of silence as Allie obviously thought through the next part of her answer. "I ah...overheard Mr. Avery talking to Uncle Nathan about it."
"You were eavesdropping?" the teacher questioned, eyebrows raised.
Allie was obviously flustered, "I just happened to overhear it. I was on my way to meet Uncle Nathan for fishing and Mr. Avery was asking...if they'd have time on their upcoming trip to Union City to go shopping for a present for you."
The teacher glanced up at the movement she caught out of the corner of her eye, recognizing Lucas as he turned to stop looking in their direction and duck back into the saloon. Elizabeth stifled a laugh as she looked back at the girls, who were ready with more questions.
"Are you going to make cupcakes?" Emily asked, followed quickly by Opal's question about whether or not she would want a new journal as a present. Allie gave her friends a sideways look, trying to reign them in.
Elizabeth chuckled lightly, "You can tell Mr. Bouchard that cupcakes are fine and that I would very much enjoy a new journal as a gift."
All three students looked at her like they'd just been caught cheating. "That wasn't…" Allie started, but she trailed off, shaking her head. "You weren't supposed to find out."
"Well, he doesn't have to know that I did," she suggested, and her students once again perked up. "I won't tell him that I know he asked you three if you don't."
Seeming satisfied with their agreement, the girls all ran off in the direction of the saloon, and Elizabeth could only shake her head as she watched them go.
~ E & L ~
"There you are, Jack," Elizabeth said to her son as she finished cutting up bits of chicken for him to eat, setting his plate back in front of him. They were enjoying dinner at the saloon on this particular evening, waiting for Lucas to join them on a break, but he'd been held up by some guests checking into the hotel.
Unexpectedly, she heard her name called a moment later, turning to find Bill heading in their direction. "How are two of my favorite people doing tonight?" he asked as he sat on the other side of his godson, who was already more invested in his dinner than in what was happening around him.
She smiled, "we're doing wonderful, Bill. How are you? I heard you're going on a trip to Union City with Nathan soon?"
He nodded in response, "testifying in the case against those bank robbers we apprehended a couple of months ago. Should be an easy trip."
"That's good to hear. Allie mentioned it earlier today."
Bill looked confused, "Allie mentioned it? Why?"
"She was asking if there was anything I wanted for my birthday next week because you were supposedly asking Nathan about it," Elizabeth offered, watching as realization kicked in for Bill. "I have my suspicions that you weren't the one asking about that though."
"I mean, it is a genuine question. Is there anything you'd like for your birthday?" he inquired.
Elizabeth grimaced. "Not you too."
"What? You're the one that brought it up!" Bill defended himself. "I may have been an inspector, but sometimes it's just more efficient to ask."
Elizabeth shook her head, "I'd like for everyone to tell Lucas that it doesn't matter what he gets me."
Bill frowned, but remained silent for a moment, pondering his next words the same way Allie had earlier in the day. "Is there anything you'd like to do to celebrate?" he asked a moment later.
She could only laugh at his determination.
~ E & L ~
Elizabeth was still sitting awake at her writing desk when Lucas arrived home later that evening. Her dress had already been traded out for her nightgown, and Jack had been lulled to sleep by the sound of her typewriter hours ago. It wasn't uncommon for her to wait up for her husband to arrive home on Saturday nights, but tonight she had a purpose.
"You're still up," Lucas commented as he walked through the door. "Still working on that chapter?"
Elizabeth stood and moved toward him, meeting him somewhere in the middle of the living room. "Just finished it." The second she was close enough, she let herself melt into his embrace. "However, there is something I want to talk to you about."
Lucas looked concerned. "Is something wrong?"
"Not particularly, but I happened to get quite the questioning today about what I may or may not want to do to celebrate my birthday."
"It is an honest question," he pointed out.
"Well, I also understand that Bill and Nathan were discussing what I might want for my birthday. Something about going to Union City next week?" she continued, teasing in her voice.
"I did hear that they're testifying in the case against the bank robbers," Lucas responded casually. "I'm not sure what that has to do with your birthday, but…"
"Lucas," she stopped him, a smile on her face. "I truly mean it when I say I don't need or want anything special for my birthday." Her husband looked ready to protest, but she brought a finger to his lips to silence him before he could. "I don't need anything because I already have everything I could ever want."
His expression softened, "perhaps, but that doesn't mean you aren't deserving of our love. It's your day."
Elizabeth ran her hand along the side of his face, "that may be, but what more could I even ask for? I have wonderful friends, a lovely home, a job I love, a beautiful son, a handsome husband I adore," she said, pausing to kiss him. He tried to follow her when she pulled back, eager to deepen the kiss, but she didn't let him. "And," she continued, taking his hand and lightly resting it flat on her stomach, "plenty to look forward to."
Lucas was silent, and she could see the gears turning in his mind as he comprehended her meaning. "Elizabeth," he whispered, eyes searching hers for confirmation, "are you saying…"
Tears sprang to her eyes as she nodded. She didn't say another word, she didn't have to, because a second later Lucas pulled her to him, hands on either side of her face as he poured all his emotion into the kiss. She laughed when they broke for air, noses still brushing against one another.
"How is it that it's nearly your birthday and you're the one giving me the best gift of all time?" he asked her, eyes still closed as they held one another.
"I think it's a bit of a mutual effort on that one, Sweetheart," she joked.
And even as she unwrapped a beautiful new leather journal while surrounded by her closest friends and family a few days later, she knew for a fact that she truly had the three greatest gifts in the world.