A/N: Hello #Hearties! Here is Chapter 4! P.S. Happy Late Mother's Day to Mrs. Elizabeth Thornton! P.S. The story with Patrick getting a shot is based on yours truly.
2 Months Later
"Hey Jack, I'm gonna run to the mercantile. I need to pick up some more supplies and some more clothes. None of my old ones fit anymore and the ones from before are very out of season." Elizabeth said as she slipped her coat on. Jack laughed and nodded.
"Alright sweetheart. We'll be fine right here." He responded. As Elizabeth headed to town, she felt a chill in the air and pulled her coat tighter around her.
"Elizabeth, how lovely to see you today." Katie Yost said upon Elizabeth's entrance.
"Lovely to see you too, Katie." She responded.
"Is there anything I can help you with today?" Katie asked.
"I don't think so but if there is, I'll let you know." Elizabeth smiled. Katie nodded and got back to work behind the counter. Elizabeth continued to browse around the store for another 20 minutes or so before making her way back up front to pay for her items.
Back at home, Jack was laying on his bed, holding his son and daughter against his chest, trying to get them to go back to sleep.
"Hey, it's okay." He soothed, rubbing their backs. "Daddy's here." The babies quieted a bit at hearing the familiar voice. "Daddy's here." He repeated. "And he's gonna tell you a little story." He scooted upwards until his back was against the headboard, brought his knees up, and put the babies on his thighs.
"Once upon a time," Jack started. "There was a beautiful young woman whose dream was to be a schoolteacher. So, she moved really far away from home to teach in a small town where there had recently been a tragic accident. When she got to the town, all the widows, that means women whose husbands died in the accident, gave her a bit of a hard time at first. But the schoolteacher was so generous and kind that it wasn't long before they all came to love her. A little while later, a handsome mountie rode into town. He and the schoolteacher didn't get on very well at first either. But the mountie couldn't deny the schoolteacher's beauty or her kind heart and it didn't take very long for him to fall in love with her too."
Elizabeth walked into a quiet house. She tiptoed up the stairs so as not to wake her children if they were sleeping. When she got to the top, she heard her husband's voice. She stood outside the bedroom door and listened to his story.
"Unfortunately for the handsome mountie, he had a really hard time telling the pretty schoolteacher just how he felt. In fact, there were plenty of times where he only ended up insulting her instead. He hated seeing her upset so he made it a point to never make her cry again. But alas, he was very unsuccessful in that endeavor. A few months after they met, another man rode into town and tried to steal the schoolteacher's heart."
The babies stared mesmerized at their father. Patrick kicked his feet and cooed. Jack laughed and pretended to know exactly what his son was saying.
"You bet the mountie was jealous Patrick. He didn't know what to do. As soon as the man came, he and the schoolteacher had an instant connection. The mountie could sense though that the man wasn't all he said he was. But he could never tell the schoolteacher that he was jealous of the man. So he tried to warn the schoolteacher about him. But instead, he only made her feel like she was stupid."
This time, it was Lily who was babbling along to her daddy's story.
"I know Lily but what can I say? Men aren't that smart." Jack tickled his daughter's tiny stomach. Elizabeth held back a snicker as she wanted to hear the rest of the story. "After the man took the schoolteacher to the town's dance, the mountie couldn't take it anymore. He had received word that his instincts were correct and that the man was dangerous. He couldn't bare the thought of anything bad happening to the kind schoolteacher. He would never forgive himself. After realizing for herself that the man was a fraud, the schoolteacher and the mountie hatched a plan to catch the man in the act. And guess what?" Jack paused for dramatic effect. "They did." Patrick and Lily smiled their toothless grins at him. "Once the man had been dealt with, the mountie and the schoolteacher became great friends. Eventually, the mountie was able to tell the schoolteacher how much he loved her and the two got married and lived happily ever after. The mountie only ever lived with a single regret." Elizabeth was now very intrigued. "And it was that he made the schoolteacher wait so long to be with him." By this point, the babies were having trouble keeping their eyes open. Pretty soon, both of them had nodded off. "The end." Jack whispered. Elizabeth walked in, tears in her eyes.
"That was a beautiful story, Jack." She kissed his lips, careful not to jostle the babies around.
"I didn't know you were listening." Jack smiled. "Let me go put these two in their room." He got up to put the babies in their cribs. After the surprise of having not one but two babies, Jack got to work building another crib. He had finished it about a week and a half ago as he knew they would be growing too big to share soon enough. When he returned, he found Elizabeth on the bed, clad in only a bathrobe, seductively waiting for him.
"I've missed you Jack." She said.
"I've been right here sweetheart." Jack said, crawling over her.
"No," She ran her hands underneath his shirt. "I've missed you." She repeated.
"Oh." He got the idea. "Well I've missed you too but I didn't want you to feel rushed. I don't really know how this whole childbirth thing works but I wanted you to be as comfortable as possible."
"And that right there is one of the many reasons I love you. But right now, I need my husband." She said, nibbling at his earlobe. Jack didn't have to be told twice. He gently slid her out of her robe and tossed it over his shoulder. He then removed the rest of his clothing and set to work loving on his wife.
A little while later, they were woken up by Patrick's tiny but strong cries from the other room. Both Jack and Elizabeth threw on the nearest articles of clothing they could find and hurried to see what was wrong. Jack picked him up and carried him out of the room so as not to disturb his sister.
"What's wrong with Daddy's little man? Huh?" Jack suddenly froze. He turned to his wife. "Elizabeth, he's burning up." Elizabeth felt Patrick's forehead and sure enough, it was a lot warmer than usual.
"We have to get Faith. Carson's out of town." Elizabeth was frantic.
"Alright, I'll go and get her." Jack handed Patrick, whose cries had subsided to pitiful whimpers, to his mommy and went to change into something more appropriate for a trip into town. He mounted Sergeant as soon as he was dressed and went to retrieve Faith. Luckily for him, he caught her just as she was headed into the saloon.
"Faith!" He called. She turned at the sound of her name. She saw Jack looking worried as he rode towards her.
"Jack, what is it?" She asked.
"It's my baby boy. He's burning up and he won't stop crying." Jack looked to be on the verge of tears himself. Faith didn't hesitate.
"Let me get some things from the infirmary." She sprung into action and headed to the infirmary. She grabbed everything she needed, hopped on to Sergeant behind Jack, and together they rode off towards Jack and Elizabeth's home. Once they dismounted, they both sprinted up the stairs, following the sounds of Patrick crying and Elizabeth trying her best to soothe him.
"I hear someone isn't feeling that well." Faith said, entering the bedroom.
"Thank you for coming on such short notice, Faith." Elizabeth said, handing Patrick to her. Faith laid the infant down on the bed and removed his clothes. She took his temperature and listened to his heartbeat. "Well it seems that's he's caught a little bug." She explained. "I'm going to give him a small injection that will get rid of the fever and just make sure he eats regularly. I would let him lounge around for a little bit in his diaper just to help the fever break and skin to skin contact is good if he starts to get fussy. Alright, Jack can you hold his leg?" Jack held his son's thigh as Faith gave him a small shot. Patrick's cries worsened as the needle punctured his smooth skin. Even though it was over as soon as it began, Patrick would not calm down. He looked at his daddy as if to say, How could you let her do this to me? Jack's heart broke. "Just come find me if his fever hasn't broken after about 8 hours. And keep an eye on Lily to make sure she doesn't start showing any of the same symptoms." Faith said as she packed up her things.
"Thank you so much Faith." Jack said. "Let me give you a ride back to town." As they left, Elizabeth took Patrick into the bathroom and began to fix a warm bath. She made sure Lily was still sleeping and after removing her clothes and Patrick's diaper, she slipped into the water. Since Patrick still had a fever, the water was cold to him and he continued to cry.
"I know baby." Elizabeth kissed his head and laid him on her chest. "I know it's cold but it's gonna feel better in a minute, I promise." She kissed his head again and let the water from the cloth she had grabbed run down his back. Soon enough, Patrick stopped crying and snuggled closer to his mommy. A little while later, Jack came back home and found his wife and son in the bathtub. "Hi sweetheart." Elizabeth smiled.
"Hello love, I see our little man is feeling better." Jack said.
"Can you grab him so I can get dried off. My toes are starting to look like raisins." Jack chuckled and grabbed his son. The loss of contact did not go unnoticed by the infant who immediately started whimpering again. Elizabeth got out and grabbed a towel. She got herself dry as fast as she could while Jack got Patrick wiped off and put in a fresh diaper. Elizabeth put on a robe and held it open so Patrick would be able to lie directly on her chest again. She sat in the rocking chair and Jack handed him to her once more. To everyone's relief, Patrick was comfortable. A few hours later, after Patrick had nursed and fallen asleep, Elizabeth checked his forehead. She got up softly and walked downstairs to the den, where she found Jack sitting on the sofa, reading.
"Hon?" She called gently so as not to startle him. Jack turned around and got up. "His fever broke." Relief washed over Jack's face as he kissed his son on the cheek. As soon as she made to hand him his son, he paused.
"Should I take my shirt off?" He asked.
"Yea, that's probably a good idea." She said. As he removed his shirt, she couldn't help but get a little breathless. She handed Patrick to his daddy and quickly went to start on dinner so as not to start something she couldn't finish. Jack laid down with his little buddy against his chest on the sofa and rubbed small circles on his back.