A/N Thanks for the sweet comments on the past couple of chapters! I love seeing the little things that stick out to you guys while you read this.

...

After church, we all sat around a big table at Abigail's. Jack walked back and forth to the kitchen with Abigail and Cody, bringing out platters of food and jugs of tea and lemonade and water.

Teddy was settled under a blanket in my arms, happily filling his belly. I brushed my fingers through his soft hair; it was already starting to lighten, making him look even more like Jack. He kicked his little legs while he ate.

Once all of the food had been brought out, Jack took a seat beside me, resting his arm across the back of my chair. He tugged gently on my hair. "How's the little man?"

"Very hungry, apparently." I peeked under the blanket. "Usually, he starts getting drowsy when he eats for this long, but he's still pretty alert."

Jack leaned over and moved the blanket slightly, looking down at Teddy. "Hey, bud. How's it going under there?"

Teddy turned away from me at the sound of his voice. I resituated him in my arms. "He's never going to finish if you distract him like that, babe."

He chuckled. "Sorry."

"Okay. Who's ready to eat?" Abigail stood at the head of the table.

Lee offered to lead the prayer before we all served ourselves.

Jack filled up a plate for me since my hands were busy holding Teddy. We had only skipped one Sunday lunch after Teddy's birth, but I found that I had missed it. We all had our own lives, and our Sunday lunch was the one consistent time that we were all together. It was even more special this week with Jack's and my families present.

Clara cleared her throat, and we all stopped our side conversations and turned our attention to her. "So, um, Jesse and I have officially set a date. We're getting married July 13th."

"July, as in, next month?"

She nodded. "We don't want a big wedding, and neither of us has family—you guys are our family. So, we're getting married in a month." She shrugged. "We just decided that we've been together long enough, there's really no need to wait."

Rosemary reached over and squeezed her hand. "Well, we're very happy for the two of you."

"While we're on the subject of weddings," I turned toward Faith, "are you and Carson getting any closer to that step?"

A flush rose in her cheeks, and she laughed nervously. "Um, maybe? We've talked about the future a little, but I don't think we're really in a hurry. I do love him, though, and I can definitely see us together for the long haul."

"Well, that's good."

We all continued our conversations, and before we knew it, two hours had passed. At some point, Tom and Julie had excused themselves to take a walk alone, and they were just returning as the rest of us were getting ready to leave.

They seemed much more comfortable together than they had the previous evening, and I was hopeful that they had been able to have a serious talk about their relationship.

Our families returned to our house with us, and we spent the remainder of the day together before they headed back to the hotel. They promised to drop by the next morning to say goodbye before they headed to their respective homes.

I was thankful that they had all been able to spend time with us, but I was also looking forward to spending the rest of the week alone with Jack and Teddy before Jack had to return to work.

...

"I don't know what you want from me, bud." I paced around the room with Teddy against my shoulder, bouncing him gently up and down.

His face was bright red as he cried, big tears rolling down his cheeks. His cry wasn't a familiar one. I had already tried feeding him, changing him, and rocking him. I tried laying on the bed with him on my chest. Nothing was helping.

"Come on, Teddy, please stop crying."

Eventually, I gave up. I laid him in the bouncy seat and collapsed onto the couch, covering my face with my hands. I felt like a horrible mother.

A few minutes later, Jack stepped through the door.

"Hey, Beth. How was your day?"

I stumbled across the room into his embrace and broke down.

"Whoa, Elizabeth. What's going on?"

I cried into his shoulder, shaking my head. "I can't."

He slowly moved us toward the living room, pulling me onto the sofa with him. "You can't what?" His hand moved lightly up and down on my back.

I took a deep breath, trying to calm myself. "He won't stop crying. He won't eat. He won't sleep."

"Hey, you've never been alone with him for this long before. You just need a break. Why don't you go take a shower or lay down and take a nap or something? I'll take him for a while. Okay?"

"Jack, no. He needs—"

"Elizabeth, Teddy and I will be fine. Go take some time for yourself. I'm not taking no for an answer."

"But he hasn't—"

"Elizabeth. Go."

I sighed. "Okay." I meandered up the stairs while Jack lifted the screaming baby from his bouncy seat.

It had been a little over two weeks since Teddy was born, and Jack had just returned to work. I knew that he helped out a lot with the baby, but I never realized just how much I relied on him until he wasn't there.

I curled up on the bed, sobbing into my pillow. I felt so useless as I heard Teddy continue to wail.

He had been crying for over an hour by the time Jack had gotten home, and I had been unable to calm him. I tried every single thing I could think of to console him; nothing worked.

I knew about the importance of developing a healthy bond in the first year of life, and I couldn't help but feel like I was failing him in some way. How could he form a secure attachment to me if I couldn't even comfort him?

My mind was reeling, but eventually the exhaustion took over, and I drifted into an uneasy sleep.

...

The bed shifted under Jack's weight. I turned toward him, and he brushed his fingers through my hair.

"Hi."

"Hi. He just fell asleep. I put him in his crib for now. Are you feeling better?"

"No, not really. I don't even know what happened today. I don't know if I can do this."

He leaned against the headboard, pulling me to his chest. "Hey, don't talk like that. You absolutely can do this." He traced circles on my back. "It was your first day alone with him. It'll be an adjustment for all of us, but we'll figure it out, okay?"

I could feel tears stinging my eyes. "I just couldn't…" I choked back a sob. "Nothing I did was helping him. I can't even comfort my own baby. Maybe you should stay home with him instead. He obviously doesn't need me anyway. And why should he? I can't help him."

"Beth, hey. Of course he needs you. You're his mom. He needs you more than anyone else."

I shook my head.

He reached for something on the nightstand. When he turned back, my phone was in his hand.

"Jack, please don't…"

He held up his hand to stop me, lifting the phone to his ear.

"Hi, it's Jack. I was wondering if you could talk to Elizabeth." He paused as the person on the other side of the call responded. "She's fine, just overwhelmed, I think. I went back to work today, so it was her first day completely alone with Teddy, and I guess he's been really fussy today." Another pause. "Yes. Thank you."

He held the phone out to me.

"Your mom."

I reluctantly took it from him, wiping my eyes with my free hand. "Hi, mom."

"Hi, sweetheart. So, Jack says you've had a bit of a hard time today?"

I sighed. "Yes."

Jack pushed the hair from my face, dropping a soft kiss on my forehead. "I'll be back," he whispered before he stepped out of the room.

"Teddy's been extra fussy?"

Silent tears continued to roll down my cheeks. "Yes, and nothing I did helped."

"Is this a new development, or has he been fussy the past couple of days?"

I thought for a moment. He had been crying more in the past couple of days, but I hadn't noticed since Jack had been around to help. We had just been enjoying our time as a family, and neither of us had paid attention to Teddy's increased crying.

"I guess he has been fussier lately. Jack and I usually take turns with him when he cries." I let out a breath. "That's probably why it hasn't been that overwhelming until now."

"He might have colic. You were a colicky baby."

"I was?"

"Yes, and it was absolutely miserable for a couple of weeks. We tried so many things to stop your crying, but nothing seemed to work. You even lost a little weight because you wouldn't calm down enough to eat."

I sucked in a breath. "What did you do?"

"We finally figured out that carrying you around outside seemed to calm you enough that you could eat, but mostly we just had to wait it out. I'd say just keep trying different things with Teddy and see if any of them will help him calm down. Take him to the pediatrician just to make sure there's nothing serious going on. If he has colic, there isn't going to be a whole lot you can do other than wait it out. It will get better eventually, I promise."

"Thank you, mom."

"And Elizabeth, ask for help, whether it's from Jack or someone else. Let someone hold him for a while so you can step away and breathe. You'll be better prepared to help him if you take care of yourself, too."

"I will. I promise."

"You're a good mom, Elizabeth. Don't forget that. Teddy is very lucky to have you."

"Thank you. I love you, mom."

I hung up and collapsed back onto the bed, letting out a breath. I still felt overwhelmed, but having a name for what was happening made it seem a little more manageable.

Jack quietly returned, this time with Teddy in his arms. "What do you say we try to get him to eat while he's calm?"

I nodded and made my way to the glider. Teddy looked up at me with wide eyes as Jack lowered him into my arms.

"Hey, Teddy Bear. Are you hungry? It's been a little while since you ate."

He continued to watch my face as he ate, pulling on my shirt with his little fingers. Just seeing his sweet face, now calm and content, was making my stress melt away.

"I'm sorry you weren't feeling very happy earlier. I wish you could tell me what was wrong, so I could help you." I smoothed down his hair.

Jack kissed the top of my head. "Did talking to your mom help?"

"Yes. Thank you for thinking of that." I touched the bottom of Teddy's foot, thankful that he was finally quiet and eating. "Babe, does he feel warm to you?" His little body felt like it was fire against my skin, and his little round cheeks were flushed.

Jack touched his cheek. "A little. I took him outside while you were napping, and it's pretty hot out there. He may have gotten a little overheated. We were probably out for too long."

I shifted him onto my lap, pulling the onesie off of him. "If he's just overheated, that should help." Once he was eating again, I turned my attention back to Jack. "We have Carson's number, right?"

"Yes, but I'm sure he's fine." He picked up the onesie from where I dropped it on the floor. "If he still feels warm in a couple of hours, we can call Carson."

"I'm going to call him tomorrow anyway. My mom thinks Teddy might have colic, but she said we should get him checked out by a doctor just in case it's something else."

He folded the onesie and placed it on the nightstand before taking a seat on the edge of the bed. "Colic? What do you do for that?"

"Not a whole lot. Try to find a way to calm him."

"I put him in that wrap thing earlier, and it seemed to help a little. He was still fussy, but he was just kind of whimpering instead of screaming."

"The wrap! I didn't even think of that." I glanced back down at the baby. He was still watching my face as he ate. "Did you like daddy carrying you around in the wrap earlier? Maybe mama will try that next time you're fussy. What do you think, bud?"

When I looked back up at Jack, he had a smile on his face.

"What?"

He shook his head. "You're amazing, Elizabeth. I know you've had a hard day, but I wouldn't be able to tell by the way you're interacting with him right now."

I shrugged. "He needs me to be calm. So no matter what's going on with me, I'm going to try to be calm with him."

"Okay, now I know for sure that he is the luckiest little guy in the entire world to have you as a mom."

I felt a blush creep into my cheeks. "Jack…"

"And I'm sure you're worrying about how this whole thing is going to affect him when he's older, but he'll be just fine."

"Can you read my mind or something?"

He smirked. "Nope. I just know you very, very well."

I smiled. "Yes, you do."

He returned to my side, his breath warm on my face as he leaned down to kiss me deeply. "Very well." His fingers lightly pressed against my hips.

My eyes widened, my face heating up. "Jack!"

"Sorry, I just love that I can still make you blush like that." He brushed his thumb across my cheek, his smile bringing out his dimples.

Teddy had turned away from me, his eyelids drooping.

"Babe, can you burp him while I take a quick shower?"

"Of course."

We traded places, and he cradled Teddy against his shoulder.

Ten minutes later, I stepped out of the bathroom, feeling refreshed. Jack was stretched out on the bed, resting his arm behind his head.

"Come here." He motioned for me to join him.

I climbed into the bed beside him. "Did you have another incident while changing his diaper?" I tucked my head against his shoulder, running my fingers down his bare chest.

He laughed softly. "Not this time. He started fussing again, so I just wanted to see if skin-to-skin contact would work. It did. He felt like he was cooling down, too."

"So the wrap and skin-to-skin contact help. I can't believe I didn't think to try either of those."

He brushed his fingers through my damp hair. "Well, they helped today. Who knows if they'll help tomorrow."

"I know you say he's lucky to have me as a mom, but he's really lucky to have you as a dad, too."

He kissed the top of my head. "And we're lucky to have him. Hey," he lifted my chin until I met his eyes, "I want to apologize if I came off as bossy earlier. I don't want you ever to feel like I'm trying to control you."

I shook my head. "That's not how I took it. I needed that break, and you just needed to help me see that." I kissed him softly. "Besides, I'm too stubborn to be controlled by someone else." I smirked.

He kissed me back, and I felt his lips curl into a smile against mine. "That's one of the many reasons I love you, beautiful, stubborn Elizabeth Ann."

I laughed softly at his use of my middle name and snuggled into him. "I love you, too, Jack Alexander."