Chapter 93

Jack woke up with a smile on his face. His week has been good. Work was going well, he hasn't told the secret of his daughter and son, and he was going fishing today. While he has worked, Elizabeth and Grace have worked on the house. They were hanging all the pictures and art on the walls and unpacking some boxes. While they were not completely finished yet, most of the house was. He was very happy that Elizabeth had hung several of their sketches throughout the house. For him, it made it homier.

Jack reached for Elizabeth's side of the bed hoping she was still there but knew she wouldn't be. The previous day she was so consumed with the young men coming over for the excursion to the pond. Her and her mother went grocery shopping and Jack thought she bought enough for an entire army. He knew she would be up early to make sure everything we ready for the young men. He was impressed that she actually got up before he did. She never did that.

Jack sighed at the absence of his wife. He was hoping they could have some time together. He threw the thin sheet off and got up. He changed into an old t-shirt and a pair of cargo shorts. He decided to wear a pair of hiking boots. He wasn't too sure what was waiting for them on the way to the pond. He admitted freely that he was excited for this little adventure. Emma promised him that she would not interrupt his day unless there was an emergency.

When Jack opened the door to walk into the kitchen, he couldn't help but smell the delicious aroma coming from the kitchen. "Wow! What do we have here?" He asked when he saw Elizabeth and Grace working in the kitchen.

"We have thirteen young men coming this morning and one older man. They will want to eat." She laughed at his confused look. "Twelve football players, Henry, and Frank."

"Oh. Do you think you made enough? As big as our counters are, there's no room left."

"I don't know…" She honestly stated.

"I hope so, or the bigger ones may eat the smaller ones." Sassed Grace.

As the group laughed, Jack walked up to his bride and gave her a smile, a hug, and a small kiss on her flour covered cheek. "I was hoping you were in bed with me when I woke up." He whispered seductively in her ear.

She shivered at his words and his breath on her ear. How can he still have that effect on me after all this time we have shared together? "Really, detective. What did you have in mind?" She flirted back in a whisper.

"Excuse me for a moment, I need to get my earphones." Sassed Grace. As she walked up the stairs she mentioned to herself. "I really do need to purchase some."

"Mother!" Elizabeth exclaimed while Jack chuckled.

"Well." Jack began to say as he nibbled on her neck. "It's chief. I was hoping to try something new." He stated as he made his way to her ear lobe.

"Let's go!" She stated bouncing on her toes. Before she was able to turn around, the door bell rang.

"Was that the door bell? Why haven't we tried that before?" Jack stated. "I guess we will have to wait." He stated with a pouty face.

"Great! How am I supposed to concentrate on anything today with that thought running through my head." She stated seriously.

"The longer we are married, the more alike we become." He playfully teased. They held hands as they walked toward the door.

When Jack opened the door, he saw Henry standing in front of a bunch of smiling young men who looked very hungry.

"Do you all always look hungry?" Jack asked.

"We are always hungry." Stated a lineman in the back.

"Let's eat!" Exclaimed Elizabeth.

The young man who was standing behind Henry picked him up and carried him inside. Evidently, Henry was going too slow for their liking.

…

"V, how are you doing?" James asked

Viola placed the call on speaker. "I'm doing well.

"I know your divorce will be finalized in a few days. I was just checking in on you."

Viola's divorce was going to be finalized on Wednesday. Lionel was still delaying the divorce. He said he wanted her back, but she knew he was just causing trouble. He was unhappy with the whole thing, especially with her moving on.

"I'm ok with it. The marriage was a huge mistake and I have learned from it. Actually, I've learned several lessons from it, and I will not forget those lessons."

"I'm here if you ever want to talk about it."

"I know and I greatly appreciate it. You have been a huge blessing to me during this."

"I am grateful you have allowed me to be."

"James, you are a part of my life now and I couldn't be happier. Now, give me an hour and take me out to brunch."

"Can we make it lunch? I need to stop by the office for a few minutes."

"Come by now and we will go to the office, then we will go out for lunch."

"Perfect. I'm in the driveway."

"You're in the driveway?" She asked confused. She walked to the living room window and noticed his truck sitting in the driveway. "What would you have done if I didn't want to go this early?"

"Oh, V…of course you wanted to come with me. You miss me and want to spend time with me." He playfully flirted.

"Well…"

"I missed you and I want to spend time with you." James emphasized the word 'I'.

"Give me two minutes."

"Make it one, please."

…

The young men flooded into the Thorton household with smiles on their faces. They were looking forward to breakfast, but they were also looking forward to the adventure of finding the pond and fishing. They fell in love with Elizabeth and Mrs. Thatcher when they helped them move a couple of days ago.

"Good morning, Mrs. Thatcher." All the young men stated with enthusiasm when she came down the stairs.

"Good morning, gentleman." She genuinely smiled at them. "Are you guys ready for an adventure?"

"Yes, but breakfast first."

"Deal."

After praying for their meal, the men all gathered around the island and counters picking out their food. Grace and Elizabeth made biscuits, gravy, bacon, sausage, scrambled eggs, and hashbrowns. They had water, OJ, Apple juice, and milk.

They all stood back and watched as the men piled the food on their plates. Jack leaned over and whispered in his wife's ear. "Please don't dream of a football team for our family. I don't think we could afford it." He laughed.

"No kidding." Laughed Grace and Elizabeth.

…

After all the food was consumed, the boys were ready to head out. They were getting excited and made their way out to the spacious front porch where they left their fishing rods and tackle.

"Alright men, I haven't been back there yet. I don't know what we will encounter on the way. So with that being said, Pastor Frank and I will lead the way. Have fun and enjoy yourselves, but please don't do anything stupid. We would hate for this to be the only time we do this."

"Yes sir." Was stated by them at the same time in a very loud voice. It had startled Grace.

"Alright boys, have fun and enjoy yourselves." Grace stated in a grandmotherly tone.

"Thank you Mrs. Thatcher. Oh, we also hope that you will come to some of our games too."

This touched Grace's heart. She really liked these young men and they seemed to think the same of her.

"You're going to be a great grandmother." Stated a smiling Elizabeth.

"Our babies will be blessed with the two best grandmothers ever!" Exclaimed Jack.

"Enough you two. Now, go have fun and please be careful. And Jack and Frank…watch over these young men." Grace stated in a mother's tone while pointing at them.

"Yes ma'am." Frank and Jack stated.

Each young man stepped forward and gave Elizabeth and Grace a hug and said thank you. The young men were touched by their very kind gesture of breakfast and allowing them to be here so early and going on the adventure.

Jack walked up to Elizabeth and wrapped her into a hug. He lightly kissed her lips and discreetly tapped her on the bottom.

"Detective." She warned.

Jack gave her a deep dimpled smile. "It's chief. I love you, madre calda." He whispered into her ear. He also lightly pinched her bottom.

Elizabeth jumped a little and glared at her husband. "Go and have fun." She stated as she turned him and patted him on the bottom.

One of the young men snickered. "Get a room!"

Jack smiled and Elizabeth's face turned red.

"Let's go, men!" Jack stated as he jumped off the last three steps.

…

Charlette rolled over and her left hand landed on Adam's chest. He jumped a little and Charlette snickered. "What are you doing awake so early?"

"Wife, it's not early. We've slept in."

Charlette turned her head and looked at the clock on the bed side table. "Wow! We slept in 'til nine. I haven't done that in years."

"Me too."

"I guess that is what I get for marrying a younger man. He kept me up late last night. He has too much energy."

"Excuse me, Cougar." Adam sassed with a devilish grin. "If you remember correctly, we were up late because of you."

"Oh…well…that's not important now. Is it?" She sassed. "What are we doing today?"

Well, I talked with Jack, he only needs to spray polyurethane on the two toy chests. He said it would be ok if I did that today. He has done everything else on them. We could finish that out today and give it time to dry. Maybe tomorrow after church we could deliver them to their house?"

"Let's go young man. We are wasting time."

He laughed at her eagerness to work on the toy chests. Jack has been adamant that he and Adam did the work on them. It was daddy's and grandpa's gift. Charlette's heart melted when Jack told her. She was also a little frustrated that she wasn't allowed to work on it. Now, she could have a hand in doing them. Now, it will be daddy's, grandpa's and grandma's gift. She just won't tell Jack that.

…

Jack and Frank easily found the beginning of a trial where Beth told them it would be. However, the trial quickly shrunk and was barely noticeable. They used their machetes to make the path a little bigger. The process was slow but at least it was progress. The young men were patient. They slowly followed along making comments as they went. Jack and Frank laughed at the young men how they would playfully aggravate each other. Frank was also very appreciative how they gave taken Henry into their group. Henry thought it was the greatest thing ever and loved ever minute of it.

"Chief, this is your land?"

"It is. I didn't know about this. I hope the pond is a good sized one and somewhat nice."

"Well, if you need help cleaning it up, I would like to help."

"Yeah." All the players said.

"Be careful, I may take you up on it."

"We would love to do that."

Frank leaned in and whispered. "I think they may be needing a male role model in their life."

"Maybe but wouldn't their coach do that?"

"Maybe but not always."

"I talked to the head coach a couple of days after they helped us move. I was so impressed with the men that I wanted to tell him that."

"That's great. Maybe you can begin your role model program you wanted in school with these young men."

Jack stopped to think about this. He only thought about doing this with the lower grades. He just didn't think about doing it with the older grades. Now, he was rethinking everything. He pulled out his phone and opened his note app and made himself a note about looking into doing these at the high school.

"Frank, this is getting big quickly. Do you think you and or the church would be willing to help with this?"

"I know I would be willing to help. We could always announce it at the church and ask for volunteers. I think there would be a few men and women that would help."

One of the football players walked up to Jack and Frank. In a low voice, he stated. "I would love to be part of this. Maybe I could help with the lower grades with guys like Henry. He looks us to us because we play sports like he does. Maybe that could be our connection. I bet a couple of others would like to do this too and probably a few female basketball and softball players too. I would have loved to have this as a kid."

"What about now?"

The football player lowered his head and simply nodded yes.

Jack took his phone and hit Emma's name. "Hey Boss Lady. Could you take a quick note for me?"

"Chief, I thought you were with the football players going fishing?"

"We are, but we thought of something. I'm in the middle of the woods."

"Sure, give me a second to grab a pen and paper."

Jack, Frank, and the football player all took a few moments to share with Emma what they were thinking. The more they shared, more of the boys were getting excited about helping. A few of them were excited about maybe getting a little help too. Jack was quickly realizing the importance of this program. He also vowed to himself, this group will be his and Elizabeth's group. He would have to ask her, but he knew she loved them for the work they did when they helped them move.

After hanging up with Emma, Jack turned to Frank. "This program starts now…we me."

Jack turned to the group. "Ok men. We have a pond to find and fish to catch."

They spend the next little while working their way along this very small trial. Jack and Frank were enlarging it for now but knew they would have to spend some time later to make it better. Today was just finding the pond.

After about forty minutes of bush whacking, one of the boys stated. "Hey…wait a minute. Do you hear that?"

Jack and Frank stopped. They heard water running. "I was told that there was a creek here."

"Hey, I think I see something." Henry stated. Emily's brother put him on his shoulder so he could see better. "Yes, over there to the right. I see water."

After a few more minutes, the bush line opened up and all the guys stood there with their mouths open. They couldn't believe what they were seeing with their eyes.

Jack quickly pulled his phone out of his pocket and took a quick video for Elizabeth.

…

"There, Charlie. That's the last of it."

"When can we take them over?"

"I would say tomorrow. They will be good and dry, but we need to check with Jack first."

"You know, I'm the grandma. I really don't have to check with him."

"Charlie." Adam warned. "He is their father. While you are the grandma, you can't overstep his role in this. You must respect him and his wishes for his babies, even if you disagree with him."

She nodded. She knew she had to. It would bother her when Tom's mom overstepped her boundaries. She always promised herself she wouldn't do that. "I'll do that. It may not be easy, but I'll do that."

"That's my Charlie." Adam teased.

"Alright young man. The least you can do is feed me lunch after I did half the work."

"First, you didn't do half the work. Second, go get changed. Let's grab lunch and maybe ice cream."

"You sure do love your ice cream. "Let's go, young man."

"Perfect."

…

The pond was larger than Jack imagined. Frank guessed it was about two to two and a half acres big. The water was clear. On one side of the pond was a small rock cliff that met the water. Jack instantly thought that would be a great place to jump off of as long as it was deep enough. There were some bushes along the shoreline that needed to be cleaned back a little, but nothing too bad. There were a few fallen trees in the water, but Frank said that would be great for the fish. They could all hear the bull frogs that was making sounds all around the pond. While the pond may have been neglected, it wasn't too bad. Trees lined over half of the shoreline, but they weren't too crowded. Across from the rock cliff, was a gentle slope leading into the water. Jack knew that would be a perfect place for a fire pit, chairs, and picnic table. On one side, they saw where the small creek flowed into the pond.

"That's a good sign. It means there is always fresh water going into the pond. That helps with the fish." Frank stated.

"This is beautiful." Jake whispered.

"Did you really not know it was here?" One of the young men asked.

"I had no idea."

Frank looked around. "There isn't too much clean up that needs to be done. You could easily do that in a day."

"Less if he lets us help." Several of the men stated.

Jack was easily seeing countless days here with his family and the kids. He knew they would enjoy this. He was also imagining some group outings here with his football boys.

"Well, we're here and we have fishing rods and bait. Let's see if there are any fish in this pond."

The guys dispersed into groups of two and went around the pond to find their place to fish. The laughter was great to listen to. Jack and Frank looked at each other and knew the program was going to be a great asset to these guys.

Everyone caught at least two fish each. They caught different types of fish. There were several blue gills that were caught, some were good size. A couple of the young men caught a few bass. None of them were big, but good eating size. A couple of crappies were caught along with one catfish. The pond had plenty of life in it and the guys were excited about their time there.

Jack gave up fishing so he could look around the pond. He wanted to get a better look at it to see what was needed to be done. He was looking around the rock cliff. He asked the men to stay away from it until he was able to examine it closer. He wanted to see if there were any loose rocks or anything that could hurt someone.

As Jack made his way around it, he thought he saw something move in the bush by the water and the rock. He stood still to look at it closer and noticed it was a small animal, but he couldn't tell exactly what it was. He slowly stepped closer to see if her could get a better look.

…

Elizabeth and Grace took the morning to work on the kitchen. There was a lot to clean up from the massive breakfast for the young men. Both ladies enjoyed their morning with the men. It was just something about them that drew Elizabeth and her mother to them.

As they worked on cleaning the kitchen, Elizabeth fell deeper in love with her home. It was exactly how she wanted it and a perfect copy of the house in her dream. She was grateful when Jack picked out the shape of the island and some of the colors he picked was just precisely what she wanted. The more she looked around the home, the more she loved it.

"So, what's the plan for the day?"

"Well…after this I am taking a nap. This has been exhausting. I'm not sure when the guys will be back."

"Do you think you can teach long with the pregnancy?"

"I will teach as long as I can. I'm not sure. I guess my body will tell me when to stop. Mary, a friend who taught when she was pregnant, has shared with me some bits of wisdom that should help me along the way."

"That's great. Just do what you think you can."

They worked together for a little while and just chatted about anything and everything. Once done, Elizabeth excused herself to lay down to rest. Grace did the same thing. This morning was exhausting for them.

When Grace laid down on her bed, she was once again taken by the room. In her eyes, it was perfect. She just couldn't understand why William would be so willing to dismiss his lack of relationship with Jack.

…

Elizabeth walked into her children's room the next morning to wake them up. TJ…Beth…it's time to wake up. We need to get our day started.

"Ma…isn't it too early for this?" Asked her little boy. He was just like her regarding her dislike of mornings.

"No, young man. It's time to get our day underway. Now, let's get out of bed."

Elizabeth looked over and her copy was already sitting in bed with a book in her hand. While she may have a lot in common with her mother, Beth is just like her father when it comes to mornings. She lost count of how many times the little one would wake her up by climbing into her bed.

"And you little one, what are you doing?"

"I'm reading. I have been up for a while."

"I can see that." Beth really couldn't read yet, but she would look at the pictures and use her imagination to come up with the story.

Elizabeth turned her attention back to her little son. He was already settled back in his bed with his eyes closed. She walked over to his bed and ripped the covers off of his body.

"Ma! That was mean!"

"If you are not out of bed in the next two minutes, I will show you mean, young man." She laughed at the memories of having this type of conversation with her parents when she was little.

"Ma, you're not mean."

"Maybe not, but I think she could be." Sassed Beth.

Elizabeth looked at her daughter with a little bit of a mean look but that was nullified by the little grin on her face.

"Remember, you were mean to daddy when you first met him?"

"Yeah, I forgot about that." Stated TJ as he sat up in the bed. "Ok…Ok…I'm up."

"You two have ten minutes to brush your teeth and get dressed. Daddy is making breakfast."

Jack smiled as she walked down the steps and into the kitchen. "The normal routine?"

Elizabeth sighed. "Yes. Beth was already up reading, and TJ was the typical cranky self in the morning."

"Yeah, he isn't a morning person."

"I think I need to call my parents and apologize to them."

"Maybe…are they up and moving?"

"Yes. They have ten minutes to be down here."

"Great. We should have a lot of fun at the museum today."

"Yes. I may need to take it easy, but it will be fun."

"Mommy…" Beth said as she began to walk down the stairs. "TJs back in bed."

"That young man…definitely calling my parents to apologize."

"He's acting just like you, you know."

"Not helpful, officer."

"It's chief."

"Feed my daughter while I go wake up your son." She stated with a huge smile at Beth. "I love you sweetie." She stated as she kissed her daughter's head.

"Good morning, Cinderella. Have a seat and I will bring you a plate of pancakes and bacon."

Elizabeth opened her eyes with a huge smile and a sigh. She was very grateful she finally knew her daughter's name. Not knowing has really bothered her lately. She had an odd sense that something may be wrong. She sighed because she didn't really want her daughter named after her. Now it makes sense. She didn't know the name in the dream until she heard that Jack wants to name the little girl after her. "I need to change his mind." She stated with a smile.

…

As Jack cautiously approached the bush, he saw a brown tail begin to wag. When he moved a branch out of the way, he notice a dirty, yet beautiful long haired lab laying on its side. While his tail was wagging, Jack could see the dog was a little scared. Jack sat down on the ground without making eye contact with the dog. Jack slowly reached into his pocket and pulled out some beef jerky one of the players gave the group. With his palm opened, he slowly extended the beef jerky toward the dog.

The dog smelled the food and was hungry but was a little afraid of this man. After a few moments, his hunger won the battle over the fear. He slowly inched his way toward the food and gently picked the food out of Jack's hand. The dog quickly ate the food and noticed Jack was holding another piece. With less hesitation, the dog gently took the next piece. After the fourth time, the dog allowed Jack to pet him on the head.

After a few minutes, there was a bond between the two. The dog was basically sitting in Jack's lap. Jack guessed the dog was a year or two old. He seemed friendly. He was dirty, but Jack could see that the dog was a beautiful dog. "Alright boy, I don't know if you know this or not, but me and my family are destined to be your humans. My wife has dreamed about you." The dog smiled and excitedly wagged his tail. "Alright Rip, let's go home."

…

Frank and a couple of the football players looked up when they heard Jack walking toward them. They also noticed a dog bouncing around Jack's leg. The dog would run ahead and then back to Jack. He would reach down and pet the dog and the dog would allow him.

"Well, where did you find that little guy?"

"In the bushes by the rock cliff."

"He seems to have chosen you as his human."

"I believe he has. Let's get him home, Elizabeth needs to meet our newest family member."

"Do you think she will allow you to keep him?" Henry asked.

"I think so." He laughed thinking of the dream she has been having. "Alright men, are you all ready to head back?"

"Yeah. We have workouts beginning at one this afternoon at the school."

"Please make sure I have your schedule. Elizabeth and I would like to attend a few games."

"Great…and Mrs. Thatcher too."

"Yes, when she is in town."

…

Elizabeth and Grace were sitting on the back porch in a couple of chairs when they heard leaves rustling. They looked up to see the men begin walking out of the trees. They were laughing and enjoying each other.

"They must have had fun."

"I bet they have." Elizabeth smiled at their laughter.

All of the men walked out except for Jack. Elizabeth was curious why Jack hasn't walked out yet. She stood when the long haired lab walked out of the trees immediately followed by Jack.

"Rip?" She whispered. This dog looked just like the dog in her dream. As the young men approached the porch, the dog left Jack's side and ran up to Elizabeth. He sat down in front of her. After a second, the dog picked up his head and touched Elizabeth's belly with his nose. Elizabeth took her eyes off of the dog and looked at Jack. Jack shrugged his shoulders.

"So, where did you find this little one?"

"I'll tell you in in a minute. We need to get these young men on their way. They have workouts in a little bit."

"Perfect. Now young men we have sandwiches and bottled water to take with you." Grace smile.

"Thank you." They all said together.

"Let's get your food together and you can be on your way. Now, go wash up before you handle your food."

"Yes, ma'am." They answered. Each young man kissed her on the cheek as they walked past to go and wash their hands.

"So…?" Elizabeth asked.

"He was hiding in the bushes beside the rock cliff."

"Rock cliff?"

"Yes, there is this cool rock cliff that would be great to jump off if the water is deep enough."

Jack pulled out his phone and found the video he took. He stood beside Elizabeth and showed her the video he took and all the photos he had taken of the pond and surrounding area. She was impressed with the pond but wasn't so sure about jumping off of the rock cliff. She could imagine her little boy wanting to do that and she wasn't sure her mother's heart was ok with that. She did freely admit that the place was gorgeous and agreed with Jack about the gentle slope going into the pond would be a perfect place for the chairs and picnic table. She was excited about the pond, but she was hesitating about certain parts as well.

"Jack, I don't know if I want Jack jumping off the cliff."

"Ok…first, my son isn't being called Jack. Secondly, if it is safe, I'm not sure what the problem is when he gets older."

"I guess we still need to discuss the name thing. I don't know if my mother's heart will allow my son to jump off a cliff into a pond of water."

"Our son…" He gave her a sassy smile. "We need to allow him to challenge himself. He, and also our daughter, needs to experience life and push themselves under our protection."

"I know…but I'm still not sure about jumping off the cliff."

"Well, we have years before he would do that. That is if the water is deep enough. There are a lot of steps between now and then."

Elizabeth nodded her head. "Ok. Now…what are we going to do with him." She looked down at the dog still sitting at their feet.

"Well, first he needs a bath. Then we need to get him some food and water. Then he needs a bed and some toys."

"So, we're keeping him?"

"Do you not want too?"

"No…he looks like…"

"Rip from your dream?"

"Yeah."

"Well, I guess we have a dog, and he has his new name."