Elizabeth giggled into Jack's chest, thinking about the encounter with the police officer earlier. "Reminiscing?"
"Look, it's not that funny." He pulled her closer and stroked her arm, the soft skin under his fingertips.
With the exception of the police officer, the evening couldn't have gone better. Now, lying here with her, enjoying the quiet, childless night…it was perfect.
"You were so cute, trying to explain what we were doing, but at the same time, not explain."
"Shh," he told her, covering her mouth with his. There was no need to rehash the embarrassing aspects of the evening. All he wanted was to take full advantage of date night because morning would come too soon.
And it did. Before they knew it, Pop, Charlotte, and Aubrey brought the babies back to the house.
"Mama!" Joey yelled, reaching for her.
"Hi, love. Did you have fun?"
"No."
"No?"
"Apparently that's a new favorite word of his," Bill said with a laugh. "We told him no when he was pulling the kittens tails and then when he was about to eat their food and now it's no for everything."
Fin pulled Aubrey's fingers. "Come."
"Fin, say please come," Elizabeth told her.
"Pease?"
Aubrey followed her into the living room and sat down and played with her giant Legos.
"Go!" Joey said, squirming to get down and then ran off to play too.
"Well, do either of you want coffee while they play?"
"Sure." They both followed Elizabeth into the kitchen and sat down at the table. "Where's Jack this morning?" Charlotte wondered.
"He's in his office working on his PowerPoint presentation. He's got a big paper due shortly for his final and he needs to present it to his class in person. He's a bit nervous."
"Yeah. He hated public speaking in school. He got good grades but he hated it."
"Where did you go for your date?" Bill wondered.
"Pancelli's. It was so good. I have my leftover ravioli in the refrigerator."
"Yum. Maybe we should have date night, Char."
"I don't really think we should leave Aubrey yet, dear. She's still getting used to everything."
"Char, it's been a long time since we have been out."
"I know but I think we should give her more time."
"What about our time? We need to have together time too."
Elizabeth sensed the tension. "I'm going to go check on the kids."
Charlotte sipped her coffee and Bill looked at her. He actually held a little bit of jealousy for his wife's time. He felt foolish. He guessed this was common when a new child came into a family. Adjustments would need to be made and he needed patience.
He stood and took a chance. He wandered up the stairs and knocked on the office door. "Come in."
"I'm sorry to bother you, Jack."
"No bother, Pop. I need to take a break."
Bill sat down at the desk and looked out the window.
"Pop? What's on your mind?"
"Nothing much."
"Ok."
"When Elizabeth first had Fin, were you jealous?"
"Oh yes. We got in a huge fight. I left the house and went out to the lookout, remember?"
"Right, yeah."
Sensing his step-father's emotions, he continued. "I needed to give her time. She was as overwhelmed as I was and we stopped communicating like we should."
Pop nodded, still staring out the window.
"She didn't want to leave Fin and that made me feel like she didn't want to be with me, which wasn't the case. She just wasn't ready."
"What did you do?"
"We made time for each other. I brought her flowers or I danced with her in the living room by the fire or we just talked once Fin was asleep. We had to put Fin first but also make sure the two of us concentrated on ourselves too. Date night in after the kids are asleep is one of our favorite things. Make dinner together, watch a movie, hot tub. The possibilities are endless."
"Thanks, Jack."
"Oh, and Pop?"
"Yeah?"
"Talk to her. Tell her exactly how you feel. It's the best thing." Bill nodded and walked out.
….
Aubrey watched as Elizabeth nursed Joey. "He's eating?"
"Yep. Babies can eat lots of different ways."
"You love him?"
Elizabeth looked at the beautiful little girl for a moment before answering the obvious. She was learning and soaking in what a family was like. "Very much."
"How do you know?"
Elizabeth wasn't sure how to explain. "Well, I want to be with him all of the time. I want to make sure he's safe and warm and that he eats when he's hungry. I miss him if I'm not with him."
"You love Fin?"
"Yes, I do."
"And Jack?"
"Yes. And Pop and Charlotte and you."
"That's a lot."
"It is but God made us all so we can love so many people without running out."
"Do you think my Mommy loved me?"
"I'm sure she did, sweetie."
"Then why did she leave?"
"I don't know why. But God gave you Pop and Charlotte to love you now." Fin climbed up on the couch and parked her little bum on Aubrey's lap.
"Hi!"
Aubrey smiled. "And Fin?"
"Yes. And Fin."
…
That night, after Aubrey was in bed, Bill looked for Charlotte. He found her on the couch reading.
He walked in and sat down next to her. "Char? Can we talk?"
She shut her book and looked at him. "Yes, dear. What's on your mind?"
He gently took her hand. "It's on my heart, actually. I miss you." He squeezed her hand and then looked into her eyes. "I love you so much. I know that we are adjusting to life with a child but we need to make time for each other too."
"I love you too, Bill. I'm sorry if I have been ignoring you."
"You've been doing what Aubrey needs and that only makes me love you even more."
Aubrey stood in the hall and listened. She had been watching and listening to everyone around her. She wondered if what she felt for the two people on the couch was love. From what she gathered, when people loved each other, they took care of them and touched them and sometimes kissed them. But they also told them. Sometimes she noticed tears in their eyes too.
She walked back in her room and climbed into bed. Luna purred and rubbed her head against Aubrey's arm. "You love me, Luna?"
Aubrey petted the soft kitten and then laid down. Luna and Mango helped her not be lonely, just like Pop and Charlotte. They purred and climbed on her much like hugs that she got from Pop and Charlotte too. Was it love?
…
A few days later…
"Go!" Fin said, standing at the base of the stairs blocked by the gate. "Mama."
"You have to go potty?"
"Ya! Pease." Elizabeth unlocked the gate and they walked up the stairs and into the bathroom. Once Fin was on her potty, she smiled up at Elizabeth.
"Good girl, Finny."
After she was done and hands were washed, Fin clapped her hands. "Me go potty!"
"You certainly did. Good job!" Elizabeth could see the light at the end of Finny's diaper tunnel. Then, she just had Joey. Hopefully he would be potty trained by the time it was time to try for another baby.
"Dada! Me potty!"
"You have to go?"
"No. Me go!" She pulled him in to the bathroom and pointed.
"Oh! You already did?"
She nodded and smiled, proud of herself.
"Good job, sweetheart. I'm so proud of you." He picked her up and kissed her cheek.
"Nack."
"You want a snack? Ok, yogurt?"
"Yum."
Elizabeth wandered into the bedroom and laughed. "Hi, Joe. What are you doing?" He had thrown everything out of the crib and had taken off his diaper which was what he had been sleeping in. She grabbed a clean one and put it on him before he decided to pee on something. "Mama loves you, silly boy." He giggled and patted her chest. "You're hungry? Do you want yogurt? Why don't we go have a snack?"
He pulled the neck of her t-shirt down and showed her what he thought of that idea. She laughed and then nursed him. She wouldn't complain. Rocking him and feeding him while he stared up at her with his big green eyes smiling was wonderful.
She couldn't believe that he and Julie's twins were about to turn a year old. It seemed like yesterday when they had been born.
"Mama!" Fin said running into the room. "Potty!"
"You have to go again?"
She nodded and pulled on her fingers. So Elizabeth stood and walked into the bathroom, still nursing Joey.
Jack walked up then. "Jack, will you help her? I don't have a free hand."
"Dada!" Joey said, pointing, apparently finished with his meal.
Elizabeth let Jack help Fin and walked back in the bedroom to finish feeding Joey where there weren't many distractions.
….
Julie and Mike looked at the screen as the ultrasound tech moved the wand slowly over Julie's belly. Mike squeezed her hand and then kissed it, praying for only one this time, but of course he would be happy with any number of children they were blessed with.
"Well folks, it appears you'll be having a girl," Wendy told them. "Congratulations!"
"Thank you," Julie told her, tears in her eyes. She looked over at Mike and accepted his kiss. "Another girl, Mike." He nodded as the tech left them alone with a few pictures of their baby girl.
"Meredith," he said to her. "What do you think?"
"It's beautiful. When did you come up with that name?"
"A week ago. I fell in love with it."
She sat up and got dressed. "I can't wait to meet her," Julie said, smiling. "I can't wait for the girls to meet her."
"I'm sure she is going to be gorgeous just like the rest of my girls." He kissed her and then pulled her into a hug.
"You are a sweet man, Michael."
"Thanks. Hungry?"
"Bathroom first and then we should go out to lunch." They had some time since Elizabeth bravely and graciously was watching the girls along with her two little ones.
They headed out a few moments later and decide to eat lunch at The Bean instead of anywhere expensive.
As they walked in the door, they saw a sign that announced new ownership. "Clara must have sold it," Julie mentioned.
"At the last Mommy and Me, she mentioned that it made sense for her to stay home with the boys and for Pete to work."
Mike saw the look on Julie's face. Then it disappeared. He knew that she wished she could do the same and he planned on giving her that chance after finishing nursing school. But that was about a year and a few months away. Until then, it made sense for their situation for it to stay the way it was.
….
Jack headed to Bozeman for his class a few nights later. He had already submitted his Power Point presentation to his instructor and had written his paper to go along with it. Now he just needed to get up the courage to actually speak in front of about fifty people.
The one thing he appreciated out of the whole thing was he was able to learn about Grace's particular type of cancer. It made him feel closer to her and empowered to teach others.
As he stood up front, he said a quick prayer and began. "Good evening, everyone. Tonight we are going to look at a few types of cancer. Cancer of the uterus, cancer of the lungs and particularly cancer of the breast. This type of cancer is near and dear to my heart because my Mother-in-law was not only diagnosed with it, she also survived it. The first slide shows….