End of January

"Paint and pour?" Jack had never heard that term.

"Yeah. It sounds fun, babe. Jane and Mike went and she said they had a lot of fun. Basically it's a class you go to. A group of couples paint a picture, all the same, with help from the instructor and drink wine. Obviously I can't have wine, but I can do sparkling wine. It's our anniversary, babe. I think we should go out." She knew she was rambling but she wanted him to say yes.

"I can think of other things I'd rather be doing on our anniversary," he flirted.

"Sure, and there will be time for that but let's try something we've never tried before."

"All right. Let's do it." That evening, they dropped Hunter at Julie's apartment and headed downtown to the art space. Jack parked the hatchback and walked around to open Elizabeth's door. He held out his hand and assisted her out of the car. "You look gorgeous tonight," he told her, giving a quick kiss.

"You look pretty good yourself, husband." She returned his kiss. "And that aftershave smells amazing."

He winked and intertwined their fingers, leading her into the building.

"Good evening, folks. How are we feeling tonight?" the instructor asked once everyone had found a seat.

"Good," the dozen people told him.

"Great. We still have about twenty minutes before we start. So feel free to grab a glass of wine or beer or lemonade. And there are some snacks available too."

"I'll get us some things," Jack told her, kissing her temple.

"Thanks, babe."

"You two are adorable," the woman next to her said.

"Thanks," Elizabeth said.

"I'm Mary Graves."

"Beth Thornton."

"Nice to meet you, Beth. Is this your first time here? I'm a bit nervous. I have zero creative genes in my body."

"It is my first time. It's mine and my husband's anniversary so I talked him into coming."

"Oh, Happy Anniversary. How many years?"

"One."

"Oh, I'm surprised you were able to talk him out of the house. Take advantage of this time. Once the kids start coming…"

"Oh, we have a six year old. We adopted him a year ago. And I'm due in June," she told her, placing her hand on her belly.

"Congratulations!"

Jack and a shorter man walked over, their hands filled with items. "Babe, can you take something? I didn't think this through very well." Elizabeth giggled and took a bowl of pretzels and fritos from him while he set down her lemonade and his beer.

"Beth, this is DeWitt. He's…"

"My husband," Mary said.

"Nice to meet you. Mary, my husband, Jack."

….

Julie and Hunter watched Lego Batman and ate popcorn and ice cream.

Hunter smiled into his bowl as he swirled his superman ice cream with his spoon, making a weirdly colored soup concoction. "I like your house, Aunt Julie."

"Oh yeah? Why's that?"

"Because you let me eat whatever I want and I don't have to stay in the kitchen to eat it." He put a big spoonful of ice cream soup in his mouth.

"Oh! Hunter, that is going to hurt!"

He nodded and squeezed his eyes shut, groaning. "Ow ow!" After a moment, he giggled with tears in his eyes. "That was fun!"

"You are crazy, Hunter Thornton."

"Thanks!"

Julie's phone buzzed so she answered it. "Hey, hon."

"Hey, Jules. Are you two having fun?"

"Of course. I'm the fun aunt."

"Hi, Uncle Tom!" Hunter yelled.

Julie pushed the speaker button on her phone. "You're on speaker, Tom."

"Hey, Hunt! How's my favorite nephew?"

"Good. Are you coming over?"

"I don't know. Jules?"

"Sure, but I thought you had to work."

"I can do it tomorrow. Can you let me in?" he said, a buzzer sounding.

"You're here? Pretty confident I would say yes, huh?"

"Absolutely."

She got up and pushed the button to unlock the downstairs door. Then she unlocked her apartment door and waited.

"Hey," Tom said, peeking inside.

"What are you looking for?"

"Just making sure Hunt is occupied."

"Why?"

"Just kiss her, Uncle Tom. Get it over with."

Tom and Julie laughed, a bit embarrassed. Tom gave her a kiss and a hug. "I missed you today."

"Me too."

"Its going to be a long few months," he told her, giving her another kiss.

"Yeah, it will."

"Uncle Tom! Wanna watch the rest of Lego Batman with me?"

"Absolutely, Hunt. Why don't you go get your PJs on first though?"

"Ok."

As soon as he was down the hall, Tom pulled her close and hugged her. This woman, she had his heart. He couldn't wait to make her his wife.

"Why do grown ups hug so much?" Hunter asked from right behind them.

Tom let her go and they went into the living room. "Lets see. Why do you hug your mom, Hunt?"

"Because I love her."

"It's the same with grown ups. There are lots of reasons to hug someone, but showing them that you love them and want to be close to them is the biggest one."

"Oh. Ok." He pressed the play button on the remote and scooted closer to Uncle Tom. "I'm glad you're here," he told him.

"Me too, buddy."

….

A few hours later, Beth and Jack walked out of the studio with Mary and DeWitt, after exchanging numbers. They lived in a different part of the city but they had a little boy Hunter's age and they planned to make a playdate soon.

"So…." Elizabeth said as they stepped close to the car.

"Ready to go home, sweetheart?" he asked, knowing she'd be pretty tired soon.

"Yeah. I made chocolate covered strawberries." She reached up and fingered a button on his shirt. "Maybe we can take a jacuzzi and enjoy them."

"Deal." He kissed her slow and deep, his hand on her lower back, keeping her as close as possible, loving the feel of her and their babies against him. "Happy Anniversary, Beth."

"Happy Anniversary, Jack."

February…

It was around the time that Jack and Elizabeth would find out the genders of the babies but they decided to be surprised. So, Elizabeth just worked like always, feeling like she was growing more each day and her uniform was fitting less and less. Finally, it just wasn't comfortable anymore, so she wore regular maternity clothes to work and a badge on her waistband.

She had come to terms with the changes going on and accepted them as part of the wonderful process of having babies.

One evening, they invited Lee and Rosie over for dinner while Hunter was staying at Elizabeth's parents' house. Jack set the table and lit a few candles to set the atmosphere Elizabeth wanted. More of a double date than friends getting together.

She made herbed roast chicken, creamy garlic mashed potatoes and corn.

"Mmm, something smells great," Jack said, stepping up behind her and wrapping his arms around her and the babies. There was something about seeing and feeling the evidence of their precious lives that made him incredibly happy.

"Chicken, but it's probably the herbs."

"Actually, it's your vanilla, citrusy lotion. Gets me every time." He kissed her neck and swayed, just cherishing her. "I love you, baby."

"I love you too." The doorbell sounded but Jack stayed right there. "Maybe you should let them in," she suggested, not that she wasn't enjoying his attentions.

"We could just pretend we aren't home," he teased.

"We can see you through the window!" Rosie called from outside.

"We need to get darker curtains!" he called back, making Elizabeth laugh. He opened the door and shook hands with Lee and then gave Rosie a hug. "Come in, make yourselves at home."

Rosie went straight to Elizabeth and put her hands on her belly. "Hi, babies! Auntie Rosie can't wait to meet you!"

Jack and Lee chuckled and went to sit in the living room while Rosie helped Elizabeth in the kitchen.

"So when are you guys finding out the genders?" Lee asked.

"In June, when she gives birth. We want to be surprised."

"Whoa, I wanted that too for a moment and then Rosie said she wanted to know, so we found out. Now, I'm really happy that I'm going to have a daughter."

"You're going to be a good dad, Lee. I can see it."

"Thanks, bro. That means a lot."

"I mean it. The way you have always taken care of Beth, I'm really grateful."

"I could say the same about you, Jack. You have always been there for Rosie and that means everything."

"I guess all of our kids are pretty lucky then."

"Yes, they are."

…..

At Jane and Mikey's house…

Mike slipped his arm around Jane as they sat on the couch.

"I've already been married, hon, so I would be okay with a small wedding," Jane mentioned.

"I'm good with that. You, me, Mikey, and your sister?"

"Yeah and maybe Jack and Beth could be our witnesses?"

He nodded and gazed at her. There was something in his eyes that gave her goosebumps. "When? I'm good with on spring break."

"Like next month? Okay, yes." She touched his cheek and then brought her lips to his. "Maybe we can go away for a bit? Just you and me." She kissed him again, trying not to get carried away but finding it hard. The man had ahold of her heart and she never wanted him to let go.

"Yeah. I'll make the arrangements for the honeymoon."

"And children?"

"No children allowed on a honeymoon," he told her, a smirk on his face. She laughed and elbowed his ribs.

"No, I mean, we haven't talked about if we are going to have more in the future."

"Oh. Before meeting you and Mikey, I never figured I'd have any of my own. I just enjoyed the ones in my class. Now, I love Mikey so much but I think having one of our own, or three, is absolutely what I want."

"Three?" He laughed at her facial expression. "Maybe one or two…"

"Janey, I'm mostly kidding. I want whatever you do."

She sighed and buried her face in his neck, inhaling his spicy aftershave. "I can't believe this is happening. I never dreamed of being this happy again."

"I promise you, I will try everyday of the rest of our lives to keep it that way." She and Mikey deserved the world and he was happy to be a part of it.

….

By mid February, Beth was 5 months pregnant. Her cute little belly was growing, but if you looked at her from behind, you couldn't really tell. She was fit as a fiddle, working out still as much as her doctor felt was appropriate.

Work was going well for Jack. He was busy with all his high school teacher obligations, coaching and trying to build his syllabus for teaching at the college in the fall.

At the moment, the Thornton family sat in an exam room together. It was finally time for Hunter's cast to come off. He sat on the exam table swinging his good leg back and forth. his batman knit cap pulled down low over his eyes. They'd been waiting longer than expected and the boy's patience was wearing thin.

"How much longer?" Hunter whined.

"The doctor will get to us as soon as he can. Don't you worry."

"Easy for you to say. You're not the one with a cement leg."

"It's a cast, love," Elizabeth tried to soothe him. "You've been great handling all this. It's almost over."

"Okay. I'm sorry." He reached over and hugged her, giggling as he pulled away. "I like hugging you. It's like hugging my baby brothers or sisters too."

"You are going to be a great big brother, Hunt." Jack lifted the hat off his son's head.

"Hey! Give that back!" They laughed as the poor boy tried to hop while seated on the table trying to reach his hat.

There was a knock on the door, breaking up the family fun.

The salt and pepper haired Doctor Bryce entered the room with a warm smile. The nurse with him placed a tray of medical tools on the counter and left.

"Who's ready to say sayonara to this cast?"

"I am!" they all said together.

The doctor laughed, "Okay then. Let's get started." He reached for the little medical saw, testing to make sure it was running. The noise made Hunter jump.

"Whoa now!" Hunter exclaimed, scooting back on the exam table. "You know what you're doing there, doc? I want to keep the leg."

"I've done this before, yes." Doctor Bryce's eyes crinkled as he smiled. "This won't hurt a bit. I'm just going to use this saw to cut the cast material off your leg. Just the cast material."

"Right… On second thought, maybe one more week with the cast won't hurt… or 5."

Jack placed his hand on his son's arm. "Hunt, it's going to be fine. And after all this we'll go get ice cream, alright?

Hunter looked back and forth from his parents to the doctor.

"Okay. But you're only allowed to cut the cast. Nothing else, you hear me?"

"Hunter James..." Elizabeth warned, trying to keep a straight face.

"Don't worry, Hunter," the doctor grinned. "I'll be extra careful."

Thirty minutes later the family walked into Abigail's diner.

"Miss Abigail! Look, no cast!" Hunter exclaimed as they entered.

"Well, would you look at that! Back to normal, are we?"

"I guess. The doctor said I need to be careful and build up my strength again. So no hockey till summer." There was a small pout in his eyes.

"I know that's hard, but you want to return to the ice as strong as can be. Otherwise you may break it again."

"That's what the doctor said too." He sighed. "At least I have a hockey coach for a dad. I'll be kicking butt in no time."

"That's the spirit!" Jack cheered. "Well, I think anyway." They laughed.

They took their seats in the back booth and ordered three brownie sundaes with extra chocolate sauce.

…..

The following weekend, Elizabeth, Rosie and Margaret planned a bridal shower day for Jane. With their plan for a short engagement, they had to work fast to get everything done. Jane and Mike had decided on a small affair. The ceremony would be at Jane's church, with a reception to follow in the private room in an upscale French restaurant she'd always wanted to go to.

For today, the ladies planned a bridal day for Jane to hopefully work out all the details for their special day.

Jane was busy in the kitchen getting breakfast ready for Mikey when Mike walked in.

"Ready for your big day?" he asked giving her a kiss.

"I guess. I have no idea what we're up too, but the girls said it would be a day to remember." She placed a bowl of oatmeal and berries in front of her son. "You sure you've got Mikey today?"

"Of course! We've got big plans out with Lee, Jack and Hunt."

"Boy's day!" Mikey cheered with a fist pump in the air. "But no ones said what it is yet…"

Jane looked to Mike who whispered, "The Flyers are playing Bruins at the Wells Fargo Center. It's a 2 o'clock game so we're doing lunch and then hitting the arena."

"Mike will love that!"

Their was honking from outside their home. Mikey ran to the front window.

"Mom, why is there a long fancy car out front?"

"A what?" She headed into the living room where Mikey was perched at the window.

Mike grinned as she passed by, he knew exactly what was in store for his bride-to-be.

"Mike! Look at this!"

"What is it?"

"It's a limo parked right in front of my house! They must have the wrong address."

"I don't know. Maybe it's for you."

"For me? No, I told Rosie and Elizabeth all I wanted was a low key day. We're just going out for lunch and getting some wedding details nailed down."

"There's one problem with what you just said… you told Rosie. Anything's possible, honey."

Before Jane could rebut his statement, the sunroof of the limo opened and out popped Rosie, waving like a mad woman. Margaret hopped out of the side door and ran up to the door, barging into her friends home.

"This bridal limo is missing a bride-to-be! Any idea where I can find one?"

"My mom's a bride-to-be!" Mikey laughed. "Take her!"

"I think I just might, Mikey!" Margaret bent over and hugged the little boy. "Now, Mr. Hickam, you mind if we take her away?"

"Be me guest. Just bring her back in one piece."

"I make no promises. Now come on, girl! We've got a town to paint!" With that Jane kissed her two men and hurried out the door.

….

Jack was sitting at the kitchen table with his laptop and 6 different history books sprawled out in every direction. He'd been working all morning. He's phone alarm went off, reminding him it was time to get ready for the game.

"Hunt?" He called out to the living room but didn't get an answer. "Hunt? Where are you?"

"Upstairs!"

"Why?"

"Cause."

"Because why?" Jack shook his head. "Why am I talking like a 6 year old?" He pushed back from the table and headed up to Hunter's room.

"I'm not in my room." Hunter called out from across the hall.

Jack walked over into the room that in a few months would belong to the twins. "Hey bud, whatcha up to?"

Hunter sat in the center of the room. "This room is boring. My brothers or sisters need a cool room like mine."

"That's true." Jack sat down next to him. "Any thoughts?"

"Marvel I think. We can put superman on that side and Captain America on the other side."

"What if one or both of the twins is a girl?"

Hunter thought for a moment. "Then we do Wonder Woman and Captain America."

"Really?"

"Mommy said Captain America is hot. So I guess girls do like him."

Jack laughed. "I see your reasoning, but a nursery is usually a little more… baby oriented."

"What do you mean?"

Jack grabbed his tablet from the master bedroom and pulled up Pinterest. During the period breaks of the hockey game, Hunter insisted they keep looking for ideas for the twins room. That way when Elizabeth got home later that night they'd have plenty to show her.

….

Just before 6, a very tired Elizabeth came home just before dinner, She walked in, kicked off her shoes and followed the yummy aroma to the kitchen.

"You alright, Mommy? Hunter asked as she sunk into the barstool next to him.

"I am. Just tired, love." She smiled at the boy, still dressed in his personalized Flyers hockey jersey from the game.

"Hey babe, mission accomplished?" Jack asked, giving her a sweet kiss on the lips.

"Yes. Jane now has a dress, we have bridesmaid dresses, flowers and she and Mike have an appointment for food and cake tasting next week."

"Sounds perfect. And you? What can I do for you?" He smiled.

"A plate of whatever smells so good would be fantastic."

"For dinner tonight we have garlic bread, a white lasagna with sausage and spinach, and corn on the cob."

"Wow, I'm one spoiled woman!"

While Jack plated their meals, Hunter helped Elizabeth set the table, telling her all about their ideas for the nursery.

"You're right sweetie, it's time we start thinking about that room. After dinner, you want show me all your ideas?"

"Yes! I drew pictures too!"

Jack and Elizabeth smiled at each other over their sons enthusiasm as they sat down for dinner.