Chapter 4 – The Average Day of a Father
The nurse practically yelled at him in the morning when a tired Jack, his face unshaven, opened the door.
"I knocked twice", she said rudely as she walked in the front door of the mercantile house carrying her simple nursing kit, pushing past Rip who was standing in her way.
"I'm sorry", Jack apologized as he brushed the hair out of his face and tucked his wrinkled shirt into his even more wrinkled pants.
"I told you to stay out of the bedroom. My guess is that you took so long to answer the door because you were in the bedroom checking on your wife. It probably took you four seconds to realize I was knocking and to get off the edge of the bed where you were sitting. Then another ten seconds to walk across the rooms. That's fourteen seconds. If you had been on the couch, it would have taken you three to five seconds. I don't have time to waste, Sergeant Thornton. Your wife is not my only patient."
When Jack stared at her in surprise, the no nonsense woman continued.
"Go wash your hands. If you kissed her, which I suspect you may have, wash your face", she ordered. "And stay out of the bedroom!"
Jack, drying his freshly washed hands and face on the bathroom towel, stood in bedroom doorway, and watched as Nurse Marigold tended to Elizabeth.
As the woman with the friendly name and unfriendly personality moved Elizabeth around in the bed so she could change the linens, she kept up a running speech to Jack about the sickness.
" . . . the infection spreads person to person via droplets expelled when an infected person coughs or sneezes. . .
. . . The incubation period – the time between exposure and illness – is usually two to four days.
. . . Your child was probably protected by your wife's breast milk and because he hasn't been around her when she was at her worst. She realized pretty quickly that she wasn't feeling well and asked the Madison woman to take him.
. . . her temperature is 101 degrees. That's two degrees less than when I checked last night. I am pleased with those results.
. . . three out of the twenty students were infected. That's fifteen percent. Very acceptable. They are all doing well."
"Hi sweetie, how you're feeling", Jack called from across the room as the doctor also stopped by to check on Elizabeth an hour later.
Elizabeth, sitting up in bed leaning against the pillows, simply nodded and gave him a weak smile, which barely made her lips turn up.
"She needs to drink a lot. Her throat hurts and she'll have difficulty swallowing so try different things. Cold milk. Warm tea. Just see what works best. I've given her some aspirin and will leave some more here for you to give her later" the doctor said as he put away his stethoscope.
"How bad is it, Doc?" Jack asked as he walked the man out.
"It can lead to rheumatic fever but I don't think we have to worry about that. Her temperature's going down. Just keep her drinking lots of fluids. Hopefully, she'll be feeling much better in a day or two.
"I can't thank you and Lucy enough for doing this", Jack said to Michael as he sat at the Madisons' kitchen table, drinking coffee.
"It's not a big deal."
"Of course, it is. Your wife has been feeding my son for days."
"Your wife teaches all the children of Bear Creek. You protect all of us in this town. If you and Elizabeth can look out for all of us, Lucy figures that the least she can do is feed your boy for a few days. Besides, Lucy and Elizabeth went through their pregnancies together. You were there when Maddy was born. You guys are our best friends."
"i still really appreciate it."
"Well, you're welcome. Although I hope you know that breast feeding the baby is the only reason I am ever finding it okay to loan you my wife's body. So don't get any ideas."
Jack chuckled. "Same goes for me and Elizabeth's body."
"What do you think of Nurse Marigold?" Michael asked as he refilled Jack's mug and then poured himself some more.
"I've met rabid dogs friendly than her. She makes me afraid to go into my own home. Even Rip now moves out of her way quickly."
Michael chuckled. "Lucy says the woman needs more eggs in her diet. She says it's a proven method to make a person happier. "
"I will personally deliver a basket of eggs to her if it works."
While Jack found dealing with Nurse Marigold to be difficult, he found watching the baby to be relatively trouble free. In fact, he found it to be down-right easy.
I was born to be a father!
At 9:00 in the morning , after picking up his well-fed son from the Madisons', he headed down Main Street on his way to the town's popular restaurant for his own breakfast.
While sitting at a table waiting to order, two women stopped by to chat and admire the young baby in his arms. By the time his food had arrived, Jack had his hands free to eat as the women happily passed the baby back and forth, stroking his back and making baby talk.
By 10:00, Miss Francis Stouffer, the twenty two year old daughter of the town's blacksmith, was happily changing the infant's diaper.
By 11:30, Miss Julia Branson, the recently jilted fianceé of a farmer, was playing with the infant's toes and telling Jack that his adorable son was the spitting image of the Mountie.
At 3:00, Miss Angelina Gelb, who had just turned 16 and was now allowed to wear lipstick, stopped by the jailhouse to offer her services as a babysitter. After spending ten minutes admiring Jack while he worked at his desk, she finally agreed to his polite suggestion that she might find it more interesting to walk the baby outside rather than stare at Jack.
At 4:45, Miss Nancy Granson, the town spinster, and Mrs. Dora Shreyer, the recent but happy widow of a man who had never treated her properly, practically got in a fistfight on the porch of the jailhouse as they both were eager to admire the baby and offer their assistance.
"Thank you. This is most generous of you", Jack said as he took a casserole from Miss Maye Pearson, who had stopped by the mercantile home that evening.
Jack looked at the table which was covered with baskets of muffins, plates of fried chicken, boxes of cookies . Do they think I'm starving? he thought in bewilderment as he passed the crowded table and put the casserole dish on the kitchen counter.
"It's just a little something I whipped up. I'm a very good cook. They say the way to a man's heart is through his stomach", the young woman said as she followed Jack into the kitchen.
"Not that I'm interested in that!", she added hurriedly when Jack gave her a curious stare. "I just meant that I'm a good cook. . . .But I'm sure your wife is a good cook too!"
"If you'll excuse me, I need to go check on my wife now. But I'll tell her that you stopped by to check on her."
"Of course, of course. I do hope she feels better. If you need anything. Anything at all. You just let me know", Maye said as she blushed at his dimples and noticed the blue of his eyes.
The next day was more of the same. With Lucy keeping Thatch overnight for feedings, Jack was able to get a full eight hours of restful sleep on the couch, which he actually found quite comfortable. An added bonus was that Comet, who was never allowed on the bed by Elizabeth, now took her place on Jack's feet at night, keeping them toasty warm.
I honestly don't know why Elizabeth finds this difficult, Jack thought as he stopped by the home of Miss Jessica Watkins who was babysitting Thatch, and then headed to the Madisons' home for the infant's feeding. Being a parent is so easy. It's just a matter of organization.
In two days, Jack hadn't had to change a single diaper or wipe a drop of drool from the baby's pudgy cheeks.
Lucy fed the baby, while the single women in town changed him, walked him, admired him, and cooed at him.
Jack felt very proud as lady after lady extolled the virtues of his son, repeatedly telling Jack how handsome and well behaved an infant he had.
I knew it!, Jack thought when several women let him know that his six week old son was already showing signs of high intelligence. I was top of my class and his mom's smart. Of course, he's intelligent.
It seemed that anytime Thatch got the least bit fussy, a female resident of Bear Creek was ready to swoop in and take him off Jack's hands. This is the friendliest town! I don't know why Elizabeth never realized it before! Maybe she just didn't want the help.
"How's Elizabeth today?" Michael asked Jack after he handed little Jack Thatcher to Lucy, who took the baby upstairs to feed.
"Much better. Doc says she's definitely on the mend and shouldn't be contagious by tomorrow."
"So, how is it being a single father the past few days?"
"Remarkably easy", Jack said with a surprised smile. "I have to say I'm doing a really good job. It's actually fun. And the town women have been really generous with their time."
Michael chuckled. "Jack, there is nothing more attractive to a woman than a handsome man in need of help taking care of an adorable baby. Those women see two sets of dimples tugging at their heartstrings. They don't know whether to go weak in the knees over you or your son."
"No", Jack said in surprise . "They're just being helpful."
"Helpful? For a Mountie, you are exceedingly naïve", Michael said with a grin. "With your worried devotion to Elizabeth, your adoring love for your son, heck even the way your cat follows you around. Not to mention your muscles and red serge jacket, the single females in the town have been thrown into a tizzy."
"I'm married! My wife is sick!"
"Yes. That's true. But that doesn't keep the women from dreaming of swooping in to rescue you from your despair. "
Jack paused and thought about the past two days.
"One of the women did offer to keep me a shoulder rub. . . she said I looked tense," he said with a guilty shrug.
"I thought she was just being very motherly to me!" he added in his own defense as Michael raised his eyebrows and then snickered.
"I overheard a woman at the grocery saying that she wouldn't mind having a Thornton male snuggling at her breast. And I'm pretty sure that she wasn't talking about your son", Michael said with a smirk.
"Maybe I should start taking more care of him myself", Jack said with a grimace.
"Probably a good idea. And I don't think you should tell Elizabeth how helpful the single females of town have been while she's been lying ill."
"Yeah, you're probably right", Jack said pensively.
"Does baby spit-up stain clothes if you don't get it out right away?" Jack asked, suddenly doubting that it did.
"No. You can let it sit for a while. Why do you ask?"
Jack paused for a moment before answering with an embarrassed face.
"When the baby spit up on me, one of the women offered to wash my shirt . . . if I took it off right there. . . Actually that happened twice. She said I had to take it off immediately or it would stain!"
When Lucy brought Thatch downstairs, Michael was still laughing as Jack sheepishly looked into his cup of coffee.
After the tragedy of the diphtheria epidemic last year, the school board had quickly decided to cancel classes until the teacher and the students were all cleared of possible germs. Jack, knowing that Elizabeth would be upset over the students missing so much class time, had sent out the word that the students were to each read a book, write a report, and prepare a presentation by the next week.
When Jack told Elizabeth about the assignment, she smiled at him as she sat up in bed.
Jack sat on the side of the bed, holding a warm mug of tea while Elizabeth held a pad of paper and pencil.
"It hurts to swallow," Jack read from the slip of paper which Elizabeth handed to him.
"I put honey in it. It's supposed to help", he responded.
Jack watched as she quickly began writing on another piece of paper.
"You're not supposed to be in here", he read when she handed it to him.
Jack chuckled. "I know. And Nurse Marigold will likely try to kill me. But the doc says it's okay as long as I wash my hands and don't kiss you or share any utensils."
Elizabeth started scribbling again.
"How's Baby Jack? He's fine. Just as good as when you asked me yesterday, and last night, and this morning. He's been spending a lot of time with me at the office. And the livery. He loves the horses. He'll be a Mountie before we know it. I figure, I'll teach him hand to hand combat next week."
Elizabeth raised her eyebrows at Jack.
"Okay, maybe not hand to hand combat. He's still doesn't have that whole eye-hand coordination thing down pat yet. And he tends to keep one hand in his mouth at all times. . . . But once he stops sucking on his little fist, we'll work on his right hook."
"But I did put him on his stomach so he could practice his push-ups. Mounties need good upper body strength to rescue all those damsels in distress", he added with a straight face.
Elizabeth choked on her tea as she started to laugh.
Two days later, Elizabeth held her son for the first time in a week.
"Come here, Pumpkin", she said as snuggled the infant.
"Jack. His name is Jack. Or Thatch. Or Jack Thatcher. Or even J.T. It is not Pumpkin", Jack reminded her with a laugh.
Jack took off his shoes and climbed into bed next to Elizabeth.
"Your milk has probably dried up quite a bit, so he'll probably need to feed every two hours until you build up a good supply. Back to square one, I'm afraid", Jack informed her.
"What?" Jack said with a shrug when Elizabeth stared at him in bewilderment.
"I learned a lot about feeding when you were sick", he replied defensively. "By the way, the women in town have been bringing over food for me. There's enough left in the icebox for you, but I don't want you eating anything spicy or with a lot of flavor, I'm not sure Thatch will like the taste of your milk if you do. So, I'm going to keep your diet simple."
Elizabeth shook her head and snickered at Jack's new found knowledge of breastfeeding. "I'm just glad you managed so well without me. I'm sorry I got sick."
Jack reached his hand out and stroked his son's fine hair. "I've been thinking a lot. While you were sick. Maybe I shouldn't be a Mountie. There's a lot of worrying involved when I'm gone", he said slowly.
"Jack, I'm fine. I know I worry about you with your job being dangerous. But I knew that when I married you. I trust you to be safe. You certainly don't need to stop being a Mountie!"
"I don't mean you worrying about me. I can take care of myself. I mean me worrying about you and the baby.'
"For goodness sakes, why would you worry about us?"
Jack looked at her. "You're joking, right?"
"And just what is that supposed to mean?" Elizabeth asked incredulously,
"Do I even need to explain?" Jack asked just as incredulously as he looked at her.
"Yes, you do!" Elizabeth demanded.
"When I came back home after being away, you were almost dying of Scarlet Fever, and the time before that, we thought our son was stolen!"
"There's no need to be so dramatic", Elizabeth said dismissively.
Jack chuckled. "Okay, no drama. Of course, if you don't like drama, you probably won't like this", he said as he got up from the bed and walked over to the dresser.
Opening a drawer, he pulled out a small wrapped box.
"Happy Valentine's Day", he said as he handed her the present and leaned in for a kiss.
Up next: Chapter 5. Preview: "I wish . . . "
