Elizabeth invited Grace and Don over for lunch the next day so that Julie could let them know what was happening. Elizabeth suggested having Blake there as well.
So as they all sat down in the living room while Elizabeth finished the soup and sandwiches, Julie told them.
"Mom, Don, Blake and I have news."
Blake grabbed Julie's hand, knowing she needed his support.
"What is it, dear?"
"Well, two things, actually. He asked me to marry him and last night, I accepted." She nervously held out her hand with a modest sized square diamond.
"Congratulations, Julie," Don told her, offering a hug and then his hand to Blake to shake.
"Thank you."
Grace stood and hugged Julie too. "I'm happy for you, dear. Are you happy?"
"Yes."
"Good. Blake, welcome to our family," Grace continued, hugging him too.
"Thank you, Grace."
"Sorry to interrupt, but lunch is ready," Elizabeth called from the kitchen.
"One more thing," Julie told them. "We're going to have a baby in September."
Don once again, hugged Julie. "I'm really getting into this grandfather thing," he said with a smile. "Congratulations, sweetie."
"Thank you."
Julie looked at Grace who showed no anger as she expected. "Mom, I know I've disappointed you but we want to be good parents and Blake is going to be a good father and husband."
"Julie," she said, grabbing her hands. "You're almost thirty years old. I'm not going to judge you. You've been making your own decisions for a long time. Congratulations again." She hugged her tight, holding on to let her know she really was being supportive. "I love you, sweetheart."
"I love you too, Mom."
As they ate, Don had an announcement too. "Annie has decided to move here too. Until she finds a place, she is going to be living with Grace and I."
"That's great," Julie told him. "Our babies could always use an extra aunt. I could always use an extra sister too."
….
Elizabeth snuggled closer to Jack as they watched the fire dance in the fireplace. There was nothing like this moment, knowing she was warm in Jack's arms and their baby was warm and safe inside her.
As the weeks and months went by, it only got better. They decided to be surprised regarding gender while Julie and Blake found out theirs was a girl.
Elizabeth relished the movements and flutters she felt often and loved that morning sickness didn't last forever.
She worked alongside Don in expanding their store through the website and Annie and Don offered to buy the store from her. This was a hard decision for her. She loved the store but she knew that once the baby came, she would have very little time to spend there.
She didn't need the money at all, Jack's security company was expanding to include other states. She thought maybe her hesitation came because it was like saying goodbye to Tyler and their dream all over again. Was that it?
The Tyler part wasn't hard. It had been a long time now. She was deliriously happy with Jack and the boys. It was her last strand of independence that was tugging at her.
When all was said and done, by August, she was ready to relinquish it all to her stepfather and stepsister.
At seven and a half months pregnant she was in full nesting mode, cleaning the house, preparing the nursery in neutral colors, taking care of the boys and getting them ready for second grade. They both were now seven and growing like weeds. So shopping for new pants and shirts and shoes for school was on the agenda.
"Mom, can we get pretzels at the mall?" Sawyer asked as they drove to Portland Mall.
"Maybe. As long as you are both good. No whining when you don't get your way and absolutely no sneaking off to look at things without telling me where you are going."
"We only did that one time, Mom," Brennan told her.
"Yes, well, once is enough. Promise?"
"Yes, Mom," they said in unison.
"Thank you."
Three pairs of jeans, four shirts, and two pairs of tennis shoes for each of them later, they sat in the middle of the mall and ate their soft pretzels.
"Boys, we have one more store and then we can go home," she told them.
"What store?"
"The baby clothing store. I need to get a few more things and get a present for Aunt Julie's baby."
"Aww man. That's boring!" Sawyer told her.
"Sawyer, no whining. It won't take long."
"Yes, ma'am."
….
When they got home an hour later, Elizabeth craved a cup of tea and some quiet.
"Jack?" she called as they walked in the door and put in her alarm code.
"Yes, babe?"
"Would you mind keeping an eye on the boys while I take some time for myself?" He heard the tired tone in her voice.
He walked over and gave her a kiss. "What did they do?"
"Nothing much. I'm just really wanting a break for like an hour."
"You got it. I'll bring the packages in."
"Thank you." She made herself a cup of tea and went into the library to read under a blanket.
"Boys, did you give your mom a hard time at the mall?"
"No!" they both told him. He looked suspiciously at them for a moment. "Only a little, Dad. She took forever in the baby store and it was so boring. Why do babies need so much stuff anyway?" Sawyer asked.
"I'll have you know, Sawyer Matthew, you needed just as many things when you were little. Your mom would feed you and it would come right back up, dirtying not just your clothes but hers too. I don't know how many times you pooped all over yourself." Brennan giggled. "Oh, I'm sure it happened to you too, Bren."
He sighed. "I think you both need to remember that your mom gets tired easily now that the baby is almost here. Maybe we need to do something special for her."
"Like what?" Sawyer asked.
….
Two hours later, Elizabeth emerged from the library where she had fallen asleep, and gasped. Not only was the place spotless, but the table was set with candles and their best plates and glasses and she smelled Italian food. As she walked into the kitchen, she smiled. All three of her men stood there, dressed in black dress pants and white button downs.
"We love you, Mom!" they all said.
"I love you too. Don't you all look handsome."
"We made you something," the boys told her, handing her a homemade card.
***To the best mom in the universe!
We are sorry we gave you a hard time today. We love you very much!
Sawyer and Brennan ***
"Oh, boys. Thank you so much. I love you too."
She opened her arms and they came forward to hug her. As had become a habit, both boys put their hands on her tummy and pressed gently, quickly getting rewarded with a good, strong kick from their sibling.
"Hi, baby!" they said, which got them another kick.
"Anyone hungry?"
"Yes. Starved," she told him.
"Let's eat!" Brennan said.
"Not until you change clothes. I love seeing you look so handsome just for me but tomato sauce and dress clothes don't mix."
The boys ran off to change. Elizabeth walked up to her handsome husband and gave him a kiss, resting her arms around his neck. "Thank you, Jack. This is wonderful."
"You're wonderful," he whispered before kissing her in return. He held her as close as he could with the baby between them.
"Gross!" the boys said when they walking in the kitchen.
"Alright, get to the table. Time to eat."
….
About two weeks later, Julie went into labor early in the morning, barely making it to the hospital before delivering. The seven pound on-the-nose dark haired beauty was apparently impatient to arrive.
Julie and Blake named her Emerson Noelle West. Noelle after Blake's mother who had passed away a few years before.
"She's beautiful," Blake said, gazing down at the baby eating. "I can't believe she's ours."
"I know." She looked up at Blake and kissed him. "I can't believe you're mine. I love you so much."
"I love you too, Mrs. West," he said with a wink. "Do you think everyone will be mad that we got married and didn't tell them?"
"Not when we explain why." They had gone to a justice of the peace a few weeks before. It had been Julie's idea because she wanted her last name to be the same as Emerson and Blake's on the birth certificate. It was old fashioned but it's what she wanted. "Plus Mom and Don eloped too, so she can't get too mad."
….
"A girl," Elizabeth said with a smile. "I have another niece, Jack."
"Congratulations, sweetheart. What did they name her?"
"Emerson Noelle."
"That's pretty."
"But you don't like it?" She heard his tone.
"I wouldn't choose it. But it goes with West so it's perfect for her."
"What would you choose?" she asked, curious.
"I have three. One is Paisley. Two is Corinne. Three is Maleah."
"What if it's a boy though?"
"I like Micah and Carter."
"Hm. I'm not a fan of Paisley. I like the other two a lot and they go well with Charlotte. I like Jadin for a boy."
They heard a knock on their bedroom door.
"Come in!"
"Mom, can we go to the park today? Dash really wants to go." Brennan asked.
Dash was now over a year old and huge but he had no idea how huge he actually was. In his head, he was a lap dog. At the last vet appointment, he weighed in at 125 pounds and 30 inches tall.
"Sure, but only if Dad can come. I am not about to be chasing a dog the size of a Buick at 8 months pregnant."
"I can go. Why don't we take lunch too?"
Dash ran in the room with a loud WOOF! and hopped up on the bed, putting his head on Elizabeth's tummy.
"Good morning, Dash. Aren't you a handsome boy?" He wagged his big tail and licked her hand.
"Mom?" Sawyer walked in.
"Yes?"
"Can we go to the store? I need poster board and construction paper for school."
"Yes. We could go there after the park."
"Ok, cool. Thanks."
"Did you boys feed Dash?" Jack asked as he got out of bed and put a t-shirt on.
"Yeah and he pooped too," Sawyer told him.
"Later, we need to clean that yard."
"Gross!"
"Yeah but Great Dane poop is big and we can't leave it in the yard."
Elizabeth got up slowly. "Whoa, Mom! You're huge."
"Thanks, Bren. I appreciate that."
"Bren, something you need to know about women," Jack said. "Telling a woman she's huge is never a good idea."
"Sorry, Mom. You're still the prettiest, best mom in the world."
"That almost made me feel better." Elizabeth rolled her eyes and waddled to the bathroom. Jack took the boys into the kitchen to start breakfast.
A month later at her due date, she was still pregnant. So she called Grace to see if she wanted to go for a walk with her. Don and Grace showed up and they all went, Don handling Dash.
"How are you, sweetie?" Grace asked, giving her a hug.
"Ready to have this baby but apparently he or she is in no hurry to come out." She rubbed her belly and sighed.
"We can just stay in the subdivision in case something happens."
As they walked, Elizabeth waddling, they chatted about Julie's bomb she dropped.
"I can't believe they eloped," Elizabeth said. "But I get it too. I'm just disappointed I didn't get to be there."
"Sometimes eloping is what is best," Grace said, sending a smile Don's way.
"I guess. I would have loved to see your wedding too, Mom." As soon as she said the words, she gasped. "Ow."
"Beth?"
"Its just Braxton Hicks, I think."
They kept walking a minute later and Grace kept her eye on Elizabeth. After they got halfway around the subdivision, Elizabeth had a few more contractions and Grace was pretty sure it was labor.
"Don," she called. He had walked ahead with Dash.
He jogged back over. "Labor?"
"Yes," Elizabeth said, gritting her teeth and then breathing through a contraction. "My water just broke."
"Do you want to keep walking or do you want me to call Jack?"
"I can keep going."
"Just so you know, if you get to the point where you can't walk, I'm going to carry you back."
She chuckled and nodded, sending a text off to Jack. He had taken the boys to school so he was probably on his way back.
He called her a moment later. "Babe, I'm almost there. I'll pick you up and we can head to the hospital."
"Ok, thank you."
"He's almost here."
"We will take care of Dash and pick up the boys after school," Grace told her.
As Jack pulled up, she was in the middle of another contraction, holding on to Don.
Jack hopped out and kissed Grace's cheek and shook Don's hand. "Ready for this, Elizabeth?"
"Yes." He kissed her and then helped her walk to the passenger side of the Buick, promising to keep Don and Grace in the loop.