CHAPTER 61 - THE SHAPE OF LOVE

"I love you too, Ma. I'll see you at the Thatchers."

Jack pushed the button on his bracelet and looked around at his surroundings. He had been so busy with his conversation that he hadn't paid attention to how far he had been walking since he had left the Defense Force regional office.

He now found himself standing on the sidewalk in front of a stately brick house. He was surprised that he was only a block from home.

"Hi there, Officer."

"Good evening, Mrs. Broud," Jack replied to the woman in her early sixties who was crouched near his feet. She was surrounded by seed packets and small gardening tools.

"I'm planting zinnias," she offered as she wiped some dirt from her hands. "You getting off work?"

"I am. We sold our mini-transporter so I'm walking. We're going to a deep space colony tomorrow."

"Good God! Why?!"

The woman leaned back on her haunches and stared up at Jack from under her wide-brimmed hat.

Jack chuckled. "I go where my job sends me. It's to Coal Valley on Planet Assaymark. Elizabeth and I were stationed there before. We like a little bit of adventure."

"And the baby's going with you?"

"Yep. The baby's going with us."

"To a desolate primitive colony?"

Jack chuckled again. "It's not so bad."

"What about your house?"

"Elizabeth's sister's going to move in. Hopefully it won't get too wild." He smiled at the woman who was Head of the local Neighborhood Watch program.

"If she's as nice as Elizabeth, we'll welcome her," the woman replied with her own smile. "She's not going to grow dandelion weeds in the greenhouse, is she? Because that's a bit odd, Jack."

Mrs. Broud's mention of zinnias and dandelions reminded Jack that he probably should have brought a present home for Elizabeth. After the last few days, she deserved a bit of adoration. A bouquet of flowers would be nice but he'd have to walk back at least a mile to the nearest grocery store so he decided against it.

Besides, they'd probably get her misty-eyed when she realizes she won't see flowers for another two years, he thought as he continued walking.

Candy? She likes chocolate with caramel.

That would require a walk back to town just like getting flowers.

Admit it, Jack. You screwed up. It's too late to get her anything. Besides, not a lot would make up for dragging her back to a deep space colony within a year of coming home.

With only three days' notice.

And making her take physical endurance test.

Yesterday had been bad enough for Elizabeth with resigning from her job and the doctors' appointments, but at least Jack and Elizabeth had handled Aaron's appointment and the psych evals together as a couple.

Jack cringed when he thought about his conversation with Elizabeth earlier that morning.

She had been beyond feeling simply inconvenienced.

Angry. Distraught. Irate. Disgusted. Exhausted. Anxious.

Those were all words which adequately represented her attitude when she had received an early morning message.

The message – short and formal- informed her of the scheduled time to take a physical endurance test before getting cleared for the flight.

Jack, who routinely took a fitness test three times a year as part of his job requirements, was as surprised as she was by the appointment notice. Because he didn't need to take another exam to qualify, he had forgotten the necessity for all passengers to have a recent exam. And apparently so had she.

"A physical endurance test! With no notice!" Elizabeth had exclaimed as she stood in her pajama bottom and tank-top in the center of their bedroom looking shell-shocked.

"Don't get so worked up," he had told her patiently. He finished putting on his shoes and then looked around for his badge before finding it underneath a stack of diapers. "It's just an endurance test. I take them all the time."

"You're in the Defense Force! You're in shape!"

"It's no big deal."

"You do fitness training every morning before your office day gets started. I burp a baby and clean snotty kids' noses before my teaching day gets started."

"You took one before. Before the last flight to Coal Valley."

"That was three years ago! When I had trained for weeks to pass! I have two hours' notice! Two f-ing hours!"

Jack had automatically run his eyes up and down her body. Assessing her.

"Are you staring at me?! At my body?! To see how bad of shape I'm in?!"

"No! No!" he lied and immediately averted his gaze from her slightly flabby torso.

"You've been walking a lot. I'm sure you can pass the test," he had offered encouragingly, and with a lot of false hope when he had really thought about it. "You're in great shape."

Elizabeth huffed disagreeable. "If I don't eat breakfast, I may just pass the weight requirement. Provided I stand on my tip-toes so they think I'm taller than I am."

"You were underweight before you got pregnant, so even if you are a bit heavier now, you should still be okay with the weight requirement."

"And the actual fitness part?" she had said scornfully. "I have not run a mile in over a year. I have two hours to get in shape and take a two-mile run test. I can't do a sit-up unless someone sits on my feet, and pulls me up by my arms! I have not done a pull-up or a push-up in so long I don't even remember the difference!"

"Okay, now you're exaggerating. Besides, aren't you entitled to some kind of waiver because you just had a baby? Did you tell them you just had a baby?"

Elizabeth had glared at him with cold eyes. "That was six months ago. Your son is six months old."

Jack grimaced. "That long ago?"

"Six months and four days ago," she had said in a stone-cold voice. "Waivers are only up to six months exactly."

"I guess you better get started getting in shape," Jack had said before grabbing Aaron and running from the room.

Jack slowed his pace as he came to the front walk.

This morning, he had waited until Julie had come to babysit Aaron and then he had gone to work. He hadn't spoken to Elizabeth since a very brief kiss and "good luck on your test" before hurrying to take care of things at his office.

He knew that she had passed the test only because he had received a copy of the manifest three hours ago.

When the list had come up on his computer screen, he had quickly scanned it until he saw the three names he cared about. The only three names he cared about. Jack Thornton. Elizabeth Thornton. Aaron Thornton. They were all there. They were staying together as a family.

She'll be happy about that.

He hesitated a few steps from the house.

It's not my fault she had to take an endurance test.

Okay, it is my fault. I'm the one that's responsible for us getting stationed there.

Stop being a coward, Jack. Walk in the front door.

She can't still be mad. She'll probably be proud that she passed the fitness test.

God, I have no idea how she passed.

Honestly.

She hasn't worked out in ages.

Jack shook his head in surprise that Elizabeth managed to somehow squeak out a passing score, and he turned the old-fashioned front door knob.

Think positive. The worst is behind us. The physical check-ups, the psych evals, the endurance tests. All in the last two days. That's a lot for anyone to deal with. Thank goodness, Elizabeth is a strong woman.

Thank goodness she loves me!

Elizabeth was kneeling on the carpet of the living room floor with the baby fidgeting in front of her. Her clothes were wrinkled, her hair was tousled, and she wasn't singing a sweet tune liked she often did around the baby.

The usually happy home seemed tense.

She looked up at Jack in the doorway, wiped some wetness from her cheeks, and returned an unsmiling face to her son.

"Oh, Geez, Elizabeth," Jack said apologetically when he thought about what she must be dealing with.

"What?" she grumbled.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry about all of this. We don't have to go. I'll refuse the assignment. I'll quit the force. I'll find another job."

"What are you talking about?"

"Please don't cry. I hate it when you cry."

"I'm not crying," she said bitterly.

"You are. I saw your wet cheeks. Don't try to protect me. I know this is all my fault."

"I'm not crying. He peed in my face," she explained in disgust. She finished affixing a diaper to their son and handed the squirming baby to Jack.

Jack quietly reprimanded his son, and then waited another ten seconds before following Elizabeth into the kitchen where he found her washing her face in the sink.

Jostling the baby in one arm, he used the other to hand her a paper-towel.

"Congrats on passing your test," he offered in an upbeat tone as she dried her face. "I'm real proud of you."

"I peed in my shorts during the sit-ups, and my breasts started leaking milk at the one-mile mark."

"Oh God"

"By the time I finished, I was sweaty, milky, and peey. Real proud, huh?"

"I'm sure it was a first for the evaluators," she added as she handed him the wet paper-towel and walked out of the room.

UP Next: Chapter 62