Elizabeth was more than ready to see her baby girl again. That's not to say she didn't thoroughly enjoy Jack and her time the night before because she had, she just needed to be with Finlea.

She watched the clock as she paced the kitchen, sipping her tea. It was almost seven, their agreed upon time.

She heard a car door and rushed to the front door of the house, opening it wide.

Charlotte carried the car seat in and set it on the couch. "How was she, Mom?"

"She was just fine. She missed you but she was fine."

"I missed her too." Elizabeth unbuckled her and picked her up. "Hi, Finny. Mommy missed you so much."

As if sensing she could now have exactly what she missed all night, Fin started whimpering and moving her tongue in and out.

"Ok, sweetie." As soon as she was settled, Elizabeth leaned back against the couch and covered them with a blanket.

"Ok, Elizabeth. This is everything."

"Thank you so much for taking her. We really appreciate it."

"Of course, dear. Put us down for your anniversary too."

"I will." Charlotte kissed the top of her head and then Fin's too.

"Love you both."

….

Julie popped over to ambulance dispatch to chat with Mike.

"Hey, sweetie," he greeted, kissing her softly.

"Hi."

"Hi," he said with a laugh. "It's good to see you."

"You too," Julie told him.

"Um…anything you want to chat about?"

"As a matter of fact, I found something that I wanted to run past you."

"No cats, babe. I'm allergic."

"It's not a cat."

She had been hinting at wanting a pet but he kept saying he didn't like animals in the house. "No dogs, or chinchillas, or lizards, or snakes."

"Yuck on those last two. I don't want those either, Mike."

"Good."

He walked to the lounge to make a cup of coffee. His third of the day. She followed him and turned the phone toward him.

"We have a bed, Jules."

"Its old and it looks like we would fall through it if we both laid down."

"It's fine. Plus, I can't, we can't, afford a brand new bed right now. You know how much those things cost?"

"Yes, but…"

"Julie, unless you tell me that bed is one hundred dollars or less, I'm going to have to say no."

"How about free?"

"Free." He stirred creamer into his coffee and took a sip.

"Yes, free. Jack and Elizabeth told me to pick out a new bed as their wedding gift."

"How did they know we need a new bed?"

"Jack has seen it apparently. It doesn't matter, it's a gift and it's something we need and it's free. What do you say?"

"Ok, but it has to be a queen. We can't be buying all new bedding too."

"Aye aye, captain," she teased, giving a quick salute. He sighed and sipped his coffee again. "Mike? What's bothering you?"

He shrugged, knowing she would figure it out.

"You seem pretty worried about money lately."

"I am worried."

"Why? We've made a budget, and I'm pretty good now at sticking to budgets with Beth as a sister."

"I think I need to get a second job. They are cutting my hours."

"Oh. Did they just tell you?" She set her phone down and walked over to him.

"No. A few weeks ago, my boss pulled me in his office. He told me that the town's budget cuts will be making it necessary to only employ part time workers so they don't have to pay for health insurance. So not only am I losing at least 10 hours a week, but I won't have health insurance either. Great timing, right?"

Taking his health insurance away just before they got married meant they should wait to have kids, even though their plan was to just let things happen. "I can add you to my insurance. Plus, why didn't you tell me this? This affects us both. We are a team."

"You have been having so much fun planning the wedding, I didn't want to ruin it."

She slipped her arms around his waist and looked up at him. "Babe, we need to tell each other everything. Otherwise this won't work very well. I want to know if something's on your mind."

He pulled her into a tight hug and just held her, until he got an emergency call and then he had to go.

"Call me later!" she told him before taking herself to work to ask about health insurance.

….

She decided to make dinner for him as a surprise, hopefully to cheer him up. She headed to the store to get things to make turkey meatloaf, his favorite, corn, and garlic mashed potatoes.

She lit a few candles and started cooking, feeling really domestic. This was what she wanted so badly and Mike made her happy. Now she just needed to get him back to the happy state.

As she put the meatloaf in the oven and turned on some music in the background, he walked in.

"Julie?"

"In the living room." He walked in and she handed him a glass of wine. "Hey."

"Hey. I didn't expect you to be here." He sat down and sighed, looking exhausted.

"I wanted to make you dinner."

"That's nice of you."

"Mike, you look tired. Dinner won't be ready for about 45 minutes if you want to take a nap."

"Will you come with me?"

"Of course I will." She followed him into the bedroom, kicked off her slippers and sat gingerly on the sagging bed. It didn't bug him because he was used to it, but once she laid down, she rolled into him and laughed. "What was that you were saying about not needing a new bed, babe?"

"I think this is nice. You will always be next to me this way."

"I will always be next to you, even with a new bed." She was talking seriously. She wanted him to know she wouldn't just leave him because times might get hard. She was willing to stick with him, no matter what.

"I know."

"Do you? You can always talk to me, Mike." He kissed her forehead and sighed, enjoying their closeness.

"Thank you, Julie."

"I printed some information for you about adding you to my insurance after we get married. We should talk about it later."

"Ok." It hurt to think that he would need to rely on his wife to get him health insurance, but on the other hand, it was nice to rely on someone else for a change.

Julie hadn't intended on falling asleep but she did and the only thing that woke her up was the timer on the oven that progressively got louder as it beeped.

"Oh! Mike, help me up!" She tried to roll away from him but it wasn't working, she kept rolling back. "Sweetheart, the food is going to burn. Wake up."

He woke up and looked at her, confused for a moment. He had been sleeping hard and had forgotten what was happening. "Hey."

"Hey, can you please help me up? The food is going to burn."

He got out of bed, like a pro, and then assisted her. Before letting her go, he kissed her. "I love you, Julie."

"I love you too. Now let's go rescue the meatloaf before it becomes charcoal."

…..

Back at Jack and Elizabeth's

"Ok, so Julie and Mike's wedding is May and Tom and Katie is June," Jack told Elizabeth.

"Where is Tom and Katie's?"

"They are getting married at their local church, so Idaho. Elisa is apparently super excited to be the flower girl again. She wants to wear her dress from our wedding."

"That would be so cute."

"Yeah. So, I was thinking, once we are done with Tom and Katie's wedding, we should head back to Shoshone Falls. It will be summer after all. I want Fin to see it." Elizabeth hesitated. She wanted to go back, but the thought of traveling all that way with a six month old didn't sound fun. "Elizabeth?"

"Sorry. I just was thinking about traveling all that way with her. It's a bit overwhelming."

"I thought we were going to go every year. I really wanted to do that." She could see the disappointment in his eyes. A family tradition was something he had with his father and he wanted to be just like him. She couldn't deny him that even though she had doubts.

"Ok, we will go. Can we make it just a week though?"

"Yes. A week will be good."

…..

Later that night, Elizabeth was lying in bed, writing in her journal while Jack dozed beside her.

…. Finlea and Jack are the loves of my life. I can't imagine my life and what it was before either of them. Soon, Fin will smile and I wonder if she will have Jack's dimples. I guess yes because she has such round cheeks and his lips...

"Babe?"

"Yeah?"

"Why are you awake?"

"I am just writing in my journal. Sorry if I woke you up."

He moved closer and leaned against her shoulder. "Let me see."

She had shared select things from previous entries but it had been awhile. "Want to see my Bucket list?"

"Yes! Are you serious? I have wanted to see that for so long."

"I know." She pulled out the folded paper from the inside cover. "It's time."

Jack sat up, opened it, and smiled.

"Number 1, fall in love."

"That happened the first time we kissed," she told him. "I will never ever forget that feeling." He kissed her shoulder and went onto the next one.

"Number 2, Ski in Vermont. Really? You want to ski? I didn't know you knew how."

"Yep. In Madison, we took lessons. I love it. Probably won't ever get to Vermont, but it was a nice thought anyway."

"Why not? I will take you to Vermont."

"Jack, we have Fin now and I am sure we will have more kids. Most of these things were just dreams. I don't expect them to all come true now."

He would try his best to help them come true. He wanted to experience her dreams with her. "Number 3, write a children's book. You should definitely do that one. Our kids would love to read a book written by their Mama."

"I don't have time and especially once I go back to work."

"Number 4, make a difference. You have met that one many times over."

"What do you mean?"

"You came up with the Help Me program. You have to admit that you have made a difference in a lot of kid's lives. Haven for one. But not just her, you made a difference in my life from the moment I met you."

"You're very sweet."

"Number 5, Teach somewhere far from home. Check!" She chuckled and then slid down next to him. "Number 6, Snorkeling in the Carribean. You want to snorkel? If we had left the room on our honeymoon we could have done that one easily."

"Very funny, Jack."

"Number 7, Sing in Nashville."

"Yeah, that will not happen. I wanted to when I was in the church choir as a teenager. I loved to sing. Now, I don't want to do it anymore."

"You have a beautiful voice, babe. It could happen."

"I appreciate you trying to encourage me, but this stuff just isn't what matters anymore."

"Number 8, Have a perfect kiss."

"That one happened when I fell in love with you. Your lips are magical, love." As if to prove her right, he moved slightly and kissed her much like he had that night. "My point is made."

"Number 9, Go to culinary school."

"Stupid Charles ruined that one for me."

"Not necessarily. You are a wonderful cook. You should do that."

She sighed and took the paper back. "Let's go to sleep."

"I'm not done, hon. I'd like to keep looking."

"Jack, most of those things will not happen and I don't think we should pretend that they will. They don't matter. A few of them do, but most of them were dreamt up by a 15 year old girl. She's not who I am anymore."

"Please? These things were once what you dreamed of. You used to believe in dreams. What changed?"

"Everything. I have different dreams now. Ones that don't allow for most of the old ones to happen."

He made a quick grab and had the list back in his hand. "Number 10, have five children. That one is definitely doable and one that I will make come true."

"I hope so. That one is important to me."

"Number 11, see the Grand Canyon. Check! Number 12, Learn to play the guitar. Very doable. I will gladly teach you."

"That might be fun." She laid her head on his chest and closed her eyes. "Night, love."

He continued reading and made a few more notes in his head. He had to make sure that she could realize her dreams, even if she didn't think they mattered. To him they did, because all he wanted was her happiness.