School returned to session on January 4th. Jack had left early that morning to go to the jail, leaving Elizabeth to walk by herself to school. On the way there she kept getting the feeling she was being followed, but when she would turn around to check, no one would be there. It reminded her of when Gregory Williams was stalking her but she knew that was impossible since he was dead. As she got closer to school, the feeling became less and less. She started thinking about her day ahead; what she was going to teach in school and then her checkup with Dr. Matthews.
The children had a hard time calming down; they were all still excited from their winter holiday. Elizabeth had planned for this to happen so for their first assignment she asked them to write an essay about what they did on their break. That did the trick and then she was able to start the rest of the lessons she had planned for the day.
When she dismissed the children for lunch, she stayed inside the school house to eat. As she bit into her sandwich, she thought she felt the baby move for the first time. She set her sandwich down and brought both hands to her belly. After a few minutes she felt it again; it felt like a butterfly was flapping its wings inside her stomach. She felt a huge smile grow on her face as she felt the fluttering again and again. She wished that Jack would be able to feel it too, but it would be a little while longer before he could.
Jack walked into the school house just as that moment and saw his wife grinning and her eyes shining with happy tears. He walked up to her desk as she looked up and saw him. "What has you so happy, Mrs. Thornton?"
"Jack!" She exclaimed as she stood up to kiss him. "I just felt the baby move!"
Jack smiled and put his hand on her stomach. He frowned when he didn't feel anything.
"Jack, you won't be able to feel the movement for a few more weeks. It just felt like fluttering to me. Not a true kick but it was definitely movement."
Jack felt a little disappointed that he couldn't feel the baby but happy at the same time that she could. It meant that things were going fine with the baby. "I can't wait to feel it." He leaned down to kiss her. "Other than that, how is your day going?"
"It's been fine. I had planned for the children to be distracted from their holiday, so I asked them to write an essay about it. Once they were done, they calmed down enough for me to do my regular lessons."
"That's good." He kissed her again. "I missed you, so that's why I am here now. Would you like me to walk you home later?"
"Actually Jack, I am not going home right away. I have a checkup with Dr. Matthews."
"You do? Why didn't you tell me?"
"It's not a big deal. He is just going to check things out to make sure the pregnancy is going ok. I thought you might still be doing rounds when I have my appointment so I didn't mention it to you. If you want to come with me you can, if you don't have work."
"I would love to. I am sure Bill would be willing to do afternoon rounds for me. Then I can pick you up, go with you to the doctor and then go home with you. We could pick up something for dinner from the café."
"That sounds nice, Jack, but I can meet you in town. There is no need for you to leave the jail to pick me up and then walk back."
"That's fine. Meet me at the jail?" He said as he leaned down to give her one last kiss and put his hand on her belly. "I love you both."
"We love you too. See you later."
The rest of the school day went by quickly. Soon it was time to dismiss the students. She put her things into her basket and closed up the school for the day. She was walking towards town when she again got that feeling that someone was watching her. She started to walk faster, wanting to get into town fast. She found herself wishing she had taken Jack up on his offer to walk her to town. As she continued her fast pace to town, she thought about whether she should tell Jack about her uneasiness or keep it quiet. She knew he would worry but she also knew she would not be able to keep it to herself. He always knew when something was wrong with her. She knew what she had to do.
Just as she reached town, she no longer felt like she was being followed. She breathed a sigh of relief. She walked towards the jail and walked in. Jack looked up from the desk and smiled at her. Then he frowned; she didn't seem happy anymore, like she was earlier. "Is something wrong, Elizabeth? Do we have time to talk before your appointment?"
"Yes, we do. I don't have a set time. We worked it out that I would just stop by after school. If he is out on a call, I will just come back later. I would rather go to the appointment and then talk to you."
"All right, if you're sure." He got up and put on his coat. He offered his arm to Elizabeth and they walked out of the jail towards the doctor's office. Jack was worried about her. He wondered if something happened with the baby since lunch and that was why she wanted to see the doctor first. He had lots of questions but held them back until after the appointment.
They walked up the steps to Dr. Matthews's office and he knocked on the door. They waited until they heard the doctor say "Come in." and then opened the door. "Good afternoon, Elizabeth, Jack. Come into the exam room and I can do your checkup." They followed him back and Jack helped Elizabeth unto the exam table. "How are you feeling, Elizabeth?"
"I feel great, Doctor. I am still a little tired at the end of the day but that is to be expected. I felt the baby move today!" Her eyes lit up as she spoke; Jack realized whatever was bothering her was not the baby.
"That's wonderful. I am sure that was very exciting for you. And don't worry Jack. You will be able to feeling the baby move in no time."
"I am looking forward to it." Jack said as he smiled. He always grinned when he talked about the baby.
The rest of the exam went well. Dr. Matthews was pleased with how Elizabeth was doing. She was very healthy and she was on track to deliver a healthy baby. Jack and Elizabeth thanked the doctor and left. As they walked down the street to leave town, Jack stopped his wife.
"Elizabeth please tell me what is on your mind."
She looked up at him and sighed. "I would rather go home first. I'm cold and tired. I would much rather talk to you sitting in front of a warm fire. Please?" She looked up at him with a pleading look in her gorgeous blue eyes.
Jack looked at her face. She was obviously scare of something but he couldn't tell what. He agreed to go home because he certainly could not let her freeze, not while she was pregnant, well not ever but certainly not now. He put his arm over her shoulders to warm her up a little. "Let's go home, Sweetheart."
"Wait a minute." She stopped in the road. "Didn't you want to get dinner for us from the café?"
"I already did. I stopped by the café after I saw you earlier. Abigail made roast chicken today. I took the plates home and then headed back to work."
"You think of everything." She replied as they continued their walk. Soon they arrived home. Elizabeth went to the kitchen to make some tea while Jack started the fire. Soon they were sitting on the couch with two cups of tea on the coffee table.
Jack took her hand and squeezed it. "Talk to me, Elizabeth. What is bothering you?"
She took a deep breath. "Jack, this morning when I walked to school, I had the feeling I was being followed."
"What?" Jack exclaimed. "Why didn't you tell me this at lunch?"
"I thought I was just imaging it. Then when I walked over to town after school, I had the feeling again. It felt like….." She trailed off, realizing how silly it would be to admit what it felt like to her.
Jack looked frightened for a moment. "It felt like what? You can tell me"
She looked into his eyes. "This is going to be silly, but it reminded me of when Gregory Williams was stalking me back in college." She lowered her gaze, to hide the tears she had in her eyes. She was upset with herself for letting this bother her so much.
Jack lifted her face up to look at his. He wiped the tears from her cheeks. "Elizabeth, don't cry. I will work to figure this out. For now, you are not to walk alone anywhere. I will work something out with Bill so I can walk you to and from school. If I can't be there for you, I will have Bill or Abigail walk with you."
"Thank you, Jack. I have to admit I thought about not telling you, but quickly realized that would be a mistake. I knew you would start an investigation."
"I am glad you decided to say something. I don't want you keeping things inside that would cause you stress. You can't afford to be upset right now." He leaned over to kiss her, then pulled her in his arms. She snuggled closer to him, feeling very safe, sitting there in front of the fire with his arms around her.