Chapter 90

Jack spent two hours working in his new office. He loved it. Elizabeth did such a great job in decorating it. He often sat and stared at her sketch. It brought back great memories for him. Jack looked up when there was a knock on his door.

"Come in."

"Alright, Chief. There are two phone calls you need to return and one you need to make. Then you are going home."

"First, you do not knock. You know my schedule and what I'm doing. Unless it's Elizabeth or I'm in an important meeting, you come in. Secondly, it's not Chief. Thirdly, go home at this hour?"

"You are moving into a new house today. You need to be home to help."

"There is twelve young men there at this moment carrying everything in. I doubt they need my help."

"Elizabeth may need it. Now, I will transfer the first call back in a minute and then get the other one ready. Now, get busy. Your break is over. You have a job to do." Emma stated and turned to walk out of the office.

Jack shook his head and a moment later his phone beeped. He sat up in his office chair and picked up the receiver. "Hello, Chief Thorton here." His title seemed odd to him.

…

"This is a way to move." Declared Beth. "These boys work hard."

"Yes they do. You should see them eat." Elizabeth laughed.

"I have heard about their time at Abagail's. I heard she had to call in an emergency food order to arrive tomorrow or she would have to close for the day."

"I could easily believe that." Elizabeth turned toward her mother. She had been quite since she came downstairs from her room.

"Mother, are you ok?"

She nodded her head without looking at her middle daughter.

"Elizabeth, I think the improvements you made on your home is amazing. I love each and every one of them."

"Thank you Beth."

"This is what I always wanted for this house. A loving, growing family living here that will love this home as much as I do. This is perfect."

"Thank you, Beth. I am in love with it."

"That's great dear. Now, do they ever slow down?" Beth asked as she nodded her head toward a couple of young men walking into the house with two boxes each.

"I don't think they do."

Each time a young man would walk into the house, Elizabeth would direct them to where they needed to take whatever they had. Henry was loving every minute of helping the older boys. He was holding his own. The men took him under their wings. They liked this little kid, even Franklin.

Two of the young men were in the master bedroom putting together the bed and arranging the furniture like Elizabeth told them.

"Ladies, I think I'm going to start on the kitchen." Mentioning Elizabeth as she stood.

One of the players coming back from upstairs heard what she said.

"Mrs. Thorton, just tell me where things go, and I will put them away. They are almost done with the truck."

"Really?"

"Yes, ma'am. They should be done in about ten minutes."

"Well, in that case, you can all go when the truck is finished."

"If it's ok with you ma'am, we prefer to help put things away in the house. At least as much as we can do."

She looked at him confused. This is not what she would have thought teenage boys would want to do during summer break. She knew this counted part of their conditioning today, but they have been working for hours.

"You don't need to do that."

"Ma'am, we would prefer to. You two have helped so many people and us too."

She was confused at his statement. "I don't understand."

"Well, you have taught a couple of our siblings and they loved you. You were so kind to them and to us as well. Plus, Chief Thorton helped Samuel. He is one of the lineman's cousins. He said that Chief Thorton made the police officer stay with his family until they felt comfortable enough to be alone. She wasn't allowed to leave until Amanda dismissed her. That was very kind of him."

Elizabeth nodded her head. "Thank you for all your help."

"Yes ma'am. We can put boxes away and hang pictures if you would like for us too. Whatever you want from us, please just ask."

She sat on a stool at the island telling a couple of people which cabinet or drawer a box would go in. She was amazed at how hard the young men worked. She was also impressed with how well they all got along with each other. There was a good bit of joking, but she knew there was friendship among them all.

…

Elizabeth smiled when the truck from the furniture store arrived. She was so excited to see the new furniture for the baby.

"Alright young men. This all goes into the nursery. Whatever you do, please do not scratch any of this."

The young men nodded their heads. They could tell by the tone in her voice that she was serious.

"We will be careful." A huge lineman stated. "Now Mrs. Thorton, would you please step aside?"

She smiled at the protectiveness of the young guy.

With all the baby furniture off the truck, she turned to the driver. "Do I need to sign anything?"

"Yes ma'am. First, I have never seen anyone unload a truck so quickly. That was kind of impressive."

"Yes, they have worked hard."

"There is one more piece."

Elizabeth watched the young men unload the truck. She knew there wasn't a piece that was missing.

"I don't believe so. Everything was there." She asked a little confused.

The driver waved for a couple of men to come to the truck. "No ma'am. I have a writing desk on my list. It's in front of the truck."

The two men jumped into the truck and carried the desk to the end of the truck where two other men took it off the truck. The driver took the protective padding off and Elizabeth gasped.

"That's gorgeous." One of the men stated.

"It is." Elizabeth stated.

She picked up her phone and called Jack.

"Jack, the baby's furniture is here. Is there something you need to tell me?" She didn't give him an opportunity to say anything when he answered the call.

"Oh…yes. There is an antique writer's desk I purchased when you were talking to your mother. I loved it and I knew you would. I thought it could go in the house for you to use." He spent a few minutes relaying the information the sales woman told him. She stood beside the desk running her hand over it as he told her the information.

"Jack, that's so cool. Thank you. I love that a teacher will continue to use it. I just hope the previous teacher wouldn't be upset if I use my laptop on it."

"I believe the previous teacher would be grateful a teacher is still using it."

…

After thirty minutes, Grace walked up to Elizaeth and placed her arm around her shoulder and gave her a gentle squeeze.

"Thank you, dear."

"For what, mother."

"My new bedroom."

"Well, that was Jack's idea, and I was fine with it. We decorated it together."

"That was very nice of you two. I don't really know what to say."

"You don't have to say anything. You are my mother. I hope you use it often."

"I can't believe it. It's just amazing. And to think, I was afraid Jack was going to hold this William issue against me. I should have known better." She shook her head knowing Jack would never do that.

"I'm sorry mother." Elizabeth asked confused. "William issue? Is there more to this than I know?"

"Oh…I thought you knew the full extent of it."

"Thought I know what?"

Grace was stunned that Elizabeth didn't know the whole story that her father was still holding ill will against Jack. Then she smiled knowing Jack would never say anything to her because he wouldn't want to cause a rift between father and daughter.

"While you and your father have made up over his little issue over your wedding, he has not forgiven Jack. He still holds it against him."

"Ill will?" Asked a confused Elizabeth "Mother, what are you talking about?"

"Dear, your father avoids Jack at all costs. He refuses to talk to him and when he has too, it's very short and curt."

"I didn't know that." She thought back over the last few months. She realized when her father would call and Jack would answer the phone, Jack would quickly hand the phone over to her with very little said. She just didn't know. Jack never said anything to her.

"Yes. William will talk for several minutes to Tom, but not to Jack. Jack knows this and he has said that William is always welcomed here, but that their relationship is strained and will remain that way because William does not like him."

Grace could see the redness overtake Elizabeth's face. When she was really mad, there would be a small blood vessel that would pop out on her forehead. She instantly saw the blood vessel.

"Elizabeth, Jack didn't say anything because he didn't want to cause any problems between you and your father. He wanted to keep the peace."

"But there isn't any peace if father is still holding a grudge against him. This is much deeper than I know, isn't it?"

"Jack is willing to take that punch to keep peace for you."

Elizabeth huffed. She honestly thought this was all behind them. Now, she just found out that her father was being rude to her husband. As a result, he was being rude to her. Her and Jack are one. You mess with one of them, you mess with both of them.

"This will not do. Now, please excuse me for a moment. I need some air."

Grace knew this wouldn't end well, but she realized now that it will not end well for William. When Elizabeth would excuse herself for some air, she was about to lose it. She was that way as a young teenager. It didn't happen often, but when it did…oh boy, did someone catch the short end of her anger. Grace shook her head slightly and mumbled to herself. "William will regret this for the rest of his life."

…

Elizabeth stepped out onto the vast front porch and found the swing to sit down. A young man looked in her direction wanting to ask a question, but once he saw Elizabeth's facial expression, he instantly turned and walked the other way. All the other young men saw her expression and knew to stay away. Elizabeth was mumbling something, but no one could understand what she was saying, and no one was brave enough to get close enough to find out.

Elizabeth's face grew redder by the moment. She couldn't believe her father was still acting this way. Jack was a great husband and Elizbeth wouldn't change a thing about their marriage. If he was a horrible husband, she could understand her father's point of view. However, Jack was what every father should want for his daughter.

She loved her father and always will, but Jack was her husband. She chose him and would choose him every day of her life. While he wasn't a perfect man by any measure, she was certain he was perfect for her. By being that way toward Jack, her father was disrespecting her. While that was bad in and of itself, her father was dishonoring her husband and that simply won't do. She growled at the anger that was growing inside of her.

…

Emma stepped into Jack's office without knocking this time. Jack looked up at her with a smile. After a few seconds, he hung up the phone.

"That wasn't too bad." Jack stated.

"The next one is ready on line two. This should be a courtesy call like the other ones, but I will check back in five minutes. If he continues on with a pet project of his, nod at me and I will get you off the phone."

Jack smiled. "Is this you watching my back?"

"Absolutely. Now, you're on the clock." She stated looking at her watch. "The third call you need to make then you are out of here."

"Ok, Boss Lady. Then you will be fifteen minutes later."

"Jack, I have a job and it doesn't end this early."

"Your day ends fifteen minutes after my day ends. Now, who is this person I'm about to speak too?"

"Jack, I have things I need to do. I just can't…"

"Fifteen minutes, Boss Lady." Jack gave her a stern look that left no doubt that this discussion was finished. "You will do a great job for Hope Valley, and you will have a personal life with Steven. We will balance the two well."

"Hello sir…Yes, thank you for that… We are hoping the people of Hope Valley will be happy with the police force."

…

Jack stopped by the grocery store to pick up six large watermelons for the young men. He also picked up some ice cream and pickles for Elizabeth. He still couldn't believe she loved ice cream and pickles. It just didn't make any sense to him. He also picked up some chocolate syrup for the ice cream. He thought she may like that but the thought of it all made his stomach turn.

Jack was shocked when he pulled up to their new house and the moving truck was already parked on the side of the road with the back door closed. "They can't be done so soon." He stated as he got out of the truck. As three young men stepped out of the house, he waved for them to come over to help.

The men were excited about the watermelons and the three carried everything into the house. As he stepped closer to the house, he noticed his love sitting on the new swing on the porch. He instantly knew something was wrong. Her facial expression was a new one he hasn't seen before. He saw a lesser version on it before, but this expression was worse. He didn't know what happened but something bad was coming.

He sat down beside Elizabeth. She smiled at him, but it was a forced smile. "Hey love. What's wrong? Did something happen with the move? I'm sorry I couldn't help."

"Jack, today was your first day. You couldn't miss work today. It's fine."

"Ok…what's wrong. Did one of the young men do something or say something?"

"No, they have been wonderful. They have worked so hard. We need to do something special for them all."

"Ok. Sweetheart, what's wrong. I'm getting a little worried with your expression and the blood vessel popping out on your forehead."

"Jack, why didn't you say anything about my father?"

"Oh…well…"

"Mother let it slip today. She was so touched with the bedroom, and she said that she was a little concerned that you would hold William's issue against her."

"I would never do that."

"She knows that. She was just moved by the gesture of the bedroom. Now, why didn't you tell me about my father. I had no idea it was this bad."

"Well…" Jack took his time to make sure he said it the right way. "That was the idea. I didn't want to drive a wedge between you and your father."

"Jack, he is the one driving a wedge between us."

"Elizabeth, you and your father have a good relationship. I don't want to cause any trouble." He paused for a moment. "Elizabeth, I miss my father very much. I wish every day he was here. I would love to speak to him. I want him to see me as a father. I would love to see him as a grandpa." He wiped a small tear away before it fell down his cheek. "I think he would be a great grandpa. He would love Ig and Iggy. He would spoil them so bad that we would smell them before we would see them. He would love you. He would love to see Tom and Julie and what they are growing into. But he can't. He isn't here. Other than you, Ig, and Iggy, I would give everything I have for a five minute conversation with him." He exhaled a deep breath trying to release the tension that was building up in him. "Your father is here. You have an opportunity for that five minute conversation. I will not stand in the way of that. I'm sorry he doesn't like me."

"Jack…Officer T would have been a terrific grandfather. He would be so proud of you, but this thing with my father is of his doing. Just like you had no choice in your father's death, we have no choice with my father if he decides to stay away. Yes, he is still with us. We have that opportunity to talk, but if he chooses to act this way, we have no choice."

"But madra calda…

"Jack, it's me and you." She turned to face him. "Those aren't just words we say. They have meaning and they mean everything to me. When he, or anyone, disrespects you, they disrespect me. My father has no right to act that way toward you."

Anyone could see the storm brewing in her eyes. Jack sat silently for a minute. He didn't want a problem to arise. He was grateful that Elizabeth and her father had a good relationship. He was thankful for Adam, but he would give anything to have a relationship with his father. He didn't have that opportunity and he wasn't going to steal that away because William didn't like him. Jack reached out his hand with him palm up. He was relieved when she instantly took it.

"Me and you." Jack stated. "It's ok Eliza…"

"Jack, this is completely unacceptable." She cut him off. Her tone left no doubt where she stood. "My love, my husband, and the father of my children will be respected by my family. It's me and you." She emphasized the word 'and'. "Not just Jack or Elizabeth. We are one!" Her voice was starting to get a little louder. "My father will need to understand that!"

"E-liz-a-beth." She calmed a little when he elongated her name. It didn't have its usual effect on her but it did calm her a little. "You are my everything. I love you and I want you happy."

"I'm happy when you are happy."

Jack gave her a dimpled smile. "Your relationship with you father is important and I will not be the cause of a family dispute."

"You are not the cause of a family dispute. My father is. Jack, you are a kind man. You are gentle with me, and you take great care of me and my babies."

"Our babies." He smirked.

"Fine, our babies even though I am doing all the work at the moment." She smirked back placing her left hand on her baby bump. That was the first true smile that came on her face since Jack got home. "We are a family. You and me. We decided to get married and begin our life together. We love each other and we are walking this life together. You love me more than I can ever express. I am thankful for you. You have done everything a father should want for his little girl. At some point our little Cinderella will meet a man and you will want that type of man in her life."

"First, my daughter is not dating!" He gave her a stern father face. "So, at least one of those babies is a girl?" He sassed referring back to her dream.

"Yes, I believe so."

"Sweetheart, we will figure this out together." She smiled at him. "But this is our first day in our home. Can we make it a good day? I don't want our first night in our home to be filled with negative talk." Jack pleaded hoping the rest of the day would be nice.

"Fine. I will take care of this soon." She scooted a little closer to her husband. "What exactly are you wanting to do in our new home for the first night?" She flirted.

"Well, your mother will be staying with us, so a few options are off the table."

"Jack!" She playfully smacked his arm. However, she was beginning to imagine a few options if her mother wasn't there.

"Our bedroom is downstairs and hers is upstairs. I think we can find something to do in our room."

"Great, how am I supposed to concentrate on anything for the rest of the day with that thought rolling around in my head?"

Jack laughed at her using one of his lines. "Now, let's go see what the young men have done."

…

Grace and Beth were in the kitchen showing the young men where to unpack the next box.

"Beth, I think we need to order pizzas for these young men."

"Yes, ma'am." One of the young men agreed.

"Well, there are twelve of them, I'm guessing they will eat one pizza by themselves."

"If what I have heard about what they did at Abagail's, I would say so."

Grace laughed. "I wouldn't have believed it if I didn't see it with my own eyes. So, that would be twelve pizzas for the young men, then we need some for the rest of us."

Beth started counting. "Jack and Elizabeth, us two, Tom and Julie, and James and Viola. That's an additional eight. Let's get an extra four pizzas. We can leave the left overs for Jack and Elizabeth for the next couple of days."

"Perfect." Grace stated. I'll grab a pen and paper and see what each young man will want and then we will order the food."

"Perfect. Are you up to halving the cost?"

"Absolutely." Grace stated. "Let's get this ordered before they realize they are hungry." Both ladies laughed.

…

Jack and Elizabeth walked into the living room and Jack stopped just inside of the living room. He looked around and noticed that everything was perfectly set up except for pictures and art on the walls. Everything was already set up and placed exactly where Elizabeth has mentioned before the move. The kitchen was the same. The table was already in place and all the furniture was cleaned. There was one young man washing dishes, one was drying, and another one was putting those items in cabinets and drawers. They were talking and having a great time. Jack also heard noises upstairs.

"Elizabeth, how did they do all of this in such a short period of time?" He was astonished at what they accomplished.

"They have worked very hard today."

"I would say so."

Jack walked up to the dining room table and ran his finger over the back of a chair. "Elizabeth, you did a great job picking this out. It looked great in the pictures, but it looks even better in person."

"It does and it matches perfectly with the house."

"Yes, it does."

They slowly walked into the living room and Jack noticed all the furniture was already arranged. He also noticed the bookshelf his mother made for Elizabeth and him.

"I still can't believe ma made that."

"I know, but it is gorgeous. It's my favorite color. mom said that Adam helped, but Adam said that she did most of the work."

"I never knew she could do that type of work."

"I think she has taken to it quickly. She helps Adam with all the projects he does for church. Adam says she is getting very handy."

"I think she likes being productive and helpful."

"I also think she likes being with Adam." Sassed Elizabeth.

"I do believe you are right."

They spent a few moments walking the house just looking at everything and talking with each young man. They were impressed by these men. They worked hard and enjoyed their time together. They also welcomed Henry into the group easily. Julie, Tom, and Frank were outside working on the back porch setting up the grill and the table and chairs.

They walked upstairs and looked at Grace's room. "Jack, she loved it."

"We did a good job of picking everything out. You did a great job with the pictures and the artwork. It looks amazing."

They stepped into the nursery. Both of them decided they wanted to be the ones to decorate it. It was painted, but that was it. Jack wanted to assemble the cribs and the furniture himself. They wanted to arrange all the furniture and hang the pictures. This was their one room of the house that they would do themselves. Jack was almost done with the toy chests with the help of Adam. Elizabeth knew Jack was doing something, but she didn't know what his surprise was. She tried to convince him to tell her, but he wasn't sharing. She noticed the sketch that Jack made of her leaning against the far wall of the room. She loved that sketch. The details Jack placed into it was special. She loved the look on her face looking down on her baby bump and her hands on each side in a protective manner. She would often look at it when she was becoming overwhelmed with her changing body.

Jack noticed where her gazed was directed. "I hope you don't mind, but I would like to hang that in here. I think it will remind Ig and Iggy how much their mother loves them, and she will always watch over them and protect them."

She tightened her hold on him and nodded her head. He knew she was ok with it even though she didn't say anthing.

As they stepped out of the nursery, they heard the men cheer. Elizabeth looked at Jack. "There must be the food."

"Let's go then. Pregnant woman is hungry."

…

The adults sat at the dining room table while the football players sat on the back porch and some in the living room on the floor.

"Chief and Mrs. Thorton, and Mrs. Thatcher, would you please come to one of our games? We will leave you a ticket at the box office for you three."

"We would love to come." Elizabeth stated. She wasn't a football fan, but she liked these men. "You let us know your schedule and we will come to as many as we can." Jack agreed nodding his head.

She looked around her new house. She loved the fact that it was full of people. Her family was sitting around the dining room table, and everyone was talking to everyone. The conversations were lively and fun to listen too. She looked outside the French doors leading to the back porch and saw Henry sitting with a few of the football players laughing and enjoying his time. He was so excited getting to meet them since they played sports. To him, they were bigger than life. Elizabeth smiled knowing the men took him in quickly and made him feel like he was part of the group. Frank, Tom, and James were in a lively conversation about baseball. Frank and Tom were huge Red Sox fans while James was a Yankee fan.

"And I thought I liked you." Smiled Tom.

"Listen, Tom." James began with a smile. "I will not give you my Yankee hat, but I will buy you one if you want. You just have to be patient." He teased.

"Oh…that will be the worst waste of money you will ever spend." Sassed Tom.

Jack looked up and noticed the smile on Elizabeth's face. He looked in her eyes and he saw contentment. Their eyes met and she just smiled at him. She placed her hands on her baby bump and let out a sigh. His eyes smiled at her. Their conversation was easily passed between them. They were both contented with their life. They loved their home and their life. Jack picked up his glass of tea and slightly lifted it up in Elizabeth's direction to offer a silent toast. She picked her glass and did the same. Their smiles mirrored each other, and they nodded as they took a drink.

…

All the men gathered outside on the back porch and began cutting up the watermelons. The day was long, but it was a good one. All of the men worked very hard, and Jack was trying to figure out a way to pay these young men. He couldn't give them money because they played sports, but he wanted to do something.

Jack stepped inside to get a few more bottles of water. He looked over at the dining room table and all the ladies were sitting there talking. Elizabeth was eating her ice cream with pickles on it and chocolate syrup. The only thing he could do was shake his head. He has always heard about crazy pregnancy cravings, but he thought this was too much.

"Jack, we need to do something for these young men. They have done a tremendous job today."

"I agree. Any ideas?"

Beth spoke up. "You know, there is a pond back there somewhere that has a small creek running into it. Maybe you could take them fishing."

"I didn't know there was a pond." Stated Jack.

"Yeah, not a huge one, but it used to have fish in it. My Herold would fish in it a little. I only have been to it once or twice."

"Huh…"

Beth pointed to the right side of the back property. "It's on that side somewhere. It is a little way into the woods. There used to be a small walking path, but I doubt that it would still be there."

"Maybe I'll see if the men would like to go as payment for today. Then I could cut the walking path so when Ig and Iggy get older, we could take them down there. I will need to see if I need to clean it out a little, but I have time before the babies come and get old enough to take there."

"That's a great idea Jack. Maybe put a picnic table there or something?" Elizabeth stated thoughtfully.

Jack smiled. "Maybe a fire pit so we could roast marshmallows, a picnic table and a couple of chairs?" His mind was beginning to form plans for the little pond.

Beth smiled at the couple making plans for the property. This was exactly what she wanted. It cemented what she was thinking. She needs to make a stop tomorrow at the bank.

Jack stepped on the back porch with several bottles of water and began tossing them to the young men. "Fellas, this Saturday, be here at eight in the morning with your fishing rods. Evidently, I have a pond back there somewhere. We are going fishing."

All the men were excited and cheered. They were looking forward to it.

"Now, finish up the watermelons and you are all going home."

"But Chief…"

"No but Chief. You all have worked very hard today and have done more than I could imagine. You have everything moved in and all the furniture is assembled and placed correctly. The kitchen is set up and so are all the rooms. I will call the coach tomorrow and tell him the great work each of you have done. Now, go and enjoy the rest of your day."

…

Jack, Elizabeth, and Grace were at the front door shaking hands with each of the young men. "Now remember, eight Saturday morning. We'll have food here for you and we will try and find that pond."

"That sounds great."

"It will be an adventure." Mentioned Elizabeth.

As the men were leaving, Grace and Elizabeth hugged and kissed each one on the cheek. Both ladies felt protective over these young men.

Once all the men left, everyone made their way to the living room. After about ten minutes, Abagail came in through the front door with a tired smile on her face. Elizabeth took a few minutes to walk her around the house, so she could look at it.

"Elizabeth, this is perfect. I love it."

"They did a great job. I love it too."

After joining the others, Abagail looked at Elizabeth. "I had every intention to bring over a snack for you all because I knew you wouldn't want to cook after the day you had."

"Thanks, we had pizza. We have some left over, would you like some?"

"Sure."

When Abagail sat back down, she sighed as she took her first bite. "This is so good, and I didn't have to cook it. I can't believe all the food those boys ate today."

"Yeah, we ate a lot." Smiled Henry.

"Yes, you all did. I have always said that someone was going to eat me out of my restaurant, but it was always a joke. Today was the first time that actually happened."

"It was a sight I will never forget." Laughed Grace.

"That was amazing." Henry stated.

"Don't get use to that young man." Warned Abagail.

"I won't mom. I promise."

…

After spending a couple of hours, everyone began to make their way to their homes. They helped clean up before leaving. Eventually, Jack, Elizabeth, and Grace were the only ones left in the house. They sat in the living room, and each let out a deep breath.

"This has been a busy day!" Exclaimed Grace. "If it's ok with you two, I think I will go call William and then go to sleep."

"Thank you mother for all of your help today."

"Oh dear. I didn't do too much."

"Yes you did. Thank you."

"I'm happy for you dear. This is your first home, and it is amazing. I hope it brings you happiness for many years to come."

Elizabeth stood and gave her mother a hug and a kiss on the cheek. Jack did the same.

"Thanks mom. You were a huge help today."

She returned the affection and headed to her bedroom.

Jack sat back down on the end of the couch and asked Elizabeth to put her feet in his lap. While she has been good and not lifted anything heavy, she has been on her feet for a good portion of the day. She laid down and placed her feet on his lap. He began to slowly rub her foot and she sighed.

They took a few moments to look around the home. It was perfect. Everything wasn't picture perfect yet, but all the furniture was in place. That was a huge step. There were no pictures or artwork hanging on the walls and all of the boxes wasn't unpacked. However, they thought the house was perfect. They sat silently on the couch listening to the new sounds of the house.

Jack looked over at his bride and he could tell her eyes were getting heavy.

"Sweetheart, did you have a good day."

"Um…hmmm." She mentioned. "It was busy, but it was a good day. I can't believe they accomplished all of this." She mentioned barely opening her eyes.

Jack moved slightly so he could rub her calves and place his hand on her bump. Elizabeth smiled as her eyes closed. "He was hoping to share some physical intimate time with his wife in their new home. He knew she was exhausted. He was very happy to spend this intimate time with her on the couch instead.

"Ig and Iggy…you're home. This is our new home. You will grow up here. This will be your safe place. No matter what happens in this world, this is the place where your mommy and me will provide a place you are always welcome and safe. This is our home. Our refuge in this world. We will have fun around the pond, but you are not allowed to be there unless mommy or me is with you. Understand?" He smiled thinking of the times they will spend at the pond.

"You will experience so many things in this world, but I hope you will always know this place is your home. I love you, and your mommy loves you. We are so blessed by you two. And you will be blessed to have your mother. She will be the best mother ever."

When Elizabeth found her rhythm in snoring, Jack knew she was sound asleep. He moved so he could stand up. He took a moment to look around the house and smiled that this will be their home for many years to come.

He squatted down so he could lift Elizabeth into his arms. When he stood, he smiled. This was the first time he would carry her to bed in their new home, but he knew this wouldn't be the last time and he was excited about it.

He tilted his head and gave her a soft kiss on her cheek. "Elizabeth, thank you for our home."