JULY
Elizabeth rocked Fin to sleep in her nursery after trying to feed her and then went to get a load of laundry.
"Babe?" Jack yelled up the stairs.
"Yes, Jack. Fin is asleep finally."
"Oh, sorry. Is she still fighting her sleep?"
"Yeah. Her cold is making her miserable, not to mention her teeth." The poor baby was cutting three teeth at once.
They both looked up as they heard Fin cry from her crib. "I'll get her," Jack told her as he walked across the hall.
Elizabeth heard him talking to Fin, trying to calm her.
"Hi, pretty girl. What seems to be the problem? Oh, you feel like you have a bit of a fever. Those teeth hurting you?" He sat in the rocker and hummed, running his fingers through her light brown curls. "Its ok, baby. Daddy's got you." He reached for the temporal thermometer and scanned her forehead. "Hmm. 101. No wonder you don't feel good." He carried her in to Elizabeth. "Honey, do we have any baby Tylenol?"
"On the sink. I figured she would need it at some point. Do you think I need to call the pediatrician?"
"If her fever isn't gone tomorrow, I would. This could just be her teeth. She hasn't been pulling on her ears, has she?"
"Not that I noticed."
He gave her the Tylenol, which she hated, but thankfully didn't spit out all over him, and then laid her on the bed to change her diaper. "Ok, let's go rock, baby girl."
"I can take her if you want, Jack. You're probably busy, aren't you?"
"Not really. Pete has it under control."
"In that case, do you mind if I leave for a bit? I need to run some errands."
"Sure. We got this," Jack said as he grinned at his daughter. "Say hi to Julie for me." He winked at Elizabeth.
"I'm actually heading to see my gynecologist," she said quietly.
"Oh. Not feeling good?"
"No, I'm not. I'm thinking I might be pregnant."
"What? I thought we were careful."
"Me too. I just need to know."
He could see the worry on her face. They certainly had had bad luck with birth control if she was pregnant again. He touched her cheek softly. "Babe, if you are, it'll be ok."
"I want more kids, Jack, just not now. I mean, I'll be grateful, of course, for any children, but I wanted to go back to teaching." She wiped the tears from her cheeks and glanced at the clock. "I need to go. My appointment is in an hour."
"I can go with you. Mom could probably watch Fin."
"No, it's ok. I appreciate that but I could use some time alone."
He leaned down and kissed her. "I love you, Elizabeth. Please call me, either way."
"I will."
….
TWO HOURS LATER
Elizabeth wiped her tears away and hit the call button on her dash. "Call Jack."
"Babe?"
"Jack," she croaked out and burst into tears again.
"Honey, where are you?"
"I'm in the parking lot at the doctor."
"Do you want me to come get you?"
"No. I wish you were here though." He did too.
"What did he say?"
She was silent for a few moments so she could calm down. She wasn't upset. She was overwhelmed and a little bit happy, but mostly hormonal. "I'm due February 10th." When she didn't hear any reaction, she thought he hung up except she could hear Fin in the background. "Did you hear me?"
"Yeah, I don't know how to respond."
"Tell me how you feel."
"I'm happy? I know I am but I know you aren't so I…"
"It's not that I'm not happy. I am just a bit overwhelmed now. The more I thought about it, the more I realized that timing doesn't matter as much as I thought it did. I want to teach but I can't be upset about having another baby. We do need to come up with another form of birth control for after this one though."
He laughed. "Yeah, I agree. Maybe double up?" They both chuckled.
"I'll be home in about an hour, ok?"
"Ok."
"Oh, how's Fin?"
"The Tylenol is working so she is more comfortable. Her fever went down a bit."
"That's good."
"Honey, I love you."
"I know, Jack. I love you too."
….
They sat on the couch after dinner and talked while Fin ate. "I asked the doctor if it was safe to keep breastfeeding her while I am pregnant."
"What did he say?"
"He said yes. This isn't a high risk pregnancy at this point and Fin is young so as long as she wants to and it's comfortable for me, I can do it." She bent down and kissed her warm forehead. "I'm glad because I didn't want to stop yet."
"Are you going to teach until winter break again?"
"No, I decided that I am not going back for a while. We need to talk to Mom and Bill about it though, since he technically is my boss."
Jack kissed Fin's forehead, thankful it seemed cooler. "I can't believe we're going to have another baby in just a few months."
She nodded and kissed him tenderly. "Thank you."
"For what?"
"Giving me Fin and the new baby. I love you so much."
…
They headed over to the lake house the next night for dinner. Elizabeth didn't want to tell anyone yet but she needed to let him know that she wouldn't be teaching in September like she had previously planned.
"Come in," Charlotte told them as she opened the door and hugged them and then took the car seat from Jack's hand.
"Hi, Ma."
"Hi, son. How is little Miss Fin doing?"
"She is teething and trying to get over a cold but other than that, she's good."
"And you, my sweet daughter?" She kissed Elizabeth's cheek and then set the car seat on the chair so she could unstrap her granddaughter.
"I'm good, Mom."
"You look a little out of sorts, though."
Elizabeth glanced at Jack, who gave nothing away. "I'm good."
As they ate dinner, Elizabeth needed to say something. "I need to speak with you, Bill, about September."
"Ok. First day of school is the third. I was able to get your same classroom for you."
"That's great but I decided that I'm not coming back this year."
He paused, his fork halfway to his mouth. "No?"
"No. We got some news."
Jack took her hand and squeezed.
"Ma Ma!" Fin said loudly.
Everyone stared at her, surprised. "Finny! You said Mama?"
"Ma Ma!" Elizabeth took her from Jack and smiled.
"Thank you, babe. I needed to hear that today."
"What's the news, Elizabeth?"
"I'm pregnant," she told him. "I'm due in February."
No one said anything. They all just stared at her. "Wow, I was expecting more of a reaction," Jack mentioned.
"Are you happy, Elizabeth?" Charlotte wondered.
"I'm not unhappy. The thought of having a 14 month old and a new baby scares me a bit but it will be fine."
"I will come help you as much as you need."
"Thanks, Mom. I may take you up on that."
"I hope so. Being retired has its perks and I love my grandbabies."
…..
The next few weeks brought on thankfully very little nausea which allowed for her to eat extra protein for the baby. The doctor said sometimes when you get pregnant so soon after giving birth, the baby inside is deprived of nutrients because the mother's body is trying to replenish and recuperate from the previous birth. This meant that she needed to eat extra calories and protein at the very least. In addition she was taking her prenatal vitamins.
By the time Mid-August came and the 3rd annual food and clothing drive for her Help Me Program came along, she was feeling good and her baby bump was growing well, even though she was still able to hide it.
She was walking around with Fin sleeping in her baby sling, unloading boxes when she heard a familiar voice.
"Beth!"
"Dad?"
"Hi, sweetie." He walked up and kissed her cheek and the top of Fin's head.
"What are you doing here?"
"I thought I'd make this an annual thing and bring our donations from Madison." She eyed the large truck that was once again backing up to the gazebo and then was powerless to stop the emotions. "Honey, don't cry." He kissed her forehead and smiled. "Always beautiful, even in tears."
"Who's this man making my wife cry?" Jack said with a wink.
William put out his hand and shook Jack's. "Good to see you, son."
"You too, William. I see you brought some donations with you."
"Yes. I plan on it every year. Gives me an excuse to see the family."
Fin woke up and yawned. "Finny, look who's here! It's Papa," Elizabeth told her.
Fin immediately became shy and closed her eyes, laying her head back down.
After a bit, Elizabeth unbuckled the baby sling and handed her over to Jack. "She needs a change," Elizabeth informed him.
He took the diaper bag from its hiding place under the table and carried her over to the grass.
William stopped packing items from the drive and stepped up next to Elizabeth. "You seem well, Beth."
"I am." She and Jack hadn't told her parents or Julie yet but had planned on it that coming weekend.
"And happy?"
"Yes."
"Ready for the new school term? I know you've been looking forward to it."
"I was looking forward to it but I'm going to be staying at home for awhile longer."
"Oh, I see."
He didn't but she really wished her mom was there, then she would just tell them. "Where's Mom today?"
"She's here, she just went to surprise Julie at work and then they were going to be coming here."
"Oh good. We should all go get Chinese for lunch."
"Sounds great."
….
Later in the restaurant….
Elizabeth fed Fin her cereal as Jack held her on his lap. At one point, Fin grabbed for the spoon and splattered it all over herself and Jack. "Good thing I'm not in my uniform," he mentioned.
"So….since we are all here today, Jack and I wanted to talk to you all about something," Elizabeth started. All eyes were on her. It made her slightly nervous. "Dad, I mentioned that I wont be teaching for awhile. What I didn't say was that there's a reason for that."
"What's that, Beth?"
"I'm pregnant."
Julie squealed, scaring Fin and making her spill the rest of her cereal on her shirt and Jack's pants. Jack just laughed and tried to mop it up while keeping Fin on his lap. Fin whimpered and then decided it was fun to have messy hands so she clapped and touched Jack's shirt. "Well, I guess I'll definitely be changing clothes before anything else."
"Congratulations!" Julie and Grace told them. William leaned over and kissed her cheek.
"I'm happy for you, Beth."
"Thanks, Dad."
"When are you due?" Julie asked.
"February 10th."
Julie grabbed Mike's hand. "Well, we have news too."
Elizabeth looked at her sister. She was glowing. It was obvious how happy both of them were. "Julie?" Julie nodded at her.
"We are pregnant too. We are due the middle of March."
For the Hickam's, it was particularly sweet after all Mike had been through. Finally, he could have his family.