One Year later, July

Elizabeth bent down and kissed Fin and Joey on their cheeks, trying to ignore the sadness that leaving them brought. "I love you guys, so much!" she told them.

Will and Grace had gifted them a trip as a reward for Jack finishing nursing school and told them to take a pick as to where they wanted to go. He picked and had told her the night before where they were going.

A cruise to Alaska. One of her bucket list items that she had never thought would get checked off.

"Babe, we need to go. Our flight is in three hours."

"I know." She kissed them again and then forced herself to leave Mom and Pop's house.

Jack opened the car door for her and shut it gently before walking around to get in the driver's seat. "I know it's hard, sweetie, but we need to get away."

She knew that to be true. They had put off celebrating their fourth anniversary in March because they were saving up for a trip. Now, they didn't have to use their own money to do it. Now, they could just enjoy their time and concentrate on other things. Like having another baby.

Elizabeth had made it through the last year of waiting. She and Katie had opened their day care in Elizabeth's house about two months after Katie had given birth to Kyler. They watched Claire, Kendall, and Meredith two days a week and Zane and Brody two days. Then there were of course their own children. Aubrey sometimes came over to play with Elisa after school too. It was a houseful of children most of the time and it was wonderful.

About six months later, Katie and Tom's house was finished and the day care was moved there.

Jack squeezed her hand and she looked at him. "Are you ready for this, hon? Ten days away, just us."

"Yeah. Yes!" she said, forcing herself to get excited. Yes, of course she wanted to be alone with Jack. Yes, she wanted another baby, badly, and Alaska was exactly where she wanted to do those things.

"That's more like it."

So, as they drove to the airport, they talked about what things they could do on the ship. She looked it up on her phone and gasped. "Jack, this ship is amazing."

"I got us a balcony suite, hon. It's going to be so great. And I have a few dates planned."

"Dates, huh?"

"Yep."

It was good to get away before he started his new job as registered nurse at Billings Memorial Hospital. He had applied a few months before and once he interviewed, they offered him the position. It had great benefits, good pay, and he was excited about it. He started August 1st, the week after they got back from their cruise. But right now, he didn't want to think about work. He wanted to concentrate on reconnecting with his beautiful, amazing Elizabeth. That was most important.

….

Mike opened his mail. "Jules! Jules, I got it."

"Got what?" she wondered as she fed their now thirteen month old Meredith while handing the twins crackers for their snack.

"The position at Billings Memorial!"

"Are you serious? That's amazing!"

"I can't believe it."

"Really? Michael, you were top of your class. I totally believe it. They're lucky to have you."

"Thanks, sweetie." It was wonderful. Now Julie didn't have to work anymore. She could finally be home with the girls.

"Dada!" Claire said, grinning up at him.

"Hi, baby." He bent down and snatched the cracker from her fingers with his lips, making her giggle.

Then Kendall, the far less vocal twin, held her cracker up too. She just smiled when he grabbed her offering.

"I think you should put in your two weeks notice once I start on August 1st."

"Can we talk about that?"

"Sure. Let's talk."

Julie joined him at the table and moved the almost asleep Meredith to her shoulder. "I don't want to quit working."

"I thought you wanted to stay at home with the girls."

"I do, but, I love my job too. I've worked there for a long time and I love the people I work with."

"So what is your plan?"

"I want you to be ok with it too, Mike. I want to go down to part time. Like two days a week, or three. They are already with Elizabeth and Katie those days now and they are fine."

Mike was in disbelief at her words. Of course the girls would be fine, but he was surprised she didn't want what they had talked about for so long. "Mike?"

"I'm just surprised, that's all." He shook his head for a moment.

"You seem mad." Not mad exactly. The man hardly ever got angry. He just seemed off.

"No. I'm fine. Let me know what you decide to do."

"Mike, please. I don't want to make this decision on my own."

"You already did, Julie." He got up and left the room.

"Mike."

A few minutes later, Julie had all three girls in bed for naps. She went to the living room to talk to Mike.

"Mike?" She joined him on the couch and tucked her knees up under her. "Hey, please tell me why you're upset."

"I'm not…" he started to say. "Maybe I am."

"Why?" She held out her hand and waited for him to take it. He didn't wait long. "Michael, please tell me."

"I thought that you wanted to stay at home with the girls. I guess I had been looking forward to them being raised by us, not daycare. It might be old-fashioned but that's how I feel."

"I do want to stay home, but I also want to work. I know that your salary will cover us now but I'm not working for the money. It's because I love it."

He nodded. "I don't want you to give up something you love."

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, I want you to be happy." She smiled and moved so she was sitting on his lap.

"I love you, husband." She reached up and gently touched his cheek with her fingertips. "And I love our daughters. Nothing will ever change that."

"I know, I love you too. I'm sorry I reacted like that."

She shook her head. "Its fine." She leaned toward him and kissed him slowly, her fingers slipping behind his head to pull him closer. "I think its naptime for us too, don't you?"

He smiled and stood, cradling her in his arms. "Absolutely."

…

Jack and Elizabeth stayed the night in Los Angeles that evening and then took a cab to the port where the ship was leaving from the next morning.

After checking in and heading through security, they walked closer to the ship. The sight of it was almost overwhelming but Elizabeth was excited. She grabbed Jack's hand and squeezed. "I'm so excited, hon. This is going to be great!"

"I agree." They walked up the ramp to the ship along with at least twenty other people.

"What do you think the kids are doing now?" she asked, still missing them like crazy.

"Hm. Its early so my guess is Finny is begging Pop for eggs or pancakes and Joe is snuggling with Mom."

"Oh, I miss my morning snuggles with Joey."

He slipped his arm around her and pulled her closer. "I'd be happy to snuggle with you, baby," he whispered, wiggling his eyebrows.

"There will be plenty of time for that," she said with a laugh. "I want to see everything on this ship."

"Starting with our state room? I'm pretty sure that the perfect snuggling spot is there," he teased as they stepped onto the ship.

She laughed and shook her head. "You're a silly man, Jack Thornton."

"That's why you love me."

"That's very true."

They didn't start with the stateroom though. It wasn't ready for them just yet. So after getting a map, they took their carry-on and headed to find a less busy area where they could get a drink and something to eat.

They went down a deck and found a quieter Bar and Grille than others they had passed. They were shown to a corner booth and handed menus. "I'll be back in a moment for your drink order," the waiter told them with a smile.

"Ok, thank you," Jack told him as he moved closer to Elizabeth and slipped his arm around her shoulder. "That's better."

"Snuggle time?" she said with a laugh.

"Always."

….

Later that afternoon,

Mike picked up the phone, seeing it was William. "Hello?"

"Mike, how are you?"

"Good, sir. How are you and Grace doing?"

"Good, good. Listen, I'm calling to let you know that I met with my financial advisors."

Mike wasn't sure why he was telling him that. "Ok. That's great."

"I set up college funds for your girls."

"You did?"

"Yes. I know when I offered you and Julie a trip just like I had Beth and Jack, you declined my offer and I completely respect that. I still wanted to do something though. Mike, I'm proud of you. You're another one of my sons and you've made a huge change and you did it because you love my daughter and my granddaughters. I don't take that lightly. I wanted to do something to show my appreciation."

Mike was quiet for a moment. The girls definitely needed money for college and it would take years to save up enough for all three girls. "I…thank you, sir. This means a lot. Thank you so much."

"You're welcome, Mike. Now give those babies and my daughter a kiss for me."

"I will, sir. Say hi to Grace for us."

Mike heard Meredith cry so he went in to the nursery and picked her up from her crib. "Hi, beautiful. What's wrong?" She smiled through her tears and snuggled into his neck, settling back down again. He took a peek and saw the twins still asleep in their crib so he took Meredith into the kitchen to make her a bottle. He grabbed a mug and filled it with hot water and placed a frozen bag of breast milk in it to warm up. "That'll be ready soon, honey bun."

He took a big breath and inhaled the sweet scent of Julie that lingered on Meredith. He loved that smell. It was warm and comforting and loving, much like Julie herself.

He picked up his phone and texted. "Hey, babe. I love u!"

She texted a few moments later. "I love u 2!"

"I miss u."

"Right back atcha, husband."

"Date nite in 2night."

"Oh yeah? It's been awhile. Looking 4ward 2 it."

He sat in the living room and fed Meredith, completely content and happy. Then he heard four little feet running in the room.

"Dada! We up!" Claire told him, speaking for both.

"Claire, did you and Kendall climb out of your crib again?"

"Yep!" the honest little two and a half year old said.

He didn't know how to stop them from doing it. At night, they closed the door to their nursery and knew they would at least stay in their room. The door handle was kid proof so at least he knew they were safe.

"Claire, Kendall, listen to Daddy. Are you listening?" Their little blue eyes were fixed on him. "Please wait for me to help you out of your crib, ok? Don't climb out."

"Yep," Claire nodded, a solemn look on her face.

"Ok, wanna watch a movie?"

"Dora?" All three girls loved Dora the explorer and it was educational so he allowed it.

"Si, Claire! Bueno." Claire and Kendall giggled and waited patiently as he put the DVD in.

"Si," Claire said.

"Very good, baby. Kendall, can you count with me?"

She was so shy, she just let Claire talk for her but he knew she could do it. He heard them jabbering in their crib before they went to sleep.

"One, two…" he started. Kendall looked up at him. He sat down and smiled.
"Come on, Ken. One, two…"

"Fwee!" Claire yelled.

"Fwee," Kendall whispered.

"Ok, good job. What comes after three?"

"Fo," Claire continued.

"Fo," Kendall whispered again.

That was all they knew but he knew that was pretty good for their age. "Good job! Let's try Spanish. Like Dora. Claire, can you say uno?"