Chapter 3 – Going Public

Saturday Morning: Jack and Elizabeth's house

Despite the short night, Jack was up early as he was so used to being up early. He carefully dressed in a pair of work jeans and a henley. He grabbed a button up and carried it downstairs along with his boots. He put some coffee on and started to make him some breakfast. Just as he was about to sit down there was a knock at the door.

"Elizabeth." Rosemary called out.

Jack went to open the door and quickly stepped back. Rosemary brushed past, not even looking at who opened the door.

"We have so much to do and talk about this morning." Rosemary said.

Rosemary's talking was interrupted by Little Jack.

"Daddy!" Little Jack screamed, dropping Rosemary's hand and running to Jack.

Rosemary turned when Little Jack screamed and just about fainted. She managed to stumble back and have a seat on the settee. Jack had crouched down and his son crashed in his arms, giving him a big hug. There were a thousand things running through Jack's head as he saw his son again. He never thought he would get this chance and then to hear that most precious word out of his mouth brought tears to Jack's eyes. He also realized how much he had missed with his son and how much he had to make up to him. Jack was grateful that Elizabeth had told Little Jack about him and showed him pictures. Jack picked the boy up and swung him around. Jack then stopped and looked at Rosemary, still in shock.

"Hi, Rosie." Jack said, with a dimpled smirk.

Rosemary was so stunned she couldn't speak. She kept opening her mouth and only unintelligible sounds would come out. The commotion downstairs brought Elizabeth downstairs. She stood at the bottom of the stairs, her heart full at the sight of her husband, Jack, holding his namesake. She then had to laugh a little at the reaction from Rosemary. Upon seeing his mother, Little Jack wanted down, so Jack reluctantly put him down. The boy ran to his mother.

"Mama." Little Jack said.

She reached down and picked the boy up.

"How is my sweet boy?" Elizabeth asked.

"Daddy here." Little Jack squealed, pointing at Jack.

"I know." Elizabeth said. "Are you happy about that?"

"Uh ha." Jack said, nodding his head.

"Daddy staying?" Little Jack asked.

"Yes." Jack said. "I am staying as long as it is okay with you and Mommy."

"Mama, Daddy stay?" Little Jack asked, his bottom lip quivering.

"Yes, my precious boy." Elizabeth said. "Daddy is staying. He is going to live here with us."

"Yeah." Little Jack squealed, clapping his hands.

"Did you have a nice time with Uncle Lee and Auntie Rosie?" Elizabeth asked.

"Baby." Little Jack said.

"Yes, they have a new baby." Elizabeth said.

"Here let me take Little Jack." Jack said. "I have some breakfast ready. There is water for tea and I also made some coffee. Maybe you should check on Rosemary."

Elizabeth giggled, then walked over to Rosemary who was still sputtering trying to make things make sense. Elizabeth took a seat next to Rosemary and gave her a hug.

"How?" Rosemary managed to say.

"We will explain everything." Elizabeth said. "But for now, have you had something to eat?"

"I warm muffins at the house." Rosemary said, shaking her head.

"Why don't you go get the muffins, Lee and Goldie." Elizabeth said. "Then come back here and we will sit and talk before we start to get ready for the wedding."

Rosemary's eyes widened.

"You are still going to marry Lucas?" Rosemary asked, loudly and indignantly.

"Of course not." Jack said. "She is going to marry me. Didn't you just hear her tell our son I was going to be living here with them."

"I broke it off with Lucas last night in the jail." Elizabeth said.

Before Rosemary could stand up, there was another knock on the door and in walked Lee with a crying Goldie and the basket of muffins.

"Sorry to barge in." Lee said. "But I have a hungry little girl here and also heard the screaming. So I wanted to make sure everything was alright."

Lee froze as he was handing Goldie to Rosemary.

"Hi, Lee." Jack said. "Come have a seat and I will explain."

Rosemary took her daughter and got her situated to eat. Lee numbly made his way to the table and sat, just staring at Jack.

"Sorry about all of this." Jack said. "I needed, no, I owed it to Elizabeth that she knew first and allowed her some time to adjust. Up until yesterday afternoon the only other people that knew were a few higher up at the Mounties and as of a few days ago my mother."

"The important thing is my Jack has come back to me." Elizabeth said, pouring Lee some coffee.

"Daddy." Little Jack said, patting Jack's chest.

Little Jack refused to sit in his own chair, preferring to be held by his Daddy, who didn't mind.

"Yes, my sweet boy." Elizabeth said. "That is your Daddy."

Lee shook his head.

"What about the wedding and Lucas?" Lee asked. "I am supposed to be his best man."

"How about you be my best man?" Jack said. "Lucas is gone. Elizabeth and I will be renewing our vows this afternoon. No one will really know until they come. We decided that it would be a fun surprise for everyone."

Lee sat back in his chair and just looked between Jack and Elizabeth with an amused look on his face.

"Well." Lee said. "It will be quite the surprise. Also I can't tell you how great it is to have my best friend back. Where have you been? Are you still a Mountie? What is going to happen to Nathan? Are you leaving or is he? Where are you going to live? Are you going to finally build that house? I still have the plans in my office."

"Slow down." Jack said. "Let's have some food and I will explain everything I can."

As the four adults settled around the table with muffins, coffee and the additional eggs that Elizabeth had quickly made since Little Jack was eating what his father had made. Jack related a paired down version of what had happened to him and the plans that they knew moving forward. It took a bit, but finally both Rosemary and Lee were able to recover from the shock of seeing Jack again. They enjoyed watching him with Little Jack and the boy was absolutely enthralled with his Daddy. Jack had also been happy to see Lee and Rosemary as parents and even got to hold Goldie for a moment when Little Jack decided his Mountie regiment was more interesting than listening to the adults talk.

"So how are we going to do this?" Rosemary asked.

"I was hoping that you would be able to cut my hair." Jack said. "Then maybe Lee and I can take our clothes, Little Jack and go hang out at Bill's office. Then I will see you ladies at the church."

"Do you have a suit?" Elizabeth asked. "Lee has a black one that Lucas wanted."

"All I have is my dress uniform. It is hanging up in the backroom of the jail." Jack said. "Bill brought it over there while we were talking. I hope it was okay he came and got it. I wanted to wear it if you agreed to the renewal and Bill knew that it would need a little time to air out and hang to make it look more presentable. He even volunteered to polish my boots. I have my regular serge if the dress doesn't fit, but it should. The last one I had ordered for our first wedding was a bit big, even with a long sleeve henley on underneath. Bill also grabbed my medal."

"That will be perfect." Elizabeth said. "I can pack up Jack's Mounties and blocks to keep him busy. He also had a matching black suit I can send along."

Elizabeth thought that it would be easier to have Little Jack with Jack and Lee, especially since he wanted to announce to everyone about his daddy. Besides, Lee and Bill would be there. She knew that Little Jack also wasn't about to let Jack out of his sight for long and if they wanted to keep it a secret, it would be better for Little Jack to be with the guys.

"I think we can handle that plan." Rosemary said. "How about I go get my scissors and things quickly. You guys can pack up the needed items and then head out once I finish with Jack's hair."

"I will head home and get my things ready and call Bill." Lee said.

"Perfect." Elizabeth said.

The four adults set about gathering the things that they needed. Jack got his stuff ready to take over to Bill's. Elizabeth got Little Jack's suit ready. She also gathered his toys into a bag to keep him busy. She also included a couple of books. Rosemary was quickly back with her supplies and daughter's pram. Lee gathered his items, called Bill and also spoke to Nathan for a moment outside before heading back to Jack and Elizabeth's house. Lee informed Nathan of the plan and asked him to join them. Nathan hadn't originally planned on attending the wedding, but this was one he wanted to see.

…. …. …. ….

Saturday Late Morning: In Town

People were abuzz in town. No one had seen Lucas and at Bill's insistence there was going to be a wedding that afternoon. Everyone was confused because as of yesterday Bill had loudly declared he was not going to the wedding, but planned to spend the day with Nathan and Allie who were also not going to the wedding. However as people had seen Nathan on rounds he mentioned how much he was looking forward to the wedding that afternoon.

The ladies had decorated the church as planned and even got the hotel dining room ready as planned. When asked, Gustav had no idea where Lucas was. When asked about the food all he said was he was doing as he had been told.

Bill and Pastor Joseph had disappeared for a few hours that morning and afterwards were being even more tight-lipped about what was going on. People were even more confused when several people they knew to be Lucas's guests left on the morning train. Only to add more to the growing gossip, was Lee's car parked outside of Bill's office. All the curtains were drawn, but you could see Nathan, Bill and Joseph coming and going from the office, but refused to explain to anyone what was going on. With such a buzz going on around town, it was getting harder and harder not to say anything. Bill and even Nathan had smiles on their faces, which was a change from the way it had been the last few weeks. People were wondering what was going on, but got no answers from their Mounties.

Just before noon, Elizabeth and Rosemary arrived at the cafe as planned. Elizabeth had the biggest smile on her face and was happier than anyone had seen her in a long time. They weren't sure what had all changed, but they were happy for their friend. Minnie had finger sandwiches, cookies, lemonade and tea ready for those helping Elizabeth get ready. Even Minnie noticed the change in Elizabeth. There was a smile on her face and bounce in her step that Minnie had never seen. She had heard a few stories of how Elizabeth had been with her late husband and those stories were a perfect description of Elizabeth at that moment.

As Minnie looked closer at Elizabeth she saw a twinkle in her eye like she had a secret and was bursting to share. Whatever was going on, Elizabeth was happy and for that, Minnie was happy for her friend. She wanted to know what was going on as much as the next person, but she was content to wait and see. She had learned over the years that no matter how hard it was to wait, good things did come to those who did patiently wait for whatever news or event was happening.

Just before two in the afternoon, all the ladies at the cafe were ready. People had started to gather at the church. Unknown to most people the unexpected groom was pacing Pastor Joseph's small office more nervous then his first wedding. Lee and Bill were with him while Nathan, dressed in his serge, stood tall by the side door. People were still whispering, wondering what was going on as no one had seen Lucas and Bill had seemed a little too happy about this wedding during the morning for someone who had loudly declared he wanted no part of it even a few days ago. They were also confused as to why Nathan was there. Something had happened and the whole mood around this wedding had shifted in less than twenty-four hours. The church was packed with standing room only as everyone wanted to know what was going on and why the sudden change of mind by Bill and Nathan.

Finally at ten minutes after two, Pastor Joseph opened the side door and walked to the front of the church. No one was ready for what happened next. Nathan was still blocking the view of Jack, so when Nathan stepped to the side and Jack walked to stand next to Joseph followed by Lee and Nathan, the collective gasp from those gathered could be heard outside, where Elizabeth smiled to herself. She then looked over at Bill and he smiled as well.

That morning, Bill had agreed to walk her down the aisle to Jack. He even still had the gray suit from the wedding five years ago. Unknown to Jack, even though Elizabeth was wearing a different gown, she wore the same headpiece and jewelry from their first marriage. She had wanted to wear the same dress, but she knew it wouldn't fit and there wasn't time to alter it and still have the wedding be that day.

It took several minutes for people to calm down, people were shocked and full of questions. Jack knew he would have to explain to everyone later, but in that moment, it felt good to stand in front of his community once again waiting for his bride. He had spent so long not being Jack Thornton, that this was a new beginning for him as well. He just hoped he remembered the speech that Bill and Joseph had helped him prepare.

Outside, Bill turned to Elizabeth.

"Ready?" He asked as the first stands of music could be heard coming from inside.

"More than ready." Elizabeth said.

Rosemary turned and got a nod from Bill and Elizabeth, so she proceeded to start up the stairs and into the church.