Sorry for the slow updates! I am getting around to it. On a happy note my baby boy turned one last Friday :) So now holiday celebrations and birthday parties are sorted I'm aiming to update all of the stories at least once a week again. Sorry it has taken me a while but thanks for your support!

(14/01/2019)

CHAPTER 62

As Elizabeth and Jack settled into their weekly routine, time began to move at a faster pace again.

On Wednesday night, Elizabeth was finishing off dinner when Jack arrived home.

"Guess what Jack?"

"What?"

"It's twelve weeks today" Elizabeth said with a grin.

"That's good, right?" Jack enveloped her in a hug, his chest up against her back and his arms wrapping protectively around her stomach.

"It's great."

"Your next scan is on Monday?"

"Yeah. 4pm. Viola is going to watch the kids for us."

Jack pulled back, looking down at her. "Just so you know, I am really excited."

"I'm glad."

Jack didn't want to admit it but even though he felt incredibly excited about the prospect of having a baby, it still felt like it was the first one.

The night before Elizabeth had shown him the photo albums of when she was pregnant with each of the girls and the photos after their births. Jack had run his fingers over the photos but nothing had come back to him yet.

His favourite photo was the final one of baby Eve in Elizabeth's arms in the hospital with Halley and Grace sitting on the bed beside her with broad grins on their faces.

"Those smiles didn't last long as soon as they knew I wasn't coming home with them. I'm fairly certain you had to bribe them with ice-cream to even get them out of the hospital!"

The only thing that Jack remembered was holding Eve when her and Elizabeth got home. Jack clearly remembered sitting in the rocking chair in the nursery with a baby in his arms. Since it was at their current house, he had worked out that it was Eve. She had been asleep in his arms and her mouth twitched in a semi smile every few seconds.

"Eve was by far the best baby. She was so calm and just went along with the flow."

"Well she wouldn't have had any other choice."

"No. That's true."

"Did she have an eventful birth like the other two?"

"Not really."

Three years and eleven months before … (November 2014)

Eve was due on 10th November but giving Elizabeth's past history with early deliveries, everyone was on baby watch from the end of October.

Elizabeth had finished the school year with her class and decided not to start for only a few months before she would have to leave her class but she was still teaching on the casual pool. As the days ticked over and they crept closer to the end of October, Elizabeth was glad that she hadn't stopped teaching altogether because the waiting was driving her crazy.

Every day when she came home from work and Jack would see her, he would say the same thing.

"Any movement?"

He meant had the baby dropped or were there contractions and each day Elizabeth had the same answer.

"No."

A week before her due date, however, Elizabeth was beginning to get more and more anxious. On this one day, she had woken up feeling off. When she moved around getting the girls ready for their day and herself ready for work, she didn't feel any movement from the baby. No kicks, no hiccups and no elbows. Nothing.

She went to her class and taught as normal but when she had her lunch break, the nagging feeling that something was wrong came back. Elizabeth left the school and walked across the road to the service station before returning with a coke. She never normally drank the stuff but she was in need of a sugar hit. Well she didn't need it … the baby needed it.

As the afternoon wore on, despite a full can of coke and a chocolate bar as well, there was still no movement.

The second Elizabeth left work that day she called her obstetrician's office in a panic.

"I haven't felt any movement all day. I'm really worried."

"Just come in and we will get the doctor to take a look. Try not to stress."

That was easier said than done. Elizabeth went straight to the doctors, calling Jack and getting his voicemail on the way.

"Jack, I'm going to see the doctor now. I'm worried that something is wrong. Maybe I will see you there?"

Elizabeth got to the doctors and was sitting in the waiting room when Jack flew in.

"Beth! What's wrong?!" he panicked as he ran toward her.

Elizabeth's eyes filled with tears before she was able to speak.

"I haven't felt the baby move all day. I was just really worried."

He sat down beside her, his hand immediately wrapping around her shoulders. They sat there quietly waiting, neither wanting to voice their concerns. After ten minutes, the doctor finally appeared to invite them in.

She led them straight to the bed where the ultrasound machine was waiting.

"So Elizabeth, you're concerned about the baby's movement?"

"Yes, I haven't felt anything all day which is unusual. Normally she is moving all over the place."

"It's a girl?"

"Um, we don't know. It's just a hunch" Elizabeth said.

The doctor quickly got the ultrasound machine ready and ran the probe over Elizabeth's skin. Jack remained close by her side, his hand clinging to hers. Within seconds the baby appeared and so did the heartbeat. Tears immediately filled Elizabeth's eyes at the sight.

"She's okay!" Elizabeth squeezed Jack's hand, the relief overwhelming her as her tears began to spill over her cheeks. Jack leant over, kissing her forehead in relief.

The doctor kept checking the baby over. "She looks fine. There isn't much room left in there but you should still be feeling her. I want to just run a check on the baby's heartbeat. Are you able to go to the hospital now?"

Elizabeth and Jack agreed and the obstetrician made a call to the hospital to tell them she was sending Elizabeth over for monitoring.

By the time they got there, a nurse was waiting for them with the ultrasound unit ready to go. After positioning the sensors and straps, the nurse sat watching the screen while Elizabeth and Jack watched nervously.

"Alright this is the signal from you. These slight rises in the signal indicate that you are having a small contraction and this signal is the baby's heartbeat. You can see that it does drop slightly when you have a contraction. We will monitor you for the next hour and then make a decision."

The nurse left them alone. Jack held onto Elizabeth's hand tightly.

"I'm just so glad that she's okay Jack. I was so worried today. I had worked myself up, I know but …"

"Hey. Don't worry about it. Clearly something wasn't quite right if you have started to go into labour."

"I guess."

"Hey. Look at me" Jack said tugging on her chin. "You made the right decision. We're in the right place, okay?"

"Mmm."

Jack leant in and kissed her on the lips before their attention went back to the screen.

It turned out that the baby ended up settling down and was no longer upset by the contraction. With a sigh of relief, Elizabeth was told she could go home even though the labour was imminent since she was already in labour. The contractions couldn't be felt and were of uneven separation.

"How long could it be?" Jack asked before they left.

"Days or hours. We just don't know."

"Okay."

It took another two days before Elizabeth's waters broke. Unfortunately the baby was in no hurry to show up and after a long 20 hours, their third baby girl finally made her way into the world. When Elizabeth finally had her placed in her arms, she broke down, tears spilling from her eyes as she sobbed. She held her baby close to her body while Jack wrapped his arms around them both, pressing his lips to the side of his head.

"She's beautiful Elizabeth. Just like her mother."

She had a tuft of auburn hair springing from her head and bright blue eyes that stared out almost immediately.

"Thank you, Jack" she said, reaching up to kiss his lips. "I can't believe we made something so beautiful … again." A smile broke out across her face as she looked up into his eyes.

Jack didn't say anything. She could see the emotion within them as she stared down at his daughter.

"Well, that was eventful. I wonder how this baby is going to make their grand entrance" Jack said as his hand ran gently over Elizabeth's belly. "They seemed to have gotten slightly less dramatic each time. Halley's was by far the craziest."

"I'm hoping for less drama" Elizabeth agreed as her hand rested on top of Jack's.

The day for the scan arrived and Elizabeth woke early that morning to Jack pressing his lips just below her ear.

"Good morning beautiful. I can't wait to see you later."

With that he was gone out the door, leaving her to doze in and out of sleep until the girls woke and readied themselves for school.

That afternoon, Elizabeth dropped the girls at Viola's and finally pulled up at the base. She stepped out of the car and leaned against the door waiting for Jack to appear. She hadn't admitted it to Jack but she was really excited about today as well and not only to see her baby on the ultrasound screen. She couldn't wait to see Jack's reaction. She had been wondering for weeks if it would be similar to how it was the first time he saw the picture that would later become baby Halley. It was a look of pure wonder and amazement that she wondered if he would match today.

Jack appeared a few steps in front of her, pulling her from her thoughts. She had been so distracted that she hadn't noticed him approaching. Her face lit up in a smile and she jumped into Jack's arms as soon as he got close enough.

"Hi!" she said as she pressed her lips against his.

"Hey baby. Are you okay?"

"Yeah. I'm great."

"You looked distracted back there."

"Not bad distracted. I was just thinking."

"Okay. Jump in the passenger seat. I'll drive you."

As soon as they were seated, Jack reached for her hand, their fingers interlacing. They sat quietly during the short distance to the clinic.

"How are you feeling?" Elizabeth finally asked.

Jack just laughed. "I'm fine, but how are you? You're the one carrying our baby."

"I'm fine Jack. I just meant are you nervous or excited …"

"Definitely excited. I've been waiting for this for weeks."

"Well I doubt you will be disappointed."

Less than thirty minutes later he was far from disappointed as the doctor ran the ultrasound probe across Elizabeth's small belly and found what she was looking for. Elizabeth wasn't disappointed either as she watched Jack's eyes widen and his stare intensify at the screen. When the heartbeat poured out of the speakers and filled the room with a fast pulsing sound, Elizabeth could have sworn that Jack shed a tear before he rapidly wiped it from his eyes.

"Here is baby Thornton. Everything looks okay so far. The heartbeat is good and everything seems to be in order."

As they watched the screen, the baby made a big jolt and bumped on the screen. Another minute later, it did the same thing and the sonographer laughed.

"Your little one has the hiccups by the look of things."

Elizabeth giggled but Jack just stared. His hand tightened on Elizabeth's and he pulled his eyes away from the screen quickly before pulling her hand to his mouth and placing a gentle kiss across her knuckles.

"He's beautiful Beth."

"He?" she said with a little laugh.

"Yes, well I can't be any more outnumbered. I need a boy to even things up."

Elizabeth smiled. Secretly she would like a boy too.

The doctor printed off some of the pictures and handed them to Jack. She spoke about another follow-up appointment before Jack and Elizabeth left the clinic hand-in-hand. Jack barely spoke and Elizabeth was beginning to get concerned but as soon as they left the building and got close to the car, Jack pulled Elixabeth into him, leaning her against the car before covering her lips with his and giving her a searing kiss. He tugged at her bottom lip before he pulled back altogether.

"Not that I'm complaining but what was that about?" Elizabeth said almost breathless.

"I love you Elizabeth. I know this was all unexpected but thank you. I am just so unbelievably happy right now. You have held our family together over the last few months and now look at us" he said as he looked down at the photos in his hands before his hand moved to sweep over her stomach and rest on her hip.

"I love you so much" Jack said before he leant in and pressed his lips to hers slowly.

"I love you too."

"Let's go get our girls and show them the picture of their baby brother or sister." Jack held Elizabeth's door open for her before she slid inside.