An: Well, without further ado, a new chapter!
"Here you are Elizabeth." Jack whispered as he placed a bowl of apple slices in his wife's waiting hands. She smiled shyly at him and took a bite of an apple. Jack grinned at her, and sat back down on his side of the bed.
"I would have gotten up to get them myself." Elizabeth insisted.
"I know. But I wanted to do it for you." Jack smiled, and rested his hand on her ever growing stomach. "I sort of like spoiling you."
"You're sweet." Elizabeth smiled, and moved to kiss him. "I don't know why, but baby seems to want nothing but apples, and at the strangest times! Like just now, I was fast asleep, and then I woke up, and it hit me. Apples, I need apples."
"Well it's not like it's anything strange. You could be Julie." Elizabeth winced slightly even at the mention of her younger sisters craving for onions. Just a day ago, she'd seen her eat one as if it were an apple.
"Yes, thank goodness for that." Elizabeth laughed. She ate another apple slice, and then reached for the glass of water she had on the bedside table, only to knock it over. "Oh no!" She gasped, and went to get up.
"It's okay, I've got it." Jack said, and was up as quick as a flash of light. Before Elizabeth even had time to protest, it seemed he had finished cleaning up the mess, and had placed a new glass of water in her hand.
"My goodness, if this is how you're going to treat me while I'm pregnant, maybe we should have a dozen children." Jack smiled at her and went back to his side of the bed. Elizabeth grinned even as she took a sip of the cool water, and then nearly spit it out.
"What is it? Are you alright?" Jack asked.
"Mmm. Mhm." Was all she could muster. She set the glass of water down carefully and put the apples beside her on the bed, and reached for Jack's hand. She very carefully pulled her nightgown out of the way, and placed his hand on her bare stomach.
"What's going on?" Jack asked, but Elizabeth shushed him.
"Hm...wait, here." She whispered, and moved his hand slightly to the side. He almost laughed at her antics, but then he felt it.
"Is that, Elizabeth, is that our baby?" Elizabeth nodded, and Jack leaned in to kiss her warmly, reverently.
"It's amazing! Isn't it amazing? They're moving, really moving!" She laughed, and moved his hand again so he could feel the gentle kicking. "You feel it too, don't you? You've got to be able to feel it."
"Yes, I feel it. Wow." Jack laughed quietly. Elizabeth grinned broadly, picked up her apples, and settled back against his chest. His arms wrapped around her waist, with both of his hands resting gently on the smooth skin of her stomach.
"This is real. Jack, we're going to be made a little baby." Elizabeth laughed, and took another bite of her apples.
"Yeah, we did." Jack said as he kissed her hair. They stayed up late into the night, talking, and reveling in their future together.
….
"Good Morning Julie." Elizabeth chirped when she entered the kitchen the next morning.
"You're in a good mood." Julie observed.
"With good reason." Elizabeth giggled. She reached for her sister's hand, and put it on her belly. "If you just wait a minute…"
"What's this all about?" Julie asked.
"The baby was kicking last night, and a little while I was getting dressed."
"The baby was kicking, and you didn't tell me immediately?" Julie gasped.
"You were sleeping, Julie." Elizabeth laughed. "You've got to rest up. Tomorrow is going to be a long day." Julie pouted. "I know. I wish you didn't have to go either."
"Well, Tom does have to get back to work. And soon, mind you. We've probably been gone too long as it is." Julie sighed.
"You're the one who extended the length of your trip by another week." Elizabeth reminded her as she went to light the stove.
"I couldn't stand the thought of traveling when I was feeling so terrible! It wasn't my fault. I blame the baby." Julie sniffed. Elizabeth chuckled, and went around the kitchen, gathering everything she needed to make breakfast. "But leaving you, is going to be very hard. I've grown accustomed to being around you again."
"Well it isn't goodbye forever, Julie. We'll be seeing each other again before you know it." Elizabeth said. "Besides, we still have the whole day ahead of us. Tom and Jack are in town, it's just us girls. Abigail and Rosemary are going to come over to have lunch with us." As she worked to prepare breakfast, she grabbed an apple from the basket of them on the counter. Jack made sure there were always plenty in their house these days.
"That will be exciting! Oh, that Rosemary is quite a charmer, and she has such a lovely voice! I'll miss her when I leave too. Of course, I'll miss Abigail as well. But I'll miss her cooking very much, especially her cranberry muffins! Oh, I could just eat those by the dozen." Julie said dreamily. "Are you making an omelette?"
"No, pancakes. Why?" Elizabeth asked.
"No reason." Julie said. She rose, and went to grab an onion from a basket.
"Oh, Julie. You can't be serious?!" Elizabeth sighed.
"I can't help it, Beth! It's what the baby wants! It's just like you with your apples!" Julie said as she peeled the onion.
"No, Apples are a normal food, Julie. People don't just pick up onions and eat them like candy." Elizabeth laughed. Julie pouted, and set the onion on the counter. "Oh, don't give me that look...Here, if you'd like, I'll fry it up for you in some butter." Julie's eyes lit up, and Elizabeth laughed again. "Slice it up- but be careful now, don't get your fingers!"
"I think I can slice an onion, Beth. I might not be a whiz in the kitchen, like you, but I'm not entirely incapable. In fact, I'm very good at prepping things...I just can't cook them." Julie said, and a second later they both began to laugh. While they cooked, they talked, they laughed, and they enjoyed each other's company. Neither of them mentioned that the next day they would be separated again. As they took their seats at the table, Julie looked at her sister, and smiled. "I'm glad, you know. About all of this. I'm thankful that you took the job out here, in the middle of nowhere. Just look what it set in motion."
"I'm glad too." Elizabeth smiled. She lifted her glass of water to her lips, and not ten seconds later, she felt a soft bumping against the side of her belly. "Mmph!" She sputtered, and reached for her sister's hand. This time, Julie was not disappointed.
"Woah! Beth! That's unbelieveable!" Julie giggled. Elizabeth nodded and smiled, and then focused back in on her breakfast, as her stomach was rumbling rather fiercely. She poured a generous amount of honey over her pancakes, though Julie covered hers in molasas, and much to Elizabeth's dismay, fried onions.
…
Several hours later, it seemed that everyone had felt the baby kick, except for a very insulted Rosemary. Try as she might, she always seemed to just miss it, and being Rosemary, she took it personally.
"That's it. The baby hates me!" She declared, withdrawing her hand from Elizabeth's stomach for the fifteenth time. Elizabeth concealed her laughter by taking a bite of the apple pie that Abigail had so kindly brought for them to enjoy after a lunch of soup and biscuits prepared by Elizabeth.
"The baby doesn't hate you Rosemary, It doesn't have any idea that someone expects it to kick!" Abigail said gently. Rosemary nodded, but still she didn't smile.
"They don't kick very often, I only notice it every few hours." Elizabeth said.
"But Julie has felt it, Abigail's felt it! It hardly seems fair!" Rosemary huffed. Elizabeth bit back another laugh, and took another bite of her pie.
"According to the book I've been reading, The movements will become more and more frequent as things progress. I'm sure it won't be long before you get a chance to feel it." Elizabeth assured her.
"I'm still upset that she beat me to it. I've been married longer." Julie giggled.
"It isn't a competition, Julie." Elizabeth groaned.
"I got married three months before you, So it would only make sense that my baby be due first. But I guess that Jack was just quicker to the point than Tom." Julie teased. Elizabeth dropped her fork, and it clattered against her plate.
"Julie Thornton! That is not appropriate!" Elizabeth gasped. Rosemary laughed loudly.
"I suppose it makes sense- as children, Jack was always beating Tom at foot races!" Rosemary said, and Elizabeth felt her face grow hot.
"Let's change our topic of discussion, Hm?" Elizabeth suggested.
"Oh no, we've made Beth uncomfortable!" Julie giggled, and took Rosemary's hand.
"You two have just become as thick as thieves, haven't you?" Abigail chuckled.
"Indeed we have Abigail! Julie is a marvelous little treasure! I'm going to miss her dearly when she's gone away." Rosemary sighed.
"And I will miss you, Rosemary. You're such wonderful company." Julie sighed.
"Oh, let's not dwell on the negative!" Elizabeth said. "Here let's talk about Julie's baby- she's picked out names for it."
"Well, I have a name for a girl, and a name for a boy. Elizabeth and Jack haven't agreed on one yet, but Tom mostly will go along with whatever I suggest...well, within reason. He did veto a few of my ideas. But we finally agreed. If it is a boy, we shall call him Raymond Leonard, and if it's a girl, we will call her Estelle Elizabeth." Julie announced with a smile. Elizabeth smiled at her sister.
"Those are lovely names Julie! They sound so regal!" Rosemary smiled, and took another slice of pie. "Oh Elizabeth, You ought to be careful what you eat."
"It's fine, Rosemary, she's pregnant for goodness sake!" Julie laughed. "Come to mention it, so am I. I'll take another slice, Abigail. You're a whiz in the kitchen. I wish the things I made were half as good as what you make."
"Practice makes perfect Julie." Abigail said with a smile.
"So I've been told. But no matter how I practice, I just can't seem to get the hang of it." Julie groaned, and then took a bite of her pie. "Mmm. I do just love sweets. I shouldn't be at all surprised if I altogether burst out of my clothes."
"You see, I don't understand how you can laugh at things like that!" Rosemary sighed. Elizabeth bit her tongue, and Abigail put a gentle hand on her knee.
"When a woman is expecting, Rosemary, you'll see that husbands don't mind it if their wives put on some weight. I actually found that it was quite the opposite. When I was pregnant with Peter, Noah was...especially appreciative of my figure." Abigail said with a far away smile.
"Really? It didn't put a damper on your love life?" Rosemary asked.
"Heavens no!" Abigail laughed. "The opposite, actually." As she spoke, she had a twinkle in her eye. She casually sipped her tea, and Julie nearly choked on hers while laughing. She reached across the table to take Abigails hand.
"Mmm! I wish I never had to leave!" Julie sighed. "But alas, I must. But I'll be back, I'm sure. I'll have to see my little niece or nephew before they're too old! Though, I don't think I'll be able to come for the birth, seeing as I'll be nearly eight months gone by then."
"Don't worry Julie, I'm certain we won't let too much time pass." Elizabeth assured her. They sat talking late into the afternoon, laughing and dreaming of the antics the two newest Thornton's would get into as they grew.
AN:Hello my fellow hearties, and a happy new year! I'm sorry it's been so long since I've updated! I feel terrible! I hope you enjoy this chapter, if you're still out there!