Elizabeth and Rosie were sitting by the fire in their pj's at Charlotte's home. Lee had gone to stay at his parent's for the evening and Rosie would go there in the morning. Charlotte was upstairs getting ready for bed, leaving the two young women to watch the night-time Christmas Eve special of Miracle on 34th Street.
Elizabeth loved the movie and had a tradition back home of watching it every year with her sisters. This year watching it with Rosie fit too. If things worked out the way she hoped, Rosie would indeed be her sister. She already felt like they were in just the short time they'd known one another. Their shopping trips and lunch dates helped to forge a beautiful sisterhood between them.
During a commercial for Swiffer Mops, an alert began scrolling across the screen. A sudden onset of snow and ice was causing multiple accidents on the highways and backroads. All who didn't need to be on the roads were being advised to stay off.
"I guess Jack and Peter will be busy tonight," Rosie said taking a sip of hot cocoa. "Black ice is the worst." Rosie noticed Elizabeth staring at the screen. "You alright?"
"I worry about him. With his job, running into the danger the rest of us try to avoid is just a normal day at the office."
"But you love him? Don't you?"
She smiled, "Yes, I do. More than anything. I just pray God grants me what I need to handle the scary stuff."
"He will. That's what he did for Mom and Aunt Abigail. With Abigail, even when the worst did happen…. God was with her. Still unbearably hard, but she said she knew she was never truly alone."
"I know what you mean." Looking over at the lit up christmas tree, Elizabeth found an ornament with a picture of Jack as a little boy. She rose from the couch to get a better look. "I love this one."
"Isn't that great? Him and his little red and green sweater vest," Rosie laughed. "I think our grandmother had sent it."
Elizabeth held the ornament close.
"You know," Rosie smirked as she pointed to Elizabeth's attire. "You look pretty adorable in my brother's fire station hoodie. And if I'm not mistaken, those are his navy blue flannel pants."
"They're comfy," Elizabeth blushed. "Besides he doesn't mind."
"I'm sure he loves the look of you in his clothes. Lee is the same way," she giggled. "I'm so happy he found you! He's never, ever been this happy! EVER!"
"He makes me happy too and wearing these makes me feel close to him when he isn't with me."
"It's no wonder you two couldn't stay apart from each other," Charlotte teased as she entered the room, surprising the girls. "It's not a bad thing either, dear. To have a strong love like that is a gift."
"Jack is truly a gift to me." Elizabeth blushed as she said the words. "I just wish my father could see it."
"Jack's mentioned him and his opinions to me. I'm sorry, Lizzie. Maybe you both traveling out for New Years will give him a chance to see this relationship like we do."
"I hope so."
….
4:30 AM Christmas morning, Jack sat in the large red rig as it drove swiftly yet cautiously down the major Seattle highway, sirens blaring. He had another 7 hours left in his very long and busy holiday shift.
"Why are people on the road right now?" Jesse Flynn, a new guy on the team complained. "It's Christmas morning. Stay home and sleep in already."
"People are getting an early start to family's homes. Others might be finally dragging themselves home after a Christmas party. Not our business really," Jack instructed.
"Yeah, but it's our job to save their butts."
"It is what it is, Jesse boy. Get used to it." Peter laughed from the driver's seat. He turned the sirens down a bit and grabbed the walkie from the speaker system. "We're the first here, boys. Multiple MVC's straight ahead."
Before the rig even came to a complete stop, they hopped out and sprung into action. Jack and Pete gave orders to all the men.
"Jesse, go with Pete to the Lexus in front. I'll assess the minivan," Jack told them, taking charge.
He walked up to the banged up silver minivan. The closer he got, the clearer the cries became from inside. The driver's side window had been shattered, probably as the vehicle rolled after impact. When Jack reached the door he could see the driver, a male in his mid to late thirties was conscious.
"What's your name, sir?" Jack asked.
"David. David Lewis." The man spoke in a panicked voice. "Please, help my family."
"You got it, David. My name's Jack."
"My daughter, Mary is 4 and my son, Danny is 7."
Jack did what he could to yank the sliding door open but it wouldn't budge. He hurried around the other side and found the same problem. Instead, he opened the passenger front door and climbed in to take vitals and stabilize the three family members.
The little boy, Danny, was crying loudly. A large piece of glass had found its way to his leg.
"Danny, whatever you do, don't pull on this glass okay? I know it hurts but keep it there for me."
"It hurts!" the boy cried. "I want it out!"
"I'll make sure it comes out soon, okay? But right now, having the glass in there is making it so your leg isn't bleeding as much, alright?"
"Okay," he cried.
"Tell me where you guys were heading," Jack asked as he looked over the little girl.
"We were heading to my mother-in-law's." David's breathing was labored as he spoke. "She's sick so my wife came out here a week ago. It could be her mom's last Christmas. We wanted to surprise her. We live a couple hours away."
"Your mother-in-law lives close to here?"
"Yeah. We were so close but with the ice and the other cars, I didn't see it coming. My kids, are they okay?" David started coughing uncontrollably.
"You just focus on your breathing, David. It's alright."
"My kids?"
Jack turned back to examine the man's head. It looked like he'd hit it pretty hard in the accident and now Jack was seeing cognitive reactions.
"They're stable. Ambulances are on the way. How are you feeling?"
"Fine." He coughed. "My chest hurts a little from the air bag and my legs are… well… I'm fine."
"David?" Feeling confident that the children would be okay, Jack moved back to the front. David was very winded and looking quite pale in the dim early morning light. "Tell me how you're feeling."
He motioned for Jack to come closer so the kids couldn't hear when he whispered, "I can't feel my legs."
Jack nodded slowly. "Okay, you hang tight."
As David nodded, he began to lose consciousness.
"Tell my wife her Christmas present is in my suitcase, in a purple box. And tell her and my kids…" he spoke softly. "I... love…" He was out.
"What?" Danny cried out. "Dad, what's wrong? Dad!"
"Daddy!" Mary cried out as well.
"Pete!" Jack called out over the van. "I've got two kids here and a red tag."
"Got it!"
Jack checked David's chest and airways and found serious injuries like what he had expected. Thankfully, he still had a pulse. Peter soon ran over with two stuffed bears in his arms. "Special delivery."
"When the ambulance gets here, tell them I have a red tag here, nearing black."
Pete looked at Jack with grave concern. Red tag in this situation meant a very urgent case, black meant near death. David had spinal trauma as well as severe chest trauma. Jack took the bears and ducked back into the van.
When the ambulance came, David, who was the most critical was the first to be tended to. Jack sat with Mary in another ambulance as Danny's leg was cared for. He held the boy's hand as the EMTs worked. Mary clung to him tightly under the blanket. Both holding with a death grip on their new bears as the tears fell from their tired eyes. Jack hated nights like this.
"Jack?" Pete ran up to the rig. "Time to go. We're heading back to the station. Medical and engine 3 have it from here."
"No!" Mary clung to Jack. "Stay with you please? I'm scared!"
Pete and Jack's hearts broke for the two children.
"You go with them." Pete said. "We'll be alright."
"You sure?"
"Yeah. Go where we're needed, right?"
"Right."
Even through the sirens, little Mary was asleep in Jack's arms in the back of the ambulance as they rushed behind the father's rig to the hospital.
Jack looked down at Danny who seemed to be repeating something over and over again at a whisper.
"What are you saying, Danny?"
"Mommy's phone number. I don't want to forget it."
"Tell me, I'll help you remember."
He did, and while the kids were being examined in the ER Jack made the difficult call to David's wife.
"Sorry to wake you, ma'am. I'm a fireman with the Seattle Fire Department. Are you David Lewis' wife?"
Michelle Lewis rushed to the hospital and met Jack as he sat with her and the kids, who were both doing well now aside from the emotional worry and trauma. Danny's leg had been stitched and was wrapped in a load of colorful bandages, but he would be back to normal in no time. David's wellbeing however was still unknown.
The TV mounted to the wall in the waiting room was on the 24/7 news network. To distract the kids, Jack walked over and changed to NickJr, which was thankfully playing what turned out to be the kid's favorite TV show.
A doctor came out some time later to speak to Michelle. They pulled her into another room. Jack offered to stay with the now sleeping children.
"Okay Lord, let this be good news. Please. I don't want these kids to lose their dad on Christmas. Please Lord..."
Michelle came out a couple minutes later. Tears in her eyes but a smile on her face. "He's alive. Critical, but alive."
"How are his legs?"
"Too soon to tell, but they're hopeful."
"Thank the Lord." Jack sighed with relief.
When he was no longer needed, he gave Michelle his number in case she needed anything and headed out. It wasn't until he was standing outside in the cold morning air that he realized he didn't have a car with him. He pulled out his phone to call Pete.
"Need a lift?"
"Chief Avery."
"Hey there, Jack. How's the family in there?"
"They'll be alright, I think."
"Good." Bill tossed a set of keys at Jack. "I brought your truck. Hope you don't mind."
"Thanks, sir. I'll head back to the station right away."
"Nope, you'll head home."
"Sir…"
"Go home, Jack. I sent Pete home too."
"Thank you, sir."
"Don't mention it." With a wave, Bill hopped back into a car with someone and left.
Exhausted, Jack climbed into his truck. He looked at the time on the dash and smiled. There was a chance he could make it back to his mom's before Elizabeth woke up. He turned the car on and was just about to pull out of the parking space when his phone went off. It was Grace Thatcher.
"Hello?"
"Merry Christmas, Jack. I hope I'm not waking you."
"Not at all. Long night."
"Yes, Elizabeth said you were working so other men could be home with their families. That was very gracious of you."
"Thank you, ma'am. Is everything alright?"
"Yes. Do you have a moment?"
"I do, yeah."
"Good. See, I've been doing some thinking. I had asked Elizabeth a little while back what I could get for you for Christmas. She gave me a list of suggestions but I had a feeling the one thing you really wanted was something I couldn't get you."
"Which would be?"
"My husband's blessing."
"Oh, yeah." Jack sighed. "Mrs. Thatcher, I love your daughter. More than I could ever have imagined or even now express. Please, tell me what I can do to earn his blessing. I want to do this right."
"Very honorable, Jack, but know this. Doing it right, doesn't mean doing it his way."
Well that got Jack's attention.
"Jack, I think you are a God created match for our Beth. I can't say when William will give you his blessing, but I wanted to call and say, you have mine. I know it's not what you were looking for, but I hope it's enough for you to feel right moving forward."
Jack was stunned. Was this conversation really happening?
"Mrs. Thatcher… you just gave me the second greatest gift of all."
"Only the second?" she laughed.
"Yes, the first would be Elizabeth agreeing to marry me."
"Well I'd say you have nothing to worry about there," Grace laughed. "You let me worry about William and you just love my daughter, understood?"
"Yes, ma'am. It will be my greatest honor."
"Oh my," Grace giggled. "You are a dream son-in-law, you know that? Merry Christmas, Jack."
"Merry Christmas, Mrs. Thatcher! Thank you!"
He hung up and drove as fast as he safely could back to his apartment. Grateful that the road conditions had cleared up nicely now. There was something important he needed to pick up.
…..
Elizabeth lay in the full size bed in the guest room of Charlotte's home, warm under a layer of blankets. As she rolled over, she realized she wasn't alone.
"Jack?" she whispered groggily.
"Hey, Angel."
"What are you doing here?"
"I got off early. Merry Christmas."
"Very Merry Christmas!"
She wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him deeply. Jack returned her love with a high intensity as he rolled her onto her back, now hovering over her as they kissed. Their hands roamed as the flame burning within their hearts grew.
Suddenly, he rolled off the bed. "I guess I broke the rule again."
"Maybe its a bad rule," she flirted, trying to pull him back into bed.
"Oh, no. It's a good one. Trust me." They needed all the help they could get to keep their promise to each other and God to wait for marriage. "You up for an adventure?"
"An adventure? Now? Where?"
"You'll see. Get dressed, I made coffee downstairs."
She pulled his arm but he barely moved. "It's Christmas morning, babe. Can't I just stay in my pj's?"
"Nope. We're going for a little drive." She looked at him like he'd lost his mind. "Trust me. There's a place a want to show you."
With a thermos of coffee, blankets and a tupperware container of Elizabeth's mother's cinnamon rolls, Jack drove them to the mystery place.
Elizabeth squeezed his hand as she held it on the center console. "Can I have a hint?"
"Nope."
"You can't be serious? You drag me out of bed on Christmas morning, in the freezing cold and I get nothing?"
"I made you coffee," he laughed and she glared playfully. "Just relax and enjoy our first of many Christmas mornings together."
"Are you going to drag me out into the cold every Christmas morning?"
"Nope. Just this one. Though this could be a great new tradition. We'll see what you think after."
"Well then, I guess I should just, as you said, relax," she giggled.
"Yes please." He lifted her hand to his lips for a kiss.
Before long they pulled off the road and drove down a long, winding, dirt road of switchbacks up a large hill. Jack parked next to a cabin that overlooked a beautiful, ice covered lake. He got out and rushed over to open her door and help her down out of the truck.
"Goodness, Jack, this place is gorgeous." She spun around to get the whole view. "Wait, is this your father's cabin?"
"It is! I thought we could build a fire and have breakfast here together."
"That's so sweet!" She kissed his lips. "Wow, this is wonderful!"
Jack built a fire outside near the lake. They sat together in an old adirondack chair that Jack's father had made years ago, an old quilt wrapped around their bodies. In the fire were two of the cinnamon rolls, wrapped in aluminum foil and warming up for their breakfast.
"I've missed this place."
"It kind of reminds me of our little hideaway in Haiti. Private, peaceful."
"Maybe that's what my dad liked both spots so much."
"And you, as well."
"Yeah."
The sun was starting to make a small appearance in the sky. As they munched on the gooey rolls, Elizabeth asked Jack about his shift.
"Rough, but in the end it was okay. I was with a family that had been in a bad car accident. The dad was in such bad shape I wasn't sure he'd make it. He had two small kids in the back seat and they were so scared."
"Oh, babe." She leaned down, resting her head against his. "That must have been so hard."
"It was. But as I was leaving the hospital, something unexpected happened."
"Yeah? What was it?" She kissed his temple.
"I'll tell you in a minute. Right now, I just want to hold you in my arms. That is, if you aren't too cold out here."
"Nope. I'm all snuggly warm with you," she giggled and snuggled even closer.
"Good."
Elizabeth looked out across the ice covered lake. The fresh snowfall made it look completely untouched by any living form.
"I can't believe a place like this is so close to the city."
"Yeah. That's what dad loved about it. His little hide away. He wanted to move up here. Expand that beat up fishing cabin into a house."
"But you guys stayed where your mom lives now?"
"Yup. Tommy was born and it just made since."
"What will happen to this place?"
"I don't know. Mom's talking about selling it, but she can't bring herself to do it. Too many memories."
"Must be so hard." Jack nodded.
"What would you think… I mean, what if I took this place on?"
"You mean like, live here instead of your apartment?"
"Yeah, someday. Maybe even expand it like Dad wanted to."
"That depends. Are you doing it for you, or for him?"
Jack smiled. "Good question. I don't think I would have known the answer a few months ago before I met you. Now though, I know it's for me. Well, us."
"We'd be close enough to the station?"
"Yup. Less traffic even and the bonus is I would get to take the ferry into work. I love ferry boats."
"Sounds like you've put thought into this."
"Some yeah. Off and on over the years." Jack kissed the top of her head then gazed out over the lake. The sun was now rising over the mountain top casting a pink and orange glaze across the sky. It was time.
"You know that night I first saw you, I really wondered if an angel had just walked across my path."
Elizabeth giggled. "It was the lighting."
"It was, but also your glowing spirit. I caught a glimpse of it that night and I've been mesmerized ever since. Watching you with all the kids at Hopes Landing and the surrounding villages we've visited, has just made me fall more and more in love with you."
"I feel the same way about you, you know?"
"Yeah, I do," he shot her a deep dimpled smile. "In church last night, you were playing and making faces with that baby in front of us. You know what I was thinking?"
"What?"
"Just how much I'm looking forward to seeing you with our children. You're going to be a great mom, angel."
"Do you think I'd be a good mom regardless of how our children come to us? I keep thinking of the orphans in Haiti and all over the world. My heart aches for them."
"I know the feeling. To answer your question, I think you will be the best mom no matter how our kids come to us."
She turned in his lap to face him better. "I feel the same way about you, Jack. We're a great team."
"That we are."
Jack slid out from under Elizabeth and reached out his hand. She took it and Jack began leading her down to the water.
"You know that unexpected thing that happened to me today?" She nodded. "Well, your mom called me to give me my Christmas present."
"Oh! Wait, what was it?" As far as she knew, her mother had gotten Jack a new camera lens.
"Permission to do this." Jack dropped down on one knee on the snowy ground, pulling the ring box out of his pocket.
"Oh my!" she gasped.
"After last night, and all that we've gone through, I'm sure of a few things. One is that life is full of surprises. Some good, some bad. We can't predict the future. I'm also sure that God meant for you and I to share this life together."
"Jack…" Tears streamed down her face, her hands were clasped over her heart.
"Elizabeth Thatcher, I love you with all my heart. You are a gift. The greatest gift I could ask for on this earth. I can't wait to see what God has in store for us."
He opened the box to reveal a sparkling diamond ring that matched the necklace she wore. It was clear he'd had it custom made.
"Will you please do me the greatest honor I could possess and become my..." Before he could say the last word, Elizabeth was down on her knees in front of him, planting the most moving and passionate kiss either one had ever experienced.
In the heat of the moment, Jack lost his balance and tumbled into the snow, taking Elizabeth with him. They both laid there in the cold snow laughing with their noses touching.
"So, was that a yes?" he teased.
"It was a huge yes, Jack Thornton! I will most definitely marry you!"
