Hello! Well, I made my deadline of getting this chapter written published before the S10 premier! This chapter has been in my head for several months...something we probably won't see, but I think it completely plausible to happen in S10 timeline. Hope you enjoy it.
"Rosemary, it's so sweet of you to have us over." Elizabeth Thatcher Thornton Bouchard said to her vivacious friend. "I really should have turned down your offer…but I just couldn't say no to holding this beautiful bundle again." She smiled down at the baby in her arms. "She's too precious for words." Elizabeth softly exclaimed over the sleeping infant.
Little MaryRose Susannah Elizabeth Coulter was as tiny as her name was long! Rosemary and Lee had been unable to compromise on any shorter name combinations. And since they had waited so long for a child and weren't sure if they'd be blessed with another, they decided to leave nothing to chance and named their daughter all of their favorite choices for a girl: Lee wanted to name the baby after his amazing wife, Rosemary wanted to honor Lee's sister and the remarkably strong Coulter women, and both Lee and Rosemary agreed that their daughter had to be named after their closest neighbor and dearest friend. Thankfully, Rosemary and Lee had been able to compromise on what they'd call their daughter for everyday use: AnnaBeth.
Rosemary smiled as she took a glance out the front window. It appeared that Lee, Lucas, and young Jack were beyond content throwing the baseball back and forth on this beautiful spring evening.
Letting the delicate lace curtain fall back into place, Rosemary came over to sit next to her friend and sleeping daughter.
"Are you kidding? Do you think we'd miss welcoming you and Lucas back home after your honeymoon?" Rosemary asked in feigned shock.
Seeing her friend relax a bit, Rosemary continued. "Lee and I couldn't wait to see and spend some quality time with Jack. We would have loved for Jack to stay with us, but he had a fabulous time with the Canfields. Minnie was so sweet to bring him by to visit multiple times, but we all could tell we'd made the right decision. Jack would have grown tired of being quiet for a newborn." She shifted her gaze from AnnaBeth up to her friend's face.
Time to rile her best friend a bit. "Though who knows? From the way you and Lucas kissed at your wedding and reception…a year from now it could be that Jack will have to be quiet for B.G.B."
"B.G.B?" Elizabeth asked in confusion.
"Baby Girl Bouchard." Rosemary responded, like it was common knowledge.
"Rosemary!" Elizabeth said in her intimidating no-nonsense-teacher-voice, though her blushing cheeks gave it away that Rosemary's words had successfully hit their target.
AnnaBeth startled and let out a small cry of protest at being awoken in such an abrupt manner. Elizabeth gently rocked the baby back and forth in her arms till the infant calmed and went back to sleep.
"Lucas and I are enjoying this special time of adjusting to married life and making a solid foundation for our family with Jack. We're looking forward to expanding our family…but hopefully not for a few years." Elizabeth stated gracefully, yet firmly. Like it was carved in stone.
Unable to keep a straight face any longer, Rosemary's serious expression split into a wide grin. "Oh, alright." She gave Elizabeth a knowing look. Seriously! She'd bet her bottom dollar that there would be a baby girl Bouchard within a year's time.
Knowing her intuition was never wrong, Rosemary decided to let the subject drop…for now. "Well, back to tonight. Gustave catered the dinner. You and Lee set out all the food and then Lucas and Jack cleaned everything up. The hardest thing I had to do for tonight was to send a note to the saloon requesting the meal be less 'Gustave-y' and more 'Rosemary' in taste and substance."
"I wondered if it was Gustave's cooking, but there wasn't a hint of smoked paprika. Thought I was imagining things." Elizabeth chuckled at Rosemary's confession.
Rosemary giggled for a moment before laying a hand on Elizabeth's forearm. She calmed her giggles. "So, did you have fun?"
Elizabeth's eyes took on a dreamy quality that matched the lovestruck smile gracing her face. "Oh, Rosemary. I don't even know where to start."
"Really? That good?" Rosemary asked in hushed amusement. Excited that Elizabeth had been blessed with finding her own lifelong love.
A sigh of pure bliss escaped Elizabeth. "It was perfect." Her gaze was full of wonderment, reflecting on the past two weeks with her new husband. "From our wedding night in Union City when Lucas swept me up in his arms and carried me…"
"STOP!" Rosemary laughed whiled holding up both hands.
Elizabeth clamped her lips shut. Her blush intensified as she thought of the intimate details she'd almost divulged to her best friend.
"You don't have to give me any more than that, Elizabeth. It's a delight just to know that you both enjoyed your honeymoon." She patted her friend's arm and then rose from the settee to retrieve a gift for the newlyweds.
"Right before Lee and I got married, it seemed everyone was coming up to us and telling us how exhausted and sick they got on their honeymoon. We were almost too scared to go on our honeymoon. But like you and Lucas, Lee and I had a fabulous honeymoon. It's a special time I'll treasure forever."
Elizabeth nodded in agreement as she watched with fascination as Rosemary came back to the settee with a medium size box.
Rosemary set the box on the middle of the settee, reaching down to take AnnaBeth so Elizabeth could open the box.
"Happy housewarming!" Rosemary declared as she sat back down with her baby sweetly nestled in her arms.
"Oh my goodness! Rosemary, you and Lee already gave us a present! And for the foreseeable future, our family is staying right next to you in our row house."
"Just open your gift, Elizabeth! This was something that I had to wait to complete until after you and Lucas had walked down the aisle." Rosemary offered in her way of matter-of-fact explanation.
Elizabeth lifted the lid to the box and reached down to gently pull out a beautifully framed picture of she and Lucas on their wedding day.
She couldn't believe how the past several years seemed to have flown by: The day that she and Lucas had first met. That day when she'd come storming into the saloon to confront Lucas about his teaching Allie to gamble, wait no, a card trick (Lucas had later confessed to her that it was that particular moment in the saloon when he first began falling in love with her.) Lucas quoting Dangerous Liaisons to her in the library. Lucas standing at her door holding a beautiful bouquet of flowers. Their first trip to Union City…when she'd been mistaken as 'Mrs. Bouchard'…now it seemed like destiny. All their work on the library and Elizabeth's manuscript. Their first date. Their near-kiss in the rain. Walking hand-in-hand to her house. Fanning herself upon leaving Lucas's office. Their first kiss…and all the kisses that followed. Lucas's kneeling before her and asking her to marry him. All those moments culminating in the beautiful picture she was now looking at…their wedding portrait.
"Oh, Rosemary!" Elizabeth's eyes grew misty with emotion. "I thought we wouldn't get any of our pictures for another few weeks."
"I just got them back from the photographer. It's a good thing you two lovebirds didn't come home any earlier." Rosemary smiled triumphantly.
Looking back at the picture, Elizabeth noticed how it was mounted on a beautiful plaque painted white and ready to hang on the wall of their home. On the left side was their wedding portrait, on the right there were pressed flowers in the shape of a heart, and in the middle their names and wedding date were written in Rosemary's flowing script. And over all of it was a rectangular piece of glass to protect and hold the picture and flowers in place.
Elizabeth peered closer at the heart of flowers. She recognized some of the petals that had been from her bridal bouquet that she'd carried down the aisle just a few weeks ago. But the other half of flowers she didn't recognize from her and Lucas's wedding celebration.
All of a sudden, a memory came into sharp focus in Elizabeth's mind.
It can't be! How is it possible? She marveled.
Elizabeth barely had any regrets over the past several years, but of the few she did have there was a moment she wished she'd treasured more back when it had happened. The memory was becoming clearer in her mind's eye: Lucas had come to her door and given her the first tangible gift. Not something for the town or for little Jack, but for her alone.
"Rosemary…are these?" Elizabeth stammered.
At Rosemary's silent nod, Elizabeth continued. "How? When? I put all the bouquets in the waste basket before Clara and Jesse's wedding."
"As you remember, Elizabeth, I was a flurry of activity for Clara as her matron of honor…so I enlisted Mike's assistance." Rosemary confessed.
Since Elizabeth continued to stare at her in speechless wonder, Rosemary went on. "I know I asked you if you wanted to save or press any of the flowers and you said no. But as I walked out your door and towards town, I remembered how Lee had commented that he noticed it was Lucas that you were spending time with at the bachelor/bachelorette party. While I first thought you were spending time with Nathan, I realized that you and Nathan just ended up being around each other during certain points of the evening. However, both you and Lucas chose to seek out and spend time with one another that evening."
Rosemary's voice had grown animated to the point that baby AnnaBeth flailed one arm out from her blanket and up by her ear. Pausing to re-swaddle her daughter, Rosemary then continued, but with a quieter voice.
"I just kept thinking that Lucas technically was the first one to give you a gift of courtship, though you both may deny it. So when I saw Mike Hickam and Kevin the blacksmith talking about how they would just be standing around as groomsmen, I impulsively followed my intuition. I told them I needed them to swap my empty waste basket with your full one of flowers. That it was of utmost importance to the bride. They assumed I was speaking of Clara…I just didn't correct them."
Elizabeth opened her mouth to speak when Rosemary blurted out "And no, I only saved the petals from Lucas's bouquet."
After a few seconds of silence, Elizabeth understood that Rosemary had reached the end of her tale. Gently placing the gift to her other side, Elizabeth embraced her friend while leaving breathing space for the baby.
"Your intuition was right. Thank you, dear Rosemary!" Elizabeth pulled back to look Rosemary in the eye.
"Even though Lucas has never mentioned that first bouquet, I've wished so many times that I'd held onto some of the flowers…like you'd suggested." Elizabeth admitted sheepishly, a smile tugging on her lips.
"Well it was my pleasure to rescue them and preserve them so they can grace the wall of the Bouchard house for your children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren to see." Rosemary's eyes shone with love and her voice thick with emotion.
Their conversation continued for several more minutes until baby AnnaBeth started smacking her lips in anticipation of her next meal.
Elizabeth made sure that Rosemary and AnnaBeth were comfortably settled in the nursery before heading back downstairs to gather their housewarming gift and collect her husband and son to head home.
Stepping outside into the cool spring night, Elizabeth heard what sounded like gift advice from Lee to Lucas.
"…spider jewelry pin. Poor Rosie can't imagine where it disappeared to. I can still see her face that Christmas morning when she opened it. Boy! Was she surprised and delighted. Maybe I should get her a similar pin for her birthday next…Oh, hey, Elizabeth."
Elizabeth thanked Lee again for the wonderful evening and started walking towards home with Lucas and young Jack falling into step beside her.
"Here. Allow me." Lucas said as he reached over and took the box from Elizabeth.
"Thank you, Darling." Elizabeth and Lucas shared an amused look. A look that neither thought it was a coincidence that Rosemary's spider pin was missing. More like it had been buried deep enough that only an archaeological dig would find it.
Jack, unaware of the his parents' silent communication, chatted happily about playing baseball with Uncle Lee and that baby AnnaBeth wasn't much fun. The last part broke thought to Elizabeth and Lucas and another look passed between.
Here's hoping he changes his tune when it's his own baby sister or brother.
Upon arriving home, Jack went straight upstairs to prepare for bed. He moved quickly, being promised by his papa that they'd begin the new book they brought home for him.
Elizabeth and Lucas watched as Jack disappeared up the stairs. Once they were alone, Lucas lost no time in gathering his new wife in his arms. Elizabeth was just as eager to be in her husband's embrace.
The new Mr and Mrs Bouchard relished each other's embrace while listening to their son's not-so-quiet bedtime preparations. It was during this time that Elizabeth told Lucas about their beautiful gift from Rosemary and how sorry she was that she hadn't thought to preserve Lucas's gift herself.
Lucas dropped his gaze and was quiet long enough that Elizabeth was beginning to worry if she'd upset him.
But in the next moment she found herself being pulled even closer by her husband, his hands gently caressing her waist. And when his eyes met hers, she could see he was doing his best not to burst out laughing.
At last, Lucas spoke. "So, are you saying, my Love, that I need to give you more flowers…or maybe I need to give you your own spider jewelry pin?" His countenance aglow with delight.
"Books, flowers, horseback rides, candlelight dinners, picnics by the pond, balloon rides, earrings. Just continue to follow your instincts, Mr Bouchard." Elizabeth whispered as she wound her hands to play with the ends of Lucas's hair. "As for now, I just need you to kiss me."
"Absolutely, Mrs Bouchard." Lucas whispered back with a smile, closing the distance between their lips.
This chapter came about when I was re-watching S7...gave me a great excuse to re-watch some of my favorite episodes from S7. Lol. I had to get this finished before Rosemary has her little one and before Lucas and Elizabeth tie the knot.
Anyway, got some other chapters brewing that I'll complete as we enjoy S10! (The other chapters are fun things that would be back in S6-S8 timeline.) Thanks again for your reviews and encouragement!