Chapter 4
The following day, Elizabeth woke up and couldn't help but smile. She was deeply in love with Lucas Bouchard, the man of her dreams. She was really touched as to how much he loved her and Little Jack and was even more thrilled that she was going to meet his parents. She was also really glad he didn't rush into anything, but instead took time to allow her to process everything that was going on. Any other man would have pushed her to do something she wasn't ready for. Not Lucas. He was a man of patience and understanding. Just as she was getting ready to feed Little Jack, there was a knock at the door. Who could this be? she thought to herself. She got up and opened the door, much to her surprise it was Lucas. She smiled. "Good morning, Elizabeth." he said, as he kissed her cheek, checking to see if there were prying eyes around. "Well good morning to you, Lucas." she said as she smiled. "Please come in, I was just getting ready to feed Jack." Lucas went inside and smiled at Jack. "Well hello little man, and how are you this morning?" Jack laughed, looked up at Lucas and said, "Daddy!" Lucas was so touched to hear that word, but also still trying to process the fact that Jack saw him as his father. Elizabeth could see the confusion still in his eyes, as she saw him look at the photo of Jack Senior on her side table. "Jack would have been so proud of him, Elizabeth." he said, as he held her hands in his. Elizabeth could see how much this was affecting Lucas, but she knew that Lucas loved her and her son. "Lucas, I know. But Jack sees you as his father, even though Jack is his biological father, he recognizes you as his father too. I know this is a lot to process, but I think the older he gets, the more he'll understand that no matter who's in his life, he's going to receive the same love. I happen to know that Jack already loves you a lot. He's so comfortable with you. I saw that the first day you were in the library reading to him. And I also know that your parents are going to love him too, just like you love us."
Lucas smiled, and gave Elizabeth a kiss, the most passionate one he's given her yet. He didn't want to keep her from feeding Little Jack, so before he left for work, he handed her an envelope. "Elizabeth, I want you to have this. It's just a little something I wrote. A letter. It contains all the feelings I have for you. You can read it when I'm not around. Everything is written there. I want you to know how much I love you. And Little Jack. Every time I'm around you, I feel at ease. And when I'm not around you, I miss you. When I'm at work or at the saloon checking up to see how things are going there with Henry, all I think about is you. Every day. I also know that I can see a future with you. And I hope someday we can be a family. But I'm not going to make the same mistake Jack did which is propose to you and ask for your father's blessing afterwards." Elizabeth laughed at what Lucas was describing. "Just know that I will do anything and everything to make sure you two are loved." Elizabeth felt a tear run down her cheek as she listened to what Lucas was saying. Lucas did the only thing which was to run his thumb down her cheek and wipe the tear away. He smiled at her, looked straight into her eyes, and kissed her. "I love you, Lucas." she said, as she looked into his eyes. "I love you too, Elizabeth, I always will. I should get to work. But before I do, I spoke to my folks again and they can have us over the day after tomorrow." Elizabeth nodded. "That's perfect, I'll talk to Carson and see if he can substitute for me." Lucas nodded and smiled. "That's perfect. I'll let you get back to Little Jack. Take care, Elizabeth." Lucas walked over to Little Jack and kissed him on his head. "And I'll see you a little later. Maybe we can read a few more pages tonight. What do you think?" Jack looked up at Lucas. "Daddy!" he blurted out. Elizabeth and Lucas chuckled. She walked him over to the door, and opened it for him. "Lucas, thank you for stopping by, I really needed it. Seeing you just brightened my day." Lucas smiled, and grabbed her hands. "Then perhaps you can join me for dinner at the library. Say around 8?" he asked. Elizabeth nodded. "It's a date!" she said. "Perfect, I'll pick you up around 7:30." Elizabeth smiled as she watched Lucas walk to work. She was looking forward to another date with the man she loved. She couldn't wait. She knew this was going to be a date she was going to remember and cherish forever.