A/N Thanks for sticking with me through this story, and please enjoy the final chapter :)
...
Two weeks after getting her positive pregnancy test, Elizabeth found herself sitting on the edge of an examination table, a thin paper sheet covering her lap.
"How are you feeling, sweetheart?" Jack took her hand, squeezing gently.
She shrugged. "A little nauseous. Nervous."
"Nervous? You've done this before."
"I know. That's not what I'm nervous about." She sighed. "I'm still just trying to wrap my head around the fact that we're having another baby. It took us months of trying to get pregnant with Salem, and now here we are. We were actively trying not to get pregnant. It just doesn't make sense to me."
"I think it just shows us that this one is going to give us a run for our money," he joked. He leaned over to kiss her temple. "And I know it won't be easy, but we can do this."
A quiet knock on the door interrupted them, then the ultrasound technician came into the room. "Elizabeth Thornton?"
She nodded.
"How are we feeling today?"
"Honestly? All over the place."
She gave her a sympathetic smile. "Well, let's see if we can get a good look at this baby and calm those emotions a bit."
Elizabeth lay back on the table, keeping her eyes on Jack. He sucked in a breath when the image appeared on the screen, and Elizabeth quickly turned her head to look.
"Well," the technician chuckled, "there are your babies."
Elizabeth's eyes widened as she took in the image. Two little blobs floated side by side on the screen, two flickering hearts. Two babies.
"Twins," Jack breathed.
"I'm sure this is a surprise for you, so I'll get some measurements while you let that news sink in."
Elizabeth met Jack's eyes. "Two," she whispered.
"Two more chances for Harrison to get his brother," he pointed out. "Maybe he'll even get two brothers."
She finally cracked a smile. "He would love that."
A short time later, they were headed out to the car, Elizabeth clutching a strip of ultrasound photos in her hand. She had been quiet ever since the technician had given them to her, and Jack was beginning to worry.
"Hey," he pulled Elizabeth into his arms. "We have seven whole months to prepare for these babies. We can do this."
"We're going to have three babies under a year and a half old, Jack. Three."
"Salem should be walking by then. Talking a little, too. It won't be like having three newborns."
"But she'll still be in diapers. She might still be nursing."
He tightened his arms around her. "Elizabeth, my love, you aren't alone in this. I'm here, and your parents and sisters, and my mom and brother, and I know David and Elaine would be happy to come help sometimes. Sure, it'll be tough, but we'll be just fine."
She kissed him. "I'm so grateful for you."
...
Jack propped himself up on his elbow, his fingers tracing patterns on Elizabeth's stomach. "I know it's still early, but do you have any feeling about what they are?"
"Babies, probably," she joked.
"Ha ha."
"Honestly, I don't have strong feelings either way. I'm kind of hoping for one of each, though. Then Harrison will have his brother and Salem will have a sister."
"That sounds perfect." He reached up to touch her cheek. "Are you feeling any better about all of this?"
She shrugged. "Well, these babies are going to come whether I feel ready or not, so I figure the sooner I embrace the idea, the better."
"When do you think we should tell Harrison?"
"Maybe in a month or so? After my next ultrasound. We might need to tell our families before then, though, because I'm already noticing a little bump."
"Well," he stretched his fingers over her stomach, "you have two babies growing in there this time, and people tend to show earlier if they've been pregnant before, so it makes sense that you're already noticing that."
"Also, after these two are born, we need to figure something out to keep this from happening again, because I'm not going to have another surprise pregnancy."
He chuckled. "Okay."
...
Seven months later
"Are you ready to double the number of kids in this house?" Charlotte asked, poking her head through the front door.
Jack chuckled. "Bring them in."
Harrison burst through the door, Salem toddling in behind him. "Hi, daddy. Where are the babies? Are they brothers?"
Jack and Elizabeth had known what their babies were before they were born, but they had managed to keep it a surprise for their family, despite Harrison's incessant questions about whether he was getting a brother or not.
"Patience, Sonny boy." He hugged his son, then lifted his daughter from the floor. "Hi, Sale-Bale. Did you have fun with Nana?"
"Yeah." She giggled. "Babies?"
He kissed her cheek. "Let me go help mommy bring them out. They're very excited to meet their big brother and big sister. I'll be right back."
He headed down the hall to his and Elizabeth's room, finding her changing one of the babies into a pink onesie.
"We have a couple of kids in there who are very excited to meet some babies. Even Salem asked where they are."
"They're just about ready." She finished snapping the buttons on the onesie and lifted the baby from the bed. "Can you get Finn?"
"Sure." He picked up the baby from the bassinet, smiling as he yawned. "I know I thought the matching shirts were cheesy, but we're going to get some cute pictures."
"I hope so. Did your mom remember to dress Harrison and Salem in theirs?"
"Yes." He nodded. "Are you ready?"
"Mhmm. Let's go introduce these babies to their family."
Harrison jumped up as soon as he saw his parents coming down the hall. "I see green like my shirt!" he exclaimed. "That means I have a brother!"
"And another sister," Elizabeth added, shifting the baby girl in her arms.
"Here," Jack instructed. "You and Salem sit on the couch, and we can get some pictures of you two holding the babies."
Charlotte helped get the two older children situated before Elizabeth and Jack carefully passed the babies to them.
"What are their names?" Charlotte asked.
"Finn Thomas and Ellis Evie," Elizabeth answered, smiling at the sight of all of her children together.
Harrison was beaming as he held his little brother, his smile lighting up his entire face.
Jack snapped a couple of photos on his phone. "Are you happy, bud?"
"Uh huh." He nodded emphatically. "Thank you for my brother. And my sisters," he added. "But mostly for my brother."
Jack chuckled. "You're welcome, Sonny boy."
"Hey, Harrison," Elizabeth took Ellis from Salem when she noticed the toddler starting to drop the baby, "do you want to know something that's kind of cool?"
"Yeah!"
"Finn and Ellis don't have the same birthday."
He furrowed his brow, confused. "But they're twins."
"They are, but Finn was born right before midnight, and Ellis was born right after. So Finn's birthday is February 28th, and Ellis's is February 29th."
"Mommy is just really good at having babies in the middle of the night," Jack explained with a chuckle, referring to the fact that Salem was also born just after midnight.
"When was I born?"
Jack took a seat beside him, reaching over to help Harrison support Finn's head. "You were born early in the morning, around 5 o'clock."
"Oh." He looked down at his brother for a moment, clearly thinking about something. "Daddy? I gotta get something."
"Okay." He took the baby from him, watching him disappear into his bedroom. "I wonder what this is all about."
Elizabeth just shrugged.
"Do you want to go talk to him? I can take the baby for you," Charlotte offered.
"I'll wait and see what he's doing, but you're welcome to have a turn with your grandson. Okay, Finny." He stood, carefully passing the baby to his mother. "This is your nana."
"He's just perfect," she observed. "All of your babies are."
Elizabeth glanced down at Ellis, who had fallen asleep in her arms, and Salem, who was looking back and forth between her new siblings. "I agree."
Harrison returned to the living room, carrying a book of photos. "I wanna tell the babies about my first mommy," he explained, climbing onto the sofa and opening the book. "Can you help me, daddy?"
Jack smiled, joining him once again. "Sure, bud."
...
A year later
"See that, Salem?" Harrison pointed at a meerkat that was standing upright in the center of the exhibit. "That meerkat is the sentry. It tells the other meerkats if it sees something dangerous."
She looked up at her big brother, all of her attention focused on him. She had been enthralled with Harrison from the time she was a newborn, and it seemed that wasn't going to change any time soon.
"And mommy takes care of the meerkats. She takes care of other animals, too, but the meerkats are my favorite."
"When did he get so big?" Jack whispered to Elizabeth.
"I don't know. He was only four when we got married, and now he's nearly eight."
"Mommy?" Harrison turned to face them. "Do I get to see Dr. Miller today?"
She gave him a smile. "She's expecting us in about fifteen minutes."
"Yay!" He took his sister's hand, tugging her away from the meerkat exhibit. "Let's go, Salem. We gotta see Dr. Miller."
Elizabeth chuckled, retrieving her phone from her pocket. "I guess I'll text her and let her know we're on our way now."
"Daddy." Salem pulled away from Harrison. "Carry, please." She held out her arms, waiting for Jack to pick her up.
"Since you asked so nicely. Up you go, Sale-Bale." He smiled, swinging her up onto his shoulders.
"Do you remember the way, Harrison?" Elizabeth started to maneuver the stroller toward the on-site animal hospital.
"This way!" He waved them forward, skipping off ahead of them.
Fiona was waiting outside when they arrived. "Well, hello to my favorite zoo visitors. Look at these two!" She crouched down in front of the stroller. "You have both gotten so big since the last time I saw you."
"Yeah, they're both walking and talking now, too."
"There's no way! They're still just little babies."
"I know. I can't believe they'll be one next week." Elizabeth reached down and touched her son's cheek. "Finn, can you say 'hi'?"
He smiled shyly. "Hi."
"Hi!" the little girl beside him squealed.
"Well, hello, Ellis. Do you remember me?" She touched her chin. "Do you and your brothers and sister want to come see who I have inside today?"
"Is it a tiger?" Harrison asked eagerly.
Fiona chuckled. "No tigers today, but I do have a couple of pretty cool animals in here." She led them inside and over to one of the crates. "This little guy is a Fennec fox. He just came from another zoo, so he has to stay in here for a few days until we know he isn't sick or anything."
"That's called quarantine," Harrison stated.
"That's right. You know your stuff." Fiona gave him a little nudge.
"I'm gonna be a veterinarian when I'm bigger," he reminded her.
"And you'll be a great one. Now tell me, Dr. Thornton," she led him over to another crate, "do you know what animal this is?"
"Kitty!" Salem exclaimed.
"Not quite," Elizabeth laughed, taking her daughter from Jack. "Although some people call this a bearcat."
"I don't remember what it is," Harrison admitted. "But I think my mommy takes care of them."
"She does. This is a binturong," Fiona explained. "This one had a bit of a toothache, so I have him in here to give him some medicine and make sure he gets better." She passed a slice of fig through the door of the crate, which was eagerly gobbled up by the small animal. "Did you guys stop by and see the baby giraffe?"
"Uh huh." Harrison nodded. "She looks little, but mommy said she's already taller than daddy." He glanced over at Jack with a smile. "That's pretty tall."
"Yeah," Fiona agreed with a laugh. "But she still has another ten feet or so before she's fully grown."
"Wow! That's so cool."
Jack ruffled his hair. "Okay, bud. We need to let Dr. Miller get back to work now."
"Fine," he sighed. "Bye, Dr. Miller. Thank you."
"Bye, Harrison." She smiled and waved.
"We'll see you at the twins' party?" Elizabeth asked as Fiona walked out with them.
"I wouldn't miss it. See you soon."
...
"How are our little surprise babies already a year old?" Elizabeth leaned against Jack as they watched their twins toddle after their big sister. "It feels like they were just born."
"Technically, Ellis isn't one until tomorrow," Jack pointed out, sliding his arm around her waist.
"Technically, Ellis won't have a real birthday until she's four."
He chuckled. "Our poor leap year baby."
Harrison's laugh rang out as Simba chased him, Aaron, and James through the yard.
"Gosh," Jack let out a contented sigh. "When I first moved back here after Olive died, there were so many times when I wondered if I did the right thing. Now, I know it was one-hundred percent the right thing. Look at what I have, look at what our children have."
Elizabeth leaned further into him, watching her father scoop Salem up in one arm and Ellis in the other, while her mother picked up Finn and settled him on her hip. Her sisters stood on the deck with their husbands, listening to Tom tell them about his latest work trip. Her little nephews, Clark and Ben, were seated in the grass, being entertained by Willa.
"We're certainly blessed," she observed. She turned in his arms, resting her hands on his back. "I love you, Jack Thornton. Thank you for being the very best husband and father I could ever ask for."
"I should be thanking you." He kissed her forehead. "Four years ago, I didn't know if I would be able to love someone again, if I would find someone who would love Harrison, too. And then I walked into Luke's house and saw you standing there."
She smiled, leaning up to press her lips to his jaw. "I'm glad I never got over my crush."
"So am I." He grinned, kissing her soundly. "I love you, Beth. Always and forever."