CHAPTER 64 – PRELUDE TO A VOYAGE

"Aaron Daniel Thornton. Aaron Daniel Thornton. Will the parents of Aaron Daniel Thornton, please identify yourselves?"

Elizabeth and Jack, from their seats in the waiting area of the airport, turned their attention to the woman speaking into her clip-on microphone who was standing thirty feet away from them.

The family had checked in at the reception counter, and passed their bags through the long cylinder to be checked for contaminants and weighed to ensure they met the maximum allowances.

There was still an hour until it was time to board, and the knitting needles in Elizabeth's hands had been moving at a slow but steady pace until interrupted by the announcement.

Elizabeth didn't mind an interruption; she actually had no idea what she was even making and was merely going through the motions of making a scarf or maybe just a chain of long knots or maybe even a sock. She had hoped the action of knitting and purling would keep her from thinking about being propelled through the atmosphere on top of rockets filled with burning fuel. Luckily, she found knitting to be pretty dull and she had bored herself enough that the thought of exploding no longer made her sweat nervously.

"Right here," Jack spoke up and lifted his hand.

The uniformed woman moved through the crowd and smiled as she approached them.

"He really is just a baby," she said pleasantly when she saw Aaron Daniel. "I thought they were pulling my leg. Here's the charger for his pressure suit and helmet. The helmet gets Velcro-ed to the suit collar," she explained as she picked up the personalized garment and showed them the area for the helmet to be affixed. "Did they explain it to you when they disbursed it?"

"They did," both Jack and Elizabeth said. Jack's answer was calm and confident, but Elizabeth's had a hint of worry.

Drat, I thought I was past worrying.

No, it was exploding that I was no longer worried about, she grumbled silently

I still have to worry about imploding.

It all seemed simple enough but she now couldn't stop thinking of her precious son's skull and how it – and his body – needed protection from the G-Forces during take-off. She knew that a baby's skull took months to fully fuse together, but she never would have given it a second thought if she had remained on Earth like an average wife and mother. If Jack hadn't received orders to go to Coal Valley, Elizabeth would be worried about incoming teeth, not the softness of her baby's bones and what would happen to them during the intense pressure of leaving Earth's gravity.

The woman, wearing a name-tag identifying herself as Aurora, easily fitted the charger into a small pouch on the suit. "Put the suit on him after we board or he'll just get hot now and you may still need to change his diaper. Then push this button when we take off. No need to start before then."

"That will start the reverse pressure?" Elizabeth asked.

"Exactly. The suit can sense the pressure on the outside of it. The pumps sewn inside – don't worry, they're there even if you can barely feel them - will automatically begin to adjust to compensate. It's only needed during lift-off. Once you no longer feel the G-Forces, you can take it off of him. It's that simple."

"And it will work, right?"

The uniformed woman shrugged and smiled. "It works on chimps."

"Your son is acting like a chimp," Elizabeth complained fifteen minutes later as she changed the squirming baby's diaper. She was kneeling on the carpet of the waiting area with the baby lying in front of her. His little legs kicked about as if he was riding a tri-cycle while his hands waved back and forth excited by the over-head lights.

"Here, give him this," Jack replied. He reached into his backpack and pulled out a four-inch long object.

Elizabeth took the item and looked curiously at it. It was obviously a rattle but on one end was the image of her sister smiling broadly. "Where'd you get this?"

"Julie. She gave it to him at the party. I think she wants to make sure that she's always the favorite aunt."

"Thanks for being so good at the party. I know my family can be a handful."

"My mom wasn't the easiest on you. Not with her talk about how you can volunteer to teach remotely and how she also expects weekly updates on Acorn."

"At least she didn't try to bribe you," Elizabeth remarked as she handed a freshly clothed Aaron to Jack. She tossed away the dirty diaper – the last of her disposable ones – and sat back down on bench next to them.

The party held in honor of Grace's Thatcher's birthday earlier that day had been filled with the usual emotions of fun and good wishes, but had also been filled with drama that could only be found at the Thatcher mansion.

Halfway through the party, Mrs. Thatcher had pulled her middle daughter into the kitchen- a room she was only slightly familiar with herself – and informed Elizabeth in a hushed voice that the family would be happy to financially support her for the next two years if she decided not to get on the transporter. Not only would they pay her mortgage if she chose to stay in the 'charming but obviously overly quaint house' on Mon Amour Street rather than move into her old room in the Hamilton mansion – although they would love to have her move home -, but they would also pay for a governess for Aaron. Plus, her mother whispered secretly, if Elizabeth stayed on Earth, they would buy Aaron his first pony and he could take baby swim lessons in their swimming pool or at the country club. It would be the best birthday present in the world for me if you decide to stay in Hamilton, her mother had attempted to cajole a dumbfounded and disgusted Elizabeth.

If that hadn't been bad enough, after an Elizabeth had walked out of the kitchen in a huff, she had bumped into Jack coming from her father's study.

"Your father just offered me a considerable amount of money to convince you to stay here on Earth without me," he had told her in disbelief.

"Was it tempting?"

"A bit," he had said as if contemplating the idea.

"Really?"

"Hey, your parents have a lot of money. And I mean A LOT. I could buy a motorcycle for when I get back to Earth, and a bachelor's pad to put it in."

"That's a long time to wait to enjoy spending your money," she had noted with an impish smile.

"I suppose you're right. Well then, I guess I'll just keep you and Aaron with me."

"Smart choice," she had informed him before giving him a quick kiss and then going to save Aaron from being smothered in kisses by Jack's mother. The older woman had already affixed a bib around him which she had cross-stitched with "Grandma's little boy."

The Thornton trio of Jack, Elizabeth, and Aaron had been taken to the airport by the Thatcher's usual driver, who had done his best to make pleasant conversation, but Elizabeth had found herself once again preoccupied. It wasn't just the birthday party, or the upcoming flight.

She had woken up that morning with the nagging feeling that she had forgotten something important. Something that began with a "B". Or maybe a "C". Or maybe neither. She wasn't sure. It was one of those times when the words seemed to be on the tip of her tongue. The idea on the edge of her memory. But she just couldn't fully grasp it. Like it was a dandelion wisp she was chasing in a breeze and it kept slipping from her fingers.

As she sat in the airport waiting area, the feeling came back to her. She had forgotten something.

"What are you thinking about?" Jack asked. He was helping Aaron stand up; his tiny feet planted on Jack's thighs as the two male Thorntons faced each other and Aaron made happy babbling sounds.

Jack took a cloth diaper from his shoulder and placed it across one of his legs when a drop of Aaron's drool landed on his pants.

"I'm trying to remember what I forgot. I still think it begins with a B."

"It was probably something to do with your mom's birthday. We gave her a present. We showed up at the party. You sang a beautiful Happy Birthday, and we complimented her new hair cut – which was dreadful by the way."

"Earlier you said it probably had something to do with the baby."

"Yeah, but we went over the list three times."

"You gave them everything?"

"I dropped it all off at the cargo hold," Jack said with a quick nod. "Baby gate. Baby highchair. Baby changing pad. Baby playpen. Baby swing. Along with the exception to policy from Dr. Fletcher stating that Aaron is a science study and therefore he's allowed cargo. And what I didn't drop off we have in our bags and on my lap. One baby boy. Aaron Daniel. Ready for takeoff." Jack gave his son a big grin and a kiss.

Elizabeth frowned. "For some reason baking comes to mind."

"Baking?"

"Yeah. I just don't know why."

"Did you turn off the oven?"

"I didn't even use it today. Or yesterday."

"Something to do with Abigail then?"

"I don't think so. I messaged her yesterday and she's definitely on this flight. Her sabbatical is over. She's probably on board already in the kitchen."

"BATTERY!" Jack announced suddenly. "You were trying to remember that we needed to get a battery charger and we just got it. There. Problem solved."

"I suppose you're right," Elizabeth conceded.

"Of course, I am. And even if I'm not, even if you forgot something, it can't be important. We have everything important right here."

Jack skillfully held Aaron with one hand and with his other hand, he lifted one of Elizabeth's hand to his lips, causing her to smile. He was right. They had everything they needed.

Almost an hour later, the Thorntons still hadn't boarded.

"PASSENGERS ON TRANSPORTER FLIGHT S9E1, THE LIFT-OFF TIME IS NOW SCHEDULED FOR SEVENTEEN HUNDRED HOURS. WE APOLOGZE FOR ANY INCONVENIENCE AND HOPE TO BOARD AS SOON AS PRACTICAL."

The clear voice which had come over the intercom system caused dozens of people sitting in the waiting room's plastic chairs to look up from what they were doing and glance at their watches or the clock on the wall.

"You think he needs to eat again before we take off?" Jack asked with a nod towards the sleeping infant in his arms.

Elizabeth quickly mentally calculated when she had last fed her son. "He should be okay. If he wakes up on his own, I'll feed him. You want me to hold him so you can go stretch your legs?"

"Nah, I'm good. I'm reading. You go walk around if you want."

"Actually, I'm enjoying just sitting here relaxing. Just think about it, Jack. No mortgage payments –"

"As long as Julie pays them", Jack interrupted.

"She will. No mortgage payments. No mini-transporter payments. No job for me. Barely a job for you. No appointments. No commitments. No lawn to take care of. No real stresses. We've got four months to relax and enjoy being a family."

Elizabeth leaned her head back and closed her eyes. Her face eased of any tension.

She thought more about what the next two years would be like. Jack. Aaron. Making a home in Coal Valley. And before that, there was the four months on the transporter. Sharing a set of family quarters.

Finally, quarters without two other men or two scantily-clad females!

We've never really had private quarters . . . except those first few days on the return flight.

Thornton Quarters.

The Thornton FAMILY Quarters. I like the sound of that.

Wow. Who would have thought things would have turned out so wonderfully after our first meeting in this very place when he could barely stand me?!

There was no doubt that Elizabeth had won the lottery the day she met Jack. She had told him before, and she still firmly believed, that she had won every lottery in the world the day he decided to love her.

Not only was he a wonderful father, but he still remembered how to be a wonderful romantic husband after two years of marriage.

Elizabeth thought back to last night and a small smile spread across her face.

Last evening, they had been a few minutes into – well – she didn't want to think too much about it or she'd really start smiling and people would probably stare at her and wonder why she had her eyes closed and huge smile on her face. Although, Jack would probably guess correctly.

Anyway, they had been a few minutes into you-know-what, when he had taking his lips off of hers for just a second, looked towards the horizon, and asked if she wanted him to stop so she could look at the sunset. Her breathless response of "who gives a damn about a sunset", had caused him to chuckle and then continue with what she assumed that he must do better than every male in the world. She couldn't imagine any other man making her feel that way.

A giggle escaped her as she thought about the squirrel fiasco.

Those sheets were ruined with the red sauce stains, but who cares. Julie can buy her own sheets.

Suddenly the memories came flooding back to Elizabeth. One memory speedily leading to another.

In less than two seconds, it all came back to her. Drowning her in the horror that she had forgotten to do something monumentally important.

The red sauce which had looked like blood.

Blood.

Blood reminded her that she had given blood two days ago as part of her doctor's appointment.

Her doctor's appointment.

Her doctor's appointment where, as she had lain on the exam table, Aaron had started to fuss.

Aaron's fussing had caused her to move her body to look at him.

Moving her body had caused the doctor to drop her instrument.

Dropping the instrument had caused the doctor to casually say it would be a few more minutes while she went to get a new device.

But Elizabeth had been worried about missing Aaron's appointment.

So the doctor, who in anticipation of completing Elizabeth's appointment had already filled out the form clearing her for space travel, had graciously offered to let Elizabeth leave and come back after Aaron's appointment.

Elizabeth had promised her doctor she'd be back to finish up right after Aaron's pediatric exam was over.

But she hadn't gone back to her own doctor's appointment.

Because after Aaron's appointment had been the psych evaluation appointment with Dr. Fletcher.

And then the doctor's office had been closed, and she and Jack had been hungry, and Aaron had been tired. And . . . she had forgotten. She had totally forgotten to finish her appointment. Even when she had gotten the laboratory results that she was healthy and cleared to travel, she hadn't remembered the doctor's casual instruction to stop by to finish up.

Elizabeth had been so busy, she had completely forgotten. Until now.

Elizabeth bolted upright in her seat and her eyes flew open.

Crap. Crap. Crap. Crap. Crap. Crap. Crap. Crap. Crap. Crap. Crap. Crap. Crap. Crap. Crap. Crap. Crap. Crap. Crap. Crap! Crap! Crap! Crap! Crap! Crap! Crap! Crap! Crap! Crap! CRAP! CRAP! CRAP! CRAP! CRAP! CRAP! CRAP! CRAP! CRAP! CRAP! CRAP! CRAP! CRAP! CRAP! CRAP! CRAP! CRAP! CRAP! CRRRRAAAAAAPPPPPP ! ! ! !