A/N: Hi guys! Sorry I've been MIA. I was away at camp (as a counselor) for the past month and a half but I'm back now. Here is the next installment of The Thorntons.

6 Months Later

"C'mon Sergeant!" Jack encouraged his horse. "Faster buddy!" Jack had just finished his rounds for the day and was in a hurry to get home to his family. Elizabeth was making a roast and he didn't want to miss a single minute of it. "You got this buddy!" Jack pushed the horse as fast as he could go. The inseparable pair were only about a half mile away from home when Rosemary's car suddenly appeared in the middle of the road. Jack yanked the reigns of his trusted companion. The horse stopped. Jack didn't. He cleared the car and landed rather hard on the other side.

"Jack!" Rosemary leapt out of the car and ran over to him. "Jack!" She gently shook him.

Back at the house, Elizabeth was just taking the roast out of the oven when she heard a small bang from behind her. She turned around to find her daughter clanking a spoon against her chair. Lily smiled her toothless grin when she met her mother's amused eye.

"I see you've inherited Daddy's sense of rhythm." She chuckled replacing the spoon with a rattle. "Shhh sweet girl or you'll wake your brother." Elizabeth prepared the rest of the meal and went to check on Patrick. Satisfied that he was still slumbering away, she made her way back to the kitchen. Normally, she wouldn't have time to make such a meal but since school was out for the summer, she could finally make something more hearty than shepherd's pie and spaghetti with meatballs. A little while later, she heard a frantic knock on the door. Rushing to see what could possibly be the emergency, she barely had time to fully open the door before she was greeted by the panic stricken face of none other than Cat Montgomery.

"Cat what is it? Why are you so out of breath?" Elizabeth asked, concerned.

"Elizabeth, it's Jack." She said. "There's been an accident"…

Elizabeth rushed to the infirmary. Cat had kindly agreed to watch the children while she was away. When she got there, she saw him. He had a small bandage on his head and his arm was in a sling. She practically ran over to his side and sat on the edge of the cot.

"What happened?" She asked him.

"Rosemary still can't drive a car." He chuckled. Elizabeth was horrified.

"She hit you with her car?" She replied shocked.

"Not really." He explained. "Her car never actually touched me. You know how the cow jumped over the moon?" Elizabeth nodded her head. "Well today it was more like the mountie jumped over the car. It was a really bad case of really bad timing." The last thing Jack wanted was for Elizabeth to be upset so he tried to downplay the whole situation. "I'm fine, I promise. Carson says I'm good to go home today." Elizabeth calmed down a bit at hearing this.

"Okay." She helped him up.

Carson finished up the report he was doing and walked back over to Jack and Elizabeth.

"I hope you feel better soon Jack." He said, shaking the mountie's good hand.

"Thank you so much." He replied.

"You're free to go home now but you need to stay off that arm for at least four to six weeks." The doctor explained. Jack's smile instantly disappeared.

"Four to six weeks?" Jack repeated. Carson shook his head. "How am I supposed to do my rounds?" He asked incredulously.

"I'm afraid you'll have to ask Bill to take over them for the time being." Carson answered.

Elizabeth could sense her husband's growing disappointment.

"Well now you've got a vacation." She tried to placate him. Jack groaned and shook his head.

"I guess four to six weeks without having to work could be fun and relaxing. More time with my family." He said.

"Exactly." Elizabeth agreed. "Now come on. There's roast at home."

As the Thorntons entered their home, they found Cat rocking a dozing Lily on the sofa.

"Thank you so much for watching them Cat." Elizabeth said. "I owe you one."

"Nonsense." Cat replied, handing Lily to her mother. "It was my pleasure. Your children are the sweetest. I hope you feel better Jack." She said, closing the door behind her.

"Are you still up for some roast?" Elizabeth asked, placing Lily in Jack's good arm.

"I'd have to be dead to turn down your roast and even then I'm not sure I could." He smiled.

Elizabeth returned her husband's grin and went to fix him a plate. As she was bringing his dinner to him, she heard Patrick wake up. Jack made to go and get him but Elizabeth stopped him.

"No, eat. I've got him." She went upstairs and into the babies' room. Patrick stopped crying at the sight of his mommy. She lifted him out of his crib, changed him and brought him downstairs to join the rest of his family. She set him on the carpet and sat down on the armchair next to the sofa where her husband was still enjoying his dinner. Elizabeth watched her son squirm around on the floor before mounting himself on his hands and knees. Jack, still entranced in his roast, failed to notice.

"Jack!" Elizabeth called. "Jack look!" Jack followed her gaze down to Patrick just in time to see him crawl for the first time. "Crawl to daddy Patrick." She encouraged. It took a few tries but Patrick finally made it all the way to his father. Jack was a little saddened that his arm prevented him from picking up his other baby but he was too proud to let it get to him.

"That's my big boy." Jack ruffled his son's hair lightly and smiled. Patrick crawled around for a few more minutes until he became hungry and started sucking on his fist. Elizabeth lifted her son into her lap and unbuttoned her blouse.

"Hi sweet girl." Elizabeth looked over to see Jack talking to his daughter who had just woken up. "How's daddy's princess today? I missed you so much."

"Dada." Jack and Elizabeth froze.

"Did she say-"

"I think she did."

"Dada." Lily repeated.

"She definitely did. Oh my goodness." Elizabeth teared up. "I can't believe my babies are crawling and talking."

"Me neither. They're growing up so fast."

After putting Patrick and Lily to bed, Elizabeth crawled into bed on Jack's good side and nuzzled his neck, falling asleep rather quickly. Jack lay in bed awake a little while longer, replaying the events of that day. His babies were just what he needed after what had happened to him.

3 1/2 weeks later

Jack felt like he was being smothered. And the worst part was that he knew he wasn't. He was well aware that his wife was trying her hardest not to treat him like an invalid but he just felt so useless. And that uselessness unfortunately turned to anger and lashing out and saying things that he didn't mean. As of the day before, he had stopped wearing the sling but he knew he still needed to stay off of his arm for another week or so. Elizabeth could sense his discomfort.

"What do you say we go on a picnic?" She asked, that day.

"A picnic sounds nice." He answered.

"Perfect. Let me get the children ready." With that, she headed to the children's room and gathered them both in her arms. She'd had to learn quickly how to carry both of them at once. When she got back downstairs, she placed both of them in their travel carriage. She went into the kitchen to pack the picnic basket only to find that Jack had taken the liberty of attempting it himself. She saw him struggling to open the jar of mayonnaise and went to help him.

"It's alright, I've got it." He said.

"No it's okay, let me help." She reached for the jar again, only for him to yank it out of her grasp.

"I SAID I'VE GOT IT! I DON'T NEED YOU TO DO EVERYTHING FOR ME! JUST GIVE ME SOME SPACE!" He knew before even closing his mouth that he had hurt her. She didn't say anything. She just turned on her heel and left the kitchen. To his horror, a few seconds later, he heard the front door slam. The loud noise had startled Patrick and Lily, who then started wailing for some sort of comfort. Jack ran over to them to try to calm them down. There wasn't much he could do physically because of his arm but he knew another way he could get them settled down. He started singing. Danny Boy was their favorite. That, they had both got from him. Whenever they were upset, Elizabeth would sing it to them and they would instantly calm down. Jack's singing voice was nowhere near as soothing and soft as his wife's but it did the trick this time. He threw the unopened jar of mayonnaise into the basket, prepared two travel bags, and set off with his children toward Clara's row house.

He knocked three times and waited for her to answer.

"Jack, it's good to see you. I'm glad your arm is doing better." She said before noticing Elizabeth's absence. "Where's Elizabeth?" She asked.

"That's actually why I'm here." He said. "I'm afraid I messed up big time and I was wondering if you would watch Patrick and Lily for me. I have everything they need here." His voice was almost pleading.

"Of course. Take as much time as you need." Together, they lifted the carriage into the house and Jack kissed each of his babies goodbye before heading off in search of his wife.

After trying the church, the saloon, and even their hillside to know avail, Jack had pretty much given up. He thought of one more place and even though it seemed rather unlikely, he tried it anyways. As he reached the entrance of the mine, he could hear her muffled sobs. He silently said a prayer of thanks before grabbing the basket and making his way inside.

"Elizabeth?" He called. He received no answer but her cries abruptly stopped. He followed the flicker of the lantern she had grabbed on the way in and found her not too far from the entrance, huddled under a blanket, wiping her eyes. Jack said nothing as he sat next her, thankful she didn't try to move away from him. "Elizabeth," he repeated softly. "Love I am so sorry. I had no right to yell at you. You've done nothing but put me first these past few weeks and I shouldn't be anything but grateful. I will always need you. I promise. I couldn't make it a single day without you. When you left, which you had every right to do, my heart stopped. I know I've hurt you and I don't know what I can say to make it better but I want you to know that I love you more than life itself. I don't deserve you. You deserve so much better than me but you chose me and I thank God every single day that you did." Elizabeth looked up at him, noticing tears streaming down his face as well. "I am so sorry. More than you will ever know." She wiped his cheek. "Can you ever forgive me?" He asked. Elizabeth slowly nodded her head.

"I love you too Jack." She said. He grabbed her face in his hand and kissed her lightly.

"Just wait until my arm is well again. I'll do anything you want me to do. You name it, darling." He said.

"Well I know one thing you can do now." She said.

"Just say the word." He said.

"You can have this picnic with me and then afterward you can take me home and make it up to me." She said, wiping away the rest of her tears and smiling.

"And how will I ever do that?" He asked.

"Oh I think I can show you." She replied. "And once your arm is better, you can really make it up to me."