Elizabeth sat near Brady's hospital bed a couple hours later. He was finally calm and peaceful after the doctor's gave him a breathing treatment and he could breathe again.

"Mom?" Brady whispered.

"Yes, sweetheart."

"I'm scared."

She stood and laid down next to him in the bed, wrapping her arms around him.

"Everything's okay now. The doctors gave you medicine and you can breathe."

"What if it happens again?"

"The doctor is giving you an inhaler to use. If you feel like you can't breathe, you spray the inhaler in your mouth and it will make you feel better."

"Can we go back to Tom and Charlotte's soon? I don't want to be here."

"The doctor is going to check you again and then we can go."

Jack came back in just as Elizabeth started to sing.

"Come stop your crying

It will be alright

Just take my hand

And hold it tight

I will protect you

From all around you

I will be here

Don't you cry

For one so small,

You seem so strong

My arms will hold you,

Keep you safe and warm

This bond between us

Can't be broken

I will be here

Don't you cry"

"Mom?"

"Yeah, sweetie?"

"I love you."

"I love you too." She kissed his cheek and temple and held him closer. "So much."

"Hey there," Jack said quietly as he came in. "How are you feeling, bud?"

"Better I think."

"That's good." Jack pulled up a chair and watched Elizabeth and Brady. Brady looked so small in the bed in his hospital gown. So vulnerable. Most of the time he acted tough but seeing him unable to take a breath had shaken Jack. He wasn't so tough that he stopped being an eleven year old boy that needed his mother.

Elizabeth was, of course, the wonderful mother, his comfort when he was scared. She kept her cool and did her best to keep Brady calm too. He was in awe of her.

"Did you call your parents?" she whispered.

"Yeah. Autumn is doing okay. They are relieved that Brady is fine." As was Jack. He'd never been so scared before.

Elizabeth reached out for his hand and squeezed. "I love you," she mouthed silently.

"I love you," he mouthed back. What he would do for a hug right now.

The doctor came in shortly after Brady had gone to sleep which woke him up again.

"How are you feeling, young man?"

"Tired."

"To be expected. Asthma attacks can take a lot out of you. I'm just going to listen to your chest again." The doc put his stethoscope to Brady's chest and listened for awhile. "I think you're well enough to go home now. I sent a prescription to your pharmacy near Riverton for his inhaler and the medicine for a nebulizer. In the mean time, this inhaler will do the trick." He handed it to Brady. "I'm going to have you use it now instead of giving you another breathing treatment to make sure you're comfortable."

After another few minutes, Jack and Elizabeth stepped out so Brady could dress.

The moment they were in the hall, they wrapped their arms around each other tightly. "He will be okay now," Elizabeth whispered.

"I know. I just have never felt so helpless in all of my life. At least with Autumn, she gets sick, gets antibiotics and she's better. This thing with Brady…its not so easy."

"No, but he has medicine too and the doc said he may grow out of it."

The door opened and Brady walked out. "Ready, son?" Jack asked.

"Yeah. I'm ready."

Jack gave him a gentle hug. "I'm glad you're okay."

"Me too."

The rest of the weekend was uneventful, much to Jack's relief. However, it seemed as if Brady was afraid of doing anything beyond sitting and watching everyone else have fun. That concerned Jack a bit.

On their drive back, they decided to stop and eat lunch at a park. "Look! Ducks!" Autumn said pointing at the pond. She tried to get Brady to come with her to see them but he said he didn't want to.

Jack went leaving Brady with Elizabeth. "What's going on, honey?"

"Nothing."

"Its something. Since we got back from the hospital, you haven't been doing anything." He shrugged. "Are you feeling okay?"

"I'm fine!" he shouted and walked back to the truck.

Elizabeth gave him a few minutes and went to go talk to him. She sat in the driver's seat and looked at him. "Look, Brady. I don't appreciate you yelling at me before."

"I'm sorry."

"I bet it's scary to think that you might get sick again."

"Maybe if I don't do anything, I won't."

"My cousin had asthma. Every time he was going to exercise, he would use his inhaler. That stopped him from feeling short of breath."

"What if it doesn't?"

"What if it does? Then you can run and play with Annie and your dad and sister. And eventually this little one," she said, rubbing her belly. "I think it's worth trying, don't you?"

"Yeah."

"Let's go see the ducks. Autumn wanted to share that with you."

"Okay."

That evening after the kids were asleep, Jack found Elizabeth in the kitchen making tea.

"Hey, baby. What are you up to?"

"Making some tea."

"Kids are asleep." He walked up behind her, wrapping his arms around her middle.

"That's good."

"Will you dance with me?" he asked, turning her around slowly.

"Sure."

He found a playlist in his phone labeled simply, "Babe" and touched the play button. Luke Combs started singing Beautiful Crazy and Jack sang along with him as they swayed, foreheads together, eyes closed.

"Her day starts with a coffee and ends with a wine

Takes forever to get ready so she's never on time for anything

When she gets that come get me look in her eyes

Well it kinda scares me the way that she drives me wild

When she drives me wild

Beautiful, crazy, she can't help but amaze me

The way that she dances, ain't afraid to take chances

And wears her heart on her sleeve

Yeah, she's crazy but her crazy's beautiful to me

She makes plans for the weekend, can't wait to go out

'Til she changes her mind, says, "let's stay on the couch and watch TV"

And she falls asleep

Beautiful, crazy, she can't help but amaze me

The way that she dances, ain't afraid to take chances

And wears her heart on her sleeve

Yeah, she's crazy but her crazy's beautiful to me

She's unpredictable, unforgettable

It's unusual, unbelievable

How I'm such a fool, yeah I'm such a fool for her"

When the song ended, he wrapped her up in his strong arms and sighed. "I'm so glad you were with me this weekend. You were the calm one when Brady was struggling. I was so scared."

"I know you were."

"I don't know what I would do if I lost any of you."

She pulled back and dried his tears with her thumb. "You're not going to, Jack. Everyone is doing fine. Including this little one." She put his hands on her tummy and smiled. "Our son or daughter is in there, safe and warm."

He nodded and covered her mouth with his, his kisses gentle but insistent. "I miss you," he mumbled, scooping her into his arms, his lips finding hers again a second later.

"I'm right here."

He carried her slowly up the stairs and placed her gently on the bed before removing his t-shirt. He leaned down over her and kissed her again, longer, deeper.

"I'm going to take a shower. Wanna join me?" he asked with a grin.

The next morning, they heard a knock on their door. Somehow, they had forgotten to set their alarm.

"Dad?"

"Just a moment, Brade. I'll be downstairs soon."

"Okay."

Jack got out of bed and dressed quickly, shuffling into the bathroom to brush his teeth. Then he hurried back out to kiss Elizabeth goodbye. "I love you. I'll see you at dinner."

"Love you too."

When he walked into the kitchen, he noticed that the kids were eating cereal. "Morning, kids."

"Well good morning, sleeping beauty," Jesse teased from the living room.

"Sorry, bro. Getting a late start."

"Take your time. I'm a patient guy."

Jack scrambled himself and Elizabeth a couple eggs while the toast toasted.

"Pumpkin, did you feed Annie?"

"Yup! And she…pooped."

"That's good. Give her water too, okay?"

"I gave her water," Brady told him.

"Thanks, bud."

"Dad?"

"Yeah?"

"Can I go to work with you?"

He put his eggs and Elizabeth's on two separate plates, along with some toast before answering. "You want to go work on houses with me?"

"Yeah. Just to see what it's like. I can work hard too."

"I'll talk to your mom but maybe on Saturday. It's a half day but if everything goes well, I'll be tiling a couple bathrooms. That might be a good thing to start you on."

"Cool."

Jack finished his food and placed a kiss on both kids hair. "Love you both. See you tonight."

"Bye," they both said as he walked out the door.

Elizabeth walked down a moment later, her hair in a pony tail and wearing her "Preggers" tank top and a pair of stretchy shorts.

She noticed a plate of food and smiled. What a thoughtful husband she had. "Morning, kids."

"Hi, Mommy!" Autumn said, from the counter.

"You had cereal?"

"Yup! Brady…helped me."

"That was nice. Thank you, bud."

He shrugged. "Can we go The Nook?"

"Well, I'll make you both a deal. You clean your rooms and make your beds, I'll take you after lunch."

"Yay!" Autumn said, hopping down from the stool. As she started to head upstairs, Elizabeth cleared her throat.

"Forget something, sweetheart?" Autumn grabbed her bowl and put it in the sink. "Thank you."

Elizabeth cleaned the whole downstairs by lunch time and then they had grilled cheese sandwiches.

Brady watched her cook. "Pickles in the sandwich?"

"Its so good. Trust me. And then I put garlic powder on the outside where the butter is. When it cooks, it smells like garlic bread."

He couldn't deny how good it smelled and it tasted better than he expected. "Can I have another, please?"

"Sure." She took a bite of her own and made him another and then put more chips on everyone's plates.

An hour later, they were sitting in The Nook reading. The kids were, but Elizabeth was over chatting with Savannah in the coffee area.

"So how's it going?" Savannah asked.

"Good. We just took a weekend trip to see Jack's parents in Augusta."

"That sounds fun."

"It was but we found out the hard way that Brady has asthma."

"Oh no. He had an attack?"

"Yeah. He had been playing football with Jack and Tom and then he couldn't breathe. I've never been so scared."

"I'm guessing it was scary for Brady too."

"Yeah. It was. For all of us. But we got through it."

"Mommy? Can I…get this one?"

"Yes, you may. Let's go find Brady and see if he found something."

After they paid for the books, Savannah gave Elizabeth an envelope. "What's this?"

"Proceeds for your book. Sold out. Any chance we can get more?"

"Sold out? I gave you a hundred books."

"Yep. Not a single one left. I've had people ask if there are any more in the works."

"I've been brainstorming ideas and I'm pretty sure I have one. Wow. Okay, I'll drop off more books very soon."

"Great! I'll spread the word."

Elizabeth got settled in the driver's seat before checking the amount of her proceeds. "Holy moly," she mumbled.

"What, Mommy?"

"Nothing, baby. Everyone buckled?"

"Yep."

That was good because she needed to get home to her laptop so she could start working on her new idea. She had a feeling it was going to be a hit.