It felt odd to walk into Maggie's and sit down at a table for coffee. They'd done this so many times before, but it was different now. She felt a lot of eyes on them, but Lisa did her best to ignore it. Jack nodded to people, and they both sat, both letting out a sigh as they did. That had them both chuckling.
"Never thought we'd be going in for blood pressure checks together," he said as he rolled his eyes. Lisa nodded, a small smile on her face.
"Even better we are both doing okay," she nodded. "That's important."
"Agreed," he said, and the waitress came over to take their order.
"Herbal tea, please," Lisa told the waitress, "oh, and a piece of whatever pie you have." She heard Jack chuckle and threw a glance at him. "Two pieces of pie-he'll have one too."
"Coffee for me with that pie," Jack told the waitress and gave her a nod. He looked over to Lisa.
"I knew you'd end up eating mine if I didn't just get you yours. I'm not in a mood to fight for pie. I'm starving," she said in a teasing tone.
Jack smiled and glanced around, noting a couple of people looking their way. He threw them a wave, almost to put it out in the open, and Lisa started to glance around too. He shook his head as to indicate it wasn't worth it.
"I suppose we have a lot to talk about," Lisa said, sitting back in her chair and putting her hands on her stomach. She sighed when she did that, as it made her much more comfortable.
"Yeah," he nodded, looking out the window briefly. "I'm not sure where to start. Is our audience here at Maggie's bothering you too much?"
Lisa gave a glance and then turned her attention back to Jack and shook her head, "No, you know what, let them stare. I'm really trying to just focus on staying calm and keeping my blood pressure down. I don't have to explain myself to them."
"Amen to that," Jack said, winking at her. Their drinks and pies were delivered. They were quiet while waiting for the waitress to finish.
The two had met in town for their respective appointments. Lisa had a standing one with no set time every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday right now to have her blood pressure checked in town at the local doctor's office. Jack had a set appointment. When they'd had dinner at Heartland two nights prior, they'd discussed the next few days before she'd gone home and had determined that. Jack was worried about her being at home alone, but she'd promised that Annabelle was coming by each day now, and that if she had any sort of headache or dizziness, she'd call him. After dinner, they'd gone on a short walk around Heartland, all flat, gravel surfaces so Lisa could get a little exercise but not get caught up in the tall grass. It was then that Jack had asked her about something as simple as a car seat, and the two had really started to talk about all of the things they needed to do. They decided to start discussing things after their appointments.
"So," Jack shifted in his chair and sat forward, "The little I remember when Katie was born, there is a lot to put together."
Lisa hummed as she tried sipping at her very hot tea. She put it down, deciding it was still too hot and nodded, "Yes, I need to do a large order and have everything at the house. There will be things to put together. I have started a shopping cart," she said, pulling it up. Jack sat there and listened.
"Lisa," he said, giving her a small frown, "I am trying to say this to explain what I'm thinking about this, but I don't want to say something wrong or upset or offend you."
Lisa paused and a look of concern came over her face. She nodded in encouragement at him, "Oh, okay, umm, what is it?"
He winced, "I know this probably sounds horrible, but I really don't care what you pick it. It will be more than fine. I'm just not into those things," he said, in an almost painful tone. "I was happy to get the furniture because it was what you already wanted, but if I'd had to go in there blindly, it would have been a very different story. I'm sorry, but asking me to have an opinion, well," he paused, meeting her gaze. "Please tell me I'm not about to get water thrown on me."
Lisa dropped her head looking like she was crushed in defeat, and Jack sat forward, ready to explain himself further when he thought he heard a low chuckle coming from her.
"Lise?" Jack asked, and as soon as he said that, she looked up, a bright smile on her face, and yes, he could see she was clearly laughing.
"Oh, Jack, I'm so sorry. I haven't started to think about things because I was sure something would go wrong, and then, I was dreading us possibly disagreeing about well, everything. It really didn't dawn on me that you are okay with whatever," she said, still chuckling as she wiped at her eye.
That relaxed Jack some, and he shrugged at her, "Lisa, as you always do, I'm sure whatever you pick will be 100 times nicer than anything I would pick. I trust you."
"Fair enough," she said with a warm nod and smile. "Can I ask, is there anything you do have an opinion on right now? I'm going to place a pretty big order tonight, and if your offer stands, yes, in a few days, there will be plenty to unbox and put together."
"Of course," he told her. "I want to help," he told her, giving her a warm smile. "I'll be glad to do any of that. Just put me to work. As far as any preference, no, not much," he shook his head and thought a moment. "Just nothing too fancy or over the top. Simple is better with me. You know that."
"I do," she nodded. "Can I at least show you the car seat and how it works? There are different car seats, and I know you've seen those with Katie, but I promise the first one is pretty simple, a base that will go in your truck and my car, and then, the baby is snapped in in his seat."
"That's fine," he said, pulling out his glasses. As he did that, she did the same, and she leaned over the table to hand him her phone. Jack looked at it, clicked at the pictures and nodded, handing it back. "That certainly looks nice, a lot of padding."
"Babies need that," she smiled, and he nodded.
"Does it guarantee the baby sleeps and doesn't cry?" Jack asked, winking at her, and that had both laughing. They let things settle and sipped at their drinks and ate some of the pie.
"Okay, well, I will put my credit card to use tonight," she said , grinning.
"I'll pay for whatever you need," he told her. "Just let me know."
"Jack," she met his gaze and shook her head with a warm smile, "it's fine. You know I don't go around flaunting things, but you also know I don't go hungry either."
"I still want to provide for my son, Lise," he told her.
She nodded at him, "I know. You already bought all of the furniture, and believe me, I know it wasn't cheap. There will be plenty of other things. Maybe," she said in a teasing tone, "I'll let you buy him his first horse."
Jack smiled at the idea of that and dropped his head as he nodded. He then glanced up at her, "You say that," he said, gesturing to her, "but let me guess, you'll ask me along to one of your horse auctions, not one of the ones Amy and I frequent, and find some horse there for me to buy."
Lisa listened and then burst out laughing. It was good to see her laugh, and she shrugged at him, "I would say guilty as charged if I'd thought about that. It is a good idea, Jack. I'll remember that a few years down the road."
Jack waited for her to finish laughing and tapped his fingers on the table. She looked to him with a pensive glance, and he cleared his throat.
"We haven't discussed his name yet. All of this," he paused, "and he still needs a name."
"You're right," she agreed. "I suppose we should both think about that. I mean," she gestured to him in encouragement, "did you have a list?"
"No, not yet," he shook his head. He looked to her, and with the look on her face, he nodded back at her, "Have you?"
"Well," she looked to her tea and cleared her throat as she spoke, "I've always been partial to Benoit."
"Ben what?" Jack almost spit out his coffee. "Is that some French name? No, Lise," he shook his head, and his face turned red, "I can't do it. I don't want some fancy French name. I can't even pronounce it. Kid will be bullied the minute he walks into school. No son of mine is going to have a name like that. Ben oit," he repeated.
Lisa looked up and frowned at him, "It's Benoit, not Ben oit."
"See," he gestured wildly, "I can't even say it!" He shook his head, looked around, and when he realized he was getting too loud, he looked back at her.
Lisa sat there, grinning ear to ear and pointing at him, "Jack, you know me better than that. I'd never suggest something like that for you."
"You're teasing," he pursed his lips and nodded at her. "Yeah," he grunted, "you got me. Ben oit. How did you say it?"
"Benoit," she replied and winked when she said it, still laughing. "That just came to me, sitting here. That was fun."
"Just keep on laughing," he grumbled, rolling his eyes at her. Finally, it seemed her laughter was contagious. Jack started to laugh too. Jack sipped at his coffee again as they started to settle down.
"Okay," Lisa nodded and put her hands on the edge of the table, "in all seriousness, I'm not sure about the first name, but I do love Daniel for the middle name." She glanced to Jack for approval.
Jack thought a moment, and then, his eyes narrowed, and he blurted out, "Dan? Absolutely not, Lisa." He looked over to her, and she had already started to laugh, this time covering her mouth.
"Oh, this is going to be fun," she said, reaching to pat his hand. "See, we could go one for days."
"You're really on a roll," he said, rolling his eyes. "Of course, as long as we are talking about names then, I'll throw in a very nice suggestion." Lisa's eyes widened, and she nodded in encouragement.
"Val sounds like a great boy's name to me," he said as he chuckled. He winked at her, and both were laughing again.
Lisa enjoyed laughing with Jack. They'd always been good at that, and things didn't feel as complicated when they could laugh.